7 iPhone Features You Probably Didn't Know About

Commercial message: You certainly know how to use your iPhone to send photos to friends and check news alerts, but there are a number of surprising and useful features that you may have overlooked. You'll need iOS 13 or later to access them.

We'll help you get the most out of your technology — whether you want to update your apps or figure out what to do when your Face ID isn't working. Here are seven fun iPhone features you can try.

1. Voice control

Voice Control on iPhone lets you open and navigate apps, lock the screen, and more—just by speaking.

To turn on Voice Control, go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control, tap Set up Voice Control, and complete the setup. To see the full list of built-in voice commands or create your own, tap Customize Commands.

Because voice control can be difficult to learn at first, we recommend enabling Show Hints to have your phone automatically suggest commands based on your activity.

For example, if you're an avid punter, just say "Which online bookmakers have a good sign-up bonus?" and you'll get a link to Betano promo code.

2. Robocall silencer

Robocalls – those pesky automated telemarketing calls – are hard to block. Did you know you can help fight them with a built-in feature on your iPhone?

Open the Settings menu, select Phone, then enable Mute Unknown Callers. Calls from unknown numbers will go straight to voicemail without you hearing a ringtone. You can quickly delete them later.

3. Share location

Want to know how to quickly share your location when meeting up with other iPhone-using friends? In the Messages app, open a message thread, type "I'm in" into the interface, and tap the space bar. Then tap Current Location (you may need to enable permissions) and the app will send your location.

4. Notes scanner

If you need to scan and send a document quickly and easily, your iPhone can handle it.

1. Go to the Notes app, open a new note, tap the Camera icon in the toolbar at the bottom, and select Scan Documents.
2. Place the document on a flat, well-lit surface and take a photo.
3. Click Keep Scan > Save to save the document. If you want to share it, tap the Share icon in the upper right corner and choose how you want to send the document.

5. Measurement application

If you never seem to have a tape measure when you need one, the Measure app on your iPhone is incredibly useful, using augmented reality along with your device's camera to record measurements.

1. Open the Measure app and scan the room with your phone.
2. When the circle appears, place it at the starting point and press "+".
3. Next, move to your endpoint and press “+” again.
4. The dimensions of your item will be displayed on the screen.

6. Full screen iMessage effects

Why send a boring text? Add a full-screen effect to animate your text with the iPhone's iMessage feature.

1. Open Messages and tap the Compose button to write a new message or switch to an existing conversation.
2. Write a message.
3. Touch and hold the Send button, then tap Screen.
4. Swipe left to select a full screen effect (echo, spotlight, etc.).
5. Click the Submit button.
6. To replay the received message effect, click the Play button below the text. If you don't see it, try checking your movement restriction settings.

7. Move to the text

Slide to text is a feature that allows you to compose text, email or any document by sliding from letter to letter to form whole words instead of tapping individual letters. To do this, simply slide your finger from letter to letter until you form a word. It may take some getting used to, but you may find that you can type faster.

This feature should be on by default, but in case you need to enable it, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > turn on Slide to Type.