Customise Control Centre
A look at what functions you can add to the redesigned Control Centre – and how you can tweak its appearance
iOS 11 consolidates all of the items in Control Centre into a single page, rather than expecting you to swipe left or right between general, media playback, and
HomeKit controls. Because it makes things much faster to access, it’s one of our favourite changes in this year’s upgrade.
At a glance, you might think some controls have been removed in iOS 11. There’s no sign of AirDrop, for example. The key to getting the most from Control Centre is to remember that you can apply a long press (or a firm one on devices with 3D Touch) to many of the individual or groups of controls to reveal additional features, or sometimes contextual settings.
Aside from it being better structured and quicker to navigate, there’s a long list of new controls you can add to Control Centre. Plus, while some of the items on the panel can’t be rearranged or removed, you’re given some choice over the order in which items you add appear. If you add a lot of extras, Control Centre scrolls vertically by a small amount, but it’s still quicker to get around than before.
1BRIGHTNESS AND VOLUME
Slide a finger up or down these controls to adjust their levels. Hold a finger on one to open a larger version and make finer adjustments. For brightness, this reveals Night Shift and True Tone controls, if your device supports them.
2 SLIDER TYPES 2
Some controls, such as the flashlight, use a slider with notched levels. On iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, you can feel your way between the discrete levels if you haven‘t disabled Settings > Sounds & Haptics > System Haptics.
3AUDIO CONTROLS
This group contains the basic playback controls for music and video. You can press it to reveal a precise playback position slider and an icon to choose which headphones or speaker receives the audio you’re playing. If the latter of those is all you want, just tap the pulsing icon at the top right of the audio controls group to skip the intermediate level and go straight to the list of available outputs.
4 CONNECTIVITY
You can press the connectivity group to confirm which Wi-Fi network you’re using, to alter AirDrop’s setting, and – if your carrier allows tethering – a toggle for Personal Hotspot.
5 CONTROLS
There are more items available for Control Centre than it initially displays. In Settings > Control Centre, under More Controls, tap + next to an item to add it. Under
6 AUDIO CONTROLS
You can jump straight to output selection from the top level of Control Centre, but you might press the audio group to skim more precisely, which is great for podcasts. Include at the top of the page, drag the handles on the right to move around the extra items; you can open Control Centre while here to check you’re happy with their arrangement in it.