Apple’s iPhone is one of the most sophisticated and technically advanced smartphones that you can find today. The iPhone comes with great features that can help perform most of the tasks that you need to do in your day-to-day life. If you own an Apple iPhone then sure there’s plenty that you know your trusty iPhone can do. However, there are dozens of cool iPhone features that are hidden in the device that you might not know about. Wondering what they are, worry not, here are some of the best iPhone tricks and tips that could bring the best out of your device.
iPhone tricks and tips that you might not know about
Set a secure alphanumeric passcode
When you switch on a new iPhone, one of the first jobs that it asks you to do is set a passcode. Basically, you’re prompted to set a 6 digit numeric password that provides an added layer of security to your iPhone. However, there’s another way of making your iPhone even more secure using a passcode that not only contains numbers but also alphabets as well.
Surprised, don’t be. This allows you to set an alphanumeric six-digit password with roughly 1,000,000 combinations that makes it very difficult to break through it. It’s very easy to, and all you need to do is head to the Settings app -> Touch ID and Passcode -> Change Passcode and when prompted to enter a new passcode, select the Passcode options. This will provide you advanced options and you can choose to set an alphanumeric password or even a 4-digit password depending on your needs.
Create custom iMessage replies for the calls you can’t receive
Sometimes you might be stuck in situations or meeting where you can’t pick a call from someone. However, if you want to make the caller aware of the situation you’re in, this iPhone trick is the thing that you need. Depending on the iOS version you’re using, you might be able to see the message option when you get a call. This option lets you text the caller without you needing to pick the call.
However, when you select the option, you get only the default options that are “Sorry, I can’t talk right now”, “I’m on my way”, “Can I call you later?”, and “Custom”. You can use all these options but if you want to send default custom messages, there’s a way to do it. Head to the Settings app -> Phone -> Respond With Text. Once you’ve done it, you’ll be able to set any custom message that you want to respond with. Remeber, you can only set three texts at a time.
Set reminders for the calls that you cannot pick
Like the previous iPhone trick, this also helps you in situations when you cannot pick up calls. Most of the times after missing a call or disconnection a call without picking it, people tend to forget about the call. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, all you need is use this cool iPhone feature that reminds you of your received call after a specified period.
You can find this Remind Me option when you receive a call, like the Message option. Now all you need to do is just select Remind Me and choose the specified time period. Additionally, instead of using a specified time you can also use GPS based reminders as well, like Remind Me ‘When I Leave’, or ‘When I Get Home’.
Set custom vibrations
This is one of the coolest iPhone tricks that might not have known about. Generally, when you have your phone in your pocket, you depend more on the vibration of the phone rather than the noise. This trick lets you exploit the vibration feature of your iPhone. You can set custom vibrating patterns for different contacts present on your iPhone. All you need to do is, select Contacts app -> choose a contact -> tap the edit button. Once you do it, scroll down to find the vibration field.Select the vibration field and choose a vibration style from many default vibrating options that are present. If that’s not enough further down, though, is the ability to add a custom pattern. Just tap on Create New Vibration, and then you can tap on the screen to create your own vibration rhythm.
Customize the Control Center
At last, one of the most awaited iPhone tricks has made its way to the device with the arrival of the iOS 11 update. Apple now finally allows you to customize the toggles and the options that are present in the Control Center. To customize your Control Center, select Setting app -> Control Center -> Customize Controls. You’ll now see the list of controls that are visible in your Control Center. If you want to remove any of the controls, just click on the minus symbol present at the left of each control and if you want to add anything press the plus symbol.
Click photos while taking a video
This is perhaps one of the most useful iPhone tricks that you might not be knowing about. Did it ever happen to you that when you were busy taking a video you wanted to take a picture of something that you found interesting? Yes, right, most of us have come across such situations. Thankfully, your iPhone lets you do that. While you’re recording any video using the default iPhone Camera app, you’ll find a small capture icon on the bottom-right of your recording screen. All you need to do is just click on the icon and your photo will be clicked without you needing to stop or pause the video recording. However, remember the photos will not be of the same quality of your regular photos.
Do Not Disturb while driving feature
If you’ve updated your iPhone to the latest iOS 11 update then you are entitled to get this feature. This Do Not Disturb feature of iPhone is designed specifically to reduce distractions and block the incoming notifications while driving unless you have a hands-free device connected to the device.
To activate this Do Not Disturb feature on your iPhone, Go to Settings -> Do Not Disturb -> Do Not Disturb While Driving -> Activate. Once you select Activate, you’ll see three settings ‘Activate’, When Connected to Car Bluetooth’, and Manually. Selecting Automatically will get your iPhone automatically in Do Not Disturb mode while your device is in any kind of motion. Furthermore, you can also set automated replies to calls that you miss due to the Do Not Disturb mode.
Stop music with a timer
This is probably one of the coolest iPhone tricks for the people who love falling asleep to music. Most people who love listening to music while they sleep, wake up to the music still playing in the morning. This drains most of the battery out of the iPhone and also can sometimes result in you waking up in the middle of the night listening to the music. This is where this iPhone tricks comes in very handy.
All you need to do is, open the Timer app from the Clock. Choose how long you want the music to play in the Timer and then select the option that says ‘When the Timer Ends’. Scroll down in the menu that you see and select ‘Stop Playing’. Once done start the Timer and then begin playing music from the Music app. you’ll see that when the timer ends the music playback automatically stops. This trick also works for audiobooks and other media as well.
Customize auto-correct texts
iOS’s QuickType system-wide keyboard is designed to be very clever at guessing what you’re trying to type. However, in many situations, the auto-correct might get you words or texts that are far from accurate and what you intend to type. Although the feature is getting better, you might consider customising it so that it knows all your own personal favorite shortcuts and abbreviations that you’d like it to expand those abbreviations into.
For example, if you want “omw” should become “On my way” all you need to do is, customize the predictive texts or the auto-correct. And to do so, go to Settings > General, scroll down and tap Keyboard, then select Text Replacement. You’ll see what text replacements you currently have set up. If you don’t have any texts, add one by pressing the plus sign and add whatever you want to.
Save battery with Low Power Mode
This is one of the most useful iPhone tricks if you know you’re going to be using an iPhone for a long time. iPhone has a battery saver mode in it called the ‘Low Power Mode’, which reduces battery consumption by turning off many iPhone features. Once turned on, you’ll be able to notice that email fetches become less frequent, Hey Siri is turs off, background app refresh turns off and some visual effects are also reduced. The screen goes dark after a shorter period of inactivity.
To turn the Low Power Mode on in your iPhone select Settings -> Battery -> Low Power Mode, and turn it on. On the whole, though, the iPhone works as normal and the battery will last for much longer.
These are some of the best iPhone tricks and tips that you might not know about. Use all of these tricks and let us know which one did you like the most. If you know some other interesting iPhone tricks that are not mentioned here, Please feel free to let us know about them in the comments below.
Also Read: Detailed overview of the iPhone 8 Plus Price, Features, and Specifications
