6 iPhone hacks to make you more productive

There are so many productivity tips for iPhone users that it can be difficult to figure out the best ones. Here’s a new collection of those I think will be most useful.

Save (almost) anything as a PDF

The easiest way to save anything you can print from your iPhone or iPad as a PDF isn’t particularly clear. But this is a great way to gather copies of almost anything and is as simple as:

• Open the item you want to save.
• Tap Share and select Print.
• When the print dialog appears you’ll see a preview of the item you wish to print. Tap this with two fingers and spread them out.
• The preview should grow to fill the page. Congratulations – you just made a PDF.
• Tap the Share icon and you can now save this item to Files.

Create meeting transcripts the easy way

Are you responsible for writing the minutes of meetings? Perhaps you’re a student wanting accurate lecture notes, or a researcher trying to transcribe lengthy discussions?

The easiest way to transcribe on your iPhone is to use the Otter.ai app.

This works using the microphone on your device, uploading recordings to the service, which then transcribes them in real time.

Once the recording is fully transcribed, you’ll receive a notification and you can search and surf through the transcriptions on your device. You can export them in various formats and it is possible to upload recordings (such as recorded calls) to the service for transcription.

While I do find it necessary to work through and correct transcriptions, this is much easier than doing the task manually. I find it incredibly useful.

Say it, don’t write it

Your iPhone isn’t just good for asking Siri silly questions, it’s a highly capable dictation device. You can even use it to dictate letters, scribble thoughts or write for other reasons while on the move – just ask Siri to open your writing app (Word?) and then tap the microphone icon on the keyboard that appears and dictate away. Yes, you’ll probably need to learn Apple’s built-in dictation commands (there’s a handy list of commands here), and you will need to double-check your document for accuracy. But using this feature frees you to work in different environments in places you choose.