Top Apple whizz reveals the hidden iPhone tricks you’ve missed – from secret emoji to selfie-repairing button
A TOP iPhone expert from Apple HQ has revealed her clever tricks – including how to unlock secret emoji and fix ruined pics.
Gadget-savvy Alice visited The Sun to show off six little-known iPhone hacks you might have missed.
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She brought along the latest model – check out our iPhone 16e review – which starts at £599.
But these tips and tricks will work on millions of older iPhones too.
Just make sure you’re updated to the latest iOS 18 software by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Table of Contents
iPhone trick #1 – custom Lock Screen and Home Screen
Alice’s first trick lets you tinker with your Lock Screen and Home Screen like never before.
For a start, you can swap out the camera and torch icons at the bottom for…pretty much anything.
Hold down on the Lock Screen, then tap Customise > Lock Screen, and then replace them.
You could have them set to music-hunting Shazam, the voice recorder, or Airplane Mode.
iOS 18 devices – can your iPhone get it?
Here are the devices that can get the new iOS 18 update
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 16e
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
The Home Screen has had some clever tweaks lately too.
For instance, you can now place apps out of position on the Home Screen, so you can put them along the top, bottom, or sides if you prefer.
And that means you can leave key parts of your Home Screen background visible for the first time.
But that’s not the only change for apps on the Home Screen.
“You can change the appearance of the apps as well as making them bigger, adding a tint to them,” Alice explained.
Just press and hold on a blank part of the Home Screen, then tap Edit > Customise. You can change app size and colour tint in seconds.
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iPhone trick #2 – Action Button (Visual Intelligence)
Next up is Visual Intelligence, which is a clever AI feature.
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It tells you about things you’re seeing in real life – like the history of a statue, the breed of a dog, or a translation for that restaurant menu on holiday.
You can access it through the Action Button, Lock Screen, or Camera Control button.
So it only works on five models: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and iPhone 16e.
You can either add Visual Intelligence to the Action Button, long-press the Camera Control button, or add it as a Lock Screen widget. Then away you go.
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“You can quickly learn more about the places around you,” Alice told The Sun.
“Like looking up details on a restaurant, summarising, translating text, searching for additional information – or even asking ChatGPT to learn more.
“Like if I see a plant that I want to learn more about, our models can identify that this is a flamingo lily.”
You could even use it to scan a spider at home to see if it’s something you should worry about. Handy!
iPhone trick #3 – Writing Tools
Hate writing? Or love it, but don’t always get it right? Your iPhone can give you a hand.
There’s an AI trick called Writing Tools that will proofread text for you, rewrite it to sound different, summarise stuff, or come up with entirely new writing on its own.
Alice said: “This is useful for those emails where you need to sound a little bit more professional, but it’s also really fun too.
“You can describe a change you want to make. So let’s say I want to have a different take on a classic story.
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“Here I’ve got The Tortoise and The Hare. I can rewrite it as an epic poem, so now I have this fun creative take on a classic story.”
To proofread, select your written text, then tap > and choose Writing Tools, then Proofread.
You can also tap Rewrite, and choose a specific tone or change.
Similarly, there’s an option to Summarise Text, which will give you the key points, a list, or even a table.
And if you’ve got the ChatGPT extension switched on (Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > ChatGPT), then you’ll see a Compose option for writing original text too.
For this one, you’ll need an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence – see here…
APPLE INTELLIGENCE – WHICH DEVICES HAVE IT?
Here’s the official list of Apple devices with processors powerful enough to support the new Apple Intelligence features…
- iPhone 16e (A18)
- iPhone 16 (A18)
- iPhone 16 Plus (A18)
- iPhone 16 Pro Max (A18 Pro)
- iPhone 16 Pro (A18 Pro)
- iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro)
- iPhone 15 Pro (A17 Pro)
- iPad Pro (M1 and later)
- iPad Air (M1 and later)
- iPad mini (A17 Pro)
- MacBook Air (M1 and later)
- MacBook Pro (M1 and later)
- iMac (M1 and later)
- Mac mini (M1 and later)
- Mac Studio (M1 Max and later)
- Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
iPhone trick #4 – Genmoji
You can make your own emoji. Any (or almost any) emoji. Dream big.
It’s called Genmoji and it’s another one of Apple’s new AI tricks for the iPhone.
Just go into an Apple app with a keyboard – like Messages – and press the emoji button.
Now tap on the colourful emoji icon in the top-right of the keyboard, then enter some words to create your own emoji.
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You can text it like a sticker to pals, and you can even share it in other apps (like WhatsApp).
Alice said: “You can create a perfect emoji for a really unique response.
“You can send a Genmoji inline, or ‘tap back’ to a message. And because Genmoji are available in my sticker drawer in the keyboard, I can access them system-wide.”
As with Writing Tools, this one needs Apple Intelligence switched on in Settings to work.
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iPhone trick #5 – Clean Up
Another handy iPhone trick is Clean Up.
It’s meant to fix those beautiful photos where someone – or something – in the background has ruined it.
Imagine you’ve snapped a perfectly framed selfie and then a tourist photobombs your pic. Awful.
With Clean Up, you can just scrub them away – and they’ll be replaced with a sensible background created using some AI guesswork.
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Alice revealed: “This lets you remove distracting background objects for your photos with just a tap, all while staying true to the original image.
“So that almost-perfect photo easily turns into your exact desired shot.”
To find it, just go to your photos, tap on the edit button, then choose the Clean Up tab and scrub out whatever you don’t want.
Like Writing Tools and Genmoji, you’ll need an Apple Intelligence-friendly device for this one.
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iPhone trick #6 – Apple Invites
Lastly, there’s a new app that you might not have heard about – but it’s extremely handy.
It’s called Apple Invites and it’s meant to help you throw a surprise party, set up drinks at the pub, or arrange a baby shower.
You can download it from the App Store, and then set up an event.
Guests can RSVP – even if they’re on an Android phone or PC – and you can issue updates too.
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And you can even set up shared pic albums and music playlists that everyone can contribute too.
“You can integrate music, photos, and it’s all brought together in one place to help you get the party started,” Alice told us.
You can also easily make a custom background pic for your invite with Image Playground (if you have an Apple Intelligence iPhone model).
Alice added: “With Image Playground you can create a unique image in seconds based on a description, a random idea or even that friend who keeps popping up in your Photos library.
“You can combine different elements, like if you want to make a birthday invite.”
Alice said you could add astronaut elements for a space fan – or something pooch-themed to show that dogs are welcome.
“You can choose photos of yourself or your friends and add to the scene, or come up with something completely new and your own using descriptions,” Alice added.
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