Unless you are menu diving it is easy to miss the fact that you can customise the Control Centre screen. The default set is great, but there are so many other little apps that you can enable that are genuinely useful to be able to get to quickly.
How to Change the Default Set
To customise click Settings>Control Centre>Customise Controls. It’s split into two parts for those which are shown and those that are not. Click the minus sign next to an item in the Include section to remove it or click the plus button next to an item in More Controls to add it.
Rearrange the Order of Items Displayed in the Control Centre
If you press and drag on the three stacked lines icon next to an included item you can rearrange the order in which the icons are displayed on the Control Centre screen.
Some of our personal favourites are the Alarm, Apple TV Remote and Notes, but there are many that help with accessibility as well. Below is a list of the available controls and their function.
- Accessibility Shortcuts - Allows you to quickly and easily toggle on and off accessibility features like Voice Control, Invert Colours and Assistive Touch once configured.
- Alarm - opens the Clock app at the alarm section.
- Apple TV Remote - opens a remote that allows you to control any Apple TV (4th and 5th Gen) on the network.
- Calculator - opens the Calculator app.
- Camera - opens the Camera app.
- Dark Mode - toggles Dark Mode on and off.
- Do Not Disturb While Driving - allows you to enable the Do Not Disturb mode on the phone whilst you are driving.
- Guided Access - allows you to enable Guided Access, a mode which allows you to choose a single app to keep the device in, along with controlling the features that are available.
- Hearing - for use with Made for iPhone hearing aids.
- Home - opens up the Home app for using your Homekit enabled Smart devices.
- Low Power Mode - A toggle for enabling and disabling the low power mode on the device.
- Magnifier - turns your iPhone into a magnifying glass allowing you to see details up close and take a still frame.
- Notes - opens the Notes app.
- QR Code Reader - opens a QR code reader that allows you to scan QR codes (square shaped bar codes that typically take you to a web address.
- Screen Recording - allows you to record what you are doing on the phone and creates a video that is put in your photos library.
- Stopwatch - opens the Clock app on the stopwatch page.
- Text Size - allows you to adjust the size of the font used in the general interface of the OS.
- Torch - allows you to use the iPhones flash as a torch.
- Voice Memos - opens up the Voice Memos app ready for a new recording.
- Wallet - opens up your Wallet app so that you can see your saved cards and tickets.
Accesing Extra Functionality for Each Control Centre Item
The icons are also 3D Touch/Long Press aware so that you can quickly access other functionality for that App. For instance if you activate the 3D Touch/Long Press on the Notes icon you get a pop up menu that allows you to write a New Note, Create a New Checklist, Add a Photo to a note or Scan a document.
To Access your control centre swipe up from the bottom of the screen for iPhones with a home button, or down from the top right hand corner for iPhones with FaceID or iPads.