5 Tips and Tricks To Use Your iPhone or iPad The Right Way

We all know them. Those videos where we get to see awesome tips and tricks we didn’t know our iPhone could even do. The thing is, the moment you switch over to something else, you kind of forgets everything that’s discussed in that video. That’s why I thought to write an article where I share with you five handy tips for using your iPhone the right way. You can implement them right away at your own pace.

1 Add a Folder to your Files Widget

You may already know the Files widget that you can add to your iPhone’s Home screen. But you might not know that you can also add a favorite folder. This allows you to see your most recently used files from the folder right in the widget.

If you haven’t already, make sure you add the Files widget to your Home screen by placing your tapping and holding on your iPhone’s screen. The ‘+’ icon at the top left of the screen will show up. Tap on this + icon and search for Files. The following steps will show you exactly how you can add a Folder to your Files Widget (once you have this widget added to your Home screen).

1. Tap and hold the Files Widget you just added to your Home screen.
2. Tap on Edit Widget to make it turn.
3. Next to Location you’ll see Downloads (sometimes Recents). Tap on it.
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap on Folders.
5. Next To Folder tap on Choose.
6. Now, you can add a new folder by tapping on the Folder icon in the upper right corner of your screen (next to Done).
7. Give this new Folder a name and hit Done.
8. Now, your Widget will display every document that goes into this folder.

2 Use FaceTime With Android and Windows Users

Up until now, it wasn’t possible to FaceTime with friends and acquaintances who do not possess an iPhone or iPad. With the introduction of iOS 15 however, we now have the ability to FaceTime with Android Users! How cool is that! To make this happen, you need to:

1. Open your FaceTime app
2. Then, tap on ‘Create link’
3. Share this link you’ve just created with your friend. This can be done through WhatsApp or any other messaging app.
4. The recipient should now click on the link you’ve just sent him.

You can now use FaceTime just like you’re used to doing with someone who has an iOS device.

3 Switch over to Video While Taking a Photo

We all know those moments. You try to capture a beautiful moment, but when you finally get to open the camera app and change it to video mode, the moment has already passed. With the newest iPhones, however, we can do just that. We now have a new setting that enables us it to record faster than ever before.

To make this happen, you should:

1. Activate the Camera app on your device.
2. Press and hold the large shutter button at the bottom to start recording.
3. In order to stop recording, release your thumb or finger from the screen.

4 Make Emoji Pronounce Their Names

At the moment, you can choose from an abundance of emojis, but chances are that you’re unfamiliar with most of them. If you’re feeling inclined, you can look up what they mean on the internet. Here is a great trick that lets you make iPhones pronounce foreign words in your own language:

To do this, first make the following adjustment:

1. Tap on Settings in your Home screen,
2. Scroll down to Accessibility
3. Tap on Spoken Content and make sure to turn on Speak selection.

Now, just go to your Notes app to type in a random Emoji. Select this Emoji and tap on Speak. Your iPhone will now describe the Emoji you’ve just selected. This works also for text. If you select any piece of text and hit Speak, your iPhone will read out loud that piece of text you’ve just selected.

5 Mute Reply All Email Threads

You might feel tempted to be overwhelmed when you find yourself in an awkward Reply All email exchange that has your phone buzzing the whole time. Fortunately, there is a solution for this problem.

Here’s what you should do.

1. Open your Apple Mail app.
2. Go to any email and swipe from right to left just enough to see the following three options: Delete, Move, More.
3. Hit More and scroll down.
4. Tap on Mute.
5. If you want to be a part of the discussion again, go through the first three steps, but instead tap Unmute.

Be careful when muting an email, as you might not get notified from this email thread at all. My advice is to use this Email Mute option only if you’re sure that you’re not missing out on something important.

My advice is to use this Email Mute option only if you’re sure that you’re not missing out on something important.

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