Hot Apple Posts
How To: Change Your Profile Picture & Display Name for iMessage in iOS 13
For quite some time, popular messaging apps such WhatsApp and Skype have let you set a profile picture along with a display name to make you more instantly identifiable to loved ones and colleagues. Apple has finally caught up with this fad in iOS 13. That means you can set a custom name and profile image within iMessage so others can quickly view who's messaging them at a glance.
How To: Everything You Need to Set Up on Your iPhone Just in Case It Ever Gets Lost or Stolen
For lack of a better word, a missing iPhone sucks. Not only do you lose a physical device that cost you a small fortune, but there's also the probability you'll never see your precious data again. Hackers and thieves might, just not you. To keep this from ever happening, there are preventative measures you should take, and the sooner you do them the better.
How To: Fix the 'Number Changed to Primary' Bug on Your iPhone
The iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR aren't the newest devices from Apple Inc., but all three 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 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.
How To: This Tweak Gives You iPhone X Gestures on Any iPhone Running iOS 11
The on-screen gestures on the iPhone X have taken touchscreen interaction to a whole new level. While they're needed due to a nearly bezel-less display and lack of a Home button, you can actually get these iPhone X-exclusive swipe gestures on any other model iPhone. The only catch is that you need to be jailbroken.
Bedtime Mode: How to Keep Notifications from Distracting You at Night on iOS 12
Let's say you wake up in the middle of the night and check your phone to see the time. As soon as you do, you're greeted by a wall of notifications on your lock screen. You just wanted to know how much longer you could sleep, but now your mind's racing after seeing all of the messages you need to deal with. Thankfully, iOS 12's new Bedtime Mode has a solution for this problem.
How To: Screen Time, App Limits & Downtime: How to Use iOS 12's New Parental Controls
Among iOS 11's many criticisms, one of the more surprising complaints came from parents worried that Apple wasn't doing enough to monitor and control their children's iPhone usage. Apple seems to have taken these issues to heart, as iOS 12 introduces new and improved parental controls to help encourage healthier mobile habits for kids.
How To: Hide the Dock's Translucent Background on Your iPhone
The idea of a dock on any smartphone, be it iPhone or Android, is a fantastic invention. It allows you to stay grounded with a core group of apps that you frequently use. However, sometimes that dock can feel like an obstruction in the face of style — but there's a trick to hiding that translucency behind those core apps at the bottom of your iPhone without jailbreaking.
How To: The Easy Way to Get Your Chrome Desktop Tabs in Your iPhone's Safari Browser
If you have a Mac, you can use Apple's Handoff feature to open one of your Safari desktop tabs in Safari on your iPhone. But if you prefer to use Google Chrome as your desktop browser, whether or not that's because you have a Windows PC, you can't "hand off" open tabs from Chrome desktop to Safari on your iPhone. There is a cool workaround, however.
Apple Pay Cash 101: The Fees, Limits & Fine Print You Need to Know About
Now that Apple Pay Cash has rolled out to compatible devices in the US, you're likely to give Apple's new person-to-person payment system a try since it's right there in the iMessage app drawer in Messages. However, just like with Venmo, Square Cash, and other mobile payment processors, there are some hidden fees, limits, and other fine print you need to be aware of.
How To: Offload Unused Apps to Free Up Storage Space on Your iPhone
When Apple revamped the storage management system in iOS 11, it built in a feature that lets you free up space on your iPhone in a more efficient manner. The option allows you to remove an app while preserving its data and documents should you choose to reinstall it later — and it can even do so automatically for unused apps when you're running out of space.
How To: Create a Bootable Install USB Drive of macOS 10.12 Sierra
While it hasn't gotten as much attention as iOS 10, Apple's big 10.12 update to their Mac operating system is finally out for all to enjoy—and you can download it for free from the Mac App Store right now.
How To: Unlock a Hidden Network Strength Meter for Your iPhone's Status Bar
The horizontal dotted icon in your iPhone's status bar serves as an indicator of your device's network strength. And while it does help provide an approximation of how strong your signal is, swapping it out to display an actual numeric value is a lot more precise and can change up the look of your iPhone (or at least the status bar). The process is quick, painless, and you don't even need to jailbreak your phone.
Exclusive: Dual-Boot Android on Your iPhone (iOS 7+)
Today we are pleased to announce the end to the Apple vs. Android war. About a year ago, our Gadget Hacks team started working on a top-secret project to dual-boot both Android and iOS on the same phone—and we couldn't be more proud to announce that we've finally succeeded! Your phone can now run both iOS and Android—whenever you want. Right now.
How To: View All the Songs You Shazamed with Siri on Your iPhone
When you hear a song you like but can't quite catch enough of its lyrics, it can be nearly impossible to search for it online. That's where Shazam comes in. For the past decade, they've been making music easier for us to identify by analyzing a track's acoustic footprint, requiring only a few seconds of audio for accurate identification.
How To: The Easiest Way to Find, Share, and Manage Wi-Fi Passwords Your iPhone and Other Apple Devices Auto-Saved for You
In the latest software updates for iPhone and iPad, there's an even easier way to view all your saved Wi-Fi networks and credentials and share them with family, friends, and others who need access.
How To: Download and Install iPadOS 17.8 Beta on Your iPhone to Explore New Features Before Everyone Else
Apple has already released iPadOS 18, but there still may be work to complete on iPadOS 17. That brings us to iPadOS 17.8. Is there one, and can you test-drive it on your iPad?
How To: iOS 17.2 Has 60 New Features and Changes for iPhone You Won't Want to Miss
Apple just released its biggest update to iOS 17 yet, and there are 60 exciting new changes for your iPhone. With iOS 17.2, you get a brand new app, more Apple Music enhancements, upgrades in Messages, and a new security feature that was announced last year, as well as changes for Weather, notifications, Apple TV, Books, and more.
How To: Apple's Reminders App Has the Ultimate Solution for Managing Grocery Lists on Your iPhone
If you couldn't pick between putting your grocery list in the Reminders or Notes app, there's now a clear place for it. With the latest software updates, the Reminders app, which now supports sections, sports a groceries template that automatically moves the items you add to related categories to help you better find products in-store.
How To: Lock All Your Apps Behind Face ID or Touch ID to Keep Friends and Family from Snooping Around
There is no default option on iOS 16 or iOS 17 to lock your apps behind Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode authentication. However, a clever, easy-to-implement workaround will protect your sensitive apps from nosy friends and family temporarily using or looking at something on your iPhone.
How To: This New Apple Watch Feature Is More Useful and Important Than You Might Realize
There's a feature that every Apple Watch owner should know about — one that makes navigating menus, tapping tiny icons, and interacting with complications, among other things, much easier on the small display.
How To: Your iPhone's Weather App Just Got 14 Major New Features
Your iPhone's Weather app received its biggest update yet. Apple finally incorporated its Dark Sky purchase into Apple Weather, so you'll see more information for each location's forecast. Plus, there are a few surprises to be excited about, such as the ability to add more trackable cities.
How To: Turn Your iPhone into a Personal Sound Machine to Help You Focus, Rest, and Stay Calm
If you get distracted or stressed out easily, your iPhone might be able to help you focus or calm you down. It can even help you fall asleep with white noise, and you don't have to install a third-party app or buy an audio track to turn your iPhone into a personal sound machine.
How To: Water in Your iPhone's Speaker? This Shortcut Can Get It Out
Remember when water and iPhones couldn't mix? Pools, tubs, and toilets would suck down the working iPhones of clumsy and careless owners and spit out expensive paperweights like they were nothing. Times have changed, however, and the newest iPhones can take a swim without fear of certain death. But a dip in liquid can still cause muffled music and audio from the speakers.
How To: Hide Specific Content in iOS 15's New 'Shared with You' Sections Without Disabling the Entire Feature
After updating to iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, you'll notice a new "Shared with You" section in certain Apple apps that contains recent shares from conversations in Messages. If you don't like seeing shared content from specific contacts or groups, there's a way to block them from Shared with You on your iPhone or iPad.
How To: Finding Parking Just Got Easier with Apple Maps on Your iPhone
When you need to drive somewhere unfamiliar, you probably use Apple Maps to get there if you're an iPhone user. But just getting there isn't enough sometimes. If you pull up to the location, and there's nowhere to park, it doesn't matter that you arrived on time since you'll be late trying to find somewhere to leave your car. That's where Apple's new Maps tool comes in handy.
How To: Block Those Annoying Cookie Consent Notices from Appearing on Websites in Safari
As a means to combat annoying and intrusive advertisements in Safari, Apple added native support for content blockers on the iPhone. Instead of being bombarded by notifications, banners, and pop-ups, content blockers prevent them from opening, which can also be said about those annoying cookie consent notices that many websites now have.
How To: Play Memory Movies for Any Album on Your iPhone in iOS 14
The Memories feature in Photos is meant to help you rediscover old or forgotten experiences by creating a short slideshow of photos and videos based on locations, dates, and events. It's a fun feature to relive exciting times, but it isn't always perfect because it's generated automatically. It might include incorrect content, but in iOS 14, you can now create your own Memory Movies.
How To: This Shortcut Automates Sending Birthday Wishes to Your Contacts So You Never Have to Remember Again
You should know the birthday for a parent, sibling, child, or significant other, but there are just too many people in your family and contacts to remember everybody's yearly birth anniversary. Still, everyone expects you to remember their birthday. To stop looking like a jerk, go a step further than putting birthdays in your calendar and make your iPhone help you send birthday wishes when their big day pops up.
How To: Scan Laundry Care Symbols with Your iPhone to See How You're Actually Supposed to Wash Clothes
When it comes to washing clothes, the laundry symbols on your tags might as well be hieroglyphics. They're difficult to interpret, easy to forget, and even easier to ignore. But if you don't want to ruin expensive designer clothes, blankets, and other fiber-based materials, you need to figure out the meaning behind those tiny icons. Thankfully, your iPhone can help out.
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: 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: 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: Fix VPN Issues on iPhone to Ensure a More Private Internet Experience
A virtual private network is a necessary part of your arsenal if you're insistent on surfing the web privately and securely on your iPhone. The App Store is littered with hundreds of different VPN services that encrypt traffic and mask your IP address, but what they all have in common are connectivity issues.
How To: Two Settings You Should Double-Check to Make Sure Your iPhone's Alarm Goes Off
It happens to almost everyone. You wake up one morning, check your phone, and realize your alarm never went off. Now you're late to start the day, and you spend every night onward paranoid it'll happen again. But if you have an iPhone, there are two things you can check to make sure the alarm always goes off on schedule.
How To: Undo & Redo Typing with iOS 13's New Gestures
Shake to undo is now the worst way to take back what you just typed on your iPhone. Among the many changes in iOS 13, Apple has updated text gestures, including how you select a word, sentence, and paragraph, copy and paste text, and undo and redo what you type.
How To: Remotely Silence Alarms, Messages, Calls, Notifications & Other Sounds on Your iPhone to Keep Others from Finding It
Imagine a scenario where you're nowhere near your iPhone, but it's on loud, and you really need to silence it. An alarm may be blaring, notifications could be spitting out sounds left and right, and calls may be ringing. Things can get annoying real quick for whoever's around it. Plus, all that attention makes it easy for someone to find and possibly steal your iPhone. Luckily, you can quiet it down.
How To: Stop a Show from Continuously Autoplaying Episodes in Apple Podcasts
Introduced to Apple Podcasts back in iOS 11.2, whenever one episode of a show ends on your iPhone the next one begins right away for an uninterrupted experience. While the continuous playback feature for each show or station is incredibly useful for lengthy commutes, long drives, or to catch up on what you've missed, it may not be ideal for other situations.
How To: Download & Install iOS 13.6 Beta on Your iPhone Right Now
Apple's already gone through iOS 13.0, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, and 13.5 betas, and now it's time for iOS 13.6. If you want to try out new features on your iPhone before the masses, install either the developer or public beta.
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: 8 Shortcuts to Improve Your Instagram Experience on Your iPhone
Instagram has extensive tools built in for creating and editing posts and Stories, but there could always be more. Third-party apps can help you add photo and video effects for even more visually stimulating content, as well as create announcements, text-based images, and everything in between. However, now that Shortcuts exists on iOS, you may no longer need all those extra apps on your iPhone.