7 iPhone Tricks You Probably Didn't Know Before

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone in the US, with a loyal fanbase of Apple lovers. And if you’re one of them, you may choose iPhones over other phones for their sleek design, modern features, and fast operating system.

But even if you’ve been carrying an iPhone in your pocket since it replaced your iPod years ago, you may not know all the iPhone tricks and hidden hacks.

7 Best iPhone Features

Table of Contents

1 7 Best iPhone Features
2 iPhone Tricks to Try Today

Check out these seven best iPhone features to get the most out of your device.

Find Your Phone’s Hidden Trackpad

A trackpad, like that found on laptops, allows you to jump around on text, making it easier to find the perfect place to put your cursor to type.

iPhones have trackpads too, though many people are unaware of this feature.

You can find your phone’s trackpad by opening up an app with text. This could be your messages, notes, or an email. Make sure your keyboard is open, and hold the space bar until the keyboard goes blank.

From there, you can move your cursor around in any direction to help you write and edit text quickly.

Use Your Phone as a Scanner

Now you can scan documents without needing a special printer or copy machine. This is a great solution for those wanting to scan documents to send or save digitally.

From the Notes app, open a new note. Then, depending on your version of iOS, find either the camera icon or three dots in the upper right corner. Then choose “Scan” and place your document on a flat surface in front of your camera.

Your iPhone will then scan the document, saving it as a high-quality photo you can store or share with others.

Transfer Data Without iCloud

Just because you’re an iPhone user doesn’t mean you want to depend on iCloud. And even without it, you can transfer data between devices easily.

iPhone apps can help you connect two iPhones, transferring contacts and other information between them. This can come in handy if your iCloud is full and you’re not looking to shell out more for storage.

Protect Your Privacy

Do you have someone in your life who you suspect is a phone snooper?

Whether you have something to hide or not, it’s reasonable to want to protect your privacy. And your iPhone knows this, which is why it has several features that help you hide what’s only meant for your eyes.

Go to a photo album and select at least one photo to share. Then, instead of sending it to a contact, scroll down until you see “Hide.” Tap and the photos will be stored in a hidden folder, away from sight.

To find the photo again, go to your albums, and under utilities, you will see the “Hidden” folder.

Aside from photos, you can also hide private notes. In the Notes app, choose the note you’d like to keep secret and find the three dots in the corner. There, you can lock your note with a password of your choice.

Low Power Mode

One of the most practical iPhone hacks involves your battery, which is known to drain easily for Apple users.

To make your battery last longer each day, use low power mode. This reduces the background activity of some apps and functions, such as mail fetch, which can slowly drain your battery even while you’re not using it.

You can find this mode in your phone’s settings. From the settings menu, find and tap on “Battery.” Then, you can enable low power mode to start saving some power.

If you don’t want to use low power mode throughout the day, you can still use it to your advantage when charging your phone. If your iPhone is on low power mode while charging, it will charge more quickly so you can get back to using your phone cord-free.

Take Better Photos

There are several features that iPhone offers to help you take high-quality photos. And these can depend largely on which iPhone model you have.

But one trick that can be done on nearly any iPhone allows you to take big, sweeping photos, even with a limited lens. You can do this by choosing pano mode, which is typically meant to be used horizontally. While you can still use it that way, another creative way to use pano is by turning your phone to use it vertically.

Then, you can get great photos of tall buildings, your holiday Christmas tree, and other spectacular views that are too tall for your camera.

Get Better Sleep

Your iPhone addiction may be keeping you up at night as your eyes stay locked on your phone screen for hours. But some features work to put an end to this so you can snooze away.

In the Health app, browse until you find “Sleep.” From this screen, you can set up sleep goals and start tracking your sleep patterns.

Some features include setting a schedule to make sure you go to bed on time, screen settings like blue light dimming and “do not disturb” mode, and more.