By Jim Karpen
I've been using my new Apple TV for several days now and have found the interface to be quite intuitive. However, I quickly discovered there are a lot of tips and tricks that make it even better. Here's a comprehensive roundup.
Social media is one of many ways to keep in contact with someone these days; it makes sense to include that information within a contact card, especially for the people you interact with most. Doing so allows you to view their social media profile directly from Contacts. Here’s how to include someone’s social media profile information in their contact card.
By Conner Carey
Proactive Assistant was one of the new features introduced with iOS 9. Since then, I’ve noticed a lot of misunderstanding as to just what Proactive Assistant does, how to utilize it, and how to turn it off. Proactive Assistant pays attention to what you do and where you use your phone. Proactive Assistant works with Siri to give you Spotlight Suggestions but the habit learning program has it’s own set of suggestions to help you out.
By Jim Karpen
Sometimes particular conversations or individuals can become a bit of a nuisance in Messages — so much so that you'd like to stop receiving notifications for that conversation. Maybe you are part of a group conversation run amok or a family member likes to text you during work hours? Fortunately, you can turn on Do Not Disturb for any particular conversation.
By Conner Carey
Apple Music is kind of tricky. Sometimes My Music wouldn't play when I was away from Wi-Fi and out of Cellular reach and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, not all of My Music in Apple Music is available offline. Which means I’ve been using Cellular data without knowing it. To prevent this, Apple Music has the option to view Only Offline Music.
By Conner Carey
On by default, Safari Quick Search uses search shortcuts to look within websites. Therefore, if you type a website name as a part of your search, Safari will look within that website for what you need. For example, type “Youtube cat video” to show YouTube search results for cat videos. If you’d rather this feature be turned off, here’s how.
By Conner Carey
When you type in popular app names into the Safari search url bar, Apple will try to match that with apps you either have or may want from the App store. It’s a suggestion feature turned on by default. Here’s how to turn it off.
One of the interesting new features of iOS 9 is its "proactive" smarts. Apple wants your device to anticipate what you want to do depending on the context. A good example of that is how your iPhone or iPad now responds when you plug in earbuds or headphones. Your device figures that you want to listen to something, and a small icon appears in the lower left corner of your lock screen that shows the most recent audio app you've been using, whether that's Apple Music, Spotify, Podcasts, or any other app.
By Conner Carey
With iOS 9, your iPhone looks through the Mail app to let you know who might be calling when an unknown number comes in. This is true for outgoing calls as well; iOS 9 will try to match the number you’re calling with a contact from emails. If this is a function you’d like to turn off, here’s how.
By Conner Carey
If Facebook is draining your battery, gobbling up your storage by caching huge amounts of data, or otherwise causing problems on your iPhone, you can delete the app and create a Home screen icon for the website instead.
Say goodbye to searching for a friend’s contact info when you want to call or email them. With 3D Touch (only on the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus), you can view contact information in any app where the circle containing a contact’s initials or image appears. You’ll be able to call, FaceTime, message, or email your friends and family without having to open a separate app.
By Sarah Kingsbury
Before 3D Touch the only way to access the multitasking window was to double click the Home button. Then came the back button in iOS 9 for quickly returning to the previous app. But, if you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you can now also switch between apps using 3D Touch.
Apple Pay is slowly being adopted by different retail businesses and banks. To easily find out if Apple Pay is available at a location you plan to visit, you can check in Maps before visiting a store.
By Sarah Kingsbury
Whether you encounter a link in an email, a text, or while browsing the web, as long as you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you can use 3D Touch to preview the web page in Safari without actually opening it.
By Conner Carey
When typing on the iPhone's keyboard, every character you press pops up as you select it. If you’re not a fan of the feature, it’s easy to turn off.
By Conner Carey
Siri received some major upgrades in iOS 9. One of the new ways you can use Siri is to ask about game schedules, scores and stats, and team members. If you have a favorite team, you can find out when they’re playing next as well.
By Conner Carey
With iOS 9, Apple introduces the iPad to split-screen multitasking. Also called Slide Over, this new function is supported by the iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3 and later. Located on the right edge of the screen and designed to run multiple apps, Slide Over allows you view another app without leaving the one you're in; however, the two applications won't run together side by side unless you have an iPad Air 2 or later.
By Conner Carey
With iOS 9, not only can you select multiple photos, but you can drag your finger over multiple photos to select them for sharing or deletion.
By Conner Carey
An interesting new feature of iOS 9 is auto email event suggestions for your Calendar. The software scans your emails to see if there are any events you haven't added to your schedule. This can be very helpful, especially if a lot of your emails contain pertinent events. However, if you find yourself with a cluttered calendar, you can easily turn off the automatic addition.
By Conner Carey
The Shake to Undo feature on your iPhone can be extremely useful if you accidentally delete an email or want to undo something you’ve typed. However, it can also be irritating and unnecessary if you find yourself constantly prompted to erase things you don't want to. No problem; disable the feature in your Settings.
