Your iPhone's Control Center gives you quick access to system features, apps, and shortcuts, and the default layout gives you access to system switches, music playback, screen mirroring, a timer, and more. But did you know there's a hidden treasure trove of other features and shortcuts you can add to Control Center, like screen recording, a quick note launcher, and a QR code scanner?

How to Add Controls to Control Center

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Adding or removing toggles to Control Center is simple: open the Settings app and go to Control Center. Scroll down and tap the Plus button next to the icon you want to add (Apple calls them "controls"). The control is added to the section at the top of this screen. You can use the three-line handle icon to rearrange your controls as desired. Now let's take a look at the controls worth adding to your iPhone's Control Center.

Enable Dark Mode with a Tap

Love using Dark Mode? Don't want to go to Settings every time you want to enable it? Just add the dark mode switch. Dark mode can be turned on or off at the touch of a button.

Use a fully functional Apple TV remote

Can't find the Siri Remote for Apple TV? Forget looking under the pillows and use the Apple TV controls in Control Center. It gives you a full-fledged external interface with touchpad, menu, playback controls, and wake/sleep functionality.

Ping your Apple Watch

You can always use your Apple Watch to find your iPhone, but if you have iOS 17 or later you can now also ping your Apple Watch from your iPhone! Add the new Ping my Watch control and when you press the icon, your Apple Watch will ping with a sound so loud you might start looking for it.

Quickly scan QR codes

iPhone's Camera app has a built-in QR code scanner, but this doesn't happen automatically: you still have to tap the QR code link. The Code Scanner control solves this problem. Tap the icon, point your phone at a QR code and the link will automatically open in the appropriate app.

Control your favorite HomeKit devices

The Control Center has a section for HomeKit accessories, but it takes up too much space. Instead, add the single Home control that expands to show all your HomeKit-connected devices and accessories.

Zoom in on everything

The Magnifier is another hidden secret of the iPhone, available as an app in iOS 15 and later. This button opens a specialized camera interface that allows you to quickly zoom in on your subject (up to 10x).

Start recording your iPhone screen

The Screen Recording button gives you access to a one-tap screen recording feature. Just tap the icon to start recording. When you're done, tap the pill icon in the top toolbar to stop. The recording is saved in the Photos app. If you also want to record audio, tap and hold the Screen Recording button and enable the Microphone option.

Shazam a song

Your iPhone has built-in Shazam music recognition. Add the Shazam icon to Control Center and tap it to let your iPhone do its thing. Once the song is recognized, you'll receive a notification that you can tap to open the Shazam page for the song in your web browser. Would you like to listen to the song on Apple Music? Tap and hold the notification to see that option as well.

Create a quick note

When you tap the Quick Note icon, a new note will start and the keyboard will immediately appear so you can start typing. Once you're done, click Save and it will be merged with the other notes in your Notes app.

Enhance Text for Easier Reading

This is one of my favorite accessibility features on the iPhone and iPad. I like bigger text, but I don't like using the Display Zoom feature that makes everything about an app bigger, including the UI and buttons. The Text Size option allows you to increase the text size of the app you are currently using, or quickly change the default text size for your entire iPhone.

Use the Guided Access feature when you hand the phone to someone else

The Guided Access feature lets you lock your iPhone only to what is currently showing on the screen. No one can access the rest of the iPhone until you authenticate with Face ID or passcode. Set this up first via Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access. Then add the icon to Control Center and tap it to enter Guided Access mode.

Use Low Power mode to extend battery life

Low Power mode is nothing special: it's just a button to enable power saving mode with one tap, but use it a lot. When I want to get more battery out of my iPhone, I like to have convenient access to the power saving mode switch.

Record Voice Memos Without Missing a Beat

Voice Memos is another one of those incredibly simple, yet incredibly useful shortcuts. Tap it to open the Voice Memos app, or press and hold the icon and tap the New Recording button to quickly start a new audio recording.

Activate your favorite Accessibility Shortcuts

Accessibility Shortcuts are another example of how much attention iOS has paid to accessibility. This handy icon brings many accessibility features, such as color filters, color inversion, and AssistiveTouch, to the Control Center. You can choose up to three accessibility features that you want to quickly access from Control Center.

Enable Live Listen for your AirPods

Hearing controls give you quick access to the Live Listen and Background Sounds feature (iOS 15 and later). Live Listen is an accessibility feature for AirPods that helps you hear conversations in loud environments. The Background Sounds feature allows you to listen to sounds such as ocean, rain, stream, balanced noise, bright noise, and dark noise.