10 iPhone shortcuts that will improve your day

Your iPhone: it’s the Personal Assistant, portable computer, and confidante you never knew you needed! And if the most elegant of the smart phones can be frustrating from time to time, it’s still hard to imagine how you ever lived without it.

So let’s take a look at a handful of sneaky shortcuts you may not have realized exist. Integrate these into your workflow to free up precious moments for the nitty-gritty of your business routine.

1. How to charge your iPhone more quickly

Oh Apple, you and batteries have never quite worked out your differences, have you?

For those who’ve found themselves praying for that red bar to hold out when sending an urgent message on the go, there is a better way: charge your phone in flight mode.

This way it powers up much more quickly, allowing you to give your device a significant boost every time you’re near a power source.

2. How to undo what you wrote

The advantages of being able to fit a whole electronic office into your pocket go without saying. The disadvantages include the fact that the tiny QWERTY touch screen keyboard is apt to conflate and rearrange the letters you type.

And that overused backspace key is part of the problem! It’s just as tiny. So instead of deleting your next typo, instead try shaking your iPhone to undo the latest thing you typed (or, very usefully, to undo the accidental ‘delete’ you just keyed).

3. How to reduce your URL search time

So we’ve established that quickly typing a sequence of characters into your phone rarely ends well. You can speed up the typing of a URL by holding down the full stop when you reach the end of the middle part – it brings up a selection of domain endings (.com, .org etc) so you can pick the right one without any more fiddly stuff.

4. How to display tracking data

Your private data: is it a good thing or a bad thing? It’s a good thing when you get lost on your way to a meeting and you need your map app to triangulate your precise location. But it’s a bit less wonderful when it’s storing needless details about your itinerary on your phone for anyone to find.

Head to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations to see where your phone knows you’ve been, and to delete those details if preferred.

5. How to know who’s calling without looking

…or listening. Yep, that’s right – you can set up individual vibration patterns to identify who’s on the other end of the line when you receive a call during a meeting. This is super-helpful if you’re waiting for news or information but don’t want to get caught glancing at your screen or blind-answering a call from your S.O.

To set it up, navigate to your contact of choice and tap Edit, then Vibration.

6. How to use your iPhone’s spirit level

Beloved of gallerists and surveyors, the iPhone spirit level is hidden in the compass app. Just open it up and swipe left.

7. How to create custom replies to missed calls

By navigating to Settings > Phone > Respond With Text you’ll can set up a range of pre-written SMS replies to quickly choose from when you respond to a missed call with a text message.

That way you can concentrate on what matters when ’busy’ is coming at you from all angles.

8. How to switch apps in one smooth gesture

Do you close each app you’ve used before opening the next one? You’re doing it all wrong! Two-step navigation is for the inefficient among us. To swoop gracefully from app to app, just hold down the left side of your screen and swipe to the right… like turning a page.

9. How to find stuff on your iPhone

Nobody likes looking for files on the iPhone. Its apps may be powerful, but some of that power comes at the expense of user autonomy.

The easiest way to find an errant message or file on your iPhone is to swipe downwards on the home screen, which brings up a search box for you to enter your terms.

10. How to screenshot your iPhone

You spot a tweet or image while browsing and you want to keep it to refer to later. Or you have a problem with an app and you want to report it to the appropriate authority. How to get that screenshot? Just hold down the home button and power button at the same time. Be warned: it makes the same sound as snapping a photo, so careful where and when you use it!

Okay: now you’re ready to help you iPhone help you.