How-To

30+ Super Secret iPhone Features and Shortcuts

Andrew Burgess on March 16th 2010

If you’re reading this, you will probably agree that the iPhone is one of the most useful devices currently on the market. But there’s a lot more functionality than initially meets the eye. The iPhone is simple on the surface, but packed with hidden features.

Here are over thirty iPhone tips and tricks that aren’t widely publicised – I’m sure you’ll have encountered a few before, but some are bound to be brand new to you. Read on to join the ranks of an iPhone ninja!

If you like this, be sure to check out our more recent roundup of 40 Secret iPhone Features and Shortcuts!

Tap the Status Bar to Scroll to the Top

Status Bar

Maybe you haven’t checked your tweets for a few hours or you’ve just read a lengthy article. In many cases, you’ll want to scroll back to the top of the page. By tapping the status bar at the top of your screen, you’ll by whisked straight back up to the top. This nice tip can turn annoying quite easily, though. Be careful not to hit the status bar accidentally.

The latest version of Instapaper lets you return to where you were if you didn’t mean to tap the status bar. This should be part of every app that scrolls!

Press the Home and Sleep Buttons Simultaneously to Take a Screenshot

Ever wonder how software reviewers take pictures of the apps without screen glare? I’ll let you in on the secret: none. Just press the Home and Sleep buttons at the same time. You’ll hear a camera shutter (or, rather, the sound of a camera shutter), and your current screen is saved automatically in your camera roll.

Customize the Home button

Home Button Customization

Take this quick quiz: Where can you go when you double-press the home button?

Search
iPod, to the currently playing track
First Home screen, if you aren’t there.

The correct answer is: d. Any of the above. Within Settings > General > Home, you can choose which of these three behaviours you want to use.

Press Home Once to Go to First Home Screen or Search

But what happens if you only press Home once? If you’re at your first home screen, you’ll be taken to Search. If you’re in Search or at another home screen, you’ll be taken to your first home screen. No customization here.

Hold Home and Sleep to Reboot

It doesn’t happen often, but it is possible that your iPhone will freeze up. When that happens, hold the Home and Sleep buttons until the screen goes black, and subsequently shows the Apple logo. This will probably take about eight seconds.

Hold Home for Five Seconds to Quit the Current App

What happens to an app when you close it? It might look like it’s sucked down a black hole, but that’s certainly not the case. When you close an app, much of it remains in memory, so it can be opened again quickly.

To “force quit” an application in iPhone OS 3.0, press and hold the sleep/wake button until the slide to power off screen appears. Then proceed to press and hold the home button until the application quits (usually takes around six seconds).

If you’re on iPhone OS 1 or 2, it’s just a case of holding the home button for about five seconds. Process exterminated!

Double Tap Shift for Caps Lock

Caps Lock

Many people don’t like caps lock, but it’s still available on your iPhone if you so wish. You will have to enable it, though. “Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Caps Lock” should do the trick. Then, just double-tap the shift key to type away in capitals.

Tap Shift and Drag

It’s hard to explain, but once your learn this trick, it’s pretty fun to use. Instead of simply tapping Shift and then tapping your letter when you want the capital format, do this: tap Shift, drag your finger to the letter you want to capitalize, and release. It’s a bit odd at first, but I think it’s probably slightly faster.

This trick is even better when you’re going for punctuation: just substitute Shift with the keyboard switcher key (123/ABC). The beautiful thing here is that after inserting your punctuation, you’re back at the alphabet keyboard: definitely a time-saver.

Tap and Hold for Extra Characters

Extra Characters

How would you type the British Pound symbol on your iPhone? Or an inverted question mark? And what about letters with cedillas? To get these, and other special characters, tap and hold on the letter or symbol that closest represents the one you want.

You’ll get a hidden menu that offers the extra characters. This also works with the .com button, offering a few other top-level domains.

Double Tap Space for a Period and Space

Period Shortcut

Without a doubt, a period is the most often used piece of punctuation. But the period is on the alternative keyboard, and it’s a bit of a pain to switch back and forth between keyboards continually.

The shift-swipe trick is nice, but there’s an even faster move to master: double tap the space bar to get a period and space. This is an optional trick, turned on by default. You can get to it via Settings > General > Keyboard.

Enable International Keyboards for International TLDs

Enable International TLDs

The .com button is pretty handy; it’s even handier that you can add a few extra TLDs with the tap-and-hold trick. If you find yourself typing a specific international TLD often, you can add it to that pop-up by enabling the appropriate international keyboard.

Go to Setting > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards. Then, once you turn on the ones you want, they’ll show up inside the .com button.

Enabling international, keyboards will add an extra ‘globe’ button to the keyboard.

Leave Off www and .com for Faster Browsing

Shorter URLs

If you just need to access a regular .com website, you don’t even have to hit that button. Just type the domain name of the site, san http://www. and .com. Do you realize that this tip can save about five seconds every time?

Add Sites to Your Home Screen for Quick Access and More

Add a Site to Home

We all have our favourites sites, our preferred places for daily doses of news or inspiration. You can make these super-easy to access by adding them to your home screen. Simply tap the “+” button in Safari and choose “Add to Homescreen.”

Then, you can give it the desired label and save it. Web developers can give you an extra perk or two here: they can add a special icon that your iPhone will use on the home screen. Additionally, they can make the website run in fullscreen view. Check out AppleInsider or Glyphboard as a home screen app for an example.

Tap and Hold a Link for Options

Link Options

You’ve been in the scenario: you’re reading in Safari, minding your own business, when a link jumps out in front of you, tempting you to follow it. If you’ve got misgivings, you can tap and hold that link.

You’ll get a pop-up showing you the URL hiding inside that link. That pop-up also gives you options to copy the link, open it, or open it in a new page.

Scroll Inside Frames and Text Areas With Two Fingers

Occasionally you’ll find that you need to scroll within a frame or textarea within a page. Scroll with just one finger and you’ll move the whole page. To solve the problem, use two fingers. Now you can move around inside your little box.

Double Tap a Text Column or Image to Zoom to It

Zooming on Text

Here’s another great Safari tip that I use all the time: double tap a text column to zoom right into it. You’ll get the best possible reading experience without all the two-finger fiddling. This works with images as well. And speaking of images…

Tap and Hold to Save Images

Save an Image

When browsing the web, if you find an image you’d like to save, here’s how to do it: tap and hold; you’ll get the option to copy the image or save it to the photo gallery.

Voice Dial by Nickname

It’s great to be able to voice dial friends, especially while driving. But you don’t have to use only the callee’s name; you can use their nickname as well. You can set this up in the Contacts application.

Send a Call to Voicemail by Pressing the Sleep Button

Although you might not admit it, you’ve probably looked at the Caller ID on your ringing phone and groaned at least once. When this happens, you can easily send the call directly to your voicemail. Simply press the sleep button twice (once silences the ringer, the second cancels the call).

Redeem Promo Codes From Within the App Store

Redeem Promo Codes

Yay! You’ve finally won a contest here on iPhone.AppStorm. You’re on the go when you find out, but you don’t want to wait until you get back to your desk to fire up iTunes.

Here’s what you do: open the App Store app, go to the Featured tab, scroll to the bottom, and tap “Redeem.” Now, tap in that promo code. This also works with iTunes gift cards.

Rearrange Icons Within iPod

Rearrange iPod Icons

Within the iPod app, in the bottom toolbar, you have four options and the “More button”; not new information. But did you know that if you tap the edit button in the top left corner of the More menu, you can decide which options are on the toolbar?

Just drag one down to replace those currently there, and tap Done when you’re finished. This tip works for most apps that use this type of toolbar.

Double Press Home to Bring Up Music Controls

Music Controls

We’ve already revealed the double-home-press tip. But, if you so desire, this can be overridden while your tunes are playing. If you’re listening to music, pressing home twice will bring up the music controls. This can be changed in Settings > General > Home

Tap and Hold next/prev Buttons to fast-forward/rewind

While listening to a song, you may want to jump ahead or back within that track. If you hold down the Next and Previous Song buttons, you can skip through the song a few seconds at a time. The longer you hold the button down, the more seconds you’ll skip.

Drag Your Finger Up and Down to Change the Scrub Speed

Scrubbing Speed

If you’re trying to find something specific within a track, maybe the previous tip won’t do exactly what you want. Try this: drag the location-in-song-indicator (what’s it really called?) to the spot you’d like. This works okay, but for really fine-grained control, drag your finger down. This will let you adjust the adjust the scrub speed – from Hi Speed to Fine.

Tap Instead of Swipe for Pagination

Safari, Weather, and the home screens: they all have the cute little pagination dots. You probably think of these as an invitation to swipe right or left for more content. You’re right, but you can also tap just to the right or left of said row of dots to do the same thing. If you get good at it, it’s probably faster than swiping.

Hide SMS Previews

By default, when receiving an incoming text message, your iPhone kindly displays a preview of the message. Needless to say, this is a great way to publicize privileged information (or embarrass you in front of your mates with a sentimental text from your mum!)

To avoid such situations, head to Settings > Messages and toggle off Show Preview.

Use the Timer to Turn Off Your Music

Sleeping Your iPod

It’s great to fall asleep listening to your favourite music. However, you don’t your iPhone playing music all night. Apple has provided an easy solution.

Within the Clock app, set a timer for however long you want the music to play. Then, instead of choosing a ring, choose to Sleep iPod when the timer ends.

Turn Your iPhone Horizontally for a Wider Keyboard

Horizontal Keyboard

Sometimes, bigger is better. All the built-in apps (and many third-party apps, too, now) offer a wider keyboard if you turn your iPhone sideways. If you practice, you can actually type with two thumbs on the wider keyboard.

Turn Your iPhone Horizontally for a Scientific Calculator

Scientific Calculator

But the keyboard isn’t the only thing that gets wider when you go horizontal. The completely unassuming built-in calculator unleashes it’s scientific power when tilted 90 degrees. It’s great for those moments of impromptu trig or exponents…!

Save Battery Power by Turning Features Off

Save Power

It’s no fun when your iPhone runs out of juice. If you notice it’s getting low, and you aren’t going to have a chance to plug in any time soon, here’s what you can do: turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or 3G. If you aren’t using one or two of these, they’re just wasting power. Also, turn the LCD brightness down a notch or two. You’d be surprised how much power it uses.

Send Photos at Full Resolution

Sending Photos

It’s great to be able to take photos with your iPhone and then instantly email them to friends and family. But be aware that there are things going on beneath the surface when you choose “Email Photo.”

Your iPhone actually reduces the quality of the image it sends, which gives the recipient faster downloading. If you want to send the full resolution image, tap and hold the image in the gallery to copy it. Then, you can paste it into an email at full res.

Customize Search Results

Custom Search Results

Most people probably agree that Spotlight search on the iPhone is useful. But what we all use it for most definitely varies. I use it mainly for launching apps; you might use it for finding emails.

To customize what order things show up in, check out Settings > General > Home > Search Results. From here, you can rearrange the order of your results, as well as turn off the ones you don’t want.

Cover the Light Sensor to Dim the Screen

This is probably my favourite tip. You may not have realized it, but there’s an ambient light sensor somewhere in the area above the LCD screen. This sensor adjusts the brightness of your screen when you unlock your iPhone depending on the brightness around you.

By covering the top part of your iPhone as you wake it, you can dim the screen to save a little juice. It appears to re-sense the light around every few seconds, so you’d have to continue holding the top of your iPhone to keep the screen dim.

I know, not the most practical tip; but the light sensor is really a built-in automatic trick.

That’s it!

Well, that’s all I’ve got! If you have an iPhone tip that I didn’t mention, let’s hear it in the comments. It would be great to build up a collection of other unusual features that don’t come explained in the manual!

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Responses

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David Taylor
March 16th
Reply

>”location-in-song-indicator (what’s it really called?)”

I always prefer CTI for Current Time Indicator.
Malcolm Bastien
March 16th
Reply

Wow, not bad!

A couple of those points really *were* new to me and will be useful. Especially that point about email photos and adjusting the scrub speed. Thanks for posting!
redwall_hp
March 16th
Reply

Great post. I learned a few tips I hadn’t been aware of.

Is it just me, though, or is the comment form automatically populating itself with a random name, email, and URL every time I refresh the page? I thought it was strange that the name was listed as “Chris”-something-or-other, so I refreshed the page and it changed to “Dmitry Gorshkov.” I’m pretty sure it’s not on my end, since I’m using a password-protected laptop that I don’t ever let anyone else use.
- Andrew Burgess
  March 16th
  Reply
  
  It’s not just you; I had the “Dmitry Gorshkov” earlier today. I’ve heard of other people having the same problem on Nettuts. Hopefully Envato will figure it out soon!
Michael Peay
March 16th
Reply

wth, who is this mike peay :/
Rohit
March 16th
Reply

I’m getting it on all the AppStorm sites. Some super obvious, but I never knew about he Caps Lock thing before
Mike
March 17th
Reply

Hi, apparently my automatically generated name is Mike, and I think these tips are great! I knew about all of them except that I could get “.ca” in the .com popup by enabling French (Canada). It seems a bit silly that even though my region settings are set to Canada, I have to enable French for that. Also just wanted to point out that if you have an iPhone, “Double-click the Home Button for:” also allows you to choose “Phone Favorites” (again, it should show “Favourites” for Canadians ) and “Camera”.
- Cheryl
  March 18th
  Reply
  
  Apparently I’m Cheryl?
Kody Troje
March 17th
Reply

Somehow, I’ve known about all of these – a perk of having the first generation iPod touch. ^_^

You can disable the ambient light sensor in the brightness preferences. It’s the On/Off switch just below it, so you don’t have to cover the sensor when you’re using it.
Will Dawson
March 17th
Reply

Hi,

Apparently I am Will Dawson.

Nice to meet me Will.

Great article BTW. Why isn’t there a manual explaining all of these things?
Why do Apple just want you to learn as you go?
- Kev H
  August 22nd
  Reply
  
  There are manuals … for sale!
  - pinkprism77
    January 14th
    
    There are also free apps that will give tips and secrets of the iPhone.
- WildBill9478
  August 28th
  Reply
  
  You can go to the iBooks store to download a free PDF manual for your device published by apple. Just search for books published by Apple.
- hm hhntg
  December 10th
  Reply
  
  I want to see my name…
Pam
March 17th
Reply

Thanks! I’m a newbie on the iPhone. I knew a couple of them but the rest were brand new . . . and fun. My husband and I tried them all out. Great post.
Noah
March 18th
Reply

these are really helpful but the light sensor thigy trick aint working on me iphone
Josh Schumacher
March 18th
Reply

Hi, I’m not Josh but like the name. I’ve always watched the adverts for iPhone like a hawk despite having owned a 1st generation and now the 3GS. They’re not so much ads but instruction manuals – well apart from the ‘got an app for that’ ones.

Still, learnt one or two things here so thank you!
- Budd
  May 6th
  Reply
  
  Didnt know the forum rules allowed such brlialint posts.
Bittenbydesign.com
March 19th
Reply

Handy reference! I already knew a fair amount of them but the screen shot one was new to me and well worth reading the article in my book! Are there more tips to share?
Shawn
March 19th
Reply

The “Nickname” option for contacts is huge! I didn’t know that worked with Voice Commands. No more arguments with my phone on who it should be calling! Thanks…
David Chetrit
March 19th
Reply

“Double Tap a Text Column or Image to Zoom to It”

O’Rly?

Would’ve been nice if this post contained quality rather than quantity.
David Chetrit II
March 19th
Reply

I agree. List 3 really useful features or shortcuts instead of 30 painfully obvious features.
- Jaynie
  December 31st
  Reply
  
  Maybe not “obvious” to everyone… jeez ya just can’t please everyone, can ya?
Tony
March 19th
Reply

Great list of tips here! REally liked the bookmarking tip.
- yenoh
  January 24th
  Reply
  
  pinoy ka po ba? d ko ma gets ei, gusto ko sana yang bookmarking para pag nag twitweet ako magamit ko ung mga icon…d ko magawa ei, bopol lang
Lukas
March 20th
Reply

secret? duh.
Andrew Littler
March 20th
Reply

My favorite tip was found entirely by accident and is, considering what I use my iPhone mostly for, a life saver.

To listen to only the audio of a video podcast, lock your screen and then double-tape the home button, you will be presented with the basic iPod controls – press play. This also works while browsing the rest of your phone. This helps you still want to be able to continue listening to an episode of BoL you were watching on the bus but needs to get going or something.

Or… something.
Andrew Littler
March 20th
Reply

meh… new them all already D:
- Ivan
  December 16th
  Reply
  
  Sure didn’t know how to spell “knew”…
Simo
March 20th
Reply

Lots of handy free tools for better browsing with iPhone:

http://www.ipuhelin.com/en/safariplus/

- search in page
- scroll to end
- etc

highly recommended !
Simo
March 20th
Reply

ahah
Cathy
March 20th
Reply

Great list. Picked up a couple features I’d missed. I would just add this 3GS feature that I learned by accident one day and has changed my life: the ability to touch the screen while taking pictures to spot-adjust focus and exposure. Makes a huge differnce in the quality of your photos.
Alan Tocheri
March 20th
Reply

As a follow-up on the period trick-

Double space after a word, it auto inserts a period for you and capitalizes the next word.

Great list!
seminar projects
March 20th
Reply

can explain tjhe last trick that bout brightness? dun understand…
Tuffy
March 20th
Reply

Thanks for compiling the tips!
Burak YILDIRIM
March 21st
Reply

Thanks for the tips…
DrKoob
March 22nd
Reply

I tried adding a nickname for voice dialing in the Contacts app but can’t find a way to do that. Am I missing something?
- Missee
  May 12th
  Reply
  
  You go into that contact, click edit. Go down to bottom and click add field. Then look for nickname.
Ben
March 25th
Reply

Turn the iPhone horizontally, that’s a secret feature???
- Jenny
  October 18th
  Reply
  
  I dunno…..
  ( cough cough )
  Ok….
  So not a secret
Ryan Cash
March 25th
Reply

Finally I know how to use the caps-lock!
Blanche
March 30th
Reply

I lost an app and didn’t know which one, so after I figured it out I took screen captures of each screen and keep them in my photos for future reference.
- Lee Lee
  September 4th
  Reply
  
  I just has to get a replacement phone and it drove me crazy trying to remember where I has each app! Thanks for this tip for the next time!!!
  - trollCall
    October 10th
    
    Do you not know how to back up and restore your data in iTunes?
- Kelli
  December 10th
  Reply
  
  iOS 5 has all of your app purchases in te app store. Go to “updates” and under “purchases” you’ll see every app you’ve downloaded.
Dennis
April 3rd
Reply

I didn’t know the “Use the Timer to Turn Off Your Music” function. Very nice, thanks!
--David
April 3rd
Reply

While I know some of you are seasoned vets on the iPhone/Touch, it is posts like these that help move new users out of their “so, what can I do with it” mode. Being a teacher of teachers, I have to say that many of these tips will be greatly appreciated this summer as they learn how to use their new “toys.”
- zeke
  December 6th
  Reply
  
  ur a jack ass
  - zekesgay
    November 21st
    
    You are.. Just a bored moron
Evan
April 12th
Reply

You missed a great one I just learned yesterday. If you’re looking at a contact’s info and want to delete phone number, you don’t need to click “Edit”. Just swipe your finger from right to left over the number, and the “Delete” button appears. Like this:
Evan
April 12th
Reply

Apparently I can’t add images. Here’s a link to the image then:
http://img.skitch.com/20100412-c1dif4n4df1tm33dmisy97uc5w.jpg
Osborne01
April 13th
Reply

I don’t get the point of the sensor thing. Why not just turn the brightness down in Settings?

But where is the ¢?
отдых в египте,отдых в египте с детьми
July 1st
Reply

Отели кипра; Безупречно о отдыхе в таиланде.
edepot
July 19th
Reply

If you REALLY want to know all the super secrets for the iPhone (including the iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone 4), visit the iPhone Secrets webpage:

http://www.edepot.com/iphone.html

It contains a LOT more!
Orfebre Martin
July 31st
Reply

Apparently I can’t add images.!!!
Lini
August 20th
Reply

Loved it, some of it I knew and some not!
Questions about SMS:
1. how do you know when you send more then 1 SMS?
2. How do you get the delivery SMS
3. How do you put a new word in the dictionnary?

I do not think we can do any of the above, but I prefer to ask
thanks and ENJOY YOUR IPHONE
Dain Im
September 8th
Reply

If you’re reading this, you will probably agree that the iPhone is one of the most useful devices currently on the market. But …
mohamed
September 27th
Reply

how we can to do the internet setting
Marie Ysais
December 8th
Reply

Great site glad I found it today. Any chance you will add a spot to highlight developers or their stories?
Miljenko Barbir
December 10th
Reply

Nice list.
Thanks a bunch…
Mustafa sumon
December 14th
Reply

Just amazing! Really its a great charm having a device like this. Thanks a lot for sharing such gracious tips.
Mustafa sumon
December 14th
Reply

Its amazing! Its a great charm having a device like this. Thanks a lot for these gracious tips.
Nikhilesh
December 14th
Reply

does anybody know how to downgrade from ios4 to 3.1
your maa
January 19th
Reply

utter shite i knew every single one already. secret my arse.
- leisa johnson
  December 11th
  Reply
  
  why do people have to be such jerks??? if you dont like the site just hit the little x in the upper right corner or your home button and cut the sob off!!
Pancake
January 31st
Reply

Hd photo

Step one: tap the camera app

Step two: switch to video mode using the switch in bottom right hand corner

Step three: take short video

Step four: go to your home screen and tap your photos app

Step five: tap camera roll select the video and push play

Step six: stop your video, rewind to the start and tap the screen

Step seven: press the home and power button at the same time
RoganGunn
February 16th
Reply

Erm… why? The photos you take are already far higher res than 720p! 720p = 1280×720 whereas the still camera takes at 2592×1936 on the iPhone 4. Sorry but your tip is utterly pointless! :-S
Minilån
February 21st
Reply

great stuff, I will follw you closely
Blækpatroner billige
March 9th
Reply

I learned a lot from this, Thanks so much!
clarkness
March 10th
Reply

Thanks for the article. I was just using my verizon iPhone 4 and did something accidentally that I would like to figure out how I did it. I was in the messenger screen when all of a sudden all the apps appeared four at a time at the bottom of the screen and I was able to scroll through them and switch over without having to go back to a home screen. For the life of me idk how I did that. Probably something obvious… any help?
- Arthur
  March 15th
  Reply
  
  Thats multitasking you used. Clicking the home button twice will show you which apps you recently opened so you can quickly acces them again.
Tammy
March 18th
Reply

My 4g does not have home after settings>general. What’s the deal? How do I get to that to change things that I want to change if don’t have that option?
Tammy
March 18th
Reply

I figured it out…as person b4 my post said, on 4g if u hit home button twice it shows last 4 apps u used at bottom, u can scroll to the right to have all ur apps lined up. If u go to left there are controls for music for instance…one thing it says to go to settings>general> home to gind
Brittany
March 20th
Reply

Thank you for taking the time to write this. Everyone says they already knew the tips; however, I spent the day teaching my mother and aunt about their Iphones. Now I can just cut and paste your link for them to share with their friends.
amanda
March 21st
Reply

If you tap the screen with three fingers you will be able to zoom in the entire screen. No matter where you are.. Apps, home screen, ipod.. Etc. To take the zoom off just tap a couple times with three fingers again.. A tricky thing is to navigate.. You just basically slide and hold your one finger on the side of the screen you would like to see next.

Good article for new time users though. I wish there were actually Iphone tricks. Unfortunately I new about all of these.. Except adding sites to your home screen. Although..FACEBOOK has an app for that.
charlee
May 15th
Reply

i’ve been trying to copy a photo that is on facebook to my picture gallery, one of the tips says that if you tap and hold the picture it will come up with the option to copy it, but when i tap and hold mine it doesn’t do anything!! help!!
- Krista
  September 26th
  Reply
  
  His will not work on the Facebook app. Open Facebook.com in Safari and it will.
jts
June 2nd
Reply

I’m new to iphone4. The users guide says you can save a song to ring tones. I spent a whole day trying. I connected to my computer and copied, pasted, imported, and exported with no result. The song is saved in itune and ipod and iphone but not as a ringtone. Help. Great tips some were new to me.
- Bram
  June 10th
  Reply
  
  I used this guide to make a ringtone…
  
  http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html
  
  and it worked fine. Remember when you add the ringtone to iTunes to look for it in the ringtones folder though. I had to have a full nights sleep on it before I thought to click on there.
  
  Thanks for this list, I’ve only had my iPhone a couple of days and this is getting me off to a flying start.
rocky
July 11th
Reply

its all fake biddies
Yolanda
July 14th
Reply

The iPhone is the most useful device on the Market. (they made me say it)
And it’s true.
Peter
July 17th
Reply

Nice tips, although I knew alot of them already. One of the most obvious tips, and one I’m very glad with, is the Ipod tip about rearranging the icons in the toolbar. I’m using it for Remote and was never able to just view all my songs, but now I am Thanks
luffy
August 17th
Reply

you can try iBestTips app, i found this app in appstore. It contains many helpful tips and it is total Free
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibesttips/id452280871?ls=1&mt=8
Habibie
August 20th
Reply

Shake to undo.
onlinelån
August 24th
Reply

great article thanks. i will follow this blog
Джвръц
August 26th
Reply

Also, there is a great site to easily create ringtones, supports youtube downloading , cutting etc.: http://www.audiko.net
Mete
September 2nd
Reply

Thanks for all, one from me could be shaking the phone to undo typing, if you didnt know already..
Cheers..
Laptop Netbook
September 3rd
Reply

Sadly, the manual is just forn sale
jon
October 16th
Reply

cool thanks. if you triple tap home button you can invert your screen colours also
Jenny
October 18th
Reply

Yes, you did forget to mention one tip.
The tip is…..
Double click home button to show only the last four apps you have went to
- Julie
  January 22nd
  Reply
  
  You can also scroll left for more apps Just happened to find that by mistake.
santhosh
October 18th
Reply

Auspicious Writeup & Nice Blog
Roctex
October 22nd
Reply

Been messing with my iPhone 4s and cannot figure out how to hide my texts???
Anyone??? Clueless here
- Dude
  October 23rd
  Reply
  
  Read the article genius.
  - BK
    January 10th
    
    There’s really no need to be so sarcastic. Let’s all be civil to one another even if we do or fail to do something dumb.
- Alyssa
  December 11th
  Reply
  
  Go to Settings>Notifications>Messages and turn off “Show Preview”.
  Also, to turn off the automatic reminder, turn “Repeat Alert” to “Never” which is right below “Show Preview”
Yeamon
October 23rd
Reply

Seriously? Hold the top of my phone to reduce brightness to reduce power consumption?
Hilarious. If you’re going to those lengths I suggest two phones. I’m also pretty sure there’s a setting, I think the only setting besides the slider in settings>brightness IS auto dim. Auto dim does exactly what you’re describing, which I believe it is, with an on/off switch.
Soooo you can hold your phone like a crazy person or you can turn auto dim off, adjust brightness manually, even turning it down all the way if that’s your preference. Saves power by CPU not real time regulating and reduced brightness well passeded what you’d do by leaving it on and covering the top. Haha.
Bob Suggitt
October 30th
Reply

Can you have both the camera and flashlight on at the same time to illuminate somthing so you can see it on the screen? Use as an inspection camera and light in hard to reach places. Even better if you could remote the video with wifi or bluetooth. Not the smallest inspection camera but extremely handy with an additional Ipad, a stick and some tape. The Ipad is for the image of course.
Santhosh
November 19th
Reply

Wow, awesome iPhone Tips. Thanks for sharing.
krain
November 26th
Reply

i feeel proud to have an iphone [3gs]
krian (nepal]
matt
December 5th
Reply

Just found by accident!! double tap the home bottom from sleep and you get camera next to the slide lock that will open directly to camera without the slide & music controls on the top of the locked screen again without unlocking the screen… enjoy!!
Website Designs Austin
December 5th
Reply

I LOVE most of these shortcuts! I did NOT know most of them and I can’t live with out a few of these! AWESOME! Funny how much we use our iPhones yet most us don’t learn the shortcuts. You have saved me a ton of time.
Austin Kurpuis
December 8th
Reply

None of these are “super secret features” a real secret feature is the hidden panorama mode in IOS 5 it’s a bitch to enable but well worth it in my opinion!
Sara
December 8th
Reply

Thank you so much! Very helpful….. I thought I was going to need an iPhone for dummies book, but my new iPhone is very user friendly!
Alison
December 9th
Reply

Thanks for taking the time to compile these tips. Many were new to me, despite having had an iPhone for a couple of years. Perhaps I don’t have as much time on my hands as all those claiming that they ‘new’ all the tricks already.
e
December 9th
Reply

Knew… oh my god
- Niki
  December 12th
  Reply
  
  thank you! finally someone corrected them all!
Kandy
December 10th
Reply

I knew all of these as well- someone else commented that it is because we have had a phone since day one. Anyway you are leaving off a huge one that even my high-tech boyfriend didn’t know.
You must close app. at the bottom of screen each day (not just turn them off in settings).
So if you check weather, text, make a call and check facebook, you would have 4 apps running. By double clicking the home button it will bring up the apps at the bottom. This is what they created so you can multitask. You than hold the app in the bottom area down like you would to delete or move apps. This does NOT delete it. It just closes app and saves your battery. My boyfriend had 99 apps open. dumb.

Also you can create folders by merging apps together.

Hope this helps..
ShoSho
December 11th
Reply

I did know some of these but it was helpful, and to those who didn’t think it was well go somewhere else! Don’t read them, move on! Don’t be a 5 yr old and complain, just move on! But thanks to the comment about the double tap from sleep to bring up the camera that I really need for quick pics! Thx again!!
Tina
December 11th
Reply

Go to Settings>Notifications>Messages and turn off “Show Preview”.
Also, to turn off the automatic reminder, turn “Repeat Alert” to “Never” which is right below “Show Preview”
Kala
December 11th
Reply

In response to the last tip- you can turn off the auto brightness feature which will then leave your screen at whatever brightness you have set. Go to settings> brightness and turn the auto-brightness switch to off.
Shivram
December 24th
Reply

I might be missing something here but has anyone figured out a way to edit a number on the dial screen in case something incorrect is entered?
Meaning if I enter 123456 and I want to change the first digit to ’2′, I usually have to delete the whole thing and start over.

Any other way? Could they not provide the magnifier like in all other text input applications?

Also, you can create shortcuts for WiFi and Bluetooth on one of your homescreens.
Check it out here: http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/11/how-to-create-iphone-setting-home-screen-shortcuts-how-to.html

The actual shortcuts can be installed from http://brdrck.me/settings/

This is just a special case of the ability to create shortcuts for urls you visit frequently but might be especially useful if your usage is like mine.
- EK
  January 7th
  Reply
  
  Ha! When I type the number wrong, I usually just hit “add to contacts” because it is easy to edit it there. Would be nice if they let you correct the number on the screen.
Gloria
December 28th
Reply

I am so happy to find out how to type in all caps. I got really tired of hitting the cap key between each letter!
Александр
December 31st
Reply

Помогите , уже где только не лазел немогу поменять название возле антены приёма сигнала .
кто знает как изменить , буду весма благодарен .
Mon
January 6th
Reply

Wow…that’s good. I’m always rushing to get to the camera. Thanks for sharing. I found out the other day that you can use the volume button on the side to click to take a picture.
EK
January 7th
Reply

Thanks for the tips. I wonder, is there and easy way to get the “display caller id” moved out of settings and up to the main screen? I need to switch this off frequently in my work, but it is a TOTAL pain located where it is deep in settings…..
louis vuitton handbags clearance
January 9th
Reply

There are some exciting points in time in this article but I do not fully understand if I see all of them center to heart. There does exist some validity but I will take hold opinion until I explore it further. Good post, thanks and we require more!
Kathy B.
January 12th
Reply

You rock.
Steve
January 15th
Reply

Is it possible to create a shortcut for the Bluetooth function into the desktop instead of having to go through settings- general etc?
Stephanie
January 21st
Reply

Also, to save battery life, or close all open applications:
1. Double click the “home” button.
2. Hold down the first application shown until it “wobbles”.
3. Click the red “-” sign to close it out.
It just saves battery life to close out applications not currently in use.
Mike hunt
January 22nd
Reply

When you first open your phone before you unlock it double tap the home button for iPod controls
- lyneday
  January 24th
  Reply
  
  You can also double click the home button from sleep and it will go directly to ipod controls and the camera button without having to slide to unlock
sp
January 24th
Reply

One idea that I have learned is you can clear the clutter of your screen with lots of apps by holding down on an app so that is will wiggle to move. Drag one of the apps over another app and now you have created a folder that you can add related apps in one folder. Such as I have all my travel apps all in one folder. You can also remove them by again holding down on an app to make them wiggle and drag them where you choose.
Bob
January 25th
Reply

what the fuck? it says “embarrass your ‘mates’ with an embarassing text from your ‘mum’?
so basically, u would just be casually hanging around with multiple sexual partners, when a mummy in Egypt gets ahold of your cell phone number and sends embarassing information about you??? I thought this was supposed to be serious, not a fucking joke
Emily Smith
January 26th
Reply

Another way to take a picture (when in the camera app) is by hitting the volume button!
- Jimmy
  January 26th
  Reply
  
  well, obviously
nick hil
January 26th
Reply

how do u delete messages permanently my partner can read them once the been deleted
Happy Mama
January 27th
Reply

Thanks for the tips – can’t wait to see what name I’m going to get!
Ashley
January 29th
Reply

You can take a screen shot of whatever you are looking at on your phone by pressing the home button and the sleep button at the same time.
Austin SEO
January 30th
Reply

Great shortcuts for iPhone users! Looking forward to more information.
SEO Austin
February 1st
Reply

I’ve had an iPhone for several years, but some of these were tips that I didn’t know. Thank you!
Austin Plumbing
February 2nd
Reply

Thanks for the wonderful iPhone user tips!
Managed IT Services Austin
February 3rd
Reply

Thanks for the tips! Can’t wait for you to share more information!
How To Talk To Girls
February 3rd
Reply

Thanks so much for this wonderful information! Looking forward to more tips in the future.
kisho
February 3rd
Reply

how ridiculous is this article. i knew most of these ages ago even though i don’t own an iphone and i use my sister one. like: Customize the Home button
when i saw the first one i was like : err i already know that.
should of thought then that this is going to be stupid
Flacko
February 3rd
Reply

Abolutely the best shortcut guide ever made. This is the truth. #TheRealDeal