Here are some of the best iPhone secrets Apple may not be telling you.
Screen recording
If the Screenshots album in your Photos app keeps filling up with thousands of WhatsApp conversations, memes, and funny Instagram photos to send to your friends, you might be happy to know that iOS 11 has a new, sleeker feature.
The new software will allow you to make screen recordings.
The feature was first discovered by Faiz Shakir, a 20-year-old from New York who has access to the beta version of iOS 11 through Apple’s developer program, and shared details of the new feature on his Twitter account.
However, while screen recording has a range of useful applications, Shakir notes that the feature could be used in more sinister ways: “I’m shocked that you could be caught on FaceTime or Snapchat without your knowledge. recording,” he said.
To set up screen recording, go to Settings>Control Center>Customize Controls, then add “Screen Recording” to the “Include” list. You can then access the feature by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and pressing the record icon.
SOS function
iOS 11 includes an option to lock your iPhone and call the police if you find yourself in danger.
Programmers discovered the new “Emergency SOS” feature, which is activated by quickly pressing the iPhone’s power button five times while the phone is locked.
This will prompt the phone to sound an alarm, count down from three, and automatically dial.
If you’re concerned about accidentally activating Emergency SOS, you can adjust the settings on your phone to bring up shortcuts to emergency services instead of dialing them automatically.
There is also an option to set up emergency contacts, who will receive a message with your current location whenever you activate the feature.
QR code scanner
Traditionally, scanning a QR code on an iPhone or iPad required you to download a third-party app that was often poorly made.
But in iOS 11, there’s a QR code scanner built into the native camera app – so all you have to do is open the camera app, point your iOS device at the QR code, and tap the drop-down notification to take action it.
This applies whether the QR code is a shortcut to a web page, a prompt to join a Wi-Fi network, or a code to add a contact to your address book.
This feature is turned on by default, but can be turned on or off in the Camera section of the Settings app.
One-handed keyboard
If you’re an iPhone 6 or 7 Plus owner, you know how difficult it is to type with one hand on the large 5.5-inch display.
Now, Apple has come up with a way to ease your pain. The new one-handed keyboard mode in iOS 11 adjusts the size and position of the keyboard to make it easier to use with one hand.
You can access the new one-handed mode by pressing and holding the emoji (or globe) icon on the keyboard. This will bring up three small keyboard icons.
If you select the one with the arrow pointing to the right, the keyboard will move to the right. Select the one pointing to the left and it will go left.
The result will be a keyboard closer in size to the iPhone 7. Apple has made this work at the system level, so the keyboard will remain in one-handed mode across different apps until you change it back.
New effects in messages
With the launch of iOS 10 last year, Apple introduced a series of new “screen effects” in Messages – such as balloons, confetti, lasers and fireworks, to Emphasize the tone of what you say.
Now, in iOS 11, Apple has added two more screen effects – a new “Echo” option, which repeats your message in a string of text on the screen, and “Spotlight” which will A beam of light surrounds your message.
You can add these effects by pressing and holding the send button, tapping the Screen tab at the top, and swiping right or left to select and effects.
There’s also now an option to mute conversations in Messages – so if you’re stuck in a group chat and tired of constant notifications, you can turn it off.
Just go to the main message screen, swipe left on the conversation you want to mute, and tap Hide Alerts. The problem is solved.
Increase battery life
Longer battery life is desired by many iPhone users.
One of the main reasons for poor battery life is due to applications running in the background.
However, there is now a way to turn off Spotlight – the service Apple uses to connect critical data and services to help apps run.
Go to Settings – General – Spotlight Search and you can limit what is pulling data in the background.
Check signal strength
What’s worse than sending that text out of desperation but you have a poor signal or are on a call and the connection drops?
Okay, now you can figure out the best place to receive a strong signal.
Enter *3001#12345#* into the phone’s dial pad, then press Talk.
This will launch a hidden field test tool.
Then, at the top on the left, you will see a “-” sign followed by a number. This number indicates whether you have a good signal at your location.
Your goal is -50, -120 is bad.
Reduce flashlight brightness
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center.
Brightness control works with 3D touch, so there’s no need to tap the flashlight button, just press it to register 3D touch.
Three options will appear in the 3D touch menu; Low Light, Medium Light, and Strong Light.
Click any of these options to turn on the flashlight.
Depending on the option you click, the flashlight will brighten or dim accordingly.
