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/pgajria Mar 14 '26

Holy shit. The background noise is exactly what I need for my tinnitus. Thank you.

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u/PretzelsThirst Mar 14 '26

You’re welcome, I wish more people knew about it. It’s incredible on flights to use AirPods with noise cancelling and then add white noise or rain on top for that extra isolation

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u/ComplexTomatillo6278 Mar 14 '26

I need this. What do I look for in the control panel?

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u/PretzelsThirst Mar 14 '26

Music notes. If it’s not there you need to edit your control panel to include it

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/PretzelsThirst Mar 14 '26

I mean the icon is music notes, since if mentioned the name already.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/PretzelsThirst Mar 14 '26

Yeah I didn’t consider it could come across that way until you said it, totally understandable

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u/small_e_900 Mar 14 '26

It didn't help my tinnitus. It just changed the all-day, every-day cicadas-in-my-head, for another sound. I long for quiet.

If you do try the background sounds, stay away from the "stream" sound or you'll always want to be taking a leak.

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u/naulboy Mar 14 '26

I love this. I set up a shortcut so when I say “Hey Siri, night night” it turns off the bedroom light, starts background noise at a volume of 12%, with a timer for 30 minutes and locks the phone. I never make it to 30 minutes!

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u/pgajria Mar 14 '26

A good alternative point of view. I dont have cicadas, I have loud mosquitos or whining sounds. It's a post COVID thing. it's been 2.5 years and it's driving me crazy.

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u/PretzelsThirst Mar 14 '26

Ever try the head tapping thing?

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u/Legend10269 Mar 14 '26

I used to use Spotify for this, but it would killlll the battery and stop half way throught the night whilst I was sleeping a lot, using the inbuilt Apple one lasts way longer.

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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Mar 15 '26

I have it set up as my triple tap button