Summertime is just around the corner. That means it’s time to prepare for pool parties, camping and kayaking, or playing on the beach. Wherever you go, having a portable Bluetooth speaker is a must for anyone who wants to enjoy their music too. Inateck sent me its Mercury Box ($39.99) shower Bluetooth speaker to try out. The two most important features for me were portability and water resistance. So I put the Mercury Box to the test.
How to Add and Change Effects in Photobooth on Your iPad
By Conner Carey
The iPhone has a camera app for taking pictures, but the iPad also has a Photobooth app similar to the one most Apple computers have. Unlike the camera app on your phone, the Photobooth app has filters and effects to alter the image you’re capturing before you even take the picture. Personally, the Kaleidoscope effect is my favorite—everything looks cool. Here’s how to add and change effects in Photobooth on your iPad.
Prioritize Your Favorite Contacts with Apple’s VIP Mail
By Conner Carey
We all get too much spam and junk in our email inboxes. If you don't want to miss emails from important contacts, you can set up a feature called VIP Mail in Apple's native Mail app. It allows you to filter emails by creating a VIP mailbox, so you can make sure to receive the emails from the most important people.
Top 5 Free Meal Planning Apps
By Conner Carey
Who doesn’t struggle with eating healthy? Our lives are busy and we juggle a lot of responsibilities constantly. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to fall out of the habit of taking care of ourselves with fresh, whole foods. That’s why it can be extremely helpful to have a weekly plan for your meals that allows you to grocery shop on Sunday for everything you’ll need. And the easiest way to plan your meals, by far, is with an app. However, a lot of meal planning apps appear free but then require a premium membership. So here’s five of the best free apps for meal planning.
Top 3 April Fools’ Day iPhone Pranks
By Conner Carey
Playing an iPhone prank on your friend for April Fool’s Day is a pretty brilliant, easy way to get your shenanigans on. Today is April 1, so we thought this would be a good time to bring up our three favorite iPhone pranks to play on your friends. From the classic ellipsis gif prank to the home screen fake out — your friends will never see it coming.
How to Use and Store Safari Password Suggestions
By Conner Carey
If you use Google Chrome on your computer, you’re probably familiar with a browser's ability to save your password for login websites. But did you know that Safari on iOS has the ability to suggest passwords for you? And Safari will then store the secure password for later use. This is an awesome feature, because not only does Safari create a far more secure password than your dog’s name plus your birthday, but it stores the password so you don’t need to remember it too. Here’s how to get a Safari password suggestion.
Everything We’re Expecting to See at WWDC in June
By Conner Carey
With Apple’s Spring Event over and its new products, the iPhone SE and the smaller iPad Pro, on store shelves, it’s time to look to the future. What can we expect to see at WWDC in June? Hopefully everything the Spring event couldn’t provide (...Macbooks) as well as updates to iOS and OS X. Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco, California each year, and according to Macrumors, the only time frame potentially available at the convention center is June 13 to 17.
How to Move Mail to Junk Folder on iPhone
By Conner Carey
We all receive junk mail, also known as spam, in our inboxes now and again. Despite our best efforts, there’s always the occasion where we’ve signed up for something years ago or entered our email to purchase an item but find we’re now signed up for a newsletter. Whatever the case, it’s super easy to move an email to junk in the Mail app; here’s how.
How to Set a Temporary Profile Picture on Facebook
By Conner Carey
You can now set temporary Profile Pictures on Facebook to commemorate events or show support for causes. The Profile Photo expires after a set amount of time, automatically switching back to the original photo it replaced. This is an awesome way to promote a show you’re in, a holiday or event photo that’s fun, or to show support for a cause such as when Facebook allowed users to overlay the rainbow flag on their pictures. Here’s how to set a temporary Profile Picture on Facebook.
Top Charging Cords That Are Virtually Indestructible
By Conner Carey
When you buy your iPhone, or other iDevice, a charging cord is included. However, it doesn’t take long before that cord begins to show some wear and tear. When it stops working altogether, you want to replace it with a cord that will last forever. More and more companies are coming out with iPhone charging cords that are virtually indestructible. And while you may spend a little more now on a new cord, you’ll save yourself money, and a lot of headaches, later on. Here are the top charging cords for iPhone that are virtually indestructible.
How to Turn Off Lock Sounds & Keyboard Clicks on Your iPhone
By Conner Carey
A hilarious function of modern devices is the extra sounds we have to mimic the sounds older technology used to make. Two such sounds are the Keyboard Clicks and Lock Sounds on the iPhone. When the function is turned on, you’ll hear a sound similar to a door closing when pressing your side button (Sleep/Wake button) that lets you know you’ve locked your phone without needing to look. Or, when you’re typing on the iOS keyboard, you’ll hear clicking sounds letting you know you haven’t missed a letter. However, a lot of people find this unnecessary or even annoying and want to turn off the typing sounds, the locking sound, or both. Here’s how to turn off Lock Sound and Keyboard Clicks on your iPhone.
Set Your iPhone to Automatically Erase All Content & Settings
By Conner Carey
If you have data or images on your iPhone that you want to protect from thieves, you can set your iPhone to erase all content and settings after 10 failed passcode attempts (this will not delete data in iCloud). This is not a setting you should turn on lightly because if anyone–including your nosy grandchild–fails to open your phone after those 10 attempts, everything on the phone disappears, and you’ll have to start from scratch. However, as a security measure, it’s a great way to make sure your data is secure.
5 Reasons the iPad Pro Still Can’t Replace the Macbook
By Conner Carey
“Many people are telling us that the iPad Pro has become their primary computing device,” said Apple CEO, Tim Cook at last Monday’s Apple Spring Event. One question Tim, who? When the 12.9-inch iPad Pro was released last year, Cook said, “They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones.” Sure, that might be true depending on what you use your computer for; however, even then, there are major gaps between the two devices that have me rolling my eyes at another iPad and waiting for an updated Macbook.
How to Set a Video as Your Facebook Profile Pic
By Conner Carey
Awhile back, Facebook began rolling out the ability to upload a seven second video in place of your Facebook profile picture. The short video plays in place of the usual still photo and doesn’t include sound unless someone clicks on the video specifically. It’s yet another addition to the social network that allows you to customize your profile and generally have fun with it. Without further ado, here’s how to set a video as your Facebook profile pic.
How to Switch to a 24-Hour Clock on Your iPhone
By Conner Carey
The iPhone Clock app is automatically set to a 12-hour cycle. But did you know that you can change the time format on your iPhone? A 24-hour clock format, also known as military time, is a popular way to tell time worldwide. It is easy to learn. For example, 7 in military time is 19:00. Perks of 24-hour time format include never accidentally setting an alarm for noon instead of midnight!