Today's technology-savvy individuals know that updating our devices has become an inescapable part of life, but it's still not uncommon to miss out on some of the actual perks that come with those updates — they might be tucked away deep in the interface where they're hard to find, or just outright ignored. Take the most recent iOS update, for example: There are several hidden features in iOS 9.3 you may not have noticed, since they're not as obvious as, say, the Night Shift feature that everyone's talking about. To get the most out of your update, it's worth poking around on your phone to explore some of these features — until the next update, of course, when you'll be able to do even more to optimize its abilities.
In addition to some of the more hidden superpowers iOS 9.3 gives your phone, it also enhances CarPlay for those of us who have the feature built into our cars, and improves the Health app, which includes more features under the Weight, Workouts, and Sleep categories. It's worth noting that many of the features are only available on iPhone 5s or later; furthermore, some features may not be available outside of the United States, UK, and Australia. So, make sure to check the iOS 9.3 feature availability to determine if updating is right for you.
Without further ado, let's check out these six hidden iOS 9.3 features that will surely boost your iPhone experience.
1. Customize The Apple News App
If you didn't use Apple News before, it might be work checking it out now, because you can actually train the app to give you the news you want to read. By swiping left or right on a news story, Apple News allows you to "like" or "dislike" a story, helping the algorithm understand the kind of news you want to read. It's kind of like Tinder for serious issues, but without the pressure of a horrible date at the end.
2. Protect Your Notes With Passwords
Do you write your deepest, darkest, most important and confidential secrets on your cellular device because it's obviously the most secure thing to do? Same! Luckily, if you're someone with lots of secrets written in the Apple Notes app, there's a new way to secure them beyond the password you use on your lock screen.
To enable password-protected Notes, head to Settings, then tap Notes. You'll then see a "Password" option, which will allow you to set up a password for certain Notes. When you set up a password, head to your Notes app and find a Note you want to lock. Tap the little "Share" icon on the upper right side of the Note; then tap the little Lock Note notification that pops up on the gray bar underneath. Type in your password, and voila! No one can ever see your embarrassing crushes or the passwords to your companies social media accounts ever again.
It's worth noting that you can't lock the Notes app itself — only individual Notes within the app. But hey, some protection is better than no protection, right?
3. Your Quick Actions Are Even Quicker
If you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you can more easily access options within certain apps like Settings, Weather, and Health. Just apply pressure and hold to check out some apps that have made their internal options even more accessible on your home screen.
4. Siri Speaks More Languages Now
What can't Siri do? The iOS 9.3 update added Finnish, Hebrew, and Malay to Siri's arsenal of languages. Siri also speaks and understands Japanese, Spanish, French, Cantonese, Thai, Russian, Swedish, Dutch, and Danish, just to name a few. Now if only she could use any of those languages to tell me how to get my life together.
5. Check Specific Transit Lines on Maps
If you live in an area served by good public transportation, Apple Maps has updated to show you which specific transit lines to take for an easier commute. Here, Apple Maps is telling me I could take Green line B,C, or D to get from Emerson College to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
6. Duplicate Photos
If you want to edit a photo, but also keep the original file untouched, iOS 9.3 gives you the option to do exactly that. Just select the photo you want to duplicate, tap the Duplicate button between Copy and Slideshow, and a duplicate image will appear at the bottom of your photo gallery next to your most recent pictures.
Images: Pixabay; Mehak Anwar/Bustle (6)
