iOS 7 Tips and Tricks
Author: Rick Phelan
Published: 10.28.13
The iPad, iTouch, and iPhone have a new operating system available through iOS 7 – and the new system adds capabilities to these devices. This post summarizes some of the new features and offers ideas on how to make use of the upgraded operating system.
Control Center
Control Center provides instant access to the camera, AirDrop, AirPlay, timer, audio playback controls, and a flashlight! It is opened by swiping up from the bottom edge of any screen. To close Control Center, swipe down or press the Home button.
Unlimited Folder Capacity
Unlike previous versions of iOS, there’s no limit to the number of apps you can file in a single folder. You can now add apps without the worry of the 12-app folder limit.
AirDrop
AirDrop offers a means of wirelessly transferring files from some iOS 7 devices to other iOS 7 devices. The caveat is that older iOS 7 devices such as the first iPad and the iPad2 do not support AirDrop transfers. If you have a newer iOS 7 device, you can use AirDrop to transfer pictures, word processing documents, PDFs, weblinks, and movies to similar iOS 7 devices.
Steps to using AirDrop:
- Turn AirDrop on from the Control Center.
- Make yourself discoverable to others (options include everyone or selected people).
- Navigate to what you want to share (e.g., if you want to share a web page, you need to be on that web page; if you want to share a photo, you need to be viewing that photo in the Photos app).
- Tap the share button. This is the box with the arrow sticking straight up. The share button accesses the Share menu, which allows you to share via AirDrop, Facebook, iMessage, etc.
- Next, locate the device you want to share with through AirDrop. This is on the top portion of the Share menu. Devices will show up as a circle with an identifying label under it.
- Tap the circle with your selected contact. Tapping will initiate sending the document to the recipient, who will then be prompted to accept the AirDrop.
Apps: Automatic Updates
iOS 7 can update your apps automatically. Control this function by going to Settings > iTunes and App Store and sliding the “Updates” option. Select the Apps that you want to update automatically.
iOS 7 also allows you to selectively control which apps may refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh to stop big content apps from draining down data and battery life.
Camera: Pictures in Burst Mode
The redesigned Camera app has a cool trick. If you want to shoot in burst mode, taking multiple shots in quick succession, click and hold the volume-up button.
Quitting Apps
Force quitting Apps is different in iOS 7 than in previous iOS versions. To force quit apps with iOS 7:
- Double click Home to launch the multi-tasking cards interface.
- Touch and hold a card, then toss it up and away.
- Touch and hold multiple cards to toss multiple cards away. Three cards is the maximum, as that is the most shown on-screen at any time.
Any app tossed off-screen is shut down.
Blog: Technology for Learners
