Apple touts manyiPhonefeatures from the hills, regardless of how important they are in practice. Consider theCamera Controlbutton on theiPhone 16, for example – I mostly only use it for opening the Camera app, taking a shot, and adjusting zoom, and some people don’t use it at all. This sort of thing is to be expected, though, since it’s in the nature of capitalism to claim any advantage you can over the competition.
Occasionally, however, Apple does introduce features that receive little if any marketing despite being genuinely useful. That also makes sense in its own way, because some of the things that make a product better aren’t necessarily easy to sell through TV commercials and roadside billboards. These are some of the more obscure iPhone features I like – your own list may vary.
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Like Double Tap for your iPhone
Back Tap is similar to the Double Tap gestures Apple introduced with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, letting you use motion gestures to trigger commands instead of clicking a button or using a touchscreen. Arguably, it’s better – especially since you’re able to assign your own custom functions whenever you double- or triple-tap the back of youriPhone, such as turning on the flashlight, taking a screenshot, or opening Control Center.
It’s off by default, presumably because it would be all too easy to trigger commands accidentally.
Why haven’t you heard much – if anything – about Double Tap? For one, Back Tap is still considered an “accessibility” feature, meant to simplify iPhone use for people with physical impairments. The other is that you have to turn it on manually by going toSettings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. It’s off by default, presumably because it would be all too easy to trigger commands accidentally if you were unaware of the feature’s existence. How often do you drum on something when you’re bored?
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2ChatGPT integration into Siri
Finally, Siri can actually tell you about the Mongols
Until iOS 18.2, Siri was notoriously bad at answering knowledge questions. It could answer some obvious ones, such as who the US President was or what the weather was going to be like, but too often it would throw up its hands or ask you to tap on a web link – even if you were talking to a HomePod. In fact, that’s still how questions work on Apple’s smart speakers.
iOS 18.2 added ChatGPT integration for iPhones with Apple Intelligence, namely the iPhone 16 series and the iPhone 15 Pro. So at long last, if you ask a complex question, Siri can produce an answer without making you go somewhere else for it. You may have to wait a moment while Siri contacts OpenAI’s servers, but it still makes the assistant feel a lot more powerful. you may even make it generate images in some situations, such as Messages.
The only serious limitation is that you can’t use ChatGPT for things like interface and hardware controls.
Apple does actually promote this feature a little, but only in the context of other Apple Intelligence options. It’s probably none too eager to shine the spotlight on a product it’s not responsible for, and it’s looking to recruit other AI partners too, such as Google.
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3Changing default apps
Use your preferred everyday tools
Apple would prefer that you use its own apps whenever possible, but it also lives in the real world – other apps are sometimes more popular, and antitrust lawsuits can (and do) keep its behavior in check. If you go toSettings > Apps > Default Apps, you can choose your own preferences for things like email, web browsing, translation, and passwords. In some countries, at least, you can even choose an alternative to Apple Wallet for handling NFC transactions.
The main catch here, apart from possible regional restrictions, is that some apps you’d think would be selectable simply aren’t. Google Translate can’t be chosen as an alternative to Apple Translate, for instance, even though it’s undoubtedly more widespread. Keep an eye on this feature – the gates may be forced all the way open by legislators at some point. You wouldn’t tolerate a Windows PC that locked out Chrome and Firefox, after all.
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4Text Replacement
Create shortcuts and fix shortcomings
A lot of human communication involves the repetition of stock expressions. That’s not a judgment of the species – that’s just how language works. Because expressions like “see ya” and “on my way” are so commonplace, they’re loaded with meaning, and we don’t have to bother formulating a new phrase each time we communicate the same general concept. You’d think someone was wasting their time if they said “I look forward to seeing you again when I return to work tomorrow morning” before heading out to their car.
An interesting trick Apple supports is using Text Replacement to force iOS not to replace something.
To save even more time, when typing at least, you may go toSettings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacementand generate shortcuts that automatically swap in your most used expressions. Using “omw” to trigger “on my way” is an obvious example, but I could potentially use “@rf” to insert something like my email address, phone number, or Bluesky handle. In an ideal world, I’d be able to share a complete contact card, but that’s not here just yet.NameDropcan do something similar if both people have an iPhone (and they’re standing right next to each other).
An interesting trick Apple supports is using Text Replacement to force iOS not to replace something, say if it’s a little overzealous about “correcting” product names, song names, or swear words. In the Text Replacement menu, you simply enter a word or sentence into thePhrasefield, but leaveShortcutblank. In fact, that’s one of my biggest pet peeves about iOS, so I’m reminded that I should sit down sometime and enter a flurry of new shortcuts. One day, iOS will stop trying to correct me about the obscure ambient and industrial bands I like from places like England and Germany.
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