15+ iPhone X Tips and Tricks [Video]

In this hands-on video walkthrough we highlight more than 15 handy tips and tricks for new iPhone X owners. Included in the video are easier methods for invoking Control Center and Notifications, a method for recording Animoji without a time limit, and the best way to quickly switch between two apps. Have a look at our hands-on video for the details.

Enable Reachability

Step 1: Open Settings → General → Accessibility.

Step 2: Enable the Reachability switch.

Step 3: Swipe down on the Home Indicator to invoke Reachability.

Invoke Control Center and Notification Center via Reachability

Depending on the size of your hands and how you hold your iPhone X, you may have a difficult time invoking Control Center or Notification Center. Both areas are accessible by swiping down from the upper-left, or upper-right-hand corners of the display, commonly referred to as the iPhone X’s ears.

To make Control Center and Notification Center easier to reach, first invoke Reachability, and then swipe down from the upper-left, or upper-right-hand corners of the Home screen. It’s not as seamless as simply swiping down from the corners, but it’s much easier to reach this way.

Video walkthrough

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Find battery percentage

There are several ways to find your iPhone X’s battery percentage, as we highlighted in a previous post. The quickest way to find battery percentage is to invoke Control Center by swiping down from the upper right-hand corner of the iPhone X display.

Quickly invoke App Switcher

Apple’s instructions for opening the App Switcher tell users to swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause. The thing is, you don’t have to pause for long. Pause briefly, and immediately release to invoke the App Switcher.

Quickly open last app from Home screen

Even though there is no Home Indicator on the Home screen, you’re more than welcomed to perform swipe gestures at the bottom of the display. You can quickly open the last-used app by simply swiping right at the bottom of the screen beneath the Dock.

Switching between two apps

If you swipe right on the Home indicator, interact with an app, swipe right, and interact with the next app, you can continue to switch between the last two apps. This is handy if you’re negotiating information between the two most recently-used apps. If you fail to interact (touch the display while an app is loaded), iOS will move on to the next app in the App Switcher list upon swiping.

Add a virtual Home button to the iPhone X

By using Assistive Touch, you can add a virtual Home button to the iPhone X.

Step 1: Go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Assistive Touch, and enable the Assistive Touch switch.

Step 2: Assign one of the Custom Actions, like 3D Touch to the Home action.

Step 3: Utilize the Custom Action with the virtual Home button.

Easily launch Control Center/Notification Center

Invoking Control Center or Notification Center on iPhone X requires users to swipe down from the upper left or upper right-hand corner of the display. This can prove to be difficult for users with small hands, unless you use the Reachability method outlined above. Instead, you can use Assistive Touch, mentioned in the previous step, to assign a Custom Action to the virtual Home button to invoke both Notification Center and Control Center.

Step 1: Go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Assistive Touch, and enable the Assistive Touch switch.

Step 2: Assign one of the Custom Actions, like 3D Touch to Control Center or Notification Center.

Step 3: Use the Custom Action with the virtual Home button to quickly invoke Control Center or Notification Center without needing to perform finger gymnastics.

Launch apps quickly with Hey Siri + Face ID

You can use Hey Siri + Face ID to quickly launch apps as you pick up your iPhone. Simply say Hey Siri, Open <name of app> as you move the iPhone in front of your face to unlock it with Face ID. It should unlock your iPhone X and launch the app of your choice in a relatively smooth two-part motion.

How to take a screenshot

Taking a screenshot has changed a bit on the iPhone X. To do so, press the Side button + Volume Up button simultaneously.

How to power off your iPhone

Because the Side button lends priority to activating Siri, powering off your iPhone is a little different on the iPhone X when compared to other iPhones. To do so, press and hold the Side button + either Volume button until your see the Slide to Power off dialogue. From there, just slide the slider at the top of the display to power down your iPhone like normal.

Make longer Animoji videos with screen recording

Animoji is usually limited to just 10 seconds at a time, but you can record for an unlimited amount of time by utilizing the built-in Screen Recording feature found in iOS 11.

How to enable the Screen Recording option in Control Center

Step 1: Open Settings → Control Center → Customize Controls.

Step 2: Drag the Screen Recording option from the More Control section to the Include section.

Recording Animoji for longer than 10 seconds

Step 1: Open a conversation in the Messages app.

Step 2: Tap the iMessage App button, and tap the Animoji app option.

Step 3: Use the handle to drag the screen up to display a larger Animoji screen.

Step 4: Invoke Control Center and tap the Record button to start recording your Animoji for as long as you desire.

Step 5: Tap the Red record indicator in the upper left-hand corner of the display to end recording.

Your recording will be saved in the Photos app. You can then use an app like iMovie, or LumaFusion to edit the footage, and crop the video to exclude everything but the Animoji.

Turn Animoji into a sticker

To turn Animoji into an iMessage sticker, pose and drag the Animoji to the conversation area.

Make videos fill entire display

By default, the iPhone X presents landscape videos in a pillarbox mode so that you’re able to see the entire area of the content you’re watching. If you’d instead like to fill the entire iPhone X display, and don’t mind cropping out the edges of the video, just perform a double-tap gesture to zoom in and out. Some apps, like YouTube, allow you to perform a two-finger pinch gesture as well.

Reduce brightness shortcut for dark environments

Note: this setup will cause a slight delay with Side button presses. Reducing the white point may also cause distortion with text while scrolling.

Step 1: Visit Settings → General → Accessibility → Display Accommodations, and enable the Reduce White Point switch.

Step 2: Set Reduce White Point Value to 100% using the slider.

Step 3: Disable the Reduce White Point switch.

Step 4: Go back to the main Accessibility preferences and scroll to the bottom of the page and open the Accessibility Shortcut panel.

Step 5: Enable Reduce White Point.

Step 6: Triple-Press the Side button to reduce screen brightness beyond what’s normally possible when in dark environments.

Pseudo Dark Mode

Step 1: Visit Settings → General → Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcut.

Step 2: Enable Smart Invert Colors.

Step 3: Triple-Press the Side button to invert on-screen colors, which can work as a pseudo dark mode in some instances. It’s not a true dark mode, but it works relatively well in certain apps.

Disable Require Attention for Face ID

Although it’s recommended that you keep ‘Require Attention for Face ID’ enabled due to the added security that it provides, Apple gives iPhone X users the option of disabling the security feature. This is especially handy when wearing sunglasses that lack Face ID compatibility, but it can also make it easier to unlock your device. To do so, go to Settings → Face ID and Passcode → and disable the Require Attention for FaceID toggle.

Quickly close all apps

After you invoke the App Switcher, tap and hold on an App Switcher card to enter edit mode. You can then swipe up on each card to close each app, but it’s much faster to repeatedly tap on the red minus sign in the upper left-hand corner of each card.

Conclusion

These are just a handful of tips and tricks that iPhone X users might find useful. Of course there are many more tips to be found, such as those addressed in our iPhone X gesture walkthrough. Do you have any additional tips to add to the list? Please sound off down below in the comments with your input.