Related Articles
iOS 12 is here and ready to add a bunch of new features to your iPhone ($899 at Amazon), iPad ($170 at Amazon) and iPod touch. Most notably, Apple focused on improving overall performance for all iOS devices. That’s not really a feature that can be shown in screenshots but has to be experienced firsthand.
There are easier to find features, however, such as Memoji, improved notifications and new Siri suggestions. Outside of the expected features based on Apple’s iOS 12 announcement, there are hidden features in iOS 12. And for the past few months, we’ve used iOS 12 and dug up some hidden features we think are worth pointing out.
Now playing:
Watch this:
iOS 12: 9 hidden features you should check out right…
2:28
More battery info
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Figuring what’s draining the battery on any mobile device is something we all want to know more about. With iOS 12, open the Settings app, select Battery and you will have as much info as you can digest. New charts, breakdowns and graphs show you exactly what was using your battery and, perhaps most importantly, when it was used.
Alternate appearance in Face ID
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
iPhone users with a model that supports Face ID who have trouble getting Face ID to work properly when wearing a hat, sunglasses or something else that changes your overall appearance will gain the ability to register a second appearance. The new setting is found in Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Alternate appearance.
Indeed, this same feature can be used to register a second face to Face ID to give a second person access to your device. Just keep in mind that if you want to remove the second appearance (or face) you will need to reset Face ID.
Temporary Do Not Disturb
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Instead of manually turning Do Not Disturb on and off for a meeting or a movie, you can set DND to disable itself after an hour, this evening or when you leave your current location in iOS 12.
Open Control Center and long-press or force touch the Do Not Disturb icon to pick from the new DND options.
Close app gesture
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Remember the good ol’ days when you could force close an app with a simple swipe up? Those days are back, on the iPhone X ($285 at Amazon) at least.
Instead of switching to multitasking view, long-pressing on an app’s card, then force-closing it — as of iOS 12 you only need to activate multitasking and then swipe up on any app’s card to close it out.
Automatic OS updates
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
A new feature in iOS 12 will automatically install iOS updates on your device without requiring you to manually approve it. You can enable automatic updates in Settings > General > Software Updates > Automatic updates. With this feature enabled, whenever an update is released your iPhone will automatically update while you are sleeping.
iPhone X gesture on iPad
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
The iPhone X gesture to access Control Center — a swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen — has made its way to the iPad. After installing iOS 12, you can no longer access Control Center on the iPad through the multitasking interface. Instead, swipe down from the top-right corner.
Autofill shortcodes
For those who have two-factor authentication codes sent via SMS, iOS 12 will make the process of entering the six- or eight-digit code so much easier. Instead of having to copy and paste the code or quickly memorize it, a shortcut will show up on top of the keyboard when your device receives the code.
Tap on the shortcut and the keyboard will autofill the code for you. It’s pretty slick.
QR Code scanner in Control Center
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Apple added a QR Code scanner to the camera app in iOS 11, and with iOS 12 the scanner gets its own shortcut in Control Center. You will need to add the shortcut in Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls and tap the green button next to Scan QR Code.
Disable USB accessories
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
With hackers and law enforcement tools able to crack an iPhone’s passcode via the USB port, Apple has added a feature that disables the Lightning port on iOS devices if it hasn’t been unlocked in the past hour.
The feature is enabled by default, but should you have a reason to disable it, you can do so in just a few seconds.
Open Settings > Face ID & Passcode and then scroll to the bottom of the page and toggle the USB Accessories option to the On position.
Messages Camera tools
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
The Messages app isn’t getting a whole lot of new features in iOS 12. One of the changes is a new camera tool for pictures and videos taken within the Messages app. We’ve already covered the feature in detail here, but the gist is this: Open the camera app in Messages, then tap the star icon in the lower-left corner to get started.
Here are the biggest iOS 12 features Apple announced at WWDC 2018
+45 more
iOS 12 is now available: How to update, best new features and more.
iPhone XS’ industry-first A12 chip gives Apple big advantage over rivals: Today’s iPhone keep pace with the Android phones of 2020.
