Earlier this week, I had to drive several hours to argue a summary judgment motion in a courthouse across the state. Fortunately, I was able to listen to some good podcasts and music along the way. I learned a lot listening to Episode 419 of the Mac Power Users podcast, hosted by Florida attorney Katie Floyd and California attorney David Sparks. In that episode — “iOS Settings” — they discuss many useful things that you can configure in the Settings app on an iPhone or iPad. The podcast mentioned one or two things I didn’t know about, but it was just as useful to hear them discuss some settings that I did know about in the back of my brain but hadn’t thought about much lately. If you have about an hour and a half (or even less time if you speed up your podcasts using the Overcast app like I do) to learn about iPhone settings, this episode is a great one to listen to.
The episode inspired me to think about some of the parts of the Settings app that I access regularly. Here is my list. Hopefully you one or more of these will be new to you and useful to learn about. But even if you already know about all of these, perhaps thinking about them again will remind you about how useful these settings can be.
1. Pull down to search
Sometimes you know that there is something in the Settings app but you don’t know where it is. When you first open the app, use your finger to pull down on the screen, and you will reveal a search box at the top. You can type something like “Restrictions” and the app will jump you write to the Restrictions page, even if you don’t remember that it is tucked away under General.
2. Family Sharing
My kids have hand-me-down iPhones from me and my wife, without active SIM cards. I have Family Sharing configured so that when they go to purchase an app, I get an alert on my iPhone, and I need to approve the purchase. Configure this by tapping your name at the top of the Settings app (just above Airplane Mode) -> Family Sharing -> [tap name of child] -> Ask to Buy.
3. Airplane Mode
When I am having trouble getting a cellular connection, or when Wi-Fi isn’t working right, the first thing I do is turn on Airplane Mode, wait about 10 seconds, and then turn it off again. I’m amazed at how often that solves the problem for me. And oh yes, Airplane Mode is also useful when I’m on an airplane.
4. Forget This Network
If you find that your device is automatically connecting to a Wi-Fi network that you don’t want to be using, go to Settings -> Wi-Fi -> [network name] – Forget This Network to stop your device from connecting automatically. For example, if I connect to the Wi-Fi at a hotel, and then I return to the hotel months later, sometimes my iPhone tries to reconnect automatically but runs into problems. If I forget the network, and then connect again from scratch, I can usually get things working again.
5. Double-Tap your AirPods
If you own a pair of Apple’s AirPods, you can change what happens when you double-tap on the left and right AirPod. Go to Settings -> Bluetooth, then tap the info icon (an “i” in a circle) next to the entry for AirPods at a time when your AirPods are in your ears. This bring you to a screen where you can control what happens when you double-tap. I have mine set to play/pause wen I double-tap my right ear and to bring up Siri when i double-tap my left ear. Other options are skipping to the next or previous tracks.
6. Control Center
When you swipe up on most iPhones, or when you swipe down from the top right on an iPhone X, you bring up the Control Center. This is a quick and easy way to access all sorts of controls. You can turn on or off the items that show up in the Control Center by going to Settings -> Control Center -> Customize Controls. Katie Floyd mentioned in the podcast that she likes to put an Apple TV Remote in her Control Center so that she can quickly control her Apple TV using her iPhone even if she cannot find the tiny and easy-to-misplace remote that comes with the Apple TV.
7. CarPlay icons
You can control which icons appear on which screen of your CarPlay screen by going to Settings -> General -> CarPlay -> [your car name]. I put all of the apps I use on my main screen, and move the ones that I never use (such as the built-in app for my Honda Accord) to the second screen. And the apps that I use the most, like Now Playing and Overcast, are on the left side of the screen so that they are easier to reach from the driver’s seat.
8. Magnifying Glass
Whether I am reading the fine print in a contract or trying to read small type on a package, it is often useful to have a magnifying glass. I have my iPhone set up so that if I triple-click the side button on my iPhone X (for earlier models, triple-click on the home button), the magnifier comes right up. I do this in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Magnifier. You can also put a Magnifier icon in the Control Center using the tip I mentioned above if you would rather access it that way.
9. Where have I been?
Trying to remember the name of that restaurant you went to last week in Boston? Or trying to figure out how long you were at a location such as a courthouse, to help you to do your time sheets? Your iPhone keeps a log of many of the places that you visit, and how long you were there. Sometimes it is useful for you to go back and see where you have been. But whether you use this feature or not, you should know that it is there in case someone else gets access to your iPhone and you don’t want them to know where you have been.
Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services [all the way at the bottom] -> Significant Locations. I see that on my iPhone X, my phone checks my Face ID before going to the next screen, which is a nice privacy check. On that next screen, when Significant Locations is turned on, you will see a list of many (although probably not all) of the cities that you have been to recently. Tap a city to see specific locations with the city. For example, right now I am seeing that I was at Lafayette Parish Courthouse earlier this week for that summary judgment hearing from 8:49 am to 10:38 am. That time span includes the time that I was in my car across the street from the courthouse waiting for the building to open, and also includes the time I spent in my car sending an email to my client after the hearing to report that we won. Thus, the time associated with a specific establishment may include some time when you were nearby, but these time estimates can still be useful whenever you need to recreate your day.
Your iPhone uses this log of significant locations for providing location-related information to some of the built-in apps on the iPhone. Apple tells you in the Settings app that “Significant Locations are encrypted and cannot be read by Apple.” Nevertheless, if you find this feature to be more creepy than useful, feel free to turn off Significant Locations.
10. Mail previews
In my Mail app when I am looking at a list of messages, I prefer to just see the sender and the subject line, so that I can see even more messages on the screen at one time. I know that others prefer to also see a preview of the beginning of the message. You can adjust what you see in Settings -> Mail -> Preview [under Message List] and then select from None to 5 Lines. Mine is set to None.
There are lots of other things that you can control in Settings -> Mail such as whether to organize your emails by thread, swipe options, etc. Spend a little time poking around there to configure your Mail app in a way that makes the most sense for you.