How Two iPhone Apps Can Enhance Your Scheduling

By Malakhi Beyah, 2025

Published 10/29/22

With the first month of school nearly behind us, you may have already settled into a routine that gets you through the 7:30-2 grind. But maybe you’re looking for a way to structure your school schedule. Well, if you have an iPhone, look no further than your pocket. Used the right way, just two apps can optimize how you get through the school year. The best part? You already have the apps.

You have probably never opened the Shortcuts app, but it is a lot more useful than people give it credit for. In fact, with this app, your whole day can be scheduled with a simple Hey Siri command. Here’s how in ten easy steps:

1. Open Shortcuts and press the plus sign in the top right corner of your screen.

2. Tap the dropdown arrow next to “New Shortcut” and rename it “Schedule A Day”.

3. In the search bar at the bottom of the screen, type in “Add New Event” and press the option that comes up.

4. Tap the blue arrow on the box that appears.

5. Fill in the box with the name of your class, when it starts and ends, and what room it is in (next to “Location”). Also, turn off “Show Compose Sheet”.

6. Repeat steps 3-5 for every class you have on A Days, then press “Done”.

7. Now, repeat steps 1-6 for B Days.

8. Since A, C, and E Days are usually similar in your schedule, you can long-press A Days, press “Duplicate”, and rename the shortcut “Schedule C Day”. Do the same for E Days.

9. Press the three dots in the top right corner of the C and E Day shortcuts and make changes if necessary.

10. Repeat steps 8-10 for D and F Days.

Now test it out! Say “Hey Siri, Schedule F Day” (or whatever day it is when you read this). Then, open the Calendar app and your schedule should be there. After you make sure you did it right, if you have iOS 16, add the Calendar widget to your home screen. Now, every morning, tell Siri to schedule your day, and your next class will be visible at a glance!