iOS Shortcut to App Store Releases
April 21, 2025 • #Apple #App Store #IOS #Shortcuts
I frequently have to install different builds of the same app, including the latest App Store release. With an iOS shortcut workflow it is reduced to two taps.
Probably there are smarter or faster ways to do this. I have not found one after quick research, though. There also is the option to use different bundle identifiers for development builds so App Store releases can be kept installed all the time. This is not the case for the Nextcloud app for now and I frequently jump between the development builds deployed and run from Xcode on my attached Mac and App Store releases for reproduction of issue reports.
Repetitive tapping on an iPhone just to install the same app regularly is an annoyance. So I though about how to improve the convenience of the process.
The solution is rather simple: In the iOS Shortcuts app I created a workflow with a single task. It is the URL opening task and as the argument I provide the web URL of our development team in the App Store. When run on iOS, this reveals all apps of our development team in the App Store and I can quickly just tap any app to download it.
I added that workflow to the iOS homescreen where it appears like an app. So, to install the latest App Store release of Nextcloud, I have to tap only twice and it is installed.