I made a simple automation in Shortcuts that turns on a smart plug (with my coffee maker) every time the alarm goes off. I set it to run immediately, and it worked as designed in previous iOS versions. Since 18.2 upgrade it does not run silently, but asks for confirmation on screen every time, and will not toggle the accessory unless I tap confirm. I tried resetting, I even deleted the automation and created it again - nothing, still asks for confirmation despite being set not to. Is it another "for your own good" pseudo-improvement from Apple, or just a new bug?
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Automation set to run immediately keeps asking for confirmation since 18.2
- Thread starter pgolik
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If automations require user interaction, kind of defeats the purpose. I vote another bug. 😫
Bug. All my Automations are running without need for confirmation. You did everything I would have done to try and shake things loose (ie. Delete and recreate).
Might try restarting the device as Shortcuts and corresponding framework can get wonky sometimes, but usually only see that if been doing lots of changes, additions, debugging runs.
Might try restarting the device as Shortcuts and corresponding framework can get wonky sometimes, but usually only see that if been doing lots of changes, additions, debugging runs.
I'm not seeing that behavior myself, but I don't use the alarm feature so none of my alerts are triggered on that. Verify that a Timed or other automation trigger doesn't cause the same behavior?
I did restart the phone it's the first thing I try (this is what fixes location based focus modes which have become unreliable in 18.x for me).
I also have a couple of simple automations that change the mode to light whenever I open Maps, and back to dark when I close it (I use dark mode systemwide, but dislike the dark mode Maps look), and these still work the way I want them, without confirmation.
So I tried timed automation (for the same coffee machine shortcut), and here's where it gets interesting. If the phone is unlocked, it works as it should, no confirmation, just turns the machine on at the set time. Same if the phone is locked, but the display is awake (tapped or picked up, but not unlocked). But the phone is locked with the screen off (I don't use always-on display, even though the 15Pro supports it), the timed automation just fails silently, no confirmation dialog, just does not run.
So it appears that the issue is with the automations that run when the phone is locked with the screen off. This is new in 18.2 for me.
I suspect some new half-cooked security 'feature' from Apple. There are all kinds of warnings about automations being enabled that are impossible to turn off, they clearly consider them a security risk and deal with it in a way that is typical of current Apple - by making them harder to use and less useful.
I also have a couple of simple automations that change the mode to light whenever I open Maps, and back to dark when I close it (I use dark mode systemwide, but dislike the dark mode Maps look), and these still work the way I want them, without confirmation.
So I tried timed automation (for the same coffee machine shortcut), and here's where it gets interesting. If the phone is unlocked, it works as it should, no confirmation, just turns the machine on at the set time. Same if the phone is locked, but the display is awake (tapped or picked up, but not unlocked). But the phone is locked with the screen off (I don't use always-on display, even though the 15Pro supports it), the timed automation just fails silently, no confirmation dialog, just does not run.
So it appears that the issue is with the automations that run when the phone is locked with the screen off. This is new in 18.2 for me.
I suspect some new half-cooked security 'feature' from Apple. There are all kinds of warnings about automations being enabled that are impossible to turn off, they clearly consider them a security risk and deal with it in a way that is typical of current Apple - by making them harder to use and less useful.
Might be you as for me, everything I have that runs via Automations is with a locked device and screen off.
Wild guess: Lockdown Mode enabled? "Background services" are "limited", "device connections" need the device to be unlocked per Apple. Additional debug problems found sorta point to this behavior.
Lockdown Mode security for Apple devices
Lockdown Mode is an optional, extreme protection that’s designed for the very few individuals who, because of who they are or what they do, might be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats.
support.apple.com
About Lockdown Mode - Apple Support
Lockdown Mode helps protect devices against extremely rare and highly sophisticated cyber attacks.
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Nope, disabled and never enabled in the past. No changes to settings since 18.1, where it worked. I’ll try the same trigger with another action, could be related to HomeKit or this particular accessory.
So, after some more testing: the problem is limited to automations that involve toggling HomeKit devices. Other automations (I tried a simple one that would change UI to light mode when the alarm goes off) work as designed. Also, the confirmation dialog is not the same as for other shortcuts. So, it looks like something that was introduced with the update in HomeKit, not Shortcuts. Here's what it looks like when the alarm goes off and the automation runs:
