For years, iPhones have earned a reputation for clean design and an interface that simply gets out of the way. Most of us learn the basics on day one, then stop exploring. That is a shame, because Apple hides a lot of clever touches in plain sight. The more time you spend poking around, the more you realise your phone can do far more than you ask of it.
Hidden Touch Gestures That Save Time
The touch screen looks simple, yet underneath it sits a whole library of shortcuts. Three fingers are the secret handshake. When you are typing, tap with three fingers to reveal the editing bar, swipe left with three fingers to undo, and swipe right to redo. It feels odd the first time, then quickly becomes second nature, especially if you write long notes or edit text on the go.
Back Tap is another small delight. Head to Settings, Accessibility, Touch, then Back Tap. Choose a double-tap or a triple-tap and link it to an action. You can snap a screenshot, launch the camera, open a favourite app, or run a Shortcut. It is perfect when you only have one hand free and want something to happen right away.
Turn Your iPhone Into a Pocket Investing Tool
Use the built-in Stocks app to build watchlists, long-press tickers for quick charts and news, and add a widget to glance at moves in the Home Screen. Pair this with your brokerage app for alerts and simple portfolio checks. Create a Shortcuts routine that opens your market apps and reads headlines at a set time, then tie it to a Focus so only finance apps show during trading hours. If you track emerging themes, save articles to the Reading List, and follow newsletters on upcoming crypto coins to keep research in one place. Such articles keep you in the loop on potentially lucrative crypto investment opportunities, so having them within easy access is essential.
Turn the Keyboard Into a Precise Trackpad
Moving the cursor with your finger is a test of patience. Press and hold the spacebar, and the keys fade away, turning the keyboard into a trackpad. Your thumb becomes a mouse. Slide to the exact spot you need. If you keep holding and nudge slightly, you can select text with more accuracy than you might expect on a small screen. It is a tiny change that makes long messages and edits feel easier.
Measure the World in a Few Taps
The Measure app doesn’t look flashy, but it is far more helpful than a lot of popular third-party apps and tools. Open it, point at what you want to measure, and let the phone find the edges. You can get a quick length for a shelf, the size of a box, or the space under a desk. The built-in level hides in the same place. Open Measure, switch to Level, and line up that picture frame. You will wonder how many times you eyeballed it in the past and called it good enough.
The people height trick is a fun party moment. Point the camera at someone standing in frame, and their height appears above their head. It is not a medical device, but for a quick estimate, it does the job.
Scan, Sign, and Send Without a Printer
The Notes app is a quiet workhorse. Make a new note, tap the camera icon, and choose Scan Documents. Place a page on a table and your iPhone will find the edges, correct the perspective, and capture a clean, shareable PDF. If you need a signature, tap the pen icon to open Markup, add your name with a finger or an Apple Pencil, and save it. That stack of forms that used to mean a trip to the printer becomes a task you can finish while waiting for a coffee.
Siri and Translate When You Need Quick Help
While Siri has tons of commands, it shines when you ask for quick translations. Try, “How do I say ‘I’m allergic to peanuts’ in Italian” and watch the phrase appear, ready to play aloud. The Translate app pushes it further. Put the phone on the table, select the two languages, and talk. The app switches between speakers and shows the transcript. It is not the same as fluency, but it can carry you through a train station, a market, or a menu with confidence.
Focus Modes That Match Your Day
Do Not Disturb is only the start. Focus lets you set the tone for different parts of your life. You might want a Work focus that silences personal messages, hides games from the home screen, and allows calls from teammates. A Fitness focus could allow music and health apps while muting everything else. A Reading focus could dim the Lock Screen and keep only a few contacts unmuted. Each mode creates a small mental boundary. When you switch it on, you are telling your phone and yourself what matters at that moment.
You can also tie a Focus to a schedule or a place. Arrive at the gym, and Fitness kicks in. Sit down at your desk, and Work takes over. That quiet nudge helps you slip into a routine without a fight.
Magnifier for Small Print and Fiddly Jobs
The Magnifier is hidden in Accessibility, and it is a gem for real-life tasks. Add it to Control Center, and it is always a swipe away. Use the slider to zoom, adjust brightness, and try filters that harden edges or boost contrast. It helps with tiny serial numbers on electronics, dusty labels on paint tins, or the corner of a map in dim light. It is also useful for hobby work when you need a closer look at stitches, screws, or circuit traces.
Edit Photos With Tools You Might Have Missed
The Photos app can do more than a simple crop. Open a picture, tap Edit, and explore the sliders. Definition pulls texture from flat images. Shadows and Highlights balance a backlit scene. Vignette draws the eye to the centre without screaming for attention. If you shoot Live Photos, scrub the frames and set a new key photo to freeze the exact expression you wanted.
Long-press on a subject and watch your iPhone lift it cleanly from the background. Copy and paste it into Messages or Notes. It feels like a party trick, yet it is surprisingly practical for quick mockups, mood boards, or playful stickers in chats.
Record the Screen With Your Voice
Screen recording is great for a quick tutorial or a bug report. Add the Screen Recording button to Control Center. Press and hold it to reveal the microphone toggle. Turn it on and narrate while you tap. The result lands in Photos, ready to trim. Show a parent how to join a group call. Capture a short how-to for a colleague. Record a few steps to remember later. Clear and simple beats a long explanation every time.
A Few Small Habits That Pay Off
Create a habit of visiting Settings and long-pressing icons in Control Center. Those presses often reveal extra controls, like a quick device selector in the audio tile or deeper Wi Fi and Bluetooth menus. Spend ten minutes rearranging the Home Screen so the first page holds only your daily tools. Hide whole pages you do not need and rely on Spotlight for everything else. Set a Focus schedule that fits your day, and your evenings will feel quieter. None of these changes is dramatic on its own, yet together they make the phone feel tailored rather than generic.
Keep Exploring and You Will Keep Finding
Your iPhone is a pocket tool kit, a notepad, a camera bag, a translator, and a small automation hub. Most of its best tricks sit a couple of taps beneath the surface. The pleasure comes from spotting them, trying them, and folding the ones you like into your routine.
Treat the device with a little curiosity. Press and hold things. Open apps you ignored. Peek into settings you have never touched. When you do, you will find a dozen small improvements that add up to a calmer and more capable everyday phone. That is the quiet magic of features that are hidden in plain sight.
