iOS & iPhone: Page 27

Apple pushed out iOS 12.1.3 developer beta 2 to all developers on Wednesday, Dec. 19. It's an interesting and mysterious update, as it follows the sudden release of iOS 12.1.2. That software only had one beta version before its stable release, which would explain why the iOS 12.1.3 dev beta skipped version 1 and went straight to version 2 since it's basically a continuation of the first iOS 12.1.2 beta.

It's not easy staying fit and healthy these days with addicting phones, oversized portions, and long workdays, to name just a few things. To succeed, it takes work, commitment, and an understanding of your mind and body — and your iPhone can help you with some of that. While Apple pushed its Screen Time tool to help curb unhealthy smartphone habits, its "Health" app can help with everything else.

Shopping wasn't always this easy. Now, in a matter of minutes, you can order your groceries for the week, send your cracked phone in for repairs, get your holiday shopping done, and have everything delivered to your front door in just a few days — without ever having to leave your home. Online shopping is convenient, comfortable, and a blessing ... right? Well, it can also be a headache.

During the keynote at WWDC earlier this year, Apple introduced the latest iteration of its mobile operating system, iOS 12. Despite a thorough demo on stage, Apple glossed over new eye tracking features that use ARKit 2. Developers can now use the TrueDepth camera on the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR to determine where your eyes are looking, opening up incredible new possibilities for new apps.

As great as passcode and biometric security features like Face ID are for preventing unwanted access, they aren't needed 100% of the time. When you're at home with a locked door between you and anyone you wouldn't trust with your phone, they really only serve to slow you down. Android has long had a solution for this, but a new Cydia tweak has now brought a similar solution to iPhones.

iOS 12 has a feature that lets you instantly share saved Wi-Fi passwords with other iPhone users, but it can be finicky when you're sharing with multiple people. Then there's an even more pressing question: How do you share your password with Android users? Thankfully, there's a Shortcut that can solve these problems.

Mobile phones are not only essential for work and communication, they're quickly becoming an integral asset to our health. Your iPhone can store valuable data about fitness, nutrition, heart health, and so much more. And since iOS 11.3, your iPhone can even import a list of allergies, medications, immunizations, hospital visits, and other health information from your doctor or hospital.

In addition to the standard "Raise to Wake" option that's been around since iOS 10, the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR have a unique capability that lets you "Tap to Wake" the screen. But these features can get annoying real fast when your screen keeps turning on accidentally, which could even lead to some unnecessary battery drain.

While keeping your iPhone out of the bedroom might help to avoid unnecessary distractions before bedtime, it could be better served right by your side to help diagnose sleeping issues you may be experiencing each night.

Since the days of flip clocks, alarms have always had one function—make a bunch of annoying racket early in the morning to ensure that you wake up in time. And this simple MO has stayed in place while technology advances at a breakneck pace, almost in spite of the fact that today's devices are capable of doing far more than beeping at 7 in the morning.

There's a built-in timer feature on the iPhone's Camera app that helps you set up your device, step back, and take a photo before time runs out. This feature is useful when there isn't another person around to take a photo of you, or when you don't want to be missing from a memorable group picture. Unfortunately, timers don't always work well. With a timer, no one can sit behind your iPhone to see if the picture is perfectly focused and framed, but that's where your Apple Watch comes in.

With the purchase of my new Apple Watch, the days of striving to be a James Bond-like spy have never been closer to fruition. Granted, talking to your wrist in public can look pretty pretentious, and I may very rarely do it, but let's get real—you look like 007!

Without a second beta like most other beta versions, Apple released iOS 12.1.2 to all iPhone users on Monday, Dec. 17. The update comes just one week after the iOS 12.1.2 beta went live, so why did it have such a quick turnaround? The answer likely revolves around eSIM issues on newer iPhone models, as well as legal issues with Qualcomm.

Public testers, Apple just released the first public beta for iOS 12.1.2 on Tuesday, Dec. 11. The company had already released the developer beta on Monday, Dec. 10, and just like clockwork, the public beta version was right on its heels.

Creating GIFs of your own burst images has been possible for a while with third-party iOS apps, some of which cost money or include in-app purchases to utilize the full potential. Fortunately, with Shortcuts, Apple's automation workflow app, there's finally a native way to achieve this without spending any cash.

With an iPhone that includes a digital eSIM option aside its standard Nano-SIM card, you can have two cellular service accounts. One can be your primary line with your main wireless carrier, and the other can be from your main carrier or another provider. The eSIM account can be prepaid or postpaid as well as data-only, which is great for traveling. But which wireless providers support eSIM?

All of the new iPhones from 2018 were released with dual-SIM support, but none of them were capable of actually using the eSIM in iOS 12, only the physical nano-SIM. But on iOS 12.1 and later, you can finally take advantage of eSIM so you can have, say, a business and personal plan on your iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR at the same time.

Apple has done a fantastic job of instantly patching iOS exploits through constant firmware updates to keep hackers at bay. Because of this, jailbreaking has largely been pushed to the fringes, resulting in a myriad of tweaks being abandoned by developers which, in turn, have been rendered incompatible with later jailbroken versions of iOS.

The iOS 12.0 beta earned admiration for its superior performance to last year's controversially buggy iOS 11. That doesn't mean it was free from problems before the stable release went live. During the initial iOS 12.0 beta testing phase, there were plenty of bugs and glitches, many of which affected the apps we use every day. However, none of these issues persist anymore since iOS 12 stable went live.

Anyone remember Google Goggles? Well, it's back with a new name: Google Lens. But this time, there's more machine learning and it's integrated into many different Google apps and services. The latest is the Google app for iPhones.

Apple released the latest update for iPhones, iOS 12.1.1, on Wednesday, Dec. 5. It introduces a few new features to iOS 12 as a whole. The software has been in beta testing since Halloween of this year, spending just over one month in the hands of beta testers.

Safari has a convenient "Find" feature to search for specific words and phrases in a webpage, and Apple Books has a similar feature for e-books and PDFs. But those do nothing for you when searching text in the real world. Hardcover and paperback books are still very much a thing, as well as paper-based documents, and finding what you need is as simple as pointing your iPhone's camera at the page.

Registered iOS developers received their first taste of 12.1.1 dev beta 2 on Wednesday, Nov. 7, and public beta testers received the iOS 12.1.1 public beta 2 shortly thereafter.

Developers opened their iPhones on Wednesday, Nov. 7, to find an update to the iOS 12.1.1 beta. Apple seeded developers the first 12.1.1 beta on Halloween, marking one week between it and the second beta. It's a quick update turnaround but in line with trends as Apple typically waits at least a week in between beta releases.

It seems Apple will keep with recent tradition — the third iOS 12.1.1 public beta released to software testers Thursday, Nov. 15, just hours after the 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) release of dev beta 3. Apple likes to take a short time after a developer release to ensure the beta is good enough to release as a whole, as seen with the entire iOS 12 dev beta 7 debacle.

One of the best gifts that someone with an iPhone can receive is a paid app, hot new movie, bestselling album, gift card, or anything else in iTunes, Books, or the App Store that costs money. Even if it's a small $0.99 game that you heard a friend talking about, a gesture like this can go a long way. Gifting apps and media is now easier than ever, even if you don't have an iOS device yourself.

Get ready for more software testing. Just two days after the official release of iOS 12.1, Apple seeded public software testers iOS 12.1.1 — one day after developers received the update. While the rest of the iOS world is just getting to know all of the cool, new 12.1 features, testers are now sinking their teeth into what the next iteration of iOS has to offer.

Apple wastes no time with betas. Right on the heels of the official release of iOS 12.1, Apple released the first beta for iOS 12.1.1 to developers on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The update comes just one day after iOS 12.1, which itself was in beta development for 43 days this year. The denotation for 12.1.1 indicates it's a minor update over 12.1, and there are only a few things in its release notes.

With the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, Apple introduced dual-SIM capabilities to iOS, made possible by eSIM technology. If you recently picked up one of these three new iPhones and need to utilize your eSIM while traveling abroad, you might want to take a look at the data plans offered by GigSky.

There's a whole world of wallpapers out there. Apple always includes a selection of stock wallpapers, some unique to every iPhone model you have. Of course, sometimes, stock wallpapers don't cut it. Sometimes, you want to add your own style to your home screen and lock screen. In these cases, using an app to find the best wallpapers out there can be just what you need.

There's something seriously wrong with Apple's new Shortcuts app, and it's severely limiting the number of shortcuts users can install on their iPhones.

While iOS 12 is arguably the best iteration of Apple's mobile operating system yet, one major fault so far is security. On Sept. 26, Videosdebarraquito discovered a passcode bypass that gave access to contacts and photos from the lock screen. Apple has since patched that security flaw, but Videosdebarraquito has discovered a new one that affects all iPhones running iOS 12.1 and 12.1.1 beta.

Apple released the first major iOS 12 update Tuesday, Oct. 30, just hours after the company's iPad and Mac presentation. While iOS 12.1 is the first official update to hit iPhones since iOS 12.0.1, beta testers had enjoyed an exclusive first-hand look at all the new features the latest OS has to offer. So what's new in iOS 12.1?

While iOS 11 was famous for its instability, performance issues weren't the only factor holding it back. The OS overhauled the notification system on iPhone, but not necessarily for the better. iOS 12, however, improves upon these changes, bringing critical features that make viewing and interacting with notifications on your iPhone on par with Android.

One of the most exciting features in iOS 11 was the fully revamped Control Center, which improved the overall interface visually, made it one page only, and finally made it possible to customize what controls actually appear within it. Customizable controls was previously only available to jailbreakers, but now it's available to anyone running iOS 11 or iOS 12.

You're working on your iPhone or playing an awesome game when you receive a notification. You take too long to look up from your activity, so before you get a chance to see what's up, the notification is gone. Persistent notifications won't disappear on you like the default disappearing ones in iOS 11 and iOS 12, giving you as long as you need to check them. Here's how to set them up.

One interesting feature hiding inside Apple's stock Camera app is a level that helps you take photos of documents and nicely plated food from a top-down perspective. Unfortunately, you'd never know it was there since it's not enabled by default and there is no obvious setting for it.

Good news for beta testers — Apple released iOS 12.1 beta 4 to public testers Monday, Oct. 15. The update comes just hours after the company seeded beta 4 to developers and only six days after all beta user received iOS 12.1 beta 3.

The iPhone XR offers a discounted experience compared to the expensive iPhone XS and XS Max. However, that lower price tag comes with some caveats, such as "Haptic Touch" in lieu of 3D Touch. If you think these two "touch" features are the same, think again. Before you get an iPhone XR, you'll want to know all the excellent features 3D Touch you might miss. Can you go without them?

Your iPhone's home screen is a tricky thing. You can sort your collection of apps in any order you'd like, but where you place those apps is a totally different story. App and folder placement follows a strict grid on iOS from left to right, top to bottom. No exceptions, and that's how Apple wants it. So you might think without a jailbreak you're stuck with this layout — but you're wrong.