10 Hidden iPhone Features You Need To Know

Unfortunately, these features aren’t always intuitive to figure out. Apple is notoriously vague about how they advertise certain functions. Some might get shown off in shows for Apple consumers, but only as a minor sideshow. That means these handy features get ignored in favor of the flashier.

Safari In Background

Users can tap a link in Safari with two fingers and automatically open it in the background for future reading. On articles with quite a lot of backlinks, such as on Screen Rant or Wikipedia, avid readers will find this very handy to learn, and a great way to switch between Safari tabs.

While browsing the internet, whether it’s catching up on articles or just looking up recipes, one might find themselves wanting to look at a link later. It’s quite annoying to open a link and have to go back to the original tab for quick browsing, and that’s not even mentioning how unintuitive it feels. The double-finger tap on links is a great way to avoid that annoyance.

Grab The Top

A fast way to reach the top of the screen is by swiping down the home button to reveal the top menu. This can be turned on in the settings via the Accessibility menu under “Readability.” And although is a relatively arcane way to grab the top “through the bottom,” it’s a definite improvement for the iPhone.

There are many harsh realities of owning an iPhone, but this shortcut minimizes at least one problem. After all, it’s notoriously finicky getting the top edge of the iPhone menu to pop up, as apps might have conflicting functions. Sometimes, the top of the screen starts bugging out with no rhyme or reason, so this is a good compromise.

Spacebar Highlight

iPhone users can try the spacebar highlight by pressing and holding the spacebar with one finger. Gently swipe the finger left or right to slide the cursor with precision. To select text with this method, tap the keyboard while holding the spacebar. This will make the slide highlight the text scrolled across, like a roll of tape, which is an objective improvement over the iPhone’s clunkier old methods.

Highlighting text can be a real pain with finicky touch screens for certain users, and it’s even more annoying to correct typos with thick thumbs, as the cursor never lands precisely where it needs to be. This streamlining is a great example of iPhone’s good software design.

Tap Tech

The iPhone has a lot of customizability that isn’t readily apparent to users. For example, customizing something as simple as the number of taps a user must apply for different functions can make their experience so much better. To do this, go to Settings, and find the accessibility menu. From there, select Touch then Back Tap.

Under this menu, the user can determine what double or even triple-tapping the screen does. Popular uses for the back tap include opening the control center, toggling the flashlight, muting the device, or triggering one of the many actions from the Shortcuts app. The iPhone is all about features like this that simplify everyday phone tasks for the user.

Bypass Face ID

Sometimes, the environment isn’t suitable for FaceID, as it is too dark or the user is masked up outside. In such cases, FaceID can be bypassed entirely with a simple trick. Simply hit the face ID text in the middle of the screen.

Upon doing so, this opens up the password screen, and now the user can just input their password to the phone directly. When the FaceID animation gets stuck, this is also a useful bypass. No more waiting for the password screen to show up on its own, as that can sometimes take a few too many seconds.

Specific Mutes

Notifications on iOS are handy for receiving updates from important apps such as email or work boards. These apps are essential for everyday professional use. That said, apps have a ton of notifications, and not all of them are relevant to the user at all times.

To get rid of these notifications quickly, simply swipe right. Select Options, and find the option to mute notifications for the app moving forward. Now, the problem app is muted without being uninstalled altogether from the iPhone.

Share Screenshots

While browsing the web on Safari, something, in particular, might catch the user’s eye. It could be a funny comment or a relevant part of an article to share with friends. The typical process is to screenshot it, then go to the gallery to send it to whoever it needs to be sent to.

This is fine, but there’s a much faster way to do this, and it’s a method that only the iPhone can do inherently. Immediately after a screenshot, press and hold the banner, and the shares menu will pop up after doing this. This skips the gallery app step altogether, making for a streamlined experience for the end user.

Timed Music

To use this feature, open the Clock app, and select Timer. At the bottom, tap the button where it says “when the timer ends.” In the menu that shows up, choose “Stop Playing” as the action. This is great for anyone who wants to fall to sleep to their favorite relaxing video game soundtrack but wants it to turn off after a reasonable time.

Some find it quite enjoyable to fall asleep to music, but the noise might be bothersome in the middle of the night. This is an elegant solution to that problem and it is also quite handy for people who like to try to memorize information from podcasts and audiobooks while sleeping.

App Stacks

A common issue among iPhone users with lots of apps is visual clutter. Eventually, some organization has to happen, or confusion will reign supreme. To avoid this, people usually start moving apps around into folders, but that’s an inconvenience.

Thankfully, the secret lies in “Jiggle Mode.” During Jiggle Mode, while holding down one app, start tapping other apps with another finger. These apps will automatically go into a stack under the held app. From there, they can all be dropped into a single folder without much fuss. It’s especially good for people who use iPhone’s Dynamic Island.

Drag And Drop

People who’ve used the iPhone for a while by now are quite used to the copy-and-paste function. It’s pretty much an industry standard and isn’t that much of a hassle. Still, the iPhone’s all about innovation, and even this simple practice has been streamlined. Images, text, and even photos can now be dragged and dropped with ease.

Press and hold down the selected media, then simply drag it to wherever it needs to be posted. Whether it’s text on notes or photos in another folder, the iOS will automatically paste it anywhere valid. It’s a very nifty feature that was surprisingly under-advertised during the software campaigns.