iPad

While you're enjoying the great outdoors this Summer, whether at the beach or elsewhere, you’re going to want the loudest portable waterproof Bluetooth speaker you can find. Your Bluetooth speaker needs to be wireless and portable to easily go on adventures with you while also being rugged (ideally waterproof) and as loud as possible so that everyone in your party can enjoy the music. Furthermore, there is a seemingly endless array of excellent quality Bluetooth speakers, however, out of the multitudes of Bluetooth speakers on the market, only a limited and select few can lay claim to being loud, waterproof, portable and heavy duty. I've compiled a list of some of the best, most durable and rugged Bluetooth speakers available right now. What follows are the top outdoor wireless Bluetooth speakers for those who are adventurous or accident prone.

With the success of the recently released Nintendo Switch portable gaming tablet, there has been a resurgence of interest among iPad gamers to bring their iPads to parity with what the Switch has to offer. One standout feature of the Switch is its analog joysticks on the left and right side of the screen. Perhaps Nintendo got its inspiration for this design from GameVice, a company that announced the first iteration of its iPad game controller back in 2014. Now that its iPad game controller idea has been amplified by Nintendo's success, read on to find out how the current version of the GameVice Mfi controller ($99.95) works with the iPad Pro and Mini form factors.

Sleep deprivation in our always-on, social media-saturated world is a problem that is only growing as we add more tech to our homes. It affects our performance on and off the job and can result in significantly adverse health effects, particularly as we age. I have dealt with my share of sleep issues over the years, due to regularly traveling and working different shifts at my job. Although I don't have any magic-bullet solutions, I can offer what I’ve found to be the most helpful apps, gear, and tips for lulling you to sleep.

The number of Bluetooth wireless speakers available on the market is staggering, and choosing which one to buy is like choosing which outfit to wear. Depending on the occasion, the right speaker can make the difference between an enjoyable experience and an infuriating one. While some manufacturers have designed for very specific use cases, others, like 808 Audio, have opted for a kitchen sink approach. Hence, its Hex Encore XL Wireless Speaker ($399.99) is the Swiss army knife of speaker units. Does it accomplish these objectives successfully and, more importantly, does it sound great doing so? Read on to find out.

As a writer, I believe that journaling regularly is an important aspect of my creative process. It’s the one time in the day I get to write freely without having to censor my thoughts or concern myself with things like grammar and editing—but writers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from journaling. Journaling can help you relieve stress, sort out your thoughts, and remember details about your life that you will value later on. I’ve kept journals since I was 14, and, believe it or not, I reference them regularly. Some of my entries undoubtedly make me cringe—here’s looking at you, 2004 (year of boys, angsty rants, and badly written Harry Potter fanfiction)—but my journals are also filled with a lot of valuable details about my life and memories I love reflecting back on. If you want to start journaling, the following diary apps are a great way to get started. Each journal app is passcode-protected, and many of them hardly require any work at all! 

The iHome iPLWBT5 Docking Clock Radio ($129.99) could really eliminate some of the clutter on your nightstand. It's a clock radio, which iHome has been making for years, but it also doubles as a dual charging dock for your iPhone 7 and Apple Watch. There's a Lightning dock on the top, which should accommodate most cases except really protective ones. For iPhones in protective cases or an iPad, there's a USB port so you can charge a device via your own Lightning cable. Finally, sitting on the side is an Apple Watch magnetic charging base. 

TreasureHunter ($4.99) is a  iOS board game conversion of the identically named, mildly popular board game released in 2015. This card game was created by legendary game designer Richard Garfield (the creator of the wildly popular Magic the Gathering trading card game). The conversion to iPad board game app was done by the game's Germany-based publisher Queen Games, a company that has had a somewhat mediocre track record digitally converting its other physical board games such as Alhambra and Kingdom Builder to iOS board games. Does TreasureHunter rise above those previous efforts? Read on to find out.

iPhone and iPad word processors are nearly as plentiful on the App Store as flashlight apps. In order to stand out from the crowded selection, developers need to offer products that meet a specific need. In the case of prose composition, one word processing app that enables the narrative (e.g. story and screenwriting) and article construction and evolution process is Scrivener ($19.99). Originally available only for the Mac, Scrivener has recently made the leap to the iOS platform. How does it fare on both? Read on to find out.

The Amazon Kindle app is available for free for just about any and every device you can think of. That means not only can you read your e-books on a Kindle, but also on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook as well. Adding a device to your Amazon account is as simple as downloading the app and logging in with your Amazon account email and password. But what about when you get a new iPhone or buy a different Kindle? As you upgrade devices, the old devices will remain on your Amazon Kindle Account, which can lead to e-book samples accidentally being sent to the wrong device, unless you delete the device, a.k.a., deregister it. Here’s how to delete an old iPhone, iPad, or other device from your Amazon account on iPhone.

If you are on the hunt for a powerful outdoor Bluetooth wireless speaker, one that can pump out massive volume and is also well-equipped to handle extreme environments, then the following head-to-head review of these two behemoths will be for you. I'm putting two of the best modern Bluetooth boomboxes to the test, to see which one of them fares the best.

Over the decades, I've heard some call iOS gaming escapism, while others may call it a distraction from the headline news on any given day; but as a lifetime core gamer, I've found myself extremely grateful on more than one occasion for the comfort, the exhilaration, the competition ,and the break from the day-to-day, real-world ups and downs that some of the more deeply immersive iOS game can provide. Mobile gaming has come a long way over the years and we now have plenty to choose from when it comes to core iOS games. On that note,  it's my pleasure to present iPhone Life's picks for best core iOS games.

The original console-based version of Jade Empire scored an 89 on Metacritic, a remarkably high score for a game. The follow-up Special Edition for PC released a few years later scored an 81 which is still admirable. Since the actual game's story, interface, and gameplay mechanics in this iOS version  of Jade Empire: Special Edition ($9.99) are identical to original game, I won't spend much time on going into those aspects of this conversion.  For those interested in a review of the core gameplay experience, there are a number of reviews for the game already on the web such as this one from Gamespot.

You can easily select text on iPad or iPhone by turning your keyboard into a trackpad. This is available on iPads running at least iOS 9 and iPhones running iOS 10. Before, when selecting text, there were multiple steps and your vision was obstructed by your own finger. Now you can press into your keyboard, turn it into a trackpad, and easily move your finger to select text or place the cursor in another place for easy editing. Here’s how to easily select text on iPad or iPhone.

The calculator app that comes bundled in iOS is adequate for basic, quick calculations, but it lacks even a simple memory function or running history of operations. Hundreds of alternative calculator apps, both free and paid, are available from the App Store. But when you want the best, the absolute top of the category, PCalc ($9.99) from TLA Systems claims that it's the one to beat. Let's find out if that's the case.

I have seen the future of online mobile gaming, and it is MOBA. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is a term familiar to any core, hardcore, or professional gamer. If it's not already a common term in your vocabulary, popular iOS MOBA titles like Vainglory and Ace of Arenas plan to change that, as they help usher in a new renaissance of mobile gaming.

With the elimination of the headphone jack, Apple has effectively thrown its full weight behind Bluetooth technology. After years of being considered a faulty and glitchy transfer medium, Bluetooth has finally come into its own after years of refinement and technological advancement. The quality of playback that a Bluetooth speaker can pump out can easily be CD quality, depending of course on the source. Certainly it's been consistent and of a high enough caliber to fool die-hard audiophiles in blind acoustic tests. The following speakers are all top of the line Bluetooth speakers, each with its own merits and unique characteristics.

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.

Jaybird Sport's latest headset offering represents the company's latest ongoing evolution of its original X series.  Now in the third generation, the X3 Wireless Sport Headphones ($129.99) are a culmination of what the X product line has been striving for since its inception, namely an awesome, lightweight, hassle-free audio experience on the go. Does the X3 reach a new high in the wireless headset market, or is it a mild, incremental iteration on an already winning formula? Read on to find out.

If you want to buy an iTunes or Apple gift card for a friend, you can easily do so right from your iPhone. Sending an iTunes gift card is a great gift because it can be used in iTunes, the App Store, Mac App Store, or iBooks so long as the recipient is logged in to each with the same Apple ID. This means the iTunes gift card you buy and send can pay for not only their music but any monthly app subscriptions or best selling novels they’ve had their eye on. If you’re not sure how to send that iTunes gift card, no worries, we’ll go over the whole process below. Here’s how to send an iTunes or Apple gift card from your iPhone.

It's 2016 and our world is in a tumultuous state. Same old story some would say; wars, famine, human strife, and suffering. Particularly here in America, it seems like society in general is on edge and dealing with serious issues of justice, intolerance, and discord. For me, one of my greatest solaces over the decades has been and still is the good ol' Grateful Dead. The experience of their music, live shows, and the collective optimism and enthusiasm of the "Deadhead" scene has been an anchor for me in the storm of life ever since I was in my late teens, which is when I first started seeing shows, back when de facto band leader, Jerry Garcia was still alive.

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