Leanne Hays

Author Details

Leanne Hays's picture

Author Details

Leanne Hays

Leanne Hays has over a dozen years of experience writing for online publications. As a Feature Writer for iPhone Life, she has authored hundreds of how-to, Apple news, and gear review articles, as well as a comprehensive Photos App guide. Leanne holds degrees in education and science and loves troubleshooting and repair. This combination makes her a perfect fit as manager of our Ask an Expert service, which helps iPhone Life Insiders with Apple hardware and software issues.
In off-work hours, Leanne is a mother of two, homesteader, audiobook fanatic, musician, and learning enthusiast.

If you have a child who uses your iPad or iPhone, you'll love this tip. Keeping our kids from seeing inappropriate content online can be a struggle, but Apple makes putting parental controls on your iPad or iPhone easy. (We cover how to use Parental Controls to set restrictions on a child's personal device in a different tip.) If you ever hand your iPhone to the back seat to keep your kids occupied on a long car ride or let them watch a movie on your iPad while you get dinner together, you'll want to read how to restrict your iPad or iPhone for your child to make sure they're only accessing age-appropriate material. 

One of the iOS 12 features I've been eagerly awaiting is Apple's new Shortcuts app. This new app allows you to instruct Siri to accomplish a task or series of tasks with native and third-party apps, all triggered by a phrase of your own choosing. In addition to creating your own Shortcut, Apple's latest help app also lets you choose from a Gallery of pre-designed shortcuts. Let's get started learning how to find the Shortcuts app on iPhone and iPad, and then use the Gallery to install a Shortcut we all need from time to time: finding directions home. Once you've installed the driving directions Shortcut, you can choose and configure as many other Gallery Shortcuts as you need. We'll go over how to create your own Shortcut in a future tip.

App Saturday: Groupon

By Leanne Hays

For me, the only thing better than having a good time with family and friends is knowing that I'm getting the most for the money I spend while we're out and about. That's why I've enjoyed using the Groupon app so far, and why the shopping and coupon app has earned a permanent place on my iPhone. Whether I'm looking for discounts at restaurants, money-saving deals on a hotel room or other travel expenses, or even experiences like couples massage or indoor playground tickets for the kids, the Groupon app always seems to have a coupon or rebate to help keep costs down. Best of all, the Groupon mobile app is free, and there are constantly new businesses and merchants offering some of the best coupons and discounts I've found anywhere online or in print. Let's get started learning about the Groupon app for iPhone and iPad, so you can start saving money, too! 

It seems like there are apps and smart gear for every aspect of life these days, and that even applies to caring for our pets! We've researched the best electronic pet accessories for our 2018 Buyer's Guide, including items like a GPS tracker, automatic cat and dog feeder, a microchip-enabled cat and dog door, and even a smart dog toy. Read on to learn more about some of the best new gear for keeping your animals safe, healthy, and entertained. 

Whether you have a road trip coming up, a long commute to work or just a series of errands to run around town, it's nearly inevitable that you'll spend some time every day in that home away from home: your car. No matter what your destination, there are a few Apple accessories that can help make daily driving more convenient, safe, and pleasant. We've included reviews of a magnetic phone charger, an iPad car mount, a portable jump starter, a mobile air purifier, and even more cool car accessories you never knew you needed (until now.) Read on for our car-tech roundup, where we'll introduce you to six of our top picks for auto accessories this year.

Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, has a set of Screen Time features that can be used to combat smartphone and device addiction by setting app limits. There are some apps, though, that you may want to have constantly available; luckily you can choose some apps that will always be allowed in your Screen Time settings. Let's get started learning how to set Always Allowed apps on iPhone and iPad. 

Some people ask, "Does the iPhone have a QR scanner?" Yes! It's so easy to use your iPhone as a QR reader. In fact, you can add a QR code reader to the Control Center on your iPhone for the fastest possible access. Learning how to use your iPhone's QR reader will make it easier to install new gear or register products online. If you frequently use QR codes and would like to add this feature to your iPhone or iPad's Control Center and learn how to use your device as a QR scanner once you've installed the QR reader feature, read on. 

Is your iTunes library getting a little unwieldy and taking up too much space on your hard drive? If you've been wondering how to transfer or move your iTunes library to an external hard drive, then this is the article for you. We've already covered how to know if you need an external hard drive. Read on to learn how to export your iTunes library to an external hard drive, so you always have it with you regardless of internet or iCloud connection. 

I love getting Notifications from News in my iPhone's Notification Center, but I get new ones so quickly that a story I don't have time to read right away can get buried. That's why I was excited to find out that I can save these stories for later, so I don't miss out on the news I really want to read. Let's get started learning how this feature works so you can do the same! 

How to Customize Your iPhone Notification Center

iPhone notifications and alerts can be really helpful, or they can be disruptive; luckily there's a way to change the way you receive Lock screen notifications on the iPhone, so you're not overwhelmed. A Lock screen notification is easy to customize without entering Settings. You have more options than ever before, so let's learn how to make your push notifications on your iPhone work exactly as you want.

Pages