Possessed Flashlight
Plug in. The flashlight spells H-E-L-P.
Open in Safari on your iPhone. Download the file, open it from Safari Downloads or Files, then follow the prompts to add it in Shortcuts.
What happens
When they plug in their phone, a burst of static plays and the flashlight starts stuttering. Short, short, short, short… It’s Morse code, and it spells H-E-L-P.
Setup
- Open this page in Safari on the iPhone, download the file (or AirDrop it), open it from Safari Downloads or Files, and tap Add Shortcut.
- Long-press it in Shortcuts → All Shortcuts → Rename and call it Charge Helper, so it doesn’t give itself away.
- Run it while unlocked and choose Always Allow where offered; allow any other requested access. Confirm its effect before creating the automation.
- Shortcuts → Automation → + → Charger, choose Is Connected, select Run Immediately, tap Next and choose the shortcut.
Undo
Open Shortcuts → Automation, swipe left on the automation and tap Delete. Then delete the shortcut. Restore media volume and audio output in Control Center.
Variations
- Edit the morse string in the shortcut to spell their name instead.
Test the trigger
Installing the file does not create its automation. After the manual test, trigger the event once and check the result. If the shortcut picker is unavailable, create a blank automation, add Run Shortcut, and select this shortcut. Menus, previews and app-opening actions may still need interaction or an unlocked phone even with Run Immediately selected. If it stops, run from the shortcut’s … editor to identify the failing action.