Are you one of the millions of Americans who purchased the iPhone X? Do you enjoy using the smartphone but feel you have yet to maximize its features?
As one of the most expensive iPhone iterations in history, the iPhone X should pack a punch. Despite its seemingly steep price tag, the device still attracted millions of users. Analysts even point to the price tag as a crucial factor which attracts some of the most demanding buyers.
But do you somewhat feel the device should give you more? Perhaps there are still many iPhone X tips and tricks you have yet to pull off the smartphone’s sleeves.
If you wish to experience the device’s full potentials and squeeze the most out of your hard-earned money, continue reading below. We prepared an iPhone X tutorial featuring 11 tricks and tips that may even surprise you.
1. Reunion with the Home Button
Are you one of those users who badly miss the physical home button? Fret not, as you can enjoy it anew, although in a virtual manner this time.
Go to your phone’s General option then click on Accessibility. Choose Assistive Touch and tick “on.” You will notice a virtual home button appear. Interestingly, you can customize this virtual button and assign some shortcuts.
One of the main advantages of the virtual home button is versatility. You can place it practically anywhere along the sides of the screen. Additionally, with a single-tap, double-tap, or long press, you can make the button go home.
2. Manageable Control Center
If you are one of those people who struggle to reach the iPhone X’s Control Center, the Reachability feature will be your best friend.
To activate the feature, head on to Settings and go to Accessibility. Pick the Reachability option. Try it out by swiping down the gesture bar.
You will notice the phone’s entire screen slide down as you make the gesture. You can also swipe down above the app icons on the upper right. If you have small hands, turning this on will make life easier for you.
This will also lessen the risk of losing grip on your phone and breaking it if it hits the floor. Don’t forget to choose the right iPhone case for added protection.
3. Force Quit the Apps
Hate those moments when your apps hang and freeze? Thankfully, the iPhone X still carries the force quit feature.
This time, however, pulling off the trick is a bit more complex. Launch the App Switcher then give the app a long press. Once you see the small red minus symbol on the left corner, tap it.
That will force your app to quit and get things back to normal.
4. Quick Flips Between Apps
This is one of those basic tips, which many people easily miss during their iPhone X’s setup. To do this, swipe right on the gesture bar while on the home screen.
You will notice that you can now flip from one suspended app to another. You may also swipe right or left after flipping an app that you opened much earlier. Using some of the most useful mobile apps becomes a breeze.
5. Customize Vibrations
Putting your phone on vibrate mode for your incoming calls is so yesterday. With the iPhone X, you can customize the vibrations so you would know who is calling without even looking at your phone’s screen.
Go to the Contacts app then pick the person you want to assign a custom vibration. Hit Edit and look for the Vibration option. Click on it and find the Create New Vibration option.
There, you can assign unique vibrations and ringtones to any of your contacts. This is useful for people who are frequently in meetings where they need to keep their phones on silent mode. Additionally, you can also assign a specific light flash pattern to any of your contacts.
6. Keep Your Photos Private
If you have photos you want to keep private, the iPhone X has a special feature for you. To keep these photos away from prying eyes or protect them from your children who may delete them, head on to the Photos App.
Select the photos you want to protect and hit the Share button. Click on the Hide option that will appear. This will hide the private photos and make them invisible on the Collection, Years, and Moments views.
If you wish to access the photos, simply head on to the Albums screen.
7. Level the Field
One of the iPhone X cool features only a few are aware of is the leveler. This comes in handy when you are hanging photos and other items against your wall. The feature helps determine if the surface level is perfect.
To activate this, head on to the Compass app and swipe left. There, you will see the bubble leveler. Once you select it, your phone’s built-in gyroscope sensor will check if your picture frame is horizontally or vertically on a perfect level.
A red margin will serve as your guide in finding the perfect angle.
8. Storage Expansion
One of the biggest downsides of the iPhone is the storage expansion or lack thereof. Thankfully, there are ways to expand your device’s storage.
First, the iOS 11 introduced efficient file formats for your videos and photos. You can also manage your messages by enabling your phone’s iCloud sync feature. Head on to Settings then go to Messages. From there, hit the Messages on iCloud option.
If you have a desktop at home, you can extract data from your phone to your PC. Download a free edition of the MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS. Install it on your Windows 7, 8, 10, or your Mac OS X and follow the data transfer instructions.
You should also consider deleting some of your device’s old iPhone backups. Head on to Settings and click on General. Choose Storage & iCloud Usage and select Manage Storage.
Select Delete Backup and hit Turn Off & Delete to complete the process.
You may also buy the Data Traveler Bolt Duo from Kingston. It is a small device you can install on your iPhone X’s lightning port. It saves your photos directly to the drive when taking pictures.
Make sure to prepare to shell out around $60 for the device.
9. Quickly Disable the Face ID
The Face ID is one of the easiest ways of unlocking your iPhone X. But during emergency cases where you may find yourself forced by a robber to unlock your phone, the Face ID becomes a major disadvantage.
To quickly disable the Face ID, press the power button five times. This will automatically turn off the Face ID feature. Moreover, it will prompt your phone to apply the passcode as the unlocking option.
Once you enter your passcode, the Face ID option will default as the main unlocking option.
When we talk about phone security, it is best to update yourself constantly when it comes to online security and privacy.
10. Shake It Off
Deleting words and characters when writing emails or typing SMS is time-consuming. You want to send out your messages quickly when you’re in a hurry. Instead of pressing the back button, you can shake those errors off.
After shaking your phone, it will ask you to confirm or cancel the move. If you accidentally shake your phone often, you can always disable the feature.
Head on to General then go to Accessibility. From there, click on Shake to Undo then hit the off option.
11. Extend Your Battery Life
One of the most important iPhone X secrets you need to learn is extending battery life. Generally, it should last you up to a day and a half. The great thing is, you can extend it for as much as 60%.
Apart from operating on low power mode, you can use a black wallpaper. You can also invert the colors to create a darker mode or simply turn on the grayscale mode.
Interestingly, you can only apply these battery-saving tips on the iPhone X, thanks to its OLED display. Compared to previous iPhone generations which use LCD screens, the OLED display’s pixels are lit individually.
This means that if you make the pixels black, they are practically off.
You should also consider turning off some settings. These settings you can do away with include the background refresh app, the location and background location services, the push notifications, and the spotlight search.
On the flipside, you should turn on Reduce Motion, as well as the Airplane mode whenever there is no cell coverage.
Go Beyond iPhone X Tips and Tricks!
Using your iPhone X in the most efficient way may be great. But why stop there?
If you found our list of iPhone X tips and tricks useful, check out our other blog posts and become more tech-savvy. We discuss topics like improving online security for all your devices, as well as optimizing your business website.