10 Things You Didn't Know Your Nintendo Switch Could Do

Some stuff to add to your Ninten-to-do list.

Nintendo Switch Ps4 Controller
Nintendo/SONY

Following their disastrous handling of the Wii U, there was a lot of understandable apprehension within the gaming community as Nintendo prepared to launch their next console, the Nintendo Switch.

After all, it looked remarkably similar to the system they'd just botched, and with the company's strange ability to always seem like they're out of touch with what modern gamers want, it was easy to worry that the Switch would arrive, crash, and burn.

But by all accounts, the device has been a roaring success. Fans took to it in droves - it outsold Wii U in less than a year - and to this day, fervent Switch gamers are still uncovering all sorts of cool tricks, features and hacks to make the experience of using the console that little bit better.

It's a fantastic bit of kit straight out the box, but casual users - or those not consistently plugged-in to all things Nintendo - might not be aware of some of the extra stuff their Switches are capable of, from beefing up system security to making games load much faster. Oh yes.

10. Charge Your Phone Using The Switch As A Power Bank

Nintendo Switch Ps4 Controller
Tony Avelar/AP

Since the battery life on modern smartphones is reliably terrible, it's all too easy to find yourself out-and-about with a dead (or dying) phone.

If you find yourself in this situation and you happen to have a Switch handy - with some juice left, of course - then fear not! You can actually use Nintendo's versatile handheld as an alternative power bank for your thirsty smartphone.

Let's use an iPhone as an example. If you own a lightning to USB-C cable, simply connect the lightning end to your phone, and the USB-C end to the bottom of your Switch. Ta-da! Now you can play some Breath Of The Wild and charge your iPhone simultaneously. Brilliant.

Presumably, if you have a cable that's USB-C on one side and whatever you need to plug into your dead smartphone on the other, the Switch can charge pretty much anything this way.

Contributor
Contributor

WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.