Clever homebrew hackers have unearthed a couple of hidden iPhone features which were never switched on by Apple.
One is an Android-style autocorrect bar which displays word suggestions above the keyboard, and the other turns your iPhone into a sweeping panoramic camera.
Best of all, you needn't go near any risky jailbreak tools to reveal these features. Hit play on the video above or read on and our guide will show you how, but bear in mind Apple left them out for a reason.
The panoramic camera is worth trying, but doesn't quite match the flawless experience seen elsewhere on iOS, and the new autocorrect might interrupt your well-honed typing speed. Of course, you can always switch them off if you change your mind.
Back up your iPhone
Connect your iPhone to your computer and sync in iTunes as usual, then get a fresh backup by right clicking 'iPhone' on the left.
If you want to be extra safe, back up app-specific data by clicking on the Apps tab near the top of iTunes and saving to your mac with the File Sharing tool:
Next, download, install and open the iBackupBot software (there's a free trial version). Ignore the download tab at the top, you need to scroll down the page for the right link.
Find your new iPhone backup on the left of iBackupBot, and check the date and time on the file to be sure you're going to work on the right one.
It's up to you which of the two features to unlock before restoring your iPhone:
Android-style autocorrect
Having clicked on the correct backup in iBackupBot, find the following filename in the main list: Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboard.plist. If you can't find it, click the Path header near the top to arrange the files alphabetically. Double click on the file.
Copy the following code, then add it to its own line before </dict> near the end:
<key>
Click the save icon, then the red close icon.
Panoramic camera
Follow the same instructions as above, but now you need this file: Find Library/Preferences/com.apple.mobileslideshow.plist
And to paste this code before </dict>:
<key>EnableFirebreak</key><Save and close, then restore from the main window with this little iPhone icon:
That's it!
If you want to remove the hacks, just repeat the same steps and delete those lines of code you added.
How do you use the new features?
The panoramic camera is available in the camera app under Options. Starting from the left of your scene with your arm fully stretched, slowly draw the iPhone across to the right.
It might take a few turns to take an image that looks smooth, and in our test we found that the camera can lose its focus along the way. Notice how elements like the fence distort and bend too. Click image to enlarge:
It's still more seamless than other panoramic iPhone apps such as You've Gotta See This. If you want to preserve your memory of a wide vista, this is a pain-free and affordable way to take it in at once.
The autocorrect is less forgivable. It takes up a lot of screen space, and you have to hit 'confirm' on every word, rather than the nifty double tap on the spacebar that already works so well. You may get used to it, but you'll have to avoid tapping the up arrow on the right, which seems to cause a guaranteed crash.
What do you think? Will you use these sneaky features, or should they stay buried? Share your experience in the comments below, or over on our Facebook or Google+ pages.
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Comments 11
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anonymous 14 November, 2011 20:29
Im on iOS 5.0.1 and i dont have Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboard.plist in my ibackupbot program. It just isnt there....
anonymous 15 November, 2011 22:23
does the camera setting works on iPhone 3GS? I do not have any option setting in my phone
Jamil Dhillon 21 November, 2011 13:54
5.0.1. and it works. Ta
anonymous 30 November, 2011 07:40
Microsoft's Photosynth software does a great job with the panoramas, it's free, and has been out in the iTunes market for over a year.
anonymous 25 January, 2012 02:31
Maybe it's just me, but this method looks a bit like a way to add some of my old favourite functionality hacks and changes in the .plist files without having to jailbreak my new iDevice. Hmm….
anonymous 14 February, 2012 04:58
How do i do this on a windows pc? Sorry not great with computers.
anonymous 29 February, 2012 12:34
Are all the Library/preferences/com.apple..... listed under system files hidden attributes of apple devices? If so is there a way to display iphone screen to t.v?
anonymous 29 February, 2012 12:51
I cant't find the line of code to copy. Where do I copy from?
champrizi 13 July, 2012 14:45
The iPhone 4S doesn't offer much in the way of camera controls. The sensitivity settings, white balance and exposure, for example, are all set automatically with no way of adjusting them prior to taking a shot. There's not even an exposure compensation facility to tweak the exposure. A camera manufacturer wouldn't be able to sell a compact camera with such a limited level of control unless it was for a child. However, it does make the camera of this smartphone very easy to use and of course extra functionality can be added via apps. One useful option that is available is the ability to manually select whether the flash fires or not. Those who prefer to handover complete control can leave this set to 'Auto' - and generally we found it fired at the correct points, often appearing to improve shots we considered already well-lit. The flash is weak, but it's useful for illuminating very dark scenes or adding a little sparkle to eyes in daylight. It's a very small light source, so if it is the main one for an image, expect strong shadows and highlights – it's not the most flattering option for a night-time portrait, but very strong for a single LED. A tap of the screen is all that is required to set the focus point. The camera then usually does a quick backwards and forwards focus adjustment before the subject is made sharp. There's no clear focus indicator, the subject just looks sharp when the focussing has completed. Although the touchscreen is core to the iPhone, Apple hasn't given the camera a touch-shutter facility. This would trigger than camera to focus and take the shot with a single touch of the screen. Instead, after choosing the focus point, the shutter icon needs to be hit to take the shot. The 'up' volume control can now also be used as the camera shutter button too - however, it was very stiff indeed on our test sample, meaning there was an element of shakiness about some of the photos that simply pressing the screen could accomplish. However, it's still a nice touch to have - taking pictures of yourself is much easier with this as an option. Although there is no optical zoom facility, the iPhone 4s camera allows users to zoom digitally into the scene using the pinch to zoom option on the touchscreen. Plus you could always look SUPER COOL and get one of those optical attachments for the iPhone 4S to make it into a longer range shooting device - but you'd have to be really dedicated to do that. Rather than reducing the size of the images, however, the iPhone interpolates the digitally-zoomed shots so they have the same 3264x2448 pixel dimensions. On-screen icons provide access to the secondary camera and the grid display, flash and HDR options. These icons can be difficult to see when you're shooting from an awkward angle and it's easy to touch one accidentally when you are trying to set the focus point. It's helpful that, if the camera is active when the iPhone 4S is put into sleep mode, the camera is available as soon as the lock screen is swiped open. You can also jump straight into the camera from the lock screen with a double tap of the Home Button, although you can only see the snaps you've taken from that session, meaning you can't sneak into the photo gallery of a code-locked iPhone.
anonymous 23 November, 2012 16:00
my iphone 3gs is 5.1.1 the camera setting is not working
anonymous 6 January, 2013 05:57
make video of it