iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

What Are Badges on iPhone?

By Rhett Intriago

What Are Badges on iPhone? Find the Answer Here

If you’ve ever messed with the notification settings on your iPhone, you’ve probably seen something about badges. So what are badges on iPhone? What is this mysterious setting and what does it mean? The answer might surprise you. In fact, you probably interact with badges every day without even realizing it.

How to Get the App Store Back on Your iPhone & iPad

If the App Store icon disappeared on your iPhone, it doesn't mean you deleted the app; it's likely hidden in a folder or in your App Libary. To recover your missing App Store icon, you'll need to search for it and check your Screen Time Restrictions. In rare cases, you'll need to reset your Home Screen layout to fix a software glitch. Here's how to get the App Store back on an iPhone or iPad.

How to Hide People from Memories on iPhone (2023)

If you love being reminded of places you've been and things you've done through the Memories feature in the Photos app or through the Photos widget, but there is a certain person you don't want to see, this is the tip for you. Luckily, you can show someone less or hide a person from your iPhone's photo Memories, even if you don't want to delete their photos altogether. Here's how to feature a person less or not at all on iPhone Memories.

This article will tell you all of the new updates to the Maps app in iOS 14. The Apple Maps update in iOS 14 is a hearty one, bringing a lot of new features forward. Making travel safer, greener, and more precise, these updates will enhance the experience of any iOS-using traveler, but you have to know they're there first. Many of these features are only available in big cities so far, but hopefully we'll be seeing expansion into more areas soon. So let's take a look at cycling directions, professionally curated guides to new places, sharing your ETA through Siri, ways to refine your GPS location, and how to avoid congestion zones. This is a full guide of how to use Apple Maps with all its new updates. It's a lot to cover; let's dive in! For more great ways to use iOS 14 check out our Tip of the Day.

I have reviewed a number of robot vacuums over the years and it looks like the folks at Neabot have done as as well. They have learned a number of lessons and launched a Kickstarter for their Neabot NoMo Hands-Free Robot Vacuum ($499). I rarely write about crowdfunded projects, but this is a real product and Neabot sent me a review unit to try. The only thing I didn't get to try was the free companion mobile app that promises to let you control the path of the vacuum. The app wasn't ready in time for my review.

Due to its early establishment in the consumer autonomous lighting space, the Philips Hue brand has been one of the most successful and prolific in the home automation market. The Philips Hue Play product line intends to elevate their capabilities beyond simply turning lights on and off by augmenting the home entertainment experience. Are these expensive enhancements worth the aesthetic response they elicit when activated? Read on to find out.

Battery chargers are as ubiquitous as wireless headsets, and trying to find that perfect needle in such a large haystack isn't easy. Some chargers have wireless capability with an anemic number of wired ports. Others have huge battery charge storage but are bulky and not that portable. And nearly all the chargers I've reviewed in the past have confusing battery level LED dot indicators that make determining remaining charge level a mystery. Infinacore has addressed nearly all these shortcomings with the Pandora Portable Power (P3) charging device ($39.95). Read on to find out how the company did.

How to Share Your Location on iPhone via Find My App (2023)

I go for a lot of solo hikes and even go camping on my own sometimes. When I go, I always let someone know where I'm going. So how do I share my location using my iPhone? The Find My app makes this extremely simple and gives my exact location so that I can share it with anyone I choose. This article will show you exactly how to share your location with someone using the Find My app.

The flashlight on my iPhone is a feature I use several times a day, so I'm happy that Apple has introduced a new way to turn the flashlight on and off. One of the new iOS 14 features Apple has rolled out is Back Tap, a set of shortcuts that allow iPhone users to double or triple tap the back of their phones to perform a variety of tasks. Back Tap is a great iPhone accessibility feature for people with reduced dexterity or limited vision, but being able to turn the flashlight off and on from a few taps on the back of our iPhones is convenient for everyone. Let's learn how to turn on and turn off the flashlight on your iPhone using Back Tap. Back Tap works with the iPhone 8 flashlight and later, including the iPhone X, iPhone 11 flashlight, and the new iPhone 12 line.

I swear, if I see the "A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 14 beta" error message one more time... well I won't do anything drastic, but it's extremely annoying. If you're like me and you used the iOS 14 beta to learn about the iOS 14 update before it was released, there's a good chance you're seeing this message. Even those who did everything right when they downloaded the latest iOS 14 updates and switched from the beta profile to the new iOS are dealing with the bug. I'm sorry to say it's not the simplest fix, but when it works it's well worth it! Let's work through the best ways to get rid of the iOS 14 beta error message on your iPhone or iPad, and one method I don't recommend.

Dire Wolf Digital has been making quite a name for itself as a preeminent digital board game conversion developer. Its latest release is a highly rated board game from 2018 that pits forest creatures against one another for dominance of the land. The game is essentially an area control and resource management title with a couple unique twists and die rolls to spice up randomized outcomes. Has Dire Wolf struck gold digging its conversion expertise into Root ($9.99)? Read on to find out.

With the advent of streaming gaming services along with the migration of Apple Silicon-powered laptops to run iOS applications, the ability to play high-end, graphically intense games on iOS devices has arrived. PlayStation 4 owners have had the ability to stream their PS4 games to their iPads or iPhones ever since Sony released its free PS4 Remote app. Unfortunately, even though Microsoft has provided Android users the ability to do the same for Xbox owners, iOS users are still waiting for official support. Given the ongoing public battles between Apple and Microsoft on being allowed to stream games via Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service, Xbox owners wanting to stream games to their iOS devices need a third-party alternative. 

One of my favorite digital board game translations of all time is Temple Gates Games' Race for the Galaxy ($6.99). Shortly after releasing Race, Temple Gates announced it was working on the dice-based version of the game, appropriately called Roll for the Galaxy ($9.99). Several years later, the company has finally made good on its promise with the simultaneous release of the game on PC, Android, and iOS. Read on to find out if Roll for the Galaxy is my new favorite digital board game.

Apple introduced the ability to take full page, or scrolling, screenshots in Safari with iOS 13. In addition to web pages, users can take a full page screenshot in the iPhone Notes app and iPad Notes app. This means that, rather than capturing only the section of the note that's visible on your display, you'll now be able to do a full page screen capture on your iPhone or iPad. Let's get started learning how to screenshot a whole note on your iPhone or iPad. You can use this tip to learn how to take a full page screenshot on the iPhone SE (first generation) and later models, including the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, and the iPhone 12 series. You can also take a full page screengrab in the Notes app with the Pad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro models, the iPad 5th generation and later, and the iPad mini 4 and later.

While nearly all of the headphones I review for iPhone Life are wireless, there are those rare occasions when a product comes along that is so unique with lofty claims that warrant further investigation. Such a product is AIAIAI's TMA-2 HD wired modular headphones ($295). Just like vinyl records compared to CD's, wired headphones still offer an edge over their wireless counterparts in terms of audio fidelity since, unlike Bluetooth, there is no compression or manipulation of audio data to factor in wireless transmission data size or errors. And since all iPad models still include a headphone jack and there are people who don't want to deal with the hassles of maintaining a battery charge with their headsets just to quietly listen to music or watch a video, this review is mostly for them.

With the third installment in a series of fall announcements, Apple has finally delivered on Tim Cook's promise of Apple Silicon Macs, made during the June 2020 WWDC keynote. We saw the release of two updated MacBooks: a new 13-inch MacBook Air and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. They, along with their desktop cousin, the Mac mini, are the first three Macs ever to utilize an Apple-made processing chip as opposed to the Intel chips the computers have used for many years. The M1 chip may be a game-changer. As expected, the the industry leader in personal technology has made eyebrow-raising claims of huge increases in speed, efficiency, security, and convenience. We'll review prices, availability, and tech specs for these new Mac models, and we'll compare them to their predecessors so that you can make an informed decision if you're considering making your first MacBook purchase, or upgrading your existing Mac laptop.

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