Feature Summary
Using Apple Shortcuts and AdventureLog APIs iPhone users can upload locations and visits in the moment either from their current location or through Google Maps and do some clean up later.
Problem Statement
I installed AdventureLog one day because I thought it would be cool to keep track of my travels. I quickly saw how tedious it would be to keep up to date — especially when traveling — so I deleted it and didn’t look back. Then one morning while on vacation I thought: what about using APIs? (Something I’d never done before.) Now here I am at the end of my vacation with Apple Shortcuts that make logging locations in the moment much easier!
Proposed Solution
Prerequisites
Before getting started you'll need:
- An AdventureLog instance
- An AdventureLog API key starting with al_ — this can be generated from you AdventureLog settings
- A Google Cloud account with the Places API (New) enabled (not the legacy Places API) and a valid API key
- An Apple device running iOS/iPadOS with the Shortcuts app
How It Works
This project consists of seven shortcuts designed to work like functions — reusable building blocks so redundant logic doesn't need to be repeated across every shortcut. Each shortcut includes a comment at the top describing what it does, what it requires, and a summary of its major steps.
Getting Started
- Install all seven shortcuts
- Open the Variables shortcut and enter your:
- Create a blank note in Apple Notes and link it to the Log shortcut — this is your offline queue. You can substitute the “appends to notes” action with any app that supports an "Append Text" action.
Variables are initialized once and shared automatically across all shortcuts — you won't need to update your credentials in multiple places.
Shortcuts
Upload from Current Location
Pulls your current GPS coordinates and asks for a name, description, and category before creating a new location in AdventureLog. For quick access, add this shortcut to your Control Center or Home Screen.
Upload from Google Maps
Activated via the Share Sheet or clipboard from a Google Maps link. Decodes the URL, queries the Google Places API (New) to retrieve the official place name and coordinates, then creates a new location in AdventureLog. Note: Apple Maps links are not currently supported.
Upload Visit
Logs a visit to an existing AdventureLog location. Requires a location ID which is returned automatically after creating a new location. You will have the option to run this shortcut after creating a new location using one of the options above.
Select Category
Fetches your AdventureLog categories and presents them as a list for the user to choose from. Used internally by both upload shortcuts so category selection logic only needs to exist in one place.
Variables
Stores your AdventureLog URL, AdventureLog API key, and Google Maps API key. All shortcuts will pull from the database stored in this shortcut so it doesn’t need to be replicated across the project.
Log
Handles offline queuing. If a location creation fails due to no internet connection, the coordinates or Google Maps link are appended to your chosen Notes document for manual recovery later. Note: this is not an automatic retry — you will need to manually create those locations once you're back online.
Manual Upload
If an upload fails, you can use this manual upload option, using the information stored in the log file.
Alternatives Considered
No response
Mockups / Examples (Optional)
Links
Additional Context
Known Limitations
- No duplicate detection — there is currently no way to search AdventureLog for nearby existing locations before creating a new one. The AdventureLog API does not support radius-based filtering, so detecting duplicates would require pulling all locations and calculating distances client-side.
- Visit logging requires a location ID — you cannot log a visit without first having a location ID, which means visits can only be logged at the time of location creation or by manually looking up the ID later.
- Offline recovery is manual — failed location creations are saved to a Notes document but must be manually re-submitted once internet is restored.
- Apple Maps not supported — only Google Maps share links are currently supported for the map-based upload flow.
Confirmation
Feature Summary
Using Apple Shortcuts and AdventureLog APIs iPhone users can upload locations and visits in the moment either from their current location or through Google Maps and do some clean up later.
Problem Statement
I installed AdventureLog one day because I thought it would be cool to keep track of my travels. I quickly saw how tedious it would be to keep up to date — especially when traveling — so I deleted it and didn’t look back. Then one morning while on vacation I thought: what about using APIs? (Something I’d never done before.) Now here I am at the end of my vacation with Apple Shortcuts that make logging locations in the moment much easier!
Proposed Solution
Prerequisites
Before getting started you'll need:
How It Works
This project consists of seven shortcuts designed to work like functions — reusable building blocks so redundant logic doesn't need to be repeated across every shortcut. Each shortcut includes a comment at the top describing what it does, what it requires, and a summary of its major steps.
Getting Started
Variables are initialized once and shared automatically across all shortcuts — you won't need to update your credentials in multiple places.
Shortcuts
Upload from Current Location
Pulls your current GPS coordinates and asks for a name, description, and category before creating a new location in AdventureLog. For quick access, add this shortcut to your Control Center or Home Screen.
Upload from Google Maps
Activated via the Share Sheet or clipboard from a Google Maps link. Decodes the URL, queries the Google Places API (New) to retrieve the official place name and coordinates, then creates a new location in AdventureLog. Note: Apple Maps links are not currently supported.
Upload Visit
Logs a visit to an existing AdventureLog location. Requires a location ID which is returned automatically after creating a new location. You will have the option to run this shortcut after creating a new location using one of the options above.
Select Category
Fetches your AdventureLog categories and presents them as a list for the user to choose from. Used internally by both upload shortcuts so category selection logic only needs to exist in one place.
Variables
Stores your AdventureLog URL, AdventureLog API key, and Google Maps API key. All shortcuts will pull from the database stored in this shortcut so it doesn’t need to be replicated across the project.
Log
Handles offline queuing. If a location creation fails due to no internet connection, the coordinates or Google Maps link are appended to your chosen Notes document for manual recovery later. Note: this is not an automatic retry — you will need to manually create those locations once you're back online.
Manual Upload
If an upload fails, you can use this manual upload option, using the information stored in the log file.
Alternatives Considered
No response
Mockups / Examples (Optional)
Links
Additional Context
Known Limitations
Confirmation