How to Append to Last Note with Siri Shortcuts (Complete Automation Guide)

Siri Shortcuts automation lets you add new thoughts to your most recent Brain Dump note with a single voice command. Instead of creating dozens of separate notes throughout the day, you can continuously build one note — perfect for daily journals, meeting minutes, project brainstorms, or running task lists.

Why Use Append to Last Note

Recording a new voice note every time creates file clutter. If you're journaling throughout the day or tracking a single meeting, you end up with 10+ separate files that should really be one continuous note.

The "Append to Last Note" shortcut solves this by:

• Building continuous journals: Add entries throughout the day to a single daily note
• Extending meeting notes: Capture follow-up thoughts after a meeting ends
• Growing project ideas: Keep adding to an active brainstorm or planning document
• Maintaining task lists: Append new to-dos to your running action items note
• Reducing file clutter: One evolving note instead of 20 fragments

How Append Works

When you trigger the "Append to Last Note" shortcut:

1. Brain Dump finds your most recently modified note in iCloud Drive
2. You record your voice addition (same transcription quality as normal notes)
3. Brain Dump adds your new content to the end of that note with a timestamp separator
4. The file is saved and synced to iCloud

Your appended content appears like this in the note:

Original note content here...

---
[2025-01-15 14:30]
Your newly appended voice note transcription appears here.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Step 1: Open the Shortcuts App

1. Find the Shortcuts app on your iPhone (pre-installed on iOS 13+)
2. If you can't find it, search for "Shortcuts" in Spotlight
3. Tap to open the app

Step 2: Create a New Personal Automation

1. Tap the Automation tab at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the + button in the top right corner
3. Select Create Personal Automation (not Home automation)

Step 3: Choose Your Trigger

Option A: Voice Trigger (Most Common)

1. Scroll down and select "When I say" under Siri
2. Type your trigger phrase: "append note", "add to journal", or "continue note"
3. Tap Next

Option B: Time-Based Trigger (For Daily Journals)

1. Select Time of Day
2. Choose a time (e.g., 9 PM for evening journal)
3. Set frequency (Daily)
4. Tap Next

Option C: Location Trigger (For Context)

1. Select Arrive or Leave
2. Choose a location (e.g., "When I leave the office")
3. Tap Next

Step 4: Add the Brain Dump Action

1. In the Actions screen, tap Add Action
2. Search for "Brain Dump" in the search bar
3. Select "Append to Last Note" from the Brain Dump actions
4. The action will be added to your automation

Step 5: Configure Settings (Optional)

The default settings work for most use cases, but you can customize:

• Show When Run: Toggle off to run silently without confirmation
• Notify When Run: Toggle on to get a notification after appending

Tap Next when ready.

Step 6: Review and Enable

1. Review your automation summary
2. Toggle Ask Before Running off if you want instant appending (recommended)
3. Tap Done to save

Step 7: Test Your Shortcut

1. Say "Hey Siri, append note" (or your custom phrase)
2. Wait for Siri's confirmation beep
3. Speak your addition: "Remember to email the design team about the homepage mockups"
4. Brain Dump transcribes and appends to your last note
5. Open Brain Dump or the Files app to verify the addition

Workflow Examples

The Daily Journaler

Setup: Create a voice-triggered automation with phrase "add to journal"

Morning:

1. Record your first note: "Morning journal January 15. Woke up feeling energized..."

Throughout the day:

• After lunch: "Hey Siri, add to journal" → "Just had a great conversation with Sarah about the Q1 roadmap"
• Evening commute: "Hey Siri, add to journal" → "Finished the prototype today. Feeling accomplished."
• Before bed: "Hey Siri, add to journal" → "Grateful for productive meetings and good coffee."

Result: One continuous daily journal note instead of 4 separate files.

The Meeting Note Taker

Setup: Use the Brain Dump app to record initial meeting notes, then append follow-ups

During meeting: Record comprehensive meeting notes in Brain Dump normally

After meeting:

• 10 minutes later: "Hey Siri, append note" → "Just realized we forgot to discuss the timeline. Need to follow up with PM."
• Next day: "Hey Siri, append note" → "Action item update: Design team confirmed they can deliver mockups by Friday."

Result: All meeting notes and follow-ups in one searchable file.

The Project Brainstormer

Setup: Create a project note, then continuously add ideas as they come

Initial: Record "Website redesign ideas" note with initial concepts

Throughout the week:

• Walking to lunch: "Hey Siri, append note" → "What if we used a monochrome color scheme for the landing page?"
• During commute: "Hey Siri, append note" → "Competitor analysis: Acme Corp has a great testimonial carousel"
• Weekend: "Hey Siri, append note" → "Feature idea: add dark mode toggle in settings"

Result: One evolving project brainstorm document.

Advanced Customization

Create Multiple Append Shortcuts

You can create different append shortcuts for different purposes:

1. "Add to journal" → Appends to your daily journal
2. "Add task" → Appends to your running task list
3. "Meeting followup" → Appends to most recent meeting note

Each uses the same "Append to Last Note" action but with different voice triggers.

Use Shortcuts Folders for Organization

1. In Shortcuts app, create folders like "Brain Dump Workflows"
2. Move all Brain Dump shortcuts into that folder
3. Easier to manage as you build more automations

Chain Multiple Actions

You can combine Brain Dump append with other Shortcuts actions:

Example: Timestamped Append

1. Action 1: Get Current Date → Format as "HH:mm"
2. Action 2: Text → "Update at [time]: "
3. Action 3: Brain Dump → Append to Last Note

This adds a timestamp prefix to each appended entry.

Append to Specific Notes (Advanced)

For power users who want more control:

1. Use "Get File" action to select a specific iCloud note
2. Use "Append to Note" action and pass the selected file
3. Create shortcuts like "Add to Work Journal" vs "Add to Personal Journal"

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Q: Siri says "I don't see any Brain Dump actions" A: Make sure Brain Dump is installed and you've opened it at least once. Shortcuts only recognizes apps that have been launched.

Q: My append created a new note instead A: This happens if you don't have any existing notes yet. Record your first note manually, then future appends will work correctly.

Q: The shortcut asks for confirmation every time A: Edit your automation and toggle off "Ask Before Running". This allows instant appending without confirmation prompts.

Q: Append puts content at the beginning instead of the end A: Make sure you selected "Append to Last Note" (adds to end) not "Prepend to Last Note" (adds to beginning).

Q: Can I append to a note from yesterday instead of today's note? A: The default "Append to Last Note" action always targets the most recently modified file. For more control, use the advanced "Append to Note" action with manual file selection.

Privacy and Offline Use

Brain Dump's append shortcuts work completely offline:

• Transcription uses on-device Apple speech recognition
• Note files are stored in your iCloud Drive (local to your device when offline)
• No data sent to external servers during append operations

This means you can use append shortcuts:

• In Airplane Mode during flights
• In areas with no cellular coverage
• Without worrying about privacy or data usage

Related Guides

• Voice dictation tips for clear transcription — Improve transcription quality for appended notes
• Organize notes with iCloud topic folders — File your evolving notes into topics
• Export to Obsidian — Use appended notes in your knowledge base

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know which note I'm appending to? The shortcut appends to the most recently modified Brain Dump note. If you just recorded a note 5 minutes ago, that's the target. If you haven't used Brain Dump today, it appends to yesterday's last note.

Can I append to multiple notes at once? No, each append operation targets one note. But you can create multiple shortcuts that append to different specific notes (using the advanced "Append to Note" action).

Will appending create a new paragraph or add to the last line? Appends always add a new paragraph with a timestamp separator, so your original content and new content are visually distinct.

What happens if I'm editing a note when the shortcut runs? If you have the note open in Brain Dump while appending via shortcut, you may need to refresh or reopen the note to see the new content. iCloud sync handles conflicts gracefully.

Can I use this with Obsidian? Yes! Since Brain Dump saves to iCloud Drive as plain Markdown, any appended content appears in Obsidian automatically after iCloud syncs.

Is there a limit to how long a note can get? No hard limit, but extremely long notes (10,000+ words) may slow down when opening or editing. Consider creating new notes periodically for very active journals.

Last updated: January 2025. Works with Brain Dump 2.x on iOS 17+. Requires Shortcuts app (pre-installed on iPhone).