Log your texts automatically

• An iPhone on iOS 17 or later, with the Shortcuts app.
• Howdy Mate! 1.2 or later, with the mate already on your list.
• The app lock turned off. While your mates are behind Face ID or Touch ID, Howdy Mate! answers no shortcuts at all, this one included.

You make one automation for each mate you text.

1. Open Shortcuts, tap Automation at the bottom, then tap + (or New Automation if you have none yet).
2. Choose Message. Next to Sender, tap Choose, pick your mate and tap Done.
3. Pick Run Immediately. Turn off Notify When Run if you’d rather it stayed quiet. Tap Next, then New Blank Automation.
4. Search for Howdy Mate and add Last Check-in. Tap Mate and pick the same person.
5. Search for If and add it. Set the condition to does not contain and type today. If Howdy Mate! is in another language, type the word Siri uses for today in it instead: aujourd’hui, heute, hoy, hoje, oggi, vandaag, idag, dzisiaj, bugün, сегодня, 今日, 오늘, 今天, hari ini or आज.
6. Add Log a Check-in from Howdy Mate! and drag it up so it sits between If and Otherwise. Tap Mate and pick the same person again, then tap the arrow beside it and set How to Text message.
7. Tap Done.

The next time that mate texts you, the check-in appears in your Log and they drop off Today, the same as if you had logged it yourself.

It keeps a long chat from turning into a pile of check-ins. Last Check-in says “today” when you have already caught up with that mate today, so the automation only logs the first text of the day. Leave it out and you get one check-in per conversation instead: Howdy Mate! ignores a repeat with the same mate inside five minutes, but a chat that runs all afternoon would still log several.

• It logs their texts, not yours. iPhone automations can start when a message arrives, but there is no automation for a message you send. A chat goes both ways, so their reply is a fair sign you are in touch.
• Nothing reads your messages. Howdy Mate! never sees what was said. The automation only tells it who, and it all stays on your iPhone.
• Want a different kind? Set How to anything you like, or leave it empty.
• To stop, open the Automation tab, swipe left on the automation and tap Delete. Check-ins it already logged stay in your Log, where you can delete any of them.

These work as soon as the app is installed, with nothing to set up. Start each one with “Hey Siri”. Siri also listens for them in each of the app’s other languages that Siri speaks when Howdy Mate! is in that language, and the app’s Siri settings show the phrases in your language.

• “Who’s due in Howdy Mate?”
• “Log a check-in in Howdy Mate”
• “When did I last talk to someone in Howdy Mate?”
• “Who am I drifting from in Howdy Mate?”
• “Any birthdays in Howdy Mate?”
• “Give me something to say in Howdy Mate”
• “How am I doing in Howdy Mate?”
• “Add a mate in Howdy Mate”

Every Howdy Mate! action is also in the Shortcuts app, so you can put one on your Home Screen or the Action Button.

On iOS 26, the answer to “Who’s due?” comes as a card listing up to four mates, each with a Log and a Snooze button, so you can deal with them without opening the app.

On iOS 18 and later, swipe down on the Home Screen and type a mate’s name. They show up with their rhythm, such as “Every month”, and tapping the result opens their profile. Archived mates are left out. To keep your mates out of Spotlight, turn off Show mates in Spotlight in the app’s Settings, under Privacy & Siri. While the app lock is on, your mates never appear there.

• The small Home Screen widget shows how many mates need you and who’s next. The medium one adds the next three mates and a Log button that opens the check-in form.
• The Pinned Mate widget keeps one person on your Home Screen: their name, whether they’re due, and your last catch-up. Its Log button logs the way you usually catch up with them, without opening the app. Add the widget, touch and hold it, tap Edit Widget, then pick a mate. Add it again for each person you want to keep close. It comes in Lock Screen sizes too.
• On the Lock Screen, a circle counts the mates ready for you to reach out, a rectangle shows who’s next and when, and a line above the clock reads “Next:” and their name. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, then add Howdy Mate! from the widgets.
• On iOS 18 and later, add the Log a Check-in control to Control Center, the Lock Screen or the Action button.

Found a link, a photo or a few words that make you think of a mate? Tap Share in Safari, Photos or any app, then choose Howdy Mate!. Pick the mate, then:

• Keep for them saves a link or text to their Remember notes, so it’s there next time you reach out.
• Log a catch-up opens a check-in with the link, text or photo already in it the next time you open Howdy Mate!. Check it over and tap Log check-in.

If Howdy Mate! isn’t in the row of apps, swipe to the end, tap More and turn it on. It needs iOS 17 or later, and your mates appear once you’ve opened the app after updating.

Press and hold the Howdy Mate! icon on your Home Screen for a short menu. It appears once you have opened the app after setting it up.

• Text and a name, when a mate is due: the one who has waited longest. Your texting app opens with a message ready to send, and the check-in form is waiting when you come back. A mate with no phone number opens their profile instead.
• Log a catch-up opens the check-in form.
• Add a mate opens Add.
• Who’s due opens Today.

With the app lock on, the menu shows no names, only the last three, and each one opens behind Face ID or Touch ID.

Press and hold a Howdy Mate! reminder on the Lock Screen or in Notification Center. Tap Check In to log the catch-up, or Add a Note to type what you talked about and tap Log. Either way it’s saved as the kind of catch-up you usually have with that mate, and the app never opens.

Open Settings, tap Focus, pick one such as Work, then tap Add Filter and choose Howdy Mate!. While that Focus is on, check-in nudges stay quiet and your mates stay on the Today list. Turn on Mute birthdays and reminders to quiet those too.

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