The Latest on Apple: Page 25

Whenever you need a flashlight, your iPhone's LED flash may be enough to break through the darkness, and you don't even need to unlock your screen to use it. But your LED flash's brightness level may be too strong or not powerful enough. It's not immediately obvious how one would change those lumens from the lock screen, but doing so is almost as fast as turning it on.

When you're playing a game on your iPhone, the chances are good that you'll come across an ad you have to watch before you can continue — especially on free games. While it may be annoying to be forced to wait for 10 seconds or even up to a full minute, it can be even more frustrating when you accidentally leave the game to visit the ad's linked app or site when trying to hit the little "x" to continue gaming.

Apple added a great new feature to its Measure app in iOS 14, but it only works on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max models as of right now. If you have one of those models, you can now measure a person's height with accuracy within a few centimeters, whether they're standing or seated.

End-to-end encryption makes WhatsApp chats private and secure. However, if someone has access to your iPhone, they can easily open the app and browse through all of your personal conversations. Luckily, there's an easy way to block any would-be intruders at the gates — just lock the app behind Face ID or Touch ID.

Apple does not provide a native way to lock apps on your iPhone behind Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode. For a long time, we've wanted that option for improved privacy and security, but Apple does allow developers to use its authentication protocols. Apps like Messenger, Outlook, and WhatsApp give the option to lock them down, but for the apps that don't, you can force it with a little time and effort.

While there are other photo-editing apps to choose from on the App Store, Apple Photos is more than good enough for most needs on the iPhone — and things only get better with age. With eachnewiteration of iOS, Apple refines and improves Photos for the better, and iOS 14 adds a lot of new features into the mix.

There are tons of different ways to download videos and GIFs from Twitter onto your iPhone for offline viewing, but frankly, they all kinda suck. You might have to download a third-party app or copy a link and paste it into a random website — and while they work, there are better options. TVDL, a shortcut on iOS, makes the process of downloading Twitter videos and GIFs fast and easy.

There are a lot of music apps on my iPhone's home screen, and the reason I have so many is because I can't get all of the songs I want from just one service. I use Spotify to listen to new releases, SoundCloud for remixes and unreleased tracks, and YouTube for just about anything else that isn't available through the rest. If you're thinking that it's a pain in the ass to jump from app to app, you're right—but not anymore.

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.

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.

Making the jump from an older iPhone, or even an Android phone, to the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max can be a big one. It's not just the change of a new smartphone — it may have had a huge impact on your wallet too. So whenever the device goes berserk, is unresponsive, or won't turn on, it's understandable to be worried. But DFU mode can help whenever you're in a dire situation.

If you upgrade to an iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max, you can take advantage of super-fast 5G speeds, but which 5G network are you actually getting and is it better than the others? Depending on your carrier, you may see 5G, 5G+, 5G UW, or 5G E in the status bar next to the signal strength, and there's a pretty big difference between them.

Except for the second-generation iPhone SE, all new iPhone models omit the Home button. In its place, the Side button takes charge, taking care of tasks like pulling up Siri, activating AssistiveTouch, and opening Apple Pay. If you swap your older Home button model for an iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max, you'll need to relearn simple actions like shutting down and restarting the device.

Apple just released the fourth public beta for iOS 14.2 today, Wednesday, Oct. 21. The new update adds eight new dynamic wallpapers to iOS, including four real-life landscapes, and four digital landscapes. When counting each wallpaper's light and dark mode, there are 16 possible variations to use.

Apple erroneously released iOS 14.1 for iPhone as a stable OTA update on Tuesday, Oct. 13, just after the special event where it announced the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. It's not surprising given Apple's track record lately.

Hi I'm new here so sorry about the crap photo

It's common knowledge these days that Apple puts great cameras into their iPhones. So, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max sport some excellent shooters. What you might not know, however, is that these cameras are quite literally capable of Hollywood-quality video. So don't be surprised to see one of these filming a Netflix series.

In recent years, accessibility features on the iPhone have been given more attention by Apple, which means more people with disabilities can take advantage of everything iOS has to offer. These features are also beneficial for non-disabled users, and iOS 14 has an exciting one that everyone will want to use: Back Tap.

It's not just iPhones. The entire smartphone market these days has a reputation for being expensive. Many flagship smartphones are advertised at $1,000 minimum. Looking for more storage space, or an extra camera or two? That price continues to rise. However, you don't need to take out a mortgage to buy a quality iPhone. In fact, when it comes to reasonable prices, you have more options than ever.

Not much about 2020 is what you'd call normal, but if one thing remains the same, it's that Apple will still release new iPhone models. This year, the company is offering four new options: two "Pro" models and two "consumer" devices. If you want to know more about the latter two, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, keep reading.