The iPhone 15 was recently released by Apple and it comes packed with a ton of new features and capabilities. While Apple loudly touted many of the phone’s upgrades like the new dual camera system, faster A17 processor, and satellite emergency SOS, there are also some more subtle yet highly useful hidden features on the iPhone 15 that you may not know about. In this article, we’ll highlight some of the best hidden features on the iPhone 15 that you should take advantage of.
Dynamic Island In iPhone 15
One of the most notable new features on the iPhone 15 is the Dynamic Island, which replaces the notch at the top of the display. Apple hyped up the Dynamic Island a lot during their keynote, but there are some hidden capabilities it offers beyond housing the front camera and Face ID sensors. For example, you can long press the Dynamic Island to quickly access system controls like Do Not Disturb and Airplane mode. The Dynamic Island also visually expands to display alerts, notifications, and active background activities in unique ways, like showing a timer countdown right on the island itself.
One hidden feature is that you can actually long press the Dynamic Island when music is playing to bring up playback controls to pause your music or skip tracks. Overall, the Dynamic Island introduces new multitasking capabilities not possible before by making better use of the top display area.
Enhanced iMessage For iPhone 15
Apple made upgrades to iMessage beyond adding the ability to edit and undo sent messages. There is now a new Photo picker in iMessage that uses Apple’s intelligent search capabilities to find and recommend photos and videos to send based on people in the images, locations, objects, and text identified.
You can also add filters, stickers, and captions easier now right from the Photos picker interface. Finally, a hidden feature within the upgraded iMessage is the ability to send a collaboration invitation, so you can jointly edit images or documents with multiple people right in iMessage in real time.
Intelligent Search In iPhone 15
The new Photographic Styles feature that lets you apply custom looks to your photos hides the introduction of intelligent search to the Photos app. You can now search your photo library using text queries like “photos from Vancouver last summer” or “sunsets with Jennifer”. This natural language search capability helps you rediscover and find photos in your large libraries much more easily.
The same concept extends to Spotlight search, which can now understand and answer complex multi-part queries on the fly without having to open different apps. For example, you can ask Siri “how’s the weather this weekend in Lake Tahoe?” and it will show you the forecast, rather than just launching the Weather app for that location. Intelligent search aims to provide answers and information faster using AI.
Fitness Tracking Improvements For iPhone 15
The iPhone 15 lineup introduces a new low-power GPS chip that enables more accurate real-time tracking for runs and rides without draining battery life as quickly. This dual GPS system allows fitness apps to precisely track your routes and pace even in dense urban areas where buildings can interfere with normal GPS.
For runners, there is a new Running Power metric available that can detect your running power or wattage to help optimize pacing and technique. This data point was previously only found on advanced running watches and is useful for interval training. The iPhone 15 lineup also includes improved gyrometer and accelerometer sensors to detect more exercise motions for tracking overall calorie burn more accurately.
Emergency SOS Via Satellite For iPhone 15
One of the most publicized features on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 is the ability to connect to satellites to send emergency messages when you are outside of cellular or WiFi coverage. However, some hidden capabilities of this feature include the ability to update your location on Find My app over satellite as well when offline.
You can also utilize satellite connections on iPhone 15 to send and receive short text messages offline when needed to briefly communicate your situation or that you are okay. While meant primarily for emergencies, having basic texting via satellite as an option greatly expands the usefulness of the connectivity.
Display & Camera Improvements For iPhone 15
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models include an upgraded “Always-On Display” that shows your lock screen dimly when the phone is idle. But most people don’t know that you can tap on the Always-On display to access widgets like weather, calendar, alarms, time zones, and battery level without having to unlock your phone. This makes it faster to glance at important info.
The main camera on the iPhone 15 sees improvements like a larger sensor and wider aperture to capture more light and detail. But the selfie camera gains auto-focus capabilities for the first time, allowing for sharper photos and videos. You also get the new Photographic Styles feature on the selfie camera so you can apply your preferred look to your face on the fly before taking a shot.
Final Thoughts For iPhone 15
While Apple touted many of the major upgrades coming to the iPhone 15 lineup, there are a variety of helpful hidden features that aren’t necessarily obvious at first glance. From leveraging the Dynamic Island for music playback, to enhanced search intelligence in apps, to granular fitness tracking data, the iPhone 15 has much more going on under the hood than Apple had time to mention.
With the iPhone 15, Apple focused on making your everyday tasks faster, easier and smarter using technology like Live Activities, satellite connectivity and the power efficiency of the A17 Bionic chip. Exploring all of the little upgrades throughout the interface and apps will help you fully appreciate just how advanced the iPhone 15 truly is. The more you use the phone, the more handy shortcuts, controls, and capabilities you’ll discover.
