No matter how long you've had an iPhone, there are always new or undiscovered features for you. Specialists have compiled a list of 15 tips and tricks, published by nytimes.com.
Specialists have compiled a list of 15 tips and tricks for using the iPhone
1. Identify plants or animals. If you take a photo of a plant, flower, tree or animal, you can find out exactly what it is by tapping the Info button at the bottom of the screen; if your iPhone knows what it is, a star symbol will appear at the bottom of the photo. The metadata details will tell you what the plant or animal is and will also give you the option to search for more information about it.
2. Turn your phone into an audio device. In Settings, go to Accessibility > Audio & visual > Background sounds and choose from sounds like Ocean, Rain, and Stream. We've tested this ourselves and with babies, and the sounds are soothing to all.
3. Ask Siri to read things to you. Open the Safari app and then command Siri to “read this” or to say “I want to listen to this page”. You can also tap the Aa button to the left of the address bar and tap Listen Page. You have the option to adjust the speaking speed as well as pausing.
4. Automatically sort shopping list. The Reminders app does double-duty to-do lists and can even organize some lists for you. When you create a new list, select Groceries from the List Type drop-down menu. As you add items to the list, the app sorts them into categories, such as adding “eggs” under “Dairy, eggs and cheese.”
5. Keep people out of your private tabs. If you've been away from Safari for 15 minutes, your iPhone may require authentication before showing your private tabs. This is handy if you often let other people use your phone and want to keep some browsing habits private. To enable the feature, go to Settings, tap Safari, and turn on the switch for Require Face ID to unlock private browsing.
6. Create gestures that you can trigger with your voice. iOS accessibility features can play any series of touch actions when you give a voice command. Imagine drawing an entire, boring action you do frequently in an app, like manually entering information to move through screens or having a command write your signature or draw an image. Go to Settings, tap Accessibility, then tap Voice Control. Enable it and then tap Commands > Create new command. Enter the desired command phrase, tap Action , then tap Perform Custom Gesture. Use your finger to create the gesture on the home screen, and your phone will play it when you say the trigger phrase. Note: I've found that voice control will respond to anyone using the controls, so maybe turn this one off when you're not using it.
7. Quickly remove background from photos. Touch and hold any image stored in the Files app, then touch Quick Actions > Remove Background. iOS creates a copy of the original photo without a background – perfect for later editing in another app. You can use the same trick with multiple photos as well.
Other functions
8. Use two fingers to select all. Just swipe down to select all to mark each item as read or delete en masse in apps like Messages, Mail, Notes and Reminders. This action also works in some third-party apps like Telegram, but there is no support yet in others like Gmail.
9. Copy or translate the text with the camera. Open the camera app and point your phone's lens at a block of text. An icon with three lines in an outlined square appears in the lower right corner. Tap the icon and capture the text with the option to copy, select all, search, translate or share.
10. Look for laundry care icons. After If you take a photo of a laundry care label, tap the Info button at the bottom of the page and tap Search Laundry Care. The results will show you what each specific tag means.
11. Delete a digit from the calculator. Swipe in either direction on the calculator display to clear one digit at a time, instead of clearing all digits using the Clear or All Clear button.
12. Phone, stuck in one app. A setting called Guided Access keeps your phone locked to one app, which is especially useful when you're letting kids play with your iPhone. In Settings, tap Accessibility > Guided Access to turn on the feature, which prevents anyone using your phone from leaving one app and opening another. Remember to turn it off once you get your phone back.
13. Become a faster photographer with camera shortcuts. Swiping left on your iPhone's lock screen opens the Camera app. It's much easier to take photos by pressing the physical volume button on the side of the phone instead of pressing the Shutter button. Sliding the shutter button to the left shoots a bunch of photos in a row, a feature known as burst mode, while holding down the shutter button shoots video without having to switch to video mode. Freeing up a second from the time it takes to take a photo or record a video can be precious when capturing something fleeting, such as fast-moving children or pets.
14. Limit usage time for certain apps. Are you wasting too much time mindlessly scrolling through TikTok or Instagram? You can enable a setting that restricts your access to those apps. In Settings, tap Screen Time, then tap Add Limits > Add Limit. You can select an entire category of apps, such as Social, or set limits for specific apps by tapping the category and then selecting apps from those categories. Tap Next in the top-right corner, and then choose how much time you'll allow yourself to spend in those apps. You can give yourself more time on weekends if you want by tapping Customize Days.
15. Move a group of apps to another page on the home screen. When taking care of your iPhone home screen, moving apps one by one to another page can be tedious. You can move a group of apps at once: just long-press an app, tap Edit Home Screen, and then grab the app you want to move. While holding your finger on the screen, tap each app icon you want to move with it, and your iPhone will snap them all.
