Hello, it is 2025 and there is still no good solution for this issue, and now the solution by Roote in this thread doesn't work any more! I cannot get the shortcut to open the actual file, just the Cloud drive folder.
Adding document files to Home Screen on i… - Apple Community
Does anyone have a solution to create a shortcut on the home screen to play a video that is on my iPad?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Hello imn2rc,
You can still use Shortcuts to do this but you need to use the "Open File" action instead:
You don't need to set the variable "Default App" if you only want to open that file in the default app. For finance a PDF fille will open automatically in the Books app but you can override this by specifying the Files app instead.
Note that for PNG files (image file), you'll need to specify the Files app, otherwise the shortcut will crash (at least in iOS 18.3.2).
Edit: For videos (MOV files) use also the Files app. It will be more convenient than the iMovie app.
I did some additional tests and it seems that longer videos are not playing.
Here is an alternative: add the File action, select your video in the File action, then add the Quick Look action. If your videos are in the Photos app, use the Find Photos (and filter on a specific video) instead of the File action.
Thank you for the tip!
Unfortunately it doesn't work with any of the .mov or .mp4 video files I have on either of my iPads (iPad air 5 and the iPad 10th gen), it just tries to work and shows a white rounded box at the top of the screen with a stop button, but no video file opens or plays. Using the default app, files app, iMovie, or even installing third party video playing apps doesn't work and yields the same result.
Awesome, that works great! I need to play around with all the items in the shortcut app more!
How to create a shortcut on the Home Screen to play a video on my iPad?
