These days, making sure you have your phone handy while you travel is just as essential as making sure you’ve packed your underwear and toothbrush. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that it’s even more useful considering the array of features your phone has to offer.
With an iPhone – one of the versions The best phones About – this is certainly the case. In addition to a great camera for capturing the great memories you’ll make, and a Wallet app for your essential documents, the iPhone has many tricks that make it a great travel companion, some of which you may have simply missed.
In this list of 9 hidden iPhone features for travelers, we take a look at the underappreciated gadgets, tricks, and hacks that everyone who travels or vacations should know. By taking advantage of them, your iPhone should last longer between trips and you’ll be able to navigate, communicate, and get to know others more easily.
Here are 9 hidden iPhone features that everyone should know before they travel.
9 Hidden iPhone Features Every Traveler Should Know
Note: To make sure we are all on the same page, make sure your device is running the latest iOS version by learning How to update iPhone.
1. Track flights
(Photo: © Future)
The ability to track flights certainly comes in handy. Maybe you’re on your travels and a friend is looking to join you – since phones have to be on airplane mode when flying, a flight tracker will tell you exactly where the plane is in the sky and if there are delays without anyone present. The board needs to email you.
But here’s the good news: You don’t need to mess around with downloading an airline app. The iPhone allows you to make use of the Messages app instead and getting live locations, flight details, and takeoff/landing times is very easy.
First of all, you need Get the flight number. Once you get it, Launch messagesAnd Enter the flight number in the textAnd Enter your phone number in the To field And Click Submit. You will then receive a message. Click on the flight number And Select Trip Preview.
Full guide: How to track flights on iPhone
2. Use the interactive weather map
(Photo: © Future)
As long as you have iOS 15 or later, you can take advantage of the iPhone’s built-in weather map. It allows you to view the current temperature in locations around the world, compare air quality levels and view precipitation forecasts for the next 12 hours. You’ll even be able to see the movement of those eerie rain clouds – and watch where you hopefully miss your current location. This is great for knowing the weather where you are going to land.
Simply Launch the weather app And Select the map icon in the lower left corner to temperature display. then Click on the stacked squares icon in the upper right Switch to air quality or Select precipitation. When choosing the latter, Use the scroll bar to scroll though the precipitation forecast for the next 12 hours.
Full guide: How to access your iPhone’s hidden interactive weather map
3. Share location
(Photo: © Future)
If you want to let someone you’re traveling with know exactly where you are and where to find you, it’s a good idea to use a location sharing tool. It’s part of the Find My app so you don’t need to download anything new.
Launch the Find My app And Select the People tab. then Click on the + icon in the window at the bottom of the screen and Choose Share my location from the list. now Choose who you want to share your location with And Click Submit.
Full guide: How to share location on iPhone using Find My
4. Send your location via satellite
(Photo: © Future)
Likewise, if you’re in a tough situation outside and you don’t have cellular or Wi-Fi access, you don’t have to worry. If you have an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, you can share your location via satellite instead. (Although you will have to set up your device before you find yourself in an empty cellular/Wi-Fi area.)
Open the Find My appAnd Click on the Me tab And Turn on Share my location. then Add contacts You want to share your location with him. Now, when you’re in a location with no cellular coverage or Wi-Fi, go back to this screen and Select Submit my location In my satellite location section.
5. Translate a foreign text
(Photo: © Future)
One of the most exciting things about traveling is encountering different languages - but it can also be very daunting. Hungry but not sure what’s on the menu? Got lost but can’t figure out what the signs say? Are you trying to buy a ticket and worried you’ll end up a million miles from your destination? Imagine how great it would be to have a translator on hand. Well imagine no more.
Open the Camera app And Point the camera at the text you want to translate. When a yellow box appears around it, Click on the Live Text icon. now Drag and click any text or Choose Select All. Just Click Translate And hey, presto, you can now read the words in English.
Full guide: How to translate text on iPhone
6. Use visual search
(Photo: © Future)
When you are traveling, you will take a lot of shots with your iPhone camera. But did you know that you can use the Photos app to identify different objects in your photos? It is possible to search visually for landmarks, plants and even animals (this will certainly come in handy in Australia!). And it only takes a few seconds!
to get a teacher, Open the Photos appAnd view photo And Click on the i icon at the bottom of the screen. when you’re next Click on LandmarkThe app will give you information about it, including a map of its location and similar images from the web. For plants and animals, again, Open the Photos app But this time when I was view photoAnd Swipe up And Click Search rather for details of what they could be.
Complete guides: How to recognize landmarks on iPhoneAnd How to identify plants on iPhoneAnd How to identify dog breed on iPhone
7. Charge your iPhone faster
(Photo: © Future)
Having a boosted iPhone is essential while traveling. In addition to being able to take pictures, you’ll need your phone to deliver emergencies, access various documents, and pay for things. But what if your battery is running low and you need to charge as much as you can in a short period of time? Help is at hand.
Go to the Settings app And Set your iPhone to Airplane mode. If you still want to use your device, leave Airplane Mode off but scroll down and Click on the battery then Turn on low power mode instead of. to charge faster, Activate Airplane Mode and Low Power Mode at the same time.
Full guide: Charge your iPhone faster with these two settings
8. Make your battery last longer
(Photo: © Future)
Making sure your battery doesn’t drain prematurely means you won’t need to charge your iPhone as often. You can switch to Low Power Mode like in the example above, but that’s not the only trick up your sleeve. By turning off background refresh, you will ensure that your apps are not constantly refreshing when you are not using them.
For this, Launch the Settings app And Select General. then Click Background App Refresh. You can Click Background App Refresh And Select Off if you want. Or you can Use the keys To prevent individual apps from updating – only Select the ones you don’t want to be active in this way.
Full guide: How to turn off background refresh on iPhone
9. How to enable crash detection
(Photo: © Future)
Now, this is a feature you hope you never need to use, but if you’re in the event of a fall or collision, it could help save your life. By activating crash detection, the authorities will be alerted if you are involved in an accident. However, you will need an iPhone 14, including the Pro and Pro Max) for this to work.
Launch the Settings app And Click SOS emergency then Turn on the connection after a serious breakdown. There are some circumstances when you may not want it to be on, such as when you are on a ski slope, so you may want to follow the same steps to turn it back on.
Full guide: How to enable and disable crash detection on iPhone
For more iPhone tutorials, be sure to check out our other guides including How to set a route with multiple stops in iOS 16 MapsAnd How to change the time on iPhone And How to connect AirPods to your iPhone or iPad Perfect for when you want to relax in a world of your own.
