Every major iOS update brings in a stock of new features. While the most popular always cause a lot of media buzz, there are some pretty nifty tricks that stay below the radar, so you could have miss them. In fact, there are some very cool features that our favorite iPhones have been hiding from us.
Apple’s iPhone has revolutionized the mobile landscape for good, and even if you have been an Apple devotee for years, there are still a few tips and tricks you probably could learn. Each major operation system update brings patches, new features and changes, and here are just a few things you just might have missed.
#1 Control iPhone with Your Head
Your iPhone may be smarter than you thought because there is a special built-in control tweak that allows you to use tilts of your head to trigger different functions on your device. A feature called Switch Control can be enabled in the Accessibility menu from your iPhone settings. For example, you can enable Switch Control and set it to recognize when you tilt your head to the left or right, and understand that movement as a trigger to press the home button or check the notification center. Switch Control has been integrated into iPhones to assist people with certain disabilities, but it can be extremely handy for those who would like to take some extra control over their devices for those instances when their hands are busy with other tasks.
#2 A Quick Shake to Undo Typos
As you want to type a quick message with your clumsy fingers on a tiny screen, you inevitably make a multitude of typos, no matter how smart your keyboard is. That’s just inevitable part of texting, but instead of sending texts full of errors, you can give your iPhone a little shake. That motion triggers a prompt to undo the recently typed in text or cancel and continue. This little tweak also works for those instances when you accidentally copy-paste text fragments you didn’t intend to. It’s a simple tweak, yet very powerful one, when it comes to typing routines we do dozens of times on a daily basis.
#3 For Perfect Photos
One of the most frustrating things about smartphone cameras is when you want to take an important picture; you can easily ruin it. But if you know this little tweak, you can increase your chances of capturing the important moment in a perfect way using the feature “Burst Photo.”
What do you normally do when you want to take a photo with your iPhone? You simply tap the on-screen capture button, which creates a single photo. However, if you tap and hold down this button, you will activate the burst mode, which enables your phone to capture dozens of images in a quick succession, and save them to a dedicated gallery. That way, you increase your chances of capturing the perfect photo while the object of your interest blinks and giggles.
#4 Reminders Based On Location
Does it ever happen to you that you come home and remember that you should have picked up the clothes from the dry-cleaning, or buy food for the cat? Or worse, arriving at your mother’s birthday, and remembering that you left her present at your place? Here’s some good news for you – your iPhone can help you remember those little details using its Reminders app, sadly, one of the less utilized iPhone functions.
You need to setup a reminder, which only takes you a few seconds, and as you finish, tap on the pop-up information icon. You will see a menu through which you can activate the location feature, which uses your iPhone’s GPS to track your location and notify you of the reminders that have tagged locations whenever you leave or enter a specific place. This feature is something like Samantha from “Her,” a personal assistant that keeps track of your locations and appointments at all times.
#5 Block Annoying Callers And Messengers
Is someone stalking you, or simply annoying you by calling or texting? For example, an ex-boyfriend or a very insisting telemarketer, or worse a debt collection agency? You could have been reckless to give your number to a texting service that now buzzes you at all hours of the day and night. Your iPhone can help you block that annoying communication in a matter of seconds.
Go to the phone menu and choose iPhone settings, then add any irritating numbers to the Blocked list. Voila`! No more annoying texts and phone calls emanating from your iPhone. While this may not be a new feature, a lot of users are still unaware of its existence.
How about you? What are your favorite iPhone tips and tricks? Share them with us in the comments below and make sure to stay tuned to PocketMeta for more tech news and how to’s.
