How-To

There's something soothing about grouping related things together, and that goes for contacts too! Contacts are listed alphabetically in the Contacts app and Apple doesn't offer a way to group them by any other criteria (although you can use the search function to filter contacts by things like company name or notes you may have added to a contact card). But these contacts won't otherwise be grouped all together in your list of contacts. You can work around this by editing your contacts' names to include initials or words so they appear grouped together according to criteria determined by you. Use this tip to group your contacts by how you know them—work, a hobby, family, etc.—so you can quickly browse to message a specific person or see everyone in that group at once. 

As part of the Apple home automation wave, the HomePod is a fun way to use Apple HomeKit accessories. The smart speaker connects to other iOS devices and can access Siri for voice commands, responding to questions, or playing music. If you want to let family members or friends use the HomePod to do things like turn lights on and off and adjust the thermostat in your house, you can give access via the HomePod. Here's how to add another user to the Apple HomePod.

Within the Clock app on the iPhone there is a stopwatch you can use. Here’s how to use the iPhone’s stopwatch, and why you would want to use it. Whether you want to track how quickly someone runs a mile, time individual laps or circuits, or simply track the time it takes to complete a task, you can use the stopwatch to do it. 

Apple introduced the Live Photo feature with the iPhone 6S, and it's still a fun and popular feature of the native iPhone Camera app. Unless you've unselected Live Photo settings in the Camera Settings, the Live Photo function is on by default when you open the Camera app, so you need to turn off Live Photo if you want a traditional still shot. Sometimes, though, we all forget to turn off Live Photo; now what? No worries, you can delete the Live Photo version of your picture and keep the still photo. 

One of the great features of our mobile devices is the ease with which we can share photos and videos. You can use your iPhone or iPad to send multiple photos via email or messaging. And if you want to send recent photos, you can easily select multiple pictures to send to someone in the Photos tab in the Photos app. Here’s how to share multiple recent photos on the iPhone.

Apple News Plus, Apple's premium news membership that lets you access over 300 magazines and at least 2 newspapers, is here! Here's how to subscribe to Apple News Plus on your iPhone or iPad. There's no risk in giving Apple News Plus a try; you'll be able to browse the titles Apple News Plus has to offer before confirming your subscription and you can cancel any time during the 30-day free trial.

Have you received a GIF in a text on your iPhone and wondered, "what does GIF stand for, anyway?" If you've been wondering what GIF means and how to find the GIF keyboard on your iPhone so you can start sending them, too, this is the article for you. GIFs are basically small, moving or animated pictures that you can use and send in a variety of ways. In this tip, we'll go over how to search for and send an Messages GIF. You won't need a GIF app or anything extra, and it's fun and easy. Let's get started!

Your iPhone will automatically remember the Wi-Fi networks you join. When you’re in the vicinity of that network, it will automatically connect. You can view the list of network connections near you in Settings. This is also where you would tell your iPhone to forget a Wi-Fi network. You might decided to do this if you’re moving or having trouble with a particular connection. Here’s how to forget a Wi-Fi network on your iPhone.

We’ve been able to add emojis to text messages on iPhone for many years. But as the operating system updates have been released over time, more and more emojis had been introduced, which means there’s a lot to look through in order to find that specific emoji you want to use. Apple solved this problem with iOS 10. Now you can add emojis to a text message without scrolling through pages looking. Here’s how to add emojis to a text without opening the emoji keyboard.

Have you ever wished you could set up an auto-reply text message on your iPhone for times when you can't or don't want respond to text messages? Well, Do Not Disturb While Driving has an auto-reply feature that sends a message to people who text you letting them know you're driving and can't reply. If you want to send auto-replies even when you're not driving, all you have to do is customize the message and then use Do Not Disturb While Driving instead of the regular Do Not Disturb when you are in meetings or are otherwise unable to answer texts. Here's how to set this feature to be used with ease!

The Calendar app is incredibly convenient for keeping track of appointments, events, and even birthdays. It’s also a great tool for helping you remember those appointments, events, and birthdays. I am extremely forgetful, so once I enter something into my Calendar I usually add an alert to help me remember it. Different people may need to set different reminder intervals for events. That’s why Apple made it easy to change the setting for when the Calendar will alert you for an event.

App Saturday: Overcast

By Hallei Halter

I habitually autoplay hours of Netflix or Youtube because I like the sound of people talking while I'm puttering around my apartment. Podcasts naturally fill that need with the bonus that I'm not missing any context since there's nothing to watch, only listen to. But even when I'm only listening, I still want to personalize my choices. Overcast is a podcast player app that gives me as many choices as I want when it comes to selecting content and how I want to hear it.

App Saturday: Amazon Music

By Hallei Halter

While you may think of Spotify or Apple Music when it comes to streaming music, if you're wanting to stay up to date with new music or browse your tried and true favorite albums, Amazon Music just about has it all. And you already have access to it if you are an Amazon Prime member. With the ability to find and listen to thousands of hours of music, you won't have to search for long to settle on something you enjoy.

Are you ready to take the plunge and move from your old Android tablet to a new iPad Pro? The decision to start over with a new device in a new mobile operating system can be daunting, but the good news is that transferring important data from an Android to an iOS device is simple when you know how. In this article, we'll cover how to move contacts, documents, and other data from your old Android device to your new iPad Pro. Read on to learn more about this stress-free setup method.

The iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and XR have Dual SIM cards, which includes a nano-SIM and an eSIM. The eSIM is a digital SIM that allows your phone to have a second active cell plan from your carrier. Essentially, your phone will have two phone numbers. This is great if you want a business number separate from your personal number or are traveling out of the country and want to get a phone number from a local carrier without swapping out the physical SIM. Typically this feature only works with iOS 12.1 and later with a few carriers in the US. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile currently support this feature with varying restrictions. Check with your carrier to understand how you can best use eSIM with your device. Below, I'll give a general overview of how to set up an eSIM.

If you have a 3D Touch-supported device, starting with iPhone 6s (but not including the iPhone SE or XR), you can add a 3D Touch multitasking gesture by way of AssistiveTouch. So, instead of pinching to zoom, you can use the AssistiveTouch button and zoom with a tap instead! Zoom and other gestures or actions can become a shortcut accessible by 3D Touching the AssistiveTouch button. This is an ideal option if you have a Home button that isn't too reliable or just want to take advantage of the convenience. 

A while back, Apple added more racial diversity to the faces on its emoji keyboard. While none of the emoticons or family groups offer options for different skin tones, the single human characters and body parts (hands, noses, etc.) all come with the diversity options. At this point, we’ve all seen Apple keyboard emojis in all their diversity, but not everyone knows how to use or change what emoji they select. Here’s how to use the diverse emoji keyboard on iPhone or iPad.

Pages