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Whether you’re a new iPhone owner or a seasoned user, there’s always something new to learn about your beloved smartphone. Here we compile a collection of assorted tips to getting more out of your iPhone.

It’s estimated we only use about 10 percent of what out gadgets are capable of — not unlike our brains, if you will.

If you’d like to learn more about your iPhone, the following are 20 random tips, tricks and techniques to try out. Some of them might be old hat, but hopefully there are a few you haven’t heard of yet. And be sure to share this with other iPhone users by emailing a link, liking it on Facebook or tweeting it to your circle of friends.

Here we go: 

• You probably know Siri can be used to set a reminder, like saying “Siri, remind me to call mom at 4pm today.” But did you know you can set location-based reminders on your iPhone 4S? Say “Remind me to call mom when I leave here” or “Remind me to call mom when I get home” and you’ll be notified accordingly.

• Apple has recently added a built-in dictionary and you can access it in most apps that let you select a word. Simply press and hold on a word – such as in an email, reminder, iBooks, and so on – and you’ll see a pop-up option for “Define.”

• Did you know you could take a photo with your headphone cord? Now that Apple lets you use the volume up or down buttons to snap a photo, steady your hand while framing up the photo and when you’re ready to take the picture, press the button on the cord so it won’t shake the iPhone. Er, just remember to plug the earbuds in first.

• Own an Apple TV? With AirPlay Mirroring, instantly and wirelessly share exactly what’s on your iPhone 4S or second- and third-generation iPad with your HDTV, connected to an Apple TV – such as games, apps or videos. Simply double-tap the Home button, swipe all the way to the right and select AirPlay Mirroring.

• Don’t miss that magic moment you want to capture. Even if your phone is locked you can double-tap on the Home button and you’ll see a camera icon you can tap to open the camera immediately. Now you can use the volume up button to snap the photo, too. You can also use the volume up on the headphone cord to take a photo (if you want to) and pinch the screen to zoom instead of using the slider bar.

• Want to get more done in less time? You can create shortcuts to words and phrases you use a lot, such as California Association for Employment in Education. In Settings, go to General, then Keyboard, and select Add New Shortcut. Now you can add new words or phrases and assign shortcuts to them (such as “CAEE,” in the above example, and it’ll write “California Association for Employment in Education”).

• If you’re one of the many weather junkies out there, you probably know you can swipe down the iOS device’s screen and you’ll see the Notifications center. Weather will be at the top, but did you know you can swipe to the left or right and you’ll toggle between current conditions and a 6-day forecast? Plus, jump to the Weather app by tapping anywhere on the weather bar inside Notifications screen.

• Don’t settle with the ringtones provided by Apple and you need not pay your carrier for more of them. As the name suggests, the free Ringtone Maker app lets you take a clip from your favourite songs and make ringtones out of them in seconds.

• Apple has added a number of accessibility features to iOS 5, specifically designed to assist those with hearing, vision, mobility and other disabilities. For example, those who are hearing impaired might opt to have the LED flash when a call comes in. If you’re seeing impaired, you could set a unique vibration pattern for different people in your Contacts, so you know who’s calling.

• Lost your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? As long as you sign up in advance, the free Find My iPhone app will help you locate your device on a map (on your computer or other iOS device). You can display a message or initiate a loud ring (in case it’s under the cushions), or remotely lock or wipe its data.

• You’re surfing the web in Safari and stumble upon a photo you’d like to save. Simply press and hold on a photo when on a website and you’ll be prompted with a menu asked if you’d like to “Save Image.” Once the photo is saved, you can view it offline, email it or set it as wallpaper.

• On a related note, if you want to take a screenshot of a website or application, press down on the Home button and tap the Sleep button. You’ll hear the camera click, see a white flash and the screenshot will be saved to your Camera Roll.

• It’s been a long time coming, but Apple has added the ability to select custom tones for incoming text messages, new emails, voicemails, tweets, calendar alerts, reminders and more. You can select something you like from within the Sounds menu. You’ll also notice you can scroll to the top of this list of sounds and you’ll see a “Buy More Tones” option, which takes you to iTunes.

• Need to scroll to the top of a page fast. In Mail, Safari, Contacts and other apps, simply tap the status bar at the top of the screen – the area that displays time, battery and cell bars — to jump back to the top.

• Here’s a tip for iPad users. If you like typing while holding the tablet, rather than stretch your fingers or thumbs for those middle letters like G, H, Y or B, you can drag the keyboard to each side of the screen to separate it into two, allowing you to easily type while holding it.

• Close any app ridiculously fast by putting your four fingers and thumb stretched on the screen and pinch inwards. Voila!

• Is there a website you visit often? Create an app out of it. To add a website to your Home screen, just visit the webpage in Safari and at the top of the screen, tap the Go To icon and select “Add to Home Screen.”

• You no longer need a computer to create a playlist. In the Music app, tap Playlists, then select Add Playlist and give it a name (“Mike’s Workout Mix”). Now, tap any song (or video) to add it to the playlist. You can add individual songs, entire albums, or all songs by a particular artist.

• You can delete unwanted emails en masse rather than deleting one at a time. In your Inbox, simply click the Edit button and check off the emails you want to delete with your finger and then choose Delete.

• If you don’t have the best texting plan and don’t want to unnecessarily pay to send more texts than you need, here’s a tip to turn on the character count in the Messages app. Enable this in the Settings>Message option to keep an eye on your word count. Usually, your one text becomes two after 160 characters.