- Back Tap & accessibility shortcuts
- Siri Shortcuts for automation
- Screen recording with microphone
- Notes as a document scanner
- Hidden keyboard trackpad
- Safari power tips
- Live Text & Visual Lookup
- Battery-saving techniques
- Manage storage
- AirDrop best practices
- Face ID with mask & security tips
- Camera pro tricks
- Focus modes & automation
- Measure app & AR tools
- Find My and device safety
- Emergency SOS & Medical ID
- iCloud Keychain & passwords
- Useful codes, widgets & more
- FAQ, troubleshooting, and final checklist
1. Back Tap — put hardware to work
What it does: Back Tap lets you trigger actions by double- or triple-tapping the back of your iPhone (available on many models since iOS 14+).
How to set it: Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap. Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap and assign actions (Screenshot, Control Center, Lock Screen, Shortcuts, etc).
Suggested uses: Set double-tap for Screenshot and triple-tap for Toggle Flashlight or Open Camera so you can access them instantly without button combos.
2. Siri Shortcuts — automate repetitive tasks
Siri Shortcuts combine many actions into one voice command or tap. Build multi-step sequences (for example, "Good Night" that turns on low power, sets an alarm and enables Do Not Disturb).
How to create: Open the Shortcuts app → tap + → Add Action → stack actions → name the shortcut → optionally add to Home Screen or assign Siri phrase.
Practical shortcut ideas:
- Commuting: Start Navigation to work, set phone to Do Not Disturb, and begin a focused music playlist.
- Meeting: One tap to silence notifications, log start time, and open meeting notes.
- Travel: Compile flight details, download offline map area and turn on Low Power Mode for long flights.
3. Screen Recording with Microphone
Screen recording is great for tutorials and bug reports. Enabling microphone input lets you add narration while recording the screen.
Enable it: Settings → Control Center → Add Screen Recording. To record with audio, open Control Center, long-press the screen record icon and tap the microphone to turn it on before starting.
Tips: Record at a clean location, and trim the recording in the Photos app to remove unwanted sections.
4. Use Notes as a Document Scanner
You don’t need a separate scanning app — the Notes app can capture documents, correct perspective, and save as PDF.
Steps: Notes → New Note → Tap Camera icon → Scan Documents → position the document. You can crop, rotate, annotate and export as PDF or image.
Why it helps: Scanning inside Notes keeps sensitive documents on your device and makes sharing or archiving quick and secure.
5. Hidden Trackpad Keyboard
Editing text is easier when the keyboard becomes a trackpad.
How: Long-press the spacebar (or on iPhones with Haptic Touch, press and hold anywhere on the keyboard) to enter trackpad mode — then drag to move the cursor precisely.
Extra: Use two-finger gestures on iPadOS for even faster selection and text manipulation.
6. Safari Power Tips
Safari has features that make browsing faster and less distracting.
- Tab Groups: Group tabs by topic (Work, Travel, Shopping) so your main tab view stays uncluttered.
- Reader Mode: Remove ads and layout clutter for focused reading. Tap the reader icon in the address bar on compatible pages.
- Translate: Safari can translate pages automatically when available — great for foreign language pages.
Tip: Pin frequently used tabs and enable sync via iCloud so the same tab groups are available on Mac and iPad.
7. Live Text & Visual Lookup
Live Text lets you select text from photos and the camera viewfinder — copy, paste, call numbers, or search directly. Visual Lookup identifies objects like plants, landmarks and animals.
Open Camera or Photos, point at text or an object, and tap the Live Text icon to interact with it.
Use cases: Extract phone numbers from a whiteboard photo, copy recipe text from a cookbook image, or learn more about a plant spotted while walking.
8. Extend Battery Life — practical steps
Good battery habits extend daily uptime and the long-term life of the battery.
- Enable Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode when you need extra hours.
- Turn off Background App Refresh for apps that don’t need constant updates.
- Use Location Services set to “While Using” instead of Always for most apps.
- Aim to keep the battery between ~20–80% for best long-term health; occasional full charges are fine.
Small wins: Lower screen brightness, reduce screen timeout, and turn off push mail for accounts that can use fetch instead.
9. Fix 'Storage Full' Problems
Free up space without deleting important items.
- Enable Photos → Optimize iPhone Storage to keep smaller device copies while originals stay in iCloud.
- Offload unused apps: Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Offload Unused Apps.
- Clear large message attachments from Messages by > View Attachments in Conversations.
- Use cloud services (iCloud Drive, Google Drive) or external storage for big videos and archives.
10. AirDrop — fast local file sharing
AirDrop is fast and private for sharing photos, links and small files with nearby Apple devices.
Use: Open Control Center → Long press the network panel → AirDrop → choose Contacts Only or Everyone (use Everyone temporarily if the recipient is not a contact).
Best practices: Turn AirDrop to Contacts Only after sharing to avoid unsolicited transfers, and use Wi-Fi + Bluetooth on both devices for the best speed.
11. Face ID while wearing a mask & security tips
Modern iOS updates include the option to use Face ID with a mask for quick unlocking. Check Settings → Face ID & Passcode for the option.
Security tip: Use a strong alphanumeric passcode as a fallback. Keep Face ID enabled for convenience, but disable it for specific apps if you want extra protection for sensitive apps.
12. Hidden Camera Features & Shortcuts
Get better photos and faster captures with a few simple tricks.
- Volume button shutter: Press the volume up button to take photos — useful for steady handheld shots.
- Burst mode: On newer models, hold the shutter or use volume down to capture quick bursts for action shots.
- Quick video: In Camera, hold the shutter to instantly record video without switching modes.
- ProRAW / ProRes: If your device supports them, enable ProRAW for detailed photo editing and ProRes for higher-quality video workflows.
13. Focus Mode — reduce interruptions
Focus Mode replaces Do Not Disturb with flexible profiles for work, personal time, sleep, and more.
Create custom Focus modes and allow specific apps and people to send notifications. Use automation to turn modes on based on time, location, or app usage.
14. Measure App & AR tools
The Measure app turns your camera into a basic AR ruler for quick measurements of boxes, furniture and small rooms.
Open Measure, point at edges, and tap to start/stop measurements. For rooms, walk the perimeter to capture length and area estimates.
15. Find My iPhone — setup & pro tips
Enable Find My so you can locate, lock or erase a lost device.
- Enable Find My iPhone → Send Last Location to save device location before battery dies.
- Add AirTags to important items (keys, bags) for extra tracking via Find My network.
16. Emergency SOS & Medical ID
Prepare for emergencies: set up Medical ID in Health and learn the SOS shortcut.
How: Settings → Emergency SOS (or press the side button 5 times on many models) to call local emergency services quickly. Fill out Medical ID with allergies, emergency contacts and blood type so first responders can access it from the lock screen.
17. iCloud Keychain — safe passwords
Use iCloud Keychain to securely store logins, credit card details and Wi-Fi passwords across Apple devices.
To view saved passwords: Settings → Passwords. Use password suggestions to create unique, strong passwords when signing up for accounts.
18. Useful hidden codes & shortcuts
Handy dialer codes exist for quick checks:
- IMEI: Dial *#06# to see your device IMEI.
- Field Test: Dial *3001#12345#* to get low-level cellular information (varies by model/region).
Caution: Don’t enter unknown codes from untrusted sources — always verify before using advanced network codes.
19. Widgets & Smart Stack
Customize your Home Screen with widgets to surface the most useful information at a glance.
Create a Smart Stack: Long press Home Screen → Tap + → Add widgets → Choose Smart Stack. iOS will rotate widgets by time, location and usage.
20. Pro screenshot & markup techniques
Take a screenshot with Side Button + Volume Up → tap the preview → use Markup to add annotations, text, shapes or sign documents. Save as PDF to share annotated pages easily.
Extras — small features that matter
- Shake to Undo: If enabled, a quick shake undoes typed text (can be disabled in Accessibility settings).
- Text replacement: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement to create shortcuts for long phrases or email addresses.
- One-handed keyboard: Press and hold the globe icon to shift keyboard to the left or right for one-handed typing.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
Q: My Back Tap doesn’t work — why?
A: Back Tap sensitivity can vary with certain cases. Try removing the case and test. Also ensure the feature is enabled in Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap.
Q: Screen recording has no sound?
A: Long-press the screen recording icon in Control Center and tap the microphone to enable it before recording.
Q: How do I keep my iPhone fast and responsive?
A: Restart occasionally, keep storage below ~90% used, update to the latest iOS version (after checking compatibility) and disable heavy background refresh for apps you don’t use often.
Final Checklist — what to do before publishing this page
- Replace the placeholder image with an original or properly licensed image hosted on your server.
- Ensure you have an easy-to-read mobile layout and validate page speed (images optimized).
- Do not paste long copyrighted verbatim text from other websites — keep content original.
- Add structured headings (H1/H2) — this HTML already does that for search engines and readability.
Useful links
Official Apple support and iOS features pages (linking to official sources is fine):
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