IPhone X Tips & Tricks When You Take It Out of the Box
The iPhone X is a big departure from Apple’s usual smartphone design, replacing the legendary Home button with a full-screen display and a front-facing camera with face scanning . As a result, Apple had to change many of the gestures used to control the device.
Even if you’ve owned an iPhone since the original was released in 2007, you may have trouble getting to grips with the iPhone X. In the interest of making the transition easier, we have a few tips and tricks to help you navigate. new phone like a pro in no time.
How to take a screenshot
It used to be easy to take a screenshot with your iPhone, but dropping the Home button means finding a new way to take a screenshot of everything you’re looking at. However, the new screenshot mechanic is still pretty straightforward.
Just press the side button of the iPhone X and the volume up button at the same time to take a screenshot. This is how it looks:
How to return to the home screen
The lack of a Home button means you can’t just press with your thumb to return to the iPhone X’s home screen. Instead, Apple wants to swipe up from the bottom of the display and quickly release. This will take you back to the home screen with a short animation.
This is how it looks:
How to force close an application
If you want to close multiple apps at once (or force close a malfunctioning one) on iPhone X, you need to learn another new gesture, very similar to moving on the new home screen. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, but instead of letting go, hold your finger for another second until the app switcher launches. From there, you can swipe up on any application to quickly close it.
This is what this gesture looks like:
How to force restart
If the app you’re using crashes completely and your phone freezes, you may not be able to close it with a quick swipe. In this case, you will need to force restart your iPhone X.
To restart your new iPhone, quickly press and then release the Volume Up button. Then do the same with the volume down button. Finally, hold the side button for about 10 seconds until the screen turns black and hold until you see the Apple logo.
This is how it looks on the iPhone 8, which uses the same mechanics to force restart:
How to activate Siri
You can always grab Siri’s attention simply by saying “Hey Siri,” but if you’d rather activate Apple’s AI assistant without saying a word, you need to learn another new gesture, albeit one that is especially easy to remember.
All you have to do is hold down the side button for a few seconds and Siri will turn on. If you do this by mistake, you can close Siri by swiping up from the bottom of the display to return to the iPhone X home screen.
This is how it looks:
How to open Control Center and Action Center
By now, you’ve probably noticed that the big theme from the iPhone X is swiping up. On previous iPhones, this same gesture was used to access Control Center. So how do you find it on Apple’s new phone?
To launch Control Center, simply swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen. The location of the Control Center in the upper right corner also means that access to the Action Center is now limited to the upper left corner of the screen. Luckily, there is a large ugly notch in the middle so you don’t open the wrong menu.
Here’s how these gestures work:
How to quickly disable Face ID
Finally, here’s how to disable the scandalous new iPhone X facial recognition software. This should come in handy if someone tries to take your smartphone and point it in your face to unlock it, be it a friend, a burglar or even the police.
To quickly disable Face ID, simply press all three physical buttons (volume and side buttons) at the same time. We don’t have a GIF of this yet, but if you need visual help, Gadget Hacks has a helpful diagram.
That should be more than enough to get you started with your iPhone X. But we’ll be looking for even more guides to help you get the most out of your new Apple phone, so come back soon.