For years I’ve collected shortcuts, tips, and tricks. Experienced users may know some of them, but I think these can be especially useful for anyone new to the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. These have been test in iOS 8, but many will work in iOS 7 as well.
Typing & Text
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Quickly type a period at the end of a sentence | Double-tap the Spacebar, or press the Spacebar with two fingers at the same time. |
| Turn on Caps Lock | Double-tap the Shift key |
| Open Magnifier (Loupe) | Tap and Hold on text |
| Quickly type .com .net or .org | When typing a website address, email, etc. hold down the Period (.) button. A popup will appear with .com, .net, .edu, etc. Slide your finger to one and then release. This only works when the period is in the main ABC keyboard when the Period (.) button is next to the Spacebar, not in the 123 keyboard. |
| Type alternate character (such as é or ñ) | Hold down a letter on the keyboard. A popup will appear with various versions of the character. Slide your finger to one and then release. |
| Quickly type a single character found on the numeric 123 keyboard | Normally you switch keyboards by tapping the 123 button, typing the number/punctuation and switching back to the main keyboard by tapping the ABC button. But there’s a faster way! Instead of tapping the 123 button, press and hold it, then slide your finger to the desired character and release. You’ll be automatically switched back to the main ABC keyboard instead of remaining on the 123 keyboard. |
| Undo Typing | Shake the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch |
Safari
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Quickly scroll to top of a page (or expand the address bar) | Tap the Status bar/Time at the top of the screen. This works in other apps, not just Safari. The first tap in Safari may expand the address bar. Tap again to scroll to the top of the page. |
| Reopen recently closed tabs (shows the last 5) | iPhone: Tab the Tabs button on bottom right. Then tap and hold the plus (+) button.
iPad: Tap and hold the plus (+) button. |
| Closed all tabs | Hold the Tabs button on bottom right. Then tap Close [a number] Tabs.
|
| Zoom In | Double-Tap or Pinch Open |
| Zoom Out | Double-Tap or Pinch Closed |
| Save images | Tap and hold an image until some options appear. Tap Save Image. The downloaded image can be found in the Photo app’s Camera Roll. |
| Call a phone number from Safari | Tap the phone number and it will dial it |
| Get URL Hint | Tap and hold a link to see the URL of the linked page |
| Scrolling webpages | Use one finger to scroll the entire webpage. Use two fingers to scroll a frame on a webpage. |
Mail
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Delete Message | Swipe left across a message. If you stop when the buttons first appear, you’ll have to then tap Trash. But if you do a longer swipe, so the Trash button expands, it will immediately Trash the message with just one swipe! This often works in other apps, not just Mail. |
Phone Calls
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Stop an incoming call from ringing | Press the Sleep/Wake button |
| Send an incoming call directly to voice mail | Press the Sleep/Wake button twice |
| Redial the previous number | In the Phone app’s Keypad, when the phone number area at the top is blank, press the Call button and it will reload the previously dialed number at the top! |
Music
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Quickly access pause, volume, skip buttons, etc. while in other apps | Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center. |
Screenshots
| Task | Keystroke |
|---|
| Take a screenshot of the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch screen | Press and release the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. The screen will flash to indicate the screenshot was taken. The screenshot can be found in the Photo app’s Camera Roll. |
Earbud Clicker
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Fast forward a song | Press twice, but hold on the second press |
| Rewind a song | Press three times, but hold on the third press |
| Pause/Resume playing music | Press the center button once to pause. Press again to resume. |
| Go to next song | Press the center button twice |
| Go to previous song, or the beginning of a song if more than 3 seconds into it | Press the center button three times. (If it went to beginning of song, pinch three times again to go to previous song.) |
| Answer an incoming call | Press the center button once |
| Hang up on the current call | Press the center button once |
| Send incoming call to voicemail | Press and hold on the center button |
Quit, Reset, Etc.
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Force Quit an app | Double-tap the Home button. Apps will appear as cards. Swipe up on an app. |
| Reset/Reboot. Use if the Device locks up (is unresponsive). Only do this if it does not turn off and back on normally. | Hold the Sleep/Wake and the Home buttons at the same time for several seconds, until you see the Apple logo. |
Miscellaneous
| Task | Action/Gesture |
|---|
| Quickly scroll to the top (of a webpage, mail message, etc.) | Tap the Status bar/Time at the top of the screen. (Works in most apps.) |
| Open Spotlight page (to do a global search) | On the Home screen, swipe down. Don't swipe from the top of the screen, just grab anywhere in the middle of the screen and drag down. The Spotlight search bar will appear. |
| Start Siri (Voice Control) | Press and hold the Home button for a couple seconds and Siri will start. Speak commands such as Call John Doe Mobile and it will make call for you. |
| Force the iOS App Store to refresh | Tap any of the bottom tab icons 10 times |