Ever feel like it takes a million taps to perform the most simple iPhone tasks? (OK, maybe not a million, but you know what I mean).
Well, here’s the thing: once you know a few secret shortcuts, you’ll be flying around your iPhone’s interface like a pro.
Read on for seven super iPhone shortcuts, from opening a favorite website and taking a screenshot to sifting through your email drafts and zipping to the top of a web page.
1. Quickly get to your email drafts
So, you were composing an email on your iPhone and decided to stop in the middle for some reason—and before you moved on, you tapped the “Save Draft” button so you could finish the message later.
Want to get to your email drafts in a hurry? Hint: try long-pressing the Compose button.
All well and good, but where are your old email drafts when you need them?
Luckily, there’s an easier way to pull up your saved email drafts for all your iPhone/iPad email accounts, and it’s just a “long-press” away
2. Create a calendar event directly from email
An invite to a can’t-miss event just landed in your inbox, and you want to mark it in your iPhone’s calendar before you forget—and while you’re at it, you’d like to add the sender’s name to your address book.
Well, good news: you’re just a few taps away from saving the date in your iPhone’s (or iPad’s) Calendar app, or from creating a new entry in your Contacts app—all directly from the original email message.
3. Zip back to the top of a page
You just finished scrolling down a lengthy New York Times story on the iPhone, and you want to go back to the beginning to see the photo again—but you’re dreading the prospect of having to flick, flick, and flick all the way back to the top of the page.
There’s a super-easy way to jump back to the top of a web page.
Sound familiar?
4. Create keyboard shortcuts
Tired of repeatedly tapping your street address, your job title, or common phrases like “on my way” or “you there?” on your iPhone’s virtual keypad?
If so, get this: your iPhone will let you create your own, custom keyboard shortcuts for … well, just about anything.
Once you’ve tweaked the right settings, you can ask “you there?” in a text message by simply tapping, say, “yt”. You could also conjure your street address, your official title, or a phone number in just a few keystrokes.
5. Add a favorite web site to your home screen
Got a web site you love that doesn’t have its own fancy iOS app? No problem. You can add any site you like to your iPhone’s (or iPad’s) home screen in only a few steps.
Want to add a favorite site to your iPhone’s home screen? Easy.
Once you’re done, your favorite site will have a home-screen icon that looks just like an app; tap it, and you’ll jump immediately to the page.
6. Take a screenshot
Ever wanted to take a quick snapshot of your iPhone’s display? Or have you taken a screenshot by accident, without quite knowing how you did it?
Well, taking a screenshot on the iPhone (or iPad, or iPod Touch) is a nifty, easy trick—so easy, in fact, that more than a few puzzled readers have written in, wondering how snapshots of their iPhone’s home page wound up in their mobile photo albums.
7. Launch the camera from the lock screen
Is something beautiful happening right before your eyes, all while your iPhone is hidden away in your pocket?
Never fear. Thanks to the camera shortcut on the iPhone or iPad lock screen, you may still be able to capture the moment.
Click here for more iPhone tips!
