iPhone X features a new all-screen design. Face ID, which makes your face your password. And the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone.
CHARGE YOUR PHONE FASTER WITH A SINGLE BUTTON PRESS
SHAVE SECONDS OFF YOUR SEARCHES
DISCOVER EXACTLY WHAT YOUR PHONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU
lightly 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
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 against your leg? 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
CLOSE THREE APPS AT ONCE
SET YOUR MUSIC ON A TIMER
TAKE A PHOTO WITHOUT TOUCHING YOUR PHONE
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, sports scores and social update. 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 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.
USE YOUR PHONE LIKE AN ETCH-A-SKETCH TO ERASE
FIND OUT EXACTLY HOW LONG YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR A REPLY
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.
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?
HARD-RESET WHEN IT CRASHES
You may not have realised 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.
CUSTOMISE THE FEEL OF YOUR HOME BUTTON
CREATE CUSTOM REPLIES FOR MISSED CALLS
“DATE NIGHT. CALL AGAIN AT YOUR OWN PERIL.”
TAKE A PHOTO WHILST SHOOTING VIDEO
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 CONNECTIONS
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.
ORDER AN UBER USING SIRI
