It hasn’t been long since Apple released iOS 10 to the masses, and overall it’s a good update. I have been postponing the update until recently in case there were any major bugs in the initial release. Now that I use it on a daily basis, I thought I’d write some tips for using the new OS.
I won’t go into details about the new features in iOS 10 because you’ve probably already read about it. Instead, I’ll cover some of the settings you can make to the settings and how to get the most out of some of the new features.
Tip # 1 – Return to the home button
The most frustrating aspect of iOS 10 was the removal of Slide to Unlock. What’s more, you now need to press the Home button instead of just touching it with your finger to unlock your phone. I preferred the old method and wanted to revert it.
Fortunately, Apple has added the ability to unlock iOS 10 by simply placing your finger on the Home button. To do this, go to “Settings” – “General” – “Accessibility” – “Home button” and then enable the “Leave finger to open” option.
Tip # 2 – Get up to wake up
It’s a really small feature, but I use it all the time now. It should be enabled by default, but if not, go to Settings> Display & Brightness and enable Raise to Wake.
Prior to iOS 10, the screen would only light up if you received a notification on the lock screen, but with Wake Up to Wake enabled, you can simply pick up the handset and the screen will turn on for about 1-2 seconds. This is great for quickly reviewing any missed notifications or for unlocking your phone without having to press the Home or Power buttons.
If you think this feature drains your battery significantly, you are wrong. At least for me, the battery life remained the same before and after iOS 10, which was amazing!
Tip # 3 – Invisible Ink
Now you can do all sorts of crazy things in iMessage, but one of my favorite features is Invisible Ink. This basically allows you to enter a regular text message, but hides the content with a visual effect. To see it, you need to click on the text.
It’s worth noting that the message remains hidden on both your phone and the other person’s phone. Also, after you click to show it, the message will be hidden again after a few seconds.
I found myself using this quite often to send messages that I would not want anyone else to see on either my phone or the recipient’s phone, such as passwords, financial data, health information, etc. < / p>
Tip # 4 – Use more emojis
Personally, I’m not a big emoji user, probably just because of my age, but also because it annoys me to have to go through 500 tiny emojis to find the right one for the text. In iOS 10, the program will try to determine which emoji are best for text.
All you have to do is write your message and then click on the emoticon icon (emoticon icon) that is located at the bottom of the keyboard. You will see certain words highlighted in orange and if you click on those words, you will be prompted with emojis. If you click on the emoji, it will replace the word.
It would be nice if you could also add emojis to the end of a message rather than just replace a word, but overall it’s still a useful feature.
Tip # 5 – 3D Touch apps
3D Touch has been around since the latest iPhone, but I don’t think many people use it that often. Thankfully, Apple made it more useful in iOS 10 by allowing apps to display information from an app along with shortcuts.
For now, this feature is mostly only useful for standard Apple apps, but is slowly gaining traction in other apps. You can also use it in the bottom row of icons in the Control Center.
Basically, any app that has a widget that you can add to the home screen can end up showing this information when you press hard on the app icon. However, this doesn’t happen by default, so you’ll have to wait for the developer to update the app.
Tip # 6 – Find Pictures
I am a big fan of photos and videos, so I was very happy to know that Apple is finally catching up with Google. They are still so far behind that it’s not even funny, but it’s better than nothing. In iOS 10, you can finally find photos by person, place or subject.
If you go into albums, you will see two new options: People and Places.
It’s just a lot easier to find a picture if you can search by face or by location. Alternatively, you can also click on the search icon and the person will search for anything else that might be in the picture, such as trees, beaches, cars, etc.
Tip # 7 – characterize the images
In a similar vein, you can also add markup to your photos right from the Photos app. Previously, this could only be done using the Mail app. Click on the photo in question, then click on the small icon with three horizontal lines with circles on them (to the left of the trash can icon), and then click on the circle with three dots.
This feature is pretty hidden for some reason, and frankly, most people won’t even know about it unless they read an article like this explaining where to look. Hopefully in a future update it will be moved to a more prominent place because it is a fun tool to use on your photos.
Tip # 8 – Universal Clipboard
This is another one of those little features that I found useful. This tip is only for people who have multiple Apple devices, including an Apple computer. In addition, for this to work, you must have iOS 10 and macOS Sierra installed.
Basically, the universal clipboard lets you copy something to one of your Apple devices and paste to another. Also, some content works over LTE, but heavier content requires all devices to have Bluetooth or WiFi turned on. Additionally, all devices must use the same iCloud account.
It’s worth noting that it works best when you copy and paste text. It works with images, but AirDrop is a much faster way to transfer images and videos.
Tip # 9 – Get started with HomeKit
iOS 10 finally includes the Home app that you can use to control whatever HomeKit-enabled devices you have. If you have refrained from developing a smart home so far, perhaps now is the time to give HomeKit a try. I’ve used SmartThings, and while I like it, HomeKit is easier for me to use as it’s now integrated right into my iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
If you’ve already invested heavily in the Apple ecosystem, the Home app and associated HomeKit devices are the right fit for you. After adding devices to the app, you can also control them using Siri and the dashboard tabs.
Tip # 10 – Collaborate on notes
I use Notes all the time, so I was delighted to see a new collaboration feature that allows others to edit a note with you. I kind of did it before iOS 10, but it was only between people using the same iCloud account as me, and these are just a few of my family members.
Now I can let anyone with any iCloud account access my note and make changes. This is similar to the Shared Albums feature in the Photos app.
IOS 10 has a lot of new features, but I’ve found myself using them more often. If there are any features that you use regularly, please leave a comment here and let us know. Enjoy!
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