Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro has been out for a while, and we’ll get the iPhone 15 line in a few months. But that doesn’t mean the iPhone 14 Pro is a bad phone – in fact, it’s still incredibly powerful! You’ve got the fast and responsive A16 Bionic chip powering everything, the new always-on display, Dynamic Island, a 48MP main camera and more. And since it’s running iOS 16, there’s plenty of fun software stuff to check out as well.
But unless you know where to look, you might not be using all the cool features of the iPhone 14 Pro, or at least not getting the most out of it. We’ll show you some of the best features you should be using on your iPhone.
Take photos in full 48 MP resolution
Joe Maring / Digital trends
As mentioned earlier, the iPhone 14 Pro has a 48 MP main shooter. However, when using it normally, due to pixel binning (four smaller sub-pixels make one, larger pixel), the end result in the metadata will read 12MP. This is also a feature that exists on many Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
For most of the photos you take, this might be fine, and you won’t really notice. After all, a full 48 MP photo can be around 75 to 100 MB in size, which can quickly eat up your available storage space. This is not something you want to do all the time.
But there will be times when you want to capture every single detail in a scene, and that’s when the full 48 MP resolution comes in handy. It also means that you will be able to have full control over the editing process to adjust the image to your liking. To do this, you need to enable the Apple ProRaw setting for the Camera app, which allows you to easily switch when needed.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
To do this, go to Settings > Camera > Formats > Apple ProRAW and make sure the setting is enabled (green). Then be sure to choose 48 MP under ProRAW resolution section.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
Once this is enabled, go to the Camera app and then tap RAW switch at the top — will take a ProRaw photo if RAW is not crossed.
Unfortunately, the ProRaw 48MP feature only works for photos taken at 1x focus. If you use 0.5x, 2x or 3x, it will still be in ProRaw, but automatically switches to 12MP.
Make the always-on display yours
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By default, the always-on display (AOD) on the iPhone 14 Pro is enabled by default. However, when the device first launched, Apple received some criticism based on the way AOD worked, as it would darken your current lock screen wallpaper, drain your battery because the screen was still consuming power (to display the wallpaper), and it didn’t either not much privacy as the notifications kept popping up.
In comparison, Android phones with AOD tend to be much more barebones – opting for an all-black screen with discreet notification icons. Many people prefer how Android handles this and find Apple’s method too disruptive.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
But Apple eventually relented after the backlash and gave users the option to adjust AOD later through an iOS update. So you can keep the default mode if you want or you can make it so the background doesn’t show and the screen is just black and you have the option to keep or remove notifications. Or you can just disable AOD entirely — it’s up to you!
For AOD changes simply go to Settings > Display and brightness > Always on display and select the switches for what you want to turn on or off.
Use photographic styles
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
This isn’t necessarily an iPhone 14 Pro-specific feature (it started with the iPhone 13 series), but it’s still an underrated iOS feature you might not have known about.
Photo Styles are essentially preset levels for tone and warmth in the Camera app that you can personalize, and these presets apply to all photos you take as long as it’s active. The only drawback is that photo styles cannot be applied in post-production as they are not filters. In a way, it’s considered destructive because you can’t change or remove a style once it’s applied in real time.
The default Photo Style is set to Standard, which is a “balanced” look. But there are four other options available: Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm and Cool. I personally like the Rich Contrast look, so I used it for most of my photos because, well, contrast is nice to have!
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
You can set a photo style to be used by default every time you use the Camera app by going to Settings > Camera > Photo Styles and then swipe to select the one you want to use. The Settings app will give you an overview of what each style looks like.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
Another method is to activate Photo Styles when you’re in the Camera app, although this will also override anything you’ve set in Settings. When you’re in the Camera app, just swipe up above the shutter button (or tap the arrow button at the top of the screen), then select the Photo Styles button (it looks like a stack of three squares) and choose the one you want to use. This way you can also change the tone and warmth settings individually.
Set your focus modes
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
Focus modes are also not an iPhone 14 Pro-specific feature, but they are quite useful if you need some distraction-free time during the day for certain scenarios. Consider the basic Do Not Disturb mode, but for when you’re working, driving, reading, playing, or whatever.
With Focus mode, you can customize it to only receive notifications from specific people or apps, or you can set it to silence all notifications from specific people or apps – your choice. There are also focus filters that allow you to customize how apps and the device behave when focus is on. For apps, this means showing only certain views, and system filters include AOD, dark or light mode, and even a low-power mode. You can also set focus modes to activate automatically using Smart Activation (uses machine learning to determine relevant times to activate) or a set schedule.
I’m not sure how many people I know personally who use Focus modes, but I love them. I have one set for work that starts every day of the week at a specific time. This blocks unnecessary notifications and makes it easier for me to actually focus on writing without the endless distractions of my iPhone 14 Pro.
If you’re not already using Focus modes, I recommend setting them up. When the feature originally debuted, it was a bit of a hassle to get them up and running, but Apple has streamlined the process a bit to make it more accessible. To start Focus mode, go to Settings > Focus. You can set any of the pre-made ones or create a new one of your own.
Link your lock/home screens to Focus mode
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital trends
While iOS 16 allowed us to customize the lock screen, it’s a bit of a mess. But Apple also gave us the ability to create multiple lock and home screens, which we can actually pair with a specific Focus mode if we want. I actually find this feature useful for switching between a normal setting and a work setting, the latter having a more “work” related background instead of my personal one. It also makes it easier to recognize when my work focus is on one view.
It’s easy to pair the focus mode with the lock/home screen combination. Just open the lock screen changer, make sure you’re on the one you want to connect, then select Concentration button on the lock screen preview. Then just select the focus mode you want to pair it with. Now, whenever that Focus mode is activated, your lock and home screen will automatically change to the one you selected.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn