Five useful phone hacks you should try right away
From a secret iPhone feature which claims to eliminate travel sickness, to the quick hack which makes your phone instantly kid-friendly; your smartphone is packed with life-changing tools you probably never use. With both iPhone and Samsung getting major updates in the last week, Alice Beer is here to help you unlock your phone's full power.
How to eliminate motion sickness
Reduce motion and travel sickness symptoms when using your iPhone by using the Vehicle Motion Cues feature which marks multiple dots on your iphone screen. These dots match the movement of the car. This helps reduce the sensory conflict between your eyes and inner ear which causes motion sickness.
How to use:
Open Settings
Tap Accessibility
Tap Motion
Tap Show Vehicle Motion Cues, then tap an option.
Choose Automatic, animated dots appear on the screen when the iPhone detects that you're riding in a car or other on-road vehicle; the dots are hidden when the motion stops.
How to make your phone kid-friendly
Make a really simple version of your phone with the apps you want your children to be able to use immediately accessible. Limit notifications/disturbances whilst they are using it. NB: All the apps on your phone are still available, so always make sure to monitor your child’s phone use.
How to use:
Open Control Center (swipe down from the top right corner on iPhones with Face ID, or swipe up from the bottom on iPhones with a Home button).
Tap the Focus icon, and select the “+” button.
Select “Custom” name your Focus to kids, choose a color and icon.
Tap “Customise Focus” - You can allow notifications from specific people, apps or none at all. + Customize your lock screen and choose a “Screen” filled specifically with your child's favourite apps and unselect the “Screens” filled with your personalized apps.
How to use app locks and time restrictions
Ensure your children are safe when using your device by restricting access to specific apps or limiting the amount of time they can use them.
How to lock apps:
Hold down on the specific app you want to restrict. Options will appear.
Select ‘Require Face ID’. Now when you open that app, you can only open it with Face ID. + You can also do this on a Samsung.
How to set time restrictions:
Open Settings
Open Screen Time
App Limits
Select app categories you would like to restrict
Tap next at the top right and then set the time allowed.
When you finish setting limits, tap Add.
The calculator app can do so much more than you think!
No need to keep googling ‘what is 2kg in ounces’ - your calculator app can do it for you, for all different kinds of units and measures.
How to use:
Open your Calculator app
Tap the “Convert” button in the bottom left corner.
Tap on the unit of measurement and swipe across to select the different options which include currency, area, length, temperature, volume, mass, data, speed & time.
How to transcribe recipes
Flipping through a magazine in a waiting room and flicked past an incredible recipe? Skip the googling, simply take a photo and convert the recipe into text almost instantly and save for future use!
How to use: (on Samsung)
Take a photo of the recipe
Open the photo on the gallery app
Tap the text icon
Tap the yellow "T" icon that appears in the bottom right corner.
Highlight and copy: The text in the photo will be highlighted, and you can then copy and paste it anywhere.