Siri Shortcuts for Local Music on iPhone

Use Trove’s actions in Apple Shortcuts to choose a local song, album, artist or playlist, then run your saved shortcut with Siri. These selection actions shipped in 2.3 and are included in the current 2.3.1 release. They target Trove’s local library on this device, rather than searching an Apple Music subscription catalog.

Create a local music shortcut

1. Import music into Trove and confirm that your chosen song or playlist plays locally. The FLAC guide explains local import options.
2. Open Apple Shortcuts on your iPhone, create a shortcut, and search for Trove in the available actions.
3. Add Play Song, Play Album, Play Artist or Play Playlist. Tap its selection field and choose an item from your Trove library. Album, artist and playlist actions also offer a Shuffle option.
4. Name it something distinctive, such as Evening Albums, and run it in Shortcuts first. The selection actions open Trove to start playback; respond to any system permission or unlock request.
5. With Siri enabled, activate Siri and say your saved shortcut’s name. You can also add the shortcut to your Home Screen using Shortcuts. Siri availability and required permissions depend on your system settings.

Apple explains the voice workflow in Run shortcuts with Siri.

Available actions and library limits

The current app exposes Play Song (Song), Play Album (Album, Shuffle), Play Artist (Artist, Shuffle) and Play Playlist (Playlist, Shuffle). Transport actions are Play to resume the current track, Pause, Play / Pause, Next and Previous. Next changes tracks; it does not mean “advance 30 seconds.” Action names follow your app language.

Selected songs must be local library entries with playable files on the device. A remote index alone is insufficient, and remote tracks are excluded from playlist shortcut playback. A saved shortcut resolves the selection again when run; if you remove its song or playlist, choose a new item. A Mac library or shared Pro purchase does not automatically copy music to iPhone.

Skip intros and outros without editing audio

For a saved per-song playback range, open the song’s Edit screen in Trove and find Playback Skips. Set Intro Skip (seconds) and Outro Skip (seconds), then save. Use nonnegative values that leave at least half a second to play; set both to zero to disable them.

These rules stay in Trove and leave the original audio file unchanged. Playback and seeking respect that range, while the displayed times still refer to the original song. They are persistent song settings, not a one-time Siri seek command. Keep optional tag write-back off if you do not want other metadata edits written to a supported file.

Can Siri skip forward by a duration?

Not in the currently verified 2.3.1 download. Skip Forward and Skip Backward actions with a positive Seconds parameter (default 30) have been implemented for a later release, but are not part of this released guide’s available-action list. Check the release notes for published changes before looking for them. The existing intro/outro rules above are already available.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Pro? The basic transport actions, local song/album/artist selection, ordinary local playlist playback and playback skip rules do not require Pro. Creating smart playlists and using network sources still require their existing Pro entitlement; Shortcuts does not unlock those features.

Can this control other apps or automate everything? Trove actions control Trove. You may combine them with other actions in Shortcuts, subject to each app’s support and iOS permissions; this guide does not promise every automation runs unattended or while locked.

What about background playback and CarPlay? Trove supports background playback. CarPlay browses the iPhone library, not remote shares. A shortcut is not a way to browse a NAS on the car screen or remotely control the Mac app. See features and the FAQ.

Does this transfer songs to Apple Watch? No. Local iPhone shortcut playback and Apple Watch offline transfer are separate workflows; sending audio to the Watch requires Pro.