Apple Buried These 5 iPhone Features in Settings — and They’re Genuinely Useful
Your iPhone is packed with powerful features, but many of the most useful ones aren’t obvious. Apple has tucked away some incredible tools deep within the Settings app that can fundamentally change how you use your device. From powerful accessibility options that benefit everyone to shortcuts that save you time, exploring your settings is well worth the effort. We’ve dug through the menus to find five buried iPhone features that you’ll want to enable right away.
1. Unlock Quick Actions with Back Tap
One of the coolest and most hidden features in iOS is Back Tap. This clever accessibility feature turns the entire back of your iPhone into a customizable button. By simply double-tapping or triple-tapping the Apple logo on the back of your phone, you can trigger a wide range of actions, from taking a screenshot to launching the camera or turning on the flashlight. It’s an incredibly fast and convenient way to access your most-used functions without even looking at your screen.
How to Enable Back Tap
Setting up this feature is simple, once you know where to look. Just follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap on Accessibility.
- Under the “Physical and Motor” section, select Touch.
- Scroll to the very bottom and choose Back Tap.
- Select either Double Tap or Triple Tap and assign an action from the list, such as Screenshot, Control Center, or Flashlight.
2. Improve Focus or Relax with Background Sounds
Do you ever need a little white noise to concentrate at work or some calming rain sounds to help you fall asleep? Your iPhone has a built-in sound machine to help you do just that. The Background Sounds feature allows you to play a continuous loop of calming ambient noise to mask distracting environmental sounds and improve your focus, calm, or rest. You can choose from several high-quality sounds, including rain, ocean, stream, and different types of noise.
Your Personal Sound Machine
This feature is designed to help you tune out the world and can even be set to play underneath other audio, like music or podcasts. To turn it on, navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. From there, you can toggle it on, select your preferred sound, and adjust its volume independently of your system volume.
3. Get Real-Time Captions for Any Audio with Live Captions
Live Captions is a game-changing accessibility feature that provides real-time transcription for almost any audio on your iPhone. Whether you’re on a FaceTime call, watching a video on social media, or listening to a podcast, your iPhone can generate captions on the fly. This is invaluable for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, but it’s also incredibly useful for anyone in a loud environment or in a situation where you need to keep your volume off.
A Powerful Tool for Everyone
The captions appear in a floating, resizable window on your screen, making them easy to read without obscuring your content. To enable this powerful tool, go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and toggle the switch on. You can also customize the appearance of the captions, such as font size and color, to suit your preferences.
4. Master Your Notifications with Custom Focus Modes
Everyone is familiar with Do Not Disturb, but its successor, Focus, is far more powerful. Focus modes allow you to create custom profiles that filter notifications and apps based on what you’re doing. You can set up a “Work” Focus that only allows notifications from colleagues and work-related apps, a “Personal” Focus for friends and family, or a “Reading” Focus that silences everything except your Kindle app. You can even customize your Home Screen to show only relevant apps for each Focus mode.
Beyond Do Not Disturb
Setting up custom modes helps you minimize distractions and be more present in the moment. To get started, go to Settings > Focus. You can choose from pre-made options like Work or Sleep, or tap the plus (+) icon to create a completely custom Focus from scratch, choosing which people and apps are allowed to break through.
5. Let Siri Read Your Notifications Aloud
If you’re often wearing AirPods or Beats headphones while your phone is in your pocket, Announce Notifications is a must-have feature. Instead of having to pull out your phone every time it buzzes, you can have Siri automatically read your incoming messages and other important alerts directly into your ears. Even better, for messaging apps, you can reply with your voice immediately after Siri finishes speaking, allowing for a completely hands-free conversation.
Stay Informed, Hands-Free
This feature is perfect for a variety of situations where you can’t easily access your phone. Some great use cases include:
- While exercising or running
- When cooking or doing chores
- During your commute or while driving
- When your hands are full
You can enable this by going to Settings > Siri & Search > Announce Notifications. Here, you can turn it on and customize exactly which apps you want Siri to read notifications from.
