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Handy hidden iPhone trick lets you select multiple items at once
Have you ever wanted to select multiple items on your iPhone at once, like photos, files or notes? Well, there’s a hidden trick that lets you do just that.
You don’t have to click on each thing individually, Apple has an amazing feature that simplifies the process and it’s been around for years – but hardly anybody knows about it.
iPhone trick lets you select multiple things at once
All you have to do is drag two fingers over the items you want to select, and your iPhone will automatically change to an edit mode, which allows you to choose more than one item.
It works on all kinds of things from files to notes and photos. Apps unrelated to Apple can opt-in to the feature too.
The feature is called “two-finger pan gesture,” and it’s available on all iPhones running iOS 13 or later. That operating system was released in 2019, so it’s been around for five years!
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“In iOS 13 and later, you can provide users of your app with the ability to select multiple items using a two-finger pan gesture on table and collection views,” Apple Developer says.
In most cases, users don’t need to tap an ‘Edit’ or ‘Select’ button, simply drag two fingers over the screen to select multiple items at once.
The only exception is with photos, where you have to press the ‘Select’ option before sliding two fingers over the pictures you want to group together.
The items don’t have to be next to each other
The best part is that the selected items don’t have to be “contiguous,” as Apple describes it. That means next to each other.
You can use two fingers to select a few items, then scroll down the view and use your two fingers again to select more items.
Plus, you can even drag your fingers over multiple items again to unselect them. Sharing and deleting has never been easier!
If the feature isn’t working, try holding your two fingers down for a few seconds before you start dragging them to allow the device to go into edit mode.
