Apple’s iPhone X represents a massive departure from the company’s earlier smartphone models. The tenth-anniversary iPhone is a reimagining of Apple’s smartphone in so many ways, from the look and feel of the hardware to the new gesture-based navigation users must learn in order to use an iPhone with no home button. It takes a bit of getting used to, but most Apple fans seem to enjoy the new user experience a great deal. Of course, there’s more to the iPhone X then just a few new gestures, and most users seem to be unaware of all the nifty hidden tricks that make using the iPhone X so much easier.
In this post, we’ve collected 10 lesser-known tricks that are going to be big eye-openers for many iPhone X users out there. iPhone newcomers are going to be wowed, but even advanced users are going to learn something in this post.
Face ID setup
This one is quite possibly the most important tip you’ll find in this post.
If there’s one thing that iPhone X users take the longest to adjust to, it’s the loss of Touch ID. Some people love Face ID, while others seem to have a great deal of trouble getting it to work consistently. What you might not know, however, is that there’s a way to set it up that seems to have a huge impact on how well it works for many users.
We explained the process in full detail in an earlier post, but the basic idea is that people hold their iPhones directly in front of their faces when configuring Face ID. Of course, no one holds his or her arm straight out when actually unlocking an iPhone. That’s why people have found that Face ID works much more quickly when it’s set up while holding the iPhone down at waist or stomach level instead of up in front of your face.
Follow the instructions in this post to reset your Face ID and make it much faster.
Move apps into folders
Don’t you hate it how it always takes a dozen tries to move a jiggling app icon into a jiggling folder?
Don’t worry, there is indeed a better way. While holding the app you’re trying to move with a finger on one hand, tap the folder you want to drop it into with a finger on your other hand. Presto!
Move apps to a new page
As is the case when you’re moving apps into a folder, you can also use a finger on your other hand to swipe between home screen pages. Trust us, it’s so much faster than trying to hover on the corner of a screen and waiting.
When you’re done moving apps
The new “done” button in the top-right corner replaces a home button tap on the iPhone X when you’re done moving your app icons around. It’s a pain in the butt, and it’s not even available on the screen if you’re inside a folder. How ridiculous is that!?
Don’t worry, all you have to do when you’re done sliding your apps around is swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Reachability isn’t gone
Remember that awesome feature on older iPhones where you could double-touch the home button and the display would slide down so you could reach things at the top of the screen with one hand? Well it’s not gone, it’s just hiding.
Open the Settings app and go to General > Accessibility, then scroll down to “Interaction” and enable Reachability. To use it, simply make a quick swipe on the home bar at the bottom of the screen.
Open the app switcher faster
Most people think that the best way to open the iPhone X’s new app switcher interface is to swipe up from the bottom of the screen, stop in the center, and wait for the app switch to appear. That’s not the case. Instead of swiping up and stopping, swipe up from the center of the bottom of the screen and then over to the right in one continuous semicircular motion.
Switch between recent apps faster
As is the case with the tip above, there’s also a faster way to switch between recent apps. Instead of swiping up, over, and then back down, just swipe from side to side along the home bar at the bottom of the display.
One-handed keyboard
Did you know that there’s a one-handed keyboard hiding in your iPhone X? All you need to do to enable it is tap and hold on the emoji icon in the bottom-left corner anytime the keyboard is open. You’ll see a little menu pop up where you can enable a one-handed keyboard for lefties or for righties.
Camera on lock screen
For whatever reason, a lot of people seem to really dislike the new camera button shortcut on the lock screen. Maybe it’s because they keep missing it, or because they don’t realize that you need to force touch it in order to open the camera. Whatever the case, there’s actually a much quicker way to do it. Just swipe to the left anywhere on the lock screen and the camera will open immediately.
Open the Control Center or Notification Panel with one hand
This is a nifty little tip that most people simply don’t think of.
Remember when you enabled Reachability using one of the tips above? Well now you can use it to open the Control Center or Notification Panel with one hand on your iPhone X. Instead of reaching all the way up to the top of the display on either side of the notch, use Reachability to slide the screen down. Then swipe down on the battery icon to open the Control Center, or on the clock to open the Notifications Panel.
