Automate tasks, check medications or send photos without loss of quality: how to take advantage of the iPhone | Your technology | The country

Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, as well as the ecosystem of applications that it includes as standard, marks a starting environment completely different from that offered by smartphones equipped with the Android system. The differences are most obvious in the shape of unique iPhone apps, but also in the functioning of those that are similar to those on other mobile phones, like the camera or the contacts app. These are the peculiarities hidden in the most emblematic device of the Californian technology company; Some of them go unnoticed, even by users who have used iOS daily for years.

In the daily technological routine, one of the most common actions is to send a photo to a contact. The usual thing is to do it through the messaging application usually used. In the case of the most used application for this purpose, WhatsApp, this method results in the transfer of compressed images and, therefore, a loss of quality; something disappointing when you want to share the details of a photo that takes advantage of increasingly advanced smartphone cameras. Although last summer Meta finally introduced the ability to send high definition photos via WhatsAppthis remains an option to choose.

On the other hand, on iPhones there are two alternatives so that the images do not lose quality when sending them, and in both cases maintaining maximum quality is the default option: both when sending photos through the Messages app and when sending via AirDrop. Of course, these exchanges are only possible if they are carried out between Apple devices. AirDrop is an old iOS feature that lets you send files to nearby devices as long as the tool is enabled at the time. With just a few clicks, you can send images from your gallery or documents from your files to your MacBook or iPad, without needing to log in or open other tools. The arrival of the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 17, has renewed AirDrop to allow sharing of images and videos by proximity: Simply put two iPhones together and the photo opened on one will automatically be sent to the other, after a single click to confirm the transfer.

Hidden camera functions

Although smartphone cameras offer more and more features and technical improvements, it is common for users to only use the most basic ones and not know which ones would allow them to obtain better images and videos. In the case of iPhones, in addition to being able to modify the exposure and the level of light, the heat or put a filter before taking the capture, there is a very simple way to take a burst of images: press the button image capture box and drag it to the left. The longer you hold it, the more photos you will take. Then, in the image gallery of the Photos application, if you open the selection option that appears at the bottom of the image, you can view and delete all the images that you do not want to save. If you prefer to delete them all, just click on the trash can.

If instead of sliding the image capture button to the left, you slide it to the right, the video mode will quickly activate, although it will be saved in photo format, and not in the one preconfigured for the video than iPhones and which is larger. than the pictures. In addition to the panoramic mode found in most smartphones, Apple’s smartphones include a cinema mode which allows you to lock tracking of a person or object so they stay focused and edit and change their focus from the gallery. They also offer a slow motion mode, and one of the time lapse or a rapid movement, in addition to the photos live.

How to extend battery life

If there is something that particularly worries smartphone users, and especially those who have purchased the most expensive models, it is the lifespan of the device in general and the battery in particular. On the iPhone, if you go to the Settings app, in the battery menu, you can check how long the phone has been charged, when the last charge was, which apps consumed the most, and also check the maximum capacity of the battery. its deterioration. This information allows the user to take steps to reduce battery deterioration. You can disable background refresh for the most consuming applications, activate low consumption mode to temporarily reduce this secondary activity or activate optimized charging. All this can be configured from the settings.

The big unknowns, the shortcuts

Application Shortcuts This is one of the things that most distinguishes the iPhone from Android phones, although many users do not know how it works or find it too complex at first, so they do not integrate this tool into their daily life . The shortcuts are quick ways to complete tasks on mobile. They allow an action to be carried out earlier and some can be automated. That is, the shortcut must first be created, then it is automated so that it runs directly, without having to find the shortcut in the application and click on it for it to start. For example, you can automate that when a certain contact sends a message containing “send it to me”, the action of opening the photo gallery is performed. There are pre-established shortcuts, but the user can create as many as they think and need. Automations, on the other hand, can only be created by the user, although they can include the shortcuts provided by default. To start using this tool, it may be easier to use the shortcuts available in the application gallery, where many work with Siri. Some can be changed, but others can only be performed as expected.

If you prefer to create a shortcut from scratch, you must create an action. This action could consist of sending a message, for example. The recipient is then informed. If you click on the created shortcut, a window will open to write the text and it will be sent at that time. Another option is, for example, for Siri to start a route home. Shortcuts are designed so that the smart assistant can use them when asked by the user. This saves time and reduces the number of actions the user performs with the phone. The possibilities are endless, so you have to choose or search for the ones that suit you best or are most useful to you. The shortcuts can be classified into folders and, although they are configured from the mobile phone, they also work for the Apple Watch.

Take advantage of Health and Research applications

One of the most popular apps that comes standard with the iPhone is Health. Other devices also integrate tools of this type, but at Apple you can track your sleep hours, manage alarm clocks and programs, exercise trends, calorie consumption or heartbeats per minute , and it even has a menstrual cycle control, in which daily symptoms, flows and spotting levels can be noted and which allows you to consult the forecasts of future cycles on a calendar. It also gives the possibility of configuring the medications to take, establishing schedules to receive reminders and even creating a design for each pill as it actually is so as not to have doubts when it is necessary to differentiate between them. one from another. Additionally, you can keep track of your emotions and moods.

This app also offers short informative articles on different aspects of health and recommendations. If you also have an Apple Watch, data is synced between health apps on both devices and can also connect to other exercise and workout apps. When you start setting it up, you can enter medical data, such as conditions, allergies or medications, accessible to emergency services: the user can activate a function that allows others to check this data without having to unlock the device and add emergency contacts that receive the current location of the affected user, if they are configured that way. This tool is accompanied by the Fitness application, which allows you to control daily exercise parameters, such as the number of steps and kilometers traveled, but also to access video tutorials, routines, meditations and advice if you have a subscription.

Another application that distinguishes iOS from Android is Search, which allows you to easily view, on a map, the location of all the Apple devices you own, or any other object like a keychain or a bicycle, at provided they have placed an AirTag Locator. However, the fact that the location of the devices is not activated does not mean that the Search application cannot find them: from it you can call the lost terminal, so that if you know more or less the area in which it can be found, It will be reached thanks to the noise. This sound can also be played on AirTags.

Finally, there is a very practical possibility of explaining the use of one of these hidden functions to another person: Apple allows you to record the phone screen without having to download a specific application for this. To do this, simply go to the Control Center and press the symbol of concentric circles which represent the traditional record button (rec) of a camera. The recording ends when the user clicks on the same symbol, which appears in red in the upper left corner of the screen. This content is automatically stored in the Photos app gallery and includes sound, if enabled while recording.

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