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How To: Which Stores Accept Apple Pay? The Always Up-to-Date List

Apple Pay has been available to use in stores, as well as in select apps and websites, ever since its first appearance in iOS 8.1. Now, with iOS 12, there are currently 13 different iPhone models that support Apple Pay functionality without the use of an Apple Watch, and the list of partnered stores that accept Apple Pay has only grown. Here's our always-up-to-date list to keep you in the know.

How To: Record Phone Calls on Your iPhone

Unruly customers. Crazy exes. Horrible bosses. When you need proof of insanity or just want it for your records, recording a phone call is a must. Problem is, it's not the easiest thing to do on an iPhone — but it's completely possible.

How To: Put Music on Your iPhone Without Using iTunes

There are quite a few flaws with Apple's mobile products, and one that drives me crazy is their reliance upon iTunes for all your music syncing needs. If you want a song on your iPhone, you pretty much have to use iTunes to get it on there. Either that or buy it directly from the iTunes app on your device.

How To: View the Battery Percentage Indicator on Your iPhone X, XS, XS Max, or XR

On all other iPhone models, you go to "Battery" in the Settings app and toggle on "Battery Percentage" in order to see the exact amount of power left in the status bar. On the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR, however, that option no longer exists since there's not enough room up there to show the percentage indicator because of the notch for the TrueDepth camera system. But that doesn't mean it's gone entirely.

Spotify 101: How to Change Playlist Pictures from Your iPhone Instead of from Your Computer

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services available and allows you a great degree of control over the way you experience your music. Included in that is the album art for your playlists. While not an option ingrained in the mobile app itself, changing a playlist's cover image on your phone can still be done.

How To: Watch HBO Offline on Your iPhone for 'Game of Thrones' Anytime

If you're a Game of Thrones fan and would like to watch the latest season offline on your iPhone, or if you need to catch up on previous seasons, there is no current support on HBO Go or HBO Now to download episodes for offline viewing. But that's only halfway true because there is a legal, official way to download HBO content on your iPhone, it's just not obvious at all.

How To: Save YouTube Videos Directly to Your iPhone's Camera Roll

Downloading YouTube videos for offline use to watch later has always been a problematic endeavor. Dedicated third-party apps don't last long in the App Store, web-based converters aren't very functional on mobile, and rogue apps outside the App Store are tricky to sideload and open up the possibility of vulnerabilities. But that doesn't mean you still don't have a few good options.

How To: Disable Amber, Emergency, Public Safety & Other Government Alerts on Your iPhone for Some Peace & Quiet

No, you should probably not turn off Amber, emergency, and public safety alerts on your iPhone. These government notifications are used to warn you about imminent natural disasters, active shooters, and terrorist attacks. More frequently, they ask for your help with child abductions. The alerts save lives, but it's still up to you whether you want to get them or not.

How To: Fix the 'Number Changed to Primary' Bug on iPhone XS & XS Max

The iPhone XS and XS Max are barely one month old, yet both have a serious problem in Messages. When sending a friend an SMS/MMS text rather than an iMessage, the phrase "Number changed to Primary" appears in front of each and every message. What gives? If this issue is driving you mad, there are a few tricks that may exterminate the bug until Apple gets around to issuing a patch.

News: Apple Releases Second iOS 12.4 Beta for iPhone to Developers Today

Apple just released the second iOS 12.4 developer beta today, May 20, five days after the release of the first developer beta for iOS 12.4 and one week after the public release of iOS 12.3. In general, the iOS 12.4 update will support Apple Card, Apple's upcoming credit card due out this summer.

News: Apple Releases 'Second' iOS 12.4 Public Beta for iPhone to Software Testers

Public beta testers, you're in luck. Apple just released the second iOS 12.4 public beta today, May 20. The update comes five days after the release of the first developer beta for iOS 12.4 and seven days after the release of iOS 12.3. Public beta 2 and dev beta 2 were both released at the same time, something that doesn't happen often.

How To: This Shortcut Lets You Download YouTube Videos on Your iPhone Straight from the Source, No Shady Services Needed

If you've ever wanted to download YouTube videos directly to your iPhone, there's an easy solution — just update to iOS 12 and install Apple's new Shortcuts app. With the Workflow-replacement app, you can add a shortcut that lets you download any YouTube video you want, without needing to jailbreak or use shady third-party tools.

How To: Force Restart the iPhone X When It's Acting Up

Every now and then, an iPhone will freeze up and become unresponsive due to a software glitch. It can be a buggy app that somehow interferes with iOS or a software update that somehow didn't install properly. Whatever the cause, it's safe to say that no iPhone is immune to this problem, not even the new iPhone X.

How To: Automatically Send 'Low-Quality' Photos in Messages to Use Up Less Data on Your iPhone

Every model iPhone since the 6s has boasted a 12-megapixel rear camera. You can take some pretty spectacular, professional-looking photos with it, especially on devices that have more than one rear lens. But the file size of each photo can become a problem when sending as an iMessage, which can eat up data.

How To: Delete Emails in Bulk from Your iPhone's Mail App

Deleting emails can be a tedious process on the iPhone, especially since the "Trash All" options have been removed ever since iOS 10 first came out. Though likely well-intentioned, this change places an undue burden on all of us iPhone owners who now have to erase emails individually.

How To: Get Water Out of Your iPhone's Speaker with a Simple App

Look, this article is a judgment-free zone. Whether you dropped your iPhone into a toilet or shower with it on a regular basis (guilty), some water will likely become nestled inside its speaker grilles. This causes audio to soften and/or sound muffled, and getting that water out is no easy task. Luckily, there's an app for that.

How To: Get Dark Mode on Instagram for Less Stress on Your Eyes When Browsing Pics & Videos

When you're checking out photos and other media on Instagram, its default bright white layout can literally be an eyesore, especially in dimly lit settings where the bleached UI feels blinding. Luckily, there's a free tweak that you can install to enable dark mode in the Instagram app for iPhone. There's a catch, of course: this mod will only work if your iPhone is jailbroken.

How To: Get Apple's Live Fish Wallpapers Back on Your iPhone

Remember the live fish wallpapers from iOS 9? They may be a fading memory at this point since Apple removed them all from the iPhone in iOS 11, but there is a way to get those fishies animated on your device again. They'll be live photos for your lock screen, which is as good as it will get until Apple lets us use all its live wallpapers, new and old, one day, which will probably never happen.

How To: App Over 150 MB? Here's How to Download It Using Cellular Data on Your iPhone

These days, cellular connections can be just as fast — if not faster — than traditional internet providers. That, coupled with the prevalence of unlimited data plans, means less worrying about hopping on a Wi-Fi network to download something. However, try to install an app or update over 150 MB, and your iPhone will insist you switch to Wi-Fi. We don't think this is very fair, so here's a way out.

How To: Instantly Share Wi-Fi Passwords from Your iPhone to Other iOS 12 Devices Nearby

When you don't know the password to a Wi-Fi network at a friend's house or coffee shop, you have to ask for it to save cellular data on your iPhone. If the hotspot's owner can actually remember the password, good luck putting it in on the first try. If they don't remember, then you might have to use cellular data. Thankfully, this whole process has gotten much easier in newer iOS versions.

How To: How Thieves Unlock Passcodes on Stolen iPhones (And How to Protect Yourself Against It)

Back in 2010, iOS developer Daniel Amitay developed a camera security app for iPhones that used an unlock screen almost identical to that of the iPhone.

How To: Secretly Track Someone's Location Using Your iPhone

Apple designed Find My Friends in 2012 as a means for better-connecting with friends and family. It's pretty useful for scenarios when you need to keep tabs at an amusement park or to get a live ETA when your buddy is coming to pick you up from the airport. You can even share your location with others so they can track your whereabouts as you go about your day.

How To: Change the Default Snooze Time on Your iPhone's Alarm

While hitting snooze won't help you much if you fall back asleep, it can help you wake up more gently. However, the default 9-minute snooze that the iPhone provides may be too long or too short for your preferences. If you tend to fall back asleep quickly, you might be better with a two-minute snooze.

How To: Reset Your Apple Watch Back to Factory Settings for a Clean Slate

A clean slate may be just what your Apple Watch needs. Whether you want to start fresh, wipe all your personal data, fix buggy issues, let someone borrow it, sell it, or get back in after you forgot your passcode, resetting the Watch back to factory settings is pretty simple, and you can do it with or without your iPhone.

News: iOS 12.3 Features You Don't Want to Miss, Including Apple TV Channels, AirPlay 2-Enabled TVs & Apple Pay in Apple Apps

Apple released iOS 12.3, the latest version iOS 12 for iPhone, on May 13. Great features to know about include Apple TV Channels such as HBO and Showtime that you can subscribe to in the TV app, support for audio, image, and video streaming to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs, and the ability to use Apple Pay to pay for content and subscriptions inside Apple's own apps.

News: Everything You Need to Know About Using Dual SIMs on the iPhone XS, XS Max & XR

One of the biggest advancements in the new iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR is the dual SIM functionality that will let you use two cellular networks at once. Like Sinatra, however, Apple is known to do things its own way, so their dual SIM setup is a bit different than you might think.

How To: Customize the App Icons on Your iPhone's Home Screen

If there's one thing iOS isn't known for, it's customizability. Apple runs a pretty tight ship, and that's part of what makes iOS such an excellent operating system, but it's not great for those of us who like to modify the appearance of our iPhones. However, that doesn't mean we can't do perform some simple customization such as changing the app icons on the home screen.

How To: Shut Down & Restart the iPhone X

One click on the iPhone X's Side button locks or wakes the device. Two clicks opens Apple Pay. Holding down activates Siri. So how do you shut down the iPhone X then? On every other iPhone, you hold the Side button down until the "slide to power off" option appears, but that doesn't exist on the iPhone X.

How To: Eject Water from Your Apple Watch's Speaker After Getting It Wet

Whether you like to go swimming or jump in a hot shower with your Apple Watch on, the chance is pretty high that you'll get water inside its speaker. If you're a big runner, even sweat can get inside there. While there is no way to prevent water from getting inside your Apple Watch's speaker, there is an easy way to get it out so that your muffled speaker sounds brand new again.

News: Apple Just Broke Its Update Cycle Record with iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S

With each year that we anxiously await Apple's next big version of iOS, there comes the sad reality that the eldest iPhones will not continue to receive support. That's not the case with iOS 12, however, as the software is compatible with all iPhones currently running iOS 11, going back as far as the iPhone 5S.

How To: Disable Security Lockouts from Too Many Failed Passcode Attempts on Your iPhone

The lockout feature in iOS 7, which securely locks your device after a few incorrect passcode entries, can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

How To: Restore an iPod Touch Without Using iTunes

The iPod changed the music and electronics industries when it was first introduced way back in 2001. It is credited with ushering in the age of "connected devices," and has held a huge market share of around 70% for years. At the height of its popularity, the iPod made up almost 50% of Apple's revenue. Now that the smartphones and tablets we use every day have the ability to store and play music, the iPod's glory days are over. Nevertheless, there are millions of people who still use them, an...

How To: Message Effects Not Working in iOS 10? Here's How to Enable Them

As iOS 10 makes its worldwide debut, many users are noticing that the promised iMessage effects feature in Messages is not working properly. Instead of seeing the actual effects, messages will come through like normal, but with text describing the effect they were sent with. On top of that, you can't send your own message effects if you're one of the affected users.

How To: Permanently Delete Text Messages on Your iPhone

Deleting text messages on your iPhone may seem like a pretty simple task, but it's those really simple tasks that usually end up causing headaches later on. Data can stick around, even if you asked it not to, so there's always a slight chance that embarrassing and incriminating texts you supposedly deleted may end up in the wrong hands one day.

How To: Play Talking Tom Hero Dash on Your iPhone Right Now

Talking Tom has long been mesmerizing children of all ages with his ability to repeat words and phrases and encourage touch interactions. Now, the lovable cat and his band of cuddly friends have ventured into the endless runner genre as heroes bent on saving Angela and their city from a band of mischievous raccoons.

How To: Make an Easy DIY Stylus for Your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus Using Stuff You Already Have

Update: After playing around with our new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus over the last couple weeks, it occurred to me to see if my DIY stylus would work with these new devices. I'm happy to report that it does, just as expected.

How To: Hide Private Photos on Your iPhone

When a photo or video is just too sensitive to leave laying around in your Photos app, you'll want to either delete it for good or hide it away in safe, secure location on your iPhone. As for the latter, Apple actually has a few tools available to make photos and videos hidden — even password-protected — on your iPhone.

How To: Set a GIF as a Live Wallpaper for Your iPhone's Lock Screen Background

In iOS, Apple provides a few live wallpapers that you can use for the background on your iPhone's lock screen, but these animated options are just wavy color shifts and ink-in-water effects. To really customize your lock screen, you can use a Live Photo for your wallpaper. If you can't find the right Live Photo, GIFs are the next best thing, and experimenting with them feels like a game almost.

How To: Put the iPhone X, iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 Plus into DFU Mode in iTunes

With the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and the exclusive iPhone X, Apple has come full circle in transitioning its users away from the home button present since the first iPhone a decade ago. This gives us a window into Apple's design philosophy moving forward, but it also presents some new problems, especially when it comes to entering and exiting DFU mode in iTunes.

How To: Split the Screen on Your iPhone for Side-by-Side Browsing & Faster Multitasking

The iPhone has come a long way in its ten-year lifespan, but one thing still missing from the core user experience is native split-screen support. Sure, the displays on iPhones aren't nearly as large as an iPad's screen — which does offer "Split View" mode out of the box — but the iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and 7 Plus are definitely big enough to use two apps at the same time.