20+ Eay-to-Use iPhone Tricks Most People Don’t Know About

Change Text and Appearance in Select Apps

If you want bigger text in a particular app, you can do so by following these steps.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Per-App Settings > Add App. 

By tapping an app, you can change the size and contrast of the display and text, invert the colors, and use other features.

Enable Voice Unlock

It works only with phones that have a passcode of five or fewer digits, but it’s a good option for older iPhones that you use frequently.

Go to Settings > Accessibility> Voice Control. 

Turn it on, tap Customize Commands > Custom > Create New Command, and type in a phrase you want to say: “Knock Down,” for instance. 

Select Run Custom Gestures from the Action menu. Use a swipe or tap gesture to hit your passcode. You will need to know approximately where the keys will be on the number pad.

Then, tap the Stop and Save buttons at the top. When you’re out, tap the screen, search for the mic icon in the blue circle at the top that means the iPhone is listening, and say “Knock Down.” By doing this the phone unlocks itself for you.

Use the Back Tap feature

Though this tip has been around since the days of the iPhone’s Dark Mode, it still goes unnoticed by most people. The Back Tap feature goes beyond simple screenshots, offering an array of features and shortcuts using merely two or three taps on your iPhone’s back.

The standout feature of this app is its compatibility with models from iPhone 8 onwards. 

Beyond being a vital accessibility tool, it serves as a shortcut to crucial system software, including the camera. To enable Back Tap on your iPhone: Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, and tap Back Tap. Then, double-tap or triple-tap and choose an action. Now tap your iPhone’s back twice or three times to trigger the action.

Activate The Haptic Feedback

The native keyboard on iOS is the only application that does not provide haptic feedback. 

With iOS 16, you can now choose to enable vibrations on your iPhone keyboard when typing.

• To access Sounds & Haptics, go to Settings.
• Scroll down to Keyboard Feedback.
• Enable the Haptic slider button.

Enable Flash Alerts

In addition to alert noise, you can set your iPhone’s LED light to flash when certain messages arrive. To enable LED flash for alerts, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual.

Connect the Bluetooth Mouse to the iPhone

You can use a Bluetooth mouse with your iPhone to mimic your fingers. Follow these steps to do so: Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Assistive Touch, and turn it on. 

Now scroll down to Devices > Bluetooth Devices. Pair your Bluetooth pointing device with your computer. Set up the mouse clicks so they reflect how you use your fingers.

Rearrange Messages app

In the Messages app, you can now rearrange features that are most relevant to you if customization is important to you. You could not ask for a simpler process.

1. Your iPhone will launch the Messages app.
2. In the bottom-left corner, click the (+) icon.
3. You can view all your options by clicking More.
4. Choose the options you would like to appear in the quick menu by dragging and dropping them.
5. The quick menu also allows you to rearrange them to facilitate communication.

Use Voice Command to Turn Voice Control Off/On

“To disable Voice Control, simply say, ‘Hey, Siri, turn off Voice Control.’ To re-enable, use the same command.

Activating it will provide you with commands for your iPhone, such as “go to sleep,” “wake up,” “lock screen,” or “show grid continuously.” 

That last one puts an overlay grid on your screen, with numbered boxes. Say the name of the box, and it can zoom in or “push” an icon or button for you.

Enable Picture-in-Picture mode on YouTube

The latest version of iOS 15 offers an advanced option for viewing YouTube in a floating window. This feature is called Picture-in-Picture (PiP), and it allows users to minimize YouTube videos on the iPhone screen. 

You need a Premium subscription to Google’s streaming application to access YouTube’s Picture-in-Picture mode on your iPhone.

After signing up as a trial user, the feature will be automatically available on your iPhone. For those who prefer to remain YouTube-free, we recommend downloading PiPifier directly from the App Store.

Here’s how to enable Picture-in-Picture mode on YouTube.

For Non-Premium Users:

The App Store offers an alternative solution to PiP, ‘PiPifier’.

For YouTube Premium Users:

Open YouTube > Play any video you want > Press the home button or swipe up to minimize. In a small window, the video will continue.

Lock Camera Focus

Whenever you move or your subject moves in the Camera app, the iPhone refocuses instantly. If you don’t want that, hold your finger over the area you want to focus-at the top, you’ll see AF Lock.

Take Advantage Of Cinematic Modes And Photographic Styles

A new set of features was introduced with the release of the iPhone 13 series, including Cinematic Mode and Photographic Styles. Due to their hardware-dependent nature, these features can only be fully accessed by owners of the iPhone 13 series or newer models.

By opening the Camera and swiping to Cinematic Mode, users can access the feature. By default, the resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. From the settings, you must enable the crisp 4K resolution. Here are some steps for activating and using this mode.

Open Settings > Select Camera > Tap Record Cinematic > Choose 4K at 30fps or 4K at 24fps 

Adjust Focus After the Shot

There are many lenses on iPhones, so you can take cool portrait-mode photos with blurred-out backgrounds (the bokeh effect). Modern iPhones also offer this with videos when you shoot in Cinematic Mode. The latest iOS knows that sometimes you blow the shot and focus on the wrong thing anyway. 

So now you can go into the Photos app and reset the focus after the shot is done. You can change the f-stop for each photo to increase or decrease the blur as desired. In a video, click edit and you’ll get a timeline showing the places where the focus shifted via yellow dots. You can delete them all and set up a new spot in the shot that should be tracked for focus. TyTeachesTech on TikTok has an excellent short tutorial.

Burst Changes

To use the burst mode, hold down the white shutter button for less than a second, and several pictures will be taken. 

Thankfully, iOS 14 changed that. Now, holding down the button takes a video until it is released. If you do not want to use your finger, you can drag right to continue shooting.

Still, burst mode can be accessed, which is great for capturing action shots. Drag the shutter button left while holding the shutter button. 

If you hold it, it will continue to shoot. You can also make the Volume Up button your default way of taking burst shots in Settings > Camera > Use Volume Up for Burst.

Mirror Selfies

Take a look at yourself in the front camera of your iPhone. When you see your reflection, you are seeing a mirror image, which is how humans are used to seeing themselves. 

An image is flipped when you take a picture or video, as if the photographer were behind a camera. That’s usually what you want. However, if you don’t, go to Settings > Camera and enable Mirror Front Camera.

Customize Good Vibrations

A custom ringtone won’t help you identify a caller or texter if your phone is on vibrate. Create individual vibration patterns for frequent contact. After tapping Ringtone, tap Vibration. Probably set to default.

By clicking Create New Vibration, you’ll see options such as “Alert,” “Heartbeat,” and “Symphony.” Create your own by clicking one of these options. Next, select a pattern. Your new vibration will be saved as soon as you click Stop, and then you can name it. You can finish the process by clicking Done on the Ringtone screen.

Use Volume Buttons as Shutter Buttons

Using the screen button as a shutter is not necessary when using the camera app. You can take a snapshot by clicking either the Volume button.

You can even start and stop a video capture with it. Use the volume buttons on the wire if you have wired earbuds connected to your iPhone.

Holding down the volume button will take a video until you release it. The Up Volume button can be turned into a Burst Mode shutter as shown above.

Crop It Quick

The crop tool used to be found after tapping the photo, choosing edit, and finding the crop tool if your photo has too much. Not anymore. To zoom in, open an image and use two fingers. 

At the upper right, there is a Crop button. The image is immediately whittled down to what you see on the screen when you tap it. You can always go back into Edit and restore the image.

Snap Photos While You Shoot Video

Look for the white circle shutter button on the screen while shooting the video. The button snaps a still every time you tap it as you shoot. All of them will appear in your camera roll.

Rather than the multi-megapixel photos you’d normally take with your phone’s still camera, you’ll get video-resolution pictures instead.

Strip Data From Photos Before You Share

Whenever you share images directly from the Photos app to a person or service, all the information collected at the time of capture is included.

It may not be appropriate for you to share that. Before sharing a photo, click Options at the top of the screen before clicking the Share Button. You can turn off all photo data by clicking here. 

It removes everything, including edit history, crops, filters, and Live Photo effects.

Copy & paste your photo and video montages

Did you find the perfect combination of filters and settings to edit your photo or video? To copy an edit and apply it to other photos and/or videos without having to start over, you don’t need to lose the genius cut.

Launch the Photos application > Select the image or video you just edited > Press the three-dot menu at the top right.

After that, do this:

• Select Copy Edits.
• Apply your edit to another image or video.
• Click Edit, then the three-dot menu (also at the top right).
• Select Paste Edits.

Take People and Things Out of Images

Are there people or things in the foreground of a photo that deserve to be preserved without anything behind them? Visual Look Up includes this iPhone image trick. 

You can drag the part you want to save around to place it elsewhere (into Messages or an email, for example), then tap it and it will pop off the screen a bit. As a result, the background becomes transparent. 

You can also use this on images you see in Safari. By clicking the I in a circle icon, you can also take pictures or videos of plants, animals, food, symbols/signs, and landmarks to identify them instantly.

Keep It On the Level

In iOS 17, the horizontal line on the screen indicates the photo level. A yellow line indicates that it is level. When in portrait or landscape orientation, you can tell if you are tipping down too much on either side. 

As soon as you tilt far enough, the level line disappears, since the gyroscope inside assumes you meant the Dutch angle. Activate it under Settings > Camera if it isn’t visible.

Hidden QR Code Scanner

In addition to the QR code scanner in the Camera app, Apple also offers a standalone QR code scanner app for faster access. The CodeScanner app appears as soon as you swipe down from the middle of the screen to bring up the Spotlight search box. Simply tap the QR code and take a picture.

Ping your Apple Watch

In addition, you can ping your Apple Watch directly from the control centre, another incredibly handy feature. It is especially useful for those who tend to lose their devices frequently.

You can enable the “ping Apple Watch” feature on your iPhone by following these steps:

1. The (+) icon can be found under Settings > Control Center > More Controls.
2. The control will be moved to the Included Controls section. The Control Center allows you to reposition it at the top, centre, or bottom.
3. You’re done! You can ring your Apple Watch by clicking the Watch icon in the Control Center.

Create Text Replacements

Do you find yourself typing phrases over and over again, such as “On the way home” or “Love you more than the sun and moon!”? You can change the text replacement by going to Settings > General > Keyboard. 

To enter a phrase and a shortcut, click the plus (+) icon at the top. Whenever you type the shortcut (such as “otw”), the full phrase (for example, “Leave me alone!”) appears in the keyboard’s text preview. This trick can even be used to type a letter combo to bring up a specific series of emojis.

Swipe Type to QuickPath

Swipe-typing is a feature found in many third-party iOS keyboards, which allows you to move your finger or thumb around the keys without lifting it. It is also part of the default keyboard as of iOS 13; Apple calls it QuickPath.

Hold the Space Bar to Make a Trackpad

While typing along, you want to move the cursor up and change something you wrote. Despite the fact that your thumbs are already flying, you could tap the screen. By holding down the spacebar, they will stay on the virtual keyboard.

Drag your thumb tip around to move the cursor when the keys go blank. Put the cursor where you want it, and type or delete as necessary.

End a call with Siri

When you’re on a voice or FaceTime call, Siri can help you hang up.

1. To access Siri and Search, go to Settings.
2. Start by enabling “Say Siri”.
3. Activate the slider next to Call Hang-up.
4. “Say Siri, hang up” is the corresponding voice command.

Create an SOS Contact

Contact your most important people. To designate one or more as emergency SOS person(s), click Health, then Medical ID, then Edit > Emergency Contacts. You will now see a red asterisk next to them in your Contacts list (SOS also contacts emergency services).

Hold down the power and volume buttons on the left simultaneously to send an SOS. A countdown begins, an alert sounds, and when the call goes through to 911, messages are sent to your emergency contacts.

You can either use the Emergency SOS slider or keep holding down the buttons. Satellite-based emergency SOS is even more powerful on the latest iPhones.

Pin a tab in Safari

You can open up to 500 tabs at once with the Safari app. There aren’t many people who use that many tabs. Having the ability to pin a few of them is very useful if you have a dozen open.

1. Safari’s toolbar has a button at the bottom right.
2. You can select any tab and hold it for a few seconds.
3. Choose Pin Tab from the contextual menu.

In addition to pinning multiple tabs, you can also pin tabs within tab groups so they are always open. The same steps as listed above should be followed after the tab group has been opened.

Use Search to Make a Quick Calendar Entry

The spotlight search on iOS is accessed by swiping down amid all your home screen icons. From there, you can type or speak what you’re looking for. 

For a quick calendar entry, just start typing or talking and include the date, time, and description. If iOS figures it out, it will put an entry on screen with an Add button next to it.