iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

How to Unlock Your Mac with Your Apple Watch

If you have an Apple Watch and a Mac, there are a few cool but hidden tricks you might not know you can do with the two devices together. One of those cool things is the ability to unlock your Mac or MacBook with the Apple Watch. This can be super useful if you're busy while someone wants to use your computer, plus you avoid being forced to tell them your password or type it out in front of them. Here's how to unlock your Mac with Apple Watch.

Everything you need to know about FaceTime

Through the years, FaceTime has evolved and improved to include more devices and capabilities. With Apple's iOS 15, we can finally place a FaceTime call to Android users via a link, not to mention all the cool features now available with SharePlay. In this guide, we'll cover how to make a call using the FaceTime app, how to FaceTime with Android users, how to share your screen, and more!  

Making plans to meet at a particular location goes more smoothly when you share directions from the Google Maps or Apple Maps app on your iPhone or iPad. Are you wondering, "how do I share a route on Google maps on my iPhone?" We'll show you how to find and share Apple Maps and Google Maps driving directions, and how to create driving directions with multiple stops with the Google Maps app.

Learn how to protect your data and limit your iPhone's Lightning port to charging only with USB restricted mode. If you lose your iPhone, or even lose sight of your phone in a public place, like plugged into the wall of the coffee shop, your data is susceptible to USB hacking tools such as keyloggers, even if it's locked. USB Restricted Mode is an iPad and iPhone security setting that can help secure your data by disabling access to the Lightning port after your device has been locked for an hour. After USB Restricted Mode turns on, your iPhone's USB/Lightning port is disabled, and you'll have to use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to unlock your iPhone so you can use USB accessories. Let's go over how to enable restricted mode, and how to turn off or disable restricted mode.

App Saturday: VSCO X

By Hallei Halter

Typical vintage filters for photos slap on a yellow tint and call it a day. VSCO, a photography app that doubles as a photo editor, imitates analog camera settings to make your images look like natural film photos. The app also offers VSCO X, a yearly subscription that bulks up the app to include over 100 filters and tools to edit your photos to look like professional pieces.

The new iPhones are out and they continue to get better, in particular when it comes to photography. But one area that could use help is lighting, especially when it comes to using the self-facing camera. That's where the Lighting Kit for Smartphone ($99.99) comes in. Lume Cube gave me a kit to try. I often record videos from trade shows and I can see how valuable this will be for me.

iPhone level tool top image

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 and its hidden spirit level. The level on your iPhone, while sometimes imperfect, does a pretty decent job of gauging how straight your paintings are hanging. 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 access to a spirit level.

Is your Apple Watch frozen? ​It's always annoying when an app freezes or glitches on your Apple Watch. We'll show you how to force quit the app and reopen it. Happily, the process to force close an app on the Apple Watch is short and sweet, so your app should be back up and running properly in no time. If not, we have a few more Apple Watch troubleshooting steps to try.

In the 100th episode (hurray for making it to triple digits!) of the iPhone Life Podcast, Sarah, Donna, and David share all of their best recommendations of movies, music, podcasts, and apps to enjoy over the holidays. From cooking apps for a festive dinner to interactive iPhone games for the whole family, this episode will give you everything you need for a merry, cheerful end to the year. Note: We'll be back January 10 for episode 101, where we'll be reporting live from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas!

Most people use the Calendar app on the iPhone and iPad to set reminders for meetings and appointments. These events are usually scheduled to begin when the minute hand is at a 0 or 5, so scrolling through each minute to get to the right time can be annoying. But Apple's Calendar app for the iPhone and iPad is more versatile than you may have realized; here's a quick tip for setting precise times in the Calendar app that will take less than a minute to learn!

I have used Sennheiser wired headsets for years, finding them to be high quality sound and comfort. So I was excited when Sennheiser announced their initial entry into the rapidly crowding market of wireless earbuds.  How could they possibly match the audio and comfort quality they were known for in the wired headset world in the earbud market, especially when even high-end wireless earbuds were prone to subpar audio reproduction and dropouts?  It was with some trepidations that I inserted each earbud and cranked up the tunes to determine if Sennheiser could master the wireless space as well as they had the wired audio experience.  Read on to find out.

In the 99th episode of the iPhone Life Podcast, David shares his insights after spending a month with Apple's new iPad Pro. Learn whether or not the latest generation tablet with Face ID and an edge-to-edge display can really function like a computer or whether it's still a luxury device for browsing the web. In this episode, the team also shares their favorite product recommendations from iPhone Life's 2018 Tech buyer's guide.

Anytime a new version of iOS is released there are bound to be some growing pains. Since the release of iOS 12.1, some users have reported that a few of their contacts have received question marks and other odd glyphs instead of the intended emoji. Why does this happen, and what can you do to fix the problem? Don't worry, we've got you covered. In this article, we'll go over all the reasons your contact might be receiving alien glyphs from your iPhone and what they can do to solve the problem. Read on to learn all about these strange Emojis and how to get you and your contact's phones speaking the same language.

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