In this post I will discuss about iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and iOS hints, hidden secrets, tips and tricks. These tips include battery life and charging tips, photography tips, camera tips, texting tips, security tips, typing tips, quick task tips, calendar tips, keyboard tips, email tips, dictation tips, storage tips, video tips, power saving tips, headphone tips and international travel tips.
Some of these tips and tricks are relevant for the following iPhone models: iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6.
Some of these tips and tricks are relevant for the following iPad generations: iPad, iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad mini, iPad (4th generation), iPad mini 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2.
Some of these tips and tricks works for all versions of iOS 4, iOS 5, iOS 6, iOS 7 and iOS 8.
Here are the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and iOS hints, hidden secrets, tips and tricks:
1) Avoid the sync being canceled when receiving a call in iPhone
Many times it happens that you have connected the iPhone to your computer and you are syncing songs and other media. Suddenly, you receive a call and the sync gets canceled. Now, again you have to sync the iPhone. To avoid this simply, turn your iPhone in to the Airplane mode. That way you will not be connected to the network and you will not receive any calls. After the sync is finished again you can turn the Airplane mode to Off. To go to Airplane mode settings: Settings–>Airplane Mode.
2) Save a draft when composing an email in iPhone
When you are writing an email in iPhone and suddenly something came up and you want to save the email as draft then simply, press the “Cancel” button. After that, you will see an option “Save Draft” to save the email as Draft.
3) Turn off music, songs after a set or fixed time in iPhone
There are many people who have the habit to play songs before sleeping. So, when you turn the music from a playlist and start a song and sleep in the middle, the songs will keep on playing if you have shuffle and repeat on. Finally the battery will go down and the phone will be turned off. To avoid situations like this, you can stop playing the songs after a set time. To do this, go to: Clock–>Timer Then, select “Stop Playing” from “When Timer Ends”. Set a time say, 2 hours and 10 minutes. Now, press “Start”. So, after 2 hours and 10 minutes the music will automatically stop and you can save your battery life.
4) Ways to move the home page screen in iPhone
If you don’t like swiping the home screen, then there are other ways to scroll the home page screen:
i) Use the dots to move the home page screen. Just touch the dots to move screen.
ii) Touch the space near the dots to move screen left or right.
5) Move the months faster in Calendar in iPhone
When you tap in the calendar controls you would notice that it moves very slow. What if you want to see something in year 2015. Now, for situations like these, just press and hold the arrow of the calendar and it will move faster than usual.
6) Copy, open a link in new page in iPhone
While browsing internet via Safari you will find many links. Now, to get more info about these links or to copy these links, or to open them in a new page, simply touch and hold the links for a while, a window will pop up. Now, you have the option to open the link, open link in new page, add to reading list, or to copy the link.
7) Send a free text message (SMS) in iPhone
If you know your recipient’s cell phone provider you can send them free SMS by using emails.To do this simply compose an email with “To” field as: phone number@career address.
Say your recipient has AT&T as his career, and his phone number is 8366278727 then you can send him a free text message (SMS) by sending an email to 8366278727@txt.att.net. This message will be completely free of charge.
8) Play, pause and skip songs even when your iPhone is locked
When you are listening to songs in your iPhone which is locked and you want to play, pause and skip songs, then simply press the Home button twice and you will get option to play, pause and skip songs.
9) Keyboard shortcuts in iPhone
iPhone provides a number of keyboard shortcuts. To enable, visit: Settings–> General–> Keyboard
i) Auto-Capitalization: To automatically make capitalize first letter of every sentence.
ii) Auto-Correction: To automatically correct words whilst typing.
iii) Check Spelling: To turn on the dictionary while typing.
iv) Enable Caps Lock: You can double tap the shift button while typing. After that you will get text in capital letters.
v) “.” Shortcut: While typing double tap the space bar or tap it with two fingers to get a period symbol “.”
10) Get more extensions when typing a website address in Safari in iPhone
When you are typing an address in Safari in your iPhone you might be wondering why there’s just one extension “.com” just because it’s a TLD. Actually, you can get other extensions too. Just hold the “.com” button for a while and other extensions will appear.
11) Add a website in the home screen in iPhone
We do like many websites which we visit frequently. Now, going again to Safari and then bookmarking is a bit tedious task (I think). To save all this trouble the best way is to have the website link in home screen of your iPhone. To do this, simply visit the website you want to put in home screen. Tap the arrow. Then, select the option, “Add to Home Screen”.
12) Go to the top of the page quickly in iPhone
While browsing the internet or reading a page, there are situations when you are reading a long article. Now, what if you want to go to the top. There is no button to do that. However, you can do it by simply tapping the status bar.
13) Handle Undo Typing and Redo Typing in iPhone
When you are typing anything, say a text message or an email, you can just shake the iPhone and you will get an option to Undo Typing which will erase all that you were typing. After, pressing the Undo typing, you realized that you needed the previous text, then shake the iPhone again to get the text back.
14) Hang up, answer a call and play music by earphones control button in iPhone
There is a very important earphones control button in iPhone’s earphones. You can use it for plethora of functions. In below cases, we consider that iPhone earphones are connected to your device:
In stand by mode:
i) Press the button once to answer a call.
ii) Press two times to send call to voice mail.
In a call:
i) Press once to hang up.
ii) If you receive a second call, press once to hold current call and switch to the new call.
iii) Hold the control button for a few seconds and release to ignore the new call.
To handle iPod or Music:
i) Press once to activate and play music.
ii) Press once to pause the song which was playing.
iii) Press two times to skip to next song.
iv) Press thrice to go back to previous song.
15) Take care of spaces on home screen after deleting, adding apps in iPhone
If you delete add apps in a regular basis then you must be feeling irritated about the spaces in between the apps in home screen. There’s an easy way to fix this. Go to Settings–> General –> Reset –> Reset Home Screen Layout. After this all gaps and spaces will be automatically removed from your home screen. The only problem with doing this is that it will delete all the folders (if you have) in software versions iOS 4 or later. If you want to have the folders intact, do not proceed with this. In that case you only have the option to manually edit the apps.
16) Find directions in maps in iPhone
There are many occasions when you want to save a place or find a direction from a particular place on a daily basis. This may be your home or your office. The best and easy way to do this is to drop a pin to that particular location. To drop a pin touch and hold a place in maps. After a few seconds a pin will be dropped to that particular location. Now you can find directions to and from this place very easily.
17) Share your iPhone’s internet connection
With iOS 4,5 you can now share your iPhone’s internet connection. To do so, go to: Settings –> General –> Network –Personal Hotspot –> Turn it On. You can share your internet connection via Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth.
Here’s how to connect via Bluetooth:
i) Pair iPhone with your computer.
ii) On iPhone, tap Pair or enter the code displayed on your computer.
iii) Connect iPhone to computer.
Here’s how to connect via USB:
i) Plug iPhone to your computer.
ii) Choose iPhone from the list of network services in your settings.
18) Take sharper and crisper photos in iPhone
Many times you will notice that pictures taken by iPhone are a bit blurry. Actually, there’s a way to take fine quality pictures in iPhone. To do this, press and hold the camera button for a few seconds, you will see a white color frame, when you see that frame release the camera button. The picture taken this way will be more crisper and sharper.
19) Free memory and make your iPhone fast
Here are a couple of ways by which you can free some memory and make your iPhone faster:
i) Close Safari windows: You can close all the Safari windows when not in use. This will free most of your iPhone memory.
ii) Turn Off Mail: When you are not using email, you can simply turn it off. Go to Settings –> Mail, Contacts, Calendars –> Email Account –> Set it to Off.
20) Create folders for apps in iPhone
In iOS 4 or higher you can make folders to arrange your apps. To make a folder, touch and hold one of your apps. This will make the apps dance. After that, drag the app to another for which you want to make folders. A folder will appear with a category name. You can edit this category name as per your requirements. Similarly you can a maximum of 12 apps in to this folder. Now, to remove an app from the folder, open the folder, touch and hold the app you want to remove and drag it out of the folder.
21) Get push Gmail support with Google Sync in iPhone
Here are the steps to get push Gmail support with Google Sync in iPhone:
i) Sync your iPhone with iTunes to back up contacts and calendars.
ii) Go to: Settings –> Mail, Contacts and Calendars –> Add Account –> Microsoft Exchange.
iii) Enter your full Google email address in Email field. Note: If you add a googlemail.com address you might see a “Unable to verify certificate” warning in next step.
iv) Leave Domain field blank.
v) Enter Username: Your full Google email address. Enter your Password. Press “Next” at the top of your screen. Choose “Accept” if “Unable to verify certificate” appears.
vi) Enter m.google.com in the “Server” field. Press “Next” at the top of your screen. Then, you can select the Google services you want to sync.
22) Create an alpha numeric passcode in iPhone
If you want to make your iPhone more secure then you can turn on the alpha numeric passcode instead of numeric passcode. To do that, go to: Settings–>General–>PassCode Lock–>Turn Off Simple Passcode. Now, you can turn “PassCode On” to set a alpa numeric passcode.
23) Turn off cellular data in iPhone
If you don’t want to use the network of your cell phone then you can easily turn it off. To do that go to: Settings–> General –> Network –> Turn Off “Cellular Data”. Now, your iPhone will access only the network of WiFi or other external networks (if it’s connected to a WiFi or other external networks).
24) Turn off lyrics and podcast info in iOS 4,5 in iPhone
When you play a song or a podcast shows lyrics or other meta data, and you want to turn it off then there’s a simple procedure to do it. Go to: Settings –> Music –> Turn off “Lyrics & Podcast Info”.
25) Create a playlist in iOS 4, 5 in iPhone
To create a playlist in iPod, visit: Music –> Playlists (at the bottom left) –> Add Playlist. Enter the name of the playlist and “Save”. Now you can add songs to this playlist. The best part is that this Playlist will be synced to your iTunes.
26) Set a default search engine for safari in iPhone
To set up a default search engine for safari in iOS 4,5 for your iPhone visit: Settings –> Safari –> Search Engine –> Select your Search engine from here.
27) Increase the font size of text in Calendar, contacts, mail, messages, notes in iPhone
To increase the font size of text in Calendar, contacts, mail, messages, notes in iPhone, go to: Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> Large Text and select your font size from here.
28) Use iPhone without looking at it
You can use the iPhone without looking at it. This is great when you are driving or multitasking. To enable, go to: Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> VoiceOver –> Set it to “On”. To use VoiceOver, simply touch the items, and an automated voice will appear. To activate the selected item, you have to double tap it and to scroll you have to use three fingers.
29) Do a quick redial in iPhone
To do a quick redial in iPhone, just tap the “Call” button and you will get the last dialed number.
30) What do when you get a temperature warning in iPhone?
The operational temperature of iPhone is said to be about 35C/95F. If temperature increases beyond this point, then you will get a temperature warning. If you get this warning, turn off your iPhone. Move it to a cooler location and then let it cool down. After that you can again turn on and start using it. This warning can be overridden for emergency calls.
31) Refresh network coverage: Fix iPhone when there’s no network coverage
If there’s no network coverage in your iPhone then there’s no need to turn it off and then turn it on like in other smart phones. To refresh the network coverage of your mobile, visit: Settings –> Airplane Mode –> Turn it Off and turn it On.
32) Remotely lock and erase all your data in iPhone
The best feature of iPhone is its security of data. iPhone allows you to remotely lock and erase all your data. To start with, create an Apple id and login to iCloud. Then, Go to: “Find My iPhone”. Here you can lock your iPhone remotely. You can also wipe all the data remotely. Apart from that you also have the option to play sound or send a message in your iPhone remotely.
33) Avoid your call getting disconnected by accidental tap on End button in iPhone
Sometimes, you see that a call is suddenly disconnected in iPhone. It is because of your cheek or ear tapping the End button. To avoid this, after your call has started tap the “speaker” button and then tap the On/Off button of your iPhone. This will lock your iPhone and it will not end your call. Now, you can talk freely without having the fear of call getting disconnected accidentally. This is good when you have an important call and you don’t want to get disconnected at any cost. Now, when you want to end the call, simply tap the “End” button. Note: This is only possible in speaker mode.
34) Save space in iPhone by deleting voice mails
You can save a considerable amount of space by deleting voice mails in iPhone. To proceed follow these steps:
i) Tap “Phone” and then go to Voicemail at the bottom right.
ii) Then tap the “Deleted Messages”.
iii) Now, tap “Clear All” to permanently delete the voicemails.
35) Magnify entire screen in iPhone
To magnify the entire screen in iPhone, you have to enable the Zoom feature. Go to: Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> Zoom –> Turn it On. To access Zoom:
i) To Zoom: Double tap with three fingers.
ii) To move around screen: Drag three fingers while zoomed.
iii) To change Zoom: With three fingers, double tap and drag up or down.
36) Assign different ringtones in iPhone
To assign different ringtones in iPhone for contacts, go to: Contacts –> Select a Contact –> Edit –> ringtone –>Select ringtone –> Save –> Done.
37) Use dictionary in iPhone
iOS 5 has a built-in dictionary. To use it, double tap any word and then tap the arrow. Then, tap Define. You will see the meaning of that word now.
38) Add photo albums in iPhone
In iPhone you can add and delete new photo albums. To add an album, go to Photos and then tap Edit. Then, tap “Add”. Enter the name of the album and “Save”.
39) Edit photos in iPhone
In iPhone, you can directly edit photos in iPhone. To do that, go to: Photos –> Select an Album –> Select a photo to edit –> Edit. Now, you can edit your photo. You have the options to rotate, auto enhance, red-eye removal and crop.
40) Two more ways to take photos in iPhone
There are two more ways to take photos in iPhone apart from the regular touch shutter button:
i) via volume up button.
ii) Using volume up button in your headphones.
41) Take high quality photos using Grid in iPhone
To take high quality pictures in iPhone you can enable Grid. To enable, go to Camera –> Options –> Turn On Grid.
42) Option to delete individual calls in iPhone
In iPhone you can delete individual calls in Recent tab. To do that Go to: Phone –> Recents –> Edit.
43) iMessage: Send free messages to other iPhone, iPad and IPod users
iMessage is a great tool to send messages to other iPhone, iPad and IPod users. The best part is that these messages are free.To activate iMessage go to: Settings –> Messages –> Turn on iMessage. You have to use your Apple iD to login to iMessage.
44) Enable keyboard shortcuts to save time in iPhone
Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to save time while typing messages in your iPhone. To enable go to: Settings –> General –> Keyboard –> Add New Shortcut. To use this in your messages, just type the shortcut and the full form will appear.
45) View app notifications in iPhone
To see the notifications, swipe your iPhone from Clock vertically and you will see it dropping down. It is also nice for quickly viewing weather and Stocks.
46) Reading list in Safari in iPhone
You can set up reading lists in Safari in your iPhone for links which you want to read later. To add a page as reading list, tap the arrow key. Then, tap “Add to Reading List”. To access, reading list, Go to Bookmarks –> Reading List.
47) iCloud: Best backup for iPhone
I have seen many backup methods by using apps or in iTunes. But, noting is as compared to iCloud. To enable, go to: Settings –> iCloud –> Login with your Apple Id –> Set up things which you want to back up like Mail, Contacts, Calendars, etc.
All your data is now backed up in iCloud servers which you can login to see at iCloud. The best part is that you will get 5 GB free. If you need more space you can upgrade anytime. Personally, for me 5GB is enough. You can check the storage by visiting: Settings –> iCloud –> Storage & Backup
48) What to do when an app keeps crashing in iPhone
If your app keeps crashing in your iPhone and you need the app badly anyways, then send a diagnostics report to the app developers to look in to the issue and fix it. To get the diagnostics report, go to: Settings –> General –> About –> Diagnostics & Usage –> Diagnostics and Usage Data –> Send this data to an email by copy pasting.
49) Delete songs directly in iPod or Music in iPhone
In iPhone, you can directly delete the songs from Music. To do this, go to : Music –> Songs –> Swipe the song you want to delete. Then, Delete it.
50) Create custom vibrations in iPhone
In iPhone you can create custom vibrations for individual contacts. Whenever someone calls you can set your own custom vibration for that particular contact. By doing this, you would know who’s calling without even looking at the phone even when your ringer is muted. To do this, go to Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> Turn on custom vibrations.
Now, go to: Phone –> Contacts –> Edit Contact to add custom vibrations –>Edit –>vibration –> Select any vibration. You can also add your own custom vibration here.
51) Creating hourly events in Calendar in iPhone
In iPhone creating events in calendars is a bit easier. Just open Calendar, flip it to your right in landscape mode. Tap and hold on the hour time to add an event.
52) Prevent Safari in iPhone to keep history of your web browsing
If you don’t want to wish that Safari should keep history of your visited web pages, then you can enable Private web browsing. To enable, go to: Settings –> Safari –>Turn on Private Browsing.
53) Transfer photos from iPhone to PC or Mac
Here are the steps to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac:
i) Connect iPhone to Mac.
ii) Open Image Capture.
iii) Save your photos to whichever drive you like.
Here are the steps to transfer photos from iPhone to PC:
i) Connect iPhone to PC.
ii) Go to My Computer.
iii) Open iPhone. From her you can save your photos to your PC.
54) Print an email, photo, web page from iPhone
Here are the steps to print an email from iPhone:
i) Open the email which you want to print.
ii) Tap the arrow button.
iii) Select the Printer
iv) Add number of copies.
v) Click on Print.
Similarly you can print Photos, and webpages.
55) Restrict people to delete or modify content in your iPhone
iPhone is like a mini personal computer. So, when you are not around, people might accidentally or deliberately delete any data from your iPhone. To restrict them to do so, go to: Settings –> General –> Restrictions –> Enable Restrictions –> You will be prompted to put up a pass code. Here you can restrict people to install apps, delete apps, changes to mail accounts, game center and plethora of other options.
56) Resume a video which was playing in iPhone
Many a times it happens that you are watching a video and something comes up in between and you want to resume it for later. Then, simply tap the “Done” button. Next time, when you open the video it will be played from the same place.
57) Add a speed dial in home screen in iPhone
Here are the steps to add a Speed Dial in your iPhone:
i) Type: http://(phone number).tel.QLNK.net in Safari, where phone number is phone number for which you want to set the speed dial and Hit “Go”.
For Example: http://8377627847.tel.QLNK.net
ii) A pop up will appear which will ask you to call the number. Press “Cancel”.
iii) After that tap on arrow key.
iv) Select “Add to Home Screen” and then name your Speed Dial.
v) You will see the Speed Dial appearing on your home screen. Whenever you want to use it, just tap the speed dial and press “Call”.
58) Free some memory: Opening and Closing an app in iPhone
In iPhone you have the ability to work on multiple apps. These apps are stored in the memory. To access these apps double tap the Home button. Then, touch and hold any of the apps. Now, you can close all the unused apps. This will free considerable amount of memory in your iPhone.
59) Search web and Wikipedia easily in iPhone
With iOS 4 and higher searching web is now very easy. Just swipe your iPhone left side for “iPhone search” and type the content which you want to search. Now, you will see an option to search the web and Wikipedia.
60) Setting up message character count in iPhone
In iOS 4 and higher setting up messages character count is a handy tool. There are many service providers which breaks your message in to two when you send a message. So, if you know the length of your message then its a handy tool. To set message character count go to Settings–>Messages–> Turn on “Character Count”.
61) Quickly make bold, italics, underline, change quote level in email in iPhone
In iOS 5 you have the option to quickly make a word bold, italics, and underline. You can also change the quote level.
i) Double tap the word to change.
ii) Tap on the arrow.
iii) Tap BIU.
iv) Make it Bold, Italic or underline as per your requirements.
v) To change the quote level of the word, tap “Quote Level”.
vi) Then, increase or decrease as per your requirements.
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