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LIFE TECH FEATURE

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HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Many smartphones feature a slew of shortcuts and functions that you may not know are even there – from accessing concealed app menus, to handy security features and much more. A simple scroll through the settings menu on your phone will reveal some of these hidden treasures, and we’ve discovered a cool selection that you probably never knew you needed until now. Words Bec Summer

Photo credit: Patrick Tomasso, unsplash

LIVE CAPTIONS Android & iOS

When available, auto-generated captions for audio played on your phone are not only invaluable for the hearing impaired, they are also extremely useful for podcasts and YouTube videos in noisy environments when you don’t have a headset handy. And when taking private phone and FaceTime calls in public, simply read and reply. Captions can be easily enabled on an Android phone using the volume controls – tap up or down until the live caption icon appears, and then tap it. For iOS, open Settings > Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning . HIDDEN TRACKPAD iOS Updating text or correcting typos in a message can be a fiddly business, even for those of us with small fingertips – sometimes the cursor never seems to sit exactly where you want it. An iPhone’s hidden trackpad eliminates the

APP SHORTCUTS Android & iOS Quickly and conveniently access direct links to certain functions within apps without

which reduces the data used by background apps. The compromise is that you won’t receive push notifications with this setting enabled, so if you’re waiting for one, simply manually check the relevant app. Go to: Settings > Data Usage > Data Saver > ON APP PINNING Android 11 and up Let’s face it, frequently used apps for socials and online shopping are usually left open – who wants to log in and out every time they’re used, right? But if someone wants to borrow your phone to use an app, you can prevent any snooping by locking the specific app they want to the screen, and that’s the only one they can access. Go to: Settings > Security > Advanced Settings > App Pin > ON – just remember to unpin the app when they’re done. BACK TAP iOS Did you know

opening them and scrolling through menus. Instead of a single tap to open an app, press and hold down the icon for a few seconds and a hidden mini menu screen will pop up. For example, you can search or view/access the app’s most recent activity, or take a quick selfie, portrait or record video from the Camera app icon. Try it – you never know what might pop up! DATA SAVER

that you can access handy shortcuts to actions by double- or triple-tapping the top iPhone? And yes, it will still usually work if your phone is in a case – you may just need to tap a little harder. Features like mute, screenshot, torch, volume, camera and app of the Apple logo on the back of an

frustration, letting you navigate to precisely where you want to position the cursor. Simply press and hold down the space bar for it to magically appear, then slide the cursor into position. HOLD FOR ME hold for an interminable wait listening to awful muzak on a loop? Let Google Assistant endure it instead while you attend to more important things, and then notify you when the call is finally picked up. You will need a Google Pixel phone and the latest version of the Phone app to enable it, and always remember to take the phone off silent or vibrate first. Go to: Phone App > More > Settings > Hold for Me Android (Google Pixel 3 and up) How many times have you been left on

Android

We use our phones a LOT every day and often don’t keep in mind how much data we’re chewing through until an inflated bill arrives. It’s easy to keep track of data usage, however, by enabling Data Saver mode,

switcher can be used when this feature is enabled – simply select them from the menu. Go to: Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap

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