If you’ve read about Shortcuts, but felt a bit overwhelmed by the learning curve, here’s a great, simple project, perfect for dipping your toes in the water.

In a nutshell:

• Fire up the Shortcuts app on your iPhone
• Tap the Automation tab at the bottom of the screen
• Tap “Create Personal Automation”
• Scroll to the bottom and tap “Charger”
• Make sure “Is Connected” is selected
• Tap “Next”
• In the search field that appears (bottom of screen), type “Speak”. The action “Speak Text” should appear. Tap on it.
• Tap the “Text” area and type some text to speak, like “Charging”
• Tap “Next”
• Tap to turn off “Ask Before Running”.
• Tap “Done”

That’s it. Now plug in your iPhone and it will speak the text. Let the pranks begin!

One last note: To delete the shortcut (on the off chance that the novelty wears off), drag it to the left and tap Delete.