Do These 7 Things to Get the Most out of Your New iPhone

You just bought a brand new iPhone 14, transferred everything on your old phone, and now you're ready to play with your shiny new toy. What's the first thing you'll do? Obviously, you'll go through the apps you've had on your old iPhone for a long time and probably marvel at how fast they load and how smooth and responsive everything is.

And then what? Here are our suggestions for 7 things you should do when using your iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro. If your iPhone 14 is your first experience with iOS 16, you should know there are a lot of great new features to try there too!

1. Update to iOS 16.2

If you're using an iPhone 14 series phone, it comes with iOS 16. but it may not have the latest version, which is iOS 16.2. it came out in mid-December and brings several new features, including Apple Music Sing, which turns your favorite songs into karaoke songs, the Freeform app for cross-device collaboration, and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud. There are also many bug fixes and security updates, so you should install it as soon as possible. To get it, go to Settings, then click General and Software Update.

2. Adjust the display settings

Your new iPhone 14 Pro is the first iPhone that's always on, so you should check it out first. You can enable it in Settings > Display and Brightness and enable Always on. You can also check out the settings for hiding wallpapers and notifications.

Some display settings may be much more useful on iPhone 14, but you may not find these settings as useful depending on what iPhone you were using before. open > Display and Brightness settings and try some of these options. Dark mode is easier on the eyes in dark light and saves battery life on the OLED display. If you don't want it on all the time, tap the Auto switch and choose between "Light until Sunset" (toggles based on time of day) or "Custom Schedule" (lets you set a personalized schedule).

3. Keep it safe

iPhones are expensive. Even if you have the money to buy a new one, you'll want to keep that old one in good condition to help it resell or discount, or make a better used one in a few years.

We recommend you install a case on your iPhone 14. It won't add much drop protection, but it will keep your iPhone safe from wear and scratches without adding any bulk or weight.

Also, consider a good glass screen protector. Even with a ceramic shield, broken screens are still the number one problem with dropped phones, and even with AppleCare+, it's expensive to fix them. A good screen protector is virtually invisible and will prevent your screen from breaking for a long time!

4. Check out the new camera modes

One of the iPhone 14’s coolest new camera features is Action mode, which applies really heavy video stabilization to your hand-held shots. It’s just the thing for taking videos while running, on a boat, or in any other situation where it’s difficult to keep your phone steady. Open the camera app, switch to Video mode, and tap the little “action” button to enable it. Try running around with it on and off.

Cinematic mode has been updated to 4K resolution, so you might want to give that a shot as well. If you upgraded from an iPhone 12 or earlier, you never even had this feature. It’s fun to experiment with, but Apple also has a support article explaining how to use it. Find any location with a subject up close and in the background (or stage something) and try it out! Play around with tapping to focus or double-tapping on a subject to enable automatic focus-tracking on it. Open the Photos app when you’re done and play around with editing the video to change focus from the way it was originally shot.

Another fantastic feature is Macro mode, which lets you take incredibly detailed close-up photos with the iPhone 14 Pro. It’ll work automatically out of the box when you get close enough to an object, but you can also get more control over it in the settings.

5. Set an Emergency Contact and Medical ID

You can do this on any iPhone, but many people haven't, and one day it could save your life. So setting up a new iPhone is the perfect time to open the Health app to enter important medical ID information and create an emergency contact. Medical ID information displays critical medical information or allergy information to first responders on the lock screen, and emergency contacts are people who can be called in an emergency by holding down the side and volume buttons.

l First, open the Health app.

l Then tap your personal avatar in the upper right corner.

l Tap Medical ID.

l Tap "Edit" in the upper right corner.

l Enter any important medical information that first responders need to know if you are in an accident, as well as the emergency contact you want to reach.

6. Set Photographic Styles

Photographic Styles was introduced with iPhone 13, but since most users don't upgrade every year, it may be new to you. This feature allows you to customize the image processing pipeline to give your photos a slightly different tone, more to your liking. Open the Camera app, switch to Photo mode, and swipe up to reveal the camera controls. Select one that looks like three stacked layers to open the photography style selection.

Swipe left or right between the different styles: Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm and Cool. In each one, you can further adjust the tone and warmth of the image. Once you enter what you like, it will be applied to every photo you take. The differences are sometimes subtle, but important, so take your time to try and test! You can also choose your photographic style in Settings > Camera > Photographic Style.

7. Take a trip to the Dynamic Island

The coolest new feature of iPhone 14 Pro isn't the camera, it's the dynamic island. It looks like a smaller notch when you turn on your phone, but when you start using your new iPhone, it pops up, popping open and expanding along with music, FaceTime calls, timers, and more. Check out all the things Dynamic Island can do, and try some third-party live events.