How-To

Here's how to optimize iPhone storage with iCloud. All your photos and videos can be stored in iCloud Photo Library rather than being tied to a particular device, making them available to you regardless of which device you're using and preventing their loss if something should happen to your iPhone. Any change you make to a photo or video on one device is carried over to the others. Let's get started learning how to access and back up photos to iCloud, and optimize photo storage on your iPhone.

One of my favorite uses for my iPhone is taking and sharing pictures, but with so many different methods and platforms, it can get a little tricky. Let's cover everything about saved images and photos, including how to save and share pictures from text and iMessage, from email, with AirDrop and iCloud, from Shared Albums, and even social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 

Unblocking a number on your iPhone couldn’t be easier, thanks to the forward thinkers at Apple who knew that the handy block feature should not be permanent. That’s because it’s easy to block someone accidentally or unknowingly. Maybe you were blocking robo-callers or spam texters and blocked a contact by mistake. Or maybe you intentionally blocked a friend or colleague so as not to be disturbed for a period of time and now you want to undo that. Or maybe you’re having trouble calling a contact, or vice versa, so you want to find the blocked list and check to see if that number is on it. Here’s how to do it.

When you make a call on your iPhone, Caller ID reveals your phone number to the person you're calling. If you want to know how to make a private call on your iPhone so your Caller ID doesn't show up, there are a few ways to accomplish this. Here are three ways to hide your phone number, as well as who can still see your number even with these methods, and a simple way to make your phone number visible again on a call-by-call basis, even if you've blocked your number. Let's get started learning how to block your phone number on your iPhone. 

Here's a time-saving feature to boost your productivity: Lock Screen apps. You can open the Notes app directly from the Lock Screen of your iPhone. Lock Screen Notes are helpful for quickly marking down all the notes, checklists, links, and sketches that you want to have close at hand, without having to unlock your device. Let's get started learning how to add Lock Screen Notes to your iPhone so you can master this feature. 

In Apple's native Notes app for iPhone and iPad, you can designate a note to always appear at the top of your list under the Pinned tab. This is helpful if there’s a note you consistently refer to, such as the one you use for grocery shopping every week. You can also pin multiple notes to the top of your list. Here’s how to pin a note to the top of your Notes list on the iPhone.

If you're looking for a particular note, you can search within individual folders in the Notes app. But what if you want to search through all the notes in the app all at once? It's easy to do. Starting with iOS 11, Notes has its own search bar within the app. You'll just have to pull down slightly on the screen to make it appear. By searching your Notes with its search bar, you can find any note you've created by searching for terms from the note. Here's how to search the Notes app on your iPhone. 

How to Check Your iPhone’s Battery Health

Apple landed in hot water with customers several years ago when a feature designed to slow the processors of older iPhone models to keep them from suddenly shutting down came to light. Critics maintained that Apple was throttling the speed of earlier iPhone models to push customers toward newer devices, while Apple insisted that the feature was necessary to cope with aging batteries. Now, Apple lets users monitor their iPhone battery health.

How to Turn On Battery Percentage

A few years ago, Apple made the decision to remove the ability to see the battery percentage in the battery icon on the iPhone. This decision was widely contested, and as of iOS 16, Apple has returned this extremely useful feature to iPhone users. While the battery display is not exactly the same as it used to be, it's pretty comparable and the best part is that it is so much easier to view your iPhone's percentage of battery at a quick glance.

Want to see what apps are draining the battery on your iPhone? Your iPhone's battery usage is broken down app by app in the Battery Health section of your Settings app. The data lets you see the percentage of battery life used by each app, and also how long you spent on individual apps. You'll be able to save your battery life and save your phone by picking out the apps that use more battery than they should be. 

Organize Your iPhone’s Storage & Battery

Now that you’ve perfected your Home Screen, it’s time to clean behind the scenes. In the past, you may have deleted apps from your Home Screen and now you’ve lost track. Maybe you have an absurd amount of photos or downloaded videos taking up a lot of storage and making your iPhone run slower than it needs to. Or maybe you keep ignoring the software updates, which puts your phone at a security risk. If any of those things sound relatable, this next section is all about how to make sure even the stuff occurring in the background of your iPhone is kept in check.

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