Greenlings
Tap-to-water guide

Tap-to-water with Greenlings

Tap your iPhone against a sticker on the pot and your Greenling is watered, without opening the app. This takes only a couple of minutes, and you only set it up once per plant.

What you need

  • An iPhone XS or later (it needs the built-in NFC reader).
  • An NFC sticker per plant. Any NTAG213 sticker works, the cheap round ones are fine.
  • Greenlings 1.0 or later, with the plant already added.

Which iOS version do you have?

The Shortcuts app changed in iOS 27. Pick your version:

iOS 18 to 26 Steps for iOS 18 to 26 ↓ iOS 27 and later Steps for iOS 27 and later ↓

Not sure? Open Settings › General › About and look at “iOS Version”.

Step 1 (all versions): pair the sticker

  1. Stick the NFC sticker on the pot where it is easy to reach, for example under the rim.
  2. In Greenlings, open your plant, tap the ••• menu and choose Set up tap-to-water.
  3. Tap Scan the sticker and hold the top of your iPhone to the sticker. You feel a small buzz when it is paired.
Screenshot: the plant's ••• menu with Set up tap-to-water
Screenshot: the guide's first page, Pair the sticker, with the Scan button

One sticker belongs to one plant. If a sticker already belongs to another plant, Greenlings asks whether to move it.

Step 2

iOS 18 to 26

  1. Open the Shortcuts app and tap the Automation tab at the bottom.
  2. Tap + (top right, if you already have automations), then New Automation or Create Personal Automation.
  3. Choose NFC as the trigger.
  4. Tap Scan and hold the top of your iPhone to the sticker on the pot. Name it, for example “Suki's pot”. Tap Next.
  5. Choose Run Immediately, so it works without asking. You can turn off Notify When Run.
  6. Tap New Blank Automation, then Add Action.
  7. Search for Greenlings and pick Log watering.
  8. Tap Plant in the action and choose your plant. Tap Done.
Pictures of these screens Apple shows the same screens in the Shortcuts User Guide: Create a personal automation, iOS 18 and iOS 26. For the NFC trigger: NFC triggers.
Step 2

iOS 27 and later

In iOS 27 an automation is a shortcut that starts with a trigger. The trigger is the first action at the top.

  1. Open the Shortcuts app and go to the Automation screen.
  2. Tap + at the bottom. A new shortcut opens on “Describe a Shortcut”. Tap Edit to skip that and use the classic editor.
  3. Add the NFC trigger first (action library › Automation category › NFC).
  4. Tap Scan and hold the top of your iPhone to the sticker on the pot.
  5. Search for Greenlings and add Log watering.
  6. Tap Plant in the action and choose your plant.
  7. Open the shortcut's info panel › Privacy › turn on Allow Running When Locked, so it runs without asking.
Screenshot: the Automation screen with + at the bottom
Screenshot: Describe a Shortcut, with Edit highlighted
Screenshot: action library, Automation category, NFC trigger
Screenshot: scanning the sticker in the NFC trigger
Screenshot: Greenlings Log watering with the plant chosen
Screenshot: info panel, Privacy, Allow Running When Locked

The Automations page lists every shortcut with a trigger and marks the ones that are not fully set up. Apple's guide: Add automations.

Try it

Hold the top of your iPhone to the pot. Your Greenling says thanks and the watering shows up in its history. Back in Greenlings, the plant's tap-to-water card now says Tap-to-water is on with the time of the last tap.

Screenshot: the banner “Suki says thanks!” after a tap
Screenshot: the plant's card “Tap-to-water is on”

Troubleshooting

My iPhone asks “Run automation?” every time.

The automation is set to ask first. On iOS 18 to 26, open it in the Automation tab and choose Run Immediately. On iOS 27 and later, turn on Allow Running When Locked in the shortcut's info panel. Some actions may also need their own setting to run automatically.

Tapping does nothing.
  • Hold the top edge of the iPhone flat against the sticker for a second, and take any thick case off.
  • Metal under the sticker blocks it. Use an on-metal sticker or move it.
  • Open Shortcuts and check that the automation is switched on and uses the sticker you scanned. Scan it again if you re-stuck or replaced the sticker.
  • Face ID or the passcode may be required once after a restart.
It waters the wrong plant.

Each sticker needs its own automation with the right plant chosen in Log watering. Open the automation for that sticker and change the plant.

Greenlings says tap-to-water isn't on yet.

The app can't read Shortcuts. It turns on after the first tap that the automation sends. Tap the pot once and check again.

The Greenlings actions are missing in Shortcuts.

Open Greenlings once so iOS learns its actions, then search again.

More help