If you haven’t gotten the hang of your new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus yet, that’s ok. You might have noticed some big changes in the phone from its older 6, 6S, and 6 Plus models. Most notably, the home button has changed, the device is now waterproof, and the headphone jack is gone. These significant changes in the phone’s design mean your use of the phone might need to change a bit too in order to adapt to the new features.
Here are five tips all iPhone 7 and 7 Plus owners should have in their back pockets to fully understand their new devices:
How to Force Restart/Hard Reset
The standard procedure for forcing your iPhone to restart has always been holding down the Home button. With the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus’s changes to the Home button, forcing a restart has changed as well.
To force restart or hard reset your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, begin by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button and the Volume Down button for a minimum of 10 seconds. Accessing Recovery Mode will also be different on the new iPhone models. 9 to 5 Mac offers a step-by-step guide for those of you who are interested in finding out how this process works as well.
Adapter for the Power Port
With the elimination of the headphone jack, owners of the new iPhones have noticed that it is impossible to charge their devices while listening to music using headphones with just the standard charging and headphone cords.
To prepare for the potential troubling situation purchase an adapter that will allow you to do both at the same time. You can check out a guide to this adapter as well as tips for using it here.
How to Unlock
Should you choose to sell your device in the future or even just change phone service providers, you’ll need to know how to unlock your phone. The problem is, most guides are outdated and will show you the process for unlocking older models rather than this model as demand for unlocking 7s and 7 Pluses isn’t quite as high yet.
PicoZip has created a guide to unlock iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices. Keeping this bookmarked will help you later on when the need to unlock your phone presents itself.
Home Button Pressure
As mentioned above, the new iPhone models don’t have an actual press-able button for your Home button. The device simply senses pressure in the area where the Home button used to be to activate the normal Home button functions.
Because there isn’t a physical button anymore, you can change the way the click feels when you roll your thumb over the Home space. Experts say that adjusting the pressure settings for your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus is important if you intend to use a case. OSX Daily provides a solid guide to help you navigate your new phone’s Home button settings if you need a little help.
The Waterproof Feature Isn’t Flawless
The moment iPhone connoisseurs have all been waiting for has finally arrived – the newest model is finally waterproof. Although this might have some of you excited to take your phone on your beach vacation, you should know that while the device is technically waterproof, you can still damage it with water if you’re not careful.
One of the most common ways new iPhone 7 users have already been damaging their devices is by plugging in a charger while the phone is wet which pushes water up into the charger port. Apple Support urges customers to enjoy the new waterproof feature of their latest iPhone models, but to also be wary of potential technicalities that could still cause water damage.
