With millions of new people continuing to buy Apple’s iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and other iPhone models each month, it’s important for us to remember that there are tons of great tips and tricks newer users simply don’t know about. Even when we cover handy tips and tricks on the site, it can be important to address them again down the road for these new users. It also helps existing users, of course, who can often forget about cool iPhone features because there’s just so much to remember in iOS.
Today, we want to bring one simple hidden iPhone feature to your attention that can be used to perform any one of six different functions in a fraction of a second.
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The Accessibility section within Apple’s Settings app on iPhones and iPads likely makes the iOS platform the best on the planet for people with a wide range of disabilities. This subsection of the Settings app is also a treasure trove of secret features that many iOS users would never uncover on their own.
Of course, that’s why we’re here.
In the past, we have covered a range of hidden functionality that can be unlocked in an iPhone’s Accessibility settings. For example, we told you about a secret trick that could dramatically improve your iPhone’s battery life, as well as a tip that adds a nifty dimming effect to the screen to help with viewing the phone in low light.
Now, it’s time to wrap a bunch of those individual posts into one nifty how-to: It’s high time you met the Accessibility Shortcut section in your iPhone’s Settings app.
- Open the Settings app
- Tap General
- Tap Accessibility
- Scroll all the way to the bottom and tap Accessibility Shortcut
In this section of the iPhone’s Accessibility settings, you’ll find six options listed. By selecting any of them, you’ll enable a hidden iPhone shortcut — the home button triple-tap — that will give you access to any of those functions in an instant.
Here are the six options:
- VoiceOver
- Invert Colors
- Grayscale
- Zoom
- Switch Control
- AssitiveTouch
So, for example, if you select the “Invert Colors” option, the colors of everything on your display will be inverted anytime you triple-click your iPhone’s home button while on any screen.
VoiceOver will make Siri describe everything happening on any given screen, grayscale will remove all color from the screen and display only shades of gray, and Zoom adds a built-in magnifier. Finally, Switch Control lets you navigate your phone with simple head gestures, and AssistiveTouch makes the iPhone simpler to use for people with motor control problems.
