12+ ‘pro tips’ for your Apple devices that you probably missed
It can seem like there’s a “pro tip” for just about everything, often covering some overlooked area or an obscure feature. There are even social media accounts and Subreddits dedicated to finding and documenting as many tips as possible. As you can imagine, there are even plenty of pro tips for Apple devices, too. We often get a few from our readers.
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Whether it’s an obscure feature that Apple didn’t publicize or just a little-known tip that you may have missed, here are some of our favorite “pro tips” that you can use to simplify and enhance your Apple experience.
12. Tap and hold on your keyboard
Editing text can be a pain in iOS, particularly since it’s hard to manually move the cursor. But there’s actually a hidden “mouse” mode — and you don’t need to do anything particularly special to access it.
Just tap and hold on the space bar in the native iOS keyboard whenever it appears. This will turn the entire keyboard into a trackpad so you can place your text cursor with pinpoint precision. (Tapping and holding on other keys will work, though it may bring up additional character options instead.)
Your friends may be using a less-than-flattering photo of you for your entry in their Contacts app. In iOS 13, Apple has actually added a way for you to stop that remotely.
Just set up a contact profile by going to Settings —> Messages —> Share Name and Photo. As long as your friends have iPhones, they’ll see the name and image that you’ve inputted when they type in your phone number.
10. Take advantage of Offline Dictation
Here’s a feature that you probably missed: offline dictation. When you’re using the Microphone icon to input text via speech, it normally requires an internet connection. Not so in iOS 13.
That means that you can continue dictating notes or other text, even if your device loses connectivity. Just note that this doesn’t apply to Siri currently.
9. Display still too bright? Try Reduce White Point
When it’s late at night, the display on your iOS device may be too bright for tired eyes — even when it’s at its lowest brightness.
There’s a setting you can do to make your screen easier on the eyes, however. Just head to Accessibility —> Display & Text Size —> Reduce White Point. Play with that setting to your liking.
Some users often complain that their iPhone screen has a yellowish tint. You can check your display settings using this article and customize the display to your preferences.
8. Use AirPods to find your iPhone
Misplaced your iOS device and don’t have a computer or another Apple device handy? Even without a display, you can actually use your AirPods to find your missing or lost device.
Just invoke Siri on your AirPods and say “Hey Siri, find my iPhone” or “Hey Siri, find my iPad.” From there, you can instruct Siri to play a sound on your device.
7. Cancel your free trial early
If you’d like to try out an Apple service or app but you don’t want to forget to cancel, just unsubscribe as soon as your free trial activates. You can manage subscriptions in Settings —> Apple ID card —> Subscriptions.
For most Apple services, this will automatically stop payment and you’ll still be able to use the remainder of your free trial. Just keep in mind that this will not work with Apple TV+.
6. Stop those “rate our app” pop-ups
Annoying app rating pop-ups getting you down? In recent versions of iOS, Apple has cracked down on the practice. And, in fact, you can actually disable them for good.
Just head to Settings —> iTunes & App Store, scroll down, and finally hit the toggle next to In-App Ratings & Reviews. From now on, no third-party app will be able you ping you with a pop-up.
5. Create a sleep timer for your music
Want to listen to music while going to bed but don’t want it playing all night? There’s actually a little-known setting in the Clock app that can help with that.
Just open the Clock app and tap on Timer. Then, tap on When Timer Ends. Scroll down and tap on Stop Playing. When the timer goes off, it won’t play a sound. Instead, it’ll automatically stop any audio that’s currently playing on your device.
4. Stop accidentally AirPlaying content
If you keep inadvertently sending a stream of the content you’re watching to a random TV via AirPlay, you should know about a simple setting that can put a stop to it.
But you can require a PIN every time something is AirPlayed to your Apple TV by going to Settings —> AirPlay —> Conference Room Display. Then turn on Require PIN Every Time. On older Apple TVs, this is done by going to AirPlay and enabling On-screen Code.
3. Slowly scrub forward or back in Apple Music
Manually moving the playback cursor in Apple Music can be annoying, but there’s a hidden feature built into the playback controls that can help you get to a certain point in a song much easier.
Just tap and hold on either the Forward or Rewind buttons. It’ll then slowly speed up or back in small increments, allowing you to get to a certain part of the track you’re playing with better accuracy.
2. Find your contacts in iCloud
When’s the last time you actually memorized a phone number? If you happen to lose your device, that situation could turn out poorly. Luckily, your Contacts may actually be synced in the cloud.
You can check by heading to Settings —> Your Apple ID —> iCloud. Make sure the toggle next to Contacts is on. Then, if you lose your device, you can usually see all of them at Apple’s iCloud.com.
1. Get that captive portal back
Public Wi-Fi isn’t always great, but sometimes it’s all you got. But if you accidentally click away that captive portal pop-up, you may have a hard time actually connecting to the internet.
If you ever do lose access to the captive portal, you can always bring it back by typing “captive.apple.com” into your browser URL. Better yet, save it as a bookmark. (And yes, this works for all captive portals on Apple devices, no matter where you may find them.)
Bonus: Pro Mac Tip to restore Files from Trash Can
For Mac users both new and old, here is tip that you may find useful. You can use CMD+DELETE on an item in the trash in order to restore it to its file location. Did you know that you can also empty the trash with CMD+SHIFT+delete without having to use your mouse. Add OPTION and it won’t ask for confirmation.
We hope that you found these quick and easy tips helpful!! Please let us know in the comments some of your favorite tips and tricks that you have fallen in love as an Apple user.
While he primarily covers Apple and consumer technology, he has past experience writing about public safety, local government, and education for a variety of publications.
He’s worn quite a few hats in the journalism field, including writer, editor, and news designer.