Five essential iOS 10 shortcuts you need to know

The more and more we learn about iOS 10, the clearer it becomes that this iOS is not necessarily a complete overhaul of iOS as we know it, but rather a sort of “greatest hits” collection of those little improvements that Apple fans have been requesting for some time.

However, that doesn’t mean that iOS 10 isn’t going to change the way you use your device. That’s especially true of the many new shortcuts that it will gift users with that will soon become second nature tricks that separate device masters from casual users.

If you’re looking to get a head start on your iOS 10 shortcut knowledge, take a look at these five essential shortcuts that the update will bring.

Improved photo search

Photo navigation in iOS can be an unnecessarily complicated affair at times. If you’re really good about keeping your photos in specific folders, then you can usually find what you want, whenever you want it. Otherwise, there’s usually a bit of hunting involved in finding the location of that one, perfect photo.

iOS 10 will look to change that by implementing a smarter search system that allows you to look for location and person-based tags. For instance, let’s say you want to search for photos from your trip to New York. Type in “New York” and any photo that matches that location will appear. Alternatively, you can type in the name of a person you are in a series of photos with and then you will see every photo with that person. Even better, the photo gallery app is getting an update to better recognize locations and people based on the content of the photos and your location services.

Context suggestion typing

For a long time, we’ve been hearing about how keyboards are going to be able to accurately predict exactly what we are going to type next. While that hasn’t exactly become the case yet, we are getting closer to that future.

The newest iOS contains an interesting advancement in the pursuit of smart typing. Now, your iOS keyboard will use context clues of your typing to suggest potential actions you may want to use as well as what your next word may be. So, if you’re talking to somebody and they want to know where you are, you may get a suggestion to share your location in the same area where you usually see word predictions.

CarPlay parking reminder

If you’ve bought a CarPlay device, then you know it is a tremendous way to improve your travel and commuting experiences by enabling you to, essentially, convert any car into a smart device.

That functionality is getting a big upgrade in iOS 10 with the addition of a parking reminder feature. Now if you want to remember where you parked, you can simply enable a location notification that will be sent to your device whenever you disconnect from CarPlay. Given that many users write this information down manually, this is a tremendous timesaver.

Instant 3D Touch access

3D Touch is quickly becoming an essential feature. At first, it wasn’t clear exactly how these pressure sensitive touches would improve our device usage. Now, we know that they can be used for a variety of helpful shortcuts.

iOS 10 is looking to expand upon this feature in a big way. One of the most impressive uses of the 3D shortcuts feature in iOS 10 is the way it maximizes your home screen icon functionality. Hold down your phone icon, for example, and you’ll be able to quickly access popular contacts or add a new one. Hold down the camera, and you’ll see the option to take a quick selfie or video. This is a true time saver that is sure to see a lot of use.

Universal cursor operator

How many times have you been typing out a longer text message or note and noticed an error you made several lines back? Every time this happens, you sigh a little bit as you realize that you must now awkwardly navigate back to the line by pressing down on the area a few times until you hit your mark.

The new iOS has a much more elegant solution to this common problem. Now, you can just press and hold your finger on the keyboard and you’ll be presented with a custom, moveable cursor that you can drag to your desired text location. By eliminating the guesswork that comes with hitting the proper pixel, this shortcut removes a cumbersome little annoyance.