8 Annoying iPhone Features with Surprising Tips to Fix Them
There's the iPhone certainly has some great features that make your life easier in many ways. You can even use your iPhone without touching it, thanks to Siri.
And every year, Apple keeps improving it to make it even better in both the software and hardware departments.
Yet, that doesn't mean it's perfect. There are still many features that most of us probably find annoying. Whether it's because they're not done properly or just because we don't like using them at certain times.
Fortunately, the iPhone lets you change its settings so you can get rid of most of the features you find annoying. Continue reading to browse a few such iPhone features you might want to eliminate.
Picture-in-Picture Starts Automatically
There were times when we begged to have Picture-in-Picture, or PiP for short, on our iPhones. Having the ability to keep watching a show while you're surfing the web or using other apps is what multitasking on iPhone is all about.
However, PiP can get annoying when you don't want to use it. Say you're watching Netflix, and you decide to exit the show or movie and do something else, and Netflix will keep playing automatically and cover your screen, which can sometimes be annoying.
Fortunately, you can turn it off like this:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and select General.
- Tap on Picture in Picture.
- Toggle Start PiP Automatically off.
If you miss using PiP, you can repeat the same steps and turn this feature on again.
FaceTime Does Weird Eye Contact
FaceTime has become really useful in the last few years, and it's partly thanks to all the features Apple's added to the app.
One of those features lets FaceTime adjust your eyes automatically. Yes, it sounds weird, but this feature uses AI technology to make it look like you keep eye contact with the person you're talking to. Even though it sounds cool, sometimes it might make you look weird too, and not to mention it's a bit creepy.
Here's how to turn this feature off.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and select FaceTime.
- Scroll down again and disable Eye Contact.
You Get Reminders on All your Apple Devices
If you have a lot of Apple devices, you probably know how annoying it is to get a reminder. If you set a reminder on your iPhone, for example, your Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch will all remind you at the same time. This is both useful and annoying.
If you're a forgetful person, and you don't carry your Apple devices with you everywhere, this feature might be useful. For the rest of us, it's best to turn it off for our peace of mind.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on your Apple ID. It's your name located at the top of the Settings.
- Select iCloud.
- Scroll down and disable Reminders.
- Tap on Delete from my iPhone to delete all iCloud reminders
Now, the next time you make a reminder, it won't notify you on all your devices. If you miss being reminded on all your Apple devices, you can always turn this feature back on.
You Get Notifications from Muted Conversations
Using iMessage is a pretty easy way to connect with friends, family, and even coworkers from your iPhone. With that said, getting so many notifications can be annoying, especially if you're part of a lot of group chats.
You can always mute your conversations, but you'll still get a notification if someone mentions you in a message. Fortunately, you can also disable this feature, so you won't be bothered again.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and go to Messages.
- Scroll down again and toggle Notify Me off.
Now, the next time you're mentioned, you won't get any notifications. You can repeat the same steps if you want to get notified again.
Your iPhone Opens the Camera from the Locked Screen
Dealing with the Camera app from your Locked Screen can be a bit annoying. Maybe you just wanted to scroll through your notifications, and you ended up taking a photo instead.
The good news is that you can disable this feature, and the bad news is that doing so means you'll disable the Camera app completely. Still, if you don't like taking many pictures, this might be the right solution for you.
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll down and select Screen Time.
- Tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Select Allowed Apps.
- Toggle Camera off.
That's it! You won't have access to the Camera app from your Locked Screen (or anywhere else). If you need to take a picture, you can repeat the same steps and enable the Camera app again.
Live Text Gets in the Way
Live Text is one of the coolest iPhone features Apple's recently introduced.
This feature lets you grab the text in any picture and use it as a normal text. You don't have to type a phone number ever again; you can just call from a picture.
However, if all you want is to look at your photos or take a picture, sometimes Live Text might get in the way. You can disable this feature if you want, so it doesn't bother you anymore.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and select General.
- Tap on Language & Region.
- Toggle Live Text off.
That'll get rid of Live Text in the Photos app. However, you'll still be able to use it in the Camera app. Don't worry; you can disable it too.
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll down and select Camera.
- Toggle Show Detected Text off.
And that's it! No more Live Text, and you can always repeat these steps whenever you need Live Text again.
You Get a Lot of Notifications
In today's world, it's easy to get distracted by so many notifications. Whether it's emails, messages, or silly apps and games, you're always getting a notification on your iPhone. Apple knows this and created a feature to let you focus on what's important.
Enter Scheduled Summary. This feature will let you create schedules for when you want to be notified of everything. You'll get notifications in a nice-looking summary where you'll see every notification in the best order your iPhone thinks you'll like.
Here's how to use this feature:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select Notifications.
- Tap on Scheduled Summary.
- Turn on Scheduled Summary.
- Create the schedules you want.
You'll only see notifications in the schedules you created. Keep in mind that time-sensitive notifications will still go through even if you have this feature on.
The Safari Address Bar Is in the Wrong Place
A lot of people like the address bar at the top. Not only is it the way we're more used to using it, but it doesn't get in the way when you're scrolling down on a web page.
Fortunately, you can change the address bar back to the top where it used to be.
- Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
- Tap the Aa button located on the left side of the address bar.
- Tap on Show Top Address Bar.