iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Have you ever wanted your iPhone to automatically read your texts to you? It's possible! With this feature turned on, when you're sitting in the car, or out on a walk at night, Siri will announce your messages' contents as they arrive. Let's cover how to turn on the feature and have Siri read your text messages.

In the 124th episode, David and Donna are joined by writer and producer Cullen Thomas to go over all of the best gear from iPhone Life's annual buyer's guide, from headphones to video doorbells. Other topics include the AirPods Pro and tips for checking the charging status of Bluetooth devices connected to your iPhone.

One of the main reasons I enjoy writing about technology so much is the significant advances made by innovators and manufacturers in such a sort time span. A perfect example of this is the breakneck pace of wireless earbud development. A year ago, I heaped praise on what I subjectively proclaimed at the time were the best wireless earbuds on the market, Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless Earbuds. While that product still holds up well today, the competition hasn't been idle. One manufacturer that has made significant strides in the wireless earbud market is Jabra, a company that has been in the phone headset business for decades. Does their latest recently released Elite 75t ($179.99) wireless earbuds exceed last year's top headset in my assessment?  Read on to find out.

Changing the wallpaper or background on your iPhone and iPad is a great way to update the appearance of your device, especially with the cool Dark Mode Apple wallpaper options to choose from. To use this tip, be sure you've updated your device to at least iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 so that you can turn on Dark Mode and find the new Dark Mode wallpaper selection. iOS 14 is the newest operating system, so it's best to update to iOS 14 if you're looking to stay up to date. Let's get started finding and changing our device's wallpaper to a Dark Mode option. 

Want to use your iPad as a second monitor for your Mac? Apple's Sidecar has you covered! You can use your iPad as a second screen for your Mac to extend or mirror your display. 

The folks at iHome have a wide variety of speakers that offer a variety of features like Qi-based wireless charging, Alexa integration, radio, alarm clock, etc. but they sent me one, the Zenergy Bluetooth Speaker ($35.08) that has none of those features. Still, for many people, the features it does have will be greatly appreciated. It is a Bluetooth speaker that charges via microUSB but that's not what makes it stand out. The Zenergy is designed to help you sleep better. This is accomplished by an impressive 15 distinct sleep sounds. Unlike traditional mechanical sound machines, this plays recorded and engineered sounds and even incorporates a gentle voice guiding you to sleep or a meditative state with yoga-inspired guided breathing.