Set your iphone torch’s brightness

Control Centre is more than just a dashboard for checking your phone’s settings: its icons carry useful information and provide access to a number of hidden functions. Open it by swiping up from the bottom of the screen, or down from the top-right corner, depending on which iphone model you have.

Tapping an icon such as Wi-fi or Bluetooth switches that feature on and off, but long-pressing it gives you more options, like selecting which wireless network you want to use. Our favourite is the torch. Hold down on this icon and

you can pick from one of four brightness levels (see screenshot right), which is handy for parents who need to venture into a sleeping child’s room without waking them – or anyone who needs to use the torch but wants to reduce its impact on the battery life by dimming it slightly.

If the torch icon isn’t visible in your Control Centre, enable it by opening Settings then tapping Control Centre. Tap ‘Customise Controls’, then tap the ‘+’ sign beside Flashlight. Do the same with any other controls you want to add, and tap the ‘-’ beside the icons in the Include section that you want to remove. Note that some, like volume and playback control, can’t be removed. now works with Bluetooth headphones. Previously, it only worked with cabled headphones or earphones, but the 3.5mm jack sockets these require are becoming less common on recent phones.

This is more than just a response to changing design trends, though: it has a practical application in that hard of hearing users can now leave their phone close to a radio or television while sitting a comfortable distance away, listening to the amplified output wirelessly.

And, for users without impaired hearing, leaving an old Android device in the nursery and wearing wireless earbuds in the next room is a great way to recycle an old phone without having to buy a baby monitor.