Start trip recording with a CarPlay or Bluetooth shortcut
Automatic detection needs a few seconds, sometimes a minute. A Shortcuts automation starts the trip the moment your iPhone connects to the car, and it is the most reliable way to record every drive.
Set up the automation
iOS does not let apps create automations for you, but setting one up takes a minute.
- Open the Shortcuts app, go to the Automation tab and tap +.
- Choose "CarPlay", then "Connects". Without CarPlay, choose "Bluetooth" and select your car.
- Choose "Run Immediately", so it does not ask each time.
- Tap "New Blank Automation" and add the "Start Trip" action from Yesterdrive.
End the trip when you leave the car
You do not have to do anything: a trip ends on its own after a stop. To end it right away, add a second automation with "Disconnects" and the "End Trip" action.
Good to know
If a trip started this way sees no movement for 10 minutes, it is cancelled. Connecting the phone without driving anywhere leaves nothing in your history.
The automation works together with automatic detection or instead of it: you can turn Automatic Detection off in Settings and record only with the Shortcut.
With Premium and several vehicles, the "Start Trip" action can also choose the vehicle, so each car's automation files its trips under the right one.
The same actions work with Siri: "Start a trip in Yesterdrive" and "End the trip in Yesterdrive".
The steps above are also in the app: Settings, then "Start Automatically with CarPlay or Bluetooth". Shortcuts are part of the free app.
Let the next drive record itself.
Free on the App Store, for iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
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