So you got an iPhone – here are 11 things you didn't know it could do

A new iPhone is a beautiful thing, but whether you're just getting started with Apple's phones for the first time, upgrading after a long history with iOS, or simply looking for ways to spruce up and rejuvenate a handset that you've been using for years, there are probably many things your phone can do that you never even realised.

iOS updates sometimes point you towards new additions and features, but it's just as common for Apple to add new options without you ever knowing about them, which is where I come in. I've been using an iPhone as my daily driver for pretty much a decade now, and have been exploring its hidden features for most of that time.

I've gathered together a list of 11 features, settings and more that you might not know about on your iPhone right here, so read on for some eye-opening tips and tricks.

Drown out the noise wherever you are

A few years ago, Apple added a feature that I use most days – Background Sounds. This lets your iPhone act as a white noise machine, but with multiple types of audio to pick from; my favourite sounds like a rainy sky.

To activate it, head to Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. You can also add it to your Control Centre for quicker access, which I've found to be really handy.

Lock apps behind Face ID

Gone are the days when any app on your iPhone has to be on a home screen for all to see – you can now hide apps and lock them, too. To activate this, long press on any app and choose the "Require Face ID" button. You'll then get the option to just lock it, or also hide the app.

If you choose the latter, it'll be slotted into a "Hidden" app folder in your App Library, which itself will also need Face ID verification to open, giving you another layer of secrecy for whatever reason you might want.

Share Wi-Fi passwords easily

If you're on a good Wi-Fi network and a friend or family member wants access, rather than reading them out a hopefully laborious and cyber-secure series of numbers, letters and symbols, take these quicker options.

If they're on an iPhone, stand near them, then head to your Settings app, go to Wi-Fi, tap on the network in question, and you should see a pop-up to share the password for them.

If they're on Android, you'll instead need the Passwords app. Tap on Wi-Fi, then the network you're connected to, then the "Show Network QR Code" button to give them a QR to scan and connect.

Change your alarm's snooze time

Rather than just accepting the default snooze interval that your iPhone's alarms offer, tweak this to actually suit your requirements. Head to the Clock app, find your list of alarms, and tap into any individual one of them.

If you scroll down, you'll find the option to tweak the Snooze Duration for that alarm, anywhere from a single minute up to 15 minutes. Make your choice and live with it!

Schedule your texts

If you're a huge WhatsApp user (like many of us in the UK), look away now, but those who use Messages a lot can schedule their texts, which is really handy. Enter any conversation and start typing a message.

While doing so, you'll see a "+" icon on the left of the text box. Tap it, and you'll see the "Send Later" option in the list, which lets you select an exact time to send the message in the forthcoming couple of weeks.

Remove backgrounds from images easily

Annoyingly, this little feature isn't in the Photos app, but rather in Files. If you have an image in there, you can long-press on it to access a quick menu. In here, tap on Quick Actions, then select "Remove Background" down at the bottom of the list.

You'll quickly get a second copy of the photo with its background removed and the main subject left on a white background. Its performance can be hit or miss, but it's a really quick option in a pinch.

Exploit your spacebar

Sometimes, especially if you're typing long messages out, it can be really fiddly navigating back to a previous word or section to fix a typo or just make a change. Rather than trying to tap on the right pixel in the text box, long-press on your spacebar while typing, and you'll be able to move the text cursor around really easily.

Let your iPhone tell you what you're looking at

In your photos app, there's a handy feature for knowing more about the natural world. Images in Photos that have animals or plants in them should be recognised by your phone, and you'll see a little "Info" button under them when browsing.

Tap on this, and your iPhone will tell you more, whether it gives you the option to see other pictures with the same thing in them (like your cat) or even an AI guess as to the species you're looking at (great for holiday pics).

Make your camera smarter

The iPhone camera is a reliable app for simple snaps, but it's been given some genuine smarts in recent years – including a couple of features I'll highlight. Firstly, if you aim your camera at text in a foreign language (on a sign or menu, for instance), you should see a button pop up to let you translate it into your own. Tap to get some options related to that.

Another smaller feature that could save you one day is that the camera app can recognise laundry care symbols (which are notoriously hard to interpret), and similarly will pop up a "Look Up Laundry Care" button when it does so. Wave goodbye to accidentally shrunken clothes!

Turn web pages into podcasts

Okay, I've made that sound a little better than it is, but nonetheless you might not know that you can get Siri to read web pages to you in the Safari app. On any page that activates the "reader" mode (which simplifies the layout for easier reading), you'll get this option.

While in reader mode, tap the blue button on the URL bar, then hit "Listen to Page", and Siri will read it to you really quite nicely. This is ideal for longer articles or guides.

Bar yourself from apps

Look, I don't think it's exactly news to anyone that phones can get addictive, and too many apps take advantage of this to get you hooked. If you want to tamp down on how much you're using an app, it's easily done.

Head to the settings app, tap into the "Screen Time" section, and then tap on "App Limits". From here, use "Add Limit" to set up a limitation, which can be on a specific app or a group of them, and can follow basically whatever rules or restrictions you want to impose on yourself.