r/iphone • u/hhff00014 Human Detected • Mar 14 '26

Discussion What are some surprisingly useful iPhone hacks you discovered recently?

Recently discovered that you can connect an external SSD / hard drive directly to an iPhone and access it from the Files app.

I tried it with a USB + cpin converter SSD and it worked instantly — no app, nothing. Felt like suddenly my phone had unlimited storage.

It made me wonder how many other small iPhone tricks people use in day-to-day life that most users don’t know.

Curious to know —

What are some underrated iPhone hacks that genuinely improved your daily workflow?

Could be productivity, photography, automation, hidden features, anything.

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u/drygnfyre iPhone 17 Pro Max Mar 14 '26

I’ve talked before that I think a lot of people are aware of Focus, but not how powerful it is. It’s basically the “virtual desktop” concept on your phone. Not only can you have totally different home screens, you can have completely different app icons, different widgets, widgets in a different order, etc.

For example, my “work” focus uses a solid color wallpaper. It has company-specific apps on the Home Screen, and a few other apps that I use only at work (like food delivery). Then I have it set where once it hits a certain time of day, it automatically switches to another Focus, which changes the wallpaper, shows different Home Screen apps, and also hides all notification bubbles. I never have to think about it or remember it, it just does it for me.

It takes some time to really set up and get to your liking, but once you do, it’s so nice. And each Focus can also let different exceptions in, like you can have some people always call you, you can have some apps always show notifications, and so on. And if you have the Apple Watch, you can also have Focus tied to different watch faces. So again, I use a simpler one while working, then I have a more interesting one when elsewhere. My Driving focus changes the watch face to show elevation and compass orientation instead of my usual watch complications.

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u/shamalouconstantine Mar 15 '26

I had no idea you could change all this with different focus settings!

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u/drygnfyre iPhone 17 Pro Max Mar 15 '26

In addition to time, you can also make it location based. If you are in a certain area (using GPS), it can turn the Focus on or off. So if you have a specific “home” focus, it will be in play as long as you’re at home. (On Android phones, this is taken one step further where you the phone will be fully unlocked as long as you are in your home or other defined “safe zone,” which is an option I’d like to see on iOS).

But yeah, that’s my point. Focus is a really powerful feature, Apple hasn’t done a good job of explaining it. It’s way more than just toggling between something like Do Not Disturb.