iPhone 101 for Gen Xers and Minimalists

As a Gen X’er, I started life without Internet and mobile phones (oh my gawd!) and was already an adult when social media took off. As a result, I am not smartphone dependent and will not be constantly checking my phone. I only check my phone when I need to text or call someone. If I want to read or watch something, I pull out a desktop or laptop. I don’t pull out a phone with a tiny screen. I’m older now and my eagle eyes are malfunctioning. Needless to say, I don’t check the phone when I’m bored or when I’m on the toilet (I have an old iPad for that).

This phone avoidant behavior is bad because I often miss text messages. Unfortunately, more than a decade ago, someone “super smart” decided to remove the phone’s blinking “you have an unread text message” LED. So, there is no visual indicator to tell me that there are messages waiting for me. However, this is a moot point because current phones are inundated with app notifications, so the LED would be blinking all the time and therefore useless.

Have you heard of DINK (double income, no kids)? Well, Gen Xers’ parents are not those enlightened beings. Our parents are DISK (double income, solo or self-regulating kids) meaning we were forced to be independent from a young age. (Yeah, I just came up with that acronym. This is the way.) If we’re lucky, one of our parents would be present when we get home from school. We were forced to manage our own time and get things done. As adults, when we are hungry, we go out to find that animal, go to the supermarket to buy the pre-packaged meat corresponding to that animal, and then go to a second supermarket because the first was out of stock. We don’t Uber Eats or Grubhub it, even though we wish we had extra money to do so.

Over the years of owning Apple iPhones, I’ve adjusted the settings to fit my needs: more security and privacy, less intrusive notifications, and better battery life. I’ve documented the settings (not comprehensive) and other tips below.

Currently I have an Apple iPhone XR which can only run iOS 18, not the latest iOS 26. Apple skipped iOS versions 19 through 25 so 18 is just one version before 26. The settings for iOS 26 should be 95% similar.

Why not upgrade to a new iPhone to get the latest iOS 26? Don’t need it. Almost all my iPhones were gotten from family members who had foolishly upgraded… shh! I use the phone mainly for voice calls, text messages, and navigation (Google Maps). I rarely browse the Internet or check emails on the phone; I prefer a desktop or laptop for that. Gen Xers are just built that way; we are independent and frugal (not cheap) so won’t fall for the latest gadget or fad. Wearing sneakers and bell-bottoms until they fall apart. Using hardware like rice cookers hard until they stop working even after multiple self-attempted fixes (and possibly, fire hazards). In a way, Gen Xers are minimalists, very cheap minimalists… I mean hardcore minimalists. Hardcore all the way, baby. ‘Merica!

More Security and Privacy

The Apple iPhone comes with many features and permissions enabled by default; potentially, causing security vulnerabilities.

Use Settings app to disable unnecessary features:

Note: On iOS, you must run the Google Photos and Life360 apps and leave them running. Don’t exit them by swiping them away in the pulled-up App Switcher. Google Photos needs to run in the background to backup photos. Life360 needs to run in the background to update your location.

Less Intrusive Notifications

The iPhone comes with many notifications enabled. Also, when you install apps, the apps have notifications enabled by default. This results in tons of notifications that are intrusive and annoying.

Use Settings app to disable unnecessary notifications:

Better Battery Life

We can improve battery life by disabling features, especially background processes. Disabling unnecessary features also improves performance.

Use Settings app to disable unnecessary features:

Note: Using the pull-down Control Center to turn off Bluetooth and “Personal Hotspot” will not disable the two features, but disconnect any devices connected to them. Eventually the devices may automatically reconnect. Use the Settings app to disable the two features permanently. Also, updating the iOS version may re-enable these features.

Backup to iCloud and Google

Apple encourages iPhone owners to setup iCloud for backups (and other services) by providing 5GB storage for free. 5GB is enough for settings, but insufficient for backing up photos, videos, and music.

If you don’t wish to pay for more iCloud storage and you have less than 15GB’s worth of photos and videos, I recommend backing up to Google Photos, which provides 15GB of storage for free. Actually, Google Photos provides a “Storage saver” mode which allows for unlimited photos and videos, but I don’t recommend it because Google will reduce the image and video quality. When setting up Google Photos, make sure to select “Original quality” mode to keep the original photo and video size.

Because my primary email address uses Google Mail, I configured the iPhone to back up the Calendar and Contacts to my Google account instead.

Run Settings app to configure iCloud backup:

Run Settings app to configure Google backup:

To backup photos and videos to Google, install the “Google Photos” app and sign into your Google account. Remember to select “Original quality” mode and leave the Google Photos app running in the background.

For the Elderly

Some tips for the elderly or the old at heart.

Emergency Contact and Medical ID

Set emergency contact and medical ID so in the event that you are unconscious, a first responder can look up your contact info on your iPhone.

1. Run the Health app.
2. Locate the “Set Up Your Medical ID” section and click on the “Get Started” button. Alternatively, you can click on the top-right user icon, select “Medical ID”, and then “Get Started”.
3. Make sure that the “Show When Locked” option is enabled.
4. Follow the instructions to input your name, birthdate, and emergency contact. Of course, include any helpful info like medications and allergies.

A first responder can view your Medical ID from the Lock Screen by swiping up, tapping Emergency on the passcode screen, and tapping Medical ID. The info you provided will be displayed. FYI, your age is shown instead of your actual birthdate.

Blinking Message LED

Remember how I lamented the missing message LED? Well, you could simulate it with the camera’s LED flash. I’m not sure but constantly triggering the camera flashes might adversely affect the battery life.

Use Settings app to configure LED flash for alerts:

Prevent App Deletion

My dad accidentally deleted the WeChat app on his iPhone. He doesn’t understand English well and is used to clicking on any popups without regard to consequences. Unfortunately, his fingers are unsteady so accidents occur frequently.

Even more unfortunate, the WeChat app does not backup messages online to its own service or iCloud. WeChat claims that it can copy old messages from another device’s WeChat local storage; this function sounds like it is used when migrating to another phone. My Dad only has WeChat on his iPhone and now, all the old messages are gone.

To prevent the above, use Settings app to set a restriction to block app deletion:

Once the above restriction is created, the option to delete apps (remove the app) will no longer appear when you long-press an icon on the home screen or in the app library.

iPhone Annoyances

Some iPhone features are annoying.

Do After New App Install

After adding a new app, you should check the settings for Background App Refresh, Notifications, Cellular data access, and Privacy & Security to disable the newly-added app-specific permissions. For example, I just installed the Peztio dashcam app which required a lot of permissions to operate. But there is no need for it to run in the background, nor a need for it to notify me, and definitely, no need for it to use cellular data access. Ideally, the only feature it should use is Wi-Fi for when I update the app!

Default to Speaker When Picking Up Call

When I pick up a call and want to use the speaker, I have to hit the speaker icon and then select speaker as the output. This is very annoying because Bluetooth Headset is offered as an alternate option, even though I don’t have a Bluetooth headset configured. Thankfully there is a fix for this.

Use Settings app to default to speaker when selecting audio output on a call:

Disable Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera

Have you ever put your iPhone into your pocket while accidentally swiping to open the camera? Minutes later, your leg is being burned by the very hot iPhone. Worse, the iPhone’s battery life has gone to shit.

There is an option in iOS 26 to disable the swipe to open camera feature. In iOS 18, we would need to restrict camera access using Screen Time to disable this feature, but this would totally disable (and hide) the Camera app.

Use Settings app to disable swipe to open camera (only on iOS 26 or later):

Some info from above referenced from:

• Set up and view your Medical ID
• Get LED flash alerts on your iPhone or iPad
• How to prevent accidental app delete on iphone
• How to Turn Off Automatic Switch to Speaker on iPhone Calls