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Top 10 iPhone X Tips and Tricks: Reachability, Face ID, Screenshots and More

Monday November 6, 2017 4:04 pm PST by Juli Clover
The iPhone X is the first new iPhone design Apple has introduced since 2014, and the most radical redesign since the iPhone first debuted in 2007.

With a revamped user interface and a slew of new features, there's a lot to get used to, and there are a bunch of hidden functions that aren't immediately obvious. We've rounded up some of the most important things you need to know about the iPhone X in the video below.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

Here's a quick little spoiler of what we've covered in the video in more depth:

- Turning on reachability
- Quickly zooming in on YouTube videos
- Best methods for closing apps
- Disabling Attention awareness to make Face ID less sensitive
- Using the Lock screen icons
- Using Animoji
- Turning off iPhone X
- Taking a screenshot
- Using Apple Pay
- Adding an on-screen Home button

Make sure to check out the video for a full rundown on how to use all of these tips for a better iPhone X experience, and if you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel because we have plenty more iPhone X videos in the works that we'll be sharing later this week.

Related Roundup: iPhone X
[ 106 comments ]


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MrTemple
22 months ago

There is nothing accessible about iPhone X. Apple did away with a lot of user friendliness just to remove a home button. What a gimmick.


I'm able-bodied, yet I was 80% sure I was going to return the X and get an 8. I simply couldn't understand how it would be as easy or intuitive to use.

Fast forward a day and a half of ownership, and I'm in love with the interface. I find it highly accessible.

The argument for/against a home button are no different than the arguments for/against multiple bottom buttons. Physical vs touch gesture each have their pros and cons. I don't miss that fourth physical button. Not at all.
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Damn, that notch though....when the app comes up on home screen icon press, and landscape video :eek:


I don't have a notch cut into my screen, I have ears added on.
Rating: 15 Votes
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skillwill
22 months ago
The magic of the iPhone was not needing instructions. I remember giving my 62 yr old, totally tech illiterate mother an iPhone 5C for the first time, she couldn’t believe how intuitive it was, everything you did ended up doing what you’d expect it too. Now it’s just a mush-mash of inconveniences. Sad.
Rating: 9 Votes
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miniyou64
22 months ago
There is nothing accessible about iPhone X. Apple did away with a lot of user friendliness just to remove a home button. What a gimmick.
Rating: 7 Votes
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WarHeadz
22 months ago

There is nothing accessible about iPhone X. Apple did away with a lot of user friendliness just to remove a home button. What a gimmick.

Have you actually used the phone? I’ve owned it less than 24 hours and the UI is amazingly intuitive and you catch on immediately. It works with 100% accuracy. They did a fantastic job with it. This phone is just stunning.
Rating: 7 Votes
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ZebraDude
22 months ago

How do you do a hard reset?


quickly click the up volume then quickly click lower volume then click and hold the power till its reboots back to the happy Apple.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Jimmy Bubbles
22 months ago
He lost me at “iPhone Ex”...
Rating: 5 Votes
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Nozuka
22 months ago

There is nothing accessible about iPhone X. Apple did away with a lot of user friendliness just to remove a home button. What a gimmick.


i guess you don't have one. it actually feels more natural to use after just a few hours.
Rating: 5 Votes
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deuxani
22 months ago

If I said to you swipe down from the top left of the screen, what function would you intuitively attach to that function?


After reading this comment I started to think about the logic behind it and it actually makes a lot of sense.


* Swiping down on the the time brings you to the Cover Sheet which is basically a screen with the time really large and with missed notifications.
* Swiping down from the cell signal and Wi-Fi bar and battery indicator brings you to Control Centre which has all kinds of toggles to make changes to cellular data, Wi-Fi, battery saving, etc.
* Swiping up to go back home also makes sense from an animation standpoint.


So to me it even makes more sense now! In a couple of years all iPhones and iPads will adopt these gestures and we've forgotten about how all previous iPhones worked ;)
Rating: 4 Votes
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Recognition
22 months ago

I wouldn't because I never said either approach was intuitive which was the point I was making.
The double clicking on home button is faster though once learned.


Sorry, I was under the impression you thought the original home buttons actions are intuitive straight out of the box.
All actions on the iPhone, both old and new need to be learnt, if something feels intuitive its probably only because we've learnt it from another device previously.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Baymowe335
22 months ago

There is nothing accessible about iPhone X. Apple did away with a lot of user friendliness just to remove a home button. What a gimmick.

Guessing you don’t own one? I literally hate the home button on my iPad Pro after using the X for 4 days.
Rating: 4 Votes

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