TheApple iPhone XSandXS Maxare here and they’re better than ever. With improved displays, more powerful processors and more powerful cameras, there’s a lot to like and a lot to learn.
Whether you want to master the new gesture-based navigation, Memoji or maximise your battery, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into. In the guide below you’ll find almost everything you need to know about the newiPhones, and the newiOS 12 softwareApple launched recently.
iPhone XS/XS Max: No home button, no problem
In 2018,Applelaunched the first iPhone not to feature the iconic round home button. If the XS or XS Max is your first iPhone not to feature a home button, there are a couple of things you’ll want to re-learn.
Of course, if you had an iPhone X, you’ll know most of this section, so feel free to skip.
Take a screenshot:If you had an iPhone X before you’ll already know this, but for those moving from older phones you’ll need to learn a new way to snap screenshots. Simply press the power button and the volume up button together quickly and it’ll snap a screenshot of whatever is on the screen.
Go Home:No, not literally, we’re not that rude. Whenever you want to go back to your home screen from an app, just quickly swipe up from the bottom of the screen where you’ll see a slim white bar.
Launch recent apps/multitasking screen:No more home button means no more double tapping the home button to view your recently used apps. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then hold your finger in the middle of the screen for a second or two, and now you’ll see the familiar screen with app thumbnail cards.
Unlock your phone:Presuming you’ve registered your face data with Face ID, you can unlock your phone by simply picking up your phone while looking at it and swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
Launch Siri:While you can use the “Hey Siri” hot word to wake up Apple’s digital assistant, there’s still a way to launch the function using a button press. Press and hold the wake/sleep button on the right side of the phone until the Siri interface pops up on screen.
Switch your phone off:Because long-pressing the wake/sleep button launches Siri now, there’s a new method for switching the phone off. To do so, you need to press and hold the wake/sleep button and the volume down button at the same time. Now slide to power off.
Launch Apple Pay:Again, the wake/sleep button is the key here. Double tap it and it’ll bring up your Apple Wallet, then scan your face and it will ask you to hold your phone close to the payment machine.
Apple iPhone XS Max SIM free
iPhone XS/XS Max: iOS 12 tips
Create your own Memoji:With iPhone X, Apple launched a fun feature called Animoji. Now, there’s Memoji. This lets you create your own custom Animoji character to look like you (or not like you, whatever you like). Open Messages and start a new message. Tap the little monkey icon, and then hit the “+” button to create your own character. Now you can customise face shape, skin tone, hair colour, eyes, jewellery and much more.
Use your Memoji/Animoji in a FaceTime call:Start a FaceTime call, then press the little star icon in the bottom corner. Now tap the Memoji you want to use.
Memoji your selfies:So, if you decide your Memoji face is better than your real life face, you can send selfies with the Memoji replacing your own head in Messages. Start a new message and tap the camera icon, and then press that star button. Now choose the Animoji option, by tapping that monkey’s head again. Select your Memoji and tap the ‘x’ and make sure you have the front facing camera active.
Expand your notification clusters:By default iOS 12 now clusters multiple notifications from the same app in a little virtual pile on your lock screen. To expand them and see all of the individual notifications in a list, just tap on the pile.
Deliver notifications quietly:One interesting new notification management tool lets you send notifications from specific apps to Notification Centre without alerting you with a sound, app badge or lighting up your lock screen. If you want to use this feature, swipe left on a notification (or group of notifications from a specific app) and hit the “manage” option. Now choose “Deliver Quietly”.
Turn off notifications from an app:Same method as the “Deliver Quietly” feature, except you tap the “Turn off…” option.
Open Notification Centre:Apple changed its wording slightly with iOS 12, so now Notification Centre replaces the “older notifications” section. From your lock screen, swipe up from the middle of the screen and you’ll see a long list of previous notifications.
Schedule Downtime:Part of iOS 12’s big revamp is getting you to think more about how much time you spend staring at your screen. Head to Settings > Screentime and choose the Downtime option. Toggle the switch to the “on” position and choose to schedule a time when only specific apps and phone calls are allowed.
Set app limits:Next in the Screentime menu is App Limits. Choose this option and press “add limit” before choosing which category of apps you want to add a time limit to. Select the category and then “add” before choosing a time limit and hitting “set”.
Choose “always allowed” apps:By default, iOS 12 organises apps into various categories which is both very convenient and inconvenient. For instance, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are lumped in with social networking apps. So if they’re your primary communication apps, you’ll want to make sure there’s no limit on them.
In the main Screentime settings menu, tap “Always Allowed” and manually select the apps you want to ensure aren’t impacted by the time limits you’ve set.
Content & Privacy restrictions:This section is also within the main Screentime settings menu and particularly useful if you’re a parent with kids who use iOS devices. Using it you can restrict all manner of content and options, including iTunes and in-app purchases, location services, advertising and so on. It’s worth taking a look at.
Limit content access:As part of the content/privacy restrictions, choose the “Content restrictions” option and here you can limit inappropriate content access including TV shows, websites, books, audio and more.
Siri Shortcuts:This feature is currently in beta, but if you head to Settings > Siri & Search there’s a list of suggested shortcuts automatically populated from your frequent actions. To see more, tap “all shortcuts” to see more. They range from checking weather with Carrot Weather (if you have it installed), to sending WhatsApp messages to your favourite contacts.
Once out of its beta, there will be a more dedicated app to create more complex and useful actions similar to IFTTT.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Display and Home screen tips
Standard or Zoomed display:Since iPhone 6 Plus you’ve been able to choose between two resolution options.you may change the display setting from Standard or Zoomed. To switch between the two - if you’ve changed your mind after setup - go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Display Zoom and select Standard or Zoomed.
Set the screen brightness:Either bring up Control Centre - by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen - and adjust the display brightness slider, or go to Settings > Display & Brightness.
Enable True Tone display:To get the iPhone’s screen to automatically adjust its colour balance and temperature to match the ambient light in the room, head to Control Centre and force press the screen brightness slider. Now tap the True Tone button. You can also go to Settings > Display and Brightness and toggle the “True Tone” switch.
Text Size and Bold Text:To change the default text size, go to Settings > Display & Brightness, then choose the “Text Size” option before adjusting the slider to change the size. Beneath “Text Size” you’ll also find a toggle for bold text, switching it on if you find the standard fine text too difficult to read.
Night Shift:As well as True Tone, there’s an option called Night Shift that cuts out blue light helping your eyes to relax. Bring up Control Centre, then force press the display brightness slider and select the Night Shift button.
Choose a new wallpaper:As with all new iPhones, Apple has completely revamped its wallpaper offering for the new models. New wallpapers to be had in the Settings > Wallpaper. Here you’ll find a refreshed selection of both Dynamic and Live wallpapers.
Remove stock apps:Since last year’s iOS 11 update, you can now remove the Apple stock apps like Stocks, Compass and others. To do so, simply tap and hold on the app icon until it starts wiggling and then tap the “x”. You will be asked to confirm your decision. To get them back, simply search for the app in question in the App Store.
Crop and markup screenshots:Take a screenshot, then a small preview screenshot appears in the bottom left corner. Tap it and then use the tools shown to draw, write on, or crop the image.
Dismiss screenshot preview:To get the little screenshot preview off your screen, just swipe it left. Hey presto! It’s gone.
Get to Wi-Fi settings quickly with 3D Touch:Force press on the Settings icon to reveal quick links to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Battery settings. The move makes it really speedy to jump to the wireless settings.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Control Centre tips
Add new controls:Like the previous version of iOS, you can add and remove controls from Control Centre. Head to Settings > Control Centre > Customise Controls and then choose which controls you’d like to add.
Reorganise controls:To change the order of those controls you’ve added, tap and hold the three-bar menu on the right of whichever control you’d like to move, then move it up and down the list to wherever you’d like it to be.
Expand controls:Some controls can become full screen, just force press (press harder) on the control you want to expand and it’ll fill the screen.
Switch on personal hotspot:By default, the connectivity control only has four options in it. If you force press to expand it, you’ll get a full screen control with two more options. Tap on the personal hotspot icon to switch it on.
Activate screen recording:One of the new options you can add to Control Centre is Screen Recording. Make sure you add the control, then open Control Centre and press the icon that looks like a solid white circle inside a thin white ring. From now on it’ll record everything that happens on your screen. Press the control again when you’re done, and it’ll save a video to your Photos app automatically.
Adjust flashlight/torch brightness:You can switch on your camera flash, using it as a torch, by opening Control Centre and tapping on the torch icon. If you want to adjust the brightness, force press the icon, then adjust the full-screen slider that appears.
Quickly switch where audio is played:One cool feature is the ability to change where music is playing. While music is playing, through Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever, force press on the music control or just tap the little icon in the top corner of the music control. This brings up a pop-up showing available devices that you can play through. This could be connected earphones, a Bluetooth speaker, Apple TV, your iPhone or any AirPlay device.
Set a quick timer:Instead of heading to the timer app, you may force press on the timer icon, then slide up or down on the full-screen to set a timer anywhere from one minute to two hours long.
How to access HomeKit devices:Open Control Center and then tap on the little icon that looks like a house.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Lock Screen tips
Open camera from the lock screen:Instead of swipe gestures, Apple has incorporated a camera button in the bottom right corner of the lock screen. Press it, and you’ll go straight to the camera app.
Switch on your torch:Just like the camera, there’s a lock screen button for switching on your torch/LED light. Press it, and you’ve got a torch.
Tap to wake:By default, you’re able to wake up your iPhone XS or XS Max just by tapping on the screen when it’s in standby. It’ll light up and show your lock screen.
Raise your phone to wake:Simply pick up the phone in standby and it will wake up showing you all the notifications you’ve got on the Lock screen. To turn this feature on or off go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Raise to Wake.
Notification Centre:On your lock screen, as usual, new notifications pop up as standard. However, if you want to quickly get to older ones you’ve read or ignored, swipe up on the middle of the lock screen and it’ll show “Notification Centre”, collating your previous notifications. Be careful not to start from too low down, otherwise you’ll just unlock your phone and go to your home screen.
Clear notifications:With Notification Centre on screen, press the little “x” in the corner and tap the “clear”.
How to access widgets on the lock screen:Another really simple one. Swipe from left to right on your lock screen.
How to unlock your phone but stay on the lock screen:A curious one, but Face ID users can unlock their iPhone without going to the Home screen. To do so, just pick up the phone and the padlock icon at the top of the screen will disappear show it unlocking, but you won’t be taken to your apps home screen unless you swipe up.
How to add/remove widgets:iOS 10 introduced a Today viewpage, where you may show widgets from any apps that support it.Since then, it’s remained largely unchanged. To add, remove or reorganise, go to the Today view(swipe left to right on the lock screen or first home screen) and then scroll all the way to the bottom. Tap on the edit button to customise which widgets show and in what order.
Quick Reply:When a notification comes in - depending on whether it’s enabled by the developer - you may reply immediately without having to open the specific app. To do this, pull down the notification to reveal the actions you can take. Or, from the lock screen, you can force press or press and hold the notification and tap “reply”, then start typing.
Clear individual/grouped notifications from the Lock Screen:You can clear an individual notification or grouped notifications from an app by simply swiping from right to left and then tapping “clear” or “clear all”.
iPhone XS/XS Max tips and tricks: Battery
Check your average battery consumption:In iOS 12 you can head to Settings > Battery and you’ll see two graphs. One shows the battery level, the other shows your screen on and screen off activity. There are two tabs. One shows your last 24 hours, the other shows up to two weeks. This way you can see how active your phone life is on average, and breakdowns showing your average screen on and screen off times show beneath the graphs.
Enable Low-Power Mode:The Low Power Mode (Settings > Battery) lets you reduce power consumption. The feature disables or reduces background app refresh, auto-downloads, mail fetch, and more (when enabled). You can turn it on at any point, or you are prompted to turn it on at the 20 and 10 per cent notification markers. You can also add a control to Control Centre, and access it quickly by swiping up to access CC and tapping on the battery icon.
Find battery guzzling apps:iOS specifically tells you which apps are using the most juice. Go to Settings > Battery and then scroll down to the section that gives you a detailed look at all your battery-guzzling apps.
Check your battery via the Battery widget:Within the widgets in Today view, there’s a card that lets you see the battery life remaining in your iPhone, Apple Watch and connected headphones. Just swipe from left to right on your homescreen to get to your Today view and scroll until you see the “Batteries” widget.
Charge wirelessly:To make use of the iPhone’s wireless charging capabilities, buy a wireless charger. Any Qi charger will work, but to charge more efficiently you need one optimised for Apple’s 7.5W charging.
Fast charge it:If you have a 29W, 61W or 87W USB Type-C power adapter for a MacBook, you’re able to plug in your iPhone XS using a Type-C to Lightning cable and watch it charge really quickly. Up to 50 per cent in in 30 minutes.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Messages tips
How to add effects to iMessages:iOS 10 added the ability to add full screen and bubble effects to iMessages. Two years later, there are now more effects in iOS 12. To access these effects, press and hold the send icon after you’ve written a message. Here you can switch between Bubble and Screen effects to apply them to your message.
How to mute specific conversations:In your main Messages inbox, swipe left on any conversation you want to hide notifications from then tap “hide alerts”. It’s really useful if you’re part of a particularly persistent and chatty group message.
Send a picture to someone:To the left of the text input field in Messages you’ll see a small camera icon.Tap it and it’ll immediately launch the full screen camera app. To access photos from your gallery, tap the photo gallery icon in the top left corner.
How to Markup a picture in Messages:you’re able to now Markup or quickly edit photos before sending them in iOS. To do so, choose a photo and add it to your message. Before you send, tap on the photo and you’ll get the choice to Markup (i.e. draw on it) or edit it.
Draw and send someone a picture:In Messages you can also send people drawn pictures like Apple Watch users can. Tap the little App Store icon to the left of the message input field. You’ll now see a small heart logo with two fingers on it above the keyboard; tap it and then start drawing. To make the black canvas bigger drag the small grey bar above the drawing area upwards until it fills the screen.
How to draw on a video you want to send someone in a message:Follow the instructions above, but instead of drawing on the canvas straight away press the video camera icon. You can then record a message and draw on it at the same time.
How to send someone a kiss:In Messages you can not only send someone a drawing or a video, but also a series of shapes or patterns, including a kiss on the screen. To send a kiss, go to the black canvas (see above) long-press with two fingers where you want the heart to appear. To break the heart, swipe downwards while long-pressing without lifting your fingers from the screen.
How to access apps in iMessage:In any Messages conversation you’ll see all of your iMessage apps in a toolbar along the bottom of the screen. Swipe left or right to find the app you’re looking for. If you’re typing, you’ll see them in a toolbar along the top of your keyboard.
How to react to a message:Double tap on any individual message you receive, and you’ll reveal a selection of icons including a heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, Ha Ha, !!, and ?. Pressing one will add it to the message for the other person on iOS to see. Pressing it again will remove the reaction.
How to share your location:you’re able to quickly share your location within a message by heading to any conversation or message thread. Tap the tiny arrow at the top near your contact’s name, then hit the “i” and select"share my location" or “send my current location”.
How to turn on Send Read Receipts:iOS gives you the option to manage Send Read Receipts individually, based on a specific conversation. Within the same menu as the location sharing, toggle the “Send Read Receipts” option.
What time?:View what time a message was sent by dragging from right to left on the conversation screen.
Quick Voice message:If you press on the small mic button on the right of the text box you can start recording a verbal message. Lift your finger to stop and reveal a playback button. Once happy, tap the arrow to send it or - if you decide not to send it - tap the x button to cancel.
See attachments:Go into a message thread/conversation then tap the little triangle at the top near your contact’s name, then press “i”. At the bottom of the screen and you’ll see any attachments/images you’ve shared with that contact.
Delete messages:As before, swipe from right to left in the Messages hub and then tap the “delete” option.
Delete older messages automatically:Settings > Messages and then scroll down to “Message history”. Here you may Opt to keep Messages forever, 1 year, or 30 days.
Automatically delete audio or video messages:By default, Apple sets it so that once you’ve sent an audio message it deletes from your iPhone or iPad after two minutes. If you want to keep the message go to Settings > Messages and scroll down to Audio Messages or Video Messages sections and toggle the “Expire” setting.
Raise to listen to audio messages:It’s on by default, but you can turn off the ability to listen and reply to incoming audio messages by raising your phone. To turn it off go to Settings > Messages and toggle Raise to Listen.
Blue vs green:Blue bubbles are for iMessages, green are for regular old-fashioned SMS messages.
Send iMessage as SMS:If you are having trouble sending your iMessages (over data) you can opt to have iOS 12 revert to sending the message as a SMS instead. Go to Settings > Messages and toggle the “Send as SMS” switch.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Keyboard tips
Go one-handed:iOS 12’s QuickType keyboard lets you type one-handed, which is great on the bigger devices like the iPhone XS Max. Press and hold the globe icon and select either the left or right sided keyboard. It shrinks the keyboard and moves it to one side of the display. Go back to full size by tapping the little arrow.
Use your keyboard as a trackpad:Since the advent of 3D Touch displays on iPhones you may use the keyboard area as a trackpad to move the cursor on screen. It works anywhere there’s a text input, and saves you having to try and tap the exact location you want to start editing. Just force press anywhere on the keyboard and move the cursor around.
Use your keyboard as a trackpad (second method):You can also do the above by long-pressing the spacebar until the keyboard greys out, then moving the on screen cursor. Likely implemented because the iPhone XR is coming without a pressure sensitive touchscreen.
Picking your Emoji colour:For the past few years, Emoji have had the option to change skin tone. To access them, go to the emoji keyboard by tapping the globe icon, then long press on the emoji you want to use. If it has alternative skin colour options they will show.
Adding third party keyboards:Install the app (SwiftKey or Gboard are good examples) and follow the instructions in the app. At some point it will ask you to go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards and add the third-party keyboard.
Accessing additional keyboards beyond Emoji:If you have more multiple keyboards installed, long-press the globe icon on the keyboard and you’ll get a pop-up list showing you the options you can use. Tapping the globe icon lets you switch quickly to the next keyboard.
Disable keyboard capitalisation:Until iOS 9, whether you touched the shift key or not, all the letters on the keyboard were capitalised. Now, the keyboard shows the letters in lower case when the shift is off. But if you don’t want this, you may disable it by going to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard and toggling off the “Show Lowercase Keys” option.
Disable keyboard animations:Apple’s keyboard has a pop-up character animation that serves as feedback when you tap the keys. You can shut it off (Settings > General > Keyboard > Character Preview).
Text replacement shortcuts:As in all previous years, one of iOS' most useful keyboard solutions is creating short-codes that turn into full words or phrases. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. We find it useful to have one for an address that fills in automatically whenever we misspell “address”, adding an extra “s” at the end.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Photos and Camera tips
Enable/disable Smart HDR:One of the new iPhone’s camera advancements is Smart HDR which helps boost colours, light and detail in difficult lighting conditions. It’s on by default, but if you want to manually switch it on or off you may head to Settings > Camera and find the Smart HDR toggle switch.
Keep a normal photo alongside HDR:Right beneath the Smart HDR toggle is a “Keep Normal Photo” option which saves a regular, non HDR version of your photo as well as the Smart HDR photo.
Portrait Lighting effects:To shoot Portrait Mode shots with artificial lighting effects, first go to shoot in Portrait mode. you may do this either by force-pressing the camera icon and choosing the Portrait shortcut, or opening the camera app and selecting the Portrait option in there.
Now you’re able to just tap and hold the bottom of the frame where it says “Natural Lighting”, and scroll through the options.
Edit Portrait Lighting effects after shooting:Open any Portrait shot in Photos and then tap “edit”. After a second or two you’ll see the lighting effect icon at the bottom of the image, tap it and swipe exactly as you did when shooting the image.
Edit Portrait mode depth:With the new iPhones, you’re able to adjust the blur effect after shooting the Portrait shot. Head to Photos and select the photo you want to adjust, then select “edit”. You’ll see a depth slider at the bottom of the screen. Swipe right to increase the blur strength, swipe left to decrease it.
Enable 60fps 4K video recording:Head to Settings > Camera > Record Video and then choose the 4K at 60fps option to shoot at the highest resolution and frame-rate possible on an iPhone.
Shoot 1080p slow-motion at 240fps:Similar to the last one, head to Settings > Camera and then tap “Record Slow-mo” and choose the highest speed option. Now you’re able to shoot 240fps slow-motion video at full HD.
Shoot a Live Photo:Open the camera in Photo mode, and tap the icon that looks like three rings, with the outer ring dotted. If it’s yellow, Live Photos is active.
Change Live Photo effects:iOS lets you change from the default Live Photo effect. Go to your Photos app, open a Live Photo and swipe up on it to reveal three new effects: Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure.
Keep the original photo while using Live Photo effects:Once you choose one of the Live Photo effects, it saves it on your phone as a video, not a photo. If you want to keep the original shot as a still photo as well, just hit the share icon and tap “duplicate” and save another copy of the original photo. (You’ll need to do this before you change the Live Photo effect - or just go back to the original Live Photo style and do it then).
How to apply a filter to a Live Photo:you may also apply filters to Live Photos and still keep them as a Live Photo, something you couldn’t do with some older versions of IOS. To apply a filter, do so as you have previously. Go to the photo in question, tap “edit"and select the filter you want.
How to quickly launch different camera modes:Press firmly on the camera app icon and you’ll get the choice to Take a Portrait, Scan a QR Code, Record Video, or Take Selfie.
How to Merge People in Photos app:Photos in iOS has the ability to scan your photos and detect people and places. If you find that the app has picked out the same person, but says they are different people, you’re able to merge the albums together. To do this, go to the Photos app > Albums and select People & Places. Tap on the word “Select” at the top right of the screen and then select the images of the people you want to merge, then tap “merge”.
Remove people in Photos app:Go to Photos App, Albums, and select People & Places. To remove tap on “Select” and then tap on the people you don’t want to see before tapping on “Remove"in the bottom left of your iPhone screen.
How to create Photo Memories:you’re able to create your own Memories from your own albums. Go to an album you’ve already got and tap on the right facing arrow (">") that’s in line with the album name at the top of the screen. This will allow you to see your Memories. Scroll to the bottom and tap on “Add to Memories”.
How to share a Memories movie:The Apple Photos app automatically creates a mini slideshow for you that can then be shared as a video. Go to the Memory in the “For You” tab that you want to share, tap on the “play” icon on the main picture and then tap on the share icon.
How to change the style of a Memories movie:You can either opt for the default movie style from Apple or change it to fit a handful of different styles. Head To the Memory you want to edit, tap on the “play” icon on the main picture, then tap on the video again when it’s playing. You’ll now see slideshow style options like Dreamy, Sentimental, Gentle, Chill and Happy, among others. You can also choose between Short, Medium or Long.
Duplicate as Still Photo:If you’ve taken a Live Photo you can now create a full resolution still photo from it as a duplicate without damaging the original Live Photo. To do so, find the picture you want to duplicate, press the share button and then select Duplicate. On the next menu, choose “Duplicate as Still Photo”.
Editing photos:Find the photo you want and tap “edit"in the top corner. Here you can press on the wand to auto enhance your photo or press on the icon that looks like a volume knob with dots around it. The latter will bring up three new sub menus: Light, Color, B&W with various granular settings within them. If you select Light you can then gesture left or right to make the picture lighter or darker.
Straightening your photos:you’re able to now quickly and easily straighten your photos. To do so, select the cropping tool in Photos > Edit and then move the dial that appears on screen.
Search Photo albums:Go to the Photos app and press on the magnifying glass. Immediate suggestions include narrowing your image results by Nearby, One Year Ago, and Favourites, however you can type in lots of different searches like place names or months.Or a combination of the two.
Ask Siri to fetch a photo for you:Siri can now search your photos based on their information and criteria. Ask her to find a specific photo from 20 July 2025, for instance, and it’ll do just that. Amazeballs.
Upload Photo Bursts:Go to Settings, then tap on your name at the top of the screen. Then go to iCloud > Photos > Upload Burst Photos. Doing this will back up all the photos in the burst rather than just the favourite one.
Favourite photos:If you’ve got photos that you want to mark to show others quickly later, rather than searching or scrolling for them, you can favourite them instead. To do this, simply find the image you want to favourite and press the heart button. To find them quickly when you go into the Photos app, press on the Albums icon at the bottom right, then select the Favourites album.
See where you took a photo:In the Albums section of the app, tap on the"People & Places” section and choose the “Places” album.Here you’ll find all of the locations you’ve taken photos in and which photos were in which part of the world. Zooming gives more specific locations, while tapping “Grid” lists the locations in that particular view.
Turn on iCloud Photo Library:To turn on the new iCloud Photo Library feature that will mean all your photos are automatically uploaded and backed up to the iCloud go to Settings > Photos and then toggle the iCloud Photo Library option.
View Live Photos:Once you have taken a Live Photo, you can view it in the Photos app on your phone. Open the image, then hard press on the photo (activates 3D Touch), and play it.
Create a time-lapse:A setting in the camera app lets you create a time-lapse video with little to no effort. Just swipe sideways in the camera app to reveal the Time-Lapse mode. Once you’ve worked out what you are going to film press the record button. You should film for at least 30 seconds to see the effects.
AE/AF Lock:To change the exposure or the focus of your shot, tap anywhere on the screen and it will change instantly. To lock that exposure or focus (great for dramatic panoramas) press and hold on the screen until the square box “locks in”.
Changing exposure on the fly:Once you’ve found your focus point (the big yellow square) in the Camera app press on the small sun icon and swipe up or down to change the exposure setting. Up to make it brighter, down to make it darker.
Activating Timer mode:In the Camera app there is an icon that looks like a stopwatch in the top toolbar. Tap it, then choose whether you want a 3 second or 10 second timer.
Burst Mode:Users can snap photos in Burst mode by either holding their finger on the shutter or on the volume key to take a burst of photos as the action happens. Once you’ve taken a Burst of photos you can then choose your favourite one(s). Tap on the gallery icon in the bottom of your camera app, and tap “select”. Tap on the photos you want, then hit “keep only X favourites” to save only the ones you’ve chosen.
Easily select multiple photos:In your Photos app, in an album or collection, tap “Select” and swipe your finger across the screen to select many photos at once.
Exit photo preview:When browsing your pictures in the Photos app, you may enlarge a photo in the grid to see it full screen, but now, you can also easily swipe down on preview to toss it away and return to the grid.
iPhone XS/XS Max: Notes tips
Quickly create a checklist:Force press on the Notes app icon and choose “New Checklist” and then start creating your checklist immediately.
How to share and collaborate on notes:There’s a new share icon within Notes that looks like the silhouette of a person and a “+” icon next to it. Tap it, and you can add contacts who can view or make changes in real time.
Turning on passwords in Notes:To password protect Notes To do this go to Settings > Notes > Password. Here you’re able to set a default password for all your notes, and you can enable Face ID too.
Once you’ve turned the feature you have to individually enable the password lock on the Note itself. To do this go to the Note in question, and press the share icon and then the “Lock Note” icon. That merely adds the lock icon to the Note. Complicated we know.
Now tap on the icon to lock the Note. Next time you access it you will need the password. Be warned if you are trying to access it on a iOS device you’ve not updated to 9.3 or later you won’t be able to access it on that device.
Handwritten Notes:Open the Notes app icon, then tap the new note icon in the bottom right, and select the pen tool above the keyboard.Now scribble away until your heart’s content.
Save attachments to Notes:The system-wide Share button has added support for Notes. So, when in Safari, for instance, tap the Share button to save attachments, such as a link or document, to a new or existing note. There’s also an Attachments browser in Notes that organises attachments in a single view (tap the grid icon in the lower-left corner).
