14 Game-Changing iPhone Tips You Might Not Know

POPSUGAR Photography / Jae Payne
POPSUGAR Photography | Jae Payne

Despite owning an iPhone since 2007, I barely use it to its fullest potential. I sometimes use Siri by accident or stumble into a random tab in Settings and quickly get out of there. But of course, as it turns out, I'm missing tons of hidden features that make life a little less complicated — and you might be, too. For example, did you know you can teach Siri how to pronounce a name and keep emergency medical information a tap away, just in case anything ever happens?

We know you don't need to know every little attribute of your iPhone, which is why we collected only the most important tips. Each one is easy to learn, and trust us — once you start using them, you're going to wonder why you didn't before.

01
Create a Favorites Album
POPSUGAR Photography | Ann-Marie Alcántara

Create a Favorites Album

If you really love looking back at old photos over and over again, just tap the small heart button on the bottom of the screen. After that, a Favorites album is created and you can store photos there.

02
Optimize Your Battery Life
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Optimize Your Battery Life

Instead of carrying around an extra charger to extend your battery life, find out which apps are consuming too much power. To get there, go to Settings > Battery. In that section, you'll see just which apps are killing your iPhone's battery, so you can close the app if it's open or delete items like photos and songs. While you're at it, make sure to follow these other tips to save your phone's battery life.

03
Take a Photo While Recording Video
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Take a Photo While Recording Video

Ever wanted to take a photo while recording without having to stop the video? Turns out you easily can just by clicking the small white button at the bottom left of your screen.

04
Find Hidden Uses in the Accessibility Settings
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Find Hidden Uses in the Accessibility Settings

If you want a softer lighting on your iPhone, an LED flash, larger text, and more, you can find it under Accessibility in the General tab of Settings. You'll find a variety of uses here, from using Invert Colors at night so that the lighting isn't as harsh or, one of our favorites, seeing an LED flash whenever you get a text message. Don't be afraid to try them all!

05
Get Siri to Read You Everything
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Get Siri to Read You Everything

Siri deserves much more credit than she gets, considering she can read out loud. To get Siri to speak chunks of texts, head to Settings > General > Accessibility and, in the vision section, turn on Speak Selection. After it's on, you can highlight a passage and press "speak" to hear Siri read to you. Another option is using "speak screen," which will make Siri read the entirety of your screen once you swipe down on the screen with two fingers.

06
Fix Exposure When Taking Photos
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Fix Exposure When Taking Photos

Turns out, you can easily adjust the amount of exposure when focusing a photo simply by holding down the sun icon. To make the exposure brighter, scroll up on the sun icon. To make it darker, scroll down.

07
Get Important Details in Messages
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Get Important Details in Messages

Nestled at the top right corner of any text message is a Details tab that takes you to a wonderful part of Messages. You can share your location, mute a conversation, and see what photos were shared.

08
Operate Siri Without Pressing the Home Button
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Operate Siri Without Pressing the Home Button

Any newly minted Apple Watch owner will agree that speaking to Siri without having to press anything is awesome — and that feature is also available on the iPhone. Just click on over to the General part of Settings and under Siri, toggle on "Allow 'Hey Siri.'" Then, as long as your phone is charging, you can just say "Hey Siri" and it will respond. If you have the iPhone 6S and beyond, you can use the feature without plugging in.

09
Have Your Medical ID Ready For Emergencies
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Have Your Medical ID Ready For Emergencies

While not everyone likes HealthKit, you should definitely add your information into the Medical ID tab. If there's ever an emergency, someone can see any allergies or medications you're taking, as well as a contact to call.

10
Teach Siri Correct Pronunciation
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Teach Siri Correct Pronunciation

Whether you have a name that's hard to say or not, you can still teach Siri the right way to pronounce names. To get to this panel, just say someone's name while using Siri; then when she responds, speak back and say, "That's not how you pronounce (whatever name you said)." Siri will then ask how to correctly say it and will present you with three options to choose from. Pick one and you're done!

11
Change Direction When Taking Panorama Pics
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Change Direction When Taking Panorama Pics

To switch between directions in the panorama setting of your camera, tap the arrow and boom! Your panorama switches to the other side of the screen.

12
Turn On/Off Predictive Text
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Turn On/Off Predictive Text

People either love or hate predictive text. Regardless of which team you're on, just hold down the world icon in text messages and you can turn it on or off.

13
Make Siri Remember Certain Relationships
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Make Siri Remember Certain Relationships

Siri can also learn certain relationships that make calling, texting, or emailing much easier. Just press down on the home button until Siri opens up, say "[Name here] is my [brother, sister, mother, etc.]," and she will ask back to confirm the relationship.

14
Use the Compass App For Housework
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Use the Compass App For Housework

Anyone who has ever tried to hang up a painting knows just how many times it takes to get it straight. But, if you use the compass app and swipe right, it turns into a level. When you're fully straight (at 0 degrees), the app will turn green.

15
POPSUGAR Photography / Jae Payne