Your iPhone’s Control Centre gives you quick access to system features, apps, and shortcuts, and the default layout of the Control Centre gives you access to system toggles, music playback, screen mirroring, timer, and more. But did you know, there’s a hidden treasure trove of features and shortcuts that you can add to the Control Centre, like screen recording, quick note, or a QR code scanner?
How to add toggles to your iPhone Control Centre
Adding or removing toggles to the Control Centre is easy: Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone, and go to “Control Centre.” Scroll down and tap the Plus button next to a toggle that you want to add (Apple calls them “controls”). The control will be added to the section at the top. You can use the three-lined Handle icon to rearrange control however you like. Now let’s take a look at the controls that you should add to your iPhone Control Centre.
Get faster access to turning Dark Mode on and off
Love using dark mode? Don’t want to go into Settings every time you want to turn it on? Just add the Dark mode toggle. It’s a simple, one-press toggle that will enable or disable the Dark mode.
Use a fully functional Apple TV remote
Can’t find the Siri Remote for the Apple TV? Forget about looking under the cushions and use the Apple TV control in the Control Centre. It gives you a full-fledged remote interface with the touchpad, menu, playback controls, and wake/sleep functionality.
Enable a QR code scanner that automatically opens links
iPhone’s Camera app has a built-in QR code scanner, but it’s not automatic — you still have to tap on the notification to open the link from the QR code. The Code Scanner toggle takes care of that issue. Tap the Code Scanner control, point it at a QR code, and your iPhone will automatically open the link in the designated app.
Replace your HomeKit section with a single Home control
The Control Centre has a section for HomeKit accessories (that you can disable from the Control Centre section in Settings), but it takes up too much space. Instead, add the single Home control that will expand to show all your HomeKit connected devices and accessories.
Access the specialised magnifier
The Magnifier is another hidden secret of the iPhone (it’s available as an app in iOS 15 and higher). Using this control, you can open a specialised camera interface that will let you quickly zoom in on the subject (up to 10X).
Shazam a song before you miss it
Your iPhone has Shazam music recognition built-in. All you have to do is to tap the Shazam icon in the Control Centre and let your iPhone do its thing. Once the song is recognised, you’ll get a notification, and you can tap on the notification to open the Shazam page for the song in the browser. Want to listen to the song on Apple Music? Tap and hold the notification to reveal the option.
Find your notes faster and easier
By default, tapping the Notes control in the Control Centre will open the recently viewed note in the Notes app. But you can go to Settings > Notes > Access Notes from Lock Screen option to customise this feature. You can choose to always create a new note, or resume a note that was created on the lock screen. If you tap and hold the Notes control, you’ll see options to create a new note, checklist, note with a photo, or scan a new document.
Access one-tap screen recording, plus audio
The Screen Recording control gives you access to a one-tap screen recording feature. Just tap the toggle to start the recording. Once you’re done, tap the pill icon in the top toolbar to stop and the recording will be saved in the Photos app. If you want to record audio as well, tap and hold the Screen Recording control, and enable the Microphone option.
Turn on Live Listen for your AirPods to hear better
The Hearing control gives you quick access to the Live Listen and Background Sounds feature (iOS 15 and higher). Live Listen is an accessibility feature for AirPods that helps you hear conversations in loud environments. Background Sounds feature lets you listen to sounds like Ocean, Rain, Stream, Balanced Noise, Bright Noise, and Dark Noise.
Hear your AirPod notifications only when you want
The Announce Notifications features for AirPods (available in iOS 15 and later) is a great way to hear notifications and messages without touching your iPhone, but there might be times when you want to temporarily stop or disable the feature. The Announce Notifications toggle will let you quickly disable it. You can tap and hold the control to turn it off just for an hour, or for the day.
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