Although Apple’s software design strives to be intuitive, each iteration of iOS includes so many additions and adjustments, it’s easy to miss out on handy iPhone settings. While Apple focused on artificial intelligence when it unveiled iOS 18 in 2024, there are plenty of things under the hood that add a steady stream of interesting customizations and lesser-known features from the past few years. By default, some useful settings are turned off, and it’s not immediately clear how to turn off annoying features. We are here to help you make the most of your Apple phone.
Once set up as you would like, it’s easy to copy everything, including settings, when switching to a new iPhone. For other tips and recommendations, read the related guides (Best iPhone, Best iPhone 16 Cases, Best Magsafe Accessories) and the Explainer on How to Set Up a New iPhone, How to Back Up Your iPhone, How to Fix Your iPhone, How to Fix Your iPhone.
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Customize the Control Center
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Swipe from the top right of the screen to open Control Center and you’ll be able to customize more than ever. You can open the customization menu by tapping the plus icon in the top left or tapping an empty space. Here you can move icons and widgets, remove unnecessary things, add controls at the bottom and tap on a searchable list of shortcut icons and widgets that can be organized on multiple Control Center screens. You can also customize your home screen in iOS 18 to change the color and size of app icons and reposition them.
Change the lock screen button
Do you know the flashlight in the bottom left and the lock screen controls in the bottom right where the camera is the default? You can change them. Press and hold the free space on the lock screen to customize it before locking the screen. Tap the minus icon to delete an existing shortcut, then tap the plus icon to add a new icon. You can also change the weather and date widgets, fonts and colors to choose wallpaper at the time.
Expand screen timeout
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It’s good to time out on the screen for battery savings and security purposes, but when the screen goes off while you’re doing something, you’re going crazy. In my opinion, the default screen timeout is too short, but thankfully, it can be adjusted. Go to Settings, Display and Brightness and select Auto Lock to expand. There are several options, including Never. In other words, to turn off the screen, press the power button manually.
Turn off keyboard sound
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iPhone keyboards that click on sounds when typing are very bad. Even if you don’t hate it, trust me, when you certainly type, everyone near you is. You can turn it off in Settings, Sound, and Haptics by tapping keyboard feedback to toggle sounds. I also advise you to switch between sound and rock sound while you’re in Haptics.
It’s getting dark
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The dark mode protects you from stunning glare. Go to Settings, select Display and Brightness, and darken. You might prefer toggle it on an automatic and change it when the sun sets, but I always prefer to be in dark mode.
Change the battery charge level
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If you’re determined to narrow down your iPhone battery for as many years as possible, consider changing your charging limit. You can maximize your smartphone battery health by not charging it above 80%. The default for the iPhone is optimized battery charging, waiting at 80% and aiming to reach 100% when ready to go in the morning. However, there is a slider that allows you to set it to an 80% limit on settings, battery, charging, and charging.
Set the action button
For those using iPhone 15 Pro models or any device in the iPhone 16 range, there will be an action button instead of the old mute switch. By default, pressing and holding the iPhone will silence, but you can change your iPhone by going to Settings and then going to the (Action) button. You can swipe through a variety of basic options, from cameras and flashlights to visual intelligence, but choose a shortcut if you want to do something more interesting. If you’re not familiar with this, check out our guide on how to use the Apple Shortcuts app.
Turn off Apple Intelligence
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Apple Intelligence is not completely burned yet, and we are still waiting for an improved Siri. If you prefer to opt out of certain features or opt out completely, go to Apple Intelligence & Siri and tap on it to toggle Apple Intelligence. If you want to turn on the selected feature, you can find instructions on how to turn off the Apple Intelligence Guide.
Hide sensitive apps
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Whether you’re embarrassed by candy crush addiction or risky photos, or you’re planning a partner’s birthday party using the Notes app, you can hide it from your prying eyes. I’m not here to judge. There are two options to protect your app: Tap to hold the icon and if you want a Face ID, you need it to hide or Face ID. The first option leaves the app in place, but no one can access it without a Face ID check. If you want to hide an app, select the second option and then hide the app, it will become obscure within the hidden folder at the bottom of the app library where Face ID Check should be opened.
Stop autoplay or looping
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If you’re frustrating that the video will automatically play when scrolling through the Photos app, or if you bugged a loop and repeat instead of stopping at the end, you can change its behavior. Tap Settings, Apps, Photos, and scroll down to toggle between Auto PlayMotion and Loop Video.
Enhance speeches in movies and TV shows
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It may be difficult to interact with some TV shows and movies, but Apple has fixed the muffled speech on the iPhone. To play a video, tap the screen to display the menu and select the audio icon. You can choose to enhance Dialogue and choose either enhance or enhance to make your voice louder and more clearer.
Do not interfere with the setup
Absolute minimums require you to silence your iPhone at night to prevent sleep from getting in opposition, but Apple offers a wide range of tools to help you automate or schedule downtime and focus. Go to Settings, focus, and don’t get in the way. You can turn off notifications, but you can set the exception to allow certain contacts or apps to pass through. You can also navigate to Screen Time and Downtime to set specific schedules each day.
Change the default app
You don’t need to use Safari as your browser or use the Apple email app for email. You can change the default app on your iPhone by going to Settings, Apps, and Default Apps. If you have an alternate app that is valid for email, messaging, browsers, and several other categories, you can choose it in place of an Apple app.
Keep your iCloud files locally
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You can choose to keep certain files synced with iCloud, which are stored locally on your iPhone. This is useful if you want to access it if you don’t have the internet. Open the Files app, go to the (Browse) tab and select iCloud Drive. You can tap to hold any folder or file and select (Download) to keep a copy on your iPhone.
Restrict app permissions
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It’s worth checking the app’s permissions and limiting them. There are several routes to do this, but it may be the easiest way to configure, privacy and security. There are plenty here, but I recommend looking at location services and removing or reducing permissions for apps you don’t think you need. In many cases, the approximate location can be sufficient to function as you want, so you can cut out the exact location for many people. Other apps to watch out for are contacts and photos. Both now offer options with limited access.
Incidentally, if you want to turn off updates in the background app, suck up data and stop the battery from ejecting when you’re not using the battery, go to Settings, Apps and select something that you don’t need to update unless you switch and switch.
Change Siri’s voice
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Apple now offers the full range of voices for Siri. Go to Settings, select Apple Intelligence & Siri, then tap Voice to view a list of variations (USA, Australia, UK, India, Ireland, South Africa) and Voice (Irish Voice 2 is my pick). Please note that if you choose a new one, it may take some time to download.
Set the email address shortcut
Forget to enter your entire email address each time. Go to General Settings and select Keyboard. Tap Exchange Text, then tap the Plus icon in the top right to set up text shortcuts such as “EML” for the full email address or “ADDY” for the mail address. This also works with other texts that you frequently enter.
Display notifications on the lock screen
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While Apple is all about privacy, you may need to unlock your iPhone and check the content of your incoming messages. You can change how this works by selecting settings, notifications, and show preview. It is set by default when unlocked, but you can always or never choose.
Create AI art
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If you decide to give AI the opportunity and flashy stuff to generate art with AI support, open the playground app. You can choose a prompt for a photo, theme, outfit, accessory, location, or type. Here’s a complete guide on how to use Apple’s Image Playground. Available on Apple devices running iOS 18.2, iPados 18.2, or Macos Sequoia 15.2.
Reduces car illness
Do you feel nauseous when using your iPhone as a car passenger? Go to Settings, Accessibility, select Motion and view the vehicle’s motion queue. Turn it on or off and you can see dots that will help reduce motion sickness, but tapping on Auto will turn it on when you detect that you are in the car.
