2019 welcomed the 13th version of Apple’s operating system for iPhones, the iPod Touch and iPads. It appeared on devices around the world on 19th September. And it was quite a substantial update. Having updated from an ancient iPhone 6s to the new iPhone 11, I was keen to research all the new features, and this post is for anyone with a life who hasn’t time to explore the ins and outs of their new device.
As of Sunday 6th October, Apple has released patches bringing us to version 13.1.2 which hopefully means the majority of bugs have ironed out.
And, with the upgrade from an old iPhone, the first thing I missed was the ‘home’ button. But the good news is that you can add your own ‘virtual home button. See the video and instructions below for exactly how.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > and turn ‘Assistive Touch’ on. Hey presto, the virtual home button appears. As you can see from the video, it can be postponed pretty much anywhere on the screen.
And, as you can also see, you can customise your button to add more icons and sub-commands. Most reassuring is that the quick double-tap still allows you quickly flip between apps, and close any that are not in use.
The second useful feature is one that I used to record the video above. You set it going in the control panel, it gives you a 3 second countdown, and then begins recording.
To add screen recording to your control panel, go to Settings > Control Centre, and scroll down the list to ‘screen recording’. Access your control panel by swiping down on the upper right of your home screen, and the button, in white with the red button (while recording) will now be added.
Probably one of the most popular features of iOS 13 is the ability to silence unknown callers. That means no more cowboys trying to sell you PPI, call centre staff telling you that you’re entitled to compensation for an accident that never happened, or annoying record messages telling you that your Internet is about to be cut off.
To enable this feature…
Go to Settings > Phone, scroll down and flick the ‘Silence Unknown Callers’ button to on.