5 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone 5 Could Do

Having used an iPhone for the last four years it’s easy to miss some of the new features that Apple adds to each new incarnation. Here is a list of some of our favorite bits of lesser known functionality that the new iPhone offers. You may be familiar with some of these but we’ll wager that there is at least one feature on this list that’ll make you raise an impressed eyebrow.

Use iPhone 5 to check if your remote control is working

Has your TV or stereo remote control ever stopped working leaving you at a loss for where the fault is? Is it the remote control or the TV that’s broke? Most of us would change the batteries but the fault could be anywhere. Here’s a trick that will help confirm if the remote control is sending a signal to the TV. What you do is turn on the camera of your iPhone 5 and point the remote control at the camera, now press a button and through the front screen you’ll be able to see a light being emitted from the remote control. This is because our human eyes cannot detect infrared signals but cameras can. If you can’t see a light being emitted from the remote it means there’s an issue with the remote control change the batteries and try again.

Even faster browsing

The flowing three are separate tips but we’ve put them together under the heading EFB, even faster browsing. We’ve all been told about the exceptional browsing power of the A6 chipset but you’ll only ever browse as quickly as you’re able to type. Here is neat feature to help load pages quicker. When typing an address into Safari you don’t have to add the www. prefix or the .com, .co.uk etc. suffix. Just type in the name of the site you want to land on, for example “techpp” or “gizmobird”. As long as your search engine is set to Google the browser will automatically take you to your website. Even faster typing. Need to get that text message or email send quickly? Then double tapping your iPhone 5 spacebar will add a full stop and a space at the end of your last sentence. Double tap a column to expand it. If you find yourself squinting to read parts of a website simply double tap that column and Safari will expand it to fit the pane.

Access hundreds of free emoticons

Did you know that you don’t have to buy emoticons as iPhone 5 comes with hundreds preloaded? All you have to do for free smilie heaven is go:

Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add new keyboard >then scroll down to Emoji. Click it. Go back.

The next time you’re writing a text or email there’ll be a small globe on the screen. Hit the globe icon and you can select from a whole bunch of fun new emoticons, animals, buildings and other smilies.

Take a screen shot

If you ever have a problem with the iPhone 5 or any of its Apps but don’t really know what it relates to you can always take a screen shot and send it to support. First hold the ‘Home’ button and then press the ‘Sleep’ button. The display screen will flash, that’s the device taking the screen shot. You can view the image by opening the gallery and voila! Your screen shot will be there. There are lots of uses for this nifty little trick, particularly useful for when you want to send pictures of funny message conversations.

Use iPhone 5 to measure distances

This is a bit of a cheat since you have to download an app called ‘Point & Measure’ but it’s brilliant for anyone engaged in a home improvement or DIY project. With the use of this App you can get an approximation of the distance between two objects, ideal for taking note of when you have to buy skirting boards, measure how wide the windows are or the width of your bedroom.

We hope that you have picked up some useful tips, tricks and skills, if you think that there are any other secret functions that your iPhone 5 has hidden away then do share!