Shocked iPhone owners ask ‘you can do that?!’ after fan shares hidden button trick that solves common Netflix headache
APPLE fans were left amazed after an iPhone owner shared a genius trick that’s especially useful if you use apps like Netflix.
It’ll take a few seconds to set up, but it’s really handy if you regularly watch video on your iPhone.
The trick takes advantage of Apple’s Shortcuts feature, which lets you create your own automated tricks on iPhone.
One user asked: “What are the coolest things you can do with Shortcuts? I’ve had an iPhone for years now, 14 Pro currently, but I’ve never taken advantage of shortcuts. I’m wondering what you can really do with it?”
And another revealed how they’d set their iPhone up to perform a handy function triggered by Netflix.
The reply, which earned over 100 upvotes, reads: “Shortcut that automatically turns off Orientation Lock when I open an app to watch something (like Netflix) and then turns it back on when I exit the app.”
Orientation Lock is a feature that prevents your iPhone from switching between portrait and landscape views.
People often want it kept on (to stop annoying orientation switching), but that can make viewing video difficult.
In some apps, video won’t go landscape unless you turn Orientation Lock off.
Others (like Netflix or YouTube) might default to landscape and refuse to switch to portrait.
So this user created a Shortcut that automatically turns it off when viewing a video app – and switches it back on when they exit the app.
Other iPhone owners were impressed by the idea, with one shocked fan replying: “You can….. you can do that?!
“I usually keep my phone locked from switching orientation because when I wake up and look on my phone it always messes me up.
“This is good to know!”
HOW TO CREATE AN IPHONE SHORTCUT
Setting up a custom Shortcut is easy.
Just go to the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and tap on the + (plus) symbol in the top-right of the screen.
You can then select New Shortcut, choose a name, tap Done, and then add actions.
Once you’ve finished your Shortcut, tap Done and it’ll join your Shortcuts collection
For the Shortcut in this example, you’ll want to Set Orientation Lock to Off when an app of your choice is opened – or vice versa.
And then you can create a second Shortcut that does the opposite when the app is closed.
If you don’t want to rely on Shortcuts, there’s another option that you might want to try.
You can go into Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap, and set Lock Rotation to either Double Tap or Triple Tap.
Then you can tap twice (or three times if you picked Triple Tap) on the back of your iPhone to quickly adjust Lock Rotation.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best...
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
If you find yourself doing this too easily then it might be worth choosing Triple Tap over Double Tap.
And remember: you can turn this setting off at any time if you decide that you don’t like it.
Similarly, you can delete a Shortcut whenever you like if you find that you’re not getting on well with it.