iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2

At Apple’s September 2023 announcement event, the tech giant revealed the capabilities of its new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The yearly update to both devices improves the processor to a new S9 chip, which will include AI processing cores for the first time on an Apple Watch. These cores enhance the function of every task that relies on artificial intelligence, from processing photos, to interpreting voice commands, to more accurate typing with autocorrect. Those cores will allow Siri to process some commands on the Apple Watch, without needing to communicate with an iPhone or the cloud. The new chip also enables a whole new gesture the user performs on their watch-arm, without touching the screen. Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s latest generation of Apple Watches.

2023 iP hone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro max

The titanium iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max were announced at Apple’s "Wonderlust" event on September 12. With a customizable Action button, seven different focal lengths, and the ability to film 3D Spatial Videos, the iPhone 15 Pro Max may be the most "pro" Pro iPhone ever. Discover all the new features and how they compare to the other iPhone 15 models.

Some iBooks in the Apple iBooks store include multimedia elements you can interact with, such as movies, diagrams, presentations, galleries, 3D objects, and more. But when you stumble across one of these multimedia iBooks, how do you navigate it? There’s a couple different taps, pinches, and swipes to know before you start reading. Here’s how to read an iBook with interactive multimedia.

The Podcasts app on iPhone allows you to listen to all of your favorite podcasts in one simple app. There are podcasts on literally every topic imaginable, from creativity to tech and beyond. But those podcasts pile up if you aren’t an avid weekly listener. One way to make sure you don’t miss episodes from your favorites is to create a station, which is the Podcasts app's version of a playlist. Here’s how to create a station of your favorite podcasts.

The News app on iPhone is a relatively recent reincarnation of the old Newsstand stock app by Apple. It’s similar to other news apps such as Flipboard, which brings together multiple articles from different print and web publications into a single app for viewing, reading, and sharing. However, if you’re looking for something specific, you can search in the news app. Here’s how to search in the Apple News app.

The Mail app on your iPhone can connect all of your email accounts in one place with different folders that allow you to organize and view your emails in the best way for you. One way the Mail app helps you stay on top of your communication is with the Drafts folder, where you can find messages you started and saved, but never got around to sending. You can use this tip to quickly and easily see all the drafts you’ve begun across all of your Mail app connected accounts. Here’s how to view all drafts in the Mail app on your iPhone right from your Inbox.

The iHome mini iBT82 ($49.99), the mid-sized iBT35 ($69.99), and iHome's largest boombox, the iBT9 ($99.99) are three excellent alternatives for those in search of a reliable, affordable, and portable Bluetooth speaker solution. These rugged Bluetooth speakers are part of iHome's Weather Tough line of Bluetooth speakers, all of which are waterproof, shock proof, and dirtproof. They also float, even the biggest of the lot, the iBT9.

SIM cards (Subscriber Identity Module cards) are how carriers connect your iPhone to their network; they also makes it easy to keep your number when switching phones. If you get a new iPhone, you may end up needing to remove the SIM card from your old phone and insert it into the new iPhone. You may also want to switch one SIM card for another when traveling abroad in order to use a local carrier. Most modern phones have SIM cards, and if you have an iPhone 4s or later, your phone definitely has a SIM card slot in case it’s needed. Here’s how to remove or insert a SIM card from your iPhone.

Voice Memos sync across devices top image

Voice memos are an amazing way to save a passing thought or quickly record important information. You may want to know how to save voice memos from your iPhone to your computer to avoid losing that information, or so you can turn it into something new. The good news is that you have several options if you want to export voice memos from your iPhone to your PC or Mac. Below, we'll walk you through how to transfer voice memos from your iPhone to your computer.

I've tried to not go overboard in writing about the Pokémon Go sensation, but I did point out the dangers in cycling, or even worse, driving, while playing the game. Niantic, the makers of the popular app, have just released an update that addresses this issue, to some extent. The app can detect your speed and if it senses you are driving, it will display a warning message. It doesn't deactivate the game, but it will ask you if you are a passenger. 

Inverting colors on iPhone mostly just looks really cool. It’s also a way to seriously cut down on how much light your screen emits, which makes it good for using at night when you need to see your surroundings while using your iPhone. You can turn on Invert Colors in your Settings app, but you can also ask Siri to do it. Here’s how to invert colors with Siri on iPhone.

Allow Calls from Favorites on iPhone While Focus Is Active

Focus modes, like Do Not Disturb, are pretty handy. This feature allows you to receive all your usual notifications, minus the disruptive sounds and vibrations that tend to come with them. But what if someone on your Favorites list (like your brother, mom, best friend, etc.) has an emergency and can't get ahold of you? Luckily, when Do Not Disturb is active on your iPhone, allowing calls from Favorites is easy.

I thought I knew how to use Snapchat, the service that lets you send disappearing photos and videos to friends, but there are a lot of smaller Snapchat features within the larger context of sending pictures and videos to your friends and family. Snapchat is known as an app for millennials, but there’s no reason it can't be Snapchat for all generations of adults. Even if you know the basics of how to use Snapchat, I’m sure we’ll have even more for you to discover in this article. We'll start with how to use Snapchat, and venture into how to use Snapchat filters, send Snapcash, and update Snapchat, and so much more. We’re going through the entire app and showing you all the ways in which you can use Snapchat. Come down this rabbit hole with me, let’s see what madhatters we can meet. Here’s how to use Snapchat: a complete guide.

Your iPhone will automatically remember the Wi-Fi networks you join. When you’re in the vicinity of that network, it will automatically connect. You can view the list of network connections near you in Settings. This is also where you would tell your iPhone to forget a Wi-Fi network. You might decided to do this if you’re moving or having trouble with a particular connection. Here’s how to forget a Wi-Fi network on your iPhone.

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