00:04From liquid glass to the redesigned camera app, iOS 26 brings loads of new features to the iPhone,
00:08but some of the changes are less obvious than others. So in this video, we'll be highlighting
00:12five lesser-known upgrades in iOS 26 to help you get even more from your Apple device. Let's get
00:16into them. In iOS 26, Apple has introduced a new reminder shortcut that you can add to either the
00:23lock screen or control center. From the lock screen, just long press the screen itself,
00:27then hit customize if you want to add the reminder shortcut to your existing lock screen or the plus
00:30button to make a new one. Then tap on the circle on the bottom left or right corner of the
00:34screen and
00:35search for the reminders option to add it to that slot. Bear in mind that if you've already got a
00:40function in that slot, you'll have to remove it to make room. Once done, you can just tap that icon
00:44anytime on your lock screen to quickly add a reminder to the reminders app. The process is
00:49pretty similar for the control center, just long press any empty space on the control center,
00:52tap add a control and search for the reminders control. Now you can quickly add reminders from
00:58the control center without having to dive into your iPhone.
01:08This is the sort of feature that you might have assumed was always available on your iPhone,
01:11but until iOS 26, you couldn't actually change the snooze duration on alarms to anything other than nine
01:16minutes. Now though, if you head into the clock app and either create a new alarm or tap on an
01:20existing
01:20one to edit it, you'll see a snooze duration option where you can set it to anything from just one
01:24minute to 15 minutes. Sure, this isn't a major feature, but as someone who uses that snooze
01:30alarm every day, it has genuinely changed my daily routine.
01:35One more bit well known but still easily missed trick in iOS 26 is the ability to add polls to
01:40message chats. Just open a chat in the messages app, tap the plus button to the left of the text
01:44input
01:44field, select polls, then fill in the options you want included.
01:49Then, just type out a message to include it alongside the poll and hit send.
01:53Once done, everyone in the chat will be able to vote on the options in the poll,
01:57which could be handy if a group of you are deciding which restaurant to go to,
01:59which movie to see, or which date works best for a trip.
02:05Your AirPods have also gotten more capable in iOS 26, as you can now use them as a mic when
02:10recording
02:10video. To do this, first wear your AirPods and make sure that they're connected to your iPhone,
02:14then head to the settings app and tap the name of your AirPods near the top of the screen.
02:17From there, tap camera remote, followed by either press once or press and hold.
02:22This will get your AirPods ready to be used as a mic in videos and that process only needs to
02:26be
02:26completed once. After that, head into the camera app or any other supported camera app, select the
02:31video mode, swipe down to access control center and then tap camera controls. From there, select
02:37your AirPods in the input section and if you want, you can also change the mic mode from automatic to
02:41standard, voice isolation or wide spectrum. Then simply press the stem on your AirPods to start
02:45recording and to use them as a mic. One quick thing to note, this feature isn't currently
02:50available in all countries or regions, including the EU, so if you can't see any of the settings
02:54we've mentioned, that may be the reason why.
02:59Lastly, in iOS 26, you can add a 3D effect to any photo by tapping the spatial scene button in
03:04the top
03:04right corner of any image. But this effect arguably works best when used as a lock screen wallpaper.
03:08To access it, simply create a new lock screen and make sure the spatial scene hexagon is enabled.
03:13Then you'll be able to see the image from slightly different angles as you move your lock screen
03:16around. You can also add the spatial scene effect to existing lock screen wallpapers by going to
03:21Customize then tapping the spatial scene hexagon. Though in our experience, the 3D effect tends to work
03:26best on wallpaper images that Apple picks for you.
03:29And that's it, our pick of 5 hidden features in iOS 26 to improve your iPhone experience.
03:34Of course, there are plenty more lesser-known features that we haven't talked about here,
03:37so if we missed something that you found particularly useful, let us know in the comments below.
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