How do you quickly access settings, apps, now playing, and your HomeKit accessories, any time, from anywhere? With Control Center on your iPhone and iPad!
Control Center swipes up from the bottom of the screen on your iPhone or iPad, and lets you quickly access everything from common settings and app functions to audio controls and now, with iOS 10, your HomeKit accessories. That makes all your most common controls instantly available from anywhere, at any time. There's even support for 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and later, so you can not only toggle, but fine tune many of your settings and accessories as well.
This guide covers changes to Control Center for iOS 10. Looking for help with the previous version? Here's our ultimate guide to Lock screen for iOS 9!.
How to quickly access settings and apps with Control Center
With Control Center, you can access some of the most important controls on your iPhone or iPad, from anywhere, with just a swipe and a tap. That includes airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, do not disturb, orientation lock, brightness, AirPlay screen sharing, AirDrop file sharing, flashlight, timer, calculator, and camera. With 3D Touch, you can even set how bright you want the flashlight and how long you want the timer.
- How to access Control Center
- How to switch Control Center panels in iOS 10
- How to turn off Control Center from the Lock screen
- How to turn off Control Center from within apps
- How to turn on airplane mode from Control Center
- How to turn on Wi-Fi from Control Center
- How to turn on Bluetooth from Control Center
- How to turn on do not disturb from Control Center
- How to turn on orientation lock from Control Center
- How to adjust brightness from Control Center
- How to AirPlay from Control Center
- How to AirDrop from Control Center
- How to turn on Night Shift from Control Center
- How to turn on the flashlight from Control Center
- How to start the timer from Control Center
- How to launch the calculator from Control Center
- How to launch the camera from Control Center
How to use Now Playing with Control Center
Control Center's audio game has leveled up. Now Playing now has its own panel, complete with artwork, information, scrubber, skippers, play and pause, volume, and output source. There's no 3D Touch like there is for the other panels, but there's still a ton of functionality for songs, audio books, and podcasts at your fingertips.
- How to access Control Center
- How to switch to Now Playing in Control Center
- How to get to the Now Playing app from Control Center
- How to scrub through what's playing in Control Center
- How to pause/play playback in Control Center
- How to skip back or rewind in Control Center
- How to skip ahead or fast forward in Control Center
- How to change volume in Control Center
- How to AirPlay media from Control Center
How to use Home with Control Center
Control Center also has a brand new panel with brand new functionality — Home. If you're thinking that means easy swipe and tap control over all your HomeKit accessories, then you're thinking right! And if you have 3D Touch, you can do more than just toggle accessories on or off: You can access options like light intensity and color.
- How to access Control Center
- How to switch to the Home panel in Control Center
- How to turn on or off Home accessories in Control Center
- How to change options for Home accessories in Control Center
- How to re-order you favorite accessories in Control Center
Any Control Center questions?
If you have any trouble using Control Center, or any additional questions, drop them in the comments below!
Reader comments
Control Center: The Ultimate Guide
Everywhere on the internet I can see that IOS 10 has more features with 3D touch. This means that iphone 6s users have more advantages with IOS 10 than iphone 6 users? Will IOS 10 be providing less features to iphone 6 users?
Sent from the iMore App
Yes. Some features (like rich notifications) will be possible on iPhone 6 and earlier, but some (such as 3D touch in control center or raise to wake) are exclusive to the 6S and 6S Plus.
How do keep it from popping up every time you unlock the phone?
Sent from the iMore App
Control Center only opens if you swipe up from the bottom bezel on the phone
How do you add specific settings to the Control Center such as WiFi so you select which network to connect to instead of just being able to turn it on and off?