You know, it is getting hard to keep up with all the new options available on our iOS devices. My advice to beginners is to just learn the ones you want or need and leave all of the other ones until later. Of course, to do that you have to know which options you want It's a modern chicken/egg conundrum, but I’ve gathered a few iOS options that readers might find helpful or just fun.
Live Photos
Live Photos is a new feature included with iPhone 6s and 6s plus. Whenever you take a photo the phone also captures a couple of seconds of video on either side of the shot. When you open the image in your photo app you can press on the image and bring that picture to life. It is totally cool.
To take a Live Photo, set your built-in Camera app to Photos, and tap the circles at the top so that they are turned on. The circles turn yellow when active, as shown in the image below.
One note though – Live Photo files take up a lot of storage space. You can turn the feature on and off by tapping on the three yellow circles.
Using Live Photo
App Actions
Another cool feature on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus you might want to check out is Actions. Instead of opening an app and then choosing an action, you can bypass that step on most apps made by Apple and many third party apps, too. This is all made possible by a new feature called 3D Touch.
To use 3D Touch, press down hard on the app icon and a menu appears from which you can choose your action. For instance, press hard on the Numbers app and you can instantly start a new spreadsheet.
App Action with Numbers
Press down hard on the Photos icon and you can choose from four actions.
Live Action with Photos
Adjust 3D Touch
If you have problems with the sensitivity of 3D Touch, you can change it. Go into Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D There is a sample image there so you can test the setting to meet your personal needs.
Adjust 3D Touch
Deleting Photos On Your Phone with a Swipe
In iOS 9 you can delete photos with a swipe. With the Photos app open, choose Albums > Camera Roll. Press down on an image. The image gets bigger. Don’t let go of the image and swipe up. Options appear at the bottom of your screen, allowing you to copy, mark as a favorite, share, or delete. If you choose delete, it asks you again before acting.
Swipe Up for Delete and More Options
Siri
Siri just gets better and better. For instance, you can say “Hey Siri” and ask several different kinds of questions. Before you can use the “Hey Seri” option you have to set it up so it recognizes your voice.
Go to Settings> General > Siri. If it is not active, change the button to green and select Activate. (If it is already green, just turn it off and back on. The setup option will appear.) You will be asked to speak several specific phrases into your phone and when it is set up properly it will tell you it is done. Then you can do things like ask Siri “Hey Siri, Where is my Phone?” or "What is the weather forecast?” If you have a webpage open on your phone you can tell Siri “Remind me of this when I get home. You can also open many accessibility features just by asking, "Hey Siri, Turn on (feature)."
Allow "Hey Siri"
Siri can do basic sums and a few other math options. She can convert measurements (miles to kilometers) or monetary values (for instance, American dollars to English pounds.) You must preface your request with “Convert….)
Search Field
To activate the search field on your phone you have to place your finger in the middle of the screen and pull down. In the previous iOS you had to be very careful to get your finger in the middle and not too high up on the screen or you would get something other than the search field. Now, in iOS 9, when you place your finger on the screen anywhere and pull down you will get the search field.
Get a search field
Use Your Own Photos As Screen Savers
This is so easy to do and gives you more personalization of your phone. Choose your photo and click on your chosen image. You can even choose a Live Photo if you wish. Click on the action icon at the bottom of the screen.
Chosen Image
That takes you to the action page that you use to send your pictures by email, messages, etc. The last option is Use As Wallpaper. Choose it and it is done.
Select Use as Wallpaper
I hope these tips give you the incentive to make your iPhone your own.