For the longest time, every new app I downloaded on my iPhone seemed to also appear on my Apple Watch. I found myself constantly deleting apps from my Apple Watch that I knew I would never ever use on the tiny screen. Eventually, I got so frustrated with all the new apps crowding my watch face that I went searching through settings for a solution. Here’s how to prevent new apps from automatically downloading to Apple Watch.
How-To
Owning an iPhone makes it very convenient to complete a variety of tasks, including those that require writing. The iPhone’s keyboard is acceptable for writing quick emails or jotting down notes, but if you have more in-depth work to accomplish, like in your Pages app, it’s easier to use a regular-size keyboard. There are various keyboards you can get. Some are made to travel, so they fold up. Others attach to your iPad for productivity. And there’s always the option to use an Apple keyboard. Regardless of your choice, setting up the keyboard is easy to do within settings. Here’s how to set up a Bluetooth keyboard on iPhone or iPad.
How to Hang Up Your iPhone with the Click of a Button
By Conner Carey
I had no idea this was a thing until I started looking for an answer. Let me explain: my mom has been slowly adjusting to using an iPhone. With her old flip phone, she merely closed the phone to hang up the call. But with an iPhone, you have to press the big red dot on the screen. But for her, it felt more intuitive to press the Home button. So she found herself thinking she’d hung up the phone when she hadn’t. This let me to search for an easy solution. There’s no setting on iPhone that allows you to use your Home button to hang up a call, but you can use a different button. Here’s how to hang up your iPhone with the click of a button.
How to Share Kindle Books with Family Members (Setting Up an Amazon Household & Kindle Family Library)
By Conner Carey
There are various ways to share Kindle books. With friends, you can loan ebooks out for a couple weeks. But if you set up Family Sharing with Amazon, you can share Kindle books with family members easily and with fewer limitations. When you share Kindle books, the recipient can read the Kindle book you lend them via the Kindle app on iPhone or iPad, as well as Kindle devices, including Kindle Fire. Kindle family sharing allows two adults to create an Amazon Household with up to four children. The two adults in your Kindle family must have separate Amazon accounts. However, setting up family sharing and sharing Kindle books with your Amazon Household is actually quite straightforward. We’ll go over how to set up Family Sharing on Amazon, how to share Kindle books with that family, how to access content shared with you via Amazon Kindle family sharing, and how to leave an Amazon Household should you need to in the future. Here’s everything you need to know about how to share Kindle books with family members.
Apple ID: Tips for Managing and Setting Up Your Account
By Conner Carey
Most everything you do on your iPhone centers around your Apple ID. Your Apple ID account is what grants you access to iCloud, iMessage, and Facetime. It's also what allows you to make purchases from the App Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes Store. Since your Apple ID is so important for running your entire Apple ecosystem smoothly, we put an awesome collection together of Apple ID video tips that will make it easy for you to set up and manage your Apple ID account.
Our video tip collections are one of many incredibly helpful benefits of our iPhone Life Insider subscription. When you sign up, you’ll get instant access to this collection and many more features, which I’ll review below. With this post, you’ll get a sneak peak with one awesome video tip from the collection that will help you master your Apple ID account. Here’s our essential tips for setting up and managing your Apple ID account on iPhone or iPad.
How to Get Bicycle Directions on iPhone
By Conner Carey
Apple Maps got a lot of improvement with iOS 10, but one area in which it’s still behind Google Maps is transportation options when getting directions. Unfortunately, you still can’t get bicycle direction on Apple Maps. However, you can find a bicycle route in Google Maps. Luckily, you can easily use Google Maps to get great bicycle directions on your iPhone; here’s how.
How to Customize Your iPhone Dock
By Mark Struczewski
Did you know that you can customize your dock? You can place your favorite apps in the dock for easy access anytime. There are some default apps in your dock, but if you use different apps most frequently, you may want to move them to the dock. I am also going to tell you how I have my iPhone dock set up and why. I invite you to share what apps you have in your dock. Just know that there are no right or wrong answers here. Here's how to customize your iPhone dock.
How to Protect Your iPhone or iPad from Your Children
By Sarah Kingsbury
There are a lot of articles out there on keeping kids safe while while they use mobile devices. But I'm guessing even more parents want to know how to keep their iPhones and iPads safe from their kids! Here are a few tips:
How to See Lyrics on iPhone While Listening to Music
By Becca Ludlum
How you view lyrics on iPhone will vary depending on what music streaming service you use and how you decide to display lyrics. Apple Music in iOS 10 adds lyrics to songs but usually only popular songs, which means you may still want to use an app to add or view lyrics that can’t be displayed by Apple. Don’t worry though, we’ll go over lots of ways in which you can see lyrics on iPhone while playing your music, from Apple Music to Spotify and more. We’ll also cover our favorite websites and the best app for adding and viewing lyrics. Here’s how to see get lyrics on iPhone while listening to your music.
What to Do If Your Facebook Gets Hacked
By Conner Carey
If you’ve never had your Facebook hacked into, consider yourself one of the lucky few. Nearly everyone I know has had their Facebook account hacked into at some point or another. While you can never be sure no one will ever manage to get in, there are important steps you can take to make your profile secure again. If your Facebook has been hacked, here’s what to do.
How to AirDrop Photos & Other Files from iPhone to Mac (or Transfer Them via iTunes
By Paula Bostrom
As a writer, I appreciate being able to bring my work with me wherever I go. I can write an article on my Mac, and then transfer it to my iPhone to polish it up while I’m waiting to pick the kids up from school. While there are many ways in which to save files between devices, I’ve found that using AirDrop and iTunes to transfer files from my iPhone to my computer or iPad (and vice versa) are two of my favorite methods. AirDrop can seem daunting at first, but it’s much easier than Handoff. Here’s how to use AirDrop and iTunes to transfer files between your iPhone or iPad and computer.
Big news broke the internet recently. Since Instagram now has Snapchat-like features such as disappearing photo stories, the social network decided to continue its imitation: if someone takes a screenshot of your disappearing photo, you will receive a notification. While the internet seemed to freak out over this, it’s a great measure for privacy. Disappearing photos are supposed to...well, disappear. So it only makes sense that you’d receive a notification when someone decides your disappearing photo should be a more permanent photo on their device. Now that Instagram stories are a bit more secure, here’s how to take an Instagram photo that will disappear.
How to Download Stickers for Facebook Messenger on iPhone
By Conner Carey
Facebook’s selection of free stickers is so much better than Apple’s, which is one of the many reasons users love Messenger so much. Stickers in Facebook Messenger work very similarly to stickers in Messages: you can download sticker packs and send them to friends. Since Facebook Messenger has such a great variety of stickers, they’re a lot of fun to use. Here’s how to download stickers for Facebook Messenger on iPhone.
How to Send and Request Money via Facebook Messenger on iPhone
By Conner Carey
Did you know that you can send and receive money from your friends via Facebook Messenger? I didn’t until I received a notification informing me that my sister had sent me $5. It seems there are a million apps for sending friends and family money these days, from Venmo to Snapchat. But if you already have a debit card connected to your Facebook account, then using Messenger to send or request money on iPhone is the quickest way to go. Here’s how to send and request money via Messages on iPhone.
How to Change Playback Quality for TV App on iPhone
By Conner Carey
The TV app on iPhone is designed to bring all of your entertainment content together in one app. Instead of having to individually search through your favorite apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc, you can use the TV app to quickly see what’s up next and look at watching options for the streaming services you’re signed up with, as well as movies and tv shows available in the iTunes Store, of course. Movies and TV shows that you download from the iTunes store can be downloaded in Good or Best Available playback quality. Purchases and Rentals from the iTunes Store can be played in High Definition or Standard Definition. However, if you want to change the playback quality of shows you watch from Netflix, Hulu, etc, then you’ll need to visit the Settings for each individual app. Here’s how to change playback quality for the TV app on iPhone.
With iOS 10, Apple Maps got a huge, and needed, upgrade. The Maps app is now capable of doing a whole lot more, including connecting to third-party apps on your device. For example, let’s say you want to make a restaurant reservation. If you have your reservation app-enabled for use with Apple Maps, then you can look for a restaurant, make the reservation, and get directions all within the Maps app. Here’s how to enable and use Apple Maps extensions on iPhone.
How to Stream the NFL Draft on Your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV
By Sarah Kingsbury
Between April 27 and April 29, the 2017 NFL Draft will be broadcast on ESPN and the NFL Network. And since you may not be near a TV that whole time, you'll want to know how to stream the NFL Draft on your iPhone or iPad from wherever you are to make sure you don't miss a moment of the excitement. How you stream the 2017 NFL draft on your iPhone or iPad will depend on what kind of cable or streaming services you are using. Here's how to watch the 2017 NFL draft on your phone or tablet.
Apple Maps App Missing from iPhone? How to Retrieve Deleted Apps
By Conner Carey
If your Maps app icon is missing from Home screen on your iPhone, you’re probably wondering, “how to I get the Maps app back?” Retrieving deleted apps on iPhone is, luckily, very easy to do. iOS 10 gave us the option to delete apps that came with the iPhone. While the hidden Apple stock apps you remove aren’t deleted completely, they are out of sight and out of mind. So if the Maps icon is missing and you want to reinstall the Maps app, we’ll show you how to get it back. I’ll also share an easy trick so you always know where Maps is on your iPhone. Maps app disappeared from iPhone? Here’s how to get Maps app back on iPhone.
iTunes Store App Disappeared from iPhone? How to Get It Back
By Conner Carey
If your iTunes app store icon is missing from Home screen on your iPhone, you’re probably wondering, “how do I get the iTunes app back?” Retrieving deleted apps on iPhone is, luckily, very easy to do. iOS 10 gave us the option to delete apps that came with the iPhone. While the Apple stock apps you remove aren’t deleted completely, they are out of sight and out of mind. So if the iTunes icon is missing and you want to reinstall the iTunes app, we’ll show you how to get it back. I’ll also share an easy trick so you always know where iTunes is on your iPhone. iTunes app disappeared from iPhone? Here’s how to get the iTunes app back on iPhone.
How to View Your Apple ID Profile on iPhone with iOS 10.3
By Conner Carey
Within Settings on iPhone, there are plenty of ways to access your Apple ID. Before iOS.3 on iPhone, you would find your devices, access to Apple ID, storage and iCloud information, and other important device info scattered throughout the Settings app. But when Apple recently released iOS 10.3, that all changed. Now, when you open the Settings app, your Apple ID profile is the first thing you’ll see. Let’s take a quick tour.