Useful iPhone Tips You Might Not Know

There seem to be an endless number of iPhone tips and tricks to share, and that's because Apple's smartphones are so feature rich that it's impossible to keep up with everything they're capable of. We've rounded up some useful tips and hacks in our latest video, so check them out to see if there's something you didn't know about.

  • Swipe to Numbers with Keyboard - If you press and hold on the number key and then swipe up to type the number that you want, when you release a finger, it will go back to the main keyboard so there's no need to tap twice to get a number character.
  • Create Perfect Shapes in Notes - If you draw a shape in Notes or anywhere else the Markup interface is available, it will morph into a perfect shape. So if you need a visual aid like a circle, draw a wonky version and the ‌iPhone‌ or iPad will fix it right up.
  • Check your iPhone Warranty - Open up the Settings app, tap "General," choose "About," and then tap on the "Warranty" entry to see your warranty information for your device.
  • Use Your Apple Watch as a Viewfinder - The Camera Remote app on the Apple Watch activates the front or rear camera of your ‌iPhone‌ so you can use your Apple Watch as a handy viewfinder. If you take your watch off and wrap it around your ‌iPhone‌, you can use the rear camera while also seeing yourself, which is useful for vlogging.
  • Combine Images with a Shortcut - You can use an app to combine images, but it's easier to use a simple shortcut. Open Shortcuts and tap "+" to add a new one. Type in "Photos" and choose "Select ‌Photos‌" for the first action. For the second, search for "Combine" and select "Combine Images." Change the details to say "Combine ‌Photos‌" and "In a Grid." After that, search for "Save" and choose "Save to Photo Album." You can make it fancier with extra steps, but this is all you need to select a series of photos and have them arranged in a grid formation, with the final result saved to the ‌Photos‌ app. There are also third-party shortcuts that you can use.
  • Auto Schedule Low Power Mode - You can create a quick shortcut for turning on Low Power Mode when the battery dips to a specific level. In the Shortcuts app, create a new Automation, and start out by choosing "Battery Level." From there, select your desired percent. For the next action, search for and choose "Low Power Mode." Deselect "Ask Before Running," and the next time your ‌iPhone‌ battery drops to the target level, Low Power Mode will activate automatically.
  • Find Out What Song is Playing - If you want to know what music is playing you can ask Siri, but if you want to know what song is in a video on your ‌iPhone‌ or what song your device is playing, there's a Shazam Music Recognition option that you can add to Control Center.
  • AirDrop to Any Device - If you use Snapdrop.net, you can "AirDrop" a file from one device to another, even non-Apple devices. This isn't Apple's AirDrop, but it's basically the same thing and it allows for super quick data transfers even if you have a PC or Android phone. It's as simple as opening up the website on both devices and drag and drop the file.

Have a favorite lesser-known ‌iPhone‌ trick that we didn't list here? Let us know in the comments.

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
42 months ago
Bizarre implication from Dan that it's okay to have friends who use Android?!
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
08380728 Avatar
42 months ago
How about list things that are idiotic that need to be improved like:
Settings/Phone My Numbertap and hold won’t copy it, and or just tap then the field of numbers is erased and nothing can be copied, totally DUMB...on Android phones, tap the field and standard copy, cut tab appears.

How about messages, tap contact name at top more icons drop down, tap info, the phone number is not visible anywhere, thats the INFO I always need, have to then tap another info icon to finally see the contacts phone number, again super dumb.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
42 months ago

How about list things that are idiotic that need to be improved like:
Settings/Phone My Numbertap and hold won’t copy it, and or just tap then the field of numbers is erased and nothing can be copied, totally DUMB...on Android phones, tap the field and standard copy, cut tab appears.

How about messages, tap contact name at top more icons drop down, tap info, the phone number is not visible anywhere, thats the INFO I always need, have to then tap another info icon to finally see the contacts phone number, again super dumb.
The thread is about posting useful phone tips that work, not complaining about things that aren't a feature or don't work the way you expect.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
08380728 Avatar
42 months ago
Swipe to Numbers with Keyboard:
That’s not useful in the slightest, it actually takes longer after holding and swiping up.

What would be more useful is a tip on making the numbers stay visible after typing a space. Many times we need a enter blocks of numbers with spaces between them but hitting space bar always shows the letters again and this is annoying having to tao tao to get the numbers back. Android phone‘s keyboard dont do this.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
42 months ago
Good article and video, MR.

I set low power mode to automatically turn on when charging.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blowback Avatar
42 months ago

Is that one about making shapes in Notes only with the Apple Pencil? Doesn’t seem to work for me.
When you draw , even with your finger, 'hold' for a sec and the circle or square etc. will form as desired .
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...