Siri and Shortcuts

TellDone works with Siri and the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. You get 4 Siri voice commands, a set of Shortcuts actions, and recording from Control Center, the Lock Screen, and the Action Button.

Siri voice commands

Once you've installed TellDone and signed in, these commands work with "Hey Siri" or just "Siri":

Command	Other phrasings	What it does
"Add a note in TellDone"	"New note in TellDone", "Note in TellDone"	Siri asks for your text, then sends it to TellDone's AI
"Stop recording in TellDone"	"Stop the recording in TellDone", "Stop my note in TellDone"	Stops the current recording
"Show my tasks in TellDone"	"My tasks in TellDone", "List tasks in TellDone"	Shows your tasks
"Today's events in TellDone"	"My schedule in TellDone", "What's on my schedule in TellDone"	Lists your events for today

"Add a note" sends text, not audio. No Siri phrase starts a voice recording on iPhone: use the TellDone control or the Action Button instead.

On Apple Watch, you can start a recording with "Record in TellDone", "Start recording in TellDone", or "New voice note in TellDone".

note

Siri commands work without opening the app. You'll hear a spoken response and see the result on screen. The app stays in the background.

Other languages

The phrases are translated into every language the TellDone app supports. Siri recognizes them in the language Siri is set to.

Example: adding a note by voice

"Hey Siri, add a note in TellDone"

Siri: "What would you like the note to say?"

"Meeting with Alex tomorrow at 3pm, discuss Q2 budget, remind me to prepare slides"

TellDone's AI processes the text and creates:

• A calendar event "Meeting with Alex" for tomorrow 3pm
• A task "Prepare slides" with a reminder
• A meeting note with the full context

Shortcuts actions

Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone to find all TellDone actions. You can use them standalone or combine them into automations.

Action	Input	Output	Description
Add Note	Text	-	Sends text to TellDone's AI (creates tasks, events, notes)
Stop recording	-	-	Stops the current recording
Get Tasks	Status filter (Open/Done/All)	Text list	Returns a bullet-point list of task titles. Shown as My Tasks in the TellDone card in Shortcuts
Complete Task	Task name	-	Finds a task by name and marks it done
Today's Events	-	Text list	Returns today's events with their start time (or "All day") and title
Search	Query + scope (Tasks/Notes)	Text results	Returns up to 10 matching results
Sync Tasks with Things	-	-	Syncs task completion with Things 3
Start or stop recording	-	-	Starts a recording, or stops the current one and sends it to TellDone

All actions except Sync Tasks with Things run silently in the background - the app does not open. Start or stop recording only brings TellDone to the front if the recording can't start, to show you why.

tip

If you have a task called "Buy groceries", typing "buy groceries" finds it, and an exact match wins over similar tasks.

Recording from Control Center

You can start and stop a TellDone recording without ever opening the app. First add the TellDone control:

1. Open Control Center. On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe down from the top-right corner. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge
2. Tap + in the top-left corner
3. Tap Add a Control at the bottom
4. Find TellDone (you can search for it) and tap it

Then tap the TellDone control to start recording. When recording is active:

• The control changes from Record to Recording
• Dynamic Island shows a live recording indicator (iPhone 14 Pro and later)
• Tap the control again to stop and upload

note

Very short recordings aren't uploaded: you see Recording too short.

Recording from the Lock Screen

Add the TellDone control to your Lock Screen, and you can start a recording without unlocking your iPhone:

1. Press the side button to show the Lock Screen
2. Touch and hold the Lock Screen until Customize appears, then tap Customize
3. Tap Lock Screen
4. Tap - on one of the controls at the bottom to remove it, then tap + to open the gallery
5. Tap TellDone, then tap Done

While the recording starts, the Dynamic Island shows Starting…. The same control works in Control Center and on the Action Button.

Recording from the Action Button

If your iPhone has an Action Button, set it up on iOS 18 and later:

1. Open Settings > Action Button
2. Swipe to Controls and tap Choose a Control
3. Search or scroll to find TellDone and tap it

Then press and hold the Action Button to start a recording. Press and hold it again to stop and send it to TellDone.

Automation examples

In the Shortcuts app, tap Automation to trigger TellDone actions automatically.

Morning briefing

Get a daily summary of tasks and events at 8am.

1. Tap + (New Automation) > Time of Day > 8:00 AM
2. Add action: Get Tasks (filter: Open)
3. Add action: Today's Events
4. Add action: Show Notification - combine the task list and event list in the body

Daily review reminder

Review what's still open before bed.

1. Tap + (New Automation) > Time of Day > 10:00 PM
2. Add action: Get Tasks (filter: Open)
3. Add action: Show Notification with the task list

Quick note after a meeting

No automation needed - just say:

"Hey Siri, add a note in TellDone"

"Met with the design team, decided to postpone the launch to next Friday, John will handle the landing page, remind me to update the roadmap"

TellDone creates the event, tasks, and a meeting summary.

Location-based auto notes

Capture notes when you arrive at or leave a location.

1. Tap + (New Automation) > Arrive or Leave > select your location
2. Add action: Add Note
3. Set the text (for example, "Started work day" or "Left office - end of day thoughts")

Complete a task from your Home Screen

Complete a task from your Home Screen without opening TellDone.

1. Create a new Shortcut called "Done"
2. Add action: Ask for Input > "Which task?"
3. Add action: Complete Task (use the input from step 2)
4. Add this shortcut to your Home Screen for one-tap access

Sync Things 3 before midnight

1. Tap + (New Automation) > Time of Day > 11:30 PM
2. Add the Sync Tasks with Things action
3. TellDone opens to finish the sync

tip

Things works with TellDone on Pro and up. Dictate tasks in TellDone, then sync them to Things with the Shortcuts action. See Things 3 integration.

Required shortcuts

Some TellDone integrations use Apple Shortcuts. The first time you turn on Things, Apple Notes, or Apple Journal, a Shortcut Required message appears: tap Install.

Shortcut	Purpose
TellDone Things Sync	Reads tasks from Things for two-way sync
TellDone Add to Notes	Exports notes to Apple Notes
TellDone Add to Journal	Exports entries to Apple Journal

Sending a single note to Apple Notes or Apple Journal from the note's … menu works on every plan, as long as the shortcut is installed. Exporting all your notes automatically needs Basic and up, and Things needs Pro and up.

Troubleshooting

"Shortcut Not Found"

The required Apple Shortcut was deleted or never installed.

• Things: the message says "The required shortcut was deleted or not installed. Reinstall it to continue syncing." Tap Install to put the shortcut back. Turning Things off and on again doesn't bring back the Shortcut Required prompt.
• Apple Notes or Apple Journal: if you send a note from the … menu without the shortcut, tap Install in the message. You can also go to Settings > Integrations, open the integration, and tap Reinstall Shortcut.

Siri doesn't recognize TellDone commands

1. Make sure TellDone is installed and you've signed in at least once
2. Try the exact phrases listed above
3. Check that Siri's language is one TellDone supports
4. Open your iPhone Settings > Apps > TellDone to check its Siri settings

Things sync shows no tasks

Things has no tasks, or the "TellDone Things Sync" shortcut can't read them. Make sure Things has tasks and the shortcut is installed.

Task completion doesn't sync to Things

You need the Things Auth Token. In Things: Settings > General > Enable Things URLs > copy the token. In TellDone: Settings > Integrations > Things > Auth Token > paste.

See also

• Recording voice notes - recording modes, tips, and limits
• Tasks - how tasks are extracted from your voice
• Events - calendar events created from recordings
• Things 3 - send tasks to Things and sync their status (Pro and up)
• Apple Notes - export notes to Apple Notes
• Apple Journal - export entries to Apple Journal