How to add Low Power Mode (and other handy things) to iOS Control Center

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Take control of your iPhone's Control Center.
Take control of your iPhone's Control Center.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The Control Center on your iPhone or iPad comes with a bunch of preset icons so you can quickly open the Camera app, toggle Do Not Disturb and do plenty of other tricks. But you also can customize it, adding your choice of one-swipe shortcuts. You can even set the order of the icons.

Today we’ll see how to add Low Power Mode, and take a look at the other options available.

Add Lower Power Mode to Control Center

Control Center is available from anywhere, on iPhone and iPad. You just swipe down from the top right corner of the screen (on devices with a Home button, you swipe up from the bottom of the screen), and there it is. The top sections of the Control Center contain a standard set of controls — Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode, audio playback controls, Do Not Disturb settings and so on. You cannot change this section.

However, the lower part of the Control Center can be endlessly tweaked, pared back or stuffed full. To do so, you need to open the Settings app. Then go to Control Center > Customize Controls, and you’ll see this screen:

Customize your iPhone Control Center here.
Customize your Control Center here.
Photo: Cult of Mac

At the top are the controls you already have active. In the bottom section, you see all the other controls that can be added to your Control Center. Just tap the green + button next to the ones you want to add. In our example, we will tap the green + button next to Low Power Mode. Then it will moved from the lower to the upper section of the Control Center.

To remove a control from Control Center, tap the red – button. You also can change the order of the controls using the grabby handles next to each control. And you can drag icons from the top section to the bottom, which avoids having to confirm deletion.

Now, having added the Low Power Mode control, you can toggle the setting anytime you like. I like to use it a lot when I’m on vacation (or just out of the house all day).

Tweak the iPhone Flashlight setting

The Flashlight control's hidden intensity slider.
The Flashlight control’s hidden intensity slider.
Photo: Cult of Mac

While you’re here, take a moment to explore the other available controls. I also really like the Torch control (it’s called Flashlight in the United States). It lets you activate the iPhone’s LED array and use the device as a flashlight.

While the iPhones X all have a permanent flashlight button on the lock screen, the Control Center version offers a secret feature. You can hard-press it using 3D Touch, and you will see a new slider that lets you change the LED’s intensity.

Too much control

This is how Control Center looks with all the controls added. What a mess.
This is how Control Center looks with all the controls added. What a mess.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you want to, you can add all of these controls to the Control Center. Take a look at the screenshot above to see how busy things get, though. I prefer to have a few icons that I use all the time, so I can quickly tap them without looking. Or rather, I used to be able to tap them without looking. After adding all the icons, and moving them around, I’ve kind of lost the order I had everything in.

Anyhow, that’s how you customize Control Center on the iPhone. I shall spend the next half-hour tidying mine up again.

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