No Home button? No problem! Here are 10 tips and tricks for your iPhone X

iphone x tips and tricks

iPhone X offers a whole new way of interacting with your phone.

It can be a little confusing so we’re going to go through some of the top tips and tricks for iPhone X, including force-quitting apps, using Reachability, taking screenshots, adjusting various Face ID options and more.

Because it no longer has a Home button, iPhone X relies on a range of new gestures and a multi-functional Side button (formerly the Sleep/Wake button) on the right side of the device.

But first, give Andrew’s video tutorial a quick watch.

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Read on to learn how to use the new features covered in the video.

10 iPhone X tips and tricks

The video covers the following handy gestures:

  • Force-quit apps: Upon entering the app switcher (swipe up from the bottom of the display, then pause), tap and hold any card until the minus sign appears. Tap the minus sign or simply swipe the card up to force-quit the app. Pro tip: you can even swipe with multiple fingers to force-quit multiple apps at once.
  • Force-restart: To force-restart your iPhone X, first press and quickly release the Volume Up button, then press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Now hold the Side button and keep holding it after the screen goes dark until the Apple logo appears.
  • Power off: To restart your iPhone X, press and hold the Side button and either the Volume Up or Volume Down button at the same time until the “Slide to Power Off” slider appears, then slide to power off the phone. If you tap Cancel to exit this screen, Face ID will be temporarily disabled until you type in your passcode. Alternatively, go to Settings → General and choose the Shut Down option to power off the phone.
  • Fast charge – To charge your iPhone faster than the included 5W power brick or wireless charging allows, use Apple’s 29W, 61W or 87W USB-C charger, or a compatible third-party USB-C charger, in conjunction with a Lightning to USB-C cable from Apple. Pro tip: save at least $74 and use your iPad charger instead.
  • Turn off Attention Awareness: To unlock your iPhone X with your eyes closed or without having to stare at it directly, go to Settings → Face ID & Passcode and slide the toggle Require Attention for Face ID to the OFF position. Pro tip: this will also increase your Face ID success rate.
  • Control which apps use Face ID: Go to Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Other Apps to see the list of apps installed on your iPhone X which have asked for permission to use Face ID, then enable or disable individual apps.
  • Show battery percentage: Due to the notch, there’s no room to permanently display the battery percentage indicator in the status bar of your iPhone X. However, you can get a numerical readout of the remaining battery power when you connect the phone to power, enter Control Center or ask Siri how much battery you have remaining.
  • Switch between apps: To quickly go to the previous app, swipe right on the Home indicator. Swiping left takes you to the adjacent app. Pro tip: use the app switcher (swipe up from the bottom edge of the display slightly, then pause) to switch to a recently used app that hasn’t been active in a while.
  • Take screenshots: To take a screenshot with your iPhone X, press and hold the Side button and immediately press and release the Volume Up button.
  • Use Reachability: Just swipe down on the bottom edge of the Home indicator or swipe up and down quickly from the bottom edge of the display to bring the top of the screen into reach. You must first enable Reachability in Settings → General → Accessibility.

There are many other iPhone X tricks that our future tutorials will highlight. For now, the tips highlighted above will help you make the most out of your brand new iPhone X.