iOS & iPhone Features
How To: Use 'Look Around' in Apple Maps to Tour High-Resolution Street Views of Cities
If you like the "Street View" feature in Google Maps, you'll love "Look Around" in iOS 13's Apple Maps. Overall, Look Around has more details than Street View and the animations are super smooth as you navigate down streets and pedestrian areas. While Look Around isn't available in every city yet, it'll work the same way no matter which iPhone you're using.
How To: 5 Improvements in iOS 14's Measure App That Are Only for the iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have one huge thing that sets them apart from their iPhone 12 and 12 mini siblings: a lidar scanner. Thanks to this new technology, Measure, an Apple app that's just over two years old, has gotten even better.
How To: Start Calls & FaceTimes from iOS 12's Messages App on Your iPhone
Front and center for iOS 12 this year is Group FaceTime, which allows users to chat with up to 31 additional people at once. While that ambitious feature is sadly delayed, don't cast away FaceTime just yet — you can always pick up your iPhone and start a call with any single contact directly from the Messages app.
How To: Shrink Your iPhone's Home Indicator Bar for a Cleaner Look
The home bar first introduced on the iPhone X is a handy visual guide as you get accustomed to using gestures like swiping up to unlock or going back to the home screen. As you master the gestures, however, the home bar becomes less of an aid and more of an obstruction that you can't remove or resize, unless you've jailbroken your iPhone.
How To: Take Slo-Mo Selfies (AKA 'Slofies') on iPhone 11, 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max
Will the name "slofie" ever catch on? Probably not. But that won't stop the feature from being a hit. Slo-mo selfies aren't new in the smartphone world, but they are new to iPhone, arriving for the first time on iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. Here's what you need to know before you start shooting your first slofie.
How To: iOS 14.5 Updated Apple Podcasts with 16 Features & Changes You'll Definitely Use on Your iPhone
Spotify has caught up to Apple in monthly podcast listenership and is even forecast to surpass Apple soon, but Apple just made some serious changes to its Podcasts app for iOS and iPadOS that could keep Apple at the top.
How To: Catch a Ride with Lyft or Uber Straight from Apple Maps in iOS 11
There's no denying the impact ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have made on our lives. With fares that undercut traditional yellow cabs, combined with the fact that your ride is just a tap away, these services have become the primary mode of transportation for many folks in urban areas. Thanks to iOS 11, booking an Uber or Lyft has just become a lot more convenient.
How To: 13 QR Code Scanners That Won't Send You to Malicious Webpages on Your iPhone
The default Camera app got a few more tricks up its sleeves when iOS 11 was released, and the best addition by far was the inclusion of a built-in QR code reader since that meant no more third-party apps just for QR code scanning. However, Apple's built-in QR code scanner did have a vulnerability at one point that would let hackers direct you to a compromised website without you even noticing it.
How To: Use Third-Party Password Managers with iOS 12's AutoFill Feature
Improved security options in iOS 12 provide you with automatic password suggestions, a way to find and change weak passwords, auto-filling of 2FA codes, and Siri integration. Most of these apply to iCloud Keychain, but Apple hasn't forgotten about users of third-party password managers; In iOS 12, you can use 1Password, LastPass, and others with the AutoFill feature in websites and apps.
How To: Use Your iPhone's Volume Buttons to Shoot Photo Bursts & QuickTake Videos
When you can't touch the shutter button on the screen in the Camera app, your iPhone has another way to snap a picture or take a video — just press the Volume Up or Volume Down button. But when it comes to bursts and QuickTakes, however, things are a little bit trickier in iOS 13, iOS 14, and iOS 15.
How To: iOS 16 Just Dropped Support for These iPhone Models — Find Out if You Can Update or Not
The new iOS 16 update was released on Sept. 12, 2022, and there are more than a few iPhone models that didn't make the cut. And for the first time, the iPod touch is left entirely off the compatibility list.
How To: Automatically Delete Unwanted Apple Music Songs When Your iPhone's Low on Space
While smartphones are increasing their built-in storage every year, they're also giving you more features that consume all that extra space quickly, like when you shoot 4K videos. So while you may have a load of gigabytes for all your music, it may get eaten up quickly by apps, photos, and videos. Luckily, Apple Music has an auto-delete feature, so you don't have to manage anything manually.
How To: Disable Scene Detection for More Control Over Photo Shoots on Your iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max
The iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max's new Scene Detection mode automatically adjusts Camera's settings to best suit your subject. That means it won't use the same shooting options for a close-up shot of your friend as it would a wide-angle landscape picture. If you don't want Apple to choose how your scene should look, there's a way to stop it to regain some control.
How To: Swipe Between Message Threads for Faster Multi-Texting
I'm a textaholic. One of the problems with being a textaholic is that your device just can't keep up with you.
How To: Add Filters to Individual Video Clips or Your Whole Entire Project in iMovie for iPhone
Just like in Instagram and other popular photo and video apps, iMovie for iPhone lets you add filters to your whole entire movie project. Not only that, but you can choose to add different filters to different video clips in your timeline, no matter if the clips started out as videos or photos.
How To: Create Your Own Home Screen Widgets in iOS 14 for an Even More Customized iPhone
Possibly the most popular feature in iOS 14, home screen widgets are here to stay. Apple created a ton for its own apps, and third-party developers keep building ones for their own apps. But home screen widgets go beyond that since you can make a widget for practically anything you want, from a custom news feed to an inspirational picture of the day — and this is how you do it.
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.
PSA: Tapping Control Center with 3 Fingers Will Freeze Your iPhone (But There's an Easy Fix)
Bugs are usually bad news for phone owners, ranging from mild annoyances to downright dangerous. Sometimes, the patch released to fix the problem messes things up even more. An iOS bug discovered Monday might not fit into any of these categories, as it is difficult to activate. Nevertheless, it will still freeze your iPhone.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14 GM (Golden Master) for iPhone
Apple just seeded developers and public beta testers the GM (golden master) for iOS 14 on Tuesday, Sept 15. The update (18A373) comes just after Apple's "Time Flies" event, and six days after Apple released iOS 14 beta 8 for both developers and public testers.
How To: Your iPhone Just Got 118 More Emoji — Here Are All the New Characters and Variations
There are now more emoji on your iPhone's keyboard that you can send as reactions or stickers or insert wherever else you use emoji — and it's about time. It's been nearly a year since the last emoji update for iOS, and we only received support for 31 new ones then. The new iOS 17 software update brings almost four times as many.
How To: Access the App Switcher from Your iPhone's Control Center
How many times do you think you press the Home button on your iPhone? You probably can't place a number on it, but you know it's a lot.
How To: Instantly Determine Which Jailbreak Tweaks Will Work on Your iPhone
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.
How To: Apple Maps Has 12 New Features in iOS 16 You Need to Know About
While the Maps app hasn't received as big an update in iOS 16 as Books, Messages, Photos, and Weather did, there are still quite a few exciting new features to enjoy on your iPhone.
How To: Add Rich Web Link Previews to Your Reminders in iOS 13
With iOS 13, Apple included some major updates to the Reminders app for iPhone. Among them is the ability to add web links to individual reminders, including a rich preview of the link that can be minimized if necessary. So now you can add an Amazon link in a reminder to buy a present or a webpage for a recipe in your grocery list, to name just a few examples.
How To: Reply to Texts with a Selfie GIF on Your iPhone
Most of us have probably used a GIF at least once or twice to respond to a message, and that's why a lot of messaging services and keyboards have GIF search tools readily available to use. Now, Google wants to take GIF responses to a more personal level, by allowing you to create your own selfies GIFs to instantly sent to family and friends.
How To: Do the iPhone 14 Pros Really Have the Highest Peak Brightness of Any Smartphone?
Apple claims that the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have the highest peak brightness of any smartphone, but is that really true?
News: All the New Apple TV Features in iOS 12.3 for iPhone
Apple's aiming to take over the TV world, and it shows in iOS 12.3. Nothing is going on yet with Apple TV+, Apple's video streaming platform with original content, which isn't supposed to come out until the fall. But there are some goodies in the new Apple TV app for iPhone that you should get to know.
How To: Create a Surround Sound System Using Multiple iOS Devices
Audibly, from iOS developer Nick Frey, allows you create playlists and sync your music across other iOS devices. Like the Samsung-exclusive Group Play or the older Seedio app, you can connect a slew of compatible devices to create a surround-sound stereo of sorts when playing your music.
How To: Blank Squares Filling Up Control Center? Here's How to Remove Them or Fill Them Up on Your iPhone
Your iPhone's Control Center is your main hub for quick access to controls like brightness, volume, Wi-Fi, and Do Not Disturb, but if you're using iOS 14, there may be a bunch of screen real estate taken up by blank squares. If that wasted space is bothering you every time you just want to use your flashlight, there's a quick way to get rid of those empty tiles for good.
How To: Use the Hidden Quick Scroll to Browse Emojis on Your iPhone Faster
When words aren't enough, emojis are there to help. Your iPhone has almost two thousand of them for you to communicate in a more lively manner or to express indifference, excitement, joy, and other emotional states. However, the more emojis that come out, the more difficult it is to find the one you want — unless you know your way around your keyboard.
How To: Quickly Paste or Save Highlighted Text to Files, Messages, Mail, Notes & Other Apps
Highlight text, tap "Copy," open the app to paste the text into, long-press or double-tap where you want it, and hit "Paste." That's probably what you do when you need to copy text from one location to paste into another on your iPhone. It's a tried-and-true method, but there's a hidden trick for saving and sharing text on iOS that cuts down on that lengthy copy-paste process.
How To: Open Instagram Straight to the Story Camera to Bypass Your Feed & Start Capturing Right Away
When it comes to shooting a great Instagram story, spontaneity is often key. Who doesn't love seeing something unexpected pop up on their feed? That said, to catch those moments, you need to be quick, and the standard method for opening Instagram's Story camera isn't that. Instead, try this method the next time you need to document something in a flash.
How To: Stop AirPods from Annoyingly Auto-Switching Between iPhone, iPad & Mac So They Stick to One Device
You're watching a YouTube video on your Mac, then go to check something on your iPhone. Of course, because you had a video queued on iOS, your AirPods automatically switch from your Mac to your iPhone. Now, your Mac's YouTube video is playing out loud, and you have to reroute your AirPods back over to macOS. Luckily, there's a hidden setting you can change that fixes this whole issue.
How To: Type to Siri Without Changing a Setting in iOS 13
One of my favorite iOS hacks is Type to Siri. This lets you type your queries to the iPhone digital assistant without needing to use your voice. Unfortunately, Type to Siri replaces the typical Siri voice prompt on the Home or Side button, meaning you need to choose between one or the other. That is, until iOS 13.
How To: 4 New Reminders Features in iOS 14.5 That'll Boost Your Productivity & Make To-Lists More Fun
Apple's Reminders app has come a long way. In the past, if you really wanted to keep track of your important daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, you needed to install a specialty third-party app to make it work. While those apps still offer valuable features, Reminders can get the job done for many iPhone users now. With iOS 14.5, Apple only sweetens the deal.
How To: Use 3D Touch or Haptic Touch to Quickly Open Apps Inside of Folders on Your iPhone
Folders are great for organizing apps and removing clutter from your home screen. But once they become overfull, it's not as easy to find and launch an app. If you have a jailbroken device, however, there's a tweak that will lessen the hassle of rummaging through folders and make it easier to open the apps they contain.
How To: This Interactive Demo Turns Your iPhone into a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone You Can Test Out
The Apple ecosystem might be strong, but so is the pull from devices outside Cupertino's walls. If you've ever felt curious about what life could be like with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, be that an S21 or a Note20, you don't need to make the switch to know. In fact, you can give it a go right on your iPhone.
News: Watch Identical Twins Fool the iPhone X's Face ID
Face ID is possibly the iPhone X's make-it-or-break-it feature. Apple is asking previous iPhone owners to put a lot of faith into their home button replacement, and so far, the results seem pretty good. That is until CNN tested the security feature with identical twins.
How To: Share Song Lyrics from Apple Music in iOS 14.5 — Complete with Audio Clips
Sometimes, you don't want to be the only one enjoying killer lyrics from your favorite songs. Sure, you can text your friends and let them know how great these tracks are, but you could also take advantage of one of Apple Music's coolest new features of iOS 14.5 — lyrics sharing!
How To: The 16 Biggest Health Features You Should Know About on iOS 16
You've probably already been using iOS 16 on your iPhone for months, but there's a good chance you haven't found or explored everything the new software has to offer. Health-related features are usually the first to be ignored or go unnoticed, but they're essential to know about even if you don't plan on using them right away.