You most likely suppose you’ve mastered iOS 14 by now, however there’s much more than the App Library and picture-in-picture movies. There’s a lot, in actual fact, a few of iOS 14’s greatest features aren’t those Apple pops up tutorial playing cards for. They’re buried layers deep in Settings or hidden behind interface actions you don’t make on daily basis. Some of one of the best stuff in iOS 14 you wouldn’t learn about if somebody didn’t level it out. Hey, we’re somebody! So permit us to level out a few of our favourite lesser-known and hard-to-find features of iOS 14.
Change default mail or browser apps
Originally a function within the iOS 13 beta, the flexibility to decide on completely different default e-mail or browser apps was finally pulled earlier than launch. It’s again in iOS 14, although. The default a browser and e-mail settings are present in every specific app’s settings. Open Settings, scroll right down to the app in query (say, the Chrome browser) and choose it. Then choose Default Mail App or Default Browser App and alter it.
When you open an online hyperlink or an e-mail hyperlink anyplace on your iPhone or iPad (in a textual content message, for instance) it will now open the app you selected as a substitute of Safari/Mail.
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Banish new apps to the library
New to iOS 14 is the App Library, a spot the place all your iPhone apps reside, permitting you to maintain solely your most necessary apps on the house display. But if you obtain new apps, it nonetheless places an icon on your residence display, which implies you must clear it up manually.
You can change this conduct by opening Settings, then Home Screen, and selecting for newly downloaded apps to look on App Library Only.
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ID songs in Control Center
In the iOS 14.2 replace, Apple gave us the flexibility so as to add a Shazam button to Control Center. Open Settings, faucet Control Center, then add the Music Recognition function to your record of obtainable controls. Tap the button in Control Center and Shazam will pay attention within the background, sending you a notification when it acknowledges a brand new track.
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Get clearer sound in your AirPods
If you open Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual, you’ll see a brand new organising prime for Headphone Accommodations. This menu lets you tweak the sound output on supported Apple and Beats headphones to carry out vocals extra or make the sound “brighter.”
A customized audio setup operate will run a sequence of A/B assessments that will help you hone in on simply the fitting settings for you.
Even if you happen to’re not laborious of listening to, operating by the Hearing Accommodations setup could make your AirPods sound higher.
While that is meant to be an accessibility function for individuals who are laborious of listening to, it’s going to essentially enhance sound high quality for thousands and thousands of individuals. As you age, you lose sensitivity to excessive frequency sound, and these settings can assist restore that if you take heed to music, watch video, or discuss on the cellphone.
Add a secret again faucet shortcut
Double- or Triple-tap the again of your iPhone to launch a wide range of system capabilities, and even Shortcuts.
Another accessibility settings that everybody would possibly discover helpful, iOS 14 lets you set particular capabilities to a double-tap or triple-tap on the again of your iPhone.
Head to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and search for Back Tap on the backside of the display.
There’s a set record of system and accessibility capabilities you’ll be able to assign to double or triple faucets, however you too can assign Shortcuts to them, which opens up the function to every kind of highly effective capabilities.
Here’s a neat trick: with the Google Assistant app put in, you’ll be able to create a Shortcut to invoke it, after which set thatShortcut to a double- or triple-tap.
Find out the place you’ve been
If you’re six menus deep in an app and also you need to return to the highest, you’ve bought to faucet the again button within the higher left once more, and once more, and once more…
Long-press any again button in a menu to see an inventory of all earlier menu screens.
With iOS 14, you’ll be able to press and maintain the usual upper-left Back button to get a breadcrumbs record of all of the earlier pages. Safari has lengthy had this operate on its Back button (within the decrease left); you’ll be able to consider this as Apple making use of the identical interface conference all through iOS.
Keep tabs on trackers in Safari
When you open a brand new tab in Safari utilizing macOS Big Sur, you see a neat privateness report the place Apple reveals all of the trackers it has blocked for you.
This exists on your iPhone with iOS 14, too! With Safari open, on any web page, faucet the textual content/font/reader button on the left facet of the navigation bar. At the underside of this record, you’ll see Privacy Report.
Safari’s Privacy Report lets you understand simply what number of trackers it’s blocking.
As with Safari on macOS Big Sur, this reveals the entire variety of trackers prevented by Safari, the web sites with probably the most trackers, and the trackers you’ve encountered most frequently. It’s a terrific overview of simply how typically your exercise, and even id, is being handed round on-line and simply how typically Safari stops that.
Flip your selfies
By default, the front-facing digicam on the iPhone reveals you a reversed picture—textual content seems backwards, and belongings you do on your proper occur on the fitting facet of the display.
You now have the choice to avoid wasting a selfie that is mirrored, simply because it seems on display within the Camera app.
This is extra intuitive for organising a shot, however it seems to be bizarre, so the precise photograph you’re taking will not be mirrored. It is taken as if you happen to have been standing the place your cellphone is, taking a look at your topic (often your self): textual content will not be reversed, and something on the left facet of your physique is on the fitting facet of the image.
If you’d prefer to seize precisely what you see on your display, backwards textual content and all, now you can do that! Just open Settings > Camera and toggle the brand new Mirror Front Camera toggle.
Focus your FaceTime calls
iOS 14 launched a brand new FaceTime function that’s somewhat creepy and somewhat wonderful. Using a little bit of AI magic, the iPhone will routinely make it appear like you’re trying on the display, even when your gaze is diverted. It’s referred to as Eye Contact and it’s switched on by default, however if you happen to’d reasonably maintain pure eye contact, you’ll be able to simply swap it off.
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Head over to the Settings app and scroll down till you discover the FaceTime tab. Open it and scroll right down to the Eye Contact toggle and swap it off. Just don’t be shocked if individuals begin asking why you’re not being attentive to them as a lot as you have been.
Updated 04/03/21: Added a couple of extra hard-to-find settings it’s best to learn about.
I’ve written professionally about know-how for my whole grownup skilled life – over 20 years. I like to determine how difficult know-how works and clarify it in a method anybody can perceive.
