Why you can trust Pocket-lint

This page was translated using AI and machine learning.

(Pocket-lint) - With iOS 15, Apple may not have changed the visuals much, but there are still plenty worth getting used to and tinkering with. Whether you have a new iPhone 13 or just updated your existing iPhone.

Most of the highlighted features are available for all iPhone models running iOS 15, but there are one or two that are limited to the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series that won't be applicable to older models. So, make sure you're running iOS 15 on your iPhone - or whip out your iPhone 13/13 Pro - and browse some of our favorite and less obvious features.

You can watch the video guide directly below or follow the steps written below. Whichever you find most convenient.

1 - Stop apps from tracking you

Many apps want to track various usage patterns and data from you when you use their apps. In most cases, it's so they can show you more relevant ads or learn how people are using their software to help them improve it. However, there are good reasons to block all tracking, especially if that company has a reputation for not respecting your right to privacy.

If you want to block apps from tracking, just open Settings> Privacy and now tap on "Tracking". At the very top, there's a toggle that says "Allow apps to request tracking." If you don't want an app to request tracking information, just disable this option. You can also manually enable or disable tracking for individual apps from the list below.

2 - See which apps are accessing which data

Along the same lines, this is just a quick tip: scroll down the Settings screen > Privacy all the way down and tap "Save app activity". Activate it and now wait for about a week. After a few days, return to this menu option and you'll see a breakdown of how various apps have used permissions on your phone, and you can see if any of them are accessing things like your location or other information too regularly. personal. . You can also choose to save a report as a blank binary file that you can share and save.

3 - Bring back the old Safari

In iOS 15 we have a new Safari with a search bar and tab switcher at the bottom. It's actually quite handy for one-handed use and lets you easily slide between tabs. However, if you want to bring back the old layout - with the URL bar at the top - you can go back.

There are two ways to do this. Go to Settings > Safari and scroll down until you see the two tab icons. Now select "Single Tab". When you relaunch Safari, the bar is now at the top.

The other quicker way to switch is to open Safari itself, open any webpage, and hit the "AA" icon in the search bar. Now you will see a context menu appear. Tap the option that says "Show top address bar".

4 - Group unimportant notifications

iOS 15 has a feature called "Scheduled Digest" which lets you group together all the less important notifications and send them all at once, rather than receiving lots of random pings throughout the day.

To enable it, go to Settings > Notifications and tap "Scheduled Digest". Now enable it and go through the setup process. Now you choose the apps you want to include in your summary and tap "Add apps" at the bottom.

On the next screen, choose the times you want the first and second digests to appear. You can also tap the "+" to add more frequent summaries throughout the day. So you can spawn one at breakfast time, lunch time and one in the evening if you want. When those are chosen, just tap the "Turn on notification digest" option at the bottom.

Now you'll only be notified by direct messages or apps not included in your selection throughout the day, until the time you choose to view the summary.

5 - Speak notifications on AirPods

If you have a pair of AirPods Pro, you can ask Siri to speak notifications through them whenever you have them in your ears and connected to your iPhone. To turn it on, go to Settings > Siri and Search and now tap on "Announce notifications", then enable the option at the top of the page. And also activate the "Headset" switch.

6 - Disable HDR video

By default, the new iPhone 13 Pro models record video in HDR or Dolby Vision, which not only takes up a lot of space, but is also not compatible with many other devices. To turn it off, go to Settings > Camera and tap "Record Video". Disable the option that says "HDR Video".

7 - Accessibility

Back when iPhones had buttons, you could drag items down from the top of the screen to make them easier to reach with a light double tap of the home button. And you can also do it on newer phones without buttons, but you have to activate it first.

Go to Settings > Accessibility and press "Touch". Activate the Accessibility option. Now when you swipe down at the bottom of the screen, items at the top of the screen are dropped lower, making them easier to reach.

8 - Double tap back to screenshot

With the right accessibility feature enabled, you can just double tap the back of your phone to take a screenshot. Rather than messing with the button combination.

Just go to Settings> Accessibility> Now touch and select "rewind". Choose the double tap option and find Screenshot from the list. Now when you double tap the back of your phone, a screenshot is taken. You can of course choose other functions such as the notification drop-down or the control centre, which can be difficult to reach.

9 - Use Live Text

A cool new feature is Live Text, and it lets you use your camera to read and view text in real time. You can, for example, use it to instantly send a sentence from an article or document in a message.

Open a messaging app. Double-tap the text field, then tap the little icon that looks like text in a box. It will now open a camera view and start scanning text, then display it in the field when you show it to the camera.

To be more specific, just tap the little capture icon in the corner to take a quick shot of the text you want. You can now highlight the specific block of text you want to include by simply swiping your finger over the text of your choice.

Another way to do this is to just open the Camera app and make sure you're in Photo mode. Now point to the text you want or tap to focus on the text manually, then tap the live text icon in the corner. It will parse the text and now you can highlight the text in the pop-up image to share with someone. Copy and paste wherever you want.

10 - Live Text in Screenshot

There is another way to use Live Text. With a screenshot. Take a screenshot and tap it to open the editor view. Tap the beacon/pen icon at the top and now tap the live text icon in the bottom corner. Now you can swipe to highlight the text you want to copy and paste it into any app you like.

11 - Focus Mode

Focus Mode could easily be its in-depth functionality and video. However, briefly, if you head to Settings > Focus, you can create dedicated scenarios where only specific apps and people can interrupt you at specific times or places.

You can configure one scenario for Personal mode and another for Work mode. The process can take a bit of time, but it's basically adding dedicated people who can contact you and choosing which apps to allow. It's really simple.

Once that's set up, you can schedule when you want it to turn on. Whether based on time and date or based on location. You can even customize the home screens that appear at each focus moment.

12 - Limit screen frame rate

By default, the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max screens are set to reach a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz. If - for some reason any - you want to limit what you actually can, but you won't find it in the display settings. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Movement. Now enable the "Limit Frame Rate" option, and it won't exceed 60 frames per second.

13 - Create your own Photographic Style

Another camera feature on the newer iPhone models is something called Photographic Styles. Unlike a simple filter, this one adjusts things like warmth, brightness, and contrast to create an aesthetic that will be applied to all your photos when you take them. Open Settings > Camera and scroll down to "Photography Styles". Scroll through the options until you find a look you like. Once you find one, tap the blue tap at the bottom.

14 - Change the music on your Photo Memories

In the new Photos app, Apple automatically pastes a backing track to photo and video memories it creates for you in the "For You" tab. But you can change that. Open Photos and tap "For You" and choose one of the memories at the top.

Once open, tap it again and tap the little music icon in the corner. Now you can swipe and it changes the filter and music as you do. Or you can tap the music note icon in the bottom right to see a bigger selection of options, including a search button which, when pressed, lets you browse your entire library for a specific song.

15 - Trackpad Keyboard

Lastly and most importantly. It's an old, old favorite, but it's a must. If you want to move your cursor precisely while typing, you can turn your keyboard into a trackpad by simply long-pressing the spacebar and then dragging your thumb. Now place the cursor on the screen exactly where you want it to go.