How to Hide Stock Apps in iOS 7.1

There was a bug in iOS 7 that allowed users to hide stocks from the Home screen without jailbreaking, which Apple had fixed in a subsequent update. But a YouTube user has again found a bug in iOS 7.1 that allows users to hide stock apps.

Here’s how to hide the stock apps in iOS 7.1:

• You should ensure that the dock has the maximum number of apps, i.e. 6 apps on the iPad, and 4 apps on the iPhone.

• Put the apps you want to hide in a folder.

• Move this folder on a Home screen that is full of apps.

• Now drag an app on top of another app to create a folder, then quickly drag the folder that you had created earlier, into this new folder.

• Remove the two apps you had added to create the new folder.

• Then drag the sub folder with the apps you wanted to add from the new folder. And just like that the folder will disappear from the Home screen, which also means that the apps in the folder will be hidden.

Check out the video by iDeviceHelpus to see how it works:

The downside of this method is that the apps will return on the Home screen when you reboot the device.

It amazes me how people find these bugs. So kudos to iDeviceHelpus for finding it. I’s quite likely that Apple will fix the bug in next iOS software update.

Let me know how it goes in the comments below.

Hat tip: 9to5Mac

How to Reduce Transparency and Blur for better contrast and readability in iOS 7.1

posted by Dinesh Soni

iOS 7 brought some huge changes to Apple’s mobile operating system, with concepts like transparency, depth, motion etc., that were extensively used in the interface. If you don’t like the transparency and blur, here’s how you can reduce it in iOS 7.1.

The transparency and blur are useful to convey depth, but can consume battery and also be distracting, so here’s how to reduce the transparency in Notification Center, the Dock, Keyboard and a number of other places:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 7.1 or higher, and navigate to General > Accessibility

• Scroll down and tap on the “Increase Contrast” button

• Enable the “Reduce Transparency” switch

You should now see the transparency reduced, and the background of various elements like Control Center, Dock, Keyboard etc. turn opaque.

Home Screen: Reduce Transparency Off and Darken Colors Off (left), Reduce Transparency On and Darken Colors Off (Center), Reduce Transparency On and Darken Colors On (Right)

Folders: Reduce Transparency Off and Darken Colors Off (left), Reduce Transparency On and Darken Colors Off (Center), Reduce Transparency On and Darken Colors On (Right)

Here’s a video demo:

Reduce Transparency makes text on iOS a little more legible, but takes away blur, one of the signature additions of iOS 7. Let us know if you’ll be using this setting in the comments below.

How to fix Wallpaper Zooming issues on iOS 7.1 with Perspective Zoom

posted by Dinesh Soni

A number of people have complained that their pixel-perfect wallpapers for iOS 6 appeared zoomed in on iOS 7. There were some workarounds to this issue, but iOS 7.1 has an easy way to disable this behavior.

Apple’s newfound focus on motion and parallax means that iOS magnifies your wallpaper in order to give it space to move around when you tilt your device. Perspective Zoom is a new setting in iOS 7.1 that appears when setting a new wallpaper. With Perspective Zoom disabled, iOS no longer magnifies your wallpaper,

How to fix Wallpaper Zooming issues:

• Go to Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness, and set a new wallpaper (or tap on the existing one) like you normally do.

• When the Preview screen appears, along with the standard Cancel and Set buttons, you’ll also see a new Perspective Zoom button.

• To disable wallpaper zooming, tap on the Perspective Zoom button to toggle its state. Once the button says “Perspective Zoom: Off” your wallpaper won’t zoom. (Note that you’ll have to first disable Perspective Zoom, and then Set the wallpaper.)

Perspective Zoom On (Left), Perspective Zoom Off (Right)

When Perspective Zoom is off, iOS will no longer move your wallpaper as you move your device. It will however slightly zoom into the wallpaper when you wake up your device. Also note that this toggle is independent of the Reduce Motion setting in the Accessibility menu, so you can selectively disable wallpaper parallax even with Reduce Motion turned off.

Are you a fan of Perspective Zoom, or will you be turning it off? Let us know in the comments below.

How to fix Wallpaper Zooming issues on iOS 7.1 with Perspective Zoom

posted by Dinesh Soni

A number of people have complained that their pixel-perfect wallpapers for iOS 6 appeared zoomed in on iOS 7. There were some workarounds to this issue, but iOS 7.1 has an easy way to disable this behavior.

Apple’s newfound focus on motion and parallax means that iOS magnifies your wallpaper in order to give it space to move around when you tilt your device. Perspective Zoom is a new setting in iOS 7.1 that appears when setting a new wallpaper. With Perspective Zoom disabled, iOS no longer magnifies your wallpaper,

How to fix Wallpaper Zooming issues:

• Go to Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness, and set a new wallpaper (or tap on the existing one) like you normally do.

• When the Preview screen appears, along with the standard Cancel and Set buttons, you’ll also see a new Perspective Zoom button.

• To disable wallpaper zooming, tap on the Perspective Zoom button to toggle its state. Once the button says “Perspective Zoom: Off” your wallpaper won’t zoom. (Note that you’ll have to first disable Perspective Zoom, and then Set the wallpaper.)

Perspective Zoom On (Left), Perspective Zoom Off (Right)

When Perspective Zoom is off, iOS will no longer move your wallpaper as you move your device. It will however slightly zoom into the wallpaper when you wake up your device. Also note that this toggle is independent of the Reduce Motion setting in the Accessibility menu, so you can selectively disable wallpaper parallax even with Reduce Motion turned off.

Are you a fan of Perspective Zoom, or will you be turning it off? Let us know in the comments below.

15 IPhone Tips

15 IPhone Tips

1. Save Battery Life (When It Is Running Low)

When your iPhone battery is running low, turning off the following settings can help make your iPhone last longer. With these off, you can still receive calls, SMS and even go online with EDGE connection.

1. Settings > Wi-Fi > Off.
2. Settings > Bluetooth > Off.
3. Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Off.
4. Settings > General > Cellular > Enable 3G > Off.
5. Settings > General > Cellular > Enable LTE > Off.
6. Settings > Sounds > Vibrate on Ring & Silent > Off.
7. Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper > Auto-Brightness > Off.
8. Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data > Off.

(Image Source: Dokisoft)

2. Stop The Music With A Timer

Do you like to listen to music when getting into bed for the night but often doze off without switching the iPhone off? You can use a timer to help you shut down the music. To do this, tap onClock > Timer > When Timer Ends. Scroll down and tap Stop Playing. Then, set a timer (say 30 mins) and tap Start. Now you may play any music and it will be turned off after 30 mins.

3. Delete Last Digit In Calculator App

Entered a wrong digit in the Calculator app? Instead of tapping the Clear [C] button, you can justswipe your finger to the left or right of the numbers to clear the last digit. Each swipe will remove the last digit until the number becomes zero.

4. Set An Alphanumeric Passcode

Add an extra layer of protection to your iPhone with an alphanumeric passcode. To activate it, go toSettings > General > Passcode Lock. Turn off Simple Passcode and you will be prompted to enter your alphanumeric password.

5. Use Headphone Cord To Take Photo

Shaky hands not getting you good photos? Well you can trigger a snapshot using the volume up or down buttons on your headphone.

(Image Source: bestiphoneaccessoriesreview)

6. Switch Shooting Directions In Panorama

Tap the arrow in Panorama mode to switch the shooting direction so you can take a panorama picture from left to right or right to left.

7. Find Word Or Phrase Within A Web Page

Searching for a word or phrase in a web page? In Safari, type in the word in the search bar on the top right and tap Search. In the results page, scroll all the way down and you will see how many words were found on the web pages. Tap on the searched word/phrase and you will be directed back to the web page with the searched word/phrase highlighted in yellow.

8. Undo Typing To Delete Typed Message

Hate getting carpal tunnel on your fingers from clearing your written SMS? Try this trick. Shake your iPhone and tap Undo Typing to delete your message. Changed your mind? Shake your iPhone again and tap on Redo Typing to retrieve your original message.

9. Type Emoji With Shortcuts

If you like to use Emoji in messaging but don’t like to switch the virtual keyboards repeatedly, try this trick to type Emoji with alphabets shortcuts.

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Emoji.
2. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut…
3. Insert a frequently used Emoji in Phrase.
4. Insert a text in Shortcut which will be used to convert to Emoji.

10. Formatting Email Content

You can format your email content while writing it on your iPhone. Just highlight the text you want to format, then tap on the option arrow to look for the "BIU" button. Tap on it and select the format you want from Bold, Italics or Underline.

11. Generate Random Passwords With Siri

Yes, the voice assistant Siri can do more than what it offers in command lists, including generating random passwords for you. Just activate Siri and say “random password” and you’ll be provided an 8-alphanumeric-character password from Siri. You can even add the character length e.g. "random password 16 characters".

12. Filter Groups That Can Reach You

The ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature allows us to silence calls, alerts and notifications when the iPhone is locked. However there are important calls that we can’t afford to miss, for example, calls from Mom or your heavily pregnant wife. Here’s a tutorial to help important groups of people reach you even in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode.

13. Turn IPhone AssistiveTouch Icon On/Off Quickly

Many iPhone users have activated AssistiveTouch to alleviate the burden from the Home button. But it could be a little annoying since it is always on top of the screen. We’ve written a quicktip to guide you on how to turn the AssistiveTouch menu icon ON and OFF easily.

14. Send Multiple Photos At Once In Messages & Mail

Don’t like to add and send photos one by one in messaging or email? Try this trick. Here’s a guideon how you can send multiple photos at one go from your iPhone with just few simple taps.

15. Hide Unused Apple App Icons

We bet there are many stock apps that you do not need or use at all. The bad news is, you’re not allowed to delete them from your iPhone. The good news is, we have a trick to hide them, without having to jailbreak your iPhone.

Bonus: Another 4 More

Extract IPhone SMS & Read It On Your Computer

This tutorial teaches you how to backup your iPhone SMS data and read it through a browser on your computer. With that, you can also easily copy and paste your SMS data on your computer.

Disable Messages Preview

Here is a simple way to prevent others (see: annoying dad, mom, sister, brother, best friend) from accidentally reading your incoming SMS alerts when your iPhone is left unattended. Go to Settings> Notifications > Messages > Show Preview. Tap the option and turn it off to exclude a preview of the message in alerts and banners.

Turn Off Read Receipts In IMessage

iMessage is a cool way to send free text, photo, and video messages to friends who are using iOS 5 and above. Read receipts allow your friends to see whether you’ve viewed their message or not. But if you don’t want your friends notified of when you have read their messages, go to Settings >Messages > Send Read Receipts > Off.