Control Center is a handy way to access common controls. To open Control Center, swipe up from beneath the bottom of the screen. In some apps, swipe up once to reveal the Control Center handle and then carefully swipe up on the handle ①.
① Here’s a look at Control Center on an iPad. From left to right, you see (A) media-playback and volume controls, (B) wireless controls, (C) Do Not Disturb and Mute (and/or Orientation Lock), (D) AirDrop and AirPlay, (E) brightness slider, and (F) shortcut buttons. Control Center on the iPhone and iPod touch has similar controls, but with a different layout.
To close Control Center, swipe back down on the handle, or touch anywhere on the screen outside Control Center.
Media
Playback buttons: Tap a button to play, skip back, or skip ahead in the current media app.
Volume slider: Adjust the system volume to a comfortable level.
Networking
Airplane mode: Tap the Airplane mode button to disable all wireless connections: cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. An airplane icon appears at the upper left when Airplane mode is on. Use Airplane mode to comply with airline regulations or to reduce battery usage.
Wi-Fi: Tap the Wi-Fi button to turn it off or on.
Bluetooth: Tap the Bluetooth button to enable or disable it. If you’re not using Bluetooth, leave it off to save battery (see What’s Bluetooth?).
AirDrop
AirDrop allows you to transfer files or bits of data between Apple devices. For example, you could AirDrop a photo from your iPhone to your son’s iPad.
To start an AirDrop transfer, use a Share sheet (see Managing Share Sheets in iOS 9). For the transfer to go through, the recipient should work in Control Center to make his device discoverable for AirDrop transfer ②.
② In Control Center, to set who can discover you via AirDrop—your contacts only or everyone in your device’s Bluetooth range (about 33 feet or 10 meters)—tap the AirDrop button.
To AirDrop between iOS devices, you need at least a 4th-generation iPad, iPad mini, iPhone 5 or later, or 5th-generation iPod touch.
To AirDrop to a Mac, both the devices must meet the stringent iOS-Mac Continuity Requirements.
AirPlay
AirPlay allows you to send audio, video, photos, and more to your Apple TV (or just audio to an AirPort Express). Tap the AirPlay button to choose an available device and optionally turn on AirPlay Mirroring.
Do Not Disturb
Useful while you’re in a performance or asleep, Do Not Disturb can be enabled to prevent notification alerts, FaceTime calls, and phone calls from disturbing you with noise, vibration, or your screen’s backlight. Timers or alarms set in the Clock app will override Do Not Disturb.
To allow repeated calls or key people (see Favoriting Contacts) to override Do Not Disturb, visit Settings > Do Not Disturb. You can also set Do Not Disturb to operate on a schedule to avoid unnecessary early morning wake-ups.
Shortcuts
If your device has an LED flash for its back camera, Control Center includes a Flashlight button ③. Tap it to turn the light on and off.
③ On the iPhone, Control Center has shortcuts for Flashlight (G), Clock timer (H), Calculator (I), and Camera (J).
The other buttons—for Timer (in the Clock app), Calculator, and Camera—open those apps respectively, when tapped.
Mute
On the iPad only, you may see this button. Tap it to mute audio from alerts, notifications, and sound effects. Media playback will not be muted.
On the iPad, whether you see the Mute or Orientation Lock button depends on whether you’ve set the physical Side Switch to activate Mute or Orientation Lock in Settings > General. Of course
But, you won’t see this setting on the iPad Air 2, since it doesn’t have a Side Switch. In fact, It appears that Apple is phasing out the iPad Side Switch. Diagrams in the Tech Specs for the just-announced iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro do not show this switch.
Orientation Lock
Tap this button to lock the screen’s orientation and prevent it from rotating.
Brightness
Adjust the slider to a comfortable level. Typically, it’s better to lower brightness in dark environments and crank it up in direct sunlight. You can also enable Auto-Brightness in Settings > Display & Brightness to help keep brightness at an appropriate level.
button to disable all wireless connections: cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. An airplane 
icon appears at the upper left when Airplane mode is on. Use Airplane mode to comply with airline regulations or to reduce battery usage.
button to turn it off or on.
button to enable or disable it. If you’re not using Bluetooth, leave it off to save battery (see 
button to choose an available device and optionally turn on AirPlay Mirroring.
can be enabled to prevent notification alerts, FaceTime calls, and phone calls from disturbing you with noise, vibration, or your screen’s backlight. Timers or alarms set in the Clock app will override Do Not Disturb.
button. Tap it to mute audio from alerts, notifications, and sound effects. Media playback will not be muted.
button to lock the screen’s orientation and prevent it from rotating.