Best Tips and Tricks for iPhone

If you’ve just bought a new iPhone 6sor iPhone 6s Plus, and new to the world of iOS, then here are some tips and tricks you should know to use your shiny new device. Please note that most of these tips and tricks are meant for new users, but I’m quite sure that even long time iOS users have either forgotten or aren’t using few of them actively. The reason for compiling these tips and tricks is to get you to incorporate them in your daily workflow so that you use your device more efficiently (and spend less time using them). If you need help with any particular tip, I’ve included links wherever available to our step-by-step guides which will provide more details. Except for the tips under the 3D Touch section, most of these tips will also work on other iPhones. 3D Touch Similar to Force Touch on the Apple Watch, Apple added 3D Touchto the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. 3D touch combines a pressure-sensitive display with haptic feedback to provide an all-new user interface element for both stock iOS and third-party apps. Because it is so new, 3D touch is not universally available in all apps. Instead, it is scattered throughout iOS. Here are some tips on where it works and how you can use it to increase your productivity. #1. Quick Actions Quick actions provide an action menu that is available when you press down on a home screen icon. Not all apps support quick actions so you have to keep experimenting with this feature to see which apps support it. For stock iOS apps, you can force press on Music, Clock, Camera, Photos, Notes and others to open the quick action menu. *. How to use Quick actions with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s #2. Links 3D touch also allows you to preview links from almost anywhere in iOS. When you see a link, simply press hard on the link and a pop-up preview of the site will appear. Depending on your internet connection, it may take 2-5 seconds for the page preview to load. Once you are viewing the page, you can slide it upwards to access a menu that allows you to perform actions such as open the link, add it to a reading list or copy it. #3. Peek and Pop Peek and Pop are two gestures that you can use to preview content while working in apps. Peek allows you to force touch on content, such a new message notification, and preview the item. When peeking, you can slide the peek window upwards to access another menu containing commands such as copy, share and so on. Pop is a slightly harder touch that allows you to open the item you were previewing using Peek. Other ways to use Peek and Pop include pressing on a pin in Maps to view information about a place or pressing a playlist to get a preview of the songs in the list. Play around with peek and pop to discover where you can use them iOS. *. How to peek and pop with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s #4. Use 3D Touch to view Live Photos The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus allows you to capture Live Photos which are video-enabled photos that capture a short buffer of audio and video on either side of your shot. When you view your photos in your camera roll, they appear as static images. Press down on them and they will come alive. For this feature to appear, you do have to capture the image with the Live Photo option enabled. When you are in the camera app, there Live Photo option is indicated by an icon with concentric rings. It will be highlighted yellow if it is turned on. You can tap the icon to toggle the feature on and off. *. How to take and view Live Photos on your iPhone 6s #5. Using 3D Touch with the App Switcher Apply pressure when you swipe in from the left side of the screen to open the app switcher. This gesture is sometimes difficult to use as onscreen elements such as links, photos, and buttons sometimes get in the way. #6. Switch back to the previous app 3D also makes it easier to switch between apps without pressing the Home button. You can press firmly on the left edge and swipe slightly to access the app switcher. You can also press firmly and swipe all the way across to switch back the previous app you were using. *. How to quickly switch apps with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s #7. Quickly take a photo or selfie Press down on the Camera icon on the home screen to open the Quick Action menu. Then choose the option to take a photo or take a selfie. You also can choose to record a video or begin a slow-mo recording. #8. Preview a video in a message Preview a video contained in a message using peek and pop. Press on the link to preview the video and then press deeper to open the page in Safari. #9. Preview a URL in a message Preview a URL contained in a message using peek and pop. Press on the link to preview the web page and then press deeper to open the page in Safari. #10. Navigate home quickly You can get driving directions back home in a snap by pressing on the Apple Maps icon on your home screen. When the quick actions menu opens, you can tap on “Directions Home” to start navigating back to your home address. #11. Send a quick response to a text message Force press on a text messaging thread in the Messages app to preview the conversation. Drag the preview window upwards to expose a list of quick responses that include “Ok,” “Thanks,” and “Yes.” #12. Read an email or messages without opening it or marking it as read Press on a message in your inbox to peek at the message contents, then slide up on the window to view a list of available actions. You can release your finger to return back to the inbox or press harder to open the message. The same works in the Messages app, the advantage here is that you can read the message without marking it as read, so the sender won’t get a read receipt. #13. Respond quickly to an email message When reading an email, you can use 3D Touch to interact with the contact details. Simply press firmly on the contact icon in the top right. This force touch will open a menu that allows you to send them another email, open a Facetime call, or add their details to your address book. #14. Preview a photo without opening it When viewing photos in your camera roll, you can press down to peek at an image and then swipe up to share or copy that photo. A deeper press will pop the image out to a full screen view. #15. Preview your most recent photos without leaving the camera You’ve always been able to preview a photo within the camera app by taping on its thumbnail and opening it in the photos app. Now you can press firmly on this thumbnail preview to open a preview without leaving the camera UI. A deeper press will open the image in a full-screen view. #16. Activate a lock screen live wallpaper If you use a Live Photo or a stock Live Wallpaper as your lock screen wallpaper, you can make it come alive by hard pressing on the lock screen. You don’t have to unlock the phone to activate the image. *. How to set and use Live Wallpapers on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus #17. Easily save an image from a web page If you see an image in a web page, you can press firmly on it to open a preview window. Sliding upwards on this preview image will allow you to either “Save Image” or “Copy” it for pasting somewhere else. #18. Get instant access to Beats 1 You can launch Beats 1 with just a few taps by using 3D touch with the Music app. Find the music app on your home screen and press firmly on the icon to open up the quick actions menu.. Then select “Play Beats 1” to open the 24/7 music station. #19. Add a pressure-sensitive sketch to a note When adding a sketch to a note, you can use 3D Touch to make a line lighter or darker by adjusting the pressure of your touch. Simply open an existing Note or create a new Note in the iOS Notes app. Then select the pencil, marker or pen tool and select a color. Use your finger to begin sketching and adjust how hard you press down to vary the darkness of the lines you are drawing. #20. Use the hidden Peek Zoom feature There is a hidden option for 3D Touch that is disabled by default called “Peek Zoom”. The option allows to force press and zoom into an area when you are using the Zoom feature available in accessibility. You can enable this option by going to Settings>General>Accessibility>Zoom turn on Zoom and also enable Show Controller. You also can set a Zoom region to restrict the size of the zoom box and set a filter to change how it appears. To use the feature, activate zoom by double-tapping on the screen with three fingers. This will open the zoom controller which you can force touch to try out the Peek Zoom. #21. Use a Trackpad while typing When typing in any app, you can easily switch to a trackpad mode that allows you to move the cursor across the screen. Simply press down on the keyboard until the keys disappear and the keyboard turns a shade grey. When the keyboard changes into this trackpad, you can move the cursor by swiping your finger around the trackpad area. You also can press once to select a word, press twice to highlight a sentence or press three times to select a paragraph. When you are done, simply lift up your finger to return to the keyboard. *. How to turn iPhone 6s keyboard into a trackpad with 3D Touch #22. Preview Safari tabs When you’re in the tab mode in mobile Safari, you can now press firmly and hold on the Safari tab to get a quick peek at the web page rather than switching to it. If that is the web page you’re looking for then you can press harder to pop into the web page. If that is not the one, then just release your finger, to switch back to the tab mode. #23. How to change 3D Touch sensitivity Besides toggling 3D Touch on and off, you also can adjust the sensitivity of the feature if you choose to use it. Open the Settings app from the home screen. Navigate to General > Accessibility > 3D Touch. Use the slider to adjust the sensitivity from the default medium to either light or firm. You can test the setting using the sample image provided underneath the slider. *. How to adjust 3D Touch sensitivity on your iPhone 6s iOS 9 iOS 9is loaded with a bunch of new apps, added features, and a few cosmetic tweaks that seek to make some major improvements on iOS 8. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful tips and tricks for your iPhone or iPad running iOS 9. 24. Low Power Mode A huge and much-needed addition to the iOS universe, was a way to save battery life on devices running low on juice. Previously, iOS 8 added the option to view how much a particular application was consuming battery. But now, when you go to Settings -> Usage -> Battery, you’ll not only see battery consumption metrics, but also Low Power Mode, which temporarily disables features, giving you up to three hours of extra battery life. *. How to use Low Power Mode in iOS 9 to preserve battery life 25. Back to App In an effort to improve app switching and multitasking, iOS 9 provides a super convenient way to move between multiple applications. For example, opening a link sent via Messages will take you to the URL, but instead of double-tapping to bring up the app-switcher, there will be an option to goBack to Messagesin the top left corner. 26. Group Notifications “Organization is key to a successful life.” I may have just made that quote up, but there is definitely some truth to that. Instead of viewing all your notifications in a purely sequential list, you can now group notifications by app by going toSettings -> Notificationsand enabledGroup by App. So, instead of searching for your most recent CNN updates within a giant unorganized list, your notifications will be grouped according to the app it relates to. *. How to group Notifications by app in iOS 9 Notification Center 27. iCloud Drive App Simply put, iCloud Drive is a well-integrated, cloud-based file manager. Previously the only way to access iCloud drive was through third-party applications. Presently, iCloud Drive welcomes its very own application in iOS 9 that can be accessed at any time to view, download, or share stored files. *. How to enable and use the iCloud Drive app on iOS 9 28. Markup and Reply – Mail Instead of needing to download a file to your Mac and using preview or a third-party application to make edits or annotations, iOS 9 has added Markup and Reply. Simply tap and hold to open an attachment from an email sent or received and selectMarkup and Replyfrom the Share sheet. Use the handy toolbar inside Markup, to add text, magnify significant areas, add drawings, or even a signature. *. How to use the markup feature in Mail in iOS 9 29. Search Bar in Settings Don’t spend any more time scrolling up and downSettingsto find the option you are looking for. iOS 9 has built a search function directly into the Settings app, making it much quicker to find exactly what you’re looking for. 30. Upper and Lower case keys (enable/disable) The iOS 9 keyboard makes it much easier to determine whether the characters are uppercase or lowercase. The keyboard now displays upper case letters on the keys when the Shift key is enabled and lower case when disabled. These visual cues make it much easier to relate what you’re typing with the keys on your keyboard. Nevertheless, for folks that like the old way,Show Lower Casecan be disabled inSettings -> Accessibility -> Keyboard. 31. Swipe down on photo to dismiss When viewing a photo you can now swipe down on your screen to dismiss that photo and head back into the Photo library or Album. 32. Thumbnails in Photos There is a new thumbnail slider at the bottom of any photo being viewed. This makes it easy to see which photos are coming up next and allows you to skip around and find a particular photo without needing to go back to view the entire Album. 33. Swipe to Select – Photos Making it easier to select multiple photos, you can now tap and drag over photo thumbnails to select the image. This makes it much quicker to grab a bunch of photos and send, versus having to tap each one individually. *. How to select multiple photos in the Photos app in iOS 9 34. Hide Photos Stop those pesky in-laws from seeing all of your photos when they borrow your phone. iOS 9 makes it easy to hide certain photos from unwanted viewers. Simply select the photos you wish to hide, tap the Share icon, and selectHidefrom the Share sheet. 35. Facedown Detection Here’s a super cool feature that not many people know about. If you place your iPhone face down, it will use the ambient light to recognize when to turn off the screen in order to save battery life. If your phone is face down and not receiving light, the screen will remain off even when you receive Messages or Notifications. *. iOS 9’s battery saving Facedown Detection feature: Everything you need to know 36. Save Attachments and Add Attachments Finally! We can now easily add and save attachments in Mail using iCloud Drive. To download an attached file, tap and hold on the item and selectSave Attachmentfrom the Share sheet. Just tap and hold inside any message to bring up the option toAdd Attachment. *. How to save or attach any type of file in the Mail app in iOS 9 37. Quick Suggestions in Maps If you are ever stuck looking for a nice restaurant or popular tourist attraction Apple Maps offersSuggestions to help find all the cool digs around your current location or future destination. 38. Home, Work, Favorites in Maps Add your home, work, and favorite locations to Apple Maps for super fast routing to get you where you need to be ASAP. *. How to set Home, Work and Favorites in Maps app in iOS 9 39. Turn Off Vibrations Head over toSettings – > Accessibility -> Vibrationsto completely disable all vibrations on your device. This is one step past disabling vibrations for notifications, incoming calls, and Messages. With vibration disabled you will not receive a vibration of any kind, including emergency and other alerts. 40. Request Desktop site It’s easier to access desktop versions of particular sites on your mobile device. Tap on the Share icon to bring up the Share sheet and selectRequest Desktop Site. *. iOS 9 makes it easier to request for Desktop Sites in Safari 41. Call from Search Similar to Android’s Google Now feature, swiping all the way to the left brings up Proactive Search. When you search a name or contact in iOS 9, you now have the option to call, message, or FaceTime that contact directly from the Search results. 42. Disable Shake to Undo Shake to Undo is a feature that used to be enabled no matter the user preference. Shaking your iPhone on accident or on purpose would bring up the option to undo recent text inputs. In iOS 9 users have the option disable Shake to Undo. InSettings -> General -> Accessibility findShake to Undo and slide to toggle OFF. 43. Reader View – Safari Apple createdReader Viewfor its Safari browser. Reader View cleans the webpage, making it easier to concentrate and focus on the information at hand. Reader View is enabled by taping on the Reader icon tucked inside the search bear. Once enabled, tap on the font icon (aA) to adjust your settings. You can change the background color, increase/decrease the font size, and change the font itself. 44. 6-digit Passcode To beef up your iDevice’s security, iOS 9 defaults to a 6-digit passcode. Improving from the previous 4-digit passcode, the new six-digit passcode increases the amount of combinations from 10,000 to 1 million. For more details check: Top 25 iOS 9 Tips and Tricks General 45. Enable Two-Step Verification You will use the Apple ID for everything to do with Apple such as shop on the iTunes Store, enable iCloud on all our devices, buy from Apple’s Online Store and lots more, so it is highly recommended that you enable two-step verification for your Apple ID to increase the security of your account, to prevent you account from getting hacked. ➤ How to enable Two-Step Verification for your Apple ID ➤ 5 Essential Security Tips for your iPhone 46. Increase or decrease text size If you want to adjust the text size on your device for easier reading, then go to Settings and navigate to Display & Brightness > Text Sizeand adjust the slider to change the text size based on your preference. Please note that apps that support Dynamic Type will only adjust to your preferred reading size. 47. Battery Percentage By default, iOS displays the battery level in the top right corner of the status bar. You can keep track of the charge remaining in your iPhone more easily by enabling the battery percentage indicator, which displays the battery left in percentage. To display the battery percentage indicator, navigate to Settings > General > Usage and tap on the Battery Percentage toggle to turn it on. 48. Close an app or multiple apps To close or kill an app running in the background or force it to quit, double-press the Home button to access the new app switcher or multitasking tray and then swipe up on the app that you want to close. You can close multiple apps (up to 3 apps) at a time using multiple fingers. ➤ How to close an app or multiple apps 49. Move or delete an app on the Home screen If you want to move the icons around on the screen, then tap and hold on the icon for a couple of seconds, and wait for all icons to wiggle. You can now drag and rearrange the icon. If you want to move the app to a different page, then you can drag it to the edge of the screen and wait for it to move across to the next page. To delete an app, tap on the little cross in the corner of the app icon to delete it. Press the Home button to stop the app icons from shaking. 50. Do Not Disturb Notifications and alerts ensure we don’t miss new information and events, but if you’re looking for something to silence your iPhone, whether you’re going into a meeting or going to bed, then enable the Do Not Disturb toggle in Settings. You can enable it manually by going toSettings > Do Not Disturb, and tapping on the toggle forManualto enable it, or you can schedule it. When Do Not Disturb is enabled calls and alerts that arrive will be silenced, and a moon icon will appear in the status bar. ➤ How to set up, customize and use Do Not Disturb 51. Reachability Reachability is a new feature introduced for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that come with bigger screens to make it easier for one-handed use. Lightly tap twice on the Home button/Touch ID. This will slide the screen down so that you can reach UI elements in the top half more easily with your thumb. It stays in that position for 5-6 seconds giving you enough time to interact. When the screen pans down, it only stays down for one tap http://www.iphonehacks.com/2015/10/best-iphone-6s-tips-and-tricks.html