iPhone:
Quick settings
This animated course teaches how to use the iPhone's Control Centre to let you quickly access some of the phone's most useful settings, including volume, screen brightness, Wi-Fi, mobile data, torch and the code scanner.
Watch our animation by pressing the Play button below, or click on the handy chapters icon in the video playbar (it is the third icon from the right) to go straight to the information you want to see, such as how to:
- access the Control Centre
- adjust brightness and volume
- manage wireless connections
- use your phone as a torch
- add features to the Control Centre for quick access.
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Transcript
Welcome to the 'iPhone: Quick settings' course. We'll look at how the Control Centre lets you quickly access some of your iPhone's most useful settings, including volume, screen brightness, your Wi-Fi and mobile data connections and the phone's Code Scanner feature. If your iPhone has a physical Home button, some of the steps might be slightly different, but you can still follow along.
The Control Centre collects many of your phone's commonly used features in one place, so you don't need to search for them. It's a handy feature, so let's look at how you can make use of it. You should know that you can open the Control Centre any time, whether you're in an app, on a phone call or on a website. For this demonstration, we'll open it from the Home screen. The way to access the Control Centre depends on your iPhone model. On an iPhone with a physical Home button, you reveal the menu by swiping your finger up from the bottom of the screen. On an iPhone model that doesn't have a physical home button, you swipe down from the top right. The swipe should always begin with your finger in the bezel, which is the area that surrounds the screen. For this demonstration, we'll be swiping down from the top right of the screen. Regardless of the iPhone model, you can close the Control Centre by tapping anywhere outside of the icon area.
You can also access the Control Centre from the Settings app on the Home screen. You'll learn how to do this later in the video. The Control Centre shows icons for a range of settings and features. It might look a bit different on your iPhone, but you'll still be able to follow along. There's a lot to take in on this screen, so let's look at some of the most useful features, starting with screen brightness and volume. Two of the first things you'll notice in the Control Centre are the large sliders. One controls the brightness of the screen. Place your finger on the white section and slide it down to dim the screen. This is a handy way to save battery power. Slide your finger up to increase brightness. This can help make the screen easier to read in bright sunshine. When you find the brightness level that suits you, take your finger off to set it. The volume slider controls the loudness of music and videos played on your phone. Place your finger in the white section and slide it up to increase the volume, and down to decrease it. Sliding it all the way down mutes the sound, which can be useful when you don't want to be disturbed by calls or message alerts. When you find a level you're happy with, take your finger off to set it.
At the top left of the Control Centre you'll see a group of icons that control your iPhone's wireless connections, including the way you connect to the internet. You can turn a feature on and off by tapping its icon. This blue icon is on. Tap it once to turn it off. When the icons are turned off, they will show as grey or white. Tap it again, to turn it back on. Let's look at each of the icons in turn. The Wi-Fi icon lets your iPhone connect to the internet over your home Wi-Fi or a free public Wi-Fi network. If you tap and press the Wi-Fi icon, this area will expand to reveal more details, including the name of the network you are connected to. Tap anywhere outside this dark-grey area to return to the Control Centre. Free public Wi-Fi can be less secure than your home Wi-Fi, so don't use it for banking or other activities that require your personal details. When you're out of range of your home Wi-Fi, turning the Mobile Data icon on lets your iPhone access the internet via the mobile phone network, so you can always be connected. The Aeroplane Mode icon turns off Wi-Fi and mobile network access, meaning the iPhone cannot send or receive calls and texts, or access the internet. It's important to know this as you may be asked to turn on Aeroplane Mode when you take a flight. It's also useful if you don't want to be connected to the internet, such when you want to use your phone only as a camera. This is the Bluetooth icon. If you have set up your iPhone to make handsfree phone calls through your car's speakers, this icon shows whether Bluetooth is switched on or off.
The Torch icon is very handy. It turns on your phone's LED camera flash, which you can use as a very bright light. As long as you have your phone, you need never be stuck in the dark! To adjust the brightness of the light, tap and hold the icon until the bar appears. With your finger, slide up the bar to increase the brightness and down to decrease it. Tap the screen anywhere outside of the bar to return to the Control Centre. Now, let's learn how to customise the features that appear in your Control Centre. You do this from the Settings app, so swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return to the Home screen. Then tap the Settings app to open it. Look down the list until you see Control Centre, then tap on it.
The features that are already included in your Control Centre appear first. Tapping the red minus symbol next to each feature will remove the feature from the Control Centre. Scroll down to see a list of features you can add to your Control Centre. Let's add one now. The Code Scanner lets you use your iPhone's camera to scan QR codes. These provide convenient links to websites, apps and tickets, and help you do things such as check in to venues, access Wi-Fi in public places, view menus at cafes, and more. Tap on the green plus symbol to add the Code Scanner to your Control Centre. You'll notice that its icon disappears from the list. Scroll back up, however, and you will see the icon is now in the list of features included in your Control Centre. To check that the Code Scanner has been added, swipe down from the top right of the screen, being careful to start with your finger in the bezel, which is the area that surrounds the screen. The Control Centre will appear, with the Code Scanner icon. You can tap it to test it out later, but for now, tap anywhere outside the icon area to return to the Settings screen, and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go to the Home screen.
You have now completed the course and learned how to find and use some your iPhone's Control Centre features. If you're unsure about any steps, you can rewind the video, or click the chapter headings to jump to the start of a chapter. If you're ready to move on, there are many other courses to explore on Be Connected!