iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

How to Organize Your Calendar in 2025

(Sponsored Post) By Amy Spitzfaden Both on Thu, 10/31/2024

Apple is pretty good about updating its products, but it seems to have forgotten about the Calendar app and its many downsides. The makers of Informant 5, on the other hand, do not forget to regularly improve their app based on user experience. The latest updates to this calendar and task-management app are a productivity game-changer.

Feral Interactive, the company responsible for the remarkable port of the Total War games to the iOS platform, has outdone itself with its latest PC to mobile conversion. GRID Autosport for iPhone and iPad ($9.99), originally developed for the PC and game consoles by Codemasters, is an amazing achievement in presenting the fidelity and complete package (including 10 free episodes of downloadable content) from the desktop and game console counterparts. Read on to find out why the release of this driving game is a defining moment for iOS gamers.

Switching apps on your old iPhone was an easy gesture—double click on the home button and scroll horizontally between the apps that pop up, which are handily ranked from right to left in the order you used them last. But now you've upgraded to the iPhone X, and the faithful home button is no more. Fear not, fellow iPhone X initiate! There's a learning curve; but once you've mastered a few simple flicks and swipes, you'll be back to multitasking as fast or faster than ever before. Let's go through the easiest and most efficient ways of using your new iPhone X to switch apps. We'll go over using the Home indicator, quickly switching between open apps, accessing the App Switcher, and closing out apps you're finished using. Once you've acclimated to the bezel-less iPhone X, you'll never look back. So without further ado, here's how to switch between apps on your new iPhone X.

With iOS 11 on iPhone or iPad, you can quickly and easily track the flight your friends and family are on in Safari. All you need is the airline and flight number and Safari will provide details. You can then tap on the details card to see the flight’s trajectory and where it’s currently located. Here’s how to track flights in Safari with iOS 11 on iPhone.

The new gestures on iPhone X or later have some people confused while others are thinking up ways Apple could have done it better; but either way, they're probably here to stay. In this tip we'll cover how to open Control Center on the iPhone X, XR, and XS, as well as how to customize Control Center. Luckily, once you learn how to open Control Center and get used to the new movement, it’s really not that big of a challenge. Plus, we'll include a bonus tip for those who want to open Control Center a bit more easily on the iPhone X or later. 

The front camera on iPhone X is capable of a lot of incredible things, including improving your selfie game with front-facing Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting. You're likely familiar with how to take a selfie on iPhone, but Selfie Portrait Mode and Lighting makes taking good selfies super easy. With the Portrait Lighting, you can change the lighting before ever taking a photo. You have various lighting options to choose from, depending on the effect you want and your location. And the background of the photos are blurred for that professional Bokeh look. For iPhone X users, front-facing Portrait Mode and Lighting is essential to learn for taking great selfies. You can use this Portrait Lighting when taking regular photos (not selfies) on iPhone X and iPhone 8, and you can use Portrait Mode on those devices as well as the iPhone 7 Plus. But Selfie Portrait Mode and Lightning is reserved to the iPhone X for now. Here’s how to use Selfie Portrait Mode & Portrait Lighting on iPhone X.

With each new operating system, Apple offers a range of new wallpapers as well. But it’s easy to forget that there are new wallpapers when you update to iOS 11, so I thought we’d quickly go over it in a tip. With iOS 11, you can use some beautiful new flower wallpapers, pictures of earth and the moon from space, or wallpapers with the classic Apple rainbow. Let’s jump in; here’s how to use one of the new iOS 11 wallpapers on iPhone.

I’m sure we’ve all opened up Safari to search for the definition of a word. But with iOS 11, you don’t even need to search. Once you begin your query, Safari will automatically provide a details card at the top with the definition of the word. And as you’re typing it, Safari will even guess what word you’re looking up. Here’s how to define words in Safari with iOS 11 on iPhone.

Unless you have extensive experience with various wines, it’s not easy to know where to begin to what food to pair that wine with. Most of us have likely tried the popular wines like Merlot or Moscato, but feel lost when trying to branch out. I don’t know about you, but when I’m choosing a fancy wine for a special occasion, I end up choosing the wine with a label I think is creative or interesting, instead of knowing anything about what I’m going to drink or if it will go with the meal. Luckily, there is an app for this. Pocket Wine allows you to browse the various styles of wine, the grapes used to make it, keep track of the wines you’ve tried, and see what wine pairs best with what food. We’ll go over more on what the apps does and why we love it below.

Notifications center on any iPhone previous to the iPhone X is accessed by simply swiping down from the very top of the screen. But the iPhone X has a notch at the top that creates a distinct top left and top right of the iPhone X. As such, Apple gave each separate side its own function. So where are notifications on the iPhone X? Just a swipe away. Plus, there’s another interesting feature pertaining to notifications on iPhone X that utilizes facial recognition for futuristic privacy. We’ll go over both in our continued journey covering all the new gestures and features of the iPhone X. Here’s how to find the notification center on iPhone X and the hidden iPhone X privacy feature that’ll blown your mind.

Can’t find battery percentage on your new iPhone X? Don’t worry, it’s there. I suppose there just wasn't enough room to keep it in the same spot due to the notch at the top, but Apple didn’t get rid of it altogether. The setting that allows you to turn on show battery percentage isn’t even available on iPhone X, so it’s easy to panic and wonder, “can I view battery percentage on iPhone X or is it gone?” It’s not gone! Worry not, we’ll show you how to see your battery percentage on iPhone X at anytime. It’s simpler than you might even think. Have an iPhone X? Here’s how to view battery percentage.

No one wants to deal with a frozen iPhone; the darn thing needs to just work! But there are steps to take when your iPhone keeps freezing. We’ll cover what to do when just one app is freezing on an iPhone and what to do when your entire iPhone is frozen. If your iPhone keeps freezing with iOS 14, we’ll also offer some short-term solutions that should help until Apple finally fixes the latest iOS update problems. But first, we’ll cover how to unfreeze your iPhone, since you’ll need to do that before any of the other troubleshooting tips. Let’s jump in.

Did you know you can use Siri without talking? You can type to Siri instead. Typing to talk to Siri is ideal for quiet settings or in very loud public places. You can even set up Siri to respond by text when your ringer is turned off. This is great, because it means you can use Siri anytime. You’ll still be able to say, “Hey, Siri,” and speak, but you’ll also have the option to activate Siri without voice and type instead! Here’s how to enable Type to Siri on the iPhone. You can also use this tip to get rid of Type to Siri if you've been wondering why you have to type for Siri when you activate the digital assistant using the Side button.

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