iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

How to Add Apps to Apple Watch

By Rachel Needell

How to Add Apps to the Apple Watch (iOS 17)

Most apps on the Apple Watch need to be downloaded via the iPhone before you can download them directly from the App Store. However, if you've downloaded the app previously and it's still in your iCloud, you can re-download it to your Apple Watch without your iPhone. But did you know that you can automatically download the companion watchOS version of an app you’ve added to your iPhone? You can also turn this feature off and choose only specific apps to download to your Apple Watch if you'd like to save space. Here's how it works!

Find Hidden Menus & Extra Options with Haptic Touch

Your iPhone has a feature called Haptic Touch that lets you tap and hold certain items to get extra options and open menus quickly. Haptic Touch makes navigating your iPhone faster and more intuitive. However, the default sensitivity can make this feature difficult to trigger or, conversely, too easy to trigger when you're not trying to. Here's how to adjust your iPhone's touch sensitivity.

Don’t ask me how, but I stumbled upon YouTuber TechRax’s video in which he tests the iPhone's durability by spinning it in a paint shaker. You remember those machines at hardware stores that chug paint around really fast to mix the colors? Yeah, that. Naturally, I found myself yelling at the screen, “Nooo!” and wanted to bring you the same discomfort.

iPad picture in picture top image

Picture in Picture (PiP mode) allows you to watch videos and movies or chat on FaceTime while working in other apps. Originally only available for the iPad, you can now use your iPhone for Picture in Picture, and capabilities have expanded to include YouTube Picture in Picture mode, with some caveats. Let's go over how to multitask on an iPad and iPhone using Picture in Picture.

In Apple Music settings, you have the ability to adjust the way the music sounds, like how loud the bass is and more. You can also customize your Apple Music settings based on whether you're listening to pop, rock, or jazz. This feature is called the equalizer, or "EQ." The EQ can be adjusted to provide the best sound regardless of your surrounding environment. 

In iOS 9, you can view specifics on which apps are using your iPhone’s battery. If you find your battery is draining quickly, viewing detailed battery info is a great way to figure out why. You can see which apps use chunks of your battery life, how long the app was active, and how long the app was running in the background. This is also a great way to see how much time you're spending on a particular app; in case you're still in denial about your Facebook habit.

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