Apple is expected to release iOS 17 to iPhone users next month, shortly after its annual September event, at which Apple is set to unveil its latest iPhone, among other products.
But you don't need to wait until then to explore the vast ecosystem that the iPhone and iOS have to offer. No matter if you're a veteran or a n00b, there's much to discover within iOS. Take a look through these images to see how to make your iPhone work better for you.
Use the iPhone Back Tap
For starters, did you know the back of your iPhone is basically one huge button? The Back Tap feature, hidden in the accessibility part of your settings, allows you to take a screenshot, turn on your flashlight and more by tapping anywhere on the back of your iPhone. The faster you can trigger an action, the better right?
Move the Safari address bar
The address bar in Safari is at the bottom of the web browser by default, but this wasn't always the case. Before iOS 15, the address bar was at the top, but there's an easy to way to move it back -- just in case you prefer it that way.
Tame your iOS notifications
You can schedule notifications so that you're not overwhelmed with unimportant alerts every other second.
Create a second Face ID
If you often wear glasses, whether they're prescription or simply for the sun, you may sometimes have trouble getting your iPhone to recognize you with Face ID. That's why you should create an alternate Face ID appearance in your settings.
Boost your iPhone's font size
Speaking of glasses, if you're visually impaired, it's easy to go into your settings and change the font size across iOS. And if you've got great vision, you can make the text smaller!
Save energy with Dark Mode
Dark Mode is a pretty popular feature, but it's not just about aesthetics. If you want to save some battery, turning on Dark Mode is an easy way to do that.
Personalize your iPhone lock screen
iOS 16 brought some major changes to your wallpaper, including customizable date and time, widgets, dynamic astronomy and weather backgrounds. Best of all, you can save multiple wallpaper profiles and switch between them whenever you want.
Optimize your iPhone Control Center
You probably use the Control Center every day, to quickly turn on Do Not Disturb or put your phone into Dark Mode. But there are other toggles you can place on your Control Center that you may not be aware of, like Music Recognition by Shazam (to identify music) and Code Scanner (to scan QR codes).
Turn on iOS 17 StandBy mode
If you're looking for more settings to play with and interested in beta software on your iPhone, you should look into downloading the iOS 17 beta and checking out some of the hidden features available, like the new, full-screen StandBy Mode.