iPhone SE (2nd Gen)
How To: There's a Quick Gesture to Open Hidden Camera Settings on Your iPhone
The camera on models in the iPhone 11 series includes an ultra-wide lens to take wider images, Night mode for taking better-looking photos in low-light environments, and a 16:9 frame for shooting. With these new features comes a slightly redesigned interface in the Camera app, one that even the second-generation iPhone SE received despite only having one of those three features.
How To: iPhone Too Bright at Night? Don't Just Use the Brightness Slider
Even with your iPhone's brightness slider down all the way, your display will probably still be too bright at night with all the lights dimmed or turned off. So if you want to continue scrolling through Instagram in bed or enjoying a late-night TikTok binge without hurting your eyes, there's a quick trick you can use to make your screen even dimmer and prevent strain on those peepers.
How To: Scan Any QR Code in Seconds with Your iPhone
A QR code is a fun and convenient way to link people to a website or app. On iOS, you have a few ways to scan these codes. You can download a QR scanner to get the job done, but Apple has one built into iOS. Or you can add the QR Code Reader tile in Control Center, but that's not even necessary. There's a better way, one that requires basically no effort to pull off.
How To: The Simple Way to Stop Your iPhone from Sending Unwanted Audio Messages
Your iPhone's audio messages may get you in trouble if they haven't done so already. It's way too easy for your iPhone to start recording without your knowledge, only to send a friend or family member a conversation you're having about them. (Awkward.) Luckily, protecting yourself takes only the flick of a switch.
How To: Unlock On/Off Icons for Toggle Switches on Your iPhone
Apple's iOS doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to customization, but with every new iOS version we get, there are more options to personalize. Your iPhone comes packed with plenty of tweaks and hacks to make the device feel truly yours, and one of those is a fun yet useful mod that adds on and off icons for toggle switches on your iPhone.
How To: There's a Much Faster Way to Activate Dark Mode on Your iPhone
With iOS 13, Apple introduced system-wide dark mode for the first time on the iPhone, and there are several ways to activate it. You could use the brightness slider to change the theme, have Siri do it for you, or adjust it straight from the Settings app. But there's one way that's faster than all others so that you can switch from light to dark in no time.
How To: Burst Mode Missing on Your iPhone SE? Here's Where to Find It in the Camera App
If you need to capture a still image of some high-speed action, Burst mode is the way to go. Burst shots take photos in rapid succession, providing a range of pictures to choose from and ensuring that at least one great shot comes out of it. You might notice, however, that your new second-generation iPhone SE doesn't seem to sport Burst mode as your old iPhone did. Is it gone? Not at all.
How To: Disable COVID-19 Exposure Notifications on Your iPhone
In iOS 13.5 and later, developers can create and release contact tracing apps for iPhone, which could help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. With these apps comes COVID-19 exposure notifications, which you may or may not want to receive. If you don't want to get these alerts, you can disable them.
How To: FaceTime Forcing LTE Instead of Wi-Fi? Here's How to Fix It
These days, you can FaceTime with family and friends whether you're at home connected to Wi-Fi or on-the-go with mobile data. You may have noticed, however, that your iPhone will sometimes drop Wi-Fi and rely on cellular instead — whether you're placing or receiving a FaceTime call. While that's not an expected result, there is a workaround to get your FaceTime calls back on track.
How To: These Are the iPhones That Can Upgrade to iOS 14
The latest iOS version hit iPhones in September 2020, but which models work with iOS 14. There's good news on that front since all iPhone models that could run iOS 13 can also run iOS 14. That means all of the following iPhone models are compatible with iOS 14 and all of its features. And as you can see below, the iPhones that came out in the fall of 2020 have iOS 14 preinstalled.
How To: Change the AirDrop Alert Sound on Your iPhone to Anything You Want
These days, AirDrop's distinct "doo-doo-doo-doo" sound is almost as iconic as Apple's classic Marimba ringtone. And just like with ringtones, that AirDrop alert on your iPhone doesn't need to sound like everyone else's. In just a few taps, you can make it sound like anything you want.
How To: The Simple Way to Enable Caps Lock on Your iPhone
When you need to type in all caps on a computer, you just press the "caps lock" key. But no such key seems to exist on iOS. The "shift" key appears to work at first but will deactivate once you type one capital letter. Holding down the shift key while you type gets the job done, but it's a pain. While it might not be obvious, enabling caps lock is actually really simple.
How To: Your iPhone's Using More Data Than It Needs, but This Could Stop It
While mobile data caps are larger than they used to be, many of us still have limits to contend with. If you find yourself up against that ceiling month after month, your iPhone itself might be to blame. Luckily, there's an easy fix to stop your iOS device from burning through data in the background.
How To: Open Your iPhone Camera to Portrait Mode Every Time
Every iPhone Apple currently sells, including the brand new iPhone SE, ships with Portrait mode, injecting DSLR-like depth effects into your Camera app. If that's the shooting mode you use more than any other, it may feel tedious having to switch to "Portrait" from "Photo" every time you open the app. But you can fix that, and there are a few different ways to go about it.
How To: View the Battery Percentage on Your iPhone SE to See Exactly How Much Power Is Left
There are two main ways to view how much battery is remaining on an iPhone: the battery level icon and battery percentage. Out of the box, the second-generation iPhone SE only shows the battery level icon in its status bar, which only gives you a rough idea of how much juice is left. But there are ways to view the exact percentage instead.
How To: Enter Recovery or DFU Mode on Your iPhone SE (2nd Generation) to Bring Your Device Back to Life
If your new 2020 iPhone SE is frozen, unresponsive, or won't load the system, and a standard power down and up procedure didn't work, there are few more things you can try. Force-restarting the device may do the trick, recovery mode is a last-ditch option, and DFU mode is your fail-safe.
How To: Force Restart Your iPhone SE (2nd Generation) When It's Frozen or Otherwise Acting Up
Your brand new iPhone SE packs the latest A13 Bionic chip into the form factor of the iPhone 8. With all that modern tech, you'd expect your iPhone to be unstoppable. That said, no smartphone is perfect, and sometimes, the iPhone SE will give you trouble. If your device is frozen, bugging out, displaying the wrong data, or won't shut down the usual way, you might want to try a force restart.
How To: Get Fast Charging on the iPhone SE (2nd Gen) Without Breaking the Bank
After many years of rumors, the second-generation iPhone SE is here. At $399, it is the most inexpensive iPhone Apple has sold since the original iPhone SE came out. And while the new SE comes with Apple's typical five-watt power adapter, the smartphone supports fast charging — you just need to get a fast charger separately.
How To: Force-Close Running Apps on the New iPhone SE to Clear Them from the Task Switcher
When you press the Home button on your iPhone SE, you're not quitting your current app. Instead, it stays open in the background. If an app ever bugs out on you or you don't want it to run in the background, you'll need to force-close to quit it completely. Doing so is also helpful when your app switcher gets too cluttered, and you find it hard to switch between apps because of it.
How To: Shut Down & Restart the iPhone SE (2nd Generation) — There's More Than One Way
In a departure from Apple's newer iPhone models with Face ID technology, the 2020 iPhone SE goes back to the old days where the Home button ruled, and Touch ID was the biometrics method. But if you've never owned an older iPhone with a Home button, something as simple as shutting down and restarting the iPhone SE could elude you.