Drafts is the app I use more than any other app except for web browsers. I have had the Pro version since 2019. On mac, iPad, and iPhone. I use it for drafting and to-do lists. Since I have a lousy memory, I use it to write down how I do things on computers and in real life as well. Things like the find command in UNIX or how many spoons of coffee per liter of water to use on the woodstove in my cabin in the woods. I also use it to log things like what steps I went through to upgrade my webserver from Red Hat 8 to Red Hat 9. Drafts replaced nvAlt, which in turn replaced Notational Velocity, which in turn replaced several text files which I started on back in 1993. The entry for find was one of the first entries.
On the Mac, it is “New Draft” or continue writing on last Draft I use the most. On the iPhone, I use search Drafts 90% of the time. So I always have to hit the icon on top left before I can do the search. I have search on as default in this view.
So here is my wish: On the iPhone, in Settings, have an option to select search Drafts as the start as well as “New Draft After” “time/never”. It is only one tap, but it amounts to a lot over the years.
There are many ways to open Drafts which set the context on all platforms. If that is your preferred method, I would suggest using one of these options instead of launching via the app icon.
On iOS, you can:
Tap and hold the app icon and select “Search”
Use a grid widget of Control Center control configured to open search directly.
Create a Shortcut with a single “Quick Search” action and put a link to it on your home screen.
Open Drafts via URLs from other task/automation apps, like drafts://search
You can also set a Personal Automation in Shortcuts, so that when Drafts opens it runs a shortcut. The Open URL action, with drafts://search works as you require.
I tried this and it worked at first launch. The second time it did not. And not on any tries after that. I have some experience with Shortcuts being unstable when new, maybe it will work after some reboots?
I set it up to test before recommending it and it’s still working for me. Will need to turn it off now, though, before I forget what I’ve done and wonder why it’s open to searching each time.
