Shortcuts Focus: how to work around publication paywalls to read articles for free

The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times,  the Financial Times, Bloomberg, the Boston Globe as well as similar big media publications may give y'all a few gratuitous articles monthly earlier y'all striking their paywall. iDownloadBlog condones paying for tidings that matters to you. That said, digital media subscriptions are non everyone’s loving cup of tea due to their commonly high price. As publishers kicking the bucket along experimenting amongst digital subscriptions inwards an endeavor to abide by that sweetness pricing spot, i savvy user has decided to convey matters into their ain hands as well as come upwardly up amongst an iOS workflow inwards Apple’s Shortcuts app which bypasses article paywalls.

Welcome to iDB’s column dedicated to singling out some of the really best iOS automation workflows for Apple’s Shortcuts app inwards iOS 12. We assay to abide by inspiring shortcuts created past times users from all around the globe that relieve your fourth dimension spell brand y'all to a greater extent than productive, similar ones that allow y'all get Dark Mode on whatever website inwards Safari, text multiple recipients inwards dissever messages, add Apple Music albums to the Home screen and much more.

For more, travel surely to banking venture stand upwardly for out iDownloadBlog’s Shortcuts Focus archive.

Introducing the Bypass Paywall shortcut

The Bypass Paywall shortcut, created past times Reddit user “l-0_0-l,” takes payoff of Facebook’s redirect URL system to allow y'all read total articles on the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Boston Globe as well as thus forth, regardless of whether or non you’re a subscriber.

To travel sure, this item shortcut isn’t really bypassing the paywall. Rather, it’s taking payoff of a characteristic that some publications similar the Financial Times induce got optionally enabled, which basically permits people coming from Facebook to read paywall’d articles for free.

As such, this is a unproblematic workaround rather than a hack.

The shortcut is designed to travel readily accessible from iOS’s multi-purpose Share canvass thus it tin travel run from at that spot whenever y'all run into an article amongst a paywall.

How to bypass article paywalls

First, y'all demand to kicking the bucket this shortcut.

Download Apple’s gratuitous Shortcuts app if y'all haven’t already. Next, see the iCloud download page for the Bypass Paywall shortcut in Safari on iOS 12+ as well as tap the blueish Get Shortcut button. If asked whether to opened upwardly the iCloud file using the Shortcuts app, tap Open.

Your imported as well as created shortcuts are constitute nether the Library tab inwards the Shortcuts app.

Optionally, give your shortcut a descriptive name: nether the Library tab, striking the three dots inwards the shortcut’s upper-right corner, thus tap the settings icon close the top-right corner.  Tap Name and travel into a custom cite for this shortcut, thus tap Done to kicking the bucket dorsum to the previous screen. Now tap Done i time to a greater extent than to relieve the changes as well as examination our shortcut.

Renaming the shortcut

To usage the shortcut, starting fourth dimension launch Safari as well as navigate to an article that’s hidden behind a paywall. When greeted amongst a message proverb y'all must subscribe to kicking the bucket along reading, tap Safari’s Share button as well as pick out Shortcuts from the bottom row of icons.

Working roughly article paywalls is slow amongst this shortcut

Doing thus volition opened upwardly the mobile Facebook website to allow the shortcut to operate its magic. You volition thus reckon a alert message proverb you’re close to travel out Facebook as well as follow the master copy article link. Tap the blueish clitoris labeled Follow Link to continue.

And but similar that, the total article is loaded fifty-fifty though y'all don’t induce got a subscription.

Accessing an article behind the Financial Times’ paywall

You tin alone add together the Shortcuts app itself to these Share menus, non the actual shortcut. This is past times design—every fourth dimension y'all portion something to the Shortcuts app, it volition clitoris upwardly a listing of all the shortcuts which tin convey the media type you’re sharing, similar a webpage inwards Safari.

The shortcut has been pre-configured to travel accessible from iOS’s Share menus

If the Shortcuts app is nowhere to travel constitute inwards the Share sheet, tap More (the rightmost icon inwards the Share sheet) as well as slide the switch adjacent to Shortcuts to the ON position.

If the shortcut is run manually inwards the Shortcuts app or inwards an unsupported context (i.e. there’s no URL passed to it), you’ll travel asked to manually type inwards the article URL.

The video below is our overview of iOS 12’s Shortcuts app.

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If y'all abide by our Shortcuts Focus serial useful, we’d beloved to withdraw heed from you!

Need help? Ask iDB!

If y'all similar this how-to, pass it along to your back upwardly folks as well as travel out a comment below.

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