How to Customize the iOS 11 Control Center on iPhone

Apple’s newest release for iPhone and iPad, iOS 11, features a redesigned and modularized Control Center. This new Control Center features quite a bit of 3D-Touch gestures, new animations, and customizability. Furthermore, new controls are built in that previously were not available in app versions for download or use on iOS. This article will detail how to go about customizing the iOS 11 Control Center for your needs on iPhone as well as an overview of those fresh and new controls!

iOS 11 is currently in a public beta, which you can sign up for here. Do be forewarned, though, that pre-release beta software like this can be littered with a few bugs. I personally would not recommend loading it on a mission-critical device if you are not okay with dealing with those bugs on a daily basis.

How to Customize Control Center on iPhone

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1. Start by launching Settings from your iOS home screen.

2. Tap Control Center. This icon is in the second grouping of options.

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3. Add new controls by tapping the “+” icon on controls from “More Controls.”

4. Remove controls by tapping the “-” icon on controls from “Include.”

5. Use the hamburger icon to drag controls around and change their order and prominence.

6. That is it! Now close the Settings application and swipe up to view your newly-arranged Control Center.

Screen Recording

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Add the Screen Recording control to Control Center and tap it to start a new recording. You can 3D-Touch the control to choose whether or not to record audio from the microphone. The icon will turn red to confirm that the display is recording. Control Center can now be closed, and you can use your device as normal. When done recording, access Control Center and tap the icon again. The recording will be saved to your device’s Camera Roll where you can then edit in an app like iMovie or export it off the device entirely. As of now this feature does not trigger Snapchat to notify users of a screenshot. Do what you wish with this information.

Brightness and Night Shift

The very popular Night Shift feature that was brought about in iOS 9.3 and later on iOS is now hidden within the brightness controls of Control Center. You will have to 3D touch the brightness slider to bring up the Night Shift icon.

Wallet

Tapping the wallet icon brings up Apple Wallet in a simple-to-use format, without opening up the full app experience. Simply use a couple swipes to choose a card, redeem or pay, and be on your way. You can 3D-Touch the Wallet Control to show options for using your last accessed card or even to view your latest transaction.

Timer

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3D Touch the Timer Control and slide through various preset timeframes. Once set, tap start. The countdown will begin on this same screen, and you can pause it at any time. To fully cancel the timer, tap pause and then tap on the slider to start adjusting a new time.

Flashlight

The flashlight control got a massive upgrade in iOS 11. Tap to turn it on, as always, but 3D Touch it to bring up four different power levels.

Do Not Disturb While Driving

All new in iOS 11 is a little feature called “Do Not Disturb While Driving.” This feature will let those contacting you know via iMessage that you are unavailable. If the message is important, they can simply message a confirmation phrase, and it will go through to you. All messages sent to you while driving will be released to be read when you are no longer behind the wheel. Conveniently, this feature is to take effect automatically, but you can be sure that it is on (or off, for that matter) via Control Center.

Conclusion

What controls in the Control Center are you most excited for? Do you like the overall aesthetic and redesign of the Control Center? And, furthermore, do you think we will ever see third party controls available from app developers? Let us know your thoughts in a comment below!

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Corbin Telligman

I'm a junior at UT Dallas, a tech enthusiast, an adreneline junkie, and a coffee fanatic.