Take Screenshots Like a Pro with These 10 iPhone Hacks

While the Mac has an array of advanced screenshot tools, the iPhone’s built-in features, though basic, offer a plethora of options to capture, edit, and share screenshots efficiently.

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One of the most innovative ways to bypass the traditional screenshot method is by utilizing AssistiveTouch. This feature allows you to add a virtual Home button to your iPhone, which can be customized to perform various actions, including taking screenshots.

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To enable AssistiveTouch, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch. From there, tap Customize Top Level Menu and reduce the number of icons from six to one. Next, tap the remaining icon and select Device > Screenshot. Tap the blue checkmark in the top-right corner to confirm.

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The next time you tap the virtual Home button, your iPhone will immediately take a screenshot. Alternatively, you can use the Back Tap feature, which triggers various actions when you physically tap the back of your iPhone. Enable this by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap and select either Double Tap or Triple Tap. Go to Device > Screenshot and tap the back of your phone thrice to take screenshots.

Another useful hack is to add calendar events directly from a screenshot. When someone sends you a screenshot of a ticket or an image with a date or time, tap the small Live Text button in the bottom-right corner. This will reveal a date or time in the bottom-left corner of the screenshot. Tap that button, and you’ll see a new page where you can quickly add the event to your calendar.

Furthermore, you can share screenshots without saving them to Photos by using the ‘Copy and Delete’ feature. Once you capture a screenshot, tap the thumbnail to open the screenshot editor page, and tap the checkmark icon in the top-right corner. Here, you can select ‘Copy and Delete’ to save the screenshot to your clipboard and delete it from your device.

The Live Text tool is another powerful feature that allows you to extract text from images. Just take a screenshot, tap the thumbnail in the bottom-left corner, and hit the Live Text button in the bottom-right corner. This tool instantly identifies all kinds of text in an image, and from there, you can select and copy it easily.

When annotating a screenshot, you can use the built-in feature to draw symmetrical shapes. Try this: Draw your best estimation of a circle, rectangle, square, or another shape on a screenshot. Immediately after, hold the screen, and iOS will convert your drawing into a neat symmetrical shape.

To securely hide sensitive information in screenshots, use opaque shapes instead of the pen tool or highlighter. To do this, open the screenshot, tap the pen icon up top, and hit the + button in the bottom-right corner. Tap Add Shape, choose any shape you like, and tap the first circle in the popover menu to add any color. This will make it an opaque shape. Now, drag this shape over sensitive information and save the image.

Another useful hack is to delete unwanted screenshots using Apple’s Shortcuts app. The basic logic behind this automation is to find all photos that are screenshots taken in a specific time period and delete them in one shot. As an example, you can use it to delete all screenshots taken in the past 30 days.

Lastly, you can disable thumbnails to stop accidental screenshots by enabling full-screen screenshot previews. To do this, go to Settings > General > Screen Capture and enable Full-Screen Previews. Apple has since changed this default, so there’s a chance your screenshots now open in full-screen already.

Additionally, you can enable microphone audio recording to create screencasts. To do this, open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen. Hold the screen recording button until you see a pop-up menu. Tap the ‘Microphone Off’ button, and it’ll change to Microphone On. Tap Start Recording, wait for three seconds, and the screen recording will begin. You can now start speaking, and your voice will be a part of your screen recording.

Finally, you can use a shortcut to disable screen capture sounds and previews. To do this, go to the Shortcuts app, create a new shortcut, and add the ‘Disable Screen Capture Sounds’ and ‘Disable Screen Capture Previews’ actions. Save the shortcut and enable it to disable screen capture sounds and previews.