5 Very Useful Tips and Tricks for the Apple iPhone 7 and iOS 10

First, a word of caution. Don’t expect an actual review of the new iPhone 7 in FBT. It’s a great phone, it doesn’t have a headphone jack, it has awesome stereo speakers, a significantly improved camera, and it takes like a duck to water, capable of lasting up to 30 minutes under one meter of water without a problem.

Instead of a review, for those of you who are getting the new iPhone or are just keeping the current model and upgrading to iOS 10, we wanted to share a few less-known features that are almost life changing, at least in the iOS world.

Here are features and tips we think will get you as excited as we were when we discovered them.

1.) Low Quality Mode for Sending Photos in Messages

If you send friends and family tons of photos (I confess, I certainly do) via Messages, you can send them in a smaller file size by turning on the poorly named “Low Quality Image Mode.” This doesn’t mean that the images won’t look good but, by reducing their size, they will take up less file space on your phone (and consequently on your Mac, where I recently discovered over a gigabyte of photos just in Messages alone). They require less bandwidth to send (and for your recipient to receive), handy when traveling and using, for example, T-Mobile’s free but decidedly low-speed 2G data abroad. Go to Settings/Messages and scroll to the very bottom to toggle Low Quality Image Mode on.

2.) Third-Party App Support in Maps

Thinking about a new restaurant or other venue? Once you have the location visible in Maps, tapping on it opens a place card that has links to relevant apps such as Yelp or OpenTable that allow you to read reviews (some are already on the place card), make a reservation, or view a menu.

3.) Reverting to the Old-Style Home Button Unlock

If you don’t like the new way of unlocking your iPhone (instead of resting your finger on the home button, you need to press it), you can revert to the old way of unlocking. Simply go to Settings/General/Accessibility/Home Button and toggle “Rest Finger to Open” on.

4.) Flashlight Brightness is Now Adjustable

Many times I’ve turned on my phone’s flashlight and realized how bright (and blinding) it really is. With iOS 10, you can adjust the brightness to Low Light (my choice), Medium Light, or Bright Light.

5.) The Handwriting is on the Wall

Finally, while this may sound like a gimmick, support for hand-written notes in Messages has become a favorite means of expressing oneself at Frequent Business Traveler.

To use, simply rotate your iPhone to landscape mode while in a message. This automatically turns on support for handwriting and you can scribble or doodle away to your heart’s content.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)