The Hidden Tools Already on Your Phone
Every smartphone made in the last six years contains a remarkable little toolbox most owners never open.
Some of these tools are well-known. Some get discovered by accident — the way you find a button on a kitchen appliance you bought in 2019 and only this year realize makes the oven self-clean. Below are the ones worth knowing, and the one most seniors end up using every week without thinking about it.
The flashlight
Most people know this one. On the iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to open Control Center; the flashlight icon is in the grid. On Android, swipe down from the top once or twice to reveal the quick-settings tiles. Same icon — a torch.
What you might not know: on the iPhone, you can adjust the brightness. Press and hold the flashlight icon and a vertical slider appears. Move it up for blinding, down for "find the keyhole without waking the dog." On Pixel and recent Samsung, same trick — long-press the flashlight tile.
The flashlight on a 2024-or-newer phone is bright enough to walk down a dark hallway with. The lowest setting is usually plenty — and it has the added benefit of not waking a sleeping spouse.
The magnifier
This one is genuinely under-used. The magnifier turns your phone into a handheld lens for reading small print on medicine bottles, restaurant menus in dim light, the serial number on the back of an appliance.
iPhone: it's already installed. Pull down from the top of the home screen to open the search bar, type "magnifier," tap it. You can also add it to Control Center: Settings → Control Center → tap the green plus next to Magnifier. Now it lives in the swipe-down panel.
Android: most phones include a "Magnifier" or "Magnification" feature under Settings → Accessibility. On Pixel it's already there. On Samsung you may need to install Google's free Magnifier app from the Play Store.
Once it's open, hold the phone over what you want to read. A magnify slider on the screen lets you zoom further. The flashlight icon next to it turns on the camera light. The contrast button cycles through filters — black on white, white on black, yellow on black — which can make some print easier to read than it was originally.
The print on most pill bottles is, frankly, a disgrace. The magnifier is the easiest fix that doesn't involve a magnifying glass on a string.
The spirit level
Want to hang a picture straight? Want to check that the shelf you built is level? Your phone is a spirit level.
iPhone: open the Measure app (it's the icon that looks like a small ruler). Tap "Level" at the bottom. The screen shows a circle and two angle numbers. Lay the phone on the surface you're checking and tilt it until the numbers read zero.
Android: doesn't include a built-in level on most models, but the free "Bubble Level" app from Google's developers works the same way. On Samsung Galaxy phones, the Tools or Tips app sometimes hides one.
It works as well as a $15 carpenter's level for most home jobs — hanging a picture, shimming a shelf, checking a new appliance.
The compass
iPhone has one — Compass app, pre-installed, points north. Useful if you're hiking, or trying to figure out which window faces west to plant the tomatoes outside it.
Android doesn't always include one, but every Android phone has a magnetometer in it, so any free compass app from a recognizable developer will work. Google's own Maps app includes a compass too — open Maps, tap the location dot until the blue beam appears, and it'll show which direction you're facing.
The QR code reader
You don't need a special app for this. Both iPhone and Android cameras read QR codes (those black-and-white square patterns) automatically. Just open the Camera app and point it at the code. A small banner pops up at the top of the screen offering to open the link. Tap the banner.
Useful for: restaurant menus that have switched to QR codes (annoying but real), Wi-Fi connect codes at relatives' houses, contact-info codes on business cards.
A warning, though: scammers sometimes paste fake QR codes over real ones on parking meters, EV chargers, and posters. If a QR code asks you to enter payment information, look very carefully at the website address before doing anything. The general scam rules from our scam-call guide apply.
The unit converter
iPhone Calculator, when held sideways, shows a row of unit conversions across the top — currencies, lengths, weights, temperatures, areas, volumes. Tap "Convert" if you don't see it. Faster than a Google search.
Pixel Calculator does the same; for Samsung, the free "Unit Converter" app from Google works fine.
The one most people end up using every week
The phone's built-in note app, dictated. Both iPhone Notes and Google Keep on Android let you create a note by holding the small microphone on the keyboard and speaking. The grocery list is the canonical use: "Two pounds of ground turkey, a head of lettuce, milk, the kind of bread my wife likes — don't get the cheap one." Fifteen seconds. The list is on the phone when you get to the store.
No more grocery lists on the back of envelopes. No more lost grocery lists. The smallest possible revolution in a kitchen, and an underrated one.
One more, in case anyone needs it
The Notes app on iPhone has a feature called "Scan Documents" that turns your phone's camera into a flatbed scanner. Open Notes, tap the camera icon, tap "Scan Documents," and hold the phone above the paper. The phone detects the edges, corrects the perspective, and produces a clean black-and-white PDF.
Most accountants will quietly tell you these phone scans look better than what their clients send from real flatbed scanners. That is both a compliment to the phone and a sad commentary on home scanners.
The toolbox is in your pocket. Open it.
Written by Justin Lowen. Last verified 2 June 2026.