Why tap and swipe all morning? One Alexa command can launch your lights, news, coffee and your day.
📺 Lost the remote again? If you own a new 2025 Samsung TV and a Galaxy Watch 7 or Watch Ultra, control your TV with a flick of your wrist. Literally. Move the cursor by waving your arm, pinch your fingers to select apps, make a fist to exit or swipe the watch bezel to scroll. Neato!
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📚 Make Kindle page turns clearer: Ever flip a page and wonder if you went forward or back? Turn on the swipe effect, so it’s obvious. Tap on a page, select the Aa (font) icon, go to the More tab, scroll down to Page Turn Animation and toggle it on.
Open multiple app windows on iPad: You can run two instances of the same app for better multitasking. For example, in Mail, tap the three dots at the top of the screen, select New Window, and another Mail window will open. Now swipe along the bottom to check one email while working on another.
Move iPhone apps at once: Want to clean up your Home Screen without deleting anything? Long-press an app to enter jiggle mode and start dragging it. With another finger, tap other apps to add them to your stack. Once you’ve got them all, swipe to the App Library and let go.
Move around faster on Kindle: Need to jump back a few pages? Open your book, then swipe up from the bottom. Tap the Grid icon to see previews of multiple pages. Use the arrows on the sides to flip through your book.
🔦 Let there be light: On iPhone, you can control your flashlight’s brightness. Open Control Center, press and hold the flashlight icon, and wait for the larger beam slider to appear. Slide up to brighten or down to dim. Bonus: If your model has a multi-LED flash, swipe left or right to adjust the beam’s focus.
💬 Mark texts as unread: It’s not just for emails. On iPhone, swipe right on a conversation and tap Mark as Unread (it looks like a speech bubble). On Android, press and hold the convo, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, then choose Mark as unread, so you won’t forget to reply later.
Master iPad gestures: In any app, swipe up from the bottom to return to the Home screen. Swipe sideways on the bottom bar to switch between apps. Want the Dock? Swipe up slowly from the bottom. You can also drag an app from the Dock to the side to multitask in a new window.
Split screen on iPad: Want two apps open at once? Turn your iPad sideways and open the first app. Tap the three-dot menu at the top and select Split View. The app will move to one side. Swipe up to open the Dock and drag the second app over. Now use the divider to adjust space between them.
Write swipes: Swipe up from the bottom right of your iPad to open a Quick Note and jot down an idea. Head to Settings > Multitasking & Gestures and toggle on Swipe Finger from Corner to turn this on. You can also choose what each corner does, like taking a Screenshot with a swipe from the bottom left.
For group shots: Use your phone’s self-timer. On iPhone, open the Camera app, tap the down arrow at the top, then swipe the bottom slider and press the clock icon. For Samsung, go to Camera > Options (four dots) > Timer (clock). On other Androids, just swipe down in the Camera app and turn it On.
🔒 Link unlocked: You need 10K followers for Instagram’s “Swipe Up” feature to link directly from your Stories. Not there yet? Just create a new Story and tap the Sticker button (smiling face in a square). Hit Link and add your URL. Pro tip: A call-to-action sticker like “tap here” tells your followers to click.
🤑 Swipe to earn: Take payments anywhere with a Square Reader. Your first one is free when you sign up. Just pick your connector (USB-C, Lightning), download the app, plug in to your phone and start swiping. Fees are 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction. Cha-ching has a new sound, and it plugs into your phone.
💬 Forget to text back? Mark a text as unread, just like an email. This helps you remember to reply. On iPhone, just swipe right on a conversation to mark it as unread. For Androids, tap and hold the message, and then select Mark as unread from the menu.
💔 “Half-swiping” breaking teen hearts: It’s the ultimate Snapchat microghosting (paywall link) move, letting someone read a message without marking it as read. Just swipe on a message without lifting your finger. Want to catch them in the act? Snapchat+ ($4/month) adds an “eyes” emoji when they’re doing it.
One wrong move: You’re doing some math on your calculator app and one wrong tap ruins it all. Not anymore. Swipe to the right or left to delete the last character. My high school math teacher called me average. How mean.