If you’ve owned iPhones since the days of the home button, you probably think you know every gesture there is. A Reddit thread making the rounds this week suggests otherwise. Plenty of longtime users admitted they’d never tried half of the shortcuts in it, and UNILAD Tech rounded up six of the best.
None of them need an app or a settings change. They’re built into iOS and have been for years. I tested every one on an iPhone running iOS 27, and below you’ll find exactly how each works, which models support it, and a couple of extras worth adding to your muscle memory.
The six tricks at a glance
- Number drag: hold 123 and slide to a digit.
- Three-finger undo: swipe left to undo, right to redo.
- QuickTake video: hold the shutter in Photo mode.
- Dimmable flashlight: long-press the flashlight in Control Center.
- App flicking: swipe along the bottom bar.
- Find on page: type in Safari’s address bar and pick “On This Page.”
1. Type a number without switching keyboards
The usual way to type a digit takes three taps: hit 123, tap the number, then tap ABC to go back. There’s a faster way. Press and hold the 123 key, slide your finger to the number or symbol you want, and let go. The character is entered and the keyboard snaps straight back to letters on its own.
Once this clicks, you’ll use it for times, prices and street numbers constantly. It also works with the shift key: hold shift, slide to a letter, release, and you get a single capital without turning caps lock on.
2. Undo and redo with three fingers
Shake to Undo still exists, but it’s clumsy and easy to trigger by accident. Instead, swipe left with three fingers anywhere in a text field to undo, and swipe right with three fingers to redo. A quick double-tap with three fingers also undoes. You’ll see a small “Undo” or “Redo” label flash at the top of the screen to confirm it worked.
If Shake to Undo keeps popping up when you’re walking, you can turn it off in Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Shake to Undo. The three-finger gestures keep working either way.
3. Record video without leaving Photo mode
Apple calls this QuickTake. In the Camera app’s Photo mode, press and hold the shutter button and it starts recording video right away. Let go and it stops. To keep recording hands-free, slide the shutter to the right onto the lock icon. Slide it left instead and you’ll get a burst of photos.
This is the one I’d tell every parent and pet owner about. The moment you’d miss while swiping over to Video mode is exactly the moment QuickTake catches. If you want more on Apple’s camera layout, we covered what changed in the iOS 26 Camera app redesign and how to find things in it.
4. Dim your flashlight
Open Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner), then press and hold the flashlight icon. A tall slider appears with several brightness levels. Drag it down for a softer beam that won’t light up the whole bedroom, or all the way up when you’re digging around under a car seat.
On iPhones with the Dynamic Island, the flashlight controls also appear at the top of the screen when it’s on, where you can swipe to adjust brightness and beam width without opening Control Center at all.
5. Flick between recent apps
On any iPhone with Face ID, there’s a thin bar at the bottom of the screen. Swipe left or right along that bar and you’ll jump straight to the previous or next app you used, no app switcher required. It’s perfect for copying a code from Messages into a banking app, or bouncing between Maps and a text thread.
On iPhones with a home button, you’ll still need to double-press the button to bring up the app switcher.
6. Search inside a web page in Safari
Scrolling through a long article to find one word is a waste of time. In Safari, tap the address bar, type the word you’re looking for, then scroll down the suggestions to the On This Page section and tap the match. Safari highlights every instance and gives you arrows to jump between them.
Prefer menus? You can also tap the share or more button and choose Find on Page. And if your real problem with long pages is clutter, here’s how to block ads in Safari on iPhone.
How many taps each trick saves
Most of these save just a step or two. That doesn’t sound like much until you count how many times a day you type a number or switch apps.
Which iPhones support each trick
| Trick | Where | Works on |
|---|---|---|
| Number drag | Any keyboard | Every iPhone |
| Three-finger undo | Text fields | Every iPhone on iOS 13 or later |
| QuickTake video | Camera, Photo mode | iPhone XS, XR and later |
| Dimmable flashlight | Control Center | Every recent iPhone |
| App flicking | Bottom bar | Face ID iPhones (iPhone X and later) |
| Find on page | Safari | Every iPhone on a current iOS |
Two bonus tricks while you’re at it
- Turn the keyboard into a trackpad. Press and hold the space bar until the letters go blank, then slide your finger to move the cursor exactly where you want it. Much easier than poking at the text.
- Jump to the top of anything. Tap the very top of the screen, near the clock, and most apps scroll straight back to the top of the page, feed or conversation.
Hold 123, slide: type a number
3 fingers left/right: undo, redo
Hold shutter: instant video
Long-press flashlight: brightness
Swipe bottom bar: switch apps
Hold space bar: cursor trackpad
All six work on current software, so if something doesn’t respond the way it should, make sure you’re up to date. Our guide to what’s new in iOS 27.2 and whether you should update covers what the latest release fixes.
Sources and further reading
- UNILAD Tech: 6 iPhone hacks that will impress even those who have had an iPhone for decades
- Apple Support: Turn the iPhone flashlight on or off
- Apple Support: Turn the flashlight on or off on your iPhone or iPad Pro
About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.
