If you’ve just bought a new iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, and new to the world of iOS, then here are some tips and tricks you should know to use your shiny new device.
Please note that most of these tips and tricks are meant for new users, but I’m quite sure that even long time iOS users have either forgotten or aren’t using few of them actively. The reason for compiling these tips and tricks is to get you to incorporate them in your daily workflow so that you use your device more efficiently (and spend less time using them). If you need help with any particular tip, I’ve included links wherever available to our step-by-step guides which will provide more details. Except for the tips under the 3D Touch section, most of these tips will also work on other iPhones.
3D Touch
Similar to Force Touch on the Apple Watch, Apple added 3D Touch to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. 3D touch combines a pressure-sensitive display with haptic feedback to provide an all-new user interface element for both stock iOS and third-party apps. Because it is so new, 3D touch is not universally available in all apps. Instead, it is scattered throughout iOS. Here are some tips on where it works and how you can use it to increase your productivity.
#1. Quick Actions
Quick actions provide an action menu that is available when you press down on a home screen icon. Not all apps support quick actions so you have to keep experimenting with this feature to see which apps support it. For stock iOS apps, you can force press on Music, Clock, Camera, Photos, Notes and others to open the quick action menu.
#2. Links
3D touch also allows you to preview links from almost anywhere in iOS. When you see a link, simply press hard on the link and a pop-up preview of the site will appear. Depending on your internet connection, it may take 2-5 seconds for the page preview to load. Once you are viewing the page, you can slide it upwards to access a menu that allows you to perform actions such as open the link, add it to a reading list or copy it.
#3. Peek and Pop
Peek and Pop are two gestures that you can use to preview content while working in apps. Peek allows you to force touch on content, such a new message notification, and preview the item. When peeking, you can slide the peek window upwards to access another menu containing commands such as copy, share and so on.
Pop is a slightly harder touch that allows you to open the item you were previewing using Peek. Other ways to use Peek and Pop include pressing on a pin in Maps to view information about a place or pressing a playlist to get a preview of the songs in the list. Play around with peek and pop to discover where you can use them iOS.
#4. Use 3D Touch to view Live Photos
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus allows you to capture Live Photos which are video-enabled photos that capture a short buffer of audio and video on either side of your shot. When you view your photos in your camera roll, they appear as static images. Press down on them and they will come alive. For this feature to appear, you do have to capture the image with the Live Photo option enabled. When you are in the camera app, there Live Photo option is indicated by an icon with concentric rings. It will be highlighted yellow if it is turned on. You can tap the icon to toggle the feature on and off.
#5. Using 3D Touch with the App Switcher
Apply pressure when you swipe in from the left side of the screen to open the app switcher. This gesture is sometimes difficult to use as onscreen elements such as links, photos, and buttons sometimes get in the way.
#6. Switch back to the previous app
3D also makes it easier to switch between apps without pressing the Home button. You can press firmly on the left edge and swipe slightly to access the app switcher. You can also press firmly and swipe all the way across to switch back the previous app you were using.
#7. Quickly take a photo or selfie
Press down on the Camera icon on the home screen to open the Quick Action menu. Then choose the option to take a photo or take a selfie. You also can choose to record a video or begin a slow-mo recording.
#8. Preview a video in a message
Preview a video contained in a message using peek and pop. Press on the link to preview the video and then press deeper to open the page in Safari.
#9. Preview a URL in a message
Preview a URL contained in a message using peek and pop. Press on the link to preview the web page and then press deeper to open the page in Safari.
#10. Navigate home quickly
You can get driving directions back home in a snap by pressing on the Apple Maps icon on your home screen. When the quick actions menu opens, you can tap on “Directions Home” to start navigating back to your home address.
#11. Send a quick response to a text message
Force press on a text messaging thread in the Messages app to preview the conversation. Drag the preview window upwards to expose a list of quick responses that include “Ok,” “Thanks,” and “Yes.”
#12. Read an email or messages without opening it or marking it as read
Press on a message in your inbox to peek at the message contents, then slide up on the window to view a list of available actions. You can release your finger to return back to the inbox or press harder to open the message. The same works in the Messages app, the advantage here is that you can read the message without marking it as read, so the sender won’t get a read receipt.
#13. Respond quickly to an email message
When reading an email, you can use 3D Touch to interact with the contact details. Simply press firmly on the contact icon in the top right. This force touch will open a menu that allows you to send them another email, open a Facetime call, or add their details to your address book.
#14. Preview a photo without opening it
When viewing photos in your camera roll, you can press down to peek at an image and then swipe up to share or copy that photo. A deeper press will pop the image out to a full screen view.
#15. Preview your most recent photos without leaving the camera
You’ve always been able to preview a photo within the camera app by taping on its thumbnail and opening it in the photos app. Now you can press firmly on this thumbnail preview to open a preview without leaving the camera UI. A deeper press will open the image in a full-screen view.
#16. Activate a lock screen live wallpaper
If you use a Live Photo or a stock Live Wallpaper as your lock screen wallpaper, you can make it come alive by hard pressing on the lock screen. You don’t have to unlock the phone to activate the image.
#17. Easily save an image from a web page
If you see an image in a web page, you can press firmly on it to open a preview window. Sliding upwards on this preview image will allow you to either “Save Image” or “Copy” it for pasting somewhere else.
#18. Get instant access to Beats 1
You can launch Beats 1 with just a few taps by using 3D touch with the Music app. Find the music app on your home screen and press firmly on the icon to open up the quick actions menu.. Then select “Play Beats 1” to open the 24/7 music station.
#19. Add a pressure-sensitive sketch to a note
When adding a sketch to a note, you can use 3D Touch to make a line lighter or darker by adjusting the pressure of your touch. Simply open an existing Note or create a new Note in the iOS Notes app. Then select the pencil, marker or pen tool and select a color. Use your finger to begin sketching and adjust how hard you press down to vary the darkness of the lines you are drawing.
#20. Use the hidden Peek Zoom feature
There is a hidden option for 3D Touch that is disabled by default called “Peek Zoom”. The option allows to force press and zoom into an area when you are using the Zoom feature available in accessibility. You can enable this option by going to Settings>General>Accessibility>Zoom turn on Zoom and also enable Show Controller. You also can set a Zoom region to restrict the size of the zoom box and set a filter to change how it appears. To use the feature, activate zoom by double-tapping on the screen with three fingers. This will open the zoom controller which you can force touch to try out the Peek Zoom.
#21. Use a Trackpad while typing
When typing in any app, you can easily switch to a trackpad mode that allows you to move the cursor across the screen. Simply press down on the keyboard until the keys disappear and the keyboard turns a shade grey. When the keyboard changes into this trackpad, you can move the cursor by swiping your finger around the trackpad area. You also can press once to select a word, press twice to highlight a sentence or press three times to select a paragraph. When you are done, simply lift up your finger to return to the keyboard.
#22. Preview Safari tabs
When you’re in the tab mode in mobile Safari, you can now press firmly and hold on the Safari tab to get a quick peek at the web page rather than switching to it. If that is the web page you’re looking for then you can press harder to pop into the web page. If that is not the one, then just release your finger, to switch back to the tab mode.
#23. How to change 3D Touch sensitivity
Besides toggling 3D Touch on and off, you also can adjust the sensitivity of the feature if you choose to use it. Open the Settings app from the home screen. Navigate to General > Accessibility > 3D Touch. Use the slider to adjust the sensitivity from the default medium to either light or firm. You can test the setting using the sample image provided underneath the slider.
iOS 9
iOS 9 is loaded with a bunch of new apps, added features, and a few cosmetic tweaks that seek to make some major improvements on iOS 8. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful tips and tricks for your iPhone or iPad running iOS 9.
24. Low Power Mode
A huge and much-needed addition to the iOS universe, was a way to save battery life on devices running low on juice. Previously, iOS 8 added the option to view how much a particular application was consuming battery. But now, when you go to Settings -> Usage -> Battery, you’ll not only see battery consumption metrics, but also Low Power Mode, which temporarily disables features, giving you up to three hours of extra battery life.
25. Back to App
In an effort to improve app switching and multitasking, iOS 9 provides a super convenient way to move between multiple applications. For example, opening a link sent via Messages will take you to the URL, but instead of double-tapping to bring up the app-switcher, there will be an option to go Back to Messages in the top left corner.
26. Group Notifications
“Organization is key to a successful life.” I may have just made that quote up, but there is definitely some truth to that. Instead of viewing all your notifications in a purely sequential list, you can now group notifications by app by going to Settings -> Notifications and enabled Group by App. So, instead of searching for your most recent CNN updates within a giant unorganized list, your notifications will be grouped according to the app it relates to.
27. iCloud Drive App
Simply put, iCloud Drive is a well-integrated, cloud-based file manager. Previously the only way to access iCloud drive was through third-party applications. Presently, iCloud Drive welcomes its very own application in iOS 9 that can be accessed at any time to view, download, or share stored files.
28. Markup and Reply – Mail
Instead of needing to download a file to your Mac and using preview or a third-party application to make edits or annotations, iOS 9 has added Markup and Reply. Simply tap and hold to open an attachment from an email sent or received and select Markup and Reply from the Share sheet. Use the handy toolbar inside Markup, to add text, magnify significant areas, add drawings, or even a signature.
29. Search Bar in Settings
Don’t spend any more time scrolling up and down Settings to find the option you are looking for. iOS 9 has built a search function directly into the Settings app, making it much quicker to find exactly what you’re looking for.
30. Upper and Lower case keys (enable/disable)
The iOS 9 keyboard makes it much easier to determine whether the characters are uppercase or lowercase. The keyboard now displays upper case letters on the keys when the Shift key is enabled and lower case when disabled.
These visual cues make it much easier to relate what you’re typing with the keys on your keyboard. Nevertheless, for folks that like the old way, Show Lower Case can be disabled in Settings -> Accessibility -> Keyboard.
31. Swipe down on photo to dismiss
When viewing a photo you can now swipe down on your screen to dismiss that photo and head back into the Photo library or Album.
32. Thumbnails in Photos
There is a new thumbnail slider at the bottom of any photo being viewed. This makes it easy to see which photos are coming up next and allows you to skip around and find a particular photo without needing to go back to view the entire Album.
33. Swipe to Select – Photos
Making it easier to select multiple photos, you can now tap and drag over photo thumbnails to select the image. This makes it much quicker to grab a bunch of photos and send, versus having to tap each one individually.
34. Hide Photos
Stop those pesky in-laws from seeing all of your photos when they borrow your phone. iOS 9 makes it easy to hide certain photos from unwanted viewers. Simply select the photos you wish to hide, tap the Share icon, and select Hide from the Share sheet.
35. Facedown Detection
Here’s a super cool feature that not many people know about. If you place your iPhone face down, it will use the ambient light to recognize when to turn off the screen in order to save battery life. If your phone is face down and not receiving light, the screen will remain off even when you receive Messages or Notifications.
36. Save Attachments and Add Attachments
Finally! We can now easily add and save attachments in Mail using iCloud Drive. To download an attached file, tap and hold on the item and select Save Attachment from the Share sheet. Just tap and hold inside any message to bring up the option to Add Attachment.
37. Quick Suggestions in Maps
If you are ever stuck looking for a nice restaurant or popular tourist attraction Apple Maps offers Suggestions to help find all the cool digs around your current location or future destination.
38. Home, Work, Favorites in Maps
Add your home, work, and favorite locations to Apple Maps for super fast routing to get you where you need to be ASAP.
39. Turn Off Vibrations
Head over to Settings – > Accessibility -> Vibrations to completely disable all vibrations on your device. This is one step past disabling vibrations for notifications, incoming calls, and Messages. With vibration disabled you will not receive a vibration of any kind, including emergency and other alerts.
40. Request Desktop site
It’s easier to access desktop versions of particular sites on your mobile device. Tap on the Share icon to bring up the Share sheet and select Request Desktop Site.
41. Call from Search
Similar to Android’s Google Now feature, swiping all the way to the left brings up Proactive Search. When you search a name or contact in iOS 9, you now have the option to call, message, or FaceTime that contact directly from the Search results.
42. Disable Shake to Undo
Shake to Undo is a feature that used to be enabled no matter the user preference. Shaking your iPhone on accident or on purpose would bring up the option to undo recent text inputs. In iOS 9 users have the option disable Shake to Undo. In Settings -> General -> Accessibility find Shake to Undo and slide to toggle OFF.
43. Reader View – Safari
Apple created Reader View for its Safari browser. Reader View cleans the webpage, making it easier to concentrate and focus on the information at hand. Reader View is enabled by taping on the Reader icon tucked inside the search bear. Once enabled, tap on the font icon (aA) to adjust your settings. You can change the background color, increase/decrease the font size, and change the font itself.
44. 6-digit Passcode
To beef up your iDevice’s security, iOS 9 defaults to a 6-digit passcode. Improving from the previous 4-digit passcode, the new six-digit passcode increases the amount of combinations from 10,000 to 1 million.
For more details check: Top 25 iOS 9 Tips and Tricks
General
45. Enable Two-Step Verification
You will use the Apple ID for everything to do with Apple such as shop on the iTunes Store, enable iCloud on all our devices, buy from Apple’s Online Store and lots more, so it is highly recommended that you enable two-step verification for your Apple ID to increase the security of your account, to prevent you account from getting hacked.
➤ How to enable Two-Step Verification for your Apple ID
➤ 5 Essential Security Tips for your iPhone
46. Increase or decrease text size
If you want to adjust the text size on your device for easier reading, then go to Settings and navigate to Display & Brightness > Text Size and adjust the slider to change the text size based on your preference. Please note that apps that support Dynamic Type will only adjust to your preferred reading size.
47. Battery Percentage
By default, iOS displays the battery level in the top right corner of the status bar. You can keep track of the charge remaining in your iPhone more easily by enabling the battery percentage indicator, which displays the battery left in percentage. To display the battery percentage indicator, navigate to Settings > General > Usage and tap on the Battery Percentage toggle to turn it on.
48. Close an app or multiple apps
To close or kill an app running in the background or force it to quit, double-press the Home button to access the new app switcher or multitasking tray and then swipe up on the app that you want to close. You can close multiple apps (up to 3 apps) at a time using multiple fingers.
➤ How to close an app or multiple apps
49. Move or delete an app on the Home screen
If you want to move the icons around on the screen, then tap and hold on the icon for a couple of seconds, and wait for all icons to wiggle. You can now drag and rearrange the icon. If you want to move the app to a different page, then you can drag it to the edge of the screen and wait for it to move across to the next page. To delete an app, tap on the little cross in the corner of the app icon to delete it. Press the Home button to stop the app icons from shaking.
50. Do Not Disturb
Notifications and alerts ensure we don’t miss new information and events, but if you’re looking for something to silence your iPhone, whether you’re going into a meeting or going to bed, then enable the Do Not Disturb toggle in Settings. You can enable it manually by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb, and tapping on the toggle for Manual to enable it, or you can schedule it. When Do Not Disturb is enabled calls and alerts that arrive will be silenced, and a moon icon will appear in the status bar.
➤ How to set up, customize and use Do Not Disturb
51. Reachability
Reachability is a new feature introduced for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that come with bigger screens to make it easier for one-handed use. Lightly tap twice on the Home button/Touch ID. This will slide the screen down so that you can reach UI elements in the top half more easily with your thumb. It stays in that position for 5-6 seconds giving you enough time to interact. When the screen pans down, it only stays down for one tap.
➤ How to use Reachability for easier one-handed use on iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6
52. Control Center
Control Center gives you quick access to the Camera, Calculator, AirPlay and music controls. It also gives you the ability to adjust the brightness, enable or disable system toggles such as AirPlane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb and Portrait Location Lock. To access Control Center, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.
53. Flashlight
You can use your iPhone as a flashlight. Just swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to access the Control Center, and tap on the torch icon to enable the flashlight.
54. Apple ID without credit card
In case you’re not aware, you can create an Apple ID without a credit card so that you can use it to download free apps. Some parents create such accounts and top it up with iTunes gift card to control the spending on the App Store by their children.
➤ How to create iTunes account without credit card
Keyboard
55. Add An International Keyboard
If you need to communicate with your colleagues and family in different languages, the iPhone offers a one-tap solution to toggle between the different keyboards. To add an international keyboard, launch the Settings app and navigate to General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards > Add New Keyboard to add a new language to your active keyboards list. Once done, you simply have to tap on the globe icon beside the space bar on the keyboard to switch to another language.
56. Add Special Symbol
Can’t find the € symbol on your iPhone or iPad’s keyboard? To insert this symbol, you simply have to tap and hold the $ key. You will be shown a list of alternate currency symbols, including €, to pick from. You can use the same trick to insert many other symbols like an inverted exclamation, longer hyphens,etc by tapping and holding the corresponding keys.
57. Quick Way To Start A New Sentence
The iOS keyboard lets you add a period and start a new sentence by simply double-tapping the space bar. This trick is particularly useful while you type long paragraphs of text. To make sure this feature is enabled, go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard and check if the toggle for “.” Shortcut is enabled.
58. Quickly Insert Punctuation
Many users tend to tap on the “123” key to view the list of numbers and symbols to pick. Once done, they tap on the “ABC” key to revert back to the alphabet keyboard to continue typing. You can do this a lot more quickly by tapping and holding the “123” key, and swiping on the keyboard to the punctuation mark you need in one single swipe action. Once you select the punctuation or symbol you want to add, release your finger, iOS will automatically revert back to the alphabet keyboard. So this saves you the hassle of switching between keyboards.
59. Quickly type capital letters
If you’re in the middle of a sentence and want to type a single capital letter, you’d normally enable the cap lock key, type the letter and disable it again. But there’s a much simpler way: Tap on the Shift key and in one single action slide your finger to the key you want to type. When you release it, you’ll see that the Shift key is disabled again, saving you an extra tap.
60. Quickly Change Domain Name Extension
The Mobile Safari browser comes with a handy .com key for users to easily suffix the domain name extension to the URL in the address bar. You can also use this key to add other extensions like .ORG or .NET. To do this, tap and hold the .COM key to view the alternate extensions to pick from. Interestingly, this list will also include specific country-code extensions if you have the corresponding languages added to your International keyboard list.
61. Shake to Undo
Instead of holding the delete key to remove the typed text, you may simply shake the iPhone (once to your left and back). This will prompt you with an option to ‘Undo Typing‘. Tapping this button will automatically delete your recently typed text.
62. Type smart quotes
The default quote key on the keyboard includes normal quotes, often called “dumb” quotes. But you can type in the curved variants of quotation marks (called smart quotes) by long pressing the quote key.
63. “Will” Contractions
If you wanted to type contractions like “he’ll” or “we’ll,” but iOS doesn’t autocorrect your “hell” or “well” simply add a third “l.” Type “helll,” and the keyboard will recommend “he’ll.” Type “welll,” and the keyboard will recommend “we’ll.”
This also works with “were” and “we’re.” Type an extra “e” (“weree”) and the software recommends “we’re.”
64. Gestures
Swipe a message to the right to mark it as read or unread. Swipe a message all the way across to the left to delete or archive it. Swipe a message to the left to get more options.
➤ How to quickly delete or archive an email in the Mail app
➤ How to quickly mark an email as read or unread
➤ How to quickly flag an email
65. Quickly access drafts
To quickly access your list of drafts, simply long tap the compose button at the bottom-right. This brings up a list from the bottom with all your drafts. This is much quicker than the usual way of accessing drafts.
66. Selective Quotes
At times you’d want to reply to a portion of the mail, but iOS by default quotes the contents of the entire mail when replying. You can change this by selecting the portion you want to reply to using the standard iOS text selection mechanism and then pressing the reply button. You’ll now see the selected text as a quote in the compose window.
67. Attach media from the compose window
The Mail app doesn’t give a direct button to insert attachments from the compose window, but if you long tap in the compose text field, you’ll see an option to insert a video or a photo (you’ll have to tap the right arrow to see the option). When you tap that, you’ll see the standard photo picker from where you can choose a photo or video.
68. Format text
You can type in your text in the mail body, and format it as bold, italic or underlines by selecting the text and tapping the “BIU” button.
You can also increase or decrease the indent level of selected text by selecting the quote, tapping on the arrow at the right, and then tapping on the Quote level, followed by Increase or Decrease depending on how you want to format it.
69. Get Reply Notifications
To receive notification when anyone replies to an email thread, tap the flag when viewing the message, and then tap Notify Me.
Safari
70. Go back to the top
Tap just above the top of the smart search field to go to the top of the page, so you don’t have to spend time swiping down.
71. Gestures to go back and forward
Instead of using buttons, you can use edge-swipe gestures to navigate between webpages. Swipe from the left edge to go back one page and swipe from the right edge to go forward. These gestures are very useful in full screen mode, since you don’t have the buttons immediately available.
72. Recently closed tabs
If you’ve mistakenly closed a tab, or simply want to open a tab you’ve closed from your last browsing session, just tap and hold the “+” button to see a list of all your recently closed tabs.
73. Access History
You can access the browser history for a particular tab with a long tap on the back or forward button, so you can quickly jump to the site you had visited.
74. Safari Reader
You can tap on the icon to the left of the smart search field (address or search bar) to access the Safari Reader feature, which displays web articles without ads or clutter. The icon turns white when the Reader functionality is activated.
75. Reading list
If you’ve come across a long article that you find interesting but don’t want to read right now, you can add it to Safari’s Reading List, which syncs across all your iOS devices and Macs.
You can save items to your Reading List by tapping the share button in Safari, then tapping on the glass icon. iOS 7 or later also lets third parties add items to Safari’s reading list, so you could even add links from the Share menu in apps.
You can access your Reading List by tapping the Bookmarks icon in Safari’s toolbar, and switching to the tab with the Glasses icon.
76. Search on current page
To search for something on the current webpage, type your search text in the smart search field, and right at the bottom, you’ll see a section called “On This Page” that shows you the number of matches.
On tapping the last cell under the “On This Page”, Safari will take you to the first occurrence of your search text on the current page, and from there you can jump through all the occurrences using the back and forward button at the bottom.
77. Close and reorder tabs
To close a webpage, just swipe a tab offscreen to the left or tap on the x button. You can close only one tab at a time, and there is no option to close all tabs.
You can also reorder tabs by tapping and holding on a tab, and moving it to the place you want it.
78. Private browsing
To enable or disable private browsing, enter the tab switcher view by tapping the tab button at the bottom, followed by the Private button on the bottom left corner.
You’ll see the interface change to black when it is in private mode, so you can differentiate between private and normal browsing mode.
79. Add RSS feeds to Safari
With iOS 8, you can subscribe to RSS feeds in Safari, which then appear in the Shared Links tab. To subscribe to an RSS feed, visit the site you want to subscribe to in Safari, tap the bookmarks icon and tap on the @ symbol. Tap on the Subscription button at the bottom and then tap on “Add Current Site”. You’ll then start seeing updates from the site in the Shared Links tab.
Messages
80. Send Photos or Videos
To send a photo, tap on the camera icon when you’re in a conversation, swipe up to take a photo, and send it instantly. To send a video, swipe to the right to start recording the video, and then swipe up to stop the recording and send the video.
81. Message Timestamp
Open the Messages app, and tap on a conversation. You’ll see that the timestamps here are for a collection of messages. To see what time messages were sent, drag a bubble to the left.
➤ How to see what time messages were sent
82. Block Voice, FaceTime calls and Messages
Go to Settings, and navigate to Phone > Blocked, then tap on Add New…, and tap on the Contact you wish to block, to add it to the block list. You can also block a contact or phone number in the Phone, FaceTime and Messages app.
When you add a Contact or number to the blocked list, voice calls, FaceTime calls and messages from that person will be blocked. You cannot selectively block just voice calls, FaceTime calls or messages from a person.
➤ How to block calls and messages on your iPhone
83. Share your location with friends
In the Messages app, tap on the conversation you’re having with your friend or friends with whom you want to share your location. Then tap on Details in the top right corner. Tap on Send My Current Location if you want to send your current location or tap on Share My Location if you want to share your location for ever or specific period of time.
➤ How to share your location in the Messages app
84. Mute a conversation
Tap on the conversation you want to mute in the Messages app, tap on Details, and then tap on the Do Not Disturb toggle.
➤ How to mute or leave a group chat
Phone
85. Respond to a call with a text
If you can’t take a call, you can tap on the Message icon to send a prewritten message response such as “Sorry, I can’t talk right now,” “I’m on my way,” “Can I call you later?”. You can also customize the messages in Settings > Phone > Respond with Text.
➤ How to respond to a call with a quick text message on your iPhone
86. Add profile pictures to contacts
You can sync profile photos of your friends and family from Facebook or Twitter so that when they email or call, you can see their profile photo. To sync the profile photos, go to Settings, and tap on Facebook or Twitter, login to your account, and then tap Update Contacts.
87. Calculator tip
You can delete the last entered number in the Calculator app by swiping from left to right or right to left across the display in the Calculator app.
➤ How to delete a number in the Calculator app with a Swipe
88. Calendar tip
In the Calendar app, the list view is a much easier view to to scroll through the events in the month or year. So here are the steps: You need to go to the month view. Here you need to tap on the combination list/month view button to the left of the search icon. Then tap on any day in the month. Now tap on the list view icon to the left of the search icon. Voila! This will highlight the list button and you should see the the list view of events in the month.
➤ How to access the event list view in Calendar app
Battery life Tips
89. Enable Auto-Lock
Enable Auto-Lock so that your iPhone will turn off after a period of inactivity to reduce battery consumption. To enable the auto-Lock interval, go to Settings, and navigate to General > Auto-Lock and set the auto-lock interval to either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 minutes.
90. Reduce Brightness
Dimming the screen helps to reduce power consumption, so you can lower the default screen brightness based on your preference. Go to Settings, and navigate to Display & Brightness to reduce the brightness.
91. Identify Battery hogs
In iOS 8 or later, you can find out which apps are consuming the most power. To find out go to Settings, and navigate to General > Battery.
The battery usage provides you information about how much battery is consumed by various apps and services on your device. It is important to mention here that an app with a high percentage battery usage does not necessarily mean it is a battery hog. It could be because you were using it a lot, or if it was running in the background to upload or download content.
The apps that should be a concern are ones that show up on top of power consumption list even though you haven’t been using them. iOS 8 will also tell you what activity that could have resulted in battery consumption such as Background activity etc.
➤ How to find out which apps are using the most battery life
92. Use Location Only While Using an app
In iOS 8, Apple has added a new setting in Location Services called While Using the App, which means that the app will only use location services when you’re using the app, and won’t use it all the time. This can be useful for apps like the App Store, which don’t need to be using location services all the time.
You can see which applications have recently used location services by going to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Apps that recently used your location have an compass like indicator next them. Tap on the app, you should see the While Using the App, tap on it if you want the app to use location services only while using the app. This will ensure that the app will access your location only when it or one of its features are visible on the screen.
Please note that this feature is available for stock apps and also some third-party apps, however we expect third-party apps to offer this feature when they’re optimized for iOS 8.
➤ Use Location only while using an app to save battery
93. Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh feature lets apps fetch content in the background. It improves the user experience of apps such as RSS clients, news app etc. that can download the latest content so you don’t have to wait for the app to refresh the content when you launch it. Although Apple has a lot of optimizations in place to ensure that battery consumption is minimal, it’s possible that battery life of older iOS devices takes a hit due to this feature. To disable Background App Refresh go to Settings, and navigate to General > Background App Refresh and turn it off for apps like Facebook or other apps that don’t absolutely need to be updated all the time.
➤ More tips and tricks to improve battery life
94. Battery Life Suggestions
iOS 8 or later will also provide suggestions to improve battery life based on your usage such as it will inform you to Reduce Brightness, Enable Auto-Lock etc. To find out what suggestion Apple has for you to improve battery life, go to Settings and navigate to General > Usage > Battery Usage.
Siri
Siri is Apple’s personal assistant, which can be accessed by long pressing the Home button. It can do tons of things. Tap on the ? icon to find out some of things you can ask Siri.
95. What song is this
If you like a song playing on the radio, then you can ask Siri “What song is this?” to find out the name of the song. You can also buy the song from iTunes if it is available by tapping on the buy button.
➤ How to see the list of all the songs you’ve asked Siri to identify
96. Hands-Free Siri
When your iPhone is connected to a power source, instead of pressing the Home button just say “Hey Siri”. It should bring up Siri. You can now make your request. There is also a workaround to get “Hey Siri” to work when your iPhone is not connected to a power source.
➤ How to activate Siri without pressing the Home button
97. Get Siri to respond faster
To get a faster response from Siri, continue to hold down the Home button while you speak, and release it when you finish. Since Siri doesn’t have to identify when you stop talking, you end up getting a faster response.
98. Enable or disable System toggles
Siri has the ability to enable or disable system toggles such as Airplane mode (only enable), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb etc. All you need to say is “Turn on Wi-Fi,” “Turn off Bluetooth” etc. You can also adjust the screen brightness using Siri. You can use commands such as “Turn up the brightness,” or “Turn down the brightness”.
You can also open the Settings panel for an app using Siri. While you’re in an app, say “Open Settings” to open the Settings panel for the app. Alternatively, you can also say, “Open <app name> Settings” or “Open Settings for <app name>”, for example “Open Safari Settings” or just say “Open Settings for Safari” and it open the Settings panel for Safari.
99. Get Siri to pronounce your name correctly
You can tell Siri it is pronouncing your name wrong. You can simply say “That’s not how you pronounce [any name]” to start the teaching process. During the teaching process, it will prompt you to say the name and then prompt you to select from one of options by repeating the name based on how you pronounced it. Once you select the option, it will start pronouncing the name the way you want it. Siri will also prompt you if it has trouble pronouncing a name and request you to teach it how to say it.
Tips for Camera and Photos app
100. Favorite album
Tap to select a photo, then tap on the heart icon at the bottom of a photo to select your favorite photos. They can be accessed in the Favorite album in the Photos app.
Bonus
101. Hide a Photo
To hide a photo, tap and hold on a photo, while you’re Moments, Collections and Years view or in an Album, then tap on the Hide option to hide the photo.
102. Shutter Timer
In the camera app, frame your shot and tap on the clock icon at the top, the number of seconds (3 or 10), and tap on the shutter button. You will see the countdown on the screen after you tap on the shutter button.
103. Recover and Permanently Deleting Photos
When you delete a photo or video in the Camera app, it is not deleted permanently. They’re just marked for deletion, and are accessible in the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app for 30 days.
You can either recover the photo if you had accidentally deleted it or permanently delete the photo from the Recently Deleted album.
➤ How to recover deleted photos and videos
➤ How to permanently delete photos and videos
104. Separate controls for focus and exposure
You could set the exposure manually while taking a photo in the Camera app. While taking a photo, first tap on the screen to focus. Once you’ve set the focus, you’ll now see a brightness scale, which is the exposure control. Dragging your finger along the scale will make the photo lighter or darker.
➤ How to use the new camera features in iOS 8
Notes:
105. Creating checklists
A lot of people used the Notes app for creating checklist or to-do lists. In iOS 9 Notes, we can actually create actionable checklist. Using the new formatting menu, tap the Checklist icon located to the very left.
This will create the first row of your checklist where you will enter in the line item. Hit return to continue with the checklist. Once you have completed an item on your checklist, tap the circle and the item will be checked off.
106. Adding websites and links to Notes
Apps like Pinterest and Evernote are popular because of how easy it ease to save websites to their platform. While Notes isn’t as expansive it finally added a web-clipping feature. Using Safari, find a website you want to save, tap the Share icon and select Notes. You can choose which note to save the website to and then select Save.
When you head back into your notes the saved websites will be embedded in the note with a short description and thumbnail. Tap on a particular link and you will be taken directly to the site in Safari.
Other hands things you should do:
Note IMEI Number
It’s handy to have your IMEI number stored someplace safe in case you ever lose your phone or tablet. This 16-digit number (known as an International Mobile Equipment Identity number) is a unique identifier for every device that connects to a mobile network with a SIM card, and it allows carriers to blacklist the device if it goes missing.
A blacklisted device can’t be used on mobile networks, and this makes it hard for thieves to use or resell the device. And if you’re planning on purchasing a refurbished or secondhand device, it’s a good idea to check whether the device has been blacklisted before buying it.
On your iOS device, Navigate to Settings > General > About and scroll down to view your device’s IMEI number and other details.
There are other ways to also find the IMEI number, check our article for the other methods.
➤ How to find your iPhone or Cellular iPad’s IMEI number
Display Zoom
Apple has added a new feature called Display Zoom for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the new higher resolution iPhones. You will be prompted to configure this feature when you set up your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus for the first time. You can also configure or change this setting via the Settings app by navigating to Settings > Display & Brightness > View. You have the option to set it as either Standard or Zoomed.
In the standard mode, the iPhone 6s Plus runs at 2208 x 1242 pixel resolution, which at 3x resolution works out to 736 × 414 points. In the standard mode, the iPhone 6s runs at 1334 × 750 pixel resolution, which at 3x resolution works out to 667 × 375 points.
In zoomed mode, the iPhone 6s Plus acts like a virtual iPhone 6s display, but running at 3x retina resolution, which works out to 2001 × 1125 (virtual) pixels. Here are some screenshots which gives a good idea of the difference between the zoomed and standard mode on the iPhone 6s Plus. In zoomed mode, the iPhone 6s acts like a virtual iPhone 5s display, but running at 2x retina resolution, which works out to 1136 × 640 pixels.
So the zoomed mode makes each iPhone show the same UI as the standard mode of the next smaller iPhone. It means instead of seeing more content, the content will be larger, which is great for people who want to see slightly larger text, app icons, text labels and user interface elements.
➤ How to use Display Zoom on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus
Tips on how to use headphones
You can use the center button (between the volume up (+) and volume down (-) buttons) on the mic portion of your headphones to perform some useful functions without taking your iOS device from your pocket. Follow the link below for all the details.
➤ 10 Tips On How To Use iPhone Headphones
App extensions
App extension is a powerful feature that was introduced in iOS 8 that allows you to extend and customize the functionality of the operating system to do some cool things that was not possible previously.
Here are some of our favorite app extensions:
- How to translate webpages in Safari
- How to add speed-dial to your iPhone’s Notification Center
- How to find the font on any webpage on your iPhone
- How to share photos from your iPhone without location and other metadata
- How to convert currencies on the fly in Safari
Prevent frayed Lightning cable
To prevent frayed Lightning cables with wires visible or protruding , put springs at both ends of the cable, ensuring that the cable isn’t in a bended state for a long time. You can get a spring from any ball point pen, and then twirl it around the end, and extend the life of your cable.
➤ How to prevent frayed Lightning Cables
iPhone not charging?
If you find that your iPhone isn’t charging with your Lightning cable anymore, then it could be because of the lint that has got accumulated in the lightning port over time. You can use a toothpick to remove the lint from the lightning port and get your iPhone charging again.
➤ iPhone or iPad not charging? Try this simple solution
That’s a wrap! Hope you found these tips and tricks handy. If you’ve a favorite then feel free to share it in the comments below.
