The five tips that will change the way you use your iPhone

EVEN if you have used an iPhone for years, there are some features you may never have discovered. Here are five secret tricks you can use.

THE trouble with technology is that a lot of the handiest tools are not intuitive to discover.

Even if you have used an iPhone for years, there are some features you may never have discovered.

Some of the tips are hidden because you have to dive into the settings to turn them on, like the quick way to turn your iPhone into a magnifying glass.

Other features you might never know because they just aren’t obvious at all. If you type an extra digit by mistake on the calculator app, how do you get rid of it giving there is no backspace key?

Here are five quick tips that could change the way your use your phone every day.

Apple Watch: 25 hidden tips and tricks.

Find a hiding iPhone

It is the problem that we’ve had with mobile phones since we’ve had mobile phones: where did you put it?

Chances are you’ve asked someone to ring your phone to help you find it. But that’s no good if your phone is on mute.

Every iPhone user should become familiar with the Find iPhone app, which lets you locate your Apple devices on a map and delete information remotely if they are stolen.

But let’s not jump ahead to someone stealing your phone. The most common reason people are looking for their phone is because they’ve left it somewhere in the house.

You can go to Find iPhone to make an iPhone make a rather loud sound which will help you locate it, even if it’s on mute and tucked behind the couch cushion.

How do you use Find iPhone if you can’t find your iPhone?

Grab another one of your Apple devices, like an iPad and use the app on that. Or grab another Apple device by someone in your family group

Or, just jump on an device connected to the Internet and go to iCloud.com.

Once you are in the app, it’s simple.

Watch the video to find out what to do.

Dictate a note or a message

Voice dictation is not always perfect but it is often good enough.

There are some people who can tap off a text with flying fingers. And then there is the rest of us who slowly tap, tap, tap — and struggle to do that at times.

If you’re walking the dog and have a lead in one hand, or you’re carrying a flat white, or just want to text as you walk down the street, dictating a message or adding an item to your shopping list is much easier than resorting to a keyboard.

The method to do this is staring at you every time you look at your iPhone’s keyboard. Next to the space bar is a microphone.

Dictation on your iPhone works best if you speak slowly and clearly. But you might be surprised at how accurate it is — and possibly more accurate than your dodgy fat-fingered texting.

The video below explains how to do it.

The hidden feature in the iPhone calculator

One of the advantages of having a smartphone in your pocket is that you also have a calculator, that will help you do anything from splitting a restaurant bill with friends to number crunch just how many more hours you need to work before your next holiday.

To open your iPhone calculator, just slide up from the bottom of the screen to open the control panel, and then click on the icon.

This is one tip that only works on the iPhone and not the iPad, because for a reason that defies understanding Apple doesn’t put a native calculator app on the iPad.

The trouble with using the calculator is that you can sometimes make a mistake. Let’s say, instead of typing 100 you type 1000.

Watch the video for the very simple way to fix the extra digit — and you’ll be amazed that you never knew this iPhone secret before.

How to turn your iPhone into a magnifying glass

There are times when we all could do with a magnifying glass — and the older you get, the more those times happen.

Can’t read the directions on the side of the box to make tonight’s stir fry?

Some people come up with their own smartphone solution. Take a photo of the words then pinch and stretch the photo to make it bigger.

But there is a better way.

You will need to turn on a setting the first time, but from then on a magnifying glass is just a tap away.

The video explains what setting you need to alter and how to use it.

How to insert a photo into an email

When you’re used to sending emails on a computer, inserting a photo or a document is as easy as hitting on the paperclip icon.

But when you’re sending an email on your iPhone, there is no paperclip icon — or any other obvious way to insert a photo in your document.

The trick to this is two steps. Watch the video to see how easy it is.