Last night, I built a Shortcut that lets me tell ChatGPT where I am, what the weather’s doing, and what I’m supposed to be working on, and it hands me a playlist that fits the moment.
I’m able to do this because OpenAI added an Apple Music integration to ChatGPT this week, and I’ve been experimenting with different ways to use it. This particular use has been really fun, so I thought I’d share the details here in case anyone is searching for ideas.
This shortcut results in ChatGPT suggesting a playlist of songs in Apple Music based on my location, the weather, and what I’m (supposed to be) working on (thanks to the app, One Thing, by the incredible Sindre Sorhus). The shortcut also prompts you to customize the length of the playlist (in terms of hours) and the genre(s) you want to hear.
I called the Shortcut “Tell the Robot to Create a Playlist,” so I can say “Hey Siri, tell the robot to create a playlist.” That’s way more fun than clicking a button that says “Run Automation.”
What It Does
These are the actions it takes, if you want to recreate it from scratch:
1. [WEATHER] Get weather at “Current Location”
2. [LOCATION] Get current location -> Precision: nearest kilometer
3. [ASK FOR INPUT] Ask for “Number” with “How many hours do you want the playlist to be?” (I have the Default Number set to “.75” and Allow Decimal Numbers set to TRUE.)
4. [LIST] This is a customizable list of genres that I actually listen to. You can put whatever you want, but I my list contains Jazz, Rock & Roll, World Music, Post-Rock, Post-Punk, Classical, and, for when I can’t decide or don’t want a single genre, Eclectic Genres.
5. [CHOOSE FROM LIST] Choose from “List” -> Select Multiple set to TRUE
6. [Ask for Input] Ask for “Number” with On a range of 1 (hits) – 10 (super obscure), how obscure should the songs on the playlist be? (I have the Default Number set to “3” and Allow Decimal Numbers set to FALSE)
7. [One Thing] Get menu bar TEXT
That creates all the variables that will be fed into the next action
8. [Ask ChatGPT]: This is what the prompt actually looks like. The parts in brackets are the variables I feed in from the actions above.
Set “Start New Chat” to TRUE. Now, when you run the shortcut, the prompt will be sent to a new chat in the ChatGPT app, which will return with a playlist of songs that, with one click, you can add to your Apple Music library.
As I worked on this post, I ran the shortcut, which created the following prompt
The response from ChatGPT was:
Here’s a half-hour rock playlist that behaves itself while you’re proofreading, but still has opinions. Cloudy Vermont afternoon energy, sleeves rolled up, coffee cooling too fast.
Playlist: Cloudy Proofreading Rock (Deep-Cut Level 8)
About 34 minutes total. Close enough. Perfection is the enemy of commas.
- The Black Keys – Weight of Love
- Big Star – Thirteen
- The Rolling Stones – Rocks Off
- The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
- The Stone Roses – I Am the Resurrection (Demo)
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Cortez the Killer
- The Walkmen – The Rat
This sits in that sweet spot where your brain stays alert but doesn’t start air-drumming instead of catching typos. Familiar names, non-obvious picks. The kind of tracks that make record store clerks nod once, slowly, as if granting you temporary access.
You should see an Open in Apple Music option above to spin it up properly.
This is the kind of thing I love using AI for. Something small and fast that results in an experience I enjoy.
Quick Privacy Notes: If you download the shortcut, it doesn’t store anything or share anything back to me (though obviously it shares your general location with ChatGPT). It’s all based on your unique device. You’ll also need to have One Thing installed to use the shortcut as; if you don’t, just remove that step and remove the variable from the prompt template in Step 8. Oh, and because of that step, this Shortcut won’t run on an iPhone. But again, remove that step, and it should be fine.