Share Links from Phone to Website with Google Sheets and iOS Shortcuts

I just set this up and want to document it for reproducibility. The goal: share any link from my phone and have it automatically appear on my website. No backend needed, just Google Sheets as a "database" and an iOS Shortcut to post to it.

The Flow

Share link on iPhone → iOS Shortcut → Google Apps Script → Google Sheet → Website rebuilds

1. Create the Google Sheet

Create a new Google Sheet with three columns:

Make it publicly viewable: Share → Anyone with the link → Viewer

Copy the Sheet ID from the URL - it's the long string between /d/ and /edit:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/THIS_IS_YOUR_SHEET_ID/edit

2. Create the Google Apps Script

In your Google Sheet go to Extensions → Apps Script and paste this code:

function doPost(e) {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet()
  const data = JSON.parse(e.postData.contents)

  sheet.appendRow([new Date().toISOString(), data.url, data.title || ''])

  // Optional: Trigger Vercel rebuild
  // Get deploy hook from: Vercel Dashboard → Settings → Git → Deploy Hooks
  // UrlFetchApp.fetch('https://api.vercel.com/v1/integrations/deploy/YOUR_HOOK', { method: 'POST' })

  return ContentService.createTextOutput(JSON.stringify({ success: true })).setMimeType(
    ContentService.MimeType.JSON
  )
}

3. Deploy the Script as Web App

Click Deploy → New deployment and configure:

• Type: Web app
• Execute as: Me (important!)
• Who has access: Anyone (not "Anyone with Google account"!)

Click Deploy and copy the Web App URL.

Authorize the Script

The first time you deploy, Google will show a warning "Google hat diese App nicht überprüft" (Google hasn't verified this app). This is normal for personal scripts:

1. Click Erweitert (Advanced)
2. Click Zu [project name] wechseln (unsicher) (Go to [project name] (unsafe))
3. Click Zulassen (Allow)

This authorizes your own script to access your own spreadsheet.

4. Create the iOS Shortcut

Open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut:

1. Add action: Receive URLs input from Share Sheet

   • If there's no input: Continue

2. Add action: Get Contents of URL

   • URL: paste your Google Apps Script URL
   • Method: POST
   • Request Body: JSON
   • Add field: url with value Shortcut Input

Name the shortcut something like "Save Link".

That's it. Now when you share any link from Safari, Twitter, or anywhere else, tap your shortcut and it gets added to your Google Sheet.

5. Fetch Links in Next.js

Create a helper to fetch from Google Sheets at build time:

// lib/getLinks.ts
export interface Link {
  date: string
  url: string
  title: string
}

export async function getLinks(): Promise<Link[]> {
  const sheetId = process.env.GOOGLE_SHEET_ID

  if (!sheetId) {
    console.warn('GOOGLE_SHEET_ID not set')
    return []
  }

  try {
    const res = await fetch(
      `https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/${sheetId}/gviz/tq?tqx=out:json`,
      { next: { revalidate: 60 } }
    )

    const text = await res.text()
    const jsonString = text.slice(47, -2) // Strip Google's wrapper
    const data = JSON.parse(jsonString)

    const links: Link[] = data.table.rows
      .map((row: { c: Array<{ v: string | null }> }) => ({
        date: row.c[0]?.v || '',
        url: row.c[1]?.v || '',
        title: row.c[2]?.v || '',
      }))
      .filter((link: Link) => link.url)

    return links.sort((a, b) => new Date(b.date).getTime() - new Date(a.date).getTime())
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to fetch links:', error)
    return []
  }
}

Add to your .env:

GOOGLE_SHEET_ID=your_sheet_id_here

6. Display the Links

Create a page to display your links:

// app/links/page.tsx
import { getLinks } from '@/lib/getLinks'

export default async function LinksPage() {
  const links = await getLinks()

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Links</h1>
      <ul>
        {links.map((link, i) => (
          <li key={i}>
            <a href={link.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
              {link.title || link.url}
            </a>
          </li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  )
}

Optional: Auto-rebuild on New Links

Uncomment the UrlFetchApp.fetch line in the Apps Script and add your Vercel deploy hook. Every time you share a link, your site will automatically rebuild with the new content.

Why This Setup?

• No backend needed - Google Sheets is the database
• Free - no costs for storage or API calls
• Native iOS integration - appears in the share sheet
• Editable - can manually edit links in Google Sheets
• Simple - took about 15 minutes to set up