iPhone SE 2020 has been released and is the cheapest latest iPhone with flagship performance. The new ‘Special Edition’ iPhone has similar to iPhone 8 form factor; it looks the same. The best part about the new iPhone is that it inherits Apple’s flagship A13 Bionic chipset from iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, which means top-notch performance in just $300.

If you were planning to buy an iPhone 8 for some time, don’t. iPhone SE 2020 is the best phone you can buy in a budget. If you’ve already purchased iPhone 8, then try to return it. These are the tips and tricks you need for your new iPhone SE 2020 if you’ve already bought it:

1. Backup photos and videos:

Photos and videos are an important part of our lives. We relive memories using these precious pieces of our past. The new iPhone SE 2 has 4K video recording, which means better video quality but with more space. 4K takes more space than usual videos hence requires more storage.

You can use Google Photos to store unlimited free compressed photos. If you want to use iCloud, then you can enable iCloud backup to store your photos there. The free iCloud account has 5GB free storage, after that you’ve to pay for more pictures and videos. So, the first thing you should do on your iPhone SE is enabling backup for your photos and videos.

2. Wireless charging:

The new iPhone SE 2020, or should I say, iPhone 8 of 2020, supports wireless charging, thanks to the glass back. With wireless charging, you can charge your iPhone wirelessly with ease, without having to use the charging cable. 

You can set up a charging hotspot for your iPhone. For this, make sure you figure out a perfect spot where you find yourself most likely. For me, it’s my computer table, and near my bed, hence my wireless chargers are set up at these places. This way, I can easily charge my phone without worrying about plugging a cable at night.

3. Assistive Touch:

The physical home button is no more in iPhones. But iPhone 7 brought the touch-sensitive home button, it doesn’t click like the physical button but feels like it. If you’re not a fan of physical home key or for some reason your home button isn’t working as it should, then you can use the Assistive Touch feature.

With Assistive Touch, you can enable a virtual home button that can float around the screen. It has more features than the physical button. You can take a screenshot, change volume, open control center, access Siri, rotate the screen, lock screen, mute, unmute, restart your iPhone, and do more with this Assistive Touch.

4. Turn on/off 4K video:

If you don’t care about video quality and want to stick with 720p or 1080p videos, then turn off 4K video on your new iPhone SE. Turning off 4K from the settings will bring your video usage down and helps save storage. You can turn off 4K video recording on your iPhone SE from settings.

5. Enable dark mode:

The dark mode is the best solution for your eyes. It not only helps you in keeping your eyes safe but also lets you sleep better. The dark mode is one of the best things that ever happened in smartphones. You can enable dark mode in iOS 13 from Settings > Display & Brightness > Dark.

6. Use third-party keyboards:

iOS now supports third-party keyboards, which means you can get a keyboard of your choice to type with. With the new iPhone SE, you can download a new iOS keyboard from the App Store and set it up according to your theme. If you like the default iOS keyboard, you can stick with it, but I recommend using Gboard as it is the best keyboard that I think available on any platform.

Also read: Best Android Keyboard Apps to Type Efficiently

7. Use multiple fingerprints for Touch ID:

iPhone SE doesn’t have Face ID. It is the only iPhone in the current Apple lineup to have a physical home button. Did you know that you can add up to five fingers to set up Touch ID? If you didn’t, then now you know. You can open Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > Fingerprints and add up to five fingers. You can use these fingers to unlock your iPhone. You can also set up your foot thumb if you’re into that kind of experiment.

8. Don’t close apps:

Closing apps won’t save battery life. The iOS is optimized to manage apps in the background saving your battery. That’s the official Apple statement. Closing recent apps won’t help save your battery, but instead, it’ll cost you more power. When you remove an app from ‘recent apps’ which you frequently use, the next time you’re going to open the app will consume more power resulting in more battery usage. Hence, it is advised not to close recent apps.

9. Haptic Touch:

iPhone SE doesn’t have 3D Touch. It comes with Haptic Touch, which mimics 3D Touch but doesn’t feel like one. You can touch and hold, and the apps will show menus, depending on their features and developers. You can enable Haptic Touch in Settings.

10. Charge your iPhone SE faster:

If you want to charge your iPhone SE faster than you should follow a few tips that I’m going to suggest. Charging an iPhone when you want the most is always a pain in the a**. To charge your phone faster, either use a fast charger or turn on Airplane mode and charge. Turning on Airplane mode turns off all other connectivity options and uses less energy. You can also turn off your iPhone and charge to make the charging process even faster. 

11. Calculator life-saving tip:

Calculator in the iOS was m arch-enemy until I got to know one handy tip. It was annoying, not knowing how to delete the numbers. Now I know that swiping right or left on the numbers will delete one entry in the calculator. It’s a life-saving tip that helps me a lot. Instead of clearing all the entries, you can swipe over the integers, and one integer will be cleared.

12. Undo type by shaking:

Typing a long paragraph or a story and want to undo typed sentences quickly? Undo by shaking is your go-to feature for that. You can enable the ‘Shake to Undo’ feature from Settings> Accessibility>Shake to Undo.

13. Use camera filters to take better selfies:

Selfies are a must if you own an iPhone. iPhone SE 2020 has a great camera that supports portrait mode, thanks to A13 Bionic chipset. You can make it even better by using filters in the default camera app. I like Vivid from the iPhone filters; it makes pictures look more saturated. You can also select from other options like Vivid Warm, Vivid Cool, Dramatic, Dramatic Warm, Dramatic Cool, Mono, Silvertone, and Noir.

These were the life-saving tips you can follow to make your iPhone SE experience even better. Share useful iPhone tips and tricks in the comments other than those mentioned earlier.