Want to learn more about the coolest features on the Apple iPhone? We’ve put together some popular iPhone hacks, tips and tricks for iOS 11 users — grab your device and start trying them out!
1. Take a hands-free photo
How it works: Forget about lugging around that selfie stick… there’s an easier way to take hands-free photos. Just plug in a pair of compatible headphones into your iPhone (use an adaptor for iPhone 7 models and up) and simply push the volume button on the cable to snap a photo.
2. Charge your battery faster
How it works: When you’re crunched for time and need a quick battery top up, plug your iPhone to a wall outlet and toggle on Airplane Mode to halt all cellular activity. And if your battery is really low, switch your display settings to Grayscale to save more power: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters > Toggle On > Grayscale.
3. Use a one-handed keyboard
How it works: If you’ve got a big display that makes typing one-handed difficult, there’s an easy way to adjust your keyword layout. Go to your keyboard > Hold down the emoji (or globe icon) and three small keyboard icons will pop up > Select a keyboard (left, center or right) that you’re most comfortable typing with.
4. Snap a photo when storage is full
How it works: There’s nothing worse than getting a ‘Storage Full’ notification when you’re about to snap a photo. Try this hack the next time it happens: Go to your Facebook or Twitter app > select the camera icon > snap a new photo and it will be saved to your Camera Roll.
5. Record your screen with audio
- In iOS 11, add Screen Recording to Control Center. Go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then tap the green + next to Screen Recording.
- Swipe to open Control Center.
- To capture sound while you record, tap the Microphone Audio button.
- Tap the record button, then wait for the three-second countdown.
- To stop recording, open Control Center and tap the red record button. Or tap the red status bar at the top of your screen and tap Stop.
6. Trick your iPhone into increasing storage
How it works: A hack that’s popular with savvy users lets you trick your iPhone into providing more storage by deleting unused data. First check that your available storage is minimal (less than 1GB) > Go to the App store > Download a huge app like Hearthstone (1.89GB and free-to-download). You should then get an ‘Unable to Complete Download’ notification — simply delete the app and you storage levels should increase.
7. Hide your photos
How it works: If you want to keep select photos out of sight from your camera roll: Open the Photos app > Select the image you want hidden > Tap the Share button > Tap Hide along the bottom row of icons. You will now be able to locate these photos in the Hidden album under the Album tabs.
8. Get flashlight alerts
How it works: Want to take your iPhone’s flash feature to the next level? To get your device to light up whenever you get an alert like a message or call, try this: Settings > General > Accessibility > LED Flash for Alerts and toggle on.
9. Record in 4K video
How it works: If you’re after high-quality video, you can get your iPhone to record in 4K by changing the default settings. Go to Settings > Camera > Record Video > Select 4K. Take note that 4K files take up a lot of storage and also drain your battery, so you might not want to leave it as your default.
10. Get Siri to read your emails
How it works: A helpful way to listen to those emails while getting ready for work in the morning, simply activate Siri and say ‘Read me emails’ — the feature works for text messages as well.
Feature image credit via IG | @lerato.ro