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wArch
User level: Level 1 (81 points)

How to create a Shortcut that works?

Here's my question. How to create a Shortcut triggered by 1 home accessory to turn another accessory on at a specific time?


Here is another attempt to get this to work:



This also doesn't work. When I test it I get the "Choose a value..." comment and the IF doesn't respond as I would think it should. Sometimes turning on the "Boot Warmer" smart plug and sometimes no matter the state of "Sunflowers" (another smart plug). And I cannot find anything to tell me where or how to Choose a value for each parameter.


What I want to happen is this:   I turn on "Sunflowers" and at 4:00 am the next morning "Boot Warmer" turns on. I have an automation in the Home app which will turn it off at a specific time each day. That automation is fine to have run everyday. If I leave "Sunflowers" on this sequence will happen each day but if "Sunflowers" is off "Boot Warmer" will not come on.


Thanks for any input on this. I cannot find enough online to help me trouble shoot.

Posted on Oct 3, 2026 1:33 PM

4 replies

6x6
User level: Level 7 (26,777 points)

Oct 3, 2026 4:54 PM in response to wArch

I'm still on iOS 26 so my Home automations are still in the old style. The logic you want is:


  • At 4:00 AM, run the following.
  • Get the power state of Sunflowers.
  • If Sunflowers is on, turn on Boot Warmer.
  • Otherwise do nothing.


Here is what it would look like in the old automation style:



In this example:


  • The automation is run at 18:33 daily;
  • The Above Cabinet accessory is equivalent to your Sunflowers smart plug. The power state is a boolean value (true of false), i.e. you don't test it against Yes or No. The "If Power State" action evaluates to "If True" and goes to the Set Accessory action if Power State is on (true). If it is off (false), the shortcut would go to the Otherwise block, not shown above because you don't need to take any action in that case. (You can keep the Otherwise and the Nothing actions as you showed but they are unnecessary.)
  • The Island Lights accessory is equivalent to your Boot Warmer smart plug.
wArch Author
User level: Level 1 (81 points)

Oct 3, 2026 5:26 PM in response to 6x6

Thank you, this seems to work fine.


Looks a bit different in iOS27 and MacOS 27. Testing worked fine and I'll let it run overnight to be sure. The Home Set action I had to copy out of another Shortcut as it doesn't appear in the list of actions now. Hmmm


6x6
User level: Level 7 (26,777 points)

Oct 3, 2026 5:34 PM in response to wArch

That looks good.


If it helps, the Set Accessory action was called "Control Home" in iOS 26.


Just to let you know: you had mentioned wanting to run the automation at 4:00 AM. Your updated code shows it running at 6:00 AM.

wArch Author
User level: Level 1 (81 points)

Oct 3, 2026 6:48 PM in response to 6x6

The Set Accessory comes up when you select Control Home so there is no change there. Would be helpful if search could find it though. I set the Shortcut automation to run at 6:00 AM just for my test tonight and will change it back to 4:00AM once I see that it worked as expected.


Again, Thank you.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256369866