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General and system

Control Center

Most people call this the quick panel of switches you swipe up.

Control Center is a panel of quick controls you open from any screen, and on iOS 7 and iOS 8 you swipe up from the bottom edge to open it.

Available

This setting is present on your iPhone.

Where to find it - iOS 8

  1. Settings
  2. Control Center

What it does

It gives one-swipe access to switches such as Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Do Not Disturb, plus brightness, screen orientation lock, the flashlight, the camera, the timer and audio controls. AirDrop appears there on iPhone 5 and later.

The Control Center screen in Settings decides whether the panel opens on the Lock screen and inside apps.

What changes

When it is on

With Lock screen access allowed, anyone holding the phone can open Control Center without unlocking it.

When it is off

Control Center stops opening from the Lock screen or inside apps, depending on which switch you turned off.

Should you turn it on?

Good reasons to turn it on

  • Fast flashlight and brightness from anywhere.
  • Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi switches without opening Settings.

Good reasons to turn it off

  • Stop someone who picks up your locked phone from switching on Airplane Mode.
  • Games that use upward swipes keep opening the panel by accident.

Battery

No real change

Privacy

Depends how you use it

Performance

No real change

Cellular data

No real change

Storage

No real change

Out of the box: Opens from the Lock screen and inside apps until you turn either off.

Questions people actually ask

How do I open Control Center on an iPhone 4s?
Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen. It needs iOS 7 or later.
Why is there no AirDrop in my Control Center?
Apple lists AirDrop for iPhone 5 and later, so iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s do not have it.

If it is not working

  • If it will not open inside an app, check the in-apps switch in Settings > Control Center.
  • No AirDrop button? Apple lists AirDrop for iPhone 5 and later.
  • Swipe up from the very bottom edge of the screen. A swipe that starts higher up scrolls the page instead.

Related settings