Your iPhone as a Magnifier

Let's take a look at a really useful tool on your iPhone. The magnifier. It turns your phone into a powerful handheld magnifying glass, perfect for reading small print on things like pill bottles or grocery labels. To start. Open your control center. If your iPhone has face ID. Slide one finger down from the top right corner of the screen to the middle of your screen, and then lift your finger.

You'll see a small panel appear with rows of gray and white icons. Look for the magnifier icon. It looks like a tiny black magnifying glass inside a gray circle, usually near the bottom row of that panel. Give it a tap and your screen will switch to a live camera view. That's your magnifier. Hold your phone's camera over whatever you'd like to read.

At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a slider bar. Drag it to the right with your finger to make things larger, or left to make them smaller. That's it. Instant magnification. If you'd like to make opening the magnifier even quicker, you can create a shortcut from your home screen. Tap the gray settings icon. It looks like a little gear wheel.

Scroll down slowly until you see accessibility. It has a blue circle with a white person shaped figure inside. Tap that with accessibility opened. Keep scrolling down toward the bottom until you find accessibility shortcut. It's usually the last or next to last option on the list. Tap that once. You'll see a list of tools. Find magnifier and tap it once.

A blue checkmark will appear to the left. That means it's ready to go. Now you can open the magnifier any time by clicking your side button three times. If you have an older phone with a round home button, just press that button three times instead.

Use it wherever you need. The fine print on a receipt, an ingredient list, or medication instructions.

When you're done, close the magnifier just like any other app. Swipe up from the bottom or if you have a home button, tap home. The next time that you find print that's too small to read. Your iPhone's already got you covered. It's simple. It's fast, and it's right there in your pocket.