10 Hidden Features of iOS 14 You Didn't Know - Many new features will soon appear on iPhones when Apple releases iOS 14 in September 2021. However, even after using it for a while, there are still some not-so-obvious features to discover.
Here is a summary of some of the most useful hidden iOS 14 features that you may have missed.
1. Emoji Search
Apple has finally delivered what users have been asking for years: adding the Search Emoji feature to the emoji keyboard in iOS 14.
To enable the emoji keyboard, go to Settings > General > Keyboards > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Emoji. Once enabled, find emoji by tapping Search Emoji on the top of the emoji keyboard and enter your search.
Now you can easily search for your favorite emoji from a growing selection of options.
2. Pin Your Favorite Conversations in Messages
Now you can track your favorite messages by pinning up to nine of them at the top of the Messages app.
To embed a message, follow these steps:
Open the messaging app.
Swipe left on the conversation you want to pin.
Tap the yellow pin icon.
After you pin a conversation in Messages, it disappears from the message list below. To unpin a message, simply long-press its large circle of contacts and select Unpin / Unpin.
3. Back Tap for Shortcut
With iOS 14, Apple turned the entire back of your iPhone into buttons that you can customize to perform specific actions. Double- or triple-tapping on the back of your iPhone allows you to launch system actions like turning off or taking a screenshot, as well as popular accessibility features like Zoom and Voice Control.
Follow these steps to customize Back Tap on your iPhone 8 or later:
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap.
Select Double Tap or Triple Tap.
Select the action you want to trigger.
Double or triple tap the back of your iPhone to trigger that action.
4. Predictable Password Detection
By default, iCloud already syncs your passwords across all your Apple devices. In iOS 14, a new Security Recommendation feature has been added. This will let you know if one of your passwords is too easy to guess, or if it has been leaked in a known data breach.
To find your problematic password, go to Settings > Passwords and tap Security Recommendations. Make sure Detect Compromised Passwords is enabled so iOS can monitor your passwords continuously.
5. Privatize Your Wi-Fi Address
iOS 14's new private Wi-Fi address lets you reduce tracking across Wi-Fi networks. This works by using a different MAC address for each network you connect to.
It doesn't affect how you join the network, so keep it smooth. Follow these steps to enable Private Addresses:
Open the Settings app and select Wi-Fi.
Tap the “i” button information next to the Wi-Fi network.
Enable Private Address.
Sometimes, the network will not allow devices with private addresses to join. When this happens, you can simply disable the Private Address setting for that network.
6. Enjoy Youtube 4K
The YouTube channel has been uploading 4K videos for quite some time now. With iOS 14, you can finally watch YouTube content in 4K where it's available.
To take advantage of this feature, simply tap on the three-dot button at the top right of the video. In the menu that appears, select Quality and select it from the list of options.
7. Use Voice Recognition for Accessibility Purposes
For iPhone users who are deaf or hard of hearing, your iPhone can now continue listening to certain sounds to remind you of those sounds. This option is in the iOS Accessibility settings.
To enable Voice Recognition, go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Recognition, then turn on Voice Recognition.
When enabled, you can select the sound you need to recognize and your iPhone will immediately send a notification when it detects one of those sounds. Options include fire alarms, barking dogs, ringing doorbells, and more.
8. Mirror Your Selfie Foto
In the past, your iPhone would automatically flip your selfie snap so that any letters in the photo wouldn't be reversed. iOS 14 has made it possible to save your selfies as you see them on the screen (your mirror image).
To enable this feature, visit Settings > Camera and enable Mirror Front Camera.
9. Streaming Video Continuously Using Picture-In-Picture Mode
If you've ever wanted to watch a video on your iPhone while using another app at the same time, the new Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode lets you do just that. When in PiP mode, you can pinch to resize and swipe to move the thumbnail wherever you need it. Tapping on the preview also lets you pause and skip 15 seconds forward or backward.
Since PiP mode is the latest addition to iOS, there is limited support from third-party apps at the time of writing. However, most of the major streaming services have integrated PiP support into their applications.
You can enable PiP mode in Settings > General > Picture in Picture. To use PiP while streaming video, play the video on full screen and tap the PiP mode symbol while the video is playing.
10. Fake Eye Contact on FaceTime
Although the iOS 13 beta's “FaceTime Auto-Correction” feature was initially canceled, Apple has reintroduced this controversial feature in iOS 14. If you have an iPhone XS or later, you can go to Settings > FaceTime and enable the Eye Contact setting. After doing this, your iPhone will make it appear as if you're looking at your camera even when your attention is focused elsewhere.
While there are natural alternatives to the Eye Contact setting (actually looking into your camera while using FaceTime), you may have used this feature without realizing it. Apparently, this feature is on by default in iOS 14.
Now you can get the most out of your iPhone and try out some of the best-hidden features of iOS 14. It's great fun discovering all the little changes Apple has made in each revision.
In the meantime, you should make sure that you are also familiar with all the major revisions in iOS 14.