IOS users are familiar with the Notes app. It's that little yellow icon has been a staple of Apple products since their invention. The beauty of the app lies in its clean simplicity and the ability to sync your notes across devices without any second thought. But after 17 years of Apple, the Notes app hasn't seen many updates and lacks more advanced features that some users may crave.

Apple is notoriously protective of its technology, leaving many wondering: "Can I set up automations with Apple Notes?" Yes, it's possible with Apple Shortcuts and IFTTT.

IFTTT can help you streamline your note-taking process, making it more efficient and effective. In this guide, we'll break down how to set up Apple Notes automations with IFTTT, step by step.

Why should I automate my Notes App?

IFTTT offers automations for all sorts of note-taking apps, including those available on Android and Apple. The latter is what this guide is all about, and fortunately, automating your Apple Notes app requires no technical knowledge.

We often reach for our notes app when jotting down an important idea, or date, or forming a list of items. Streamlining this process with automation ensures that your notes are always accessible, organized, and backed up without extra effort. Here’s five reasons why you should consider automating your Notes app with IFTTT:

1. Instant cloud backups

Automatically save new notes to cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Evernote to prevent data loss.

2. Better organization

Use automation to categorize notes into folders based on keywords, making it easier to find what you need.

3. Effortless sharing

Send notes to your email, Slack, or even a shared Google Doc for collaboration without manually copying and pasting.

4. Task and reminder integration

Convert notes into tasks or calendar events, ensuring important dates or to-dos don’t get overlooked.

5. Hands-free notetaking

Use Siri to create a note and let IFTTT handle where it goes—whether that’s a to-do list, a journal entry, or a work document.

What is IFTTT?

IFTTT, available as both a free web-based service and mobile app, works by creating connections between over 1000 popular apps and services, allowing them to work together seamlessly.

The basic idea behind IFTTT is to create "Applets" or sets of instructions that trigger when certain conditions are met. This can be turning on the lights automatically when you enter your house, for example.

Founded in 2010, IFTTT has since been used by over 30 million individuals around the globe to automate both business and home tasks, saving time and increasing efficiency. Our guarantee is that IFTTT can help make a variety of products and services work well together in a way that instills user confidence. Best of all, it's free and only takes a couple of minutes to set up.

Enabling an Applet

Engineers at IFTTT and users like yourself have made millions of pre-made automations, known as an Applet. Chances are that your automation idea has already been created and can be enabled in just a few clicks. Simply browse our explore page or search for whatever service you are looking to automate.

Enabling an Applet requires a free IFTTT account, so make sure to sign up or log in if prompted. Then the steps are as follows:

1.) Make sure the Applet is fit for you. Read the title and description to learn about the process. Additionally, make sure you have an account with all the applications involved or create an account. Then, click the "Connect" bar.

2.) You will then be redirected to log in to those accounts, and grant IFTTT access to certain data. IFTTT uses this data to complete your Applet tasks, and your data is never sold or distributed to any third party, ever.

3.) Once you have you granted IFTTT access, the Applet is set up. You can see more details about what Applets you have enabled in the "My Applets" tab, where you can manage and edit tasks as well.

Building a notes Applet

If you couldn't find what you wanted, we encourage you to build your own Applet using our user-friendly If This Then That builder.

For this mini tutorial, we'll go over how to create an Applet where the notes widget is the trigger, and another service is the action. This means that when a note is added, an action will be executed in whatever app you choose.

Please note that you can create an Applet with the Notes app as the action, by following the same process. The possibilities are endless!

Building a Applet for Apple Notes using the IFTTT Note Widget

If you want a quick and simple way to send notes from your iPhone to another service, our Note Widget is the best option. By setting up a custom Applet, you can instantly send notes to services like Google Drive, Evernote, Slack, or email.

Step 1: Set up the Note Widget in IFTTT

• Open the IFTTT app on your iPhone.
• Tap “Create” in the top right to start a new Applet.
• For the Trigger ("If This"), search for and select “Note widget”.
• Select “New note created via widget” as the trigger.
• Tap “Continue” and proceed to the action step.

Step 2: Choose an Action

Now, choose where you want your notes to go. Some common options include:

Google Drive: Save each note as a new document.

Evernote: Store notes in a dedicated notebook.

Slack: Send notes to a specific Slack channel for collaboration.

Email: Forward notes to yourself or a team.

• Tap "Add action", then search for your preferred service (e.g., Google Drive).
• Configure the action by mapping the note content from the widget into the action fields.
• Click "Create action", to finish setup.

Step 3: Add the widget to your home screen

• Go to your iPhone’s home screen.
• Long-press an empty space until the icons start wiggling.
• Tap the “+” in the top left corner.
• Search for IFTTT and select the Note Widget.
• Tap Add Widget, then place it wherever you like.

Step 4: Use your new notes automation

Now, whenever you need to quickly send a note to your chosen service: - Tap the IFTTT Note Widget on your home screen. - Type your note and hit “Send”. - IFTTT will instantly process the note and send it to your selected service.

This method is fast and convenient - no need to open the Notes app; just tap the widget. Additionally, you don't need any technical setup, with no Shortcuts or Webhooks involved.

Sarah's note automation case study

Sarah is a project manager who frequently takes notes during meetings. She wants an easy way to send these notes directly to a shared Google Drive folder so her team can access them instantly. Instead of manually copying and pasting notes into emails or shared docs, she decides to automate the process using IFTTT.

Set up the Note Widget – Sarah adds the IFTTT Note Widget to her home screen so she can quickly jot down key points during meetings.

Create an IFTTT Applet – She configures an Applet where a new note created via the widget automatically saves as a document in a dedicated Google Drive folder.

Instant note sharing – After each meeting, she simply taps the widget, types the key discussion points, and hits send. The note is instantly saved as a Google Doc, accessible to the entire team.

Her results? Faster documentation, seamless collaboration, and reduced workload, all with a quick automation setup perfect for professionals, students, or anyone who needs to quickly organize and share notes with minimal effort.

IFTTT also offers integrations with other note apps as well, such as Evernote, OneNote, and Zoho Notebook. No matter what platform you pick, integrating it with IFTTT is a no-brainer.

With no technical expertise, you can boost productivity and become your most organized self. So, what are you waiting for, get started today and see for yourself why IFTTT is the most trusted automation platform worldwide.