The iPhone 17 sequence is one among Apple’s boldest in latest reminiscence. The bottom iPhone 17 has adopted as soon as Professional-only options, such because the long-requested 120Hz ProMotion Show, whereas the iPhone Air pushes the boundaries of design and engineering, and the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max boast a swathe of actually skilled new options, together with ProRes RAW and GenLock.
Additionally they arrive with the most recent iOS 26 person expertise, a visible departure from the flat interface of earlier releases. Liquid Glass, plus just a few notable additions, modifications the look, really feel and behavior of iOS in new and fascinating methods.
Whether or not you’re new to the iPhone 17 sequence or a long-time iPhone person upgrading to one among Apple’s finest and brightest new entries, you’ll undoubtedly discover some useful suggestions and tips on this information. It’s written by somebody who’s reviewed nearly each mannequin of the final decade, and spent lots of time optimising the iOS expertise in consequence.
The vast majority of the following tips ought to work throughout the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Professional and iPhone 17 Professional Max, in addition to latest however older fashions. Learn on for the complete run-down.
Customise the lock display clock
With iOS 16, Apple added the power to customize the lock display clock’s font and color however, with iOS 26, it expanded on the diploma of personalisation accessible.
Now, you even have the choice to scale the clock which, paired with the At all times On Show, makes for a helpful one-two punch of performance. It’s also possible to nonetheless customise font and color, in addition to select whether or not it adopts the Liquid Glass aesthetic, or the extra conventional flat look of earlier generations of iOS.
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HOW? Out of your lock display, press and maintain on a clean space till the lock display wallpaper zooms out. Subsequent, faucet the Customise button, which seems on the backside of the display. Bounding containers will seem round all the important thing UI components you may work together with, together with the clock.
Faucet and drag on the seize deal with seen within the backside proper of the clock’s bounding field, after which merely drag downwards to increase the clock to your most popular peak.
When you’re proud of the place of the lock display clock, faucet wherever throughout the clock’s bounding field to carry up the Font & Color menu. In addition to adjusting font and color, there’s now a brand new Glass / Strong toggle, which you’ll be able to experiment with too.
Spatial Scene lock display
Sticking with lock display suggestions, iOS 26 additionally introduces a fake 3D impact on sure photographs. Known as Spatial Scenes, this impact could be utilized to your lock display.
Offered you’ve chosen a lock display picture that the cellphone deems appropriate with the function (normally one with a transparent foreground topic), you must have the ability to create a Spatial Scene lock display.
HOW? First, head to Settings after which search for and faucet on Wallpaper. From right here, faucet + Add New Wallpaper, or just swipe alongside till you see ‘New’ on the high, after which faucet the + icon to create a brand new wallpaper pair.
From right here, faucet on the Images app icon within the high left of the display. Subsequent, select a photograph you wish to use as your lock display. Your cellphone will then swap to a full-screen lock display preview, along with your chosen picture entrance and centre.
Offered your cellphone deems the picture you’ve chosen appropriate with Spatial Scenes, you’ll see two icons in direction of the underside proper of your display, simply above no matter lock display shortcut you could have assigned within the backside proper nook (normally, it’s the Digital camera app).
The left of those two icons ought to resemble a hexagon with a strikethrough. To allow Spatial Scenes in your lock display, faucet this hexagonal icon. After a quick little bit of processing, the place your cellphone will generate your new Spatial Scene lock display, faucet Add within the high proper of the display.
As you’re creating a brand new lock display from scratch, faucet Set as Wallpaper Pair on the following pop-up. You’ll then be taken again to the Wallpaper Settings display, however you may swipe as much as shut Settings or just lock your cellphone.
Subsequent time you faucet the display or energy button to wake your cellphone up, you’ll have the ability to tilt your cellphone in your hand and benefit from the cool parallax impact of your newly-created Spatial Scene lock display.
Be aware: Spatial Scene wallpapers solely seem on the lock display. On your private home display, they’ll simply current as static photographs. Additionally, each time you alter your lock display picture, you’ll have to re-enable the Spatial Scene function. Your lock display will turn out to be static and dimmed in case you have a Focus Mode – like Do Not Disturb or Sleep – lively.
Spatial Scene in Images
If you wish to see what the Spatial Scene impact could be like on a number of pictures in your gallery, with out having to undergo the rigamarole above every time, you may simply view any appropriate photographs as Spatial Scenes, proper in iOS’ native Images app.
HOW? Merely open Images, faucet on a picture you wish to view as a Spatial Scene, and in case your iPhone decides it’s appropriate, you must then see a small hexagonal icon with an arrow on its proper, in direction of the highest proper of the display.
Faucet the hexagonal icon and, after a second of processing, your chosen picture ought to now be a Spatial Scene. You may view the 3D impact by merely tilting your cellphone in your hand.
Sooner haptics for a greater really feel
When Apple switched from an everyday standard spinning vibration motor (formally known as an ERM or Eccentric Rotating Mass) to its Taptic Engine (Apple’s branded tackle a Linear Resonant Actuator or LRA) again in 2015, it fully remodeled the texture of interacting with an iPhone.
The Taptic Engine is a lot better than a spinning motor at conveying completely different sensations through haptics, with larger precision, pressure and distinction.
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Efficiency is already typically nice on the iPhone 17 sequence, however if you need your cellphone to really feel even snappier, this one tweak within the Settings menu will make your system really feel even quicker.
HOW? Head to Settings, scroll down and faucet on Accessibility, and search for Contact. Throughout the Contact menu, the third possibility needs to be Haptic Contact. Choose this and also you’ll be introduced with three length choices, with a take a look at button beneath.
Out the field, your iPhone’s haptic contact length will possible be set to Default, however attempt the opposite two choices out, or just swap it to Quick, with a faucet.
When you’re proud of the brand new really feel of your iPhone’s haptics, again out of the Settings app with a swipe up from the underside of the display.
Hidden keyboard shortcuts
There’s extra to the iOS keyboard than meets the attention. Regardless of the criticism the iOS keyboard has come beneath, it does additionally boast a number of highly effective hidden options, which except you understand about, are simply missed.
In addition to swipe-typing (the place you don’t elevate your finger from the display between key presses to kind a phrase), do you know you don’t must toggle Shift or the numbers key to entry capital letters and numbers? You may even transfer a cursor round to rapidly scrub by means of textual content with out ever having to the touch a textual content field, and there are compact left and right-justified keyboards, all unseen, however proper at your fingertips.
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HOW? Entry to most of those hidden options comes right down to a tap-and-hold gesture.
Within the case of capitalisation, moderately than tapping the Shift key, after which tapping the letter you need capitalised, you may merely long-press on the shift key and – with out taking your finger off the display – drag over to the letter you need capitalised. Releasing your finger will then create a capital letter and swap the keyboard again to decrease case in a single fell swoop.
Equally, moderately than tapping the numbers key, choosing the quantity you need after which switching again to the letter view in your keyboard, you may simply long-press on the numbers key, drag your finger over to the quantity you need, and launch.
Lengthy-pressing on the emoji key within the backside proper, beneath your keyboard brings up a menu which incorporates three keyboard structure possibility: the full-width keyboard you’re possible already utilizing, or a left or right-justified compact keyboard, good for one-handed typing. Simply drag your finger over and launch in your most popular structure, or faucet on the structure you wish to use.
Lastly, moderately than long-pressing on a textual content field and utilizing the resultant magnifying glass to see the place the cursor is as you scrub by means of textual content, long-press on the spacebar as an alternative. You’ll see the letters of the keyboard disappear, whilst you stay involved with the display, successfully turning it right into a trackpad, which you’ll be able to then swipe round to extra simply transfer the cursor in a given textual content entry area above.
Disable Management Centre in your lock display
Management Centre is the de facto solution to rapidly toggle or entry key options in your iPhone, however the comfort on supply is one thing of a double-edged sword, particularly the place theft is worried.
Whereas options like Discover My iPhone are extremely useful and highly effective, their real-time monitoring hinges in your cellphone’s capability to keep up a mobile, Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth connection. A savvy felony who simply swiped your system may rapidly have interaction Airplane Mode with out ever needing to unlock your cellphone or enter your passcode, primarily chopping off the breadcrumb path Discover My tries to go away.
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The perfect defence – on the expense of solely a bit of comfort – is to disable Management Centre entry out of your lock display.
HOW? Head to the Settings app, then scroll right down to and faucet on Face ID & Passcode. Enter your system’s passcode on the following display and also you’ll then be introduced with a run of various safety settings.
Scroll right down to the Permit Entry When Locked part, and lastly faucet the toggle subsequent to Management Centre to disable entry to the function in your lock display.
To check it, lock your cellphone, wake it again up and take a look at swiping down from the highest proper nook of your lock display. Management Centre ought to now not seem.
Set a customized ringtone
Creating or setting your personal ringtone was all the fad, however Apple made the method on iPhone a bit of too convoluted for many customers, pushing them to purchase ringtones by means of iTunes or just depend on the pre-loaded default ringtones.
Fortunately, these days, it’s a lot simpler to set your personal customized ringtone, supplied you could have a appropriate audio file (comparable to a .mp3 or .m4a) handy.
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HOW? When you’ve downloaded the audio file you wish to use as your new ringtone to the Recordsdata app, open the app and discover your downloaded audio.
Lengthy-press on the file and on the following pop-up menu, faucet Share. In direction of the underside of the Share display that follows, you’ll see the choice to Use As Ringtone.
Be aware: Audio information have to be shorter than 30 seconds to work as a ringtone.
Battery Share
A small however helpful tweak to the look of iOS comes with enabling Battery Share. Whereas Apple would in all probability moderately you don’t take into consideration battery life an excessive amount of and easily fork out for one among its newest chargers or MagSafe equipment, with the ability to maintain tabs in your cellphone’s cost, or see how enabling/disabling completely different options impacts longevity is helpful.
Particularly for these of you who’ve opted for the super-slimline new iPhone Air, battery life is arguably one of the vital vital elements of the cellphone’s efficiency to be monitored.
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Turning on Battery Share makes it a lot clearer the place your battery life is at at a given second. As soon as enabled, moderately than a battery icon within the high proper of the display that merely reduces in dimension as you employ your cellphone, the image may even comprise a quantity, which pertains to accessible cost remaining.
HOW? To see battery proportion, open Settings, scroll down and faucet on Battery, and on the following display, scroll down once more and search for the Battery Share toggle. Flip it on and also you’ll instantly see the battery icon within the high proper replace to incorporate your system’s present cost degree.
Set a Cost Restrict
In case you’re the form of iPhone proprietor who retains maintain of their system for a number of years, you’re going to massively respect the Cost Restrict function.
The character of present Li-ion smartphone batteries is that they function finest at between roughly 20% and 80% cost, and totally depleting to 0% or charging to 100% has truly been proven to cut back battery well being over time, that means the precise quantity of cost your battery holds on to after multi cost cycles – even when it nonetheless claims to be 100% – is probably going loads much less.
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To fight this, cellphone makers comparable to Apple have began added cost limiting performance to their software program expertise in an effort to lengthen long-term battery well being.
HOW? Head to Settings, scroll right down to and faucet on Battery, after which search for Charging, in direction of the underside of the Battery display. Throughout the Charging sub-menu, you’ll see a Cost Restrict slider, which typically will probably be set to 100% by default.
Drag the slider down as little as you’re comfy with, figuring out that the extra strict the cost restrict, the higher your battery well being will probably be over time (I’d suggest 80%).
Be aware: In case you determine you don’t wish to use a Cost Restrict, not less than ensure that Optimised Battery Charging is enabled on the identical Charging settings display. When charging your cellphone in a single day, this can restrict cost to 80% for almost all of the evening, till simply earlier than you get up and begin utilizing your system, at which level the cellphone will proceed to fill as much as the complete 100%.
Allow Adaptive Energy Mode
Likelihood is, you don’t must run your iPhone at full brightness or with the chipset working at full tilt the entire time and, whereas iOS natively adjusts these elements dynamically, there’s a extra aggressive possibility when your iPhone detects increased energy draw than normal.
Enabling Adaptive Energy Mode robotically scales again issues like brightness degree, or will activate Decrease Energy Mode within the pursuit of prolonging battery life.
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How? To show this function on, head to the Settings menu after which, as soon as once more, faucet on Battery. Scroll down the Battery sub-menu and the penultimate possibility needs to be Energy Mode. Opening up the Energy Mode menu, you’ll then be introduced with a trio of toggles, the highest one being Adaptive Energy. Flip this on and your iPhone will extra aggressively monitor its energy calls for in opposition to battery longevity.
Be aware: In order for you extra perception into what Adaptive Energy is doing, it’s also possible to toggle on Adaptive Energy Notifications for extra info.
Activate Car Movement Cues
Whether or not you’re a passenger princess or the primary to name “shotgun!”, in case your cellphone use brings on movement illness when using in a automobile (or bus or boat), Movement Cues is likely to be the answer.
This accessibility function provides little dots across the edges of no matter it’s you’re on display and, utilizing movement information out of your cellphone’s numerous sensors, strikes these dots in opposition to any movement you could be experiencing whereas travelling. The dots give your mind a bit of one thing to latch on to, and assist scale back the sense of nausea that may come from a cellphone display on the go.
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HOW? Open the Settings app and scroll right down to Accessibility, discovered just below the Normal possibility. Inside Accessibility, you must see an possibility known as Movement: faucet on this. Faucet Routinely in Car for it solely to provoke when your cellphone detects you’re in a shifting automobile, in any other case you may swap it On or Off as you see match.
Be aware: Tapping Customise Look will allow you to customise the look of the movement cue dots, when it comes to place, color, variety of dots and dimension of dots.
Make Apple Intelligence… extra clever
Regardless of Apple’s ever-evolving Siri expertise and, extra not too long ago, Apple Intelligence, the corporate’s efforts within the AI division have been… missing, in comparison with a lot of the competitors.
In reality, Apple’s had a lot hassle constructing a reliable AI expertise of its personal that it’s turned to one of the vital outstanding gamers within the house, OpenAI; baking its assistive ChatGPT expertise into iOS and, extra particularly, Apple Intelligence.
HOW? So as to add ChatGPT search and outcomes into iOS, open Settings, scroll down and faucet on Apple Intelligence & Siri. On the following display, scroll right down to a bit known as Extensions, and you must see ChatGPT as an possibility. Faucet on ChatGPT, and also you’ll transfer to a different display, with the phrases Set Up subsequent to Use ChatGPT, which you have to faucet to proceed.
Faucet Subsequent on the ChatGPT pop-up display, adopted by Allow ChatGPT in direction of the underside of your display, and also you’ll then be good to go.
Be aware: You don’t want a ChatGPT account or the ChatGPT app put in in your iPhone in an effort to use this function, however you may log in from the identical ChatGPT sub-menu in the event you do have one.
4K 60fps video by default
The iPhone 17 sequence all possess impressively competent cameras, however in the event you’re somebody who shoots lots of video, the out-of-box settings seize sub-par footage, with the 1080p 30fps being the default decision and body price.
Dive into your cellphone’s Digital camera settings, nonetheless, and you may enhance the seize decision to 4K (that’s 4 occasions the default), in addition to upping the body price (as much as 120fps, relying in your mannequin of iPhone).
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HOW? Head into your cellphone’s Settings app, open up the Digital camera sub-menu, faucet on Report Video and choose 4K at 60fps, as a sure-fire means to make sure you get this decision and body price each time you turn to video mode within the native Digital camera app.
Alternatively, open the Digital camera app, faucet Video on the backside of the display (when holding your cellphone in portrait) to change to video recording mode, after which faucet the decision and body price button within the high left of the viewfinder. You’ll see the button broaden to point out assorted resolutions and body charges, which you’ll be able to choose independently, simply by tapping on the configuration you need.
Add a grid and degree to your digicam
In case you’re critical about snapping photos or capturing video along with your iPhone, there are a few helpful instruments to assist with framing, which I allow on each iPhone I exploit.
Grid provides a 3×3 grid throughout the viewfinder that can assist you higher body up your topic, permitting you to use established photographic ideas, just like the rule of thirds (whether or not you realise it or not).
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Degree, in the meantime, acts like a spirit degree, utilizing the cellphone’s inside sensors to determine whether or not your cellphone’s digicam is perpendicular to the bottom and straight, serving to mitigate perspective distortion of your topic (if that’s one thing you’re attempting to keep away from).
In case you’re pointing your digicam straight down on the floor, the extent switches to a crosshair, which supplies you perception into the pitch and roll of your cellphone; permitting you to ensure it’s completely parallel to the bottom, or angled offset as a lot as you want.
HOW? Open the Settings app and faucet on the Digital camera sub-menu. From right here, scroll right down to the Composition part, the place you must discover Grid and Degree on the high of the record, with toggles beside every one which you could faucet to allow.
Subsequent time you open your digicam, you must then see each the grid and degree working as promised.
Disable Macro Management
One of many minor annoyances I’ve with the native iPhone digicam expertise has to do with macro images. By default, if you carry your iPhone’s digicam near a topic (just a few centimetres away), it’ll robotically swap to Macro Mode, which includes shifting from the cellphone’s predominant, to its ultrawide lens.
Whereas this swap means you will get a lot nearer to your topic, the weaker talents of the smaller ultrawide sensor in comparison with the primary digicam turn out to be evident. Photographs typically endure from weaker dynamic vary, extra processing and a lesser depth of area.
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When the cellphone switches to Macro Mode, you do have the choice to toggle again to your cellphone’s predominant sensor by tapping the flower icon which seems on display, however it is a short-term repair.
If, like me, you’re comfortable to take macro pictures with the primary lens from a bit of additional away within the pursuit of a greater general picture, change this one function.
HOW? Open the Settings app, then scroll down and faucet on Digital camera. Scroll all the best way right down to the underside of the Digital camera sub-menu and some toggles up from the underside you must see an possibility titled Macro Management. Faucet on it to disable the auto-switch.
Be aware: Disabling Macro Management means it’s important to repeat this course of and faucet the toggle as soon as extra to re-enable any type of macro seize, which is a bit of irritating and long-winded, however feels just like the lesser of two evils.
