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11 Hidden Features On Your iPhone

ios7embedPhoto: Courtesy of Apple.
You've had several weeks now to kick the wheels on iOS 7. Have you really discovered its true potential yet? We've already explained how to disable the nausea-inducing zoom effects. But the operating system is loaded with other surprising functions you may not know about. Some are more useful than others, of course. Check them out below.

1. Burst Mode

Forget about repeatedly clicking to get that perfect shot. Shoot multiple photos at once by clicking and holding the up-volume button while you're in the Camera app.

2. Banish Notifications

When you get a new notification, you can swipe to the right to open the appropriate app. But to get rid of it entirely, you can just swipe upward.

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3. Vibration, As You Like It

Tired of the same old thrum? Go to Settings > Sounds > Ringtone > Vibration. You can pick the creepy Heartbeat pattern or the overly emphatic Symphony, or click on Create New Vibration and tap in your own custom vibration pattern.

4. Use Your Head

Take advantage of the iPhone's face-detection technology and rig it to operate with a nod. Designed for people with limited mobility, the Switches feature allows you to assign tasks to physical gestures. Head to Settings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control and turn it on. Add a switch from the Camera option and choose either Left Head Movement or Right Head Movement or both, and assign a function to each.

5. Flash It

Another function under the Accessibility menu, LED Flash for Alerts sets up your phone to blink your flashlight on and off every time you get any kind of alarm or notification.

6. Check the Time

Want to know exactly what time you sent that text? Swipe the message bubble to the left to see its timestamp.

7. Send Siri to School

If your digital helper is having a hard time pronouncing a name, simply tell Siri, "That's not how you pronounce that." You'll then be lead through a brief test in which you pronounce things as Siri should.

8. Level Out

Never shell out for a level app again. Open up the Compass app and swipe to its second page, where a minimalist bubble level awaits you and your uneven desk.

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9. Keep Prying Eyes Away

Hide from data snoops — i.e., advertisers — that target your device and remember its Unique Identification Number (UID). Head to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and switch the Limit Ad Tracking toggle on.

10. Contain Everything

While folders were introduced to iOS a couple of versions back, they've always had a strange limit on the number of apps you can put inside them. Now you can pile dozens of apps into one place, if needed, or even create one single folder for every app.

11. Up Your App Game

Not only can you automatically have your apps update (go to the Settings menu for the App Store), but iOS 7 also allows you to selectively control which apps are allowed to refresh their content in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh to stop big content apps from sucking down data and battery life.

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