Apple has launched its own YouTube channel of iOS tips, meanwhile iPhone X is attracting massive interest and changing how we use the device. Here are ten more usability tips to help you turn yourself into an iPhone X pro.
Make Face ID gaze again
If Face ID fails to recognize you for some reason you can make it try again by dragging the home indicator bar up a tiny bit and then down.
[Also read: Life after the Home button: The iPhone X gestures guide]
Get the battery percentage
You used to be able to set iOS up to provide a percentile figure to show you how much battery power you had left (Settings>Battery). The iPhone X doesn’t let you do this any – but you can still check what percentage battery you have by swiping down on the right side of the notch to invoke Control Center, where you’ll then find the percentage top right.
Tiny hands need Reachability
Lots of iPhone X owners are using the Reachability setting inside iOS 11 to make it easier to use the device with one hand.
Activate this in Settings>Accessibility>Reachability.
When you do, a simple swipe down on the gesture bar will cause the entire screen to slide down so you can more easily reach the top of that screen with one hand. (You use the gesture bar to replace the old way of accessing this, which was to double-tap the Home button.)
Above: Apple has introduced a new YouTube channel full of iOS tips.
A second Reachability tip
Once you’ve enabled Reachability in Settings, you can also invoke it a second way:
- Swipe up from the bottom of the display as if to get to the App Switcher.
- The active app window will begin to minimize itself into its own App Switcher card
- As soon as it starts to do so, swipe down rapidly without lifting your finger from the display.
- The app window should now be in Reachability mode. (It may take a few tries to make this movement fluid).
Use original iPhone wallpaper
Do you remember the original ‘Finding Nemo’ iPhone wallpaper introduced with the first iPhone in 2007? That image isn’t part of iOS any more, but you can download it (and many other older wallpapers) here.
Fast App Switching
Want to get back to the last active app? Just swipe right in the indicator area at the bottom of the display. Keep swiping right to go to and fro between apps.
A quiet look
Have you noticed that when the alarm rings and you stare at your iPhone X, the alarm’s volume goes down? You’re not imagining this, it really happens. Apple calls this an Attention Awareness Feature, (you’ll also find telephone rings louder when you aren’t looking at the device). You change this behaviour in Settings>General>Accessibility>Face ID & Attention, where you toggle Attention Awareness Features to Off.
A virtual Home
You can use an accessibility feature Apple calls Assistive Touch to create a virtual on-screen Home button. Enable this in General>Accessibility>Assistive Touch. Once you’ve enabled this you get to decide what that virtual button will do in response to a single tap, double-tap, long press or 3D Touch. To prevent screen burn-in, you should set the Idle Opacity setting to 40 percent or less.
Animoji Karaoke is becoming a 'thing'
Lock screen’s big secret: 3D Touch
The torch and camera icons you find on a locked iPhone X aren’t decorative, but functional. 3D Touch either icon to (a) switch the torch on or off, or (b) open the camera app.
Film a 4K movie
The iPhone X can film movies in 4K 60fps, but you have to tell it to do so. You can achieve this in Settings>Camera>Record Video> Change from 1080p at 30fps to 4k at 60fps. You can even make and create Animoji movies and karaoke sessions as described here.
Having problems with your iPhone X? Take a look at our troubleshooting guide. Want more iPhone X? Try these:
- With iPhone X, Apple just took a step to emotion sensing
- 8 things you’ll want to try first with your iPhone X
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