I recently got a new iPhone and keep hearing people talk about hidden or lesser-known features that can make things easier or just more fun to use. I feel like I’m missing out on cool tips or tricks that aren’t obvious. Can anyone share surprising iPhone features they discovered? I’d appreciate any advice so I can get the most out of my phone.
7 iPhone Features You Probably Didn’t Know Existed
1. The Back Tap Trick: The Hidden Button You Didn’t Know You Had
Alright, so imagine you could tap the back of your phone like you’re knocking for a secret code, and, boom, your iPhone listens. That’s not sci-fi — if you have an iPhone 8 or later (with iOS 14+), you can double-tap or triple-tap the back to do stuff like take screenshots, open apps, or launch Control Center. I set mine to mute — perfect for dodging calls from relatives at awkward times.
Want to set it up? Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. More info straight from Apple’s official guide.
2. Emergency SOS: Your Lifeline in Your Pocket
It’s the feature you hope you never need, but when life hits the fan, it matters: Emergency SOS. Quickly press the side button (5 times, depending on your region), and your iPhone will call emergency services. It also pings your location to chosen contacts.
Here are the steps (and all the obscure settings) so you don’t fumble it. Details over at Apple Support.
3. Shake to Undo? Yes, That Exists
Raise your hand if you’ve been texting at light speed and typo’d three words in a row. Instead of backspacing, just give your iPhone a little shake — you’ll see an “Undo Typing” popup. Been there, looked ridiculous on the train doing it, but it works! (PS: You can turn this off in Settings if it drives you nuts.)
The skeptical folks can check Apple’s explanation here.
4. Measure App: The Ruler You Never Knew You Needed
So here’s the deal, you’re trying to hang a picture, and there’s no tape measure in sight — just your iPhone. Turns out, the Measure app uses AR to turn your phone into a virtual ruler or level. I measured my coffee table and checked if my shelf was crooked (spoiler: it was).
More detailed coverage at Apple’s article.
5. Medical ID: Your Personal Health Badge
This is not your typical “look at my step count” feature. You can store medical details (allergies, blood type, emergency contacts) right on your lock screen. Paramedics can see it from the lock screen in an ER moment. Setup instructions on Apple Support.
6. Screen Recording: Capture Anything, Instantly
You know when you’re trying to explain how to fix something to your less-than-techy parent? Tap & hold the Control Center’s ”record” button, and voilà — your iPhone records everything happening on-screen (audio included, if enabled). Bonus: You can narrate while recording.
Turn it on via Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls. If you want to deep-dive, see this Apple help page.
7. Live Text: Scan, Copy, Paste… Instantly From Any Photo
You snap a photo of a business card, menu, or sign, and the iPhone lets you highlight the text and copy it — just like that. Works everywhere: in Photos, Safari, Camera. I literally copy-pasted my Wi-Fi password from a router label wearing one sock and holding a pizza.
Nerd out with technical detail at Apple’s breakdown or peek at the Wikipedia entry on Optical Character Recognition.
These little gems could make your everyday more “oh wow,” and less “ugh, not again.” iPhones are like onions — just keep peeling layers, you’ll find surprises.
19 Likes
Since @mikeappsreviewer laid out a bunch of legit (and actually super useful) features, I’ll try not to just echo the same old stuff. Some I honestly never bother with—no way I’m shaking my phone in public for “undo,” lol—but that’s just me.
A few other things people totally miss:
-
Hidden Trackpad: Hold the space bar on your keyboard, and suddenly, your keyboard turns into a mini trackpad! Way easier to move your cursor around or highlight text. No more stabbing at the screen hoping you drop the blue dot in the right spot.
-
FaceTime Eye Contact Correction: On newer iPhones, there’s a setting in FaceTime that “fakes” your eye contact. It digitally shifts your eyes so the caller thinks you’re staring into the camera, even if you’re actually looking at their face on the screen. Kinda trippy and just a smidge creepy, but sorta wild tech.
-
Pin Messages in iMessage: Tap & hold a convo and pin it to the top of your messages. Great for not losing track of important threads—spam group chats sink and the people that matter actually float.
-
Handoff Between Devices: Start an email on your iPhone, finish it on your iPad or Mac…or vice versa. It just works. Ok, not THAT hidden but a crazy amount of people never use it.
-
Burst Mode (kinda hidden now): Used to be you just held the shutter, now you have to drag the shutter button left for burst, or right for a quick video. Apple made it weirdly complicated.
-
Custom Vibration Patterns: You can literally tap your own Morse code vibration sequence for certain contacts. Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone > Vibration > Create New Vibration. No idea why, but I made one that feels like the intro to the “Jaws” music for my boss.
-
Wi-Fi Password Sharing: Bring your phone near someone else’s with an iPhone and a saved Wi-Fi network, and you’ll get a pop-up to just…share the password instantly. No more reading off way-too-long random strings.
-
Hide Photos, for Real: Hide a photo and then go into Settings and set a code/lock for the Hidden album, so people can’t just open it. I’m not saying you should use this for memes you’re hoarding, but, y’know.
Not gonna lie, I’m not a fan of the “Measure” app (@mikeappsreviewer hyped it a lot)—find it takes forever to calibrate and iffy on accuracy. I just eyeball, tbh, but if you’re panic-hanging a picture it’s…better than guessing? Debatable.
Honestly, every iOS update has at least one sneaky new thing. Keep poking around in Settings—stuff is buried in there like pirate loot. Any other “can’t live without” features y’all use, or hidden stuff that’s ACTUALLY worth the hype?
Lol, it’s wild how much Apple hides in plain sight, right? The previous posts already dropped a TON of good stuff, and not much left for me to uncover, but a couple extras I swear by (and will go to my grave arguing are underrated):
-
Sound Recognition. No, seriously. Dig deep into Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition and set your iPhone to listen for doorbells, crying babies, fire alarms, etc. Might feel Big Brother-ish, but it’s saved me once when my oven timer went off & I had headphones on—phone buzzed like “HEY, YOU’RE BURNING YOUR DINNER.” (Would’ve ignored the regular beep, tbh.)
-
Safari Tab Groups. Not just organizing your 27 open tabs by chaos vs. productivity, but you can name and sync these across devices. I NEVER see anyone use it, but if you work/project/doom-scroll on multiple topics, it’s a life-saver.
-
The One-Handed Keyboard. Like, tap and hold that little emoji/globe key, and boom: squashes the keyboard to the left or right so you can thumbtype, pinkie balancing your phone, holding a coffee. Is it pretty? Nope. Do my texts have 3x as many typos now? Yep. Still worth it.
Tbh though, I straight up HATE Live Text sometimes—maybe I’m the only one who’s had it randomly grab the wrong line of an address or lock up when dealing with weird fonts? Also, the Back Tap thing? I must mash my phone into oblivion, because it triggers by accident like, constantly, in my pocket.
Also, absolute pro tip: There’s a built-in document scanner in the Files or Notes app. Just start a new note, hit the camera, choose “Scan Documents,” and suddenly you’re not THAT person emailing photos of crumpled receipts. No extra apps needed.
Anyone else find the “Hidden Album” anything but hidden? Anyone with basic curiosity can poke around and find it, cmon.
I’m still hoping for the day Apple lets us actually remove the stocks app, or lets us place icons wherever we darn well want. Until then, at least these silly tricks keep it interesting.
Not sure why everyone’s so in love with Back Tap—maybe it’s just my hands, but that thing’s triggered more accidental screenshots than I care to admit. Anyway, all those feature lists are solid, but let’s go a step deeper. Your iPhone is more capable (and quirkier) than most users realize. Here’s where the rubber meets the road:
-
QuickPath swipe keyboard: Not enough love for iOS’s built-in swipe typing! It’s not as hyped as Google’s Gboard, but after a little muscle memory, it’s weirdly efficient, especially one-handed.
-
Custom Vibration Patterns: Personalize your callers or notifications in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone (or Text Tone) > Vibration > Create New Vibration. Make your own tap dance for Mom vs your boss—handy if your phone’s always silent.
-
Hearing Aid Mode: Don’t skip if you’re not using hearing aids. “Hearing Devices” under Accessibility can directly route calls and media to compatible devices, and using “Live Listen” with AirPods is killer in noisy environments—like sneaky spy gear for group chats.
-
Timer From Control Center: Press and hold the timer icon for a slide-to-set shortcut—no need to open Clock. Came in clutch when battling kitchen chaos.
-
Pin Messages in Messages app: Just swipe right on a convo and pin. Your most-loved group chat need never disappear below all those 2FA codes again.
-
Calculator Swipe Delete: Messed up a digit? Swipe left or right on the calculator number field to delete—no more starting the whole equation over.
-
Muted Thread in Mail: Not as exciting as Live Text, but for office warriors: swipe on a thread in Mail and tap “Mute.” Inbox zen, achieved.
About the competition—previous folks dropped gold, but skipped some privacy and quality-of-life stuff. iPhone’s hidden gems are often about subtle upgrades, not flashy gimmicks. Honestly, some “hidden” features are too hidden—“Hidden Album” is a joke, and the default icon grid is jail-worthy.
As for the ‘’, it streamlines access to these types of tips, stacking them in one readable format: huge plus for new users or those who prefer curated info instead of digging through threads. The downside—once you know everything, it gets stale, and tips for truly advanced users are thin. Competitors elevate the hands-on demo approach or deeper troubleshooting, but for digestible tips, this one fits the bill.
Bottom line: the iPhone is packed with under-the-hood tools. Dive in, experiment, and find your magic combo—it’s unlikely you’ll regret it (except maybe when Back Tap misfires and texts your ex by accident).