Let’s start with some facts. According to the global digital overview shared by Datareportal (As of July 2025):

  • 70% of the world’s population now uses a mobile phone. 
  • There are approximately 5.76 billion mobile phone devices in use. 
  • 63% of the internet traffic now comes from mobile devices. 

These numbers are really huge. And one of the primary reasons behind such extensive usage is the innovative features that are offered by today’s smartphones. 

If you are among those who use a phone only to make calls and texts, you’re missing out on many of the features. Using them could save you time and make daily tasks much easier.

These aren’t complicated tricks that require tech skills. They’re simple features already on your phone, waiting to be discovered. Below, you will explore some of the smart features that you should try. 

Smart Features You Should Try On Your Phone

Below, we have shared four of the innovative features (both for iPhone & Android users). These are the features that make many of the tasks easier to perform. Without wasting any time, let’s dive straight into the features individually. 

1. Your Phone’s Back Is a Magic Button

Both iPhone and Android offer a feature that lets users convert the back of their phone into a custom button. iPhone named this feature Back Tap, while Android calls it Quick Tap. 

You can use this feature to set a custom task. For example, you can set it to open the phone camera when double-tapped on the backside and triple-tap to take a screenshot. 

How to set it up on an iPhone?

  • Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch
  • Select Back Tap
  • Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap
  • Pick your action from the list

How to set it up on Android?

  • Open Settings > System > Gestures
  • Look for Quick Tap or Gesture settings (vary with the device make and model)
  • Turn it on and choose your action

This feature works through most phone cases. This means you do not need to remove protection to use it.

2. Copy Text From Any Photo or Document

We often come across images and non-editable documents (e.g., PDFs) on mobile devices. Especially when on the go. We usually need to use text inside images and documents. And we have seen many people typing things manually, wasting their time. 

Both iPhone and modern Android devices have the feature to extract text from images. iPhone users have Live Text built into the Camera. When you point your camera at any text, you will see it highlighted. By tapping on the highlighted text, you can select and copy it. 

Android users can use Google Lens, which comes pre-installed on most phones. Open Google Lens and point it at text. The app will detect and let you copy the words.

But here we would like to mention a limitation of this feature on both devices. You can only copy text as raw. Mean no formatting or structure. 

If you need the text to be extracted into a well-structured format, there is still a seamless option. Simply open your browser and use an online image to text converter. It will not only extract the text but also provide you with well-structured and organized files. Especially beneficial for professionals on the go. 

3. Scan QR Codes the Smart Way

Almost all new smartphone devices on the market come with a built-in feature that automatically reads or scans QR codes. 

Just open your camera and point it at a QR code. A notification will pop up asking you to open it using which app or browser. 

Caution: don’t take action right away. Since you don’t know where the code leads at the time. 

Some QR codes lead to harmful websites or try to steal your information. Instead, take a screenshot of the code and use a QR code scanner. It will first show you the content (e.g., URL) that is embedded inside the code. The rest will be upon you after seeing whether to click on it or not. 

This extra step protects you from QR code scams that are becoming more common.

4. Keep Others Out of Your Apps

We often find ourselves needing to hand our phone to someone. But at that time, we do not want the other person to access all the apps on our device. 

Both iPhone and Android offer the feature to lock the mobile device to just one app. On Android, the feature is referred to as Screen Pinning. You can set it up in the settings, usually inside the security tab. It will help you keep your phone stuck on a single app of your choice. 

iPhone’s Guided Access does the same thing. To enable the feature, visit settings and search for Guided Access. Or you can also access it manually inside the accessibility tab. 

This feature is especially beneficial when handing a phone to someone or when you want to stop kids from accessing specific apps. 

Final Talk

Today’s modern smartphone devices are full of hidden features. Most of them come built into your device. All you need to do is activate them. They made many of the complex, time-consuming tasks simple to perform. Above, we have mentioned only four of the valuable features that many users ignore. Do not think of them as the least one. There are many, many more as well. So, for more, keep coming back to read our blog posts.