22 Secret iPhone Tips and Hacks That Will Legit Change Your Life

CHARGE YOUR PHONE FASTER WITH A SINGLE BUTTON PRESS

Tired of waiting for your phone to recharge? Well, there is a way to speed up the re-juicing process, and it's surprisingly simple — just engage airplane mode. By knocking out all your phone's Wi-Fi-searching, data-draining communication skills, it takes the strain off your battery while it's being powered up. Not hugely, true — but if you're pressed for time and looking to eke out every bit of juice, that extra 4 percent could make all the difference.

SHAVE SECONDS OFF YOUR SEARCHES

Getting where you need to go on the internet is all about speed and precision — something missing when you're forced to knock out text-heavy web addresses. So save time by holding down the period icon while typing out an address to bring up a short-cut series of URL suffixes (.com, .edu, and more). There are quick hit shortcuts for all.

DISCOVER EXACTLY WHAT YOUR PHONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU

Slightly sinisterly, your iPhone is always gathering data on you in the background, be it the apps you're using the most, how much data you're churning through... or even, most creepily, where you are. To see what we mean, head to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations. Here you can see not just where you've been, but how long you've spent in each place. Big Brother really is watching...

REPLACE A TOOLBOX ESSENTIAL

You've probably filed away the Compass app alongside the Stocks and Find Friends apps in a folder entitled 'Crap I can't delete.' You should pull it back out, though, as it's got a secret second function that will help with your DIY projects. No, not using your iPhone to hammer in nails (although it can — briefly — do that too). Instead, swiping left in the Compass app brings up a very useful level, a digital bubble gauge than can check if that shelf really is level. (Spoiler: it isn't.)

LOCK YOUR CAMERA'S FOCAL POINT

We all know that tapping the screen while taking a photo will set the camera's point of focus, right? Good. Annoyingly though, every time you move the camera after picking a focal point, it disappears. Well, no more. Instead of just tapping the screen, press for a second or two until an 'AF Locked' box pops up. Now you can twist, turn and swing the thing around without losing focus.

CREATE CUSTOM VIBRATIONS

Ever wished you could tell who's calling just by how your phone feels buzzing in your backpack? Now you can. In Contacts, select your person of choice and hit Edit. Here you'll see a Vibration option. Selecting this will give you plenty of options, including the Create New Vibration tool. Making your bespoke buzz is as simple as tapping the screen to the beat of your choice.

CORRECT SIRI'S PRONUNCIATION

Siri's a bit of a smug know-it-all - so there's nothing better than calling it on its mistakes. Like when it mispronounces peoples' names. So if Siri says something wrong, just tell it. Following up a mistake by saying "That's not how you pronounce…" will see Siri ask for the correct pronunciation then let you check it's got things right. Because we all know it's Levi-O-sa, not Levi-o-SAH.

CLOSE THREE APPS AT ONCE

It's not just pictures and web pages that support multi-finger gestures. You can throw additional digits into clearing up your iPhone clutter too. If you need to shut multiple applications in a hurry — for totally innocent, not hiding anything, honest reasons — you can drag three fingers up on the multitasking menu to cull the clutter quicker. Which means your phone should be snappier in double-quick time.

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SET YOUR MUSIC ON A TIMER

Enjoy listening to a little soothing background music as you drift off at night? Then you're probably all too familiar with waking up at 3 am to some unwanted tunes. Unless, of course, you set your music to turn off on a timer. In the Clock app, slide along to the Timer options. Here under the "When Time Ends" tag, you can switch out the alarm option for a "Stop Playing" tag. This will turn off the tunes, be it through Apple Music or Spotify, when the timer hits zero.

TAKE A PHOTO WITHOUT TOUCHING YOUR PHONE

An oldie but a goodie iPhone hack is using your volume control buttons to capture a snap, thus saving your fingers blocking the screen as you attempt to hit the touchscreen controls. But if you prefer to be even further removed from your photo-capturing shutter controls? Hitting the volume button on a pair of compatible, connected headphones will have the same effect.

SAVE YOUR DATA ALLOWANCE BY LIMITING APP ACCESS

You're just a third of the way through the month, and your 2GB data allowance is already starting to look a little stretched. You don't have to cut back on your on-the-go Netflix viewing though. Instead, select which apps get demoted to the Wi-Fi-only B-list. Go to Settings > Mobile Data where you can make the big decisions one app at a time.

IMPROVE YOUR BATTERY LIFE

Spotlight, Apple's connected quick-access for key data and services, is great for offering instant access to the latest breaking news and social updates. But that much stuff going on in the background can eat your battery life whole. Unless you turn off Spotlight features for certain apps to eke out more life per charge, that is. "How?" we hear you cry? Just go Settings > General > Spotlight Search and limit what's pulling in data behind your back.

IMPROVE YOUR SIGNAL BY KNOWING WHERE TO LOOK FOR IT

No need to hang out of a first floor window trying to discover where your iPhone's connection is best. Type 3001#12345# into your iPhone's dialer and hit call to launch the hidden Field Mode tool. This sub-surface menu turns your bar chart-based signal indicator into a far more straightforward numerical-based signal signifier. Got a score of -50? Then you'll be enjoying HD video streams on the move. Down around -120, though, and you'll struggle to send a text. Just follow the numbers to better signals.

USE YOUR PHONE LIKE AN ETCH-A-SKETCH TO ERASE

You might have already stumbled across this one in a fit of rage, but like your childhood Etch-a-Sketch, your recent iPhone activities can be erased simply by giving the thing a good ol' shake. And if you're shivering rather than shaking? Don't worry: a pop-up will ensure you want to delete before erasing your typing.

FIND OUT EXACTLY HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A REPLY

We've all been there: endlessly rechecking our phones for a text reply, wondering how long it's been since we sent our message of love/ransom demand. There's an easy way to find out, though. Simply swipe in from the right-hand side of the screen when in a messaging thread, to show precise delivery times for every message sent and received.

SHARE YOUR FAMILY TREE WITH SIRI

Does referring to your parents by their given name make you feel awkward? Then teach Siri to know who you're chatting about. Ask Siri to call your dad and the digital PA should ask who your father is. Once a contact has been assigned to the parental moniker, every time you ask for pops moving forward, you'll be backed up by simple, fuss-free calling.

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SWIPE RIGHT TO RETREAT

For iPhone-owning Android converts, living without a dedicated back button can be a difficult adjustment to make. While the iPhone might not have an ever-present command to put things in reverse, there is a simple way to head in the wrong direction. Within a number of apps – from Safari to Mail – swiping from left to right on the screen will send you back to the previous page or menu. Who needs a dedicated button when you've got a more elegant solution?

HARD-RESET WHEN IT CRASHES

You may not have realized that Home button of the iPhone 7 isn't really a button. That's right, it's a fraud. Haptic feedback gives the impression of a depression, but none actually occurs, making it totally useless for a hard-reset when your phone crashes. Instead, hold down the power button and the volume down button at the same time. Your phone should reset and spring back into life.

CUSTOMIZE THE FEEL OF YOUR HOME BUTTON

Speaking of haptic feedback on the iPhone 7 Home button, it's also possible to customize the vibration via the iPhone's settings. Just go to Settings > General > Home button and you can select the level of feedback that feels right to you.

CREATE CUSTOM REPLIES FOR MISSED CALLS

It happens all the time: someone calls and you can't answer. iOS comes with a few stock text responses which can be sent with a single tap, but it's actually possible to create your own. Go to Settings > Phone > Respond With Text to create your own message.

"DATE NIGHT. CALL AGAIN AT YOUR OWN PERIL."

TAKE A PHOTO WHILE SHOOTING VIDEO

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You've undoubtedly encountered incidents when shooting video where you really want to take a snap as well. Thankfully, the iPhone allows you to do both at the same time. All you need to do is press the shutter button which appears next to the video button.

The photo is taken by the video camera's sensors, so it won't turn out quite as awe-inspiring as your usual images, but it's handy nonetheless.

AUTOMATICALLY IGNORE POOR WIFI CONNECTION

Most of the time it's preferable to use a WiFi connection rather than your own 4G data if you're near a network. No-one wants to reach the middle of the month to realise that they've used all their data and Spotify streaming is suddenly off the cards.

But sometimes WiFi connections can be patchy and slow, especially public ones with lots of concurrent users and distant routers. Thankfully, iOS 9 onward makes use of a feature called WiFi Assist, which will cause slow networks to be ignored automatically, and instead make use of your more stable, faster, 4G data.

Of course, if you'd rather be in direct control, you can easily disable WiFi Assist.