iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Whether you're a music maker, a music lover, or both, you're probably on the lookout for the best apps to record songs or find new favorites. We've rounded up ten free and paid apps; some, like Pandora, YouTube, and Amazon Music are well known, others are more obscure. Whether you'd like to learn a new instrument or improve your skills, listen to favorites or discover new artists, we have the app for you.

Hurricanes. Floods. Fires. Disaster can strike at any moment, and our most precious memories are often the most vulnerable. Recently, I started going through my old photo albums to scan and upload my pictures and negatives to a hard drive for safekeeping. Of course, it’s not just photographs that we want to preserve. Vinyl albums, cassette and VHS tapes, analog photography, and even old diary pages are subject to the ravages of nature, storage space, and time. Fortunately, new technologies make it possible for us to preserve and protect our memories in the digital realm. From USB-equipped turntables to flatbed scanners large enough to copy an entire sleeve of images, the means of archiving your most precious memories are only limited by your imagination. But don’t worry, we imagined for you and have a list of devices and apps we think you’ll love.

Let's face it; while the iPhone is a great camera, the flash is only suitable for lighting up close objects. For serious videography and photography, you may want to check out the LitraTorch 2.0 ($89.95) which Litra sent me to check out. The LitraTorch 2.0 is a heavy duty 16-LED light that offers numerous mounting options, including Tripod, SLR cold shoe, and GoPro, plus a magnetic base that works with the included metal disc with adhesive backing. You could attach the disc to your iPhone case and then attach the LitraTorch magnetically when needed, Or use a separate tripod or action camera mount.

Want to know how to transfer photos from your camera to a Mac or scan documents? Here's how to use the Continuity Camera feature on the Mac, which enables you to scan documents or take photos on your iPhone and instantly have them uploaded on your Mac. Your Mac needs to be updated to macOS 10.14 or later and your iPhone to iOS 12 or later. You won't have to use AirDrop or have your device physically connected to the Mac with a cable for this tip. However, both your iPhone and Mac do need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth enabled and be near each other (like in the same room). Both Mac and the iPhone will also need to be signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID using two-factor authentication.

How many times do you find yourself without power and no outlet nearby? Well, if you're trekking in a sunny area, you have a nice and nice looking option. In fact, my daughter will be backpacking in South Africa this summer, so I was excited when I received the Solar Backpack ICONIC ($119.90) from SunnyBAG. It's a backpack with a solar panel built-in to the exterior.

If you’ve just bought your first Apple product, whether you’re switching from Android or finally cracking and purchasing your first smartphone, you’ll need to set up an Apple ID. Your Apple ID is the account that you use to access all things Apple; iTunes, the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, iMessage, FaceTime, and more. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know to create an Apple ID and make sure your account is secure, as well as where and how you can use your Apple ID. We’ll also help you troubleshoot some common problems and issues with your Apple ID including changing the ID, changing the password, what to do if you forgot your Apple ID, what to do if you get the Apple ID disabled error message, and more. Let’s dig in.

If you have iOS 10 or later, you can challenge a friend to a quick game in the Messages app, provided your friend is also using iMessages! Just find a game you like in the iMessaages App Store, tap to get it, and then start playing with your friend. Playing a game via iMessages is great for when you don't have much to talk about, but still want to keep in touch with someone. Here's how to start and play games in iMessages. 

How to Enable Cover to Mute on the Apple Watch (watchOS 10)

Have you ever had an alert go off on your Apple Watch that took you just a little too long to turn off? Here's how to enable Cover to Mute on your Apple Watch, so you can turn off alerts without having to even look at your watch! This is a good tip to use if you just want to mute alerts as needed instead of putting your Watch on Silent Mode. Note that if you use this tip while receiving an incoming call, the watch will be muted but may still vibrate if those settings are enabled.

The Apple Watch Series 5 is on the horizon, with watchers increasingly hopeful the big reveal will happen on the 10th of September 2019. Rumored features and improvements of the Watch Series 5, like luxory case options and sleep monitoring technology are gaining momentum online. Read on to learn more about rumored features and pricing, ordered by most to least likely.

Most professional videographers agree that high-quality audio capture is just as important, if not more so than, high-quality video capture. Watching a low resolution YouTube video with superb audio reproduction is far more tolerable than watching a high resolution video with poor audio quality. That is why I find it so surprising that Apple has focused so much of its iPhone feature attention on camera and video capture quality while still utilizing a run of the mill embedded mono microphone for audio. The founders of Hooke Audio saw this subpar configuration in not just the iPhone but other smartphones and video capture devices like GoPro's, and built a product to address this discrepancy. Read on to find out if the Hooke Verse wireless binaural 3D audio microphone system ($159.99) succeeds at eliminating this mobile audio capture fidelity problem.

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