17 iPhone Tricks To Make Your Life Easier (|| part)
8. 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 faster in even less time.
9. Set your music on a timer.
Enjoy listening to a little soothing background music as you drift off to the Land of Nod? Then you're probably all too familiar with waking up at 3am 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.
10. Take a photo without touching your phone.
An oldie but a goodie iPhone hack is using your volume control buttons to capture a picture — thus saving your meaty paw 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.
11. 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.
12. 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, sports scores 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.
13. 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 dialler 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.
14. 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. Perfect for the plump of finger and poor of spelling, who want to skip the endless backspace bashing with a firm handset rattle. And if you're shivering rather than shaking? Don't worry: a pop-up will ensure you want to delete before erasing your typing.
15. 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. True: it's not as morale-beating as WhatsApp's blue ticks, but it will still give you a complex over why it's taking over 42 minutes for your other half to reply. Do affairs really take that long?
16. 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.
17. 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, via Messages — 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?
