iPhone X is one of the biggest launches by Apple in years, and the Cupertino-based giant claims it to be a revolutionary step. Rolled out in India on November 3 however the pre-order of the flagship smartphone started on October 27. As expected, the iPhone X, sports OLED bezel-less screen and dual-camera. But just for starters, the absence of the traditional home button coupled with Face ID facial recognition sets iPhone X apart from others. Here are 10 tips to help you master Apple’s most expensive iPhone:
1) Switch between running apps in a hurry:
From a Home screen, swipe from right to left on the bottom of the screen on what is sometimes called the gesture bar.
2) Close running apps:
From the app switcher, press down on a card representing a running app for a moment until a circled red dash appears. Swipe up to shut that app down and repeat this action for any other apps that you want to close. This is a departure from other iPhones in which you could swipe up a card to close an app without waiting for a red dash to appear. If you do that now, you’ll return to the home screen, but any apps will still be running in the background.
3) Using the X with one hand:
On the iPhone Plus devices with their large-size screens, Apple introduced a “reachability” feature that let users access the upper portion of the screen while using the phone with one hand. On those models, you would lightly double-tap the home button to bring the upper half of the display down towards the bottom. Without such a button on the X, summoning reachability is a bit more challenging. Gently swipe down from the very bottom edge of the screen. You will have to first enable the reachability feature by visiting Settings–>General–> Accessibility. Then tap the Reachability switch to turn it on.
4) Use an Animoji as a sticker:
The Animojis feature unique to the iPhone X is both silly and additive at the same time. There are a dozen of these animated characters, and they range from a monkey to a unicorn. The camera system on the phone analyzes and mirrors more than 50 different muscle movements of your face so that when you wink your Animoji winks or when you make an angry face your Animoji’s face responds in kind. While you can record and send a short (up to ten seconds) video snippet to a friend in which the Animoji’s mouth moves as you speak, you can also send an Animoji as a sticker. Select the Animoji of your choice from the left panel inside the Messages app, look straight into the camera and make the face you want the character to mimic. Once satisfied, tap the Animoji so that it appears inside your outgoing message and then send it off in a message as usual.
5) Bring back the home button:
Buried inside the accessibility settings of your phone is a feature known as AssistiveTouch, with tools for people who have difficulty touching the screen or who need an adaptive accessory. Such assistive tools aren’t new but on an iPhone without a home button one of the options lets you display a virtual button that can serve as a home button. If you turn the feature on, you can assign different tasks to this button: shortcuts to home, Siri, notifications and other settings.
6) Forcing a restart:
If your phone freezes or otherwise misbehaves, you may want to force it to restart. Press and quickly release the volume up button, followed by a quick press of the volume down button, followed by having to press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo. That’s a longer set of hoops to go through than on previous models but the expectation is that you shouldn’t have to go through this drill very often.
