People are just realizing iPhone has five underused hacks no one knows about – including life-saving sound trick
OVER a billion people use iPhones and yet some useful tricks on the devices remain underused.
Tech expert Kim Komando recently revealed five of these features and you can try them today.
Komando revealed her tips in a New York Post article.
CAPTIONS FOR VIDEO CALLS
You can add captions to video chats, podcasts, videos, and more on iPhone.
Apple says: “When you play video content in a supported app, you can turn on subtitles and closed captions (if available).
“iPhone usually shows standard subtitles and captions, but you can also choose special accessible captions—such as subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH)—if available.”
To turn this feature on go to Settings, Accessibility, and then Subtitles & Captioning.
TRANSLATE CONVERSATIONS
Komando suggests using the Translate app that comes preinstalled on iPhone when you’re struggling to understand a different language.
You can use the microphone feature to get quick and easy translations.
SOUND ALERTS
The next iPhone trick on Komando’s list could be life-saving.
It’s a feature that means your iPhone can warn you if a smoke alarm is going off or glass is breaking – even if you’ve got headphones on.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition then turn the toggle on.
Wait for the file download to complete (you may need to be on WiFi for this to work).
You can then tap Sounds and choose the sounds that you want the iPhone to recognize.
“Don’t rely on your iPhone to recognize sounds in circumstances where you may be harmed or injured, in high-risk or emergency situations, or for navigation,” Apple warns.
LISTEN THROUGH WALLS
Komando also pointed out a trick that acts as an impromptu hearing aid.
It’s called Live Listen and it’s very easy to use if you pair AirPods with an iPhone.
Go to Setting, Control Centre, then tap the plus sign next to Hearing to add it to Control Centre.
Then, users will be able to place their phone next to the person or audio source that they want to hear more clearly or loudly, and the sound will be amplified.
Listening to conversations through walls is also possible using this technique.
SPEAKING SCREEN
Finally, iPhone users should test out the Spoken Content feature.
Go to Settings, Accessibility, and then Spoken Content.
Here you can turn on Speak Selection so a Speak bubble pops up when you highlight words that you’d like to read aloud.
You can also turn on Speak Screen which enables your iPhone to read your screen out loud when you swipe down with two fingers.