Apple has four new iPhones for 2025: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the ultra-thin iPhone Air (not numbered 17). If you've chosen one, you're probably wondering how to get the most out of it and what new things to try.
Along with the latest iOS 26 There's a lot you can explore with the software that comes with these devices, including improvements to the way you take photos, manage calls, and improve battery life. Here are some tricks and tips to help you get started with your new iPhone.
1. Take selfies on the Center Stage
All four new iPhones have a square selfie camera sensor on the front, and this change in shape means you can take landscape photos even when holding the phone in portrait orientation. What's more, the iOS Camera app will automatically recognize when more people are joining your selfie photo and expand the viewing frame accordingly.
It's called Center Stage, after a similar feature on the iPad and Mac, and you can turn it on in the camera's selfie mode by pressing the Center Stage button (the icon looks like a person in a frame). There are two settings you can turn on or off: Automatic scaling (expands the frame when a face is detected) and The car is turned (rotates the frame to accommodate more people).
2. Set up iPhone to screen your calls.
New to iOS 26 is call filtering. This means that calls from unknown numbers are redirected to your personal answering machine. The caller will be asked who they are and what they want, and a text transcript will be displayed on your screen, after which you can decide whether to pick up the phone or not. It's like an enhanced version of voicemail that can help you filter out spam calls.
This won't happen to contacts that are in your iPhone's address book, and you can turn this feature on and off as needed. Go to iOS settings, click Applications then Telephoneand you can choose one of three options: Ask for the reason for the call (this is call filtering), Never (without call filtering) and Silence (unknown callers go straight to voicemail).
3. Download Apple games.
New to iOS 26 is a central hub for your mobile games called Apple Games, and you can find it in iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26 so you can track your gaming exploits across multiple devices. In addition to launching current games and checking your progress, you can also discover new games through personalized recommendations.
This Apple Games app will come to every iPhone running iOS 26, but it's worth noting that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max feature a new vapor cooling system. In theory, this should mean that the most demanding games will run more smoothly while keeping your phone cooler, so it's worth loading up some of your more intensive games to test them out.
4. Receive live translations on your AirPods.
One of the best new features of iOS 26 is Live Translation, and this feature works very well with Apple AirPods – if they are AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3. When this feature is enabled, it means that when people speak to you in a foreign language, you can almost instantly hear the translation in your ears.
You must have Apple Intelligence turned on and the languages ​​you want downloaded: tap your AirPods, then Languages in Settings. Then open the Apple Translate app, tap Live button below and select languages: as soon as you click Start a conversationyou will be able to communicate with someone in another language through your iPhone and AirPods.
5. Customize your action button
If you have one of the new 2025 iPhones—or the iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or any iPhone 16—then you have access to an action button on the top left side when you're looking at the phone in portrait orientation. One of the first tweaks you should consider for your new iPhone is changing what happens when you press and hold this button.
By default, the action will switch between Silent and Ring modes, like the traditional toggle that the Action button has replaced. However, if you go into the iOS Settings and select the Action button, you will see several options that you can scroll between: These include: Camera, Visual Intelligence, Voice note, Magnifier, FocusAnd Transfer.
6. Increase your iPhone's battery life.
Unbox and set up your new iPhone, and you'll find that iOS 26 has a new battery management option: it's called Adaptive powerand you can find it by clicking Battery then Power mode from settings. Essentially, this helps manage battery life in the background during resource-intensive tasks, which should mean you'll have more time between battery charges.
This mode may disable, for example, some background activities or slightly darken your iPhone's display, but it all happens in the background. On the same screen you still have the standard Low Power Mode A toggle switch that uses several tricks to further extend battery life (it can be activated either manually or automatically).
7. Use the camera control button.
All new iPhone 17 models, like previous iPhone 16 devices, have a camera control button. If you're holding your iPhone in portrait orientation with the screen facing you, Camera Control is a button on the right side, at the bottom. By default, you can tap it to immediately launch the Camera app no ​​matter what you're doing with your phone.
From here, you can press the camera control button again to take a photo, or hold it down to start recording video. Alternatively, do a light double tap on the button and you'll get settings options for that mode, which you can scroll through by swiping the camera control itself: these include Contact, Depth, Increase, StylesAnd Tone.
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