Everything Else
How To: Play Tencent's 'Strike of Kings' on Your iPhone Now Before It Makes Its Way Stateside
You may have heard of Honor of Kings, the multiplayer online battle arena game so popular that it has the potential to do for mobile what League of Legends has done for the PC in the world of competitive online gaming, but you'll soon hear about its western iteration, Strike of Kings. Tencent, the China-based online gaming giant now looks to expand to the lucrative western market and has released the game to many parts of Europe as a soft launch for iOS devices. Gameplay in Strike of Kings is...
Safari 101: How to Find Specific Words or Phrases in Webpages on Your iPhone
Apple's default browser for iOS, Safari, has a ton of useful features, and there's so many that it's impossible to know everything you can do to browse the web more efficiently. One you may not know about brings the Command + F keyboard shortcut right to your mobile browser so you can search for words or phrases directly on any webpage you're viewing.
How To: Become a Human Emoji with Facetune's Newest App for iPhones
As a society, we seem to be moving backwards toward communicating by pictures only. Emojis and GIFs are today's cave paintings, and I, for one, am totally okay with that. To make this transition even more amazing, photo-editing app Facetune created a tool that lets us change our very own faces into moving emojis.
How To: Check Your iPhone for 32-Bit Apps That Won't Work in iOS 11
Apple has removed support for older 32-bit applications in the new iOS 11, which was to be expected after the 10.3 update added the ability to detect apps that are still running 32-bit processes on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Apple even excluded restore images for 32-bit devices such as the iPhone 5 and iPad (4th gen) in the iOS 10.3.2 beta 1 update for developers, so this shouldn't be a surprise.
How To: 8 Tips for Securing a Red iPhone 7 Before They Sell Out
Apple just unveiled a red iPhone and iPhone 7 Plus, dubbed the iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition, to commemorate the ongoing global fight against AIDS. Apple fans the world over are sure to swarm in and gobble up the initial stock shortly after the new color is released at 8:01 a.m. (PDT) on March 24, 2017, so we'll go over some tips to help you secure a red iPhone before it's sold out.
How To: Block YouTube Ads & Enable Background Playback on Your iPhone—No Jailbreak Needed
YouTube is so famous it needs no introduction, but its mischievous clone, YouTube++, sure does. The latter's been tweaked to include hacks not found in the regular version, including background playback, ad blocking, and the ability to download videos directly onto your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
How To: Change Your App Store Country to Download Region-Locked Apps & Games on Your iPhone
Before many games make it to the US-based iOS App Store, they get "soft launched" in a smaller country to get real-world testing for bugs. It's a pilot program, so to speak, as countries like Vietnam or the Philippines have far fewer iPhone users than the US, thus offer a more controlled environment for developers to get feedback and zero-in on issues that may occur in a game's early development phases.
How To: This Boomerang Hack Lets You Post Apple's Live Photos on Instagram
Instagram enthusiasts will be pleased to know that there is finally a way to post your Live Photos on the service.
How To: Install Modded & Unofficial Apps on Your iPhone by Sideloading with Cydia Impactor
Jailbreaking gives iPhone users almost unfettered access to their devices, offering a slew of customizations, new features, and improved apps that you just can't get elsewise. Unfortunately, Apple has clamped down hard on the latest iterations of iOS, making jailbreaking extremely unstable at best. Hope is not lost, however, as there's still a way to install modded and unofficial apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without any jailbreak.
How To: Use the 'Print' Option to Create PDFs of Notes, Webpages & More on Your iPhone
Apple lets you save webpages as PDF files in iOS 10, but the only obvious way to do this is by using iBooks. The thing is, most people would probably rather save their PDFs to a service like Google Drive or Dropbox to make sharing a bit easier. Plus, iBooks isn't officially available for Windows or Android, so there are some cross-platform problems there, too.
How To: This Widget Lets You Open Wi-Fi Settings Faster, Share Passwords & More on Your iPhone
The widget system on iOS leaves a lot to be desired when compared to Android's offering, but that's not really Apple's fault. The system is there, we just need some good widgets to really get the most out of it, so it's up to developers to create some awesome apps that work with the home screen and lock screen widget panels on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
How To: Easily Transfer Contacts, Photos & Calendars from iOS to Android with Google Drive
Google Drive has a very simple way to switch from iOS to Android. iPhone users who want to take the plunge into the wonderful world of Android, but were hesitant to do so in the past because of the laborious process of backing up their data, can back up their contacts, photos, videos, and calendars with the tap of a button.
How To: Stop Sites from Tracking You on Your iPhone with Firefox Focus
When you do an internet search, you'll see ads that are relevant to your query mixed in with the rest of your results. Nothing surprising there—it's how the internet is funded. But then, when you click one of the search results, you'll also see ads that are related to your initial search. Now that's a bit creepy, because it demonstrates that one webpage knows what you typed into a different webpage.
How To: Stop Portrait Mode from Eating Up Space on Your iPhone 7 Plus
Apple released Portrait mode for the iPhone 7 Plus in the iOS 10.1 update, which creates a simulated bokeh effect that blurs out the background and makes the subject pop out in the scene. It's still technically a beta feature since Apple does have some kinks to iron out, but it's ready to use as is.
How To: Charge Your iPhone 7 While Listening to Music
The fact that this guide even exists is a downright shame, but that's neither here nor there. The truth of the matter is the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus don't have 3.5 mm headphone jacks, and since they use the Lightning connector to output audio, it's hard to charge your phone while your headphones are plugged in.
How To: Transfer Your Android Contacts to iPhone
When you change smartphone ecosystems, there are a lot of minor hurdles to clear along the way. It's definitely not hard to switch from Android to iOS, but little things like making sure your contacts get transferred over can take a bit of work.
How To: Find Nearby Beer by Emoji on Your iPhone
Emojis, for better or for worse, have essentially taken over online forms of communication. And now, thanks to a recently discovered feature in iOS, they are going to change the way you search for nearby places.
How To: Watch Viral Videos on Your iPhone Without an Internet Connection
The internet, as I understand it, is a wonderful, magical place where people congregate to share memes and viral videos. Well, okay... there's a lot more to it than that, but let's just focus in on the good stuff.
How To: The Best Way to Make GIFs Out of Anything on Your iPhone
The internet has officially been taken over by GIFs—they're everybody's favorite method of communication these days, and nary a meme would exist without them. But even with the abundance of GIF-sharing websites, and even GIF keyboards, we're still a bit lacking in regard to creating GIFs on a mobile device.
How To: Browse Your Mac's Hard Drive Using Your iPhone
When it comes to sharing files between a smartphone and a computer, there are several solutions available for a Windows and Android pairing. But for those of us with Apple devices, the selection of apps in this category isn't quite as great. You can use AirDrop to quickly share files, but searching for files is not so easy.
How To: Get iOS 10's New Wallpaper on Any Phone
In usual Apple fashion, there are new wallpapers to go along with their new operating systems, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. The background that's included in iOS 10 for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is a crashing aqua-colored wave with land just below its surface, and macOS Sierra's is a razor-sharp mountain ridge from the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.
How To: Give Songs Star Ratings on Your iPhone
Back in iOS 8.4, Apple introduce a new "heart" icon in their Music app, which works in direct correlation with their Apple Music service that was released at the same time. By hearting a song, you're telling Apple that you love that song, and they can make better suggestions for you (in the "For You'" tab) based on it.
How To: Get 'Hey Siri' Working Again on Your iPhone
When Hey Siri was first introduced in iOS 8, it was a pretty lackluster feature since you had to be plugged into a power source in order to even use it. Since then, newer devices (iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro) don't need to plug in to have always-on Siri, which makes the feature actually worthwhile—when it works.
How To: This Bug Lets You Bypass Zoom Restrictions on Your iPhone Photos
The iPhone's pinch-to-zoom feature lets you easily enlarge photos to focus in on one particular area a little better, but after you've zoomed in to a certain degree, the image quickly snaps back and prevents you from zooming in any further. This is mostly meant to keep you from zooming in too far and getting lost, but a lot of times, the max zoom level just isn't close enough.
How To: iOS App Store Not Loading or Working on Your iPhone? Here's the Quick Fix
You find and update all of your apps using the iOS App Store, and if you have updates scheduled automatically, it could be working hard on a daily basis. With all of that work, it can lose its footing from time to time and cause things not to work as they should.
How To: This Hidden Feature Makes Your iPhone Read Books & Articles Aloud
I often read ebooks on my iPhone while I walk, but being glued to my screen is a good way to get run over or cursed at. To save my physical and social hide, I use this trick to get my iPhone to read ebooks and articles out loud, turning my whole text library into de facto audiobooks.
How To: Automatically Turn on Speakerphone for Every iPhone Call
When you make or receive a call on your iPhone, you're forced to use the built-in ear receiver at the top of the phone to hear anything—unless you're already connected to a Bluetooth device. If you don't have Bluetooth in your car, or prefer to just use the speaker instead, having to manually switch to speaker mode can get annoying real fast.
Siri 101: How to Disable Siri on Your iPhone's Lock Screen
If you like having Siri available to answer a quick question every now and again but don't want everyone who picks up your iPhone to also have access to your personal assistant, there's an easy way to disable her from working on your iPhone's lock screen. This is also something you can do if you're always activating Siri accidentally in your pocket.
How To: Unlock Home Button Shortcuts on Your iPhone
If your iPhone has a Home button, such as either iPhone SE model, old or new, then it has a secret triple-click gesture to activate a suite of shortcuts. These options, dubbed accessibility shortcuts, can work wonders for folks that are hearing impaired, have limited use of their hands, or have vision problems. Still, the shortcuts have plenty of everyday applications that everyone should know.
How To: This Is by Far the Easiest Way to Set Up a Free VPN on Your iPhone
A VPN service is almost an essential these days. Good ones can block ads, prevent tracking cookies, encrypt your internet traffic for better security, and even spoof your device's location to bypass geo-restrictions — all things you should be concerned about in the age of NSA snooping and Facebook data mining.
How To: Get Circular Folders on Your iPhone's Home Screen
Aside from changing your wallpaper, there's not much you can do to customize the home screen on your iPhone besides nesting folders, hiding folder names, and hiding apps—and those aren't even actual features. They're simply glitches that Apple never took care of, and now there's another, even cooler one to add to that list.
How To: Keep Track of What You Spend on Spotify, Netflix, & Other Online Subscriptions Using Your iPhone
As the internet continues to become a bigger part of our day-to-day lives, we slowly but surely start to rack up a bunch of web-based subscriptions. These internet subscription services—Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, just to name a few—may seem innocuously cheap individually, but when combined, they actually comprise a significant portion of our monthly bills.
How To: See Only Emails with Attachments Using This Secret iPhone Mail Trick
If you get a ton of emails each day, your mailbox probably has thousands of unread messages, and that annoying badge icon will keep reminding you of it. Fortunately, iOS comes with some tools to help you bring some sense of order to that chaotic mailbox of yours.
How To: This Easy Hack Lets You Record Snapchat Videos Without Holding Down the Button
Normally, you have to hold down the on-screen button to record videos on Snapchat, but if you want to go hands-free for some more creative video selfies or less shaky landscapes, there's a workaround on iPhones that lets you do just that.
How To: Convert Slo-Mo Videos to Regular Speed Directly on Your iPhone
I don't know about you, but when I shoot a slow-mo video on my iPhone, I'd also like to have a regular speed copy of it, just in case slow motion doesn't fit the video right.
How To: Create Emoji Art from Your Photos Using This Fun Tool
While there are tools online that let you turn photos into interesting emoji art, and mobile apps that let you create emoji mosaics, none do it better than an iPhone app by second verse, which makes it a super easy, highly customizable process.
How To: Fix 'Error 53' on Your Bricked iPhone
Apple has finally addressed and issued a fix for Error 53, a "safety" mechanism that would prevent your iPhone from booting if you had certain repairs done outside of Apple's official channels.
How To: The Fastest Way to Get Detailed Flight Info on Your iPhone & Mac
Turns out, you no longer need third-party flight tracking apps to get information on yours or others' flights—your iPhone and Mac can now give you flight details right from your Mail, Notes, and Messages apps.
How To: This Trick Will Instantly Increase Performance on Your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch
There's a good chance that your iOS device has become unresponsive at least once. It's usually at this point that you start thinking your device can no longer pass muster. You could upgrade to a newer model, but that's not always feasible, and often times, unnecessary.
Notes 101: How to Lock Notes with Face ID or Touch ID (& Password Protection)
When you hand your unlocked iPhone to somebody so they can use the internet real quick, check out some cool photos, or do whatever, there's a possibility that they could snoop around where they don't belong. If you have some secret recipes, login credentials, intellectual property, or other sensitive information in your notes, you'll want to add some protection to them.