Apple buries some of iOS's most useful features under three or four menu layers. Here are eleven we have personally relied on, none of which require jailbreaking, paid apps, or even the latest iPhone model. All work on iPhone 11 and newer with iOS 17+.
1. Live Text from any photo, screenshot, or paused video
Open any photo with text in it → press and hold the text. iPhone selects it. You can now copy, translate, or search. Works on screenshots, on paused video frames, and even on Live Photos. Replaces the entire "OCR app" category that used to cost ten dollars.
2. Back tap as a custom shortcut
Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap. Map a double-tap on the back of your phone to launch any app, run any shortcut, or trigger a system action. We use double-tap to open the camera, triple-tap to mute the phone.
3. Translate any sentence by long-pressing
Highlight any text in any app → tap Translate. Works in Safari, Messages, Mail, and most third-party apps. The translation appears inline; no switching to Google Translate, no copy-paste. Supports Urdu, Arabic, English, and 16 other languages with no internet needed for some of them (download the language pack first).
4. Scan documents inside the Notes app
Open Notes → new note → camera icon → Scan Documents. Hold the phone over any paper document; it auto-detects edges, captures, and saves as a multi-page PDF. Quality is better than most paid scanner apps. Email it directly, or save to Files.
5. Type with one hand
Hold the globe (or emoji) key on the keyboard → choose the left or right one-handed layout. The keys shrink to one side, making the whole keyboard reachable with the thumb. Essential on iPhone 14 Pro Max and larger.
6. Use the volume button to take photos
In the Camera app, press the volume up button to take a still photo. Hold it to start burst mode. Hold the volume down button to start a video — release to stop. Much steadier than tapping the on-screen shutter, especially for selfies.
7. Read any webpage aloud
Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Speak Screen → on. Now in any app, two-finger swipe down from the top of the screen, and the phone reads the visible content aloud. The Pakistani-English accent in the Siri voice has gotten genuinely good in iOS 17.
8. Set custom focus modes
"Focus" is iOS's evolved Do Not Disturb. Set a "Work" focus that allows only WhatsApp from contacts marked as work; a "Sleep" focus that silences everything except your spouse's number; a "Driving" focus that auto-replies to messages saying "I am driving, will reply later." Combine them with location and time-of-day triggers and the phone becomes context-aware.
9. Magnifier — phone as a magnifying glass
Add the Magnifier to Control Centre. Tap to launch a high-zoom camera view with brightness and contrast controls. Indispensable for reading the tiny print on medicine boxes, electronics serial numbers, and restaurant menus in dim light.
10. Shake to undo
Typed something wrong? Shake the phone. iOS asks if you want to undo the last typing action. Counter-intuitive at first, but once you know it exists, you use it weekly.
11. Hidden battery percentage and detailed battery health
Settings → Battery shows you a 24-hour and 10-day graph of battery usage per app — much more detailed than most owners realise. Battery Health & Charging shows the maximum capacity remaining; if it drops below 80%, Apple replaces the battery for a flat fee. Worth checking every six months.
Bonus: stop the camera from making a shutter sound
For phones bought in Pakistan and most other regions, mute the phone (silent switch on the side) — the camera goes silent. For phones from Japan or Korea, the shutter sound is forced by regional law and cannot be turned off via settings.