iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

The Messages app in iOS 10 on iPhone has its own App Store. While the Messages App Store is mostly stickers, there’s also apps that complement the original app available in the normal App Store. When you download an app from the normal App Store, it will automatically install the complementary Messages app. Luckily, you can turn this whole business off so that apps within Messages are only added manually. Here’s how to turn off automatically installed iMessage apps.

I've had the opportunity to test the best Bluetooth headphones over the past several years and one thing is for certain; Bluetooth technology has come a long way since it first went mainstream. No longer is it a laggy, unpredictable medium by which to transfer audio data. These days a good pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones can reproduce sound with remarkable clarity and accuracy. Whether or not you like the fact that Apple eliminated the headphone jack, it's not surprising that the company would consider Bluetooth reliable and mature enough for their iPhone 7 series to rely heavily upon it.

In iOS 10, there are now two ways Siri makes app suggestions on the Lock screen. The first is the Siri app suggestions that appear in the Widget pane. The second are the time and location-based app suggestions that appear in the lower left corner of the Lock screen in the same place app icons appear when you’re using Handoff. If you don’t appreciate this feature, it’s easy to turn off app suggestions.

Starting with iOS 10,  when Siri got the ability to complete tasks in third-party apps, a lot of third-party app developers added Siri voice command compatibility, including Pinterest, Skype, and Uber. You can even make Siri open Google Assistant for you. But how can you know what apps can Siri use? We’ll cover some top third-party apps Siri is able to use and how to make sure those apps are enabled for use with Siri. Here’s how to use Siri with third-party apps and some top apps to try.

If you think the American voters have had a bad year, at least the election is over. Samsung's year seems to be getting worse, not better. Between exploding washing machines and of course, Galaxy Note 7 explosions, the company has had an "explosive" year. Samsung has tried to do the right thing by voluntarily recalling the washers and the smartphones in question. It even took out full page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Washington Journal offering an apology. But the damage is done. Between the fires and battery explosions, airlines won't let you fly with one of the recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones. How likely is it they'll let the next version fly?

Type a word in messages, and predictive text will suggest the emoji that matches that word. Many people don’t want to replace a word, even with emoji as cute or useful as the smiley face, thinking, crying, or tears of joy emoji; they simply want to include the emoji after the word. Luckily, you can add emojis to your messages without opening the emoji keyboard, then avoid replacing the word with a simple tap of the space bar. The emoji will remain in your predictive text suggestions and you can easily select the emoji to appear right after the word for it. I’ll show you what I mean below; here’s how to prevent emojis from replacing words in Messages.

Last summer, I was very lucky to be able to take a three-week road trip with one of my best friends on the planet. During the entire trip, we both worked remotely. For the most part, we stopped in coffee shops found all along our route, using their free Wi-Fi and ordering awesome coffee while we worked. However, there were multiple occasions when our devices ran out of power on the road with no power outlets in sight. Had we brought a RAVPower Bank ($39.99) with us, we wouldn’t have needed to frantically look for a place to charge our devices in every place we stopped.

Use Siri to Add Reminders to Specific Lists

If you think of something you don’t want to forget, you can quickly ask Siri to add the reminder to your list. But when you ask Siri to remind you about something, like your car payment, Siri automatically adds the reminder to the default Reminders list. If you want the reminder added to a different list, that's possible too. You just have to phrase your request a little differently. Here’s how to use Siri to add reminders to specific lists.

Looking for a way to stay focused and disciplined on completing a task on time? The Pomodoro Technique  is a proven approach to time management that has been programmatically captured in a number of iOS apps. Some are simple timers while others offer much more. This review takes a closer look at Be Focused Pro ($1.99 iOS, $4.99 macOS), one of the more comprehensive, Apple-hardware-friendly programs available on the App Store today.

The Easiest Way to Avoid Tolls & Highways in Apple Maps

Did you know you can avoid tolls in Apple Maps? What about highways? You can change a simple setting so that Apple Maps will always prioritize routes that do not contain toll roads or highways. You can still select a toll road or highway, but Apple Maps gives you the option to avoid them before suggesting you take a toll-road-ridden route. Here's how to set Apple Maps to avoid tolls and highways

Find Parked Car Location on iPhone with Apple Maps (2023)

No one likes getting lost in a parking lot or not being able to find their car parked several blocks over. Apple Maps' parked car feature allows you to use Maps to find your car in a sea of vehicles. For this to work, your car will need either CarPlay or a Bluetooth stereo that your iPhone pairs with. Here’s how to find your parked car using Apple Maps on your iPhone.

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