Over the years, Apple has made the upgrade process to a new iPhone incredibly seamless. Still, if you’re a brand new iPhone 13 owner, there may be a few iOS 15 settings you’ll want to adjust to improve the overall user experience. And if you’re setting up your brand new iPhone 13 from scratch, which is to say you didn’t rely on a backup from your previous device, there are definitely a few settings you’ll want to be aware of.
iPhone 13 settings galore
iOS 15 Auto-Lock
One iPhone 13 setting you might want to tweak involves how long the display remains on before the device locks. While you might be accustomed to setting the auto-lock time to something like 30 seconds as a means to save battery life, that may not be necessary with the iPhone 13. For starters, if you’re constantly picking your phone up and down, having to unlock it consistently can get annoying fast. Second, and more importantly, battery life on the iPhone 13 is out of this world. In other words, worrying about battery life with Apple’s new iPhone isn’t worth the trouble. The iPhone 13 Pro Max, for example, has 2.5 more hours of battery life than its predecessor.
To tweak the auto-lock setting on the iPhone 13, you can go to Settings > Display & Brightness and then select the specific auto-lock time of your choosing.
Bring back old Safari
The latest iteration of Safari on the Mac is a travesty. It’s really no surprise that Chrome continues to control the lion’s share of the browser market on the desktop. On mobile, though, Safari on the iPhone has always been great. That is, of course, until Apple released iOS 15 and completely revamped the Safari interface. The most glaring change, in early betas at least, was that the URL bar was on the bottom with no way to change it.
Thankfully, the shipping version of iOS 15 provides users with a way to change this. To use Safari the way it was in iOS 14, simply go to Settings > Safari and select the “Single tab” option.
Set up a second profile with Face ID
This suggestion is helpful but not necessarily unique to the iPhone 13. While Face ID reliability has improved, there are times when the software doesn’t recognize your face at first. To minimize the likelihood of this occurring, you can set up a second face with Face ID. This is especially helpful if you want a seamless unlock while wearing glasses, or a winter hat, or while wearing anything that might accidentally deliver a false negative.
To do so, all you have to do is go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and then select Set Up an Alternative Appearance.
Learn how to take a screenshot by tapping the back of your iPhone
This particular iPhone setting isn’t new to iOS 15 but it’s still somewhat underneath the radar. Essentially, this Back Tap feature will let you tap the back of your iPhone twice to take a screenshot.
To get started, go to Settings > Accessibility > Physical and Motor, and then select the “Touch” setting. From there, scroll down until you see the “Back Tap” option. Select that, and you’ll now see an option to select Double Tap or Triple Tap.
Following that, you’ll be able to choose what action you’d like a double or triple tap to trigger. Some options include taking a photo, activating Siri, viewing the Notification Center, and muting your device. It’s worth noting that the Back Tap feature should still work with a case, so long as it’s not unusually thick.
Lastly, and on a related note, you can check out a list of the most exciting new iOS 15 features over here.
