iOS 11
How To: There's an Easy Way to Type Fractions as Single Characters on Your iPhone's Keyboard
Whenever you need to type out a fraction on your iPhone, whether in a message, word document, presentation, math problem, recipe, or wherever else you need it, it's easy to use numbers and slashes. But there's a way to make fractions look more professional and easier to read straight from your keyboard.
How To: Get Water Out of Your iPhone's Speaker with a Simple App
Whether you drop your iPhone into a toilet or your dog's water bowl or regularly take it into the shower or pool, water will likely become nestled inside its speaker grilles. Water exposure causes audio playback through the speakers to soften and sound muffled, and getting that water out is no easy task. Luckily, there's an app for that.
How To: Always-Updated List of Apps That Let You Change Their Home Screen Icons on Your iPhone
Apple's Shortcuts app lets you make and use custom icons for any app on your iPhone, but it won't actually replace any icons. If your goal is to change the official icon for the app itself without any redirects, there's a growing list of third-party apps that'll let you do just that.
How To: Change Your iPhone's Default Text Responses for Incoming Phone Calls to Quick Reply in Style
Since iOS 6, "Respond with Text" has allowed us to quickly respond to a call we can't (or don't want to) answer. But Apple only gives you three options to choose from, and if you don't have time to type out your own response, those three might not cut it. Luckily, you can customize these three replies to whatever you want.
Notes 101: How to Scan, Edit & Share Documents Right Inside Notes on Your iPhone
There are plenty of third-party apps for scanning documents on your iPhone, but they can all be tossed out the door since iOS 11 includes one by default now. Instead of a dedicated app, it's included as part of the Notes app, and it's fairly easy to use. After scanning, you can save it, print it, turn it into a PDF, add markup, and more.
How To: Stop Your iPhone from Turning on Every Time You Pick It Up
When you pick up your iPhone, the display turns on. Often, that's convenient since you want to use your iPhone anyway. But think about those times you're simply picking it up to take it with you somewhere. The display turns on anyway, and now you're accidentally responding to messages, turning on your flashlight, opening your camera — you get the gist.
How To: Disable 'Press Home to Unlock' to Open Your iPhone Faster
With Touch ID enabled, your iPhone needs to scan your fingerprint before you can access your home screen or last app used. Before it unlocks, your iPhone might request that you press the Home button, adding an unnecessary step between you and your data. However, you can turn the feature off so that you don't need to click any buttons to unlock your device.
How To: Use the File Manager on Your iPhone
Apple has finally given us a decent file manager in iOS 11. The new "Files" app replaces the not-very-old iCloud Drive app that appeared in iOS 9, but you can still access your iCloud Drive files in the new Files app, as well as files from third-party cloud services. A nice improvement, right?
How To: 11 Ways to Show the Battery Percentage Indicator on Your iPhone
When you look at your status bar on your iPhone, you'll almost always see the battery icon, which gives you an estimate of how much battery life you have left before you need to charge the device. What you won't always see is the exact battery percentage, but there are multiple ways to force it out of hiding.
How To: Block Certain Apps from Appearing in Your Notifications History in iOS 11
Apple has changed up quite a few things regarding notifications in iOS 11. They've added optional persistent notifications, made it possible to disable notification previews for all apps, and changed "Notification Center" to "History." In the process, they've also included another handy feature — the ability to hide certain app notifications from appearing in that History list.
How To: Tips to Make Face ID Work Every Time on Your iPhone
Aside from the second-generation iPhone SE, all new iPhone models since the iPhone X have had Face ID instead of Touch ID as the biometric authentication technology. While Touch ID can be touchy, Face ID is not without its own issues. If you can't get Face ID on your iPhone to recognize your face and unlock your iPhone, there are plenty of things you can try to get it working again.
How To: Stop Deleting iPhone Notifications One by One — Clear All Alerts at Once by Doing This
If you're like me, no matter how hard you try, your iPhone's notifications are a mess. There's just too many of them. That's when it becomes helpful just to get rid of the whole bunch and start fresh. However, deleting alerts one at a time is as tedious as it is unnecessary since you can clear all of your notifications at once.
How To: Use 'Hey Siri' Hands-Free on Your iPhone
The primary method of activating Siri is done by pressing and holding either the Home or Side button, depending on the iPhone model, but there's a much better way to ask a question to Siri or command it to do something — and you don't need to touch your iPhone at all to do it.
How To: Turn Your iPhone's Speakerphone On Automatically for FaceTime Audio Calls
By default, when you receive a FaceTime video call on your iPhone, the speakerphone kicks in immediately after answering unless you're wearing headphones. It's the exact opposite when it comes to FaceTime audio calls, but it's pretty easy to remedy if you'd rather have the speakerphone kick in instead of the built-in ear speaker.
How To: Jump Back to the First Home Screen Page on Your iPhone Without Tons of Swiping
If you have more than two home screen pages on your iPhone, jumping back to the main page can seem like a lot of unnecessary swiping. For example, an eight-page home screen would take seven right-swipes to get back from the last page to the main page — but it doesn't have to take that much work.
How To: There's a Hidden Scientific Calculator on Your iPhone
The Calculator app on your iPhone may seem boring and basic, but there are a few interesting tricks worth knowing. You can ask Siri to perform calculations for you, long-press on results to copy them, long-press the field to paste numbers in, and swipe left or right above the keypad to delete digits one by one. The app can also be used as a scientific calculator with just a simple maneuver.
How To: Prevent & Stop Apps from Using Your iPhone's Microphone & Enhance Your Privacy
Any app on your iPhone could potentially listen in on your conversations and use that information to target you with tailored ads. Although most companies, including Facebook and Apple, have come out and vehemently denied these claims of spying on consumers, who's to say they're telling the truth? The only way to be sure you're safe is to take matters into your own hands.
How To: Instantly Share Wi-Fi Passwords from Your iPhone to Other Nearby Apple Devices
Unless you have unlimited cellular data, you probably connect your iPhone to every Wi-Fi network you come across. It could be a local coffee shop, public library, or just a friend's place. Wherever it is, you'll need to ask for the access point's password if it's a secured network, and that can be a hassle if the place is busy or the owner forgets the credentials. Luckily, Apple has a solution for this problem.
How To: Keep Law Enforcement Out of Your iPhone (& Your Privacy Intact)
If you're ever faced with a situation of handing over your iPhone to law enforcement (or getting it taken forcibly), whether by the police, feds, or court system, there are things you can do to prevent them from getting access to all that potentially self-incriminating data. And it takes less than a second.
How To: Add Passes, Tickets, Rewards, Coupons, Gift Cards, IDs & More to Apple Wallet for iPhone
The Wallet app on your iPhone can be used to store and access event tickets, loyalty cards, boarding passes, gym memberships, airline miles, gift cards, coupons, and more — all in one centralized place. Before doing so, though, you must add your passes to Wallet, and there is more than one way to do it. However, not every pass can be added using all of the available methods.