How to Save time with iOS shortcuts

1

Instantly scroll to the top

This one’s great for web pages and social media feeds, and works in apps like Tweetbot. If you’ve scrolled down a page, just tap the top-centre of the screen or column and watch as the view scrolls quickly back to the very top.

2

Earbuds’ shutter release

Here’s a good reason to take your Apple headphones out of the box and plug them in. To take a photo, press the inline remote’s centre button. This helps reduce shake – in low light, say – caused by tapping your iPhone.

3

Tap the current tab

This one works differently between apps. In Photos’ Album view, tapping the Album tab takes you to the bottom; in Facebook’s timeline, tapping the Timeline tab refreshes its contents. Try it in your favourite apps to see what happens.

4

Refine Do Not Disturb

In Control Centre, hold a finger on Do Not Disturb’s button (the crescent moon) to reveal a list of time and location-based limits. Tap one, or tap Schedule to go to Settings and refine Do Not Disturb’s behaviour.

5

Direction of a panorama

By default, when you tap the Pano mode in Camera, the arrow points from left to right. You can switch it! To switch it, and the direction you move the camera, just tap the arrow once. Now you can move right to left instead.

6

Add another Face ID

If a change in your look – even as small as wearing sunglasses – foxes Face ID, or you want to give someone else access to your device, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and tap ‘Set up an alternative appearance’.

7

Keyboard as a trackpad

On any iOS 12 device, in any app that uses the keyboard, hold a finger on the spacebar and the keys disappear. The keyboard then becomes a trackpad for moving the text insertion point. Let go and it switches back.

8

Podcast skips

In iOS 12, go to Settings > Podcasts and scroll down to Skip Buttons. Tap either Forward or Back and choose a duration. Now, when you press skip in the Podcasts app it will jump by that amount, rather than the default.

9

Share passwords

Has your child lost the family Netflix password, say? In Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Website & App Passwords, find the relevant account, hold a finger on the password, tap AirDrop, then the receiving device.

10

Quiet notifications

Is an app delivering too many notifications? When one arrives, swipe down from it, tap the ellipsis (…), then tap Deliver Quietly. Future notifications for that app will be delivered straight to Notification Centre in silence.

11

Use Siri to find devices

Misplaced your iPhone, iPad or MacBook? Tell Siri on any device signed in to your Apple ID: Find my iPhone (or whichever device you’re looking for). Siri will ask you to confirm the correct device and tell it to play a sound.

12

Dial in precise times

In apps where you dial in a time using controls like the one above, doubletap the dial. In Calendar, this switches from five-minute to one-minute adjustments. It doesn’t work everywhere, though – not in Reminders, for example.