iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

iView: Our Magazine's Digital Future

Around Thanksgiving, 1985, not knowing anything about printing, publishing, or running a business, my late wife Rita and I launched our company and first print publication: a 32-page newsletter about making the most of the Hewlett Packard 110 Portable PC. For 38 years, we’ve published print issues helping tech enthusiasts—first of HP, then Microsoft, and finally of Apple products—238 issues in all. With the summer 2023 issue of iPhone Life, the print streak ends.

When Apple announced iOS 9, I got really excited about the forthcoming News app. And now that I'm using it regularly, I feel my excitement was warranted. Plus, I like the snappy and seamless manner in which one can toggle between the overview of the news and a specific story. And I recently learned there's an even easier way to return to the overview, as well as to read the next story without going to the overview.

Apple first announced HomeKit, its smart-home platform, in June of 2014, but HomeKit-compatible devices have been slow in coming. And frankly, it may not have been easy to understand exactly what HomeKit is and what the benefits are. iHome generously sent me its smart plug a few weeks ago, and now I finally get what HomeKit is. It's really cool. I want to share with you what I've learned, in case you're interested in what HomeKit is and whether you may want to start creating a smart-home environment. This is especially relevant now, because with the annual Consumer Electronics Show currently going on, more and more HomeKit devices are being announced.

Virtual reality is starting to go from a developers-only situation to a common consumer situation. CES in Las Vegas is full of such products, proving that VR is for everyone with the many different companies here showing off their latest and greatest. The first step to getting consumers into the virtual reality market is giving them something familiar and easy to use–Speck has done just that with its new Pocket VR viewer ($69.95, available Spring 2016).

I've had a SCOTTeVEST jacket for several years now and have found it increasingly useful. As the airlines get more stingy about luggage and even carry-ons, it makes sense to try to keep your gadgets on your person when traveling. Plus, I attend a lot of trade shows, including the upcoming CES in Las Vegas, and I like to carry a lot of items, including business cards, battery packs, chargers, and USB cables—not to mention my iPhone and iPad mini. SCOTTeVEST's travel jacket with hidden pockets can handle all that, and more.

CES in Las Vegas is a giant annual convention featuring the latest in consumer tech. Product trends span the field from virtual reality and electric cars, to personal drones and wearable tech. Since I haven’t mastered being in multiple places at once, I decided to put a video roundup together to showcase what’s happening across the CES floor. Here’s five videos featuring new tech that expands the reach of possibilities and showcases where the 2016 focus will be. 

CES, the Consumer Electronics Show of the year is upon us. Already we’re seeing awesome products from new companies and new products from awesome companies. Fitbit, the wearable tech company, took this opportunity to announce its new smart wearable ‘Blaze’ with a square face and touch screen display. Like an Apple Watch, the Fitbit Blaze ($199.95) will be able to alternate between different bands, but per Fitbit’s standard, the watch will focus on fitness tracking. However, it will also receive Smart Notifications such as calls, text messages, and calendar events.

The iBooks app is extremely useful for keeping books and pdf files together in one place on your iPhone or iPad. From the iBooks app, you can visit the iBooks store and browse the top charts and featured books on the market. However, storage space fills up quickly and you may not want to keep all the books forever. When your My Books storage is getting cluttered, here’s how to remove iBooks from your iPhone or iPad.

I recently had a chance to try out the Apple Pencil for the first time. I expected to enjoy the experience; I did not expect to be tempted to buy the iPad Pro because of the Apple Pencil. I cannot express how glorious it was in words, even simply taking notes felt natural. I had the chance to play with some apps using the Apple Pencil and discovered a few that were superb. I’ve included staple drawing apps such as Procreate and Paper in past roundups; here are seven a little more off the beaten path.

All of the outstanding protective iPhone 6s cases included in this head-to-head battle have to meet a minimum criteria; and therefore, they all have the following core features in common. They are all waterproof to a depth of at least six feet for a minimum of half an hour and they are all drop-proof from a height of at least six feet. Additionally, these cases can all be considered full-time-use cases, which means that they allow full access to all of the iPhone's ports, controls, and features, without ever having to remove the case itself. Read on to see which of these quality cases—the Lifeproof Nüüd, the Catalyst, or the Punkcase Spikestar—is the best rugged waterproof iPhone 6s case.

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