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The Best of CES 2024

By Amy Spitzfaden Both

The tech world started off 2024 with a bang at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The convention bustled with life after some atypical years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the show floor was full of hot tech and innovation of all kinds, we were on the lookout for the best gear and accessories for Apple users in particulart. Smart home products were everywhere, with vacuums and air fryers taking center stage, while wireless charger makers were keen to emphasize their adoption of Qi 2 technology. And it seemed like everyone had their own answer to othe upcoming VisionPro. Here, in no particular order, are our picks for the very best of CES 2024.

We've already gone over how to sign up for Instagram on your iPhone, how to create a second Instagram account, and even how to deactivate your Instagram account if you need a break, but there's one more thing we need to go over. A major frustration for Instagram users has been the inability to download Instagram on their iPads. After all, it would be great to edit photos or watch a video on a larger screen, to switch back and forth between watching a movie on the iPad and checking Instagram notifications, and to just have another option for using the app. In the past, you needed to use workarounds to download and install Instagram on your tablet, but now there's an official iPad version of Instagram. Unfortunately, the official version is tiny; it doesn't fill the iPad screen and leaves a large, black frame around the app. Don't worry, though, we'll go over a trick you can use to get fullscreen Instagram on your iPad 

How to Use Cellular Data for Automatic App Downloads (iOS 17)

When downloading apps, your iPhone has the ability to either use cellular data or to only download apps while your device has access to Wi-Fi. If you do not have an unlimited data plan, you may want to disable downloads using cellular data to ensure you're not wasting data unknowingly. However, being able to download apps when you don't have access to Wi-Fi can also be extremely useful. In today's tip, we're going how to change the download settings on iPhone to either enable or disable downloads over cellular.

College football fans watch their favorite teams all season long in the hopes they'll make it to one of the dozens of bowl games in December and January. NCAA football fans enjoy three final games before the end of the NCAA football season ends with the CFP Final. This year college ball fans can look forward to the Clemson Tigers facing off against the Alabama Crimson Tide, and you can watch the ESPN live stream, without cable, on Apple TV. Let's go through your different options for streaming the College Football Playoff National Championship on Apple TV. We'll discuss how to watch NCAA games on your Apple TV through a variety of methods including streaming TV options, and even packages and perks offered by your cell phone provider. Let's get started learning how to watch college football on your Apple TV ahead of the big game!   

Do you find it totally creepy when an ad pops up on your iPhone for just exactly the sort of thing you’d like to purchase? Does it seem like your phone has just a little too much inside information about your preferences, and you’d like to establish some boundaries between yourself and the wide world of capitalism? If so, it’s time for you to learn how to limit ad tracking in Apple Apps on your iPhone.

It’s wonderful to be constantly connected to friends, family, and coworkers… until it’s not. An iPhone can make you more available and productive, so you can do things like pick up last-minute items at the grocery store or lend your expertise to a client halfway around the world, but it can also encroach on time set aside for family, rest, and relaxation. Fortunately, you can utilize Do Not Disturb to mute intrusive calls, texts, alerts, and notifications.

It’s not often that I feature a gaming app. For the most part, we understand that a fun game isn't a top priority for many on iPhone. But if you'd be so kind as to indulge me, I have a gaming app to feature that is, by far, my favorite iOS game ever. I have played a lot of iOS games. I succumbed to Candy Crush many years ago when it first was a huge hit; I played Super Mario Run and beat every possible metric to completion last year. I have enjoyed many games, but none of them have been able to hold my attention for as long as Battlejack. This game combines the simplicity of blackjack with the adventure of an RPG (role-playing game), creating an addictive mix of strategy, luck, and powerful creatures. Check out more on what this game does and why I can’t get enough of it below.

face id require attention

Face ID is designed to be secure first and fast second. By default, Face ID-enabled iPhones have a setting turned on that requires you to look directly at your screen before it will unlock. This is meant to make Face ID more secure by making it much more difficult for someone to unlock your phone with your face when you don't want them to. However, I've noticed that this does make Face ID feel slower. Here's how to how to turn off attention awareness to make Face ID a little bit faster.

What are haptics? Haptics are a tactile way for your iPhone to respond to touch, pressure, or both, in the form of a small vibration. For example, on the iPhone 7, there isn't a physically pressable Home button, so Apple added Haptic Feedback, which you feel when "pressing" the static Home button. If you're wondering, "how do I turn off System Haptics?", you can easily do so from within your iPhone Settings. Here’s how to turn off haptics from 3D or Haptic Touch on your iPhone.

The App Store got a huge upgrade with iOS 11. One of the new features is videos! Developers can create little videos that autoplay when you're browsing apps. When you're browsing with WiFi, this probably isn't a problem. But on cellular, you don't want to eat up data just to play a video about an app you're downloading. Of course, if you're not a fan of video autoplay under any circumstance, you can turn it off completely. Here's how to turn off video autoplay in the App Store on iPhone.

How to Redeem an Apple Gift Card & Use It for Family Sharing

If you're interested in learning how to add an Apple gift card to your Apple account or to a family member's account, you've come to the right place. We'll cover the Ask to Buy feature, how to use an Apple gift card with Family Sharing, and how to redeem Apple gift cards for different family members, including how to add an Apple gift card to a child account.

The beautiful edge-to-edge display of the iPhone X leaves no room for a Home button. But if you find yourself missing the old Home button, you can add an on-screen Home button to your iPhone X screen thanks to the accessibility features. This is actually something that anyone with an iPhone can do, and it comes in handy if you have an older iPhone with a broken Home button. For iPhone X users, however, it’s the only way to retrieve the lost Home button. It’s not for everyone, but it’s great for those who want it. Here’s how to add an on-screen Home button to your iPhone X.

Count me among the many who's feelings right now range from irritated to outraged as a result of Apple’s admission that it has been throttling my older model iPhone’s performance. This tactic, supposedly to help my iPhone perform better, has been carried out without my knowledge and without Apple making any public attempts to educate or inform me of its intent to do so. Had Apple been more transparent about the hows and why of its decision to throttle iPhone performance, and done a better job explaining why it felt this an important step to take, it likely would not have been met with the same level of public vitriol or the class-action lawsuits that it currently faces.

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