I’m often known as the Apple man in my social circle. Family and friends routinely ask for buying recommendation, and I usually find yourself reviewing their iPhones to see whether or not they’re lacking helpful apps, options, or settings. In lots of instances, I discover folks misusing their gadgets or disabling core features resulting from unfounded worries.
You’ve most likely heard a minimum of one in all these 12 misconceptions earlier than, and in case you’re new to iOS or just uncertain how the platform works, you may consider them. Allow us to offer you a clearer understanding of how your iPhone operates.
1. App-closing assumptions
I continuously hear customers—significantly latest switchers accustomed to Android—complain about needing to shut iPhone apps manually. Many Android telephones have lengthy provided a button to shut all lively apps without delay, whereas iOS nonetheless requires you to swipe up on every app within the App Switcher individually.
Apple deliberately doesn’t provide a Shut All Apps button on iOS as a result of the system routinely places inactive apps to sleep. They’re not continuously operating within the background—even after they’re listed amongst different open apps within the App Switcher.
In reality, repeatedly force-closing and relaunching on a regular basis apps can really drain your battery extra, as initiating a contemporary session consumes extra energy than reviving a hibernating one. You need to solely kill an app whether it is misbehaving and requires a reset.
2. Community-killing nonsense
Throughout the smartphone’s early days, connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS would devour vital energy. For a lot of customers, the norm was disabling their respective toggles when not actively counting on apps that want them to reduce battery drain.
In fashionable telephones, the related networking chips actually use little or no energy when idle. As such, iOS has eliminated the power to fully disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth through the Management Middle and as a substitute disconnects equipment when toggled.
You shouldn’t flip off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS within the Settings app, as important options like Discover My, Apple Watch sync, AirDrop, Common Clipboard, and different Continuity options depend on them. You might need to stick with the Management Middle toggles, as they disconnect your peripherals with out affecting the ecosystem’s underlying basis.
Turning off Bluetooth or Wi-Fi when not in use merely received’t prolong the battery lifetime of a contemporary iPhone a noticeable quantity—it’s simply placebo impact and affirmation bias for individuals who suppose it does.
3. Eavesdropping rumors
No, a sure social media app isn’t secretly accessing your microphone and digicam to ship focused adverts. Whereas builders are arising with progressive (and arguably unethical) methods to trace customers’ on-line exercise, immediately listening to your real-life conversations isn’t one in all them.
When an app accesses your microphone or digicam, iOS shows a transparent orange (microphone) or inexperienced (digicam) indicator dot up close to the entrance digicam that builders can not conceal. If you wish to stop an app from ever accessing these sensors, you may also deny microphone and digicam permissions when prompted. It’s not attainable for an app to bypass these boundaries—assuming you haven’t tampered with the working system.
You possibly can open Management Middle (swipe down from the upper-right fringe of your show) and faucet a little bit privateness indicator on the high of the Management Middle display screen to see which apps are presently and have just lately accessed your digicam, microphone, and placement.
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4. Charging chatter
It’s broadly believed that leaving your iPhone related to an influence supply in a single day can overcharge and injury its battery—that’s not fully true. Your iPhone rigorously manages its energy draw because the battery fills as much as decrease extreme put on and injury. When the battery hits 100%, it solely attracts a small trickle to remain full.
Moreover, options like Optimized Battery Charging and Cost Restrict can optionally study out of your routines and forestall your iPhone from totally charging day by day—until you need it to. You possibly can safely go away your iPhone on its charger all evening lengthy, particularly after enabling these settings.
5. Dated OS delusions
Many customers deliberately keep away from updating to the most recent iOS model, considering it’s going to decelerate their iPhones or break options. Whereas a serious OS launch could probably run slower on a five-year-old iPhone, newer fashions are likely to work simply as fluidly after an replace (and sometimes sooner). In reality, you’re suggested to obtain the most recent iOS construct obtainable, because it packs essential safety patches—past the user-facing additions. Retaining your iPhone on a dated working system model will increase the chance of vulnerability exploitation.
This fable persists as a result of, instantly following a giant new software program replace, your iPhone usually performs various background duties like indexing recordsdata and analyzing images to acknowledge objects and folks in them, all to make search and superior options work correctly. This will take a day or two, and far of it occurs when your iPhone is plugged in and never in use, however the first few days after a giant replace can see barely slower efficiency or shorter battery life. This can go away rapidly.
6. Show disinformation
The always-on show function doesn’t simply go away your display screen on 24/7 and rapidly drain your battery. The show drops to a dim 1Hz mode that hardly consumes any energy. Plus, iOS routinely shuts it down relying on sure elements, like your sleep routine and the way you usually use your iPhone. Whereas disabling it would save a little bit of energy, the impression is negligible—usually just a few p.c per day.
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7. Face ID fallacies
Newcomers usually fear about Face ID’s safety and reliability. Opposite to frequent false impression, the TrueDepth digicam system works in pitch-black environments, letting you securely unlock your iPhone even at evening. Moreover, the biometric authentication function doesn’t work with images of your face or while you’re not making eye contact with it. As such, it’s most unlikely for somebody holding your iPhone to bypass Face ID with out your data or consent.
Face ID information isn’t despatched to Apple or anybody else. It resides in a bodily remoted part of your iPhone’s processor known as the Safe Enclave and can’t be accessed by any utility, solely by the core iOS system when a authentic Face ID request is invoked.
8. Digital camera confusions
Clients on an annual iPhone improve cycle typically complain in regards to the lack of digicam enhancements within the newest mannequin. Apple doesn’t change each digicam sensor yearly. For instance, the iPhone 17 Professional revamped the selfie and telephoto cameras solely. The vast and ultrawide cameras, then again, are just about equivalent to their predecessors. So, until you’re taking a selfie or a zoomed-in shot, you received’t be noticing any main digicam enhancements this yr.
Most individuals get a brand new iPhone after 2-4 years, although. These incremental year-to-year enhancements actually add up, so in case you’re coming from an iPhone 14, the iPhone 17’s digicam might be a lot improved.
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9. Resistance rumors
iPhones are, to an extent, very immune to water and dirt—however they’re not really waterproof. Relying in your mannequin’s IP score, it would seemingly survive being submerged in water as much as a particular depth and for a restricted time frame. As your iPhone ages, it could lose a few of its resistance and turn into extra prone to water injury, particularly if it has some gentle injury.
It’s finest to not deliberately check the bounds of its water resistance, however you have to be nice washing it off with cleaning soap and water, for instance, or by chance dropping it within the sink.
10. iMessage illusions
Some customers flip off iMessage after they lose web entry, believing it’s the one method to ship SMS to their iPhone-using contacts. Whereas iMessage is the default for conversations between iOS customers, you possibly can nonetheless bypass it at any time when both occasion is offline or the service is down. Simply faucet and maintain the pending textual content, then choose Ship as Textual content Message. This forces the message via your provider as a substitute of Apple’s servers.
It’s fairly unusual nowadays to have mobile SMS service however not mobile web entry, however it could occur, particularly in case you’re touring someplace distant or on a restricted information plan.
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11. App Retailer absurdities
Many customers complain about Apple randomly charging their financial institution playing cards, regardless of them not making any latest App Retailer purchases. These are usually recurring subscription charges that they’ve opted for sooner or later previously.
You possibly can simply verify your whole App Retailer spending—together with subscription companies, paid app downloads, and in-app purchases—utilizing the Buy Historical past part of the App Retailer. Open the App Retailer, faucet your initials/icon within the higher proper, then faucet Subscriptions or Buy Historical past.
Any undesirable subscriptions could be canceled from the Subscriptions subsection discovered beneath your identify within the Settings app.
12. iTunes inaccuracies
Apple Music and Apple TV don’t require you to purchase listed songs and flicks individually. Whilst you can entry your separate iTunes purchases immediately within the Music and TV apps, the corporate presents unrelated subscription companies much like Spotify and Netflix. For mounted month-to-month charges, you possibly can hearken to and watch any of the obtainable content material on your whole appropriate gadgets.
