How to Enable Dark Mode in OneDrive for iOS (and Other Tips)
But how do you activate it? If you were looking in the app looking for a toggle or switch to enable dark mode, you will not find any. There is a reason why.
The dark mode of OneDrive integrates with the native dark mode feature found in iOS 13. So you have to activate it at the system level to benefit from the dark mode in OneDrive.
Let's see how to get there, and then look at some other additions and changes in OneDrive.
Enable dark mode
To use OneDrive in dark mode, you must enable dark mode in iOS 13. If you are using iOS 12 or earlier, you must upgrade to iOS 13. If you are not familiar with the activation of the dark mode on iOS 13, do the following: do that.
Note: If you have not done so yet, update the iOS 13 app, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, tap General, and then tap Software Update.
Display the Control Center by dragging from the upper right corner of the screen. Follow up by pressing and holding on the brightness bar. Then, tap the Dark Mode icon to activate it.
Go back into OneDrive and you should see the application appear immediately in dark mode. And does not it look fantastic?
Microsoft has implemented dark mode in every corner of OneDrive. Files, folders, filenames and menus are clearly rendered on a dark background, and thumbnails of images are clearly visible without any problem.
I could also see a good dose of perfect black pixels everywhere. This has huge implications for iPhones equipped with OLED panels (iPhone XS, XS Pro, etc.), where you can expect increased battery life with OneDrive.
Since OneDrive is subject to the dark mode feature of iOS 13, you may experience situations where dark mode may turn off automatically. This occurs when a dark-mode appearance calendar is set up on your device. To turn it off, go to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, tap Display and Brightness, and then turn off the switch next to Automatic.
If you're having trouble, check out this guide to find out how to resolve the dark mode in iOS 13.
Scan documents
Did you know that OneDrive has its own integrated Office Lens scanner? If you only started using OneDrive recently, you may not be aware of it. Indeed, Microsoft has changed the traditional Office Lens shutter icon so that it looks like that of a camera. But it still has the same functionality.
As soon as you tap the camera icon at the bottom of the screen, you can easily scan documents, business cards, book covers, and so on. The Office Lens algorithm will then work in a magical way, reorder and adjust the digitized item accordingly. You also have access to a set of markup and annotation tools that you can use before you save the document to OneDrive.
If you plan to use the Files app in iOS to access OneDrive, you can also use the iOS 13 native document scanning feature to scan and save documents to OneDrive.
Personal safe
OneDrive can be secured with a password, Touch ID, or Face ID, which adds a good layer of protection to your files. However, some documents require more security and you can not leave them with other files, otherwise the camera's film may not be cut off. And this is where the personal safe enters the scene.
Look around the root of OneDrive and you should see an icon that looks like a safe or a safe. Tap on it to immediately configure the personal safe. This involves adding a separate PIN, but you can also choose to implement a Touch ID or Face ID to access the personal vault seamlessly.
You can then use Personal Vault to secure sensitive documents such as a photo / scan of your passport, a driver's license, a birth certificate, and so on. You can download the documents manually or use the Scan option next to the 'Suggested Files' list. to scan them using the built-in Office Lens feature.
Note: If OneDrive is not part of an Office 365 subscription, you can only store up to three documents in the personal vault.
Personal Vault is set to lock automatically after a few minutes. If you tend to leave your iPhone or iPad with OneDrive open (and unlocked) often, Personal Vault must still protect it from unauthorized access.
Download JPG photos
The HEIC image format has become the norm on iPhones, and for good reason. It requires less space and contains more visual data than the old JPG format. However, there are compatibility issues and on platforms such as Windows and Android, you often need to convert HEIC images to JPG for viewing.
OneDrive removes potential compatibility issues by providing a way to convert your images to JPG automatically. This applies when manually uploading photos or when using the automatic upload feature of the camera in OneDrive.
To convert images from HEIC to JPG during manual download, go to the OneDrive Settings panel, tap Manual Photo Upload, and then press JPG.
Go to the OneDrive Settings panel to begin converting HEIC to JPG using the automatic upload feature of the camera. Then tap Camera Loading, then Camera Download Format, and then JPG.
OneDrive only contains 5GB of storage (which is similar to the free 5GB of iCloud) unless you upgrade. So you have to rely on an unlimited storage solution like Google Photos. However, you must explore the possibility of converting manual photo downloads to JPG.
Driving in the dark
The dark mode is fashionable and it is good to see that OneDrive finally supports it on iPhone and iPad. However, I wish it had not been linked to the dark mode of iOS 13. OneDrive is an app that I do not mind using in dark mode all the time, and I do not want my planning in dark iOS mode wastes me. At least Microsoft has added a separate switch to enable dark mode in Outlook. So there is hope. Given the quality of the black mode on iOS, I can not complain.
Then: Did you know that you can protect your files with a password while sharing them? Here's how to do that.