iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

How to Change Emergency Contact

iPhone's Emergency SOS system really does save lives. The feature allows iPhone users to quickly call for help, alert their emergency contacts, and ping their location. If you've already set up your emergency contacts but would like to change, edit, or delete emergency contact information, it's a fairly simple process. Here's how to change emergency contacts on your iPhone.

I love using a thesaurus when I write, so the absence of this option from the iPhone's dictionary feature, Look Up, used to be a sore spot for me. Beginning with iOS 12, I no longer need a third-party thesaurus app, because a thesaurus is included in Look Up on iPhone and iPad for free! Let's get started learning how to add a thesaurus to Look Up, so you can find just the word you're looking for, be it a synonym or antonym. 

Here at iPhone Life, we're big fans of Apple, but that doesn't mean learning how to use the new mobile operating system (iOS) they release each year comes easily. That's why we've taken everything we've learned about iOS 12 and created The Complete iOS 12 Guide for members of our premium monthly service, iPhone Life Insider. This guide is packed with all of the how-tos, tips, and tricks you need to become an expert in iOS 12. We’ll cover all of the features big and small, and we'll make it easy to follow with guided videos that’ll show you exactly what your iPhone or iPad screen will look like every step of the way. You’ll be teaching your friends iOS 12 tricks in no time. Check out a preview of the guide and learn more about the iPhone Life Insider membership below.

Chess had always been one those games where I knew what it looked like but I didn't know how to play it. Pixar's short film Geri's Game made it seem fun, while every version of Sherlock Holmes made sure to have the hero brood over the board game at least once. Chess.com's Chess - Play & Learn, has been helping me to play chess and enjoy it. The app's resources, which include news and live tournament feeds, has also gotten me excited to know about the chess world at large. 

How to Find an Apple IMEI Number & Serial Number on iPhone or iPad

Have you ever needed to know how to find the serial number for your iPhone or iPad? These unique numbers can be used to identify your devices, so knowing how to find them is important. In this article, we'll go over what exactly serial and IMEI numbers are, why you might need them, and the easiest ways to track them down. Read on to learn more about how to find the serial number for your iPhone or iPad.

Our iPhones are our constant companions, so we need gear and accessories to keep them charged and protected from accidents. We've rounded up some of our favorite iPhone screen protectors, charging cables, power stations, and even an iPhone cleaning kit in our 2018 Buyer's Guide to iPhone accessories. You'll find items from Zagg, Nomad, mophie, and more, offering a range of rugged, innovative, and even elegant products for your iPhone. 

How to Search the New Photos App (iOS 18)

You can use multiple search terms to find specific pictures in the Photos app. I use this time-saving feature to search for specific pictures from vacations, entering a date and location to see all videos and photos from each trip. Read on to learn how to image search on your iPhone using multiple keywords.

In the live taping of episode 96 following Apple's iPad event in Brooklyn, Donna, Sarah, and David tell you all the important details about the new iPad Pro line in order to help you make your purchase decision. Are Face ID, an edge-to-edge display, and an Apple Pencil that charges wirelessly enough to make the new tablet worth the expensive price tag? Also, tune in to hear why David thinks the newly released MacBook Air missed the mark.

Having already won the tablet wars, Apple could have simply refreshed its tablet line with a faster processor (it did), more storage (up to a terabyte) and a nicer display (you guessed it). While it certainly fulfilled this baseline expectation, Apple pushed the boundaries of tablet computing further today with the announcement of its new iPad Pro.  Let's take a look at the most notable new features this next generation of the iPad has to offer.

App Saturday: Venmo

By Hallei Halter

What is Venmo? It's a fun and free way to send and receive money among friends, family, and online retailers. It eliminates the need to run to an ATM or wait for checks to both arrive and be deposited. Venmo is great for casual use and to quickly send or request even small amounts of money to keep your social status above 'friendly mooch'. If you've ever needed to chip in for a surprise birthday present or have someone reimburse you for a coffee run, Venmo is the app for you.

How to Use the iPhone Measure App

The iPhone has a bunch of great native apps that can really help you get your work done. But one of the best, little-known apps that come on your iPhone is the Measure app. The iPhone Measure app, while sometimes imperfect, does a pretty decent job of taking appropriate measurements of spaces. There are a few keys to getting it to work right, but this has helped me out in so many circumstances where I did not have a tape measure ready.

The native Apple Books app, formerly iBooks, has the ability to save e-books and audiobooks to a wish list for later purchase. This feature, called Want to Buy, is perfect for keeping track of which e-book or audiobook you'd like to read or listen to next. Let's get started learning how to save audiobooks and e-books to purchase later in the Books app on your iPhone or iPad. 

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! 

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