3 Magical Things You Can Do with Newer iPhones

Apple's latest software update (iOS 16) introduces features that leverage AI and new built-in tech, putting a little magic in your pocket. Apple bills the new enhancements to the iPhone as "all-new personalization features, deeper intelligence, and more seamless ways to communicate and share."

What Apple does with its new operating system for the iPhone goes way beyond some of the cool new features it has added. Yes, it's great that you can now choose your photos or images to set up multiple lock screens. Adding widgets to your lock screen to quickly glance at the weather, a calendar event, battery level, your Activity ring progress, and more is also pretty slick.

Yet, the real magic features Apple is building into your newer iPhone are practical.

Here are three new features that are wowing folks on TikTok and should benefit agents on the go:

1. Magically remove the background of an image

Creating newsletters, blog posts, and other marketing materials often requires accompanying images. Those images can often be more powerful, creative, and have a greater impact when you remove the background. While online tools like remove.bg work great, your iPhone now has the power to do this even faster than online tools.

Most people may not realize that the iPhone's built-in photo editing software had been able to remove the background of a photo for quite some time. But it took about a half-dozen steps to accomplish.

Now, you can lift a subject from its background almost instantly. Here's how: Inside Photos, select the photo. Then simply touch the subject you want to keep and hold it with your finger. Magically, the subject is instantly outlined, and a small Copy | Share button appears at the top to select. When you choose Share, you can now paste your image with the background removed inside an email, a text, a note, a text, or another application – or save it as a new photo.

This new tech tip isn't just limited to your Photo app. You also can lift a subject from its background in Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and more.

2. Copy text from any photo – even translate it

This new iPhone trick is so cool and relatively unknown that you can probably describe it to win a bar bet. New image recognition software can instantly optically scan and convert text inside any image or photo, allowing you to paste the text into a document, text, note, email, and more.

Try it for yourself: Take a picture of a traffic sign. Now hold your finger on the text in the photo. It will be instantly highlighted and allow you to copy and paste the text.

For a real estate agent, the uses are endless. You can take photos of any business card and copy and paste the text into a document, making it easier to update your contacts. You can take pictures of a document to share and paste the text into an email instead of an image. Instead of taking notes from something in writing, take a picture of the text, then copy and paste the information from the photo into an email, note, or other document or app that allows you to paste text.

Better yet, turn on the new Live Text feature to capture information from photos, videos, and images.

Live Text recognizes information within your photos, videos, and images you find online. You can use Live Text to make a call, send an email, or look up directions with just a tap.

To turn on Live Text:

• Open the Settings app
• Tap General
• Tap Language & Region, then turn on Live Text

You also can translate text inside a photo, video, or image

• Open a photo, video, or online image. If the text is in a video, pause the video first.
• Then, tap the Live Text button.
• Tap Translate. Sometimes, you will need to tap Continue and choose a language to translate.
• Take a photo of a sign that says Alto with this feature, and it instantly translates into Stop.

3. Unsend that email or text

We've all been there. You are in the middle of writing an email or a text, and you accidentally hit the send button. You cringe, because what you sent does not make sense since you were not yet finished. Apple feels you, adding another magical feature: a new Unsend command.

What your newer iPhone is doing is akin to hitting a slight "pause" button so you can retrieve the mistake. It works immediately after you send a text or email, as an "Unsend" command appears at the bottom. Of course, you must act swiftly, but if you select Unsend, the message will no longer appear on the recipient's screen or email inbox.

Apple describes this new feature as "everyday messaging enhanced" because it gives you time to edit and fix the message you just sent by retrieving it.

One additional feature: you now can mark a text message as "unread" if you want to come back later to respond.

More new features

Apple added a lot more magical and practical features with its latest update in addition to these. But keep in mind all of these features – below and above – may not be active for all iPhones.

On Apple's website, you can scroll through nearly all the new bells and whistles that have been added to newer iPhones (iPhones 8, SE, X, and later, in most cases) with the iOS 16 update.

Overall, many of these new iPhone features and tools can be incredibly useful for real estate agents in their daily work – and play.

If you have any questions about on your smartphone – or any of your devices – please reach out to your Tech Helpline analysts to get assistance, as we are just a call, chat or click away!

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