If you have a newer Liftmaster or Chamberlain garage door opener, it’s likely that it has MyQ capabilities, which allow you to open and close your garage door from the MyQ app. Her’s how to add a MyQ shortcut to your phone’s home screen foreven quicker access.
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MyQ makes it really convenient to not only open and close your garage door from your phone, but to also check and make sure that you closed it after you left for work–that seems to be everyone’s biggest worry about their garage door anyway.
However, the MyQ app is pretty barebones and doesn’t come with a whole lot of features and integration. But with the help of another app, you can create shortcuts for opening and closing your garage door and put them right on your home screen or notification center for quick and easy access.
Setting Up the Shortcuts
To do this, you’ll need to download the Wink app (iOS and Android). Wink is a line of smarthome products that are controlled through the Wink hub. However, we don’t need the hub to make this work–only the app.
Once you have the app downloaded and installed, open it up and tap on “Sign Up” to create a Wink account. Or if you already have on, select “Log In”.
After you log in or create an account, you’ll be taken to the app’s main screen. From here, tap on the “+” button.
Scroll down and select “Garage Doors”.
Tap on “MyQ Garage Door”.
Tap “Next”.
Tap “Next” again.
Select “I have an account” if you already have the MyQ app installed on your phone. If not, tap on “Get MyQ app”.
Tap on “Connect Now”.
Sign into your MyQ account and then tap “Authenticate”.
Tap “Done”.
Your MyQ garage door will now show up in the Wink app and you can now begin controlling it by swiping up to open it and swiping down to close it.
Next, you’ll need to create “Shortcuts” that will allow you to control your garage door from the home screen or notification center, tap on the menu button in the top-left corner.
Tap on the “Shortcuts” tab at the bottom.
Tap on the “+” button where it says “New Shortcut”.
On the next page, tap on “New Shortcut” and give it a custom name, like “Open Garage Door”.
Next, tap on “Make this Happen” under “Shortcut Action”.
Tap on “Garage Door”.
Tap on “Open” and then hit “Save”.
Hit “Done” in the top-right corner to save the shortcut.
You’ll now repeat this, but this time you’ll create a shortcut for closing the garage door.
When you’re done, you’ll have two shortcuts: one to open your garage door and one to close it.
Adding the Shortcuts to Your Home Screen
We’re done in the Wink app, so now it’s time to add the shortcuts to your phone’s home screen or notification center.
On Android
Simply tap and hold on the home screen. Then select “Widgets”.
Scroll all the way down and you’ll find the Wink widgets. Tap and hold on one and then drag it onto your home screen.
A new screen will appear where you’ll drag and drop the shortcuts you want to use onto the widget. Tap on “Done” in the top-right corner when you’re finished.
After that, your MyQ shortcuts will appear on your Android device’s home screen.
On iPhone
You can’t put widgets on your home screen, but you can put them in the notification center. Start by swiping down from the top of the screen to bring up the notification center and make sure you’re on the “Today” tab.
Scroll down and tap on “Edit” at the bottom.
Scroll down and find “Wink Shortcuts” in the list. Tap on the green “+” button next to it.
Scroll back up, and it will now appear with the other widgets you have enabled. You can hold down on the move icon to the right to change where you want the widget located. Its default location will be at the bottom. Tap on “Done” when you’re good to go.
From there, the Wink widget will be located in the notification center, and you can instantly control your MyQ garage door from right there without even opening up the MyQ app itself.
It’s not quite as convenient as having the widget right on the home screen like on Android, but it’s the next best option in iOS.
