The Apple iPhone is the most recognizable phone anywhere on the face of the planet. Some people could argue that it started the trend of people taking photos of themselves in the mirror just to show off the Apple logo on the back of the phone. It is the phone that has people lining up overnight every September at Bolt Mobile as they await the latest edition to replace their slightly-over-a-year-old iPhone. If you’re a big Apple fan and own the iPhone, you definitely want to be getting the most out of it. Thanks to our expert staff at Bolt Mobile, let’s take a look at 10 cool things you can do with your iPhone.
- Take a photo while recording a video
Let’s say you are in the middle of recording a video of your best friends exchanging their wedding vows and you wish you could have just one still image of the couple as they kiss, yet you are not willing to sacrifice the continuity of the video recording. The iPhone has you covered as you do not have to miss a moment. Instead, just tap the shutter and camera buttons at the same time, and voila! The photo may be of a slightly lower quality, but hey, who is complaining? You can have your cake and eat it too!
- Track your movements everywhere you go
This is slightly creepy because you do not even have to actively engage it to see this data. All you need to do is go to the settings > privacy > location services > system services > frequent locations. You will see a complete list of locations that you frequent most often but you will also the route and the places you went in between. Now who cares right? I doubt you will need to be reminded of all the places you have been to but you never know when something like this could come in handy.
- Shake to undo
Apple has developed the undo button that functions like the Ctrl+Z, but it is only there if you are typing in landscape mode. You basically have to hold your iPhone tight and shake it to get access to the undo/redo dialogue box. Now if you’re chilling by the Saskatchewan River downtown Saskatoon and your sitting on a bench abruptly shaking your phone, people walking by may think your nuts but it can also save you the annoyance and time of repeating tasks.
- Discover what plane is flying right above you
You have always wanted to do that, right? There is a cool way to know all the details about that plane flying right over top of you. Whether you’re at the beach, at the office or taking the dog for a walk, all you have to do is to ask Siri “what flights are overhead?” and she will spit out all the details for you. If that isn’t cool, we don’t know what is.
- Teach Siri how to pronounce
For someone who can tell you what plane is flying above at any given moment, it is safe to say that Siri knows her stuff. That being said, no one is perfect. If she mispronounces a word or name as she does from time to time, all you have to do is correct her in the same way that you would correct a kid. The difference between Siri and a kid is that Siri offers you several options of the correct pronunciation and she saves the one you approve and that error will never be repeated.
- Change the gender for Siri
Everyone thinks Siri is a women or a girl. We even just used “her” in the context above. But monotony is just not some peoples cup of tea. You may be tired of the same voice every time but you can change it up. Just go to Settings > General > Siri > Voice Gender and select whatever gender you prefer. Be different and change it up.
- You can create a custom vibration notification for your contacts
It is useful to know who is trying to contact you at any moment, which is why you have custom ringtones. However if you’re like most people, you spend most of your time where you need to keep your phone on vibrate. With your iPhone you can actually customize the vibration for particular contacts. Let’s say you’re in an important meeting and your spouse calls you. The custom vibration will alert you that it’s your spouse, and not some random call from a telemarketer. You don’t even have to pull out your phone to know. This can come in handy…trust us.
- Take photos using your headphones
This is likely the most under-rated feature for those with an iPhone. The majority of people know that you can use the volume button on your device to take a picture. Well if you didn’t know that, you do now. If you love taking selfies, this is old news. Now you can actually get more creative with it, using your volume buttons on your headphones to snap that picture. Crazy, right? Just connect your headphones to your phone, position the camera and boom.
- Use the Compass as a level
You just bought a new picture frame for that feature wall in your home and it’s time to hang it up. Your spouse is crazy when it comes to ensuring you have straight lines and everything is even. You can go in the garage and grab the level or you can just use your iPhone. The good people at Apple incorporated the level tool in the compass application. To access it, you simply launch the compass application on your phone, swipe to the left and you have your level. You can use it with your Phone on its back or on its side. Your choice.
- Reveal the timestamps on your text messages
People come into Bolt Mobile all the time frustrated that they can’t see what time a text message was received. It is there…it’s just hidden. Simply slide left on your text message and you will see your time stamps appear on the right side of your screen. Nice and slick.
Now that we have given you a few new tips with your iPhone, go give them a try. If you have your own sweet tips and tricks with your phone, post a comment and let us know. Cheers!