We live in an age where effective multitasking is crucial for productivity. Apple has introduced a new feature that simplifies task management by allowing users to seamlessly pause their current activity and resume it later.
### Introduction to Hold That Thought
At first glance, Apple’s latest accessibility feature—dubbed Hold That Thought—may appear trivial, but it offers significant benefits for users of iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This Shortcut represents Apple’s commitment to enhancing its devices’ practicality and accessibility. Many users, including myself, have found this feature to be particularly beneficial.
The functionality of Hold That Thought is straightforward. Upon activation, it captures a screenshot of your current activity, along with details of any upcoming calendar events within the next hour, and any text copied to your clipboard.
### Activating the Shortcut
When you activate the Shortcut, you are presented with two options: Capture or Recall. Selecting Capture allows you to document your current thought for future reference, while choosing Recall takes you directly to the note containing previously saved thoughts.
If you are using a Mac, the Shortcut will also take a screenshot of the currently open webpage in Safari. After capturing this information, the Shortcut prompts you for a brief description in two text fields. The first field asks, “What are you doing?” and the second, “What were you about to do?” You will also need to grant permission to save this information to a note. It’s important to select either “Allow Once” or “Always Allow” to ensure that your thoughts are preserved; otherwise, they will be discarded.
### Resuming Tasks Made Simple
Effective multitasking relies on the ability to shift focus from one task to another swiftly. Many individuals find this challenging, especially when managing a heavy workload. The Hold That Thought Shortcut streamlines this process. When I need to change my focus, I can easily activate the Shortcut using my iPhone 15 Pro Max’s Action Button or by saying, “Hey Siri, hold that thought.”
Once activated, I input the relevant information about what I was doing and what I need to do next. This simplicity makes it easy to capture thoughts quickly, allowing me to transition to my next task without worrying about forgetting crucial details.
Hold That Thought is available for download via iCloud, and it integrates seamlessly into the Shortcuts app on your device. While some familiarity with using iPhone Shortcuts will be beneficial, setting them up on an iPad or Mac is relatively similar.
### Areas for Improvement
While Hold That Thought delivers valuable functionality, there are areas where it could be enhanced. One notable issue is the manner in which it organizes captured thoughts within the Notes app. Currently, all entries are stored in a single, lengthy file beginning with the date and other metadata from the initial capture. Subsequent thoughts appear as plain text with minimal differentiation, aside from a simple line of hyphens. While it is generally manageable, a more structured approach—such as added dividers or formatting—would significantly improve usability, particularly for first-time users.
Additionally, if you switch between an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, any clipboard contents from your active devices will be included in the thoughts captured by Hold That Thought. This could lead to irrelevant information being saved.
Another drawback is that using the Recall function does not allow for the selection of specific thoughts; instead, users must scroll through all the entries. This could make the process less efficient compared to jotting down a simple reminder elsewhere. Despite these limitations, the Shortcut’s ease of activation remains its primary strength.
An improved feature could be the ability to create a centralized hub note that links to individual thoughts captured, rather than storing them in a long list. This would provide a clearer method to navigate and retrieve saved information.
### Conclusion
The ability to capture ongoing tasks and what needs to be done next has become an indispensable element of my daily workflow. It simplifies transitions between various activities, such as editing, writing, and brainstorming. For instance, when reading an article that inspires a new concept, I can quickly use the Shortcut to document what I was doing and note the idea for later exploration.
Moreover, there are numerous useful iOS Shortcuts available that users should consider exploring. Hold That Thought is the latest addition to Apple’s growing toolkit, designed to enhance productivity and ease of use.
