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35 Hidden Smartphone Tricks
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00:00You all have a smartphone, so I'm about to show you the 35 greatest tricks ever to be
00:05able to make the most out of it.
00:06And don't worry, I'm not about to tell you to squeeze toothpaste all over your screen
00:10to repair it.
00:11These are the absolute top-tier real-life hacks that I actually use, from the time-saving
00:16to the life-changing.
00:17Okay, if you ever listen to music or TV shows before bed, then use a sleep timer.
00:22You can do this on any smartphone, but just to show you, on an iPhone, you open the clock,
00:27you enter the timer section, and then you use the When Timer Ends menu to select Stop
00:31Playing.
00:32It'll just mean that you can have the music on while you can still hear it, but then as
00:36soon as you drift off to sleep and you no longer need the sound on, you can just have a
00:39better
00:40quality sleep in silence.
00:41And on that note, I've also found that if you are going to watch something just before
00:45bed, then a much more comfortable way of doing it is to have your smartphone on an arm.
00:50It means that, well, for starters, you don't have to use your own arm, and so you can just
00:53focus on trying to get to sleep, and also it allows you to keep your neck at a less weird
00:58angle, which is just less strenuous.
01:00So combine this with the sleep timer that we just talked about, and you can have a much
01:03more worry-free bedtime experience.
01:06When you're registering your fingerprint to be able to unlock your phone, instead of registering
01:10it once like your phone asks you to, do it twice.
01:13And on that second time, make sure that you're getting every single nook and cranny of your
01:17finger.
01:17Your phone will detect these as two separate fingerprints, meaning that when you're trying to next get
01:21into your phone, it'll be much more likely to match your current print against at least
01:25one of those two saved prints.
01:27If you have a whole load of cables for all your various different gadgets, then you can
01:31use cable ties to link them all together, organizer clips to keep the ends uniform and consistent,
01:37and then a cable box to store all the big bulky wiring that's trailing across your floor.
01:41You can very quickly go from something like this to something like this.
01:45And if you want to take this to the next level, then you can also swap out all of your
01:48various
01:49different power bricks, which might be 5W or 10W or maybe even 20W chargers for just one
01:54high-end 100W plus charger that can take care of everything.
01:58Okay, time for a camera lightning round, five of my absolute favourite tricks for photos.
02:03The first one being burst mode.
02:05Your phone has it, use it.
02:07On an iPhone, you hold down the shutter button and then drag it to the left.
02:10On a Samsung, you just hold the volume down button and off it goes.
02:13The point is, if you're ever about to experience something that cannot be repeated, then capturing
02:1720 photos a second is a pretty good way of making sure you don't miss it.
02:21If you're trying to capture a screenshot of an entire page, then instead of taking
02:2450 separate screenshots and just scrolling down a little bit each time, just take one
02:28screenshot and select Full Page Capture to take the entire webpage in one go.
02:32You can do a similar thing on Samsung's too, by just clicking this downward arrow after capturing.
02:37Now, if you're a bit of a tinkerer, then it's also worth playing around with the shortcuts
02:41or the Routines app, depending on which phone you have.
02:43It basically allows you to give custom commands to your phone, which can make it react to any
02:47input you give it.
02:49So, just for example, I've got a little command here, which means that every time I say the
02:52word snap, my iPhone, without even needing to open up the camera app, can snap a silent
02:57photo and immediately save it to the Recents folder.
03:00If you ever see someone that looks just really trendy and you decide that you want to recreate
03:04their outfit, then all you need to do is to head to the Google app, open up Google Lens,
03:08and just take a photo of it.
03:09This feature did start off pretty rough, but I think you'd be surprised at how capable
03:13it's now become.
03:14It is far easier than trying to describe what you're seeing in written language.
03:18And then the single most important trick for your camera is to turn grid lines on and
03:22then use those grid lines to execute the rule of two thirds.
03:26It's actually very simple.
03:27When you turn these grid lines on, it'll always create four lines across your screen.
03:30Two going down, two going across.
03:32And this will lead you to four power points.
03:36Not that kind of power point.
03:37Four points within your frame in which it's a good idea to position your point of interest.
03:42These are the points for which your subject will still look aesthetically pleasing, but
03:46just not as static and as lifeless as if you always keep everything in the middle all the
03:50time.
03:51So let's just say I'm taking a photo of Simba, then instead of me winging it and just aimlessly
03:55taking photo after photo and seeing which one turns out right, if I position his eye,
03:59which I've decided is going to be the focal point of the image, within that top right powerpoint,
04:03check how much nicer it turns out.
04:06Okay, moving on from photos then.
04:08Let's be honest, we all use our phones in the bathroom.
04:11But if you want the absolute best solution to watching TV shows while having a shower,
04:15then a shower cage might well be the way to go.
04:18I have one installed in my bathroom and it basically means that you can have your phone
04:21at the perfect height, you can keep it dry as the cage is waterproof and you can even rotate
04:26it 90 degrees to consume different types of content.
04:28I will say that trying to use the touch screen while the cage is wet is a bit hit or
04:32miss,
04:32but if you set up the right voice commands, you will never need to.
04:36So, you know how on YouTube there's this watch later feature, for when you want to make sure
04:39that you don't miss something that looks really juicy, but also when you don't quite have the
04:43time or energy to watch it right away?
04:45Well, if you use the app Pocket, then it can act as your watch later or read later list,
04:50but across every single one of your applications.
04:52Any article you find or webpage you come across, you just share it to Pocket and this app will
04:57keep an offline version of that article without any ads in a clean, simple format tailored
05:01to reading and it can even read the page back to you.
05:04Number 23 is something that if you spend five minutes setting up now, will save you hours
05:09of your time in the future.
05:10So, what you need to do is to figure out the top 10 or so things that you tend to
05:14type often
05:14into your phone.
05:15It could be your phone number, your email address, your full name, all that kind of stuff.
05:19And now, if you dive into your phone's text replacement settings, you can make your device
05:24able to immediately retrieve these longer outputs as soon as you type in a couple of letters
05:28as an input.
05:29So, for example, I've set mine such that any time I type in the letters EM, my phone knows
05:33that that's short for email and so my full email address will autofill automatically.
05:38You'll never feel like you need this one, and to be honest, I hope that you don't, but it's
05:42always super worth setting up your emergency settings.
05:45You just have to fill in your details once, and then if anything ever happens to you,
05:49with just a super simple command like a triple tap of the power button or a swipe, you'll
05:53be able to trigger an emergency mode, where your phone will display your full medical history
05:57to everyone around you.
05:59It'll turn on its location and internet to make you reachable.
06:02It'll call your emergency contacts and also immediately ping your location to them.
06:06When you're typing out a message using Apple keyboard or Gboard, and you find that you want
06:10to use a symbol or a number, then instead of clicking the symbol button, you can instead
06:14hold it, which will allow you to select your symbol and then immediately return back to
06:18the normal keyboard to carry on typing.
06:20I just saved you like half a second out of your day.
06:23So if you are enjoying this video, then a sub to the channel would be… timeless.
06:28Okay, 20 to go.
06:30And just before my top 10 absolute favourite life hacks, I wanted to give you 5 specifically
06:34for Android and 5 specifically for Apple.
06:36Because some of the coolest things that you can do on your smartphone, they are exclusive to
06:40each operating system.
06:41So, you know how AirDrop, this instant, seamless file transfer, is one of the greatest advantages
06:48that iOS has, right?
06:49Well, if you download the SnapDrop app, then just like AirDrop, it can create a wireless
06:54tunnel between two of your Android Mac or even Windows devices to send and receive files effortlessly.
07:00If you're the kind of person who tends to accidentally swipe away notifications that you actually want
07:05to read, then just head to Settings and find Notification Log or Notification History.
07:10Enable it, and from now on, this menu will show you every notification you've ever received.
07:15It even means that you can read WhatsApp messages that the sender then later decided to delete,
07:19because the contents of those messages were stored in the notification itself.
07:23If you want to find out where your Android phone is, just Google it.
07:27I'm not kidding.
07:28The benefit of using software that's made by Google themselves is that your Google search
07:32can also retrieve data from your personal Google profile, thus allowing you to get pinpoint
07:37directions to your device, providing that you've enabled the feature first on your phone.
07:41Even cooler than that though, if you're ever unsure of what a song that you hear is called,
07:45you can just ask Google Assistant.
07:47And I should be very clear here, I am not talking about something like Shazam, which requires
07:51the full complete track to be playing for it to be identified.
07:54You can sing it, you can hum what you remember of it, you can even whistle it and it will
07:59tell
07:59you.
08:00I actually tested it in one of our Shorts channel videos and it's good, like shockingly
08:05good.
08:06And then my single most underrated Android feature, it's actually the photo gallery.
08:11It didn't used to be this way.
08:13The photo gallery used to be a very simple app that just stored your photos.
08:16But in the last few years, Google, Xiaomi, Samsung, these companies have pumped their gallery
08:20apps chock full of some of the most intelligent software you can find on the entire platform.
08:25I'll give you a few examples.
08:26So if you have a Samsung phone and you open up a photo in your gallery, you can, with
08:30one tap, remaster it, using artificial intelligence to reduce grain, balance colours, and even
08:36upscale its internal resolution.
08:38You can download photos from the internet or pull up a shot taken 15 years ago and still
08:42add a realistic portrait mode effect to it.
08:45And you can even take photos of screens or things inside glass cabinets and then remove the
08:50reflections.
08:51Google's phones can magically erase almost anything you want, Xiaomi's can completely swap
08:55out the entire sky within a shot.
08:57You get the idea.
08:58It is worth exploring your gallery features.
09:01All right.
09:02Time for our iPhone exclusives.
09:04When a piece of text is selected on iOS, you know how the actual menu for copy and pasting
09:09is a bit naff.
09:10Well, don't use it.
09:11You can instead just swipe in with three fingers to copy and swipe out with three fingers
09:15to paste that same text.
09:17When you're typing, you can also save yourself a few, well, microseconds by holding the dot
09:23on your keyboard to quickly bring up your URL shortcuts.
09:26You can create a PDF in literally three seconds by holding down on the notes app and clicking
09:30scan documents.
09:31Just take a quick photo of whatever you want to import and that is it.
09:35You don't need to do anything else.
09:37I've actually just got one of these Polaroid type cameras and this is the quickest way to
09:40convert its photos into an organized set of digital files.
09:44Okay, if you ever wanted to organize your iPhone, then you can actually pick up multiple apps
09:48at the same time by just holding down on your wallpaper to enter the edit home screen mode
09:52and then selecting one app and then just tapping any extra apps that you want to add to the
09:57same pile so that you can carry them all together in one go.
10:00All right.
10:01Let me set the scene for this last iPhone one.
10:03You're at a party.
10:04You've got the playlist blasting out.
10:05Everyone's having a great time and you just want to capture the moment.
10:08So you take out your iPhone, you start recording a quick video until you suddenly realize
10:13the music stopped.
10:15Every face turns to look at you, you've killed the entire mood.
10:18I've done this at least like 10 times.
10:20Because by default, the iPhone cannot record video at the same time as playing music.
10:25But worry no more.
10:27For if instead of opening up the camera on video mode, you instead open it up on photo
10:31mode and take your video by just holding down that photo button, your music will carry
10:35on playing uninterrupted.
10:37Right.
10:38Now for my top 10 straight up God-tier smartphone tricks.
10:41Number 10 being to use your phone on dark mode.
10:44It is a simple one, but there's no reason why you shouldn't.
10:47It doesn't affect your functionality at all, but it can increase your battery life by up
10:51to 25% thanks to your screen being able to switch off its pixels when they're black,
10:55as opposed to having to shine them at full power when they're displaying white.
10:59Speaking of which, if you're ever trying to get somewhere, but you're low on battery,
11:02then instead of carrying on using your phone for turn by turn based navigation, just take
11:07a screenshot of what the Maps app is telling you and use that while you're on airplane
11:11mode.
11:11And if you're ever on your way to see someone and you want them to know your estimated
11:15time of arrival, then instead of texting them 30 times with updates every single time
11:19you get stuck in traffic, you can just head to Google Maps, start navigation, swipe up,
11:23and then click share trip progress.
11:25The other person will be able to see not just where you are now, but will also be able to
11:29access a continuously updating ETA right up until the point where you arrive.
11:33If you're ever parking your car in one of those enormous parking lots, which look exactly
11:37the same from every angle, then use the Find My Parked Car app, which allows you to place
11:42a virtual marker at the exact coordinates that your car is left at.
11:46You know, so you can actually find it later.
11:48Number six.
11:49So a couple of years ago, after days of continuous heavy rainfall, I had a massive power cut across
11:54the entire house.
11:55Like, fridges stopped working, appliances stopped working, all the lights stopped working.
12:00And during this time, the way I actually managed to get around it was by placing my phone flat
12:04on a table, turning the torch on, and then placing a full bottle of water on top of it.
12:08This scatters the otherwise focused light, creating a DIY lamp in seconds.
12:13Okay, whenever I'm about to take a phone call while I'm on the go, and I know that my signal
12:17could get a little iffy, then just before I connect, I turn on airplane mode, give it about
12:2210 seconds, and then turn off airplane mode, which just gives my phone the chance to reconnect
12:26to the closest cell tower for the most stable signal.
12:29If anyone ever asks you for the measurement of something, this literally happened to me
12:32the other day with someone who wanted this bike, then instead of getting out the tape
12:36measure and then trying to describe exactly what part of this object corresponds to which
12:40measurement you've taken, just open the AR measure app, drop a few dots around the object,
12:44take a photo and send that to them.
12:46A picture tells way more than words ever will.
12:49At number three though, here is one that I've started using all the time, putting my
12:53phone on monochrome mode.
12:55See, one of the surprising reasons why your smartphone can be just so incredibly distracting
13:00is color.
13:01Applications are subtly using color all the time to try and grab your attention.
13:05Like the red that you see on notification dots, for example, is actually chosen to stimulate
13:09the parts of our brain associated with danger and therefore trigger an automatic response
13:13to click.
13:14And so putting your phone into monochrome mode, which is usually found in accessibility
13:18settings, helps you to eliminate these distractions and just regain control.
13:22It basically makes everything that you do on your phone boring, but that's kind of the
13:27point.
13:28And this ties in beautifully with number two, the shortcut hack.
13:32See, every modern smartphone has a power button and thus also has the ability to double or
13:36triple tap to execute further commands of your choosing.
13:39So on my iPhone, for example, one tab of the power button turns the screen on or off.
13:43Two tabs opens up Apple Pay to quickly buy things and then three tabs switches me in and out
13:48of monochrome mode for when I need to edit photos or indulge in some prime YouTube content.
13:54But even more pivotal than this is how to properly secure your accounts.
13:58There's a few different tiers you can go for, but as I've learned the hard way, higher
14:02is better.
14:03So at the bottom level, you can just set a simple password that's something relatable.
14:06Let's say the name of your dog.
14:08Please never do this.
14:10You can get better by creating a random password.
14:12Let's just say a bunch of random special characters thrown together.
14:15This is not disastrous, but still not great on its own.
14:18The minimum level of security that I would recommend putting on any account that you value
14:22is SMS two-factor authentication, which is where you receive a text when you log in to
14:27confirm that it is actually you doing the logging in.
14:29It might sound like a faff, but you only have to do it once and then you can just set
14:33the
14:33device that you're logging in from as a trusted device and you never have to do it again.
14:37But if you want to be absolutely watertight, then I would recommend two-factor authentication,
14:41but using an authenticator app instead of SMS.
14:44The reason being that if you do do it this way, then the code you get is specifically
14:48tied to one of your already trusted devices, as opposed to it being tied to your SIM card,
14:53which can leave you open to SIM swapping attacks.
14:55There's no sponsor on this video, so I'll just use this opportunity to say that if you
15:00do like how I'm trying to cram as much content as possible into a video that's not stupidly
15:04long, then do consider subscribing, it would be amazing.
15:07To check out the Samsung smartphone scandal recently, that video's here.
15:11Or to see how a 2022 mid-ranger stacks up with a 2020 flagship, that video's here.
15:16My name is Aaron, this is Mr. Who's the Boss, and I'll catch you in the next one.

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