Despite being a seasoned iPhone user, you may not be aware of all the tricks and hidden features that your iPhone has to offer. Apple has been continuously updating its iPhone hardware and software for nearly 15 years, yet it doesn’t publicly showcase some of its coolest features. Therefore, it’s up to users to uncover these features and share them with the world. Luckily, iPhone users are a dedicated community and are always eager to share the tips and tricks they come across.
1- Find your iPhone in the dark
If you’re struggling to locate your iPhone in low-light conditions, a handy iPhone trick is to activate the flashlight using Siri. Simply say “Hey Siri, turn on the flashlight” and your phone’s flashlight will be instantly turned on.
2- How to measure someone’s height
To use your iPhone to measure someone’s height, you can easily do so with the Measure app. Start by opening the Measure app and make sure the person you want to measure is standing up straight, with their entire body visible from head to toe. When you aim your iPhone’s camera at the person, you should see a line appear above their head, which indicates their height. To capture this measurement, simply take a screenshot by pressing the white shutter button located on the right side of your iPhone.
3- Magically jump to the top of an app or website
An iPhone trick that has been around for a while but is still useful is tapping on the screen right where the bottom of the notch begins to quickly scroll to the top of the screen. This trick works in apps or even in Safari. It is especially handy when you want to get to the top of your camera roll in the Photos app.
4- Use the Apple logo as a button
One of the new features in iOS 14 allows users to double or triple tap the back of their iPhone to trigger a specific action, such as muting the device or taking a screenshot. To enable this feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Then select either Double Tap or Triple Tap and choose the action you want to trigger. This feature is compatible with most iPhone cases.
5- Record a video with music playing in the background
If you want to record a video on your iPhone while playing music from Spotify or Apple Music, you might have noticed that the music stops as soon as you open the video recording feature. However, there’s a nifty trick to get around this limitation.
First, start playing music from Spotify or Apple Music in the background. Then, open the Camera app and swipe to the right to switch to the “Video” mode. Instead of tapping the record button, press and hold it, and you’ll notice that the red record button turns into a white lock icon. Keep holding it until you’re done recording your video, and then release it to stop recording. Meanwhile, the music will keep playing uninterrupted.
6- Become a Calculator App Pro
If you accidentally press a wrong digit on the Calculator app, you can easily erase it by swiping the display to the left. This trick also works for multiple digits in a row that you want to erase.
7- Open recently closed tabs on mobile Safari
Don’t fret if you accidentally close a tab while browsing in Safari. Just tap the tabs button (the one with overlapping squares), and then press and hold the + button. This will reveal a list of recently closed tabs that you can reopen. So you can quickly recover the page you accidentally closed without having to manually search for it again.
8- Use the keyboard as a trackpad
A helpful iPhone tip for easier text selection and cursor movement is to long-press on the space bar. This activates the trackpad feature on the bottom of the iPhone display, allowing for more precise movement and selection.
9- Take quick video on the fly
If you need to quickly capture a video using the Camera app on your iPhone, you can skip the Photo pane and go straight to video mode. Simply press and hold the white shutter button until it turns into a red record button, and then release it to start recording. This is a useful iPhone trick when you need to capture a moment quickly without fumbling around with the app’s interface.
