iOS 11 Tips « iOS & iPhone

How To: Take Live Photos of FaceTime Video Calls in iOS 11 (& Protect Yourself from Getting Recorded)

When you're taking a video in the Camera app on your iPhone, there's a little white shutter button in the corner that lets you take a still image while you're filming. Apple has brought that same concept over to the FaceTime app in iOS 11, so you can take Live Photos of your friends during video chats.

How To: Downgrade iOS 11 Back to iOS 10.3.3 on Your iPhone

There's lots of new stuff in iOS 11, but just because things have changed doesn't mean they're better. So if you've updated to Apple's latest OS and decided it wasn't for you, you'll be happy to know that you can still go back to iOS 10.3.3.

How To: Get Apple's Live Fish Wallpapers Back on Your iPhone in iOS 11

In the latest beta for iOS 11, Apple removed the live fish wallpapers from the iPhone, so you can no longer set them as a live photo for your lock screen. If you really loved those fishies and want to see them animating again on your device, there is a way to get them back.

How To: What All the Bluetooth & Wi-Fi Symbols Mean in iOS 11's New Control Center (Blue, Gray, or Crossed Out)

Apple took a giant step forward in terms of user customization with the new Control Center in iOS 11. With an improved design, buttons you can pick and choose from, and even a new default Cellular Data toggle, it's definitely a better iPhone experience. However, Apple also took a giant step backward with the confusing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi toggles.

How To: Add Email Accounts to Mail in iOS 11 on Your iPhone

Using the Mail app to log in and sync to email services such as Gmail and Outlook is incredibly easy to accomplish on the iPhone thanks to the intuitive nature of its operating system. This is still evident with iOS 11, and though the process differs slightly from its predecessors, it can still be accomplished with relative ease.

How To: Enable or Disable Two-Factor Authentication on Your iPhone in iOS 11

Two-factor authentication has been around since iOS 10. It's a handy option that adds an extra layer of security to your iPhone and makes its almost impenetrable security even stronger. This feature has remained intact with the arrival of iOS 11, and thanks to the straightforward nature of iOS, is relatively easy to enable.

How To: Redownload Previously Purchased Apps from iOS 11's App Store on Your iPhone

Apple removed the App Store from iTunes in the new 12.7 update, which means you can't download iOS apps from iTunes or view your app library anymore in macOS. Everything is done on your iPhone now, but the process for viewing and re-downloading apps you've previously purchased has changed slightly in iOS 11 compared to iOS 10.

News: 91 Cool New iOS 11 Features You Didn't Know About

Apple's iOS 11 is finally here, and while they showed off several of the new features it brings to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch back at WWDC 2017, they've only just touched the surface of what iOS 11 has to offer. There are a lot of cool new (and sometimes secret) features to explore, so we've collected them all here for you.

How To: Instantly Share Wi-Fi Passwords from Your iPhone to Other iOS 12 Devices Nearby

When you don't know the password to a Wi-Fi network at a friend's house or coffee shop, you have to ask for it to save cellular data on your iPhone. If the hotspot's owner can actually remember the password, good luck putting it in on the first try. If they don't remember, then you might have to use cellular data. Thankfully, this whole process has gotten much easier in newer iOS versions.

How To: Remove the Bottom App Drawer in the iOS Messages App for iPhone

Ever since iOS 11, there's been a little drawer at the bottom of conversation threads in the Messages app. That drawer houses what Apple calls "iMessage apps," even though they also work in regular text messages. These apps are convenient for various reasons, but if you don't use any of them, it's just wasted space on the screen. Luckily, you can get rid of this app drawer.

How To: Turn Your iPhone's Auto-Brightness Off in iOS 12

If you're not a fan of your iPhone's ability to adjust screen brightness by itself, you've probably turned off auto-brightness on multiple occasions in the past. All you would do is go to your "Display & Brightness" settings and toggle it off, but that's no longer the case in iOS 11 and iOS 12 — whether you have an iPhone X, XS, XS Max, XR or any older supported iPhone.

How To: Unlock Apple's 'Dark Mode' in iOS 12 for iPhone

Apple gave us the ability to invert colors on the screen a very long time ago. Then they gave us grayscale mode in iOS 8, Night Shift in iOS 9, and the red screen filter in iOS 10. While the long-awaited "Dark Mode" has yet to materialize, iOS 11 and iOS 12 both have a decent placeholder for it you can use on your iPhone.

How To: Record Your iPhone's Screen with Audio in iOS 11 — No Jailbreak or Computer Needed

The only official way to record your iPhone's screen before was to hook it up to a Mac and use QuickTime Player to do the recording for you. If you wanted to record your iPhone's screen without an external device, there were unofficial apps you could use, like AirShou, but they required complicated installations. Now, in iOS 11, Apple has finally given us an official, native screen recording tool.

How To: Unlock Your iPhone's Secret Camera Level in iOS 11

Apple's stock Camera app has a lot of great new features in iOS 11, but one of the more interesting ones is a level that helps you take photos of documents and nicely plated food from a top-down perspective. Unfortunately, you'd never know it was there since it's not enabled by default, and there is no obvious setting for it.

How To: Use iOS 11's New File Manager on Your iPhone

Apple has finally given us a decent file manager in iOS 11. The new "Files" app replaces the not-very-old iCloud Drive app that appeared in iOS 9, but you can still access your iCloud Drive files in the new Files app, as well as files from third-party cloud services. A nice improvement, right?

How To: Sync All Your Messages with iCloud in iOS 11.4

One major problem in previous iOS versions is that there was no way to keep messages in sync between an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac. If you deleted a message in the Mac app, it would not be deleted on your iPhone, and vice versa. Apple finally fixed this issue in iOS 11.4 by storing all of the messages in iCloud, not on individual devices.

How To: Set Persistent Notifications for Apps in iOS 11 on Your iPhone

There's plenty of cool new stuff in iOS 11, but the bigger features get most of the press. Sometimes, though, the minor tweaks Apple has added can have the most impact on real-world usability.

How To: Change Siri's Accent on Your iPhone to Australian, British, Irish, or South African

Apple's iOS assistant has an undeniably iconic voice — you know Siri when you hear her. As memorable a voice as it may be, you don't need to stick with her default American accent. In iOS 11, you can choose from two other vocal deliveries, and in iOS 12, there are two more accents at your disposal for a total of four more.

How To: Get iOS 11's New Wallpapers on Any Phone

Apple's highly anticipated iOS 11 is ready for the public, and besides the obvious array of new features and improvements, the mobile OS also comes with stunning new wallpapers which would look amazing on any iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch — even on Android devices.

How To: Download iOS 11 Beta on Your iPhone Right Now

Apple introduced their new mobile operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch at WWDC on June 5, 2017, and there are a lot of great new features to try out. While the official version of iOS 11 was released to the public on Sept. 19, you can still sign up either as a developer or with the iOS Beta Program to get new versions of iOS 11 before anyone else does.