When you’re running late, your priority is to reach on time while keeping your loved ones informed. You can make things easier for your partner and family by sharing your location. That’s helpful when you travel long distances for work and don’t want to use your phone while driving. Luckily, iPhone can use a Siri shortcut to pull up directions from the Google Maps and send those details in a WhatsApp message a recipient (colleague, client, partner or a family member) to let them know your Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA).
I often travel long distances for work and end up returning home late night. This Siri shortcut to gives a peace of mind to my family members with my location details while I drive back home. Here’s how it looks in action:
All you can say, “Hey Siri, Get me home.” After that, the Siri shortcut will:
- Pull up driving directions to your home address in Google Maps.
- Include those details in WhatsApp message and send it (with your Estimated Time of Arrival) to your partner (or parents, colleagues, friends).
Create a Siri Shortcut
Open the Shortcuts app (two squares stacked) and create a New Shortcut by tapping the + button in the top-right corner. For the first time, you will have to give the Shortcut app necessary permission.
1. Add Street Address
Tap Add Action. Search for Street and select Street Address. Type in your Home or Office address – the destination address you want to share.
2. Get ETA
To add next action, tap on search box at the bottom and search for the following actions:
- Search for Travel and select Get Travel Time. Give permission to access the location if asked.
- Next Action:
- Mode: Choose Driving (or change to Walking or Transit, when needed).
- Start: Leave as Current Location.
- End: Leave as Street Address.
3. Send WhatsApp Message
Again to add next action, tap on search field at the bottom and search for the following actions:
Search for WhatsApp and select Send Message via WhatsApp. Make sure you have WhatsApp installed and your partner’s contact saved. In case you don’t use WhatsApp and want to send regular messages, then search for Messages and follow similar steps as below.
- Next Action:
- Recipients: Choose your partner’s/family members/colleague’s/friend’s contact.
If you wish to send your ETA to multiple people instead of just a partner – parents, colleagues, friends, leave the Recipients blank. The shortcut will give you the option to choose which contact(s) you want to send.
4. Get Directions
- Search for Direction and select Open direction. Give permission to access the location, if asked.
- Next Action:
- Mode: Choose Driving (or change to Walking or Transit, if needed)
- From: Leave as Current Location.
- To: Leave as Street Address
- Using: Google Maps
5. Name Your Shortcut
- Tap the downward arrow button at the top of the screen.
- Name your shortcut Get Me Home.
- Tap Done to save your Shortcut.
Whenever you say “Hey Siri, Get Me Home”, your Shortcut will run automatically.
Download the Shortcut Directly
For simplicity, this tutorial covers only the basic steps. To customize your message (e.g., “On my way! See you soon ETA [Estimated Time of Arrival]“), add a Text action. If you use Face ID with WhatsApp, add a 5-6 second wait time between actions to ensure your phone unlocks.
I’ve included these refined settings in this shortcut link.
Download: Get Me Home Shortcut
After you download the shortcut, make sure you give it permission to access WhatsApp and Google Maps when you launch it the first time. Also, make sure you replace the Address and Contact names with the ones you want to use.
