Spring 2020 Regular Departments 4
Editor's Message
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Stuff the iPhone Life Team Is Loving
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Online at iPhoneLife.com
10 Hey, Sarah 12 What Our Team Is Downloading 80 iView: A Travel Day with the AirPods Pro
iNews
70 Next-Generation Travel Plan and execute your big trip straight from your iPhone.
28 Get to Know iPadOS Exploring the new laptop-like features of the iPad.
Great Gear
72 Your Digital Photography Studio These apps are optimized for iPhone 11 and 11 Pro photography.
51 Smart Sketchpad Review A graphic designer approaches digital art with an analog twist.
Life & Tech 74
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Apps to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle.
14 What’s New with the AirPods Pro? All the improvements that come with the big price tag.
56 HomePod vs. Echo The search for the smart home hub with the best listening skills. 60 The Great Outdoors Gear for getting outside while staying connected.
Best Apps
77 Should Children Have iPhones? Safety, security, and peace of mind in the digital age.
64 March Madness 18 Apple Arcade How Apple’s subscription is changing the game. 22 It’s Show Time! Apple TV’s new interface, plus what shows to watch.
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7 apps to track all your favorite teams, games, and players. 66 Ringing in the New Year Keep your resolutions with these self-improvement apps.
iUsers 50 Rebecca Bellonci 54 Louisa Moje 63 Amber Faust
iOS 13 Guide
Our favorite tips and tricks for the newest iOS.
Whether you’re sending a Memoji sticker to the grandkids or editing your favorite home movie, we’ve collected our best tips to get you started! 35 iOS 13 Guide
42 Hidden Features
36 Photos & Camera
44 Dark Mode
37 iPhone 11 & 11 Pro Camera
45 Maps
38 Memoji & Messaging
46 Health & Activity
40 Notes
48 Privacy & Tracking
41 Reminders
49 Mail
Editor's Message Hands on with Apple’s Latest Lineup
S
eeing as you’re reading this magazine, you’ve likely been in this bind before. Apple keeps coming out with new and compelling ways to spend your time and money, and you’re tempted by all of them! This issue, we’ve focused heavily on reviewing Apple’s latest products and services in order to help you decide what’s worth your attention. The Reviews Are In Apple TV Plus boasts star-studded casts, but is the content good enough to warrant adding another $5 per month to your ever-growing list of TV streaming subscriptions? Turn to page 22 for long-time contributor Todd Bernhard’s take on the new service. Apple Arcade grants access to games free of the in-app purchases and pay-toplay tactics that plague most iPhone titles. But you’ll have to cough up another $5 per month to join! Turn to page 18 as our newest staff member Nicholas Naioti makes the case for why Apple Arcade is ushering in a new era in gaming. Many of us at iPhone Life love the seamless connectivity of our AirPods. Now Apple has upped its game with wireless earbuds that deliver active noise cancellation and a customizable fit. New contributor Richard Hope (page 14) and founder Hal Goldstein (page 80) report back after testing the AirPods Pro in coffee shops, airports, and at home. Apple may want us to think of the iPad as a computer, but it’s far from acting like one at this point. While our experiences with iPadOS have been mixed, contributor Mike Riley has thoughts on how to make the most of all the new features (page 28). Are you more likely to use Siri or Alexa in your home? Check out Writer and Producer Cullen Thomas’s showdown between the Apple HomePod and the Amazon Echo Show and discover the reigning champion (page 56). The iOS 13 Guide This issue, feature writer Tamlin Day wrote more than 100 tips for getting the most out of Apple’s latest OS for the iPhone (starting on page 35). This is an awesome resource to keep on your coffee table all year, making it easy to improve your iPhone skills during leisure time with easy-to-follow tips and tutorials.
Donna Cleveland Editor in Chief iPhone Life magazine, donna@iphonelife.com 4
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Comments from Readers: Re: What have been your experiences with iPadOS? “Multitasking has become unreliable. I never know if a second screen will open when I drag an icon up from the bottom. Very annoying.” -Kenneth A. Re: What do you think of Apple’s new credit card? “All other credit cards will have to match the Apple Card if only for the security features. It is hands down the safest credit card to use.” -Mike D. Re: What’s your favorite new camera feature of iOS 13? “I love being able to adjust the depth of field on Portrait photos—I try to remember to take them all the time now!” -Donna C. Re: Did you upgrade to the iPhone 11? “I got a new phone, and the transition from the iPhone 6 has been easy. I am learning all the great new features. Great job Apple! I love my Apple toys.” -Susan O. “I traded my iPhone 8 Plus in for an iPhone 11 and am very happy. The Plus was just a tad bigger than I liked, and the 11 seems to be just a bit smaller yet still has the big screen.” -Lee L.
Around the Office
STUFF THE IPHONE LIFE TEAM IS LOVING Sarah Kingsbury, Senior Web Editor Chuck 70 Metallic Rainbow High Tops ($90) I usually wear my basic black high-top Chucks until they fall apart and then reorder them. But the last time I went to buy a new pair, I found myself drawn to these fun shoes instead. I feel so happy every time I look at my colorful feet!
Donna Cleveland, Editor in Chief Vosges Haut-Chocolat Banana Coconut Bar ($8) I usually find the combination of chocolate and fruit to be overkill, but this maker of decadent treats has created a flavor masterpiece of rich chocolate with subtle notes of banana and coconut that will give you a mental vacation to the beach.
Rheanne Taylor, Video Producer Skype (Free) My six-yearold nephew is obsessed with music. We live miles apart, and he regularly Skypes me to have virtual dance parties. I put together a Spotify playlist of my favorite songs and sent it to him so he can listen too. It has been so much fun.
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Raphael Burnes, CTO Brilliant (Free, $19.99/ year for Premium) I’ve been using this app to practice problem solving in mathematics. It’s a fun way to keep my math skills and my mind sharp, while learning new things.
iPhone Life Sponsors Cullen Thomas, Writer & Producer Patreon (Free) Patreon is a web service for creatives that lets me directly support the artists I admire by subscribing to send them a dollar or two every month no matter what they produce. It keeps their bills paid so they can make the art I love.
Leanne Hays, Feature Writer Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why ($4.48) I’ve been enjoying shopping online at betterworldbooks. com; you can donate books you no longer need or order titles you’d like to pick up. All profits go toward world literacy efforts. My most recent acquisitions are three books by Laurence Gonzales about the psychological features needed to survive catastrophic events.
Tamlin Day, Feature Writer Apple Maps (Free) I’m loving planning my upcoming vacation to Canada. Apple Maps has come in very handy; I used the new location Collections feature to map out my route and find local tourist traps to get lost in.
Get an iPhone tip every day. iPhoneLife.com/dailytips
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ONLINE AT IPHONELIFE.COM PUBLISHER AND CEO
CONTRIBUTORS
David Averbach • david@iphonelife.com Todd Bernhard (page 22) CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
4 Ways to Recover Deleted Texts from Your iPhone bit.ly/2U2vNoU Getting rid of old text messages is a great way to free up an extra gigabyte or two of storage on your iPhone. But sometimes, you might realize that you’ve accidentally trashed texts you wanted to keep. Fortunately, there are a few different ways to recover those messages, so you can officially breathe again. Read the article on iPhoneLife.com to learn all the tips and tricks for recovering those important texts. Best Protective Cases for the iPhone 11 & iPhone 11 Pro bit.ly/31qyAXP Writer Todd Bernhard personally tested dozens of protective cases in order to find the best iPhone 11 and 11 Pro brands to feature in this roundup. Read the full article online to find out which of these rugged but fashionable cases will keep your beautiful new iPhone safe while also showing it off.
Raphael Burnes • raphael@iphonelife.com CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Noah Siemsen • noah@iphonelife.com
Donna Cleveland (page 4) Tamlin Day (pages 35–49) Briana Dicks (page 66)
EDITOR IN CHIEF Donna Schill Cleveland • donna@iphonelife.com
Abbey Dufoe (page 72) Hal Goldstein (page 80)
FOUNDER & COLUMNIST
Hallei Halter (pages 70, 74)
Hal Goldstein • hal@iphonelife.com
Leanne Hays (page 60)
SENIOR WEB EDITOR Sarah Kingsbury • sarah@iphonelife.com
Richard Hope (page 14)
VIDEO PRODUCER
Sarah Kingsbury (page 10)
Rheanne Taylor • rheanne@iphonelife.com
Nicholas Naioti (page 18)
ART DIRECTOR
Hannah Nichols (page 77)
Jaime Thatcher • jaime@iphonelife.com
Mike Riley (page 28)
FEATURE WRITER
Chosie Titus (page 51)
Leanne Hays • leanne@iphonelife.com
Cullen Thomas (page 56)
FEATURE WRITER
Anjerika Wilmer (page 64)
Tamlin Day • tamlin@iphonelife.com WRITER & PRODUCER Cullen Thomas • cullen@iphonelife.com AD SPECIALIST & VIDEO EDITOR Nicholas Naioti • nicholas@iphonelife.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUBSCRIPTIONS For address changes or subscription questions, email help@iphonelife.com, or call 630-474-6631. CONTRIBUTE To write for iPhone Life magazine or iphonelife.com, visit iphonelife.com/share. ADVERTISE To advertise in iPhone Life, call 641-472-9962, fax 641-472-1879, or visit iphonelife.com/advertise. PUBLICIZE YOUR PRODUCT
Why the Wallet App Makes the Apple Card Worth Getting bit.ly/2BmEOgQ In this episode of the iPhone Life Podcast, iPhone Life’s COO Noah shares how the Apple Card is transforming the way he manages his credit cards. CEO David also explains why he’s buying his seven-year-old stepson a phone, and the team trades tips on how to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing to control what content kids can access on their iPhones and iPads. Check out the online show notes to watch the episode video, read the transcript, and get the link to subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Send press releases and submit products for review at iphonelife.com/getpublicity. PRINTER Quad Graphics, 1700 James Savage Rd., Midland, MI 48640 USA 800-448-4288 NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION Curtis Circulation Company, 760 River Rd., New Milford, NJ 07646 USA 201-634-7400 NEWSSTAND COORDINATOR National Publisher Services 732-548-1867 iPhone Life (ISSN 1949-2014) is published quarterly, four times a year, spring, summer, fall, winter by Mango Life Media at 402 North B St. #108, Fairfield, IA 52556, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Fairfield, Iowa, and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates payable in U.S. dollars, checks drawn on a U.S. bank, or by credit card—one year: $15.97, two years: $24.97. Postage: United States free; Canada and Mexico add $7 per year; outside North America, add $18 per year. Please allow ten to twelve weeks for receipt of first issue. Executive, Editorial, Circulation, Advertising, Marketing Offices: 402 North B St. #108, Fairfield, IA 52556. Telephone: 641-472-6330, Fax: 641-472-1879. © Copyright 2020 , Mango Life Media LLC, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission. Reasonable efforts are made to provide accurate and useful information, but the reader must make his or her own investigations and decisions; the publisher and editorial staff cannot assume any responsibility or liability for the use of information contained herein. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Cynthia Klaas, Client Relationship Manager, Hallmark Data Systems 7300 Linder Skokie, IL 60077. Cover images courtesy of: Apple Inc.
VAlex/shutterstock Garder Elena/shutterstock sergey causelove/shutterstock
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HEY, SARAH
Since iOS 13, new sentences don’t automatically start with an uppercase letter when typing on my iPhone. Can you tell me how to fix that? Sincerely, Capitalize This!
Dear Capitalize, Try this: In the Settings app, go to General > Keyboard and make sure Auto-Capitalization is toggled on. If it’s already on, toggle it off and then back on again.
Ever since Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 5 with its always-on display, it has become dramatically more difficult to get the older versions to wake by raising one’s wrist. Was the updated version of watchOS purposefully designed to make the older watches less responsive in order to get people to buy the new Apple Watch? Need iPad and iPhone help? Sign up for iPhone Life Insider and Sarah will help you with all your iPhone and iPad troubleshooting issues. To learn more, go to iPhoneLife.com/GetInsider.
Sincerely, Is This a Conspiracy?
Dear Conspiracy,
How do my wife and I set up location tracking for each other on our iPhones? We both have the iPhone 7S with iOS 13. Sincerely, Where Did You Go?
Dear Where, First, each of you will need to turn on Location Sharing. Go to Settings > Apple ID (your name) > Find My and toggle on Share My Location. Next, open the Find My app and tap on the People tab in the lower left corner. Tap Share My Location, enter your wife’s name or phone number, and then tap Send. You can choose to share your location for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. Once your wife gets the notification that you are sharing your location with her, she can then choose to share hers with you too.
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In general, I have found that the usefulness and functionality of Apple Watches hold up really well over time compared to iPhones. Although I’m sure Tim Cook would like us all to upgrade, I don’t think Apple is trying to scam users into buying newer devices. I recommend going to the My Watch tab in the Watch app on your iPhone and going to General > Wake Screen and turning Wake Screen on Wrist Raise and Wake Screen on Crown Up off and then on again. It’s also a good practice to turn your watch off and then on again any time you update the OS or notice that the watch is not acting as you think it should. If none of that helps, you can also try rebooting your Apple Watch by simultaneously pressing the Crown and Side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen and your watch restarts.
Sarah Kingsbury is the senior web editor of iPhoneLife.com. She goes almost nowhere without her iPhone and is a contributor to the site’s Tip of the Day column. She has over a decade of experience writing and editing for online and print publications.
WHAT OUR TEAM IS DOWNLOADING PODCASTS, BOOKS & MUSIC TO TRY THIS SPRING
Miracle of Sound (Albums available on Apple Music, Amazon Music & Spotify) This brilliant one-man band produces an awesome variety of genres, moods, and themes, all inspired by the stories and aesthetics of different video games and pop culture. Check out “When I Swing By,” inspired by your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. -Cullen Thomas, Producer & Writer
Oxford Medieval Mysteries (Audiobooks available on Audible) I’m almost finished with this historical fiction series, set in postBlack Death Oxford, England. In each of the six novels, the protagonist, bookseller Nicholas Elyot, solves mysteries ranging from the theft of a priceless Irish psalter, to the sabotage of a chapel under construction, to murder. -Leanne Hays, Feature Writer
Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies (Album available on Apple Music, iTunes & Spotify) I recently discovered this spellbinding 1968 classic, which features massive orchestral arrangements with Beach Boys-esque vocal arrangements. The warm nostalgic sound and sweet, romantic, sympathetic words hit all the right notes for me. -Nicholas Naioti, Ad Specialist & Video Editor
Apple Music Favorites List (Available to Apple Music Subscribers) I love this personalized mix from Apple Music’s For You section. It not only features recent favorites, but also unfamiliar songs from familiar artists, remixes, and forgotten favorites. It’s updated regularly; so if I like that week’s mix, I save a copy before it changes. -Sarah Kingsbury, Senior Web Editor
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Audiobook available on Audible & iTunes) I enjoyed listening to this audiobook with my family on our recent road trip out west. It was a great way to get the kids to turn off their devices, look out the windows, and enjoy our surroundings. -Noah Siemsen, COO
Ask a Cycling Coach – TrainerRoad Podcast (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & Overcast) I love this podcast. The hosts delve into all things cycling, from race strategies to training plans to physiology and nutrition. It strikes a great balance between being very technical and comprehensive, while also being easily digestible for the less experienced cyclists out there. -Jaime Thatcher, Art Director
topform/shutterstock
WHY I LOVE MY AIRPODS PRO
APPLE’S WIRELESS EARBUDS DELIVER IMPROVED AUDIO EXPERIENCE & FIT BY RICHARD HOPE
I
may not be an audiophile, but I do appreciate good sound and have been looking forward to Apple releasing headphones with active noise cancellation for some time. I breakfast at my local coffee shop frequently, and I like to listen to music while I do my morning crossword and Sudoku puzzles over a cup of coffee. My problem has been the ambient noise. The blaring elevator music, the chatter, and the gurgle of the espresso machine all seep into my peripheral sound space, spoiling my music choice of the day. When Apple released the AirPods Pro late fall 2019, I decided to solve these problems by upgrading from the original AirPods. Here, I’ll share how Apple’s new true wireless headphones stack up to its predecessor as well as others in its class.
DESIGN & FIT The box the AirPods Pro arrived in contained the earbuds, literature, spare ear tips, and a Lightning to USB-C cable. They come with about a 70 percent charge so there is no delay in setting them up. Pairing them with my phone was the usual painless Apple ecosystem experience. I opened the case and was greeted by a pop-up on my phone screen. I pressed connect, and presto! The earbuds connected not only to my phone, but to my iPad, MacBook, and Apple TV within moments.
The first task is to select the ear tips that will work for you. The wireless buds come with medium tips installed, but there are small and large ones included in the box. Performing this task is made simple by a nifty feature. I put the earbuds in my ears, went to my Bluetooth settings, chose the AirPods Pro, and was taken to a screen with all the settings including an Ear Tip Fit Test to help select the correct size. The mediums resulted in a good fit in my right ear but not the left ear. I tested the smalls next, and neither were a good fit. The large fit perfectly in both ears. I found the AirPods Pro to be more comfortable than my old AirPods. The earlier generation were hard, and I could feel them in the ear. Although I didn’t have a problem with the old AirPods falling out, I did have to adjust them regularly. The silicon tips of the AirPods Pro are soft and comfortable, and I did not have to adjust them once during an hour-long walk.
ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION I’d been perfectly happy with the sound quality of the original AirPods, but the ability to tune out ambient noise was enough to make me spend the extra money to upgrade. The active noise cancellation of the AirPods Pro was as good as
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one could expect from such a small package. With the music at a reasonable volume, most outside sounds were nonexistent. With noise cancellation enabled, customers at the next table chatting to the waiter looked like something out of a Charlie Chaplin movie. You can mainly hear the ambient noise when your music is soft, like with a single acoustic guitar. Again, when you do hear the ambient noise, it is very subdued and unobtrusive. All in all, I was more than happy with the coffee shop experience. I tested them against my pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 Over-Ear Headphones ($349.95) both in the coffee bar and at home. In all, the Bose performed a bit better at preventing sound from bleeding in, which is not surprising considering the advantage of the over-ear design.
SOUND QUALITY For my first at-home test, I compared the sound quality of the AirPods Pro against my old pair. The sound of the AirPods Pro is fuller, instrumental differentiation better, mids and highs clearer, and the bass stronger than the original AirPods. However, the difference is not so great as to alone demand an upgrade. Next, I compared the sound to my Bose headphones. Bose emphasizes the bass while the AirPods Pro are crisper in the mid to high range and more than adequate with the bass. I wound up preferring the Bose at home and the AirPods Pro when out and about. The slight and, in my opinion, negligible difference in noise cancellation is not worth losing out on the convenience of the AirPods Pro. The Pods are no longer controlled by taps but by squeezes, which work remarkably well. One can access most of the features this way including the new Transparency Mode, which lets in and amplifies the ambient noise to enable safe use when walking or running outdoors. I tested Transparency Mode during my daily walk. I wanted to make sure that I would not be caught by surprise by bicycles, electric scooters, or runners. Transparency Mode allows the user to hear outside noises without any discernible reduction in sound quality. I was expecting the outside noises to be amplified to an unpleasant degree, but the effect was no different than using my old AirPods in that same situation (just turning noise cancelling off is not enough as the seal made by the Pro’s silicon tips filters out some of the outside noise).
PROS: • Excellent noise cancellation • Transparency Mode allows for safe listening in situations where access to ambient sound is important • No discernable loss of sound quality in any mode • Silicon tips provide a comfortable and secure fit • Set up process is quick and simple • Great sound quality • Silicon Tip Fit Test integrated in Bluetooth settings makes selecting your best fit size easy • Portable
CONS: • No volume control on the earpiece (not a con if you own an Apple Watch) • Sound quality might not suit all listeners • They come in any color you want as long as it’s white
FINAL VERDICT So, should you buy a pair? Well I love them. I was already an AirPods fan and the noise cancelling feature has greatly enhanced my experience. I wouldn’t upgrade in the hopes of a major increase in sound quality, but if you love your music and have a need or desire to have the noise cancellation option, then what are you waiting for? It is difficult to find a perfect product. Anyone can find negatives such a no volume control on the earpiece, but the AirPods Pro do a great job of allowing you to enjoy your music in almost any environment. As they meet all my personal requirements, I give them the highest rating possible. Ѷ
BATTERY LIFE The AirPods Pro promise the same 5-hour battery as their predecessor (4.5 hours if using noise cancellation). They lost just over 20 percent of their charge during the hour-long walk I took with Transparent Mode active. A similar period of listening at the coffee shop in Noise Cancelling Mode produced a similar result, so I have no doubt that they will come close to the promised hours of play time.
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Richard is a 70-year-young tech freak who is retired and living the expat life with his wife in the beautiful city of Abu Dhabi in the UAE. His involvement with tech goes back to the pre-Microsoft days. His first smartphone was a Palm Treo.
APPLE ARCADE A NEW ERA FOR MOBILE GAMING BY NICHOLAS NAIOTI
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ast September, Apple launched Apple Arcade, an innovative new service that gives you access to a growing selection of high-quality iOS games for a fixed monthly fee of $4.99 per month. It now includes over a hundred games with the subscription. I don’t consider myself much of a gamer, but I was a passenger on a long car ride with lots of time to kill and decided to check it out. I’ve since used it extensively and will share the good and the bad of Apple Arcade with you here.
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PAY MODEL When I signed up for the Apple Arcade service, I assumed I would try it out and unsubscribe after a month or two. Apple currently offers a one-month free trial, so I didn’t feel like I had anything to lose. It’s a Netflix-type model: pay monthly for unlimited access to a curated list of games. What I didn’t realize when I signed up is that Apple Arcade’s model is an elegant solution to the issues that have plagued mobile games for the last several years—microtransactions.
resource-based homestead game Outlanders, the city infrastructure builder Mini Motorways, the absurdist golf game What the Golf, and the quirky, thoughtful, and surprisingly expansive stealth game Sneaky Sasquatch. These are all uniquely standout experiences and any one of them would’ve been worth the subscription cost alone. The great thing about this service is if you don’t like a game, you have countless more to choose from and you didn’t lose anything—just delete the game and try another. It completely removes the risk of wasting time or money on disappointing games.
“THE CURATED SELECTION OF GAMES THAT APPLE PROVIDES IS HIGH IN QUALITY AND VARIED IN STYLE.” These days, mobile games are often cheap or free to play but contain in-app purchases that are manipulative and tend to create pay-to-win scenarios for people willing to shell out extra money. Developers have shifted their focus from creating a worthwhile experience for players to pursuing long-term monetization strategies. When companies use these techniques, it tells us they no longer care about making something fun and unique; they care about extracting the maximum amount of money from their player base. Far and away the best aspect of Apple Arcade is that there are zero microtransactions. You pay for the service and get access to a growing list of complete games that aren’t trying to get more money out of you. It’s incredibly refreshing.
GAME SELECTION Apple Arcade also emphasizes single-player experiences. This flies in the face of current gaming trends, as single-player games are more labor-intensive to build and offer less potential for microtransactions. It’s been difficult in recent years to find any decent iOS games that are playable offline, but Apple Arcade is changing that. Almost every title is playable offline, and there are zero ads in any of the games. There are multiplayer games, but the vast majority are fully realized singleplayer stories. Apple Arcade is a graceful pivot away from the unfortunate mobile gaming trends that pushed casual users like me away. The curated selection of games that Apple provides is high in quality and varied in style. The curation is an essential part of the service, and the standards are high. There is a wide variety of experiences, from the stylized musical runner Sayonara Wild Hearts to the meditative abstract color-blending game Tint. My current favorites are the mellow
While it’s not clear how much Apple will prioritize adding games moving forward, in the months since the Apple Arcade launch there’s been a steady trickle of quality releases, and dozens more unreleased titles have been announced. Interestingly, there aren’t any massive AAA titles included in the subscription. While it’s landed a few well-known intellectual properties (Sonic, Lego, and Frogger come to mind), Apple has focused more on games you’ll actually want to play rather than household names.
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USER INTERFACE Definitely the worst thing about Apple Arcade is the interface. It’s organized just like the rest of the App Store, which feels like an inappropriate format for the service. There are featured games highlighted in the foreground, but it’s unintuitive to find a full list of the games offered. The Netflix-style interface features specific titles and genres prominently within the interface, but unless a game is featured, you won’t be able to find it easily. If you’re seeking a certain title, it’s not immediately clear how to find it unless you happen across it in the main menu. Also, I’ve noticed that the layout changes every few days, and not necessarily for the better. There isn’t a search bar, and, as of now, there isn’t an easy and dependable way to view a complete list of titles. This is reviewers’ main critique of Apple Arcade, so hopefully Apple is listening and cleans up the interface.
“APPLE ARCADE IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR FOR THE MEDIUM OF MOBILE GAMING. IT ELEGANTLY CIRCUMVENTS THE ISSUES AFFLICTING THE GAMING MARKET AND PUTS THE FOCUS BACK ON FUN.” With the advent of Apple Arcade, you can now pair a variety of Bluetooth controllers to your iOS devices, including PS4 and Xbox One controllers. The majority of games on the platform offer controller support, which is pretty amazing when you consider the backend design work and forethought needed to make games playable with both a touchscreen and a controller. Additionally, your Apple Arcade subscription will work on almost all iOS devices, including your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac computers. When paired with a controller, this effectively turns all iOS devices into mobile gaming devices. Another cool feature that I didn’t immediately notice is that your progress is saved in the background and can be picked back up on any of your other iOS devices. You can switch from your iPhone to your iPad to your Apple TV and jump right back in where you left off. Also, your subscription is accessible to
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up to six family members if you set up Family Sharing on your devices. It plays well with Screen Time and parental controls as well, so you can set healthy limits for yourself or youngsters. All of the games I’ve tried on Apple Arcade are family friendly, so it’s a service that kids and adults will enjoy equally.
PROS: • Offers a way to finance quality games without ads or microtransactions • High standard of curation • No risk of wasting money on games you don’t like • Functionality across Apple devices • Offline support
CONS: • Confusing, unintuitive interface for searching and selecting games • No AAA titles • Uncertain how much Apple will prioritize releases in the future
FINAL VERDICT Since signing up for Apple Arcade, I’ve been consistently surprised by how much enjoyment I’ve gotten out of the service. As someone who’s been disenchanted by the microtransactions and predatory practices plaguing mobile gaming recently, I hadn’t downloaded a game in years. Apple Arcade is a breath of fresh air for the medium of mobile gaming. It elegantly circumvents the issues afflicting the gaming market and puts the focus back on fun. I have only good things to say about Apple Arcade, and highly recommend supporting this innovative service. Ѷ
In addition to being an ad specialist & video editor for iPhone Life, Nicholas Naioti is a musician and audio/video editor. Nicholas has toured the country extensively and currently resides in a cabin in the Iowa woods.
hortly before he passed away, Steve Jobs told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that he had finally “cracked” how to make television smarter and easier. Eight years later, Apple has finally released Apple TV Plus. So, did Apple make good on that prediction? In this article, I will assess the quality of the user interface, original content, pricing, and hardware compatibility of Apple TV Plus; but, as is true with most Apple products, the sum is greater than the parts. Apple’s ecosystem is what makes Apple TV Plus so appealing compared to the competition.
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“AS IS TRUE WITH MOST APPLE PRODUCTS, THE SUM IS GREATER THAN THE PARTS.”
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS First thing’s first: you don’t need an Apple TV in order to access the service. Instead, you can access the new content via the Apple TV app that runs on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac computers, in addition to Apple TV hardware. Even Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and some Samsung TVs can access Apple TV Plus, and you can stream content from your iPhone via AirPlay to some newer smart TVs from Vizio and LG. This leaves out a lot of PC and Android users, at least for now. If you’re using Apple equipment, you can stream the content in 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos too.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CONTENT, PRICING & DELIVERY OF APPLE’S NEW STREAMING SERVICE BY TODD BERNHARD
USER EXPERIENCE Steve Jobs dreamed of unifying disparate content providers into a single interface. And while the Apple TV app can integrate many subscriptions into one interface, it’s not perfect. Apple lets you link your diverse streaming accounts with your Apple ID. This works as a single sign-on solution, making it easier to add new content and Apple equipment. But in reality, you’re still just launching the associated app, which has its own interface. When you return to the Apple TV app to access content from a different streaming service, you will be placed into yet another interface. Netflix and Disney Plus allow for distinct user profiles, so the apps
remember what each user is watching and where they are in the show. Those services offer settings to keep kids from watching inappropriate content. The Apple TV Plus service currently doesn’t allow for multiple user profiles and doesn’t reliably remember where you left off, especially when you switch to a different device.
LIMITATIONS It’s an open secret that many subscribers to HBO, Netflix, and Amazon Prime share their accounts with friends and family. Netflix recognizes this and limits the number of simultaneous viewers and downloads depending on the price plan. Apple TV Plus goes in
the other direction, with a very generous allowance for up to six simultaneous viewers with unlimited downloads, with some restrictions. This is great for binge-watching shows on long plane rides, as long as you remember to download in advance. Speaking of binge watching, while Netflix is known to release an entire season at once, Apple TV Plus follows in the footsteps of HBO and CBS All Access, doling out episodes weekly. This approach is meant to encourage discussions at the water-cooler and social media buzz as new episodes hit the internet. But it won’t make binge-watchers happy.
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ORIGINAL CONTENT & COMPARISONS TO OTHER STREAMING SERVICES Content is where the rubber meets the road. Apple doesn’t have a multiyear library of award-winning content unlike Disney, HBO, Netflix, and Amazon. Almost all of Apple’s shows are brand new, though they have brought on some established players like Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, and Jason Momoa. But at launch, these names are just a promise of quality content, not a guarantee. In many ways, Apple TV Plus is like a professional sports team with a big bankroll. It has recruited famous, experienced players, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the players will have chemistry and deliver a championship. Netflix, HBO, and even the new Disney Plus offer decades worth of award-winning content. Think about all of the awards and fans Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and shows
like Friends have earned. Disney Plus also starts off with both existing and new content from proven franchises like Star Wars and Marvel, making it a safe bet if you had to choose one service. But the good news is, you don’t have to choose one, especially since Apple TV Plus is free for recent Apple hardware customers for a year. Here are my impressions of some of Apple’s early shows. There are some spoilers here; you’ve been warned.
The Morning Show: Like most of America, I like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carrell, so somebody thought they should all be in the same show. While they all have a strong comedy background, The Morning Show isn’t a comedy. If you’re expecting jokes, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, they deal with serious topics ripped from the headlines, like fake news and sexual misconduct. In fact, all three of those stars have emotional
“APPLE TV PLUS IS LIKE A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM WITH A BIG BANKROLL. IT HAS RECRUITED FAMOUS, EXPERIENCED PLAYERS, BUT THAT DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THE PLAYERS WILL HAVE CHEMISTRY AND DELIVER A CHAMPIONSHIP.” 24
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breakdowns in the very first episode. Come to think of it, every real-life morning show has more humor than this show, but if you can look past that, the performances are strong. I’m already hooked.
See: It’s hard to accept the premise that in this future dystopian world, nobody can see except two infants. I tried to like it, but it was a little too derivative and far-fetched to take seriously. But Jason Momoa was in Game of Thrones and Aquaman, so maybe far-fetched is his thing.
Dickinson: Believe it or not, this period piece about Emily Dickinson is not just about poetry. It is a comedy about a strong, independent woman who was ahead of her time. Hailee Steinfeld is famous as a singer/songwriter/actress, particularly among the younger crowd, but she is a believable outsider in this period piece. Plus, I like that a younger generation might find their next hero in an author and not an Instagram model.
For All Mankind: At New York Comic Con, one month before Apple TV Plus premiered, I was able to see an early screening of For All Mankind and observe a panel featuring the actors, creators, and producers. I went into the event expecting this show to be yet another dystopian view of an alternate timeline, similar to Amazon’s The Man
in the High Castle, but in this show, the Soviet Union had beaten the US to the moon. However, as the creators explained, that outcome caused the US to abandon the Vietnam War early and encourage women to enter the workforce, including NASA. Who can say which timeline is the dystopian one? It’s a neat premise and I’m glad Apple TV Plus gave the show a platform.
Oprah’s Book Club: Oprah may be the queen of daytime talk, and her book club drives the bestseller list, but it remains to be seen if a serialized version will do the same. After all, the big bang from exposure on her broadcast TV show hits a worldwide audience at one time. But a streaming show, limited to Apple users, with viewings spread out over days may not have the same impact.
Octavia Spencer looks promising. The show follows the form of a true crime story, which is popular lately (think the Serial podcast meets HBO’s True Detective), combining home video-style footage with drama. Kids will get some attention as well, with two shows in particular. Helpsters should remind viewers of Sesame Street, because Jim Henson’s team is behind it. Snoopy in Space is for fans of Snoopy and Charlie Brown, but a couple of franchises doesn’t match the vault at Disney. Ghostwriter will appeal to the young adult viewer who likes shows in the vein of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Goosebumps, and Lemony Snicket. If your preference is for traditional television, you might be better off with Hulu or YouTube Pro, or a compilation of individual network apps. The Apple TV app can still act as a launching pad for many such services regardless of whether you subscribe to Apple TV Plus or not. Personally, I am already hooked on For All Mankind and I am awaiting Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories reboot so I expect to be a paying customer after my trial ends.
VALUE FOR MONEY Servant: Fans of M. Night Shyamalan’s work will expect a twist in any drama he creates, and Servant is no exception. The best way to describe this series is as a mashup of The Twilight Zone, Chucky, and Pet Cemetery. Unlike The Sixth Sense and most of his other work, the twists and turns need to stretch out over an entire series, so it will be interesting to see how he does it.
Truth Be Told: This fictional drama starring Academy Award-winning actress
Perhaps the biggest thing going for Apple TV Plus, in the short term, is its low cost of $4.99/month with a free seven-day trial. Even better, the current promotion gives away a free year of the service to anyone who has purchased an eligible Apple device on or after September 10, 2019 (Apple should recognize if you’ve made a qualified purchase and allow you to try the service for a year). The risk/reward ratio has suddenly tilted very much in the consumer’s favor. Students with an Apple Music subscription can also get free limited access to Apple TV Plus. But keep in mind that if you cancel the trial, it takes effect immediately and you won’t get a second chance, so rather than cancel early to avoid being charged in 12 months, set a calendar reminder if you really don’t want to risk being charged a year from now. For those who have purchased an eligible Apple device during the promotional period, the free service is worth trying and will only get better.
PROS: • Essentially free for many Apple customers, for a year • A few gems like For All Mankind and The Morning Show • Something for kids, young adults, and grownups • Cheaper than Netflix • Supports multiple simultaneous users and downloads
CONS: • Can’t binge-watch a new series • No user profiles to allow for separate favorite shows • No proven franchises compared to Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars • No award-winning library compared to Netflix, HBO and Disney Plus • Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories and other promised shows haven’t launched yet
FINAL VERDICT Personally, I find Apple TV Plus already to be worth the cost of a cup of coffee each month; but by giving millions of Apple customers a free year of Apple TV Plus, Apple has given itself breathing room. Over the next year, Apple can streamline the user experience and add valuable, even addictive content. Most users should reserve judgement until next year to decide whether the $4.99 monthly fee is worth it. Ѷ
Todd Bernhard is founder of No Tie Software, an app development company specializing in ringtones and sound effects including AutoRingtone. Bernhard has owned an Apple Newton, a Motorola Marco, an HP 95LX, a Compaq iPaq, a Palm Treo, and a Nokia e62. In addition to writing for iPhone Life, Mr. Bernhard has written for its legacy publications, PocketPC Magazine and The HP Palmtop Paper.
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Hands on with iPadOS Closer to a Laptop Than Ever Before by Mike Riley 28
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A
pple has been pushing the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement for the last few years, yet its interface hasn’t allowed the levels of productivity afforded by traditional desktop operating systems like macOS and Windows. So when Apple announced its bold intent to fork the iOS platform by creating a separate version for the iPad, most enthusiasts, including myself, applauded the strategy. The iPad has been held back by its iPhone progenitor since the tablet’s inception. While certain extensions to the iOS user interface have taken advantage of the iPad’s larger screen real estate since the beginning, major annoyances like mobile versions of websites delivering page formatting intended for the iPhone has been a constant source of irritation. The initial release of iPadOS is essentially iOS 13, plus a set of exclusive iPad extensions. However, by separating out iPadOS, Apple has placed its tablet’s future software development on a direction toward functional parity with traditional desktop operating systems, while maintaining the high degree of privacy and security unmatched on those legacy platforms. Let’s take a look at the most impressive features iPadOS has to offer.
ment but makes major gains in productivity since you no longer have to keep swiping back and forth to check the weather forecast or see what is on your agenda for the day.
More Room for Apps The first striking difference you’ll notice between an iPad running iOS as opposed to the new iPadOS is the smaller Home screen app icons. The resized app icons don’t make selecting them any more difficult than their iPhone equivalents. In fact, the change recognizes that the iPad is not just a larger-screen iPhone anymore.
figure 1
Use the Today View Widget Another feature that demonstrates this new direction is the Today View, which you can now either slide over from the left side of the screen or pin to the Home screen in the Home Screen & Dock settings. Rather than taking you to a separate screen, the iPad’s Today View now compresses the space between the Home screen app icons to show both the Today View and app icons together (figure 1). It’s a minor improve-
figure 2
Multitask with Multiple Versions of the Same App Another iPadOS-only addition is the improved Slide Over feature. While not quite the equivalent of multi-window desktops, Slide Over does allow for two apps to run either side by side or one on top of the other. This is especially useful when surfing the web in Safari while writing notes in the upgraded collaborative Notes app. While Slide Over existed in earlier iOS releases, iPadOS has elevated it to full multi-tasking capability by allowing additional instances of a single app to run (figure 2). For example, you can copy files between two instances or “windows” of the Files app by dragging the file from one app instance to the other. You can do the same thing with any app that is Slide Over-aware (of which many modern productivity apps that have been kept up to date already are). To use Slide Over, launch any app as usual. Next, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the Home screen dock. Finally, drag the app icon of whatever app you want to overlay on top of the current full screen app you’re running. When you release the dragged icon, it will open that app in a right margin-aligned window overlay on top of the full screen app. In order for this to work, the apps in question must be Slide Over compatible. If you prefer having the overlay along the left margin, simply swipe it to the left and the overlay will slide to that side of the screen. When you return home or swipe into another app, you can recall the overlay at any time by swiping on the right side of the screen. Once you get the hang of the new gestures, it becomes second nature and greatly improves context switching speed. While most productivity apps support Slide Over, the feature doesn’t work
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with most games, so you will need to continue to resort to the bottom screen left or right swipe for those apps.
mand key. One feature I hoped Apple would consider baking into its keyboard was built-in support for text expansion, which allows you to paste in commonly used wording by typing an abbreviation. Smile’s TextExpander (textexpander. com) has ruled this space for years, but as we have seen with keyboard swiping, it’s better when features that are built into the core iPadOS.
figure 3
Extend Your Workspace with Sidecar Sidecar is another neat new feature exclusive to iPadOS. Sidecar is basically a screen extender for macOS that allows you to use your iPad as a second monitor (figure 3). Some third-party apps have offered this capability in the past, but they lacked the slick polish and “it just works” simplicity that Apple apps are known for. Unfortunately, Sidecar only works with macOS Catalina at the moment, but I hope Apple considers releasing a Windows-based agent so it can also be used with Windows laptops and desktops. This could be bundled in a future update for the iCloud for Windows app so that non-Mac hardware owners could benefit from the additional screen space Sidecar affords.
Type Faster with Keyboard Improvements Apple’s latest iPads (with the exception of the runt of the litter iPad Mini) all have a built-in magnetic connector that attaches to Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio external case. But for those who don’t want to spend an extra $160 on an external keyboard, iPadOS has improved the on-screen keyboard experience by allowing it to be shrunk into a floating window overlay roughly the size of the iPhone’s pop-up on-screen keyboard. While not practical for long form typing, it comes in handy when entering short bursts of repeatable data such as numbers in a spreadsheet or quick replies to instant messages. You can place the floating keyboard anywhere on the screen, making it easy to find a sweet spot for typing that doesn’t cover up important data in the underlying app. To enable the floating keyboard, hold down the keyboard icon in the lower right corner of the keyboard and select the floating menu option that pops up. The simpler approach is to simply pinch the on-screen keyboard. To return the keyboard to its normal size and docked location, simply un-pinch the floating keyboard. Another on-screen keyboard improvement Apple has added to both iOS 13 and iPadOS is swipe support for the floating keyboard. After years of seeing this built into Android phones and tablets by default, it’s good to see that Apple officially supports swiping with its QuickPath keyboard since the third-party keyboard swiping apps weren’t as seamless and posed privacy concerns. For those who still prefer a physical keyboard, iPadOS now includes a number of keyboard accelerators. To see a list of supported shortcuts, simply press and hold the Apple Com30
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figure 4
Use Custom Fonts Custom fonts have finally made their way to the iPad. While not nearly as sophisticated as desktop font management apps like Adobe Type Manager or Extensis Suitcase, the fact that Apple has even opened up the iPad to the possibility of using custom fonts is a big deal for creative designers. However, installing new fonts on your iPad does take several additional steps. First, download a font manager from the App Store. I’ll use Font Diner (free) as an example (figure 4). Once downloaded, launch the app, select a font you like, and select Install from the pop-up dialog. Verify that the font is installed by launching a font-aware app such as Mail. Next, bring up the on-screen keyboard and select the arrow symbol on the word selector row above the keyboard. Doing so will slide out a toolbar showing several icons, with the first one being font selection. Selecting that icon will display several more tool buttons including font selection, which is almost always set to Default Font. Selecting the Default Font label will display a font picker list of all the system fonts currently installed, including the one you just downloaded from Font Diner. And Adobe recently released its Creative Cloud app that allows subscribers access to over 17,000 fonts from a variety of font foundries. If you’re not a Creative Cloud subscriber, you can still access around 1,300 fonts within the Creative Cloud mobile app as long as you have or sign up for a free Adobe ID at account.adobe.com.
features were available via third-party apps like Goodreader, it was a multi-step process to transfer files from that application’s own file store to the Files app. Now that it’s built in, third-party solutions for these functions are no longer necessary.
Use Desktop-Class Safari The days of dumbing down websites on the iPad’s Safari browser are over. iPadOS now informs websites it is just as capable of showing the same page formatting as its desktop sibling. This major milestone makes the new iPad hardware worthy of serious laptop replacement consideration, since a majority of people’s web-connected time is spent browsing. Safari also now includes weak password warning protection and a built-in file download manager, just like its macOS Catalina desktop equivalent.
Pros: • New features bring the iPad closer to laptop replacement territory figure 5
Use Markup with Apple Pencil For those who disregard Steve Jobs’ famous disdain of styluses, iPadOS now allows you to mark up screenshots with the Apple Pencil via a redesigned drawing and markup tools pop-up palette (figure 5).
• Substantial upgrades for base apps (Files, Notes, Reminders, etc.) • Safari web browser renders web pages identically to desktop equivalent • iPadOS includes all new features of iOS 13, including security and privacy improvements
Cons: • Discoverability for some features not immediately obvious • Sidecar currently only works with macOS Catalina • Minor bugs in the initial release • Older iPads don’t qualify for the upgrade
Final Verdict
figure 6
Transfer Files More Easily The Files app also received several major improvements to assist iPad users with connecting to file storage devices and servers. Files now supports SMB file sharing connectivity allowing you to connect to macOS, Windows, and Linux file servers just like desktop and laptop counterparts (figure 6). And if you have a USB-C thumb drive or external hard drive, plugging it into the iPad Pro’s USB-C port will mount the drive just like a regular desktop operating system does. While these
Due to the broader feature of iPadOS, only iPad models released in the last three years are eligible for the software update. That said, iPadOS shines best on Apple’s third-generation iPad Pro line, since the user interface enhancements have virtually no impact on performance or the smooth as butter user experience those A12X Bionic processor-based tablets deliver. For those with older iPads unqualified to run iPadOS, it may be time to consider purchasing a new iPad. Apple is moving forward with iPadOS, and the next major release of this operating system will continue to rapidly distance it from iPads running the older iOS versions. Ѷ Mike Riley, a professional software developer and emerging information technologist, is the author of Programming Your Home, published by Pragmatic Bookshelf. Mike is also a contributing editor and author of hundreds of technical articles and reviews for a number of popular technology publications. For more information, contact Mike via email at mike@mikeriley.com and follow him on Twitter @mriley.
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IPHONE LIFE MARKETPLACE - SPONSORED PROMOTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS
Withings Sleep Tracking Mat ($99.95, Withings.com) If you or your loved one has trouble sleeping soundly, then you should check out the Withings Sleep Tracking Mat. Snoring isn’t the only disturbance that we experience at night. Even light sleep apnea can cause minor disruptions that jolt you from a deep sleep. If you’re feeling lethargic during the day, chances are good you’re waking up throughout the night.
The Withings Sleep Mat will help you narrow down your sleep patterns, and the accompanying app is there to provide the feedback and insights you need to make changes. You’ll get great advice on lifestyle habits that might be affecting your sleep and help to make those changes. The mat can act as an automatic switch for turning your lights on or off as well as setting your thermostat to the ideal sleeping temperature. Best of all, it slips right under your mattress; no uncomfortable face masks or bulky electrodes required. Give yourself the gift of a good night’s sleep with the Sleep Tracking Mat from Withings.
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STM Dux Plus Duo for iPad 7th Gen ($69.95, STMgoods.com) When you cover your iPad in a durable case, you’re usually covering the Apple logo. This case for seventh-generation iPads was built with customization in mind. With the transparent backing of the Dux Plus Duo, you keep the logo (and perhaps a collection of your favorite decals) visible. And with drop tests that exceed six feet, you aren’t sacrificing durability in exchange for appearance.
This case takes the stress out of your daily schedule. The magnetic closure of the Dux Plus Duo keeps your iPad safe during travel and between uses, so you don’t have to worry. Plus, the cover saves your battery life. When the case is open, your iPad wakes up, and when the case is closed, your iPad goes back to sleep! No more accidental battery drain. When you’re ready to get to work, the integrated kickstand makes using your iPad a breeze. And with a storage compartment for the Apple Pencil or Logitech Crayon, you’ll have your favorite stylus close at hand. The Dux Plus Duo was made for you, so pick yours up today.
IPHONE LIFE MARKETPLACE - SPONSORED PROMOTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS
Informant 5 ($2.99/month, PocketInformant.com) You need an app that can do it all— one place where you can review and manage everything on your to-do list. Informant 5 is that app. Whether you’re managing a multi-part project or planning a dinner date, Informant 5 keeps you organized. Informant 5 has a 30day calendar view that’s very helpful. You can create events, to-dos, projects, and tasks to help you keep track of everything from bills to planning your best friend’s birthday. Here at iPhone Life, we love the consistent updates and improvements that come with the paid version of the app. The newest version has a TimeTracker function that will change the way you plan your events. Other features include weather and email integration, a TravelAssist setting to automatically manage timezone changes, and a Dark Mode setting that makes your schedule easy to see in low light. Informant 5 is free to try, and you can upgrade to the full version for as low as $2.99/month. Get started with Informant 5 on the App Store today.
Nomodo Wireless Bluetooth Collar ($79.99, Amazon.com) When you’re working around the house, you don’t always want to wear bulky headphones or uncomfortable earbuds. With the unique design of the Nomodo Bluetooth Collar, you can ditch the headphones and jam out in comfort. Nomodo’s wireless sound system rests on your shoulders, not your head, so you don’t have to worry about sweaty ears or messy hair while you’re moving about the house.
This portable speaker provides theater-quality sound that’s great for gaming or solo movie watching. The placement of the speakers helps drown out background sound, giving you a great listen every time. The interface is simple, making it easy to pause, advance tracks, and pair your Sound Collar without fumbling around. If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy great sound, then give the Nomodo Sound Collar a try. This innovative product is unlike anything else on the market today, so pick yours up today and start enjoying hands-free sound without the headache.
OWC USB-C Travel Dock ($49.88, MacSales.com) Simplify your mobile life with the OWC USB-C Travel Dock. OWC has you covered with five available connection points, including a port for HDMI, USB-C, and an SD Card, as well as two for USB-A. This portable dock lets you work while you charge, thanks to 100 watts of pass-through power, so you can use all your devices even while you charge.
The Travel Dock is the perfect accessory for the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro. If you suffer through long layovers on travel commutes, then this travel dock is a great solution. Use it to browse the contents of your SD card from your MacBook while you watch movies on your iPad, all while charging your devices for the next leg of your trip. OWC’s travel dock has everything you need to keep moving and stay connected at a price that can’t be beat. And with its compact size and easyto-stow cord, this hub is ready to go. Get plugged in today with the OWC USB-C Travel Dock.
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IPHONE LIFE MARKETPLACE - SPONSORED PROMOTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS
CASEBUDi for AirPods Pro Travel Case ($12.99, Amazon.com) CASEBUDi is back with the perfect storage solution for your most valuable Apple accessories, the AirPods Pro. This case is covered with tough nylon that doesn’t scuff during travel and is padded to keep your AirPods Pro case looking like new. When you’re ready to charge, you can just put your CASEBUDi on the wireless charger; it’s 100% compatible.
If you have your hands full, then you’ll love the carabiner clip for keeping your case secure to your belt, bag, or purse. The round design makes this compact case resistant to most impacts so that if you ever do drop your AirPods, you won’t have to worry about the safety of your investment. Of course, if the worst should happen, CASEBUDi has you covered with a one-year, no-questions-asked guarantee on all their cases. This travel case is available with five different design options; Black, Pink, Blue Jean, Gold, and Pride. Pick the style that’s right for you, and start protecting your AirPods Pro today with CASEBUDi.
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Matias Aluminum Wired Keyboard ($59, Matias.ca) The original Apple wired keyboard was a fan favorite for years. Now that Apple has gone wireless, Matias has stepped in with the wired keyboard that Apple should have made. If you prefer a wired option, you’re going to love the Matias Wired Aluminum Keyboard, modeled after Apple’s iconic aluminum keyboards. And because it’s wired, you never have to worry about running out of power while you type.
The Wired Aluminum Keyboard mimics the smooth precision of Apple’s vintage keyboard. Matias includes two USB ports to connect your mouse, flash drive, or other devices through the keyboard. You also get a full numeric pad and Mac-friendly function keys, so your shortcuts stay the same. Matias even added a volume dial, giving you precision control of your sound. Matias has beautifully picked up where Apple left off with the Wired Aluminum Keyboard. Get plugged back in and never worry about battery life again with this classic design, only from Matias.
Jamf Now (First 3 devices free, then $2/device/ month, Jamfnow.com) Your company’s devices are invaluable, but are you spending too much time or money configuring and maintaining those devices? Jamf Now is a cloud-based mobile device management system that allows you to configure settings, add email accounts, download apps, and set up security measures for all of the Apple devices in the company.
There are three main pillars to Jamf Now. The first is the ability to remotely configure all of your iPad, iPhone, and Mac devices at work. This includes setting up Wi-Fi, changing settings, and setting up email accounts. The second pillar is the ability to manage these devices centrally. You can even deploy apps company-wide and know that everyone has access to the tools they need. Jamf Now makes protecting your devices easy. You can remotely enforce passcodes, use Jamf’s enterpriselevel encryption, and even lock or wipe devices to secure your investment. Try Jamf Now today; it’s free for up to three devices!
iOS 13 Guide
O
ur annual iOS guide is back with all the tips, tricks, and insights for the iPhone you’ve been craving. There’s a lot to love about iOS 13, like the long-awaited Dark Mode, customization options in the Notes and Reminders apps, and improved privacy. But what good are the new features if you don’t know where to look? If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, don’t panic; we’ve got you covered. Dig in with our comprehensive guide and get to know the new iOS 13.
When the Lights Go Out
Behind the Curtain
Put Down the Compass
Apple fans asked, and iOS 13 delivered; Dark Mode has finally arrived. Learn how to enable and disable Dark Mode, plus how to create your own schedule. You can even enable the feature by talking to Siri or adding it to your Control Center. (Page 44)
In our hidden features section, you’ll learn how to silence unknown callers. You’ll also learn to be more productive by adding attachments to your Calendar. And of course, the one-stop battery life solution will keep your iPhone running longer. (Page 42)
Apple Maps is making travel smoother. The app now includes on-the-ground previews of most major cities, so you can look ahead to see where you’re going. You can even curate collections of your favorite locations to share with contacts. (Page 45)
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iOS 13 Guide
PHOTOS & CAMERA ORGANIZE, EDIT & CUSTOMIZE YOUR SHOTS Navigating the Updated Photos Tab A new menu in the Photos app makes sorting your photos easier. When you open the app, you’ll see the tabs you’re used to, including Photos, For You, Albums, and Search. In the Photos tab, however, you’ll find new viewing options. Here, you can now quickly sort your pictures by Days, Months, Years, and All Photos. Apple uses its algorithm to highlight your best photos and videos from any given timeframe you select. To see all your media without any of your curation, tap All Photos. Now, you can easily locate that photo or video you wanted to share with your friends. Rotate Your Videos At long last, you can rotate your videos without having to install third-party software! Just open the Photos app and locate the video you want to rotate. Tap Edit on the top right, then tap the cropping tool. On the top left, you’ll see an icon to flip your video as well as an icon for rotating your video. Flipping creates a mirror image of your original video, while rotating the video switches it between portrait and landscape orientations. No more suffering the injustice of a wrongly oriented recording!
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Robust Video-Editing Tools Apple’s added a suite of editing tools to bring your videos to the next level. Now, you can adjust the contrast and exposure of recorded videos and even add filters! To access these tools, open the Photos app and locate the video you want to edit. Tap Edit. To select a new filter, tap the Filters icon. To change the contrast and exposure, tap the Adjust icon to the left of the Filters icon. Here, you’ll find the same filters that you’re used to shooting with in still photography, like Noir and Vivid.
Adjust Aperture & Lighting in Portrait Mode For iPhones with Portrait Lighting, you can now adjust the aperture and lighting from inside the Camera and Photos app. This gives you more control over your digital studio, with the ability to fine tune the level of background blur and lighting effect in your shots. To adjust your aperture and lighting in the Camera app, first line up your subject in Portrait mode. Select any lighting effect (other than Natural Light), then tap the hexagon icon to control the level of the effect and the F icon to control aperture. Swipe on the slider until you’re happy with the result. Customizable Filters I love using filters to jazz up my photos. Now, you can adjust the filters, adding another layer of customization to your photography experience. To adjust a filter, open the Photos app and select the picture you want to edit. Tap Edit, then tap the Filters icon. Select the filter of your choice. Below the filter menu, you’ll see a slider bar. Swiping left on the slider bar increases the effect of your filter while swiping right softens the effect of the filter. This customization lets you do things like increase color saturation in Vivid or add some color to the Noir filter.
iOS 13 Guide
IPHONE 11 & 11 PRO CAMERA NEW LENSES & LOW-LIGHT OPTIMIZATION Use Night Mode for Low-Light Photography The new Night Mode automatically improves your low-light photography. Next time you’re in a dimly lit room and open the Camera app, look for the moon icon on the top left of your screen. You can also manually adjust Night Mode by tapping the icon and using the slider above the shutter button to choose your level of exposure. With Auto exposure, your iPhone decides how long to shoot. With Max exposure, your iPhone takes the longest Night Mode shot available for your lighting conditions. Be sure to hold your camera steady! Changes to Video & Burst Mode On earlier iPhone models, you could capture action shots by holding down the shutter button to enter Burst Mode. On the 11 and 11 Pro, holding down the shutter button starts taking a video until you lift your finger. To switch to Video Mode to take a longer video, hold down the Record button and drag it to the Lock icon to the right. To take a burst photo instead, press the shutter button, then drag your finger to the left toward the thumbnail of the last picture you took. You’ll see a counter in place of the shutter icon, indicating the number of shots you’ve taken using Burst Mode.
Use HDR to Highlight Subjects HDR on the iPhone combines multiple exposures to capture increased depth of color and detail in high-contrast images. With the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, HDR now takes in a wider range of color and increases the detail, resulting in more professional-looking pictures. This is great, except HDR shots take up more storage. You can control when you use HDR manually by disabling Smart HDR in your Camera settings. To do this, open the Camera menu in Settings and toggle Smart HDR off. Now, in the Camera app, you’ll see an HDR icon on the top right of your viewfinder that you can toggle on or off at will. Take Advantage of the Ultra Wide Camera The Ultra Wide camera on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro takes in more of the scenery, allowing you to capture the image outside your frame. To use the Ultra Wide camera, you’ll first want to frame your subject. In the dark margins outside your camera frame, you’ll see a wider image. Tap the .5x icon to switch to Ultra Wide mode, and your frame will include that wider image. Now, just tap the shutter button when you’re ready to take the shot. Zoom without Losing Resolution Thanks to the Ultra Wide camera in the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, you can zoom in twice as close to your subject without losing resolution. The 11 Pro’s zoom is even better thanks to a third telephoto lens that allows for four times optical zoom. To zoom in, tap the 2x icon in your viewfinder and then tap the shutter button to capture your image. To take advantage of the Pro’s four times optical zoom, reverse pinch by moving two fingers away from each other on the screen until the icon says 4x. I like to use the zoom feature in Portrait Mode, as it allows me to get closer to my subject without losing image quality.
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iOS 13 Guide
MEMOJI & MESSAGING IMPROVED TYPING, SEARCH & MEMOJIS Text One-Handed with Slide to Type If you find yourself texting one-handed or you have painful joint issues, using Slide to Type—which has you draw a path with one finger for each word— removes a lot of effort from texting. To make sure this feature is enabled, go to Settings, then General. Select Keyboard and make sure Slide to Type is toggled on. You can also set the delete button to delete entire words or individual letters. Now, when you send a text, tap the beginning letter of a word, then drag your finger through the other letters in that word and release. A space will automatically be inserted between words. You can make corrections using the delete button. Share Your Name & Photo When you start a new conversation, you can now share your name and photo to make it easier for your contact to see who’s texting. To set this feature up, open the Settings app and tap Messages. Next, select Share Name and Photo. To add a photo, tap Edit or Add Photo. You can go with an Animoji, your Memoji avatar, or a photo from the Photos app. When you’re ready, tap Done. Enter your name below your photo and toggle on Share Name and Photo. Beneath Share Automatically, you can choose from Contacts Only or Always Ask.
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Get Creative with New Memoji Styles In the past, you could only create and use Memojis if your iPhone had facial recognition. Now, with iOS 13, you can create a Memoji sticker regardless of which model iPhone you own. What these static stickers lack in animation they make up for in style. Memojis have more customization options than before—hair styles, glasses, and jewelry, to name a few. To create a Memoji, open a thread in Messages. Tap the Animoji icon in the tool bar, then tap the three dots on the left-hand side. From here, follow the prompts to create your customized Memoji. Use Memoji Stickers on Any iPhone Once you’ve created a Memoji, you can use Memoji stickers to personalize your Messages, even if you don’t have facial recognition. To use a sticker, begin composing a text and select the Memoji sticker icon with three little faces from the Apple toolbar, right above the keyboard. Next, select your Memoji to open a sheet full of stickers of your avatar in different poses. Just tap a sticker, and it will display in your text box. Tap the blue arrow to send the sticker.
Search Your Texts More Easily You’ve always been able to search your texts, but results have varied. Now, not only is search better at finding text, but it will also help you narrow down links and photos sent by you or a contact. To use search, navigate to the main Messages view that shows a preview of recent conversations, then drag down until the search bar appears. Now, enter a keyword or a phrase and the search function will bring up a collection of results. Results are arranged in categories; Contacts, Conversations, Links, Photos, and Locations. Tap on any result to jump to that message thread.
iOS 13 Guide
NOTES ORGANIZE & SECURE YOUR DOCUMENTS
Switch from List to Gallery View Notes has a new way to browse your documents. Instead of viewing your notes in list form, you can open gallery view to see thumbnails of each note that include previews of images or PDFs you’ve attached to each document. This visual representation of notes can make it easier to find the note you need. To switch to the gallery view, swipe down on your screen. Near the top, below the search bar and on the left side of the display, you’ll see an icon that looks like four boxes stacked to form a square. Tap that icon, and your notes will display in the gallery view. To return to the list view, just tap the box icon again. Share Folders Sharing folders is a great new collaboration tool that comes in handy when you need to share ideas and materials with other iOS users. For example, you can share images, PDFs, checklists, and other materials by sharing an entire folder as opposed to individual documents. To share a folder, tap on a folder and select the three dots in the top right corner. Tap Add People and follow the prompts to select contacts. You can also tap Share Options to set whether or not the folder should be View Only.
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Create Passwords for Each Account In the past, if you set up a password in Notes, it unlocked all your Notes accounts, from iCloud to On My iPhone. Now, you can up your security by creating unique passwords for each account. To do this, open the Settings app and select Notes. Tap Password, then select an account. From here you can add a password as well as enable Touch ID or Face ID for that account. Go back to the Password menu, select your next account, and create a new password there as well. . Next time you lock or unlock a note under one of those accounts, you’ll be prompted to enter the password you created. Customize Your Checklists You can now customize checklists in Notes with new features that let you rearrange, indent, and clear tasks from your checklists. To reorder a list, long press an item and drag it to the preferred location. To indent an item, swipe right on that item or left to remove an indent. When you’re ready to check something off, long press and drag the item to the bottom of your note. You can also set up Notes to move checked items to the bottom of your list be default. Open the Settings app and select Notes. Tap Sort Checked Items and then select Automatically. Create a Subfolder in Notes If your notes feel disorganized, you might want to create subfolders. For example, if you have a Recipes folder, you could create subfolders like Entrees, Soups, and Desserts. To create a subfolder, go to the Folders screen in Notes and tap New Folder. Name your folder and tap Save. Long press the folder and drag it to a parent folder. Release the folder, and it will be nested inside the parent folder. You can tap the gray arrow to the right of a parent folder to view the subfolders.
iOS 13 Guide
REMINDERS SORT, GROUP & ADD ATTACHMENTS TO REMINDERS
Sort Reminders by Category Remember how the old Reminders app used to look like a stack of index cards? Now Reminders offers a much easier-to-use interface, with all items divided up into four distinct sections: Today, Scheduled, All, and Flagged. The Today tab takes you to any reminders scheduled for that day, the Scheduled tab shows all upcoming alerts by date, the All tab displays all your reminders in the old list format, and the Flagged tab displays only items you’ve manually marked as important. Using these tabs makes it easier to find, manage, and organize reminders quickly. Add, Rename & Remove Lists Adding and renaming lists you want while removing lists you don’t need gives you more organizing power in the Reminders app. To add a new list, tap Add List on the bottom right. Next, name your list, select a color, and tap done. To rename an existing list, swipe left on that list and tap the information icon to make edits. To remove lists, swipe left and tap the trashcan icon. Alternatively, you can tap edit on the top of the screen. From here, you can use the tabs to rearrange your lists and use the red circles to delete lists.
Navigate the Quick Toolbar When you go to create a new reminder, you’ll now see a handy toolbar that pops up with your keyboard. Here, you’ll see four icons representing time, location, flag, and camera. Time allows you to set when you would like to be reminded about your task, location allows you to set your reminder to be activated at a particular place (e.g., the grocery store), flag allows you to easily flag tasks, and camera allows you to add attachments such as photos and documents to your task.
Add an Attachment to a Reminder You can now add photos and documents to your reminders! Adding attachments brings all of your relevant documents together, making it easier to complete tasks efficiently. To add an attachment, select the list to which you would like to add a new reminder. Next, tap New Reminder. You’ll notice the Quick Toolbar appear above your keyboard. Tap the camera icon. You will see three options: Take Photo, Photo Library, and Scan Document. Select one of the options and then choose the attachment that you would like to add. Organize Similar Lists into Groups The Reminders app update lets you group similar lists to simplify navigation. This is great if you have a bunch of different lists that fall under the same category. For example, I have different workrelated lists for my weekly and monthly tasks. I can move both lists under a group called “Work” to keep my Reminders app organized. To add a group, tap Edit in the top right corner and then select Add Group. You can also drag and drop lists on top of each other to create groups.
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iOS 13 Guide
HIDDEN FEATURES L@=J= K EGJ= L@9F E==LK L@= =Q= Silence Unknown Callers If you’re sick of robocalls and unknown numbers disrupting your day, you’ll want to engage this hidden feature. While the calls will still technically go through, they’ll be sent directly to voicemail. To enable this feature, open the Settings app. Scroll down and select Phone. Look for Silence Unknown Callers and toggle the switch to the on position. Before turning on this feature, it’s a good idea to go through your Contacts list and make sure you’ve saved important numbers like your doctor’s office. Optimized Battery Charging Leaving a fully charged iPhone plugged in to a power source for long periods of time is harmful to your battery life. With Optimized Battery Charging, you can extend the life of your battery. This feature allows the iPhone to optimize how the battery charges based on your daily routine. With this feature enabled, if you charge your phone overnight, then your battery won’t reach 100 percent until morning, thus preserving your battery. To turn this on, open the Settings app and select Battery. Tap Battery Health and toggle on Optimized Battery Charging.
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Add Attachments to Your iCloud Calendar Adding attachments to your Calendar lets you view important documents related to scheduled events. For example, you could attach a scan of your latest lab results to your next doctor’s appointment. To add an attachment, open the Calendar app. Create a new event by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner. Enter the necessary information and then select Add Attachment. From here, you can add images and PDFs saved to your phone or from any cloud service you’ve connected to your iPhone. Control Center: Manage Wi-Fi Networks & Bluetooth Devices In the past, switching between Wi-Fi networks or reconnecting to a Bluetooth device involved a deep dive into the Settings app. Now, you can manage both your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections from the Control Center. To do this, open the Control Center and long press the center of the network settings card. Next, long press the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth icon to open your list of options. From here, you can perform quick actions like switching to a different Wi-Fi network or connecting to a different Bluetooth device. Automate Your Safari Tab Usage Let’s face it; we’re all guilty of keeping Safari tabs open indefinitely, only to find a few months down the road that we have an unwieldy collection of hundreds of web pages to scroll through. Now, you can set any open tabs to close automatically after a set amount of time. To create your tab management schedule, open the Settings app and select Safari. Scroll down and tap Close Tabs. Select how long you want tabs to remain open in Safari—a day, a week, or a month. Now, you can browse freely without having to worry about managing your open tabs.
iOS 13 Guide
DARK MODE REDUCE EYE STRAIN & IMPROVE SLEEP PATTERNS
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Add a Dark Mode Widget to the Control Center You can quickly toggle Dark Mode on and off from the Control Center, but first you’ll have to add the Dark Mode widget. Open the Control Center menu in the Settings app and tap Customize Controls. Look for Dark Mode and tap the green circle icon to add that widget to the Control Center. Now when you go to the Control Center, you’ll see an icon for Dark Mode. You can tap that icon to turn Dark Mode on and off. A notification will display briefly at the top of the screen to tell you whether your iPhone is in Dark or Light Mode.
Create a Schedule for Dark Mode Dark Mode lowers your screen’s brightness to reduce eyestrain in low-light environments while Light Mode is optimized for daytime readability. You can set both modes to turn on at preferred times of day by creating a custom schedule. Open the Settings app and select Display & Brightness. Toggle Automatic to the on position. By default, your iPhone will be set to run in Dark Mode from sunset to sunrise. To change this, tap Options. Select Custom Schedule and enter your preferred start times for both Light and Dark Mode.
Enabling Dark Mode in Third-Party Apps Most integrated apps will switch to Dark Mode automatically, but just because an app isn’t displaying in Dark Mode, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. To troubleshoot, you’ll want to make sure your third-party apps are all updated. If Dark Mode still isn’t working, check the in-app settings. Some apps, like Amazon Kindle, have an in-app toggle that you have to enable to activate Dark Mode. If you’re still having trouble, you might want to reach out to an app’s customer service to request Dark Mode in a future update.
Using Siri to Toggle Dark Mode On & Off There are times when Dark Mode can cause readability issues, like when you’re trying to use Maps while driving. Asking Siri to toggle Dark Mode on and off is a quick, hands-free way to change your iPhone’s appearance. To operate Dark Mode using Siri, make sure that Listen For “Hey Siri” is toggled on in your Siri settings. Next time you need to switch between Light and Dark Mode, just say something like, “Hey Siri, switch to Light Mode,” or “Hey Siri, turn off Dark Mode.”
Picking a Wallpaper for Dark Mode Apple’s wallpaper gallery has a small selection of images that are optimized for both Dark and Light Mode. To change your background, open the Settings app and select Wallpaper. You can find optimized images by tapping Choose a New Wallpaper. Open the Stills gallery and tap any wallpaper with the Dark Mode icon, then tap Set. You can also use images that aren’t optimized for Dark Mode. Enable the Dark Appearance Dims Wallpaper setting, and your background’s brightness will lower when Dark Mode is turned on.
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iOS 13 Guide
MAPS ORGANIZE & EXPLORE YOUR FAVORITE LOCATIONS
Preview an Area in Look Around Mode Look around mode gives you a 360-degree view of any area on the map that’s been recorded by Apple. This mode lets you take a virtual tour of where you’re headed or view a window into a place you’ve never been to. To use Look Around mode, open Maps. Enter a city that has this feature, such as San Francisco. Scan the thumbnails for the Look Around label. Tap that label to get a close-up view of that area. Unfortunately, you can’t use this mode for specific locations, like a street address, but that feature should become available as Apple records more streets. Make a List of Your Favorite Locations With iOS 13, your Favorite locations display in a conveniently placed horizontal list at the bottom of your map, along with the distance to each location. To add a Favorite, open Maps and tap the Plus icon under Favorites. Type the name or address of the location, and Maps will suggest labels such as School or Library. Tap Done and Maps will return you to the main screen. You can see the distance of each location below your list of Favorites.
Create a Collection of Locations Whether you’re planning a trip or cataloging the best antique shops, Collections are a great way to curate locations. To create one, tap New Collections in the Collections section of the Maps menu. Enter a name for your collection and tap Create. Now, select your collection and tap Add a Place. Type the name or address of your location. When your location appears below the search bar, tap the plus icon. You can add more locations or, if you’re finished, tap Done. Your Collections appear in a vertical list below your Favorites. Share Your Collections with Friends Once you’ve created a Collection, you can share it with friends for them to enjoy. They can add their own locations and share it back with you, so that you can curate together! To share a Collection, open Maps and tap a Collection. Scroll up to reveal the share icon on the bottom of the screen. Tap that, then choose how you want to share your Collection. You could use Messages, AirDrop, email, etc. Whichever you choose, it’s fun to write a little message like, “I found some cool pizza places for us to try,” before you hit send. Share Your ETA Sharing your ETA is a handsfree way of letting people know when to expect you. I like using this feature on road trips, so my hosts don’t have to wait around for me to appear. To share an ETA, open Maps and enter a destination. Select Go and then drag the bottom menu up to reveal more options. Tap Share ETA, then tap Contacts. Now, enter the name or number of the person you want to keep updated. Your contact will receive notifications as your arrival time changes, giving you the freedom to make pit stops along the way without worrying about inconveniencing your host.
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iOS 13 Guide
HEALTH & ACTIVITY TRACKING TRENDS & CHANGING HABITS Navigating the New Tabs Apple has streamlined the Health app to make navigating the app easier. Now, instead of four tabs, you’ll see two; Summary and Browse. The Summary tab gives a brief overview of your day that you can tap to expand for a more detailed look. You’ll also see recommendations for healthrelated apps or features in the Summary tab. From the Browse tab, you’ll find an in-depth analysis of different categories like Activity, Hearing, and Heart. You can also log information to subcategories like Allergies and Lab Results.
Track Your Monthly Cycle For people with menstrual cycles, Cycle Tracking is a great way to keep track of your hormone health. Monitoring your cycle helps you plan, take advantage of fertility windows, and log any symptoms you might want to share with your doctor. To start tracking your cycle, go to Summary and scroll down to Set Up Cycle Tracking, then tap Get Started. Follow the prompts to enter information like the start of your last period, your average cycle length, and the average time between cycles. You can also set up alerts to remind you of when your next cycle might occur.
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Enabling the Noise App Your ears can only handle so much noise before you risk hearing loss. iOS 13 automatically tracks the volume of compatible listening devices and stores the results in the Health app. You can also use an Apple Watch running watchOS 6 to monitor environmental noise levels. To enable Noise on your watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to the My Watch tab. Scroll down and select Noise, then toggle on Enable Environmental Sound Alerts. Now, your watch will warn you if the environmental decibel level crosses the safety threshold. View Your Activity Trends If you own an Apple Watch, then you also have an app on your iPhone called Activity. The Activity app includes a feature called Activity Trends with categories that represent the different rings on your Apple Watch. When you open the Trends tab, you’ll see a list of items like Move, Exercise, and Stand. When you tap each category, you’ll see a chart of your activity over time. Here, you can view things like how long it takes to close your Activity ring each day, how often you stand up on workdays, and much more.
Making Sense of Health Highlights The Highlights section of your Health app gives you a quick overview of your most recent health updates, such as workouts, heartbeat, and steps taken that day. To access your Health Highlights, go to the Summary tab in the Health app. Scroll down to Highlights and select Show All Highlights. Now, you can view categories like Steps, Stand Hours, and Activity. Unlike Trends, Highlights focuses on your activity that day as opposed to over time, giving you a snapshot of how you’re progressing toward your daily movement goal.
iOS 13 Guide
PRIVACY & TRACKING SAFELY SIGN IN, SHARE LOCATIONS & STAY CONNECTED Sign in with Apple Logging in and out of apps can be a pain, especially if you’re dealing with sensitive information like credit cards. Now, with iOS 13, you can automatically sign into participating apps and websites with your Apple ID without compromising your security. To use this feature, open Settings and make sure you’re signed in. On participating apps, you’ll see a button that says Sign in with Apple. Tap that button and follow the on-screen prompts. This feature is still rolling out, so it might be a while before it’s universally available on all your favorite apps. Set Up Bluetooth Tracking iOS 13 brings the ability to track your iPhone, even if your iPhone’s offline! To enable this feature, go to the Settings app and open your Apple ID. Tap Find My and then select Find My iPhone. Toggle Enable Offline Finding to the on position. Now, if your iPhone goes missing and has no signal, it will still be able to send you a location using the nearby Bluetooth signals of other Apple users. This feature makes it easier to find your missing device, and Apple promises that your data is safe from other users.
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Share Your Location with a Contact The new Find My app includes Share My Location, a feature formerly known as the Find My Friends app. This safe and secure feature lets you keep specific contacts informed about your whereabouts for however long you choose. To share your location with a contact, open the Find My app and go to the People tab. Select Share My Location and enter the name of a contact, then tap Send. To stop sharing your location with a contact, tap their name and select Stop Sharing My Location. Name Your Friend’s Locations When your contact shares their location with you in the Find My app, you can name that location and add it to that person’s contact card. For instance, I’ve saved my roommate’s current location as his work address. To name a location, open Find My and go to the People tab. On the map, tap the contact you want to edit. Drag the menu up and tap Edit Location Name. You can select a label from the list or tap Add Custom label to make your own. Now, that label and address are added to your contact’s card. App Location Permissions Keeping tabs on how apps use your location improves both your privacy and your data usage. When you open an app for the first time, a menu pops up with three options: Allow While Using App, Allow Once, and Don’t Allow. You can change permissions later in the Settings app. Go to Settings, select Privacy, and tap location services. Tap the app you want to adjust and pick one of the three options; Never, Ask Next Time, or While Using App. Some apps require location services in order to work, so make sure location services are set to automatically enable for those apps.
iOS 13 Guide
MAIL CONTROL YOUR CONTACTS & CUT BACK THE SPAM
Block Unwanted Senders Spam is one thing, but what about that relative who won’t stop sending you pyramid schemes and political ads? If you want to get control over your inbox, you might want to try the new blocking feature. The sender will never know they’re blocked; meanwhile their letters will go straight to the trash. First, open Settings and select Mail. Tap Blocked Sender options and select Move to Trash. Next, make sure the email address you want to block is linked to a contact on your phone. Tap that contact’s name in your email, the Phone app, or Contacts app and select Block this Contact. Mute Noisy Email Threads Maybe you don’t want to block someone, but you do want to quiet a particularly noisy exchange for a few hours. You can mute a thread to silence those notifications without blocking any contacts. Later, when you have time, you can read over what you missed and unmute the conversation if you want to receive notifications. To mute a thread, swipe left on that thread. Tap More and then select Mute. When you want to receive notifications again, swipe left on that same thread, tap More, and then select Unmute.
Get to Know the New Reply Menu You might notice some actions have gone missing from the bottom of emails you receive, like Flag, Move Message, and Compose. Luckily, those options are still available, they’ve just been moved. To streamline the Mail app, Apple moved many actions under the Reply menu, creating a cleaner user interface. When you tap the Reply arrow at the bottom right of an email, you can drag up to access actions like Flag, Mark as Unread, Trash, Mute, and more. You can even use this quick action menu to send an email to print. Organize Your Inbox with Color-Coded Flags Flags have long offered a useful way to mark a specific email for review later, but what if you want different categories for flagged threads? Now, Flag has seven color options instead of just one. Color-coded flags are great for things like marking paid or unpaid bills and flagging emails from your pharmacy. To pick a flag color, first select the email you want to flag. Next, tap the Reply icon at the bottom right, then Flag, and select a color. Now you’ll see the flag color beside emails in your Flagged folder. Use the Formatting Tools for a Polished Look If you like to send emails that include things like bullet points or numbered lists to keep your emails professional and easy to read, Mail has the formatting features you need to create polished emails. To access these tools, start composing an email. Right above your phone’s keyboard is the arrow pointing left. Tap that icon, then tap the icon of the letter A. From here, you can choose font styles and size, lists, text color, and the option to insert attachments.
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FEATURED iUSER:
REBECCA BELLONCI Location: Chicago, Illinois Bio: Rebecca is Head of School at All Day Montessori in Chicago. She lives in a third-floor walkup with her husband, teenage daughter, dog, and a cat. Keeping a work-life balance is at the top of her busy to-do list!
ParkChicago: Using this parking app is so much easier than finding a kiosk and printing a ticket to place on your dashboard. You can even list multiple cars, and extend your time from your phone if things are running later than planned. Life360: I use this app to see where my daughter and her friends are as they explore Chicago—freedom for her with some peace of mind for me. Art Institute Chicago: The Art Institute is one of my favorite places. I like to hear about particular paintings, and see what exhibits are coming next. C25K 5K Trainer: What an easy way to start running again! This app provides manageable running and walking intervals that are doable no matter how long you have sat on the couch. The app tracks your distance and plays music to help the time fly by. Down Dog: When I can, I like to do a little yoga. You can pick your skill level, which voice feels most soothing (Australian male), how long you want to practice, and even the length of your savasana! Life support in an app. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: As my daughter enters ninth grade, she often asks me to define words. I have learned that it is easier to look up the word and give an accurate and precise definition. Teenagers can be so literal! Clue Period Tracker: My husband, daughter, and I all have this app on our phones. Not only does it chart our menstruation cycles, but we can also track PMS, headaches, cravings, exercise, and sleep patterns. Whole Foods: As Amazon Prime members, we have a bar code and get an additional 10 percent off any item that is on sale. I like to check the weekly specials, stock up on staples, and plan the menu with seasonal options. Grapes are on sale; I should go get some! 50
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Review: Rocketbook Everlast A Graphic Designer Puts a Smart, Reusable Notebook to the Test by Chosie Titus
he Rocketbook Everlast notebook, although conventional in look and feel, is built for the digital age. The Everlast makes it easy to digitize and organize all your notes in an instant. Writing is the same as with any other notebook—with one main exception. Adding a bit of water erases all your notes so you can start from scratch, making it 100 percent reusable (yay for the environment!).
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What Problem Does the Rocketbook Solve? We live in a digital age, and yet the traditional pen-to-paper experience remains a valuable tool. A 2014 study published in the journal Psychological Science found that handwriting notes is more effective than typing when it comes to retain-
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ing information and memory recall. Compared to the 50-plus words per minute that’s typical for typing speeds, writing is by nature slower and more deliberate, requiring internal synthesis in order to summarize the most important information.
“I am always looking for more efficient ways to upload my work in high resolution, a challenge the Everlast met with ease.” As a recent college graduate, I found that handwriting notes during class resulted in better retention than mindlessly typing every word my professor spoke. This notebook would have been a great hybrid, as I often alternated between handwritten and digital notes. Now, the Everlast allows access to all my handwritten notes, digitally captured on my computer or phone. Further, considering the number of notebooks filled up over a collegiate career, this notebook has tremendous paper-saving potential, allowing you to scan your work and wipe your notebook clean at the end of each day.
How It Works As a graphic designer, I am constantly scanning hand-drawn sketches as references in my designs. Although it is possible to do with a scanner or phone, it is often inconvenient and requires a few steps. I am always looking for more efficient ways to upload my work in high resolution, a challenge the Everlast met with ease. Upon downloading the Rocketbook app, it referred me to the seven icons and QR codes present at the bottom of each page in the notebook. Using the app, you can designate each icon to point to a specific folder in your phone or favorite cloud
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storage space. For me, checking off the bell icon sends my notes directly to my email whereas selecting the clover icon directs the entry to a Dropbox folder. When you are ready to digitize your page, just select your icon of choice, scan the QR code, and you’re done! You can transfer the high-resolution scans in either JPEG or PDF form.
Notebook & Pen Design The Everlast notebook comes in a variety of sizes, colors, and paper styles. As a designer, I prefer dot grids over lined paper as it allows me to easily draw diagrams—while testing the Everlast I found I even favor dot grids for taking notes! The Everlast comes standard with Pilot’s Frixion pen, a magic pen with ink that erases with water in the Rocketbook, or that you can use like any other pen on regular paper. I was wary at first of the pen-to-paper experience as soluble ink tends to appear watery on paper, but I was pleasantly surprised by how precisely the pen gripped the glossy paper. The ink does take around 10 seconds to dry, so beware of smudging. Once dry, however, it sticks to the page until you are ready to erase it with a damp cloth. I’ve used the pen quite a bit, and it hasn’t run out of ink yet, but once it does, a pack of three Frixion pens runs about $5–$10, a price I’d gladly pay for a pen of such high quality. As an avid sketcher, I would not use this for fine-detailed illustrations, or as a replacement for regular drawing paper. It can be cumbersome to illustrate fine details when you have to be careful of your hand accidentally smudging an area too soon. Although it is nice to be able to go back and erase pen mistakes, it is difficult to correct small mistakes using the damp rag without the risk of water erasing other areas as well. I would, however, use this notebook for quick sketches and illustrations that I don’t mind accidentally getting a little bit smudged. The interior pages of the notebook are great; although not exactly like regular paper, each page is durable and tear resistant. However, the cover of the notebook is finished in matte black and can be damaged easily if not properly cared for. After about a week, the notebook began to show signs of wear and the cover began to scrape off. This can be a non-issue if strict functionality is the main concern, but for professional purposes it can wear quickly, taking on a distressed look.
The best way to keep the Everlast working consistently is to take good care of it. I found that pressing too hard with the pen left indentations in the paper, which remained long after the ink had been washed off. Fortunately, the paper’s glossiness makes it easy to write effectively and softly, so be sure to not press too hard. With a bit of care, the interior pages should last practically indefinitely, a plus compared to traditional notebooks.
• Reusable pages make the notebook an environmentally friendly option
Cons: • Smudgy, slow-drying ink • Paper patterns that appear unpredictably in scans • Cover page durability
The Rocketbook App
Final Verdict:
One of my favorite parts of this product is the Rocketbook app. Unlike a regular scanner, the app processes each page individually to ensure that each scan has ideal lighting conditions, making them perfectly readable. Although each scan presents high contrast between the notes and the page, the dot grid did show up with some regularity—the first few did not show the grid pattern behind it, but the last few did. Using the notebook for illustration as well as notetaking, it would be nice to have the option of whether to show the paper pattern in the background.
The Rocketbook Everlast is an excellent alternative to bridge the gap between classic notetaking and the digital world and its environmental advantages add to the appeal. With some extra attention and care, the Everlast could easily be any notetaker or sketcher’s best friend. Ѷ
Pros: • The app makes it exceptionally easy to scan, store, send and organize all of your notes instantly, a great advantage over traditional scanners
Chosie Titus is a graphic designer based out of Iowa City, IA. She grew up in the small town of Fairfield, IA and earned her BFA in graphic design at the University of Iowa. Beyond design, some of her other passions include printmaking, illustrating, making Spotify playlists, and hanging out with her puppy, Julep.
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LOUISA MOJE Location: New Jersey Bio: Louisa Moje is a fashion blogger and entrepreneur. She’s the voice behind LaPassionVoutee.com, a resource for practical, everyday fashion advice for women. Louisa recently released her own line of African print swimwear. She also writes for an African travel blog with her twin sister.
Lightroom: Rather than getting stuck behind the computer, I can edit a photo for Instagram between errands. Lightroom makes it a breeze to edit images without the need to launch the software on my computer. rewardStyle: As a fashion blogger, my readers count on me to share practical styles. The rewardStyle app gives me access to shoppable clothing pieces so I can conveniently share outfits with my audience on social media. Mint: I use Mint to keep track of my spending and finances. I get alerts if anything crazy is going on in my bank account and can quickly spot any fraudulent charges. Buffer: Buffer makes posting to social media feel less like a chore. I can batch plan and schedule a series of posts to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter with just a few taps. Mino Music: When I’m ready to jam to some music on a drive or while cooking a dish, doing laundry, or cleaning, I fire up Mino. This app is the best way to enjoy ad-free African music and hit songs. Allrecipes Dinner Spinner: I get a little rusty on dishes I don’t cook often. Allrecipes lets me save my favorite recipes and refer back to my bookmarks with a few taps. It has pictures, ingredient lists, and videos. I can pick an ingredient, say chicken, and get meal suggestions in three seconds. Splitwise: Splitwise keeps track of split bills, borrowed money, and more. Splitting the cost of a meal? No worries, you can take a screenshot of your receipt, notify people, and even settle the bill right on the app. Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide: My family and friends count on me to give them educated information regarding their health and medications. When it comes to infectious diseases, I look to this app to back up my recommendations. I can search by drug name, pathogen, diagnosis, and more. 54
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Apple HomePod WHICH SPEAKER IS SMARTER? BY CULLEN THOMAS
HomePod ($299): The HomePod is Apple’s smart speaker that combines its Siri voice assistant with its proprietary HomeKit smart home hub.
Quick Take: Amazon’s Alexa is more versatile than Siri, with a deeper skillset, a ton of built-in functions, and even more third-party skills. As a smart home hub, the Echo was easier to set up and harder to mess up. That said, the HomePod enjoys a robust advantage in security and privacy matters and works well in the Apple ecosystem. There are reasons to go either way, but in my opinion, there is a clear winner.
The Ups: SMART ASSISTANT SKILLS A voice assistant can help you in two ways: answer your questions about factual matters and do things with connected devices, apps, and services. When it comes to answering questions, Alexa’s range of whimsical and informative replies
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had me and my roommate laughing, thinking, and trying out more and more queries. Generally, Alexa answered a greater variety of questions, and in far greater depth. I will definitely be turning to Alexa for answers, and as somebody who asks a lot of questions, that’s a huge plus. Add on to that the ability to order products (including food off Amazon) and the vast library of third-party skills, including games that turn your voice assistant into a quiz show host, narrate choose-yourown-adventure stories, or read off an endless supply of dad jokes. By now you might think there isn’t much room for Siri to compete. Alexa can both answer questions and do tasks better, right? Not quite. Siri does compete. Siri may not narrate crossword puzzles, but when it comes to handling basic tasks, Siri enjoys the home-field advantage for iPhone users. Apple’s ecosystem of branded apps all work together, and Siri can reach into any of them. When you ask Siri to remind you about something, it shows up in your Reminders app. When you ask Siri to make a phone call, it sends it to your iPhone. There is a real benefit to the way Siri works with the apps and devices you already know and use. So, who has the better skills? If you buy deeply into Apple’s
vs. Amazon Echo Amazon Echo Show (2nd Gen) ($229.99): The Echo Show is Amazon’s newest smart speaker and screen that combines Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant with a Zigbee smart home hub.
ecosystem, then you might prefer Siri. However, even though I have an Apple TV, an Apple Watch, and an iPhone, I still think Alexa wins.
“I will definitely be turning to Alexa for answers, and as somebody who asks a lot of questions, that’s a huge plus.”
SOUND QUALITY In terms of sound quality, the HomePod delivered better vocal separation. The Echo Show filled the room with a warmer sound that I found myself preferring. Neither is all that impressive when compared to a decent living room stereo or even a similarly priced soundbar. i P ho ne L i fe
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Besides sound quality, there are some audio feature differences. While many of the Echo family of devices can be set up in a stereo pair, the Echo Show (2nd Gen) cannot, and the HomePod can. Score one for HomePod. But to get a stereo set, you’d have to buy two expensive smart speakers and put them in the same room, which would be twice as much voice assistant as you need in one place. So, in other words, you could, but why would you? The better solution is to pipe your audio through your existing TV setup. The two devices also differ in how you connect them to audio sources. Gone are the days of popping in a cassette and hitting play. Now you’ve got competing streaming services to consider. The HomePod features Apple AirPlay, which means it will play audio from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac regardless of what that audio is. It will even play audio from other users on the same network no problem, as long as they have a Mac or an iPhone. The Echo, on the other hand, can be paired with a single device using Bluetooth, or it can be set up with individual streaming service accounts. If you are a paid customer of an audio streaming service, including Apple Music, then you install the skill for your streaming source, and then ask Alexa to play your music. This is more versatile in that you can send your audio to your Echo from a Windows PC or from an Android device, but it’s a lot less convenient than AirPlay. So, which is the better speaker for playing audio? If you have a Windows PC or an Android in your household, then it’s the Echo. If you’re all Apple all the time, then it’s the HomePod.
in both cases. You plug the HomePod or Echo Show in, you walk through some easy steps, and then your hub is up and running. HomePod doesn’t have a screen, so it took me a moment to figure out that I had to bring my iPhone nearby to transfer over Wi-Fi settings. The Echo Show did a better job of walking me through the process, but the difference isn’t a big one.
“The biggest downside to the HomePod is that it will only interact with Apple and products that work with HomeKit.” Registering new smart stuff (I used a Koogeek outlet and a Nanoleaf light fixture to test) was more consistent with HomeKit. With HomeKit, you scan a code and then navigate a setup process in the Home app that isn’t perfectly intuitive or error-free. Alexa-enabled devices might be connected in a lot of different ways, depending on their protocol, their manufacturer, and their settings. You have to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for each device. For Alexa, you end up installing a different app for each manufacturer. Still, once you’ve got it set up, you can drop the app and let Alexa work. Controlling smart devices worked just fine with either. They’ll both turn on your lights and monitor your smart thermostat. They’ll both experience random strange connection issues. What’s different? Alexa can control more varied devices. For example, I have a Roku TV. After installing a Roku skill on the Echo, Alexa will tell the Roku to turn on, turn up or down the volume, set inputs, and even navigate inside different channels. The HomePod will control the Apple TV, but nothing else. On the other hand, the increased versatility of Alexa comes at a price, and that price is security. We’ll get to that in a minute.
SMART HOME INTEGRATION I was initially skeptical of the so-called internet of things. Then I got some smart lights and a smart outlet. I’ve been impressed with the simple but unexpected pleasures of using voice control for objects in my home. “Hey Siri, turn on the living room lights,” is just the top of a long stack of cool tricks when your stuff is digitally connected. At the moment, I have the HomePod and the Echo Show set up side by side, controlling the same set of devices. Here are my thoughts: The initial setup of the speaker and its hub is straightforward
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The Downs: The biggest downside to the HomePod is that it will only interact with Apple and products that work with HomeKit. It’s nearly useless if your device, your family’s, or your guest’s devices run Windows or Android. The HomePod was also surprisingly limited even inside the Apple world. Siri on the HomePod often refused to do simple tasks until I unlocked my iPhone. This feature is no doubt intended to prevent an
unauthorized person from standing in shouting distance from my HomePod and making changes to my private data. But, by the time I had my iPhone out and unlocked, I could have used my iPhone to get the task done and didn’t need an expensive HomePod. Sometimes the Echo Show’s versatility is a weakness. There are more than a dozen devices in the Echo family, with a variety of capabilities. Add in the complexity of installing third-party skills, and you can end up with a lot of knobs to twist, which means a lot of places something can go wrong.
ble to hackers. Apple HomeKit does not allow this; all smart devices have to connect through the home hub, and the hub controls internet signals. Amazon’s vast array of third-party skills and devices means that bad actors or people cutting corners can compromise the security of your network. Apple sets high standards for the collection of HomeKit devices. If you think that this sounds suspiciously like a verse from the Mac vs. PC song, then you’re right, it’s an old refrain: The diversity of an open market versus the security of a curated one. When you’re telling your smart speaker all your daily to-do lists, travel plans, contacts, and media preferences, it’s hard not to ask: who do you trust more, Apple or Amazon?
“When you’re telling your smart The Verdict: speaker all your daily to-do lists, travel plans, contacts, and media preferences, it’s hard not to ask: who do you trust more, Apple or Amazon?” The Difference: Neither of these devices stands on its own. They each have a three-fold purpose as a speaker, a voice assistant, and a smart home hub. The voice assistant functionality is only a stylish interface for the services provided by the platform and parent company—services like turning on or off your smart home lights, ordering goods, aggregating news, and communicating with your loved ones. These smart speakers can’t be separated from the companies they represent. When you buy a smart speaker, especially one meant to bridge a smart home, you’re buying into the corporate platform, ethos, and business strategy of the parent company. The differences between Amazon and Apple are not just cosmetic. They could prove to be the most important deciding factor in your choice. Nothing is more emblematic of this than how the two companies handle the security of your network and personal data. Amazon’s Alexa allows any smart device on your network to connect to the internet. That makes those devices vulnera-
I will be keeping the Echo Show and saying goodbye to the HomePod. Even in a house deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem, the Alexa speaker adds value, new devices, new features, and new services. Is convenience trumping security? For me, yes. For you, you’ll have to decide for yourself. Ѷ Cullen Thomas is a Writer and Producer at iPhone Life, creating tips and guides to help users unlock the full potential of their iOS and iPhone. Cullen spent nine years as an instructor in media and communications at Maharishi University, lecturing on a wide range of technical and artistic subjects,. Cullen is a film-maker, a game designer, a sci-fi author, a coffee connoisseur, and an obsessive nerd for all things tech.
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ESCAPE TO THE WILDERNESS SMART GEAR FOR YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
BY LEANNE HAYS
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f you love hiking in the mountains, camping and fishing at a favorite lake, or just going for a walk in the woods, you likely already know that time in nature does a world of good for both physical and mental health. Researchers at the University of East Anglia performed a meta-analysis of more than 140 studies completed in 20 countries that objectively confirms these subjective impressions. Exposure to wild spaces reduces the production of stress hormones, lowers pulse rate and blood pressure, decreases sleep disturbances, and increases happiness, well-being, and even creativity. For many people, spending time in the great outdoors, whether for an afternoon or weeks at a time, means a break from technology. But there are so many practical benefits of having your phone with you! So before you escape to the woods to eat roots and berries and forget human speech, think about adding some of this essential gear to your packing list. LifeProof FRĒ iPhone Case (Starting at $80.99) Let’s start with the basics; you’re going to need more than the usual protection for your iPhone. You’re probably familiar with the anxiety that comes with taking your device to the beach or on a camping trip. Sure, many recent iPhone models are water resistant, but few people want to test that feature and risk damaging their expensive device. This case by LifeProof is a great way to keep your phone shielded from the elements, so you can fearlessly capture all the vacation photos and videos you want. The FRĒ is waterproof (submersible for 6.6 feet for up to an hour), can survive drops up to 6.6 feet, and seals your iPhone (including the screen), from the elements. This means you can use your phone in dust, dirt, or snow; you can even submerge your phone to capture pictures of fish and other wildlife! Just make sure you attach the included lanyard, as well; otherwise, you may lose your iPhone in the river the way our video producer Rheanne did!
Olloclip Filmer’s Kit (Starting at $199.99) If you’ve fully explored your iPhone’s camera features and are ready to take your outdoor photography to the next level, give this Filmer’s Kit from Olloclip a try. The set includes a phone clip, a GoPro mount, a mobile video grip, and five lenses that will help you capture an array of creative, unique shots. The fisheye lens, my favorite, allows users to take round photos with a distorted perspective that makes the center of the image pop while the surrounding area appears to flex toward it. Other lens options include the Super-Wide, which doubles your field of view and is ideal for landscape shots where you want to capture as much of the natural beauty surrounding you as possible. If that’s not wide enough, try the Ultra-Wide lens for an even more expansive picture. The macro lens works like magic for close-up shots of insects, rocks, plants, or any other small object you’d like to see in maximum detail surrounded by a gorgeous bokeh effect. The telephoto lens is great for zooming in on subjects that you might not want to approach, like wildlife. The Filmer’s Kit is available for all recent iPhones, including the new iPhone 11 series. The set comes in a molded, zip-
NATURE APPS YOU’LL LOVE ViewRanger (Free, $4.99/year for Premium) Discover more than 150 thousand trails, download maps for offline use, track hike progress, and use the AR option to identify geographic features and stay on course.
Audubon Bird Guide (Free) Download this field guide before you hit the trail, and you’ll have access to photos, bird sounds, and range maps for more than 800 species of North American birds!
Edible Plant Guide ($2.99) Get offline access to information and photos for over 950 edible and medicinal wild plants, as well as information about toxic species you should avoid.
Yonder (Free) Social networking for outdoor enthusiasts! Research and plan trips, upload photos and videos, and follow members from around the world to see the content they’ve shared.
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pered case that safely compresses all components to keep them from rattling around and breaking during your expedition.
Midland E+Ready Emergency Compact Crank Radio ($49.99) You’re keeping your iPhone safe, now let’s make sure that you’re taken care of on your adventures too. In wilderness areas with little cell service, it’s crucial to have access to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio for information about incoming temperature changes, storms, and severe weather. If you’d like to listen to a little music around the campfire, this radio also picks up the full range of AM and FM stations. The Midland Emergency Radio is compact and lightweight enough for even backpackers to make room for, and charges via a hand crank or solar panel, so you’ll never run out of juice. This device doubles as a flashlight with an SOS beacon option, and a phone charger complete with a USB port. The peace of mind you’ll feel knowing you’ve covered all your bases makes this an essential purchase, even if you choose to leave your phone at home.
BioLite CampStove 2 Bundle ($199.95) If you’re the type of camper who likes to bring along a camp stove rather than cooking over an open fire, you need to check out the BioLite CampStove. This unique device burns twigs, small sticks, or pellets, so you’ll never need to buy or schlep white gas canisters again. I remember a two-week backpacking trip where a fuel canister leaked into our food supply, and we had the choice between eating the contaminated items or going very, very hungry. White gas burps are
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no fun, and this stove will prevent a repeat of that unfortunate situation. The BioLite Bundle includes everything you need to make a meal outdoors, including a kettle for boiling water or cooking soups and hot cereals, a grill top, and even a flex light so you can keep cooking after the sun goes down. There’s so much more to this than meal prep, though. An internal fan forces air back through the stove’s burn chamber for maximum efficiency. The heat created by the stove is converted to electricity (that’s what powers the fan), and any excess power is stored in a 2,600 mAh battery that you can use to charge your iPhone via a USB port. So, essentially, this stove will feed the human and electronic members of your group all at once. Yowza. For the cherry on top, a portion of BioLite sales goes toward product development to bring stoves to households without electricity in India and Africa. Their mission brings light and the ability to charge phones and other electronic devices to areas where these necessities were previously inaccessible. The BioLite stove literally saves lives by keeping indoor air 90 percent cleaner than an open fire, preserving lung health for people that previously had to breathe in smoke every time they cooked.
Voltaic Arc 10W Folding Solar Charger ($39) If you’d rather not bring a camp stove along on your trip but still want an off-grid charger for your iPhone, check out this affordable, portable solar panel. You can attach the 10- by 13inch accessory to your day pack as you’re hiking, or place it in a sunny, safe spot at your campsite and connect your device via the USB port to fast charge directly from the panel. When you’re finished charging, the Arc folds in half to easily slide into your bag, and at only 0.68 pounds, you’ll hardly know it’s there. As for durability, I only tested this item on mild days, but many reviewers report that it’s survived outdoor conditions from Mount Rainier to the Sahel desert. Outdoor enthusiasts have charged their devices in the rain, extreme heat, and even snow with no glitches or issues. I can’t wait to use this panel on future trips! Ѷ
Leanne Hays is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life. She loves reading and blogging, and is never without a book in her backpack or an audiobook on her phone. Short-term goals include finishing painting her house and starting an aquaponics farm, longterm goals include a bike tour of Italy and writing a novel.
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AMBER FAUST Location: South Carolina Bio: Amber Faust is a photographer and family influencer. Amber lives with her husband and three kids on a sunny island in South Carolina. Her mommy blog, FaustIsland.com, tackles topics like motherhood, family life, travel, food, and sustainable living
Word Swag: I love posting quotes and silly memes on Instagram. Word Swag turns your boring text into a fancy graphic using pretty fonts and colors. Story Swag is similar, but it works on video. Takumi: This app is amazing for Instagram influencers as well as casual users. Takumi is like Tinder, but for brands instead of people. You can connect with trusted brands and get paid for affiliate content. Preview for Instagram: My Instagram is very curated. My real life is up in the Instagram stories, but I love a wellplanned beautiful colorful Instagram feed. This app helps me decide what to post next before I actually post it. A Color Story: The colored filters for this app are bright and poppy. Matt Crumps Candy Minimal is so good for a bright, oversaturated, fun photo! Canon Connect: I shoot with a Canon camera, and I love the Canon app. I can use my phone as a remote trigger and see what my camera sees before I click the shutter. Jiobit: My toddler got lost in a park a few weeks ago. Luckily, we had a happy ending. This app links to a little device that hooks on my toddler’s shoes. I can track him anywhere. Amazon Cloud Cam: My boys are trouble and need a lot of supervision. This app comes with the Amazon Cloud Cam camera so that I can keep an eye on things during my busy day. NOAA Weather Radar: We live by the beach with hurricanes and riptides. NOAA is the best weather app for us. The radar is reliable and the app gives me push notifications when there’s a weather alert nearby.
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MARCH MADNESS APPS FOR THE WIN DON’T BUST YOUR BRACKET, GO WIRE-TO-WIRE WITH THESE 7 APPS BY ANJERIKA WILMER
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ue the madness. From Selection Sunday (mark your calendars for March 15) to the Final Four, you won’t want to miss out on any of the excitement that the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is known to elicit. With 68 teams competing to become the national champion, trust us, you won’t want to be left out of the loop. Just to reiterate: That’s a whopping 67 games played over 21 days. Phew. Now, I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but who doesn’t love filling out a basketball bracket with your predictions (Go ’Hoos!)? With the convenience of iPhone apps, filling out a bracket is so easy that even the most novice sports fan will want to get in on the fun. Throw in a little friendly competition with coworkers and the potential to take home a fancy-schmancy prize should your bracket come out on top for the optimal March Madness experience. Get hyped to cheer on your favorite teams with these seven best NCAA tournament apps that will help you make informed bracket picks while providing 24/7 game highlights. The best part? All of these apps are free!
ESPN Tournament Challenge (Free) Kick off the madness by downloading ESPN Tournament Challenge! Import your unique bracket picks or try the app’s auto-filling option (filter by top seeds or randomize). Once you’ve signed up for an account, you can create and track up to 25 brackets. Add an element of healthy competition to the mix by stacking your odds against friends, celebs, and die-hard ESPN fans. Besides bragging rights, if your bracket comes out on top, you’ll also be in the running for fun prizes.
NCAA March Madness Live (Free) Enter the official app of the 2020 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, your one-stop source for all things related to the tournament. Download this app to fill out your official bracket (bonus points for the aesthetic layout—you’ll never want a printable bracket again), track your favorite teams, and view post-game highlights. Check out team rosters and stream live games directly from the app. Simply select your TV Provider (CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV) for around-the-clock coverage. This intuitive app is easy to navigate with an inviting landing page and taskbar.
SeatGeek (Free) Snag a front seat at the tournament with SeatGeek, an app that sifts through hundreds of ticketing websites to get you the most bang for your buck. Whether you’re buying or selling tickets—at or above the original selling price—rest easy knowing that your transaction is backed by SeatGeek’s 100 percent buyer guarantee. You’ll also find an interactive, color-coded seating chart with rankings like good deal, premium pricing, or amazing deal. Bonus: You can purchase tickets with two taps and can easily share or sell them to friends. Evgenii Matrosov/shutterstock
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Yahoo Fantasy (Free) Calling all fantasy gamers! Yahoo Fantasy has one of the longest-running online bracket games around. Sign up for free, create your bracket, and invite coworkers and friends to compete in your group. Draft multiple brackets from your stone-cold lock predictions or your one-ina-million dream bracket. Yahoo knows what it’s doing and has made setting up a bracket pool a cinch. Plus, compete against different celebrities for a shot to win prizes. In the off-season, you can set up your own fantasy football and baseball league too.
CBS Sports App Scores & News (Free) CBS, the number one source for sports news, pulls everything you need for the NCAA tournament together in one place. You’ll find the fastest scores and alerts, along with game highlights, interviews, and, yes, yet another bracket to fill out for a chance to win prizes. You can also watch games directly through the CBS app—no subscription required! Upon downloading the app, you’ll be asked to add your favorite teams for a curated news feed, which will appear under the My Teams tab.
StubHub: Event Tickets (Free) Dream of attending the NCAA Tournament in real life for the ultimate March Madness experience? Don’t delay: Snatch up your tickets using StubHub , the self-proclaimed “world’s top destination for ticket buyers and resellers.” Navigate the ticket buying process (or sell your tickets if you’re unable to make it at the last minute), find venue info, and select the best seats with convenience and ease. Bonus: you can purchase tickets directly from the app using Apple Pay with the added bonus of the StubHub FanProtect Guarantee. Search NCAA TournamentGreensboro (select separate sessions or a full strip) to see which tickets are available. Additionally, you can filter your results according to the number of tickets, minimum and maximum price, and the delivery method.
theScore (Free) Ready to experience “the best sports app ever”? TheScore is a simple, straightforward app that delivers the inside scoop on all your favorite teams. Its minimalist black interface is clean and uncluttered with all the scores and stats from every game. Just add your teams as favorites and you’ll know what’s happening when you’re not able to follow along in person. Bonus: Because no tournament is complete without a little playful banter, be sure to check out theScore’s messaging feature (the icon is located at the top right corner of the screen), which can be used for private or public chats. With these apps in your arsenal you’ll have no trouble keeping tabs on your favorite team(s), whether it’s your first rodeo or you’re a seasoned veteran. You’ll be able to follow your teams throughout the regular season and conference championships and be ready to pick your winners. (Or, if you’re slacking during the season, take a breather and read up on all the teams right before the tournament begins.) Ѷ Anjerika Wilmer is a freelance writer, editor, and digital content creator. When she’s not researching the latest fashion market trends, you’ll find her gallery hopping in Chelsea.
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FROM RESOLUTIONS TO REALITIES Dream big with these apps to help you successfully set and keep the best New Year’s resolutions you can. by Briana Dicks
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hether you’re kissing someone at midnight in Times Square with your 2020 hat pushed back on your head or lounging on the couch in PJs reminiscing over years past while listening to “Auld Lang Syne,” there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to cross your mind that evening: the time-honored tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions. There is something truly magical about a new beginning, a fresh start, or a chance to better yourself. New Year’s is the perfect time of year to reevaluate your life choices and prioritize the change you want to achieve. Don’t wait for the ball to drop to make your resolutions. It’s time for you to take your life into your own hands. Because this is your year! Since the majority of people fail to stick to their resolutions, I have gathered the best apps possible to help you on your journey toward your goals. These functional apps will help you to get motivated and make some big life changes and tackle all your resolutions.
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BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
KICK CHAOS TO THE CURB
Hinge: Dating & Relationships (Free) Looking for love this year? Maybe Hinge is the app for you. Hinge’s goal is to get you past just matching with someone and on to connecting with them. With the app’s detailed profile setup, you quickly get a sense of someone’s personality and gather key information about them such as: religion, height, if they want children, and politics. That way you can know the basics of their personality and belief system before you reach out. It’s also one of the best match-making apps that doesn’t come with a hefty price tag.
Tally – Pay Off Debt Faster (Free) Are you sick of being in debt? Let Tally be your personal financial advisor—but for free. In under ten minutes of set-up time, Tally will build you a customized plan to help you achieve a debt-free life. After you scan in your credit cards, Tally works by giving you a new credit line at a lower annual rate and using it to strategically pay down your cards. It’s a great way to view, organize, and manage all your debt in one hassle-free place. Best of all? You’re guaranteed no late fees!
Bumble – Meet New People (Free) Bumble isn’t exactly a new app, but it’s listed here for a reason. Not only is Bumble a dating app, but its BFF mode offers a great way to make new friends. We all need authentic friendships, no matter what stage of life we are in. And this app is so popular, it’s a tried and true option when searching for new friendships. One of my favorite features of Bumble BFF is that it lets you select your interests based on what you’re looking for in a friend. For example: a workout partner, travel buddy, someone you can schedule mommy meetups with, etc. That way you can get the most out of this app and find the exact relationship you are looking for.
ZipRecruiter Job Search (Free) Looking to level up your professional life this year? Isn’t it time to ditch the boring job and pursue that dream career you’ve been secretly yearning for? Job hunting can be daunting and is dreaded by most everyone. But not anymore! I’m so happy to share ZipRecruiter with you as my absolute favorite job search app. I have such an inclination toward it truly just because of the ease of use. With its filters you can conveniently find the positions you are interested in all within you’re preferred location. Best part of all? You can apply to jobs with just one tap with your pre-loaded information. It’s literally an employment seeker’s dream come true. ZipRecruiter also makes it easy to track your current applications and sends you a notification when your application is viewed by the company. Happy job hunting!
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Clean Email (Free) This is the year that you finally get your inbox down to zero! Clean Email empowers you to take charge of your inbox once and for all. The most resourceful feature of this app is Smart Views. Instead of being stuck in the same old rut of sorting your inbox by each individual email (which is wildly time-consuming and is probably why we all have inbox issues to begin with), you can view your emails in grouped segments. It also boasts a fantastic unsubscribe button that does all the work for you without even requiring you to open the email. It also has an Auto Clean feature that will automatically archive or remove repetitive emails you may by receiving. Clean Email works with every email provider, so no matter what, this could be a viable option for you.
1 Second Everyday: Video Diary (Free) Every year during the holiday season, I start reminiscing over the past year. Have you ever wished you could look back without staying up way past your bedtime scrolling all the way back in your Photos app? 1 Second Everyday combines all of your daily moments and creates an enchanting movie for you. It’s so much fun to watch. Your videos can span over any custom time span from monthly to the past five years. Once you’ve created a video, you can easily share it to your favorite social media platform. Pro tip: my favorite way to use this app is to keep my Live Photo option on in my Camera app. That way I can turn any of my photos into short videos, which makes using this app the easiest ever.
TRY SOMETHING NEW
Golden Volunteer Opportunities (Free) One of my personal resolutions this year is to get out of my comfort zone and find a way to help others. That’s where Golden Volunteer Opportunities comes into play. I don’t have large amounts of time to dedicate to a passion project right now, and I thought that might be to my detriment. However, you can set filters to your available days and times and get offered realistic opportunities that cater to your lifestyle. Each volunteering project has a compact description focusing on the purpose, role, and vibe of the project, so you know exactly what you are committing to. This year, it’s time for each of us to try just a little bit harder to be the change we want to see in the world.
Libby, by OverDrive (Free) Libby is a great app to easily get more literature in your life. Just dig out your old library card from the recesses of your wallet, search for your local library on the app, and you’re in. You will then have access to thousands of ebooks and free audiobooks! Libby offers something for everybody. You can download books or audiobooks for offline reading, send your books to your Kindle, and even check out graphic novels or picture books with a read-along audio option for the littlest readers in your life. And yes to the most important question of all, Libby does support Dark Mode for the iPhone.
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PUT YOUR HEALTH FIRST Lifesum: Diet & Macro Tracker (Free) If you are on the get-healthy-2020 bandwagon and are looking for a diet/calorie/macro tracker, then Lifesum is the best one out there. It offers a large variety of diets such as low carb, ketogenic, and everything in between. A favorite feature of Lifesum is the recipe and meal planning section. You can scroll through perfectly organized recipes customized specifically for your diet and easily track what you eat without a lot of tedious data entry. If you are new to watching what you eat and are intimidated by the thought of counting macros or knowing the difference between high protein versus ketogenic, never fear! Lifesum has a test to help discover a plan that best suits your goals, body, and current lifestyle. Amwell: Doctor Visits 24/7 (Free) Do you hate taking time out of your day for a lengthy drive to your doctor’s appointment just to sit in the waiting room for over an hour? Have you been putting off certain health issues waiting for a better time to address them? Are you just a busy human being? The Amwell app takes away all those obstacles to going to the doctor. Amwell clinicians offer services such as urgent care, therapy, nutrition, psychiatry, and even lactation consulting. The service also has an affordable pay scale that makes it cheaper to use than your traditional doctor’s office. If you have health insurance, you can check to see if your plan covers Amwell.
For me, as a parent, Amwell has been an absolute lifesaver. If one of my kids is sick, I no longer have to take time off work and drive across town. And heaven forbid they get sick in the middle of the night, that opens up a whole different can of worms. Regardless of time or day, I can get them seen by a professional and have a prescription called in within 20 minutes. It’s truly been a game changer for me and my family. Nike Training Club (Free) Regardless if you are brand new to the fitness world or a seasoned athlete, the Nike Training Club app has something for everyone. It’s been on my phone for ages and remains a personal favorite. It offers a huge selection of workouts for every level. You can pick a body-focused workout or a genre like endurance, yoga, or strength. The workouts, led by athletes and trainers, are geared toward different fitness levels and range from 15–45 minutes. I normally just hop on there and pick one of the recommended workouts from the Workout Collections section. It’s all you need to get a great workout from anywhere. Don’t drop the ball on your resolutions this year. This time let’s start things out right by ringing in the brightest year of our lives. The countdown to becoming the best version of yourself is starting now. Whatever your goals and ambitions, use these apps to make sure you’re making deliberate choices so you can turn your resolutions into realities. Ѷ Briana Dicks is the proud mother of two fiery little girls. She is an advocate for happiness, reading, healthy living, and truth-telling.
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Travel Apps to Explore New Cities Get the Most Out of Your Trip by hallei halter
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etting out of town is great, but what if you don’t know what to do? Whether you’re planning a solo outing, have some free time during a business trip, or are planning your annual family vacation, these apps can make your trip memorable and avoid having “sitting in the hotel room” be the most-used description when you’re back home. Before you know it, you’ll have an itinerary of concerts, historical sites, and unique restaurants for your best trip yet.
Culture Trip (Free) Are you planning a quick trip or daydreaming about a future vacation? Based on location, Culture Trip provides detailed list suggestions for restaurants, general things to do, and more. This app works as a sort of mood board for reading about your ideal travel spot. You can save, share, or download articles to read offline. You can also create wishlists within the app to build a cache of sightseeing inspiration. While some cities like Des Moines feature articles that haven’t been updated in two years, they still have relevant information on historical sites and parks. Bigger cities like Chicago and international hubs such as London have a greater variety of articles for attractions.
Eventbrite (Free) While on vacation, you might want to know what the city has to offer in the way of concerts, food festivals, Harry Potter trivia nights. . . Eventbrite is the app that will help you find whatever you’re in the mood for! Select a date, location, and category (which includes the gambler’s choice of Anything). You can buy tickets to most events within the Eventbrite app. You can also save the event to your iPhone’s native Calendar app, so you can set up a reminder and not have those tickets go to waste. Free events are also displayed, so you might find some free workshops, pop-ups, or hobby meetups.
Groupon (Free) Who doesn’t like getting a discount while on a trip? Groupon offers deals for discounted concert tickets, restaurant menus, and admission prices for various museums, tours, and more. Most Groupon deals, like vouchers for food, must be redeemed by a certain date. I’ve used Groupon to get discounted admission with a free drink to The Linq observation wheel in Las Vegas, a pizza and drinks bundle for myself and a friend in New York City, and various other times when I wanted to try something new without exhausting my vacation funds.
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Bandsintown (Free) Have a favorite band and want to keep tabs on when they’re performing near your home or hotel? Bandsintown is a concert tracker with a social media tinge. You can connect to your Spotify or Facebook profile, and the Bandsintown app will start tracking bands you’ve previously liked. You can get show information, purchase tickets, and post on the show page with a comment or photo much like on Facebook. The more bands you track, the better Bandsintown will be at recommending similar musicians. If you’re a fan of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, you might notice a Lita Ford recommendation. You can add locations, so if you have a regular business trip, you can stay on the up-and-up about which of your favorite musicians will be playing during your stay.
SpotHero (Varies) What’s something everyone needs but spends too much time looking for during a trip? A parking space! SpotHero can save you time and money by showing you parking garages near your intended location. Need to park your car near a concert venue? Just type in the address and date, and SpotHero will show you garages including information on price and walking distance to the concert venue. You can also use SpotHero to find airport parking, so you can compare the rates of several available spaces on one screen. You can book your parking spot ahead of time and pay with Apple Pay, resulting in less stress and more time to enjoy your trip.
RunGo (Free) If you’re wanting to stay on track with your health goals or are just interested in finding a nature trail to get your runner’s high, try using RunGo. Routes are created by the app’s users and can be a great source for finding routes in a scenic area, whether in a city or more natural setting like a national park. For example, there’s the Explore Chicago Tour 5K, which will have you running past sites like Cloud Gate and the Daley Center. If you’re in Denver, check out the West Walsh Park Run and take in the view of Smith Lake. While using the app, RunGo will also track your running stats. You also have the option to create your own route. RunGo is compatible with Siri, and you can enable voice commands to tell you where to turn, so you won’t have to check your iPhone or Apple Watch while on the run.
Lime (Varies) If you’ve noticed a good amount of people on bikes and scooters while in a new city, there might be a rideshare option available. If Lime bikes or scooters are in your area, you can rent one via their app and explore the city at your own pace. Just add money to your account and scan the QR code of the bike or scooter to unlock it and start your ride. Without having to wait for a driver, you can enjoy street-level sights at your convenience. This also means you can pull over whenever you spot a good cafe for a pit stop instead of rushing to escape your Uber driver’s questionable radio choices. Ѷ
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Hallei Halter is currently a freelance writer & petsitter in Fairfield IA.
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PHOTO-EDITING APPS FOR THE IPHONE 11 & 11 PRO BY ABBEY DUFOE
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OS 13 has a whole slew of new editing tools for you to explore—from auto editing, to vibrance, to saturation, to cropping. And with the new features of the dual camera on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, including the Ultra Wide camera, Night Mode, an upgraded Portrait Mode, Smart HDR, Quick Take videos, and slow-motion selfies (a.k.a. slofies), you will never want to stop taking photos and videos! If you want to take your photo editing skills to the next level, check out these apps that will enhance your shots. Priime ($2.99) The new iPhones come with wide color support, so you can enjoy the hues in every pixel of your low-light Night Mode photos and Ultra Wide shots. Priime updated its app to support the 11’s increased color range and also works perfectly with the new Portrait Lighting controls in iOS 13 that let you adjust the intensity of light. Priime also gives you smart suggestions to get the best out of your shots and provides your full edit history on each photo so you can revisit those settings over and over again.
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Snapseed (Free) This is the go-to editing app for many photographers. You can edit your portraits with the presets in the Looks menu, or finetune your image with dozens of options in Tools. The precision tuning in Snapseed allows you to focus on any aspect of your wide-angle or Night Mode photo to get the best edit. You can adjust curves or white balance just as you would on desktop editing platforms—but you’re doing it straight from your phone instead! The Face Enhance and Face Pose options pair perfectly with the new iPhones’ Portrait mode settings. The app also gives you tutorials and tips to make your newly edited photos the best they can be.
Tezza (Free, $19.99/year for premium) Tezza is great if you want simple presets and editing tools. This app will make the new-and-improved Portrait photos pop! You can also create templates for your Instagram stories and posts, too. The best part about Tezza is its unique filters, which work really well with Night Mode photos. Unlock the premium version for more filters and presets.
Moment – Pro Camera ($5.99) The Moment app brings professional camera controls to your brand-new iPhone. You can manually control your shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus, so you feel like you’re shooting with a DSLR! You can shoot and edit in RAW, a photo and video file type that allows you to easily edit your photos and alter the resolution of your videos. You can take your video editing to the next level here too, so upload that slofie and get to work!
VSCO (Free, $19.99/year for premium ) VSCO, the iconic and widely known video and photo editor, provides the luxury of simple editing in the palm of your hand. You can create your own photo editing “recipe” or use one of the app’s presets for the look you want from your photos. Of course, there is a premium mode for access to more filters and editing options. VSCO also has a community of creators so you can connect with other iPhone photographers.
Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor (Free) Lightroom is one of the best free editing apps on the market right now. It has a large variety of presets, color modes, and color mixers that bring out the best in your Night Mode photos. The auto mode automatically adjusts light, color, and is a good option for a hands-off approach. You can also adjust detail and optics. It has recently been updated for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro cameras, too. And the best part—you don’t need an Adobe subscription to use the free features of this app. You can upgrade to the premium version for RAW editing, a healing brush, and Creative Cloud storage, too ProCam 7 ($5.99) With ProCam 7, you have the luxury of editing photos straight from your Photos app or shooting straight from the app. With shooting modes for Portrait mode, Night Mode, video, and time lapse, this app works seamlessly with the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. You can also adjust resolution in video mode, shutter speed in photo mode, and time lapse frame rate in time lapse mode. ProCam 7 has dozens of photo and video editing extensions to make your shots look perfect. Ѷ Abbey Dufoe is a digital content strategist who lives in New Jersey. She loves traveling and hiking—taking her iPhone along for the pictures of course! Her current favorite gadget is the Apple Watch.
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WASTE NOT
HOW I USED MY IPHONE TO REDUCE MY CARBON FOOTPRINT BY HALLEI HALTER
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limate change is a trending topic worldwide, as each day brings more information about ways we’re affecting the environment. Considering the large-scale impact of companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Apple, it’s easy to feel unsure of what one person can do that could make a difference. But there are multiple everyday choices we can make to lessen our consumption and kickstart change on a small scale. One of my favorite quotes is from activist and musician Henry Rollins’ talk on global citizenship, Critical Conversations: “Pick a spot. You pick a spot, and you clean that spot.” So, whether the spot is my home, my eating habits, or something else, I can go as small as I like and commit to it. At first, I didn’t know where to start, but I was able to find resources and ideas by using my iPhone.
TIP #1: USE WHAT YOU HAVE A great way to reduce consumption is to use what you already have. I recently moved in with my boyfriend, and while packing, I was confronted with multiples of spices and canned goods I don’t remember buying. As we combined our kitchen stuff, my boyfriend realized he had multiple bags of rice and . . . peanuts. So many peanuts. Currently, he’s favoring cashews, so I downloaded the free Plant Jammer app to figure out what dishes we can make with our cache of peanuts, rice, and more than a few bottles of teriyaki sauce (those are mine—there was a sale). With the Plant Jammer app, we can select ingredients we already have and create unique dishes or follow recipes for classics like soup and pasta. Plant Jammer is vegetarian by default, but we add meat to any of the recipes when we want it. Each recipe has short and easy-tofollow instructions to keep me from panicking as I venture out of my default frozen pizza snacking and into marinating many pounds of chicken in teriyaki sauce. While the app is free,
there’s a premium subscription option for access to more recipes and nutritional value tracking.
TIP #2: RENT OR BORROW Another way to be less wasteful is to rent or borrow items you only have an occasional need for. Thanks to Facebook and Craigslist, I can make a quick post to see if a neighbor can lend me something short-term. I’ve used this method to track down things like ladders, snow shovels, and, during my week-long Angel Food Cake Craving of 2016, a cake pan. My local public library also has what I need on rare occasions. That’s right; libraries lend more than just books! You can usually see all the services and implements your local library offers on their website or app if they have one. Some libraries even lend their members power tools and cooking appliances. For example, my local library rents out audio equipment and maintains a seed savers exchange program, so I could grow my own veggies and flowers to cut down on gas used to go to the grocery store (and add some homegrown ingredients to my Plant Jammer meals). Check to see if your local library has an app or website; you might be able to make an online reservation to borrow something you would have had to buy otherwise.
TIP #3: TAKE UP THRIFTING Thrift stores are also a great option when I need to make a purchase. I’ve bought clothes, decor, tools, books, and just about anything else you can think of. Purchasing used items keeps them from immediately going to the landfill and cuts down on the production of new merchandise. Lightbulbs
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are my favorite items to buy from secondhand shops since I typically only need one at a time and have a habit of losing or breaking bulbs when I buy a new pack. I can find thrift stores by searching apps like Google Maps or Apple Maps, which is what I typically do when I’ve got time to kill in a new area. I also follow my favorite thrift stores on Facebook or Instagram to keep abreast of new items, sales, and standards for donations. Other apps let me purchase second-hand items online, such as thredUP (free) for quality pre-owned clothing; Decluttr (free) for electronics and movies; or eBay (free), probably the largest online thrift store out there.
TIP #4: SEEK OUT INSPIRATION I don’t post much on Instagram, but I do use it to browse public posts that use environmental hashtags I’m interested in. The hashtag #meatlessmondays on Instagram shows people making vegetarian or vegan meals on Mondays, as cutting down on meat consumption reduces factors that contribute to deforestation and more. Other hashtags I like to browse are #noshopping for cutting back on impulse purchases, and #diy to see all the artwork, body care, and gifts people make themselves. Since I’m big on buying stuff second hand, I show off my finds with the hashtag #thriftstorefinds. While trying to cut back on my consumption, I read blogs by people living a similar lifestyle to me. Zero Waste Nerd, a blog written by Megean Weldon, offers tips to lighten your trash cans. Weldon has maintained her zero-waste attitude and redesigned her daily life to prevent trash creation for four years running. She provides easy-to-follow advice for creating zero waste in your life, too. If it doesn’t sound as simple as bringing tote bags into the grocery store or asking the barista to fill a travel mug with coffee, well, it really is! I don’t have to be stressed out by the idea of using less. I can pick one thing to do, like refusing to use plastic straws, and go from there. Using the free Overcast app, I’ve gotten sucked into what I call the Podcast Hole for weeks at a time; listening to people talk about the politics and jobs that revolve around managing consumption. Look up the topic of recycling in podcasts like Freakonomics or Planet Money and learn about how recycling centers are operated in the US. Other topics I search for include zero waste and vegetarianism. For something more visual, the website Top Documentary Films provides a wealth of movies covering consumerism and the environment. Documentaries helped me realize just how many people are involved in the issue of waste, such as the politicians behind certain laws or workers whose jobs are to manufacture my clothes and food. If a selection is not available to watch for free, the site provides a link to where I can find it. Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu all offer documentaries but are only available with a monthly subscription. YouTube also provides some free documentaries and Ted Talks. The YouTube app is where I watched Henry Rollins’ talk for free. In the talk, Rollins discusses how he views himself as a global citizen. He also provides some insight on social issues from a personal perspective, as he tends to barge into local communities with
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good or at least neutral intentions no matter which country he’s in. For example, you’ll hear how Rollins almost started a riot by trying to donate soap and soccer balls in Haiti.
TIP #5: FIGHT PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE I’ve noticed some things I use are built to be replaced in a short amount of time. It turns out, that’s designed intentionally to make people buy more; it’s called planned obsolescence. Electronics and accessories are majorly affected by this; things such as chargers that stop connecting after a couple of months, or printers with an artificial expiration date on ink. France legally defined and outlawed planned obsolescence in 2015, and with that have come lawsuits against companies, including Apple, for designing their products to manipulate consumers into additional purchases. In the US, a movement called Right to Repair provides information on proposed legal standards for electronics and allowing home-based and third-party repair shops to fix personal property. They also provide links to contact each state’s legislature to support an end to planned obsolescence. Recently, Apple has launched a program in North America that allows certified third-party repair shops to receive official Apple parts and repair out-of-warranty iPhones. However, it’s unclear whether Apple will expand this program to more of its products. If Right to Repair gains traction, I could imagine fewer artificial expiration dates and more durable electronics in the future.
TIP #6: SHARE WHAT YOU LEARN Most of the habits I’ve implemented work best on a personal scale, but they are also the most relatable and easiest to talk about. My friends sometimes ask for a link to a documentary or podcast I mention or notice my travel mug. Maybe they’ll change some of their habits too, or I’ll get a more indepth conversation with someone about a podcast episode I recommended. I’ll clean my spot, and help someone else to clean theirs, too. Ѷ Hallei Halter is currently a freelance writer & petsitter in Fairfield, IA.
THE CASE FOR BUYING MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD AN IPHONE BY HANNAH NICHOLS
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n parenting and tech circles, whether or not to buy your kid a phone is hotly debated. As I’ve dug into the research, I discovered a lot of really good reasons to do it. A phone could help me keep my son safe, keep track of him, and teach him responsibility, not to mention that technology is an inevitable part of his life. After a lot of consideration, my partner and I decided to buy my seven-year-old an iPhone. Now, I will justify that decision to you.
REASON 1: CHILDREN ARE MOBILE One of the reasons we began talking about getting an iPhone for my son is that he is a child of divorce, which means he has two homes. He spends time with his biological father each week and sometimes visits his grandparents or has a playdate. Any of these events require coordination. It is a convenience and a safety precaution for him to have his own phone. An iPhone suddenly made my son’s world so much bigger. Instead of only having access to the people right in front of him, he can now interact with family and friends outside the room. He can send pictures of his artwork to his family or look up a YouTube video about how to bake a cake. So far, my impression of seven-year-old’s phone usage habits is that they are adorable and wholesome.
REASON 2: SAFETY I will be the first to admit that part of getting my son his own phone was an emotional decision. I am an anxious parent and worry about my son All. The. Time. I am not alone in that. Maybe I have listened to too many True Crime podcasts, but I think the world is kind of scary, and I want to utilize mobile devices as safety tools. One of the features that sealed the deal was the iPhone’s Find My app, which lets me see my son’s location at all times. As I mentioned, my kid has two homes, visits his grandparents and friends, and eventually wants to be allowed to walk to the library by himself. He is a guy in transit. A phone allows him a little more autonomy. When he is with his dad, he can text me goodnight. When he misses his grandma, he texts her a super funny GIF with a husky dog with its nose pressed to the window saying, “I wuv you.” When he’s eventually allowed to walk to the library, I can play it cool and pretend I am not going to watch his location literally the whole time he is gone. Peace of mind + a little bit of trust + location tracking = age-appropriate freedom.
“PEACE OF MIND + A LITTLE BIT OF TRUST + LOCATION TRACKING = AGE-APPROPRIATE FREEDOM.” I still remember the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, Connecticut in 2012. My son was a newborn at the time. I was holding him in my arms while he slept and watching as the news broke. I remember crying because I was so nervous about sending him to school. . . in 78
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five years. I knew there had been school shootings before, but this was an elementary school. It is a horrible tragedy that continues to play out each year. Just like we run fire drills, now we run school shooting drills. I hate to even think of it, but in the event of an active shooter threat, I want my son to be able to call 911. I want to know his location. I want his teacher to have another phone in the room in case it is closer by than hers. I want him to have options. Again, he is seven, and this is something we both have to consider.
I was a kid. Computers became more common to have in homes. We had one. I played Oregon Trail and Jeopardy. I watched a ton of TV. I played video games, and I would like to believe that I am a pretty functional human being. Many people in my generation turned our screen time into careers, working in the tech industry or related fields. Our kids are continuing to evolve and adjust to the current social-tech landscape and will be the next innovators. However, it all starts with teaching them to operate these devices, so they can create new ways to use them and turn these experiences into employable skillsets. I am giving my son a head start in an industry he will almost certainly need to be proficient in in order to make money as an adult.
“MANY PEOPLE IN MY GENERATION TURNED OUR SCREEN TIME INTO CAREERS.” While we are on the topic of safety, I think it is important to mention that phones are a danger in and of themselves. They give kids pocket access to the internet. The internet is a terrifying place. It is important to be aware of that danger and to adjust accordingly. I am not going to spend much time on safety features (check out the iPhone Life Podcast episode 121 to learn about the iPhone’s parental controls), but one of the reasons the iPhone is a wise decision is because of the safety features it offers. On top of that, different carriers have additional options. Verizon has particularly useful options in its app Verizon Smart Family.
REASON 3: SCREEN TIME IS GOOD FOR KIDS Okay, now the final reason I decided it was a good idea to get my son a phone is that screen time is actually good for kids. Yup, it’s true. A 2019 study by Oxford, Cardiff, and Cambridge Universities and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has found that one to two hours of daily screen time corresponded to better social and emotional well-being. This makes sense. The internet was invented when
A WORD FROM MY SON When writing this article, I decided to interview my son, considering he is the one using the phone and living with all our restrictions. When asked what he would change, while mid-bite of a doughnut, he said, “The half hour of video games— delete, and the age stuff.” So, he isn’t a huge fan of our parental controls, but he likes that he can contact his family members who aren’t with him at that moment. I asked him if he thought his life had gotten better since getting an iPhone, to which he responded, “Maybe.” There you have it, folks. Don’t let anyone guilt you for decisions you feel are best for your child. If that means they get no screen time ever, go for it. If that means they have their own phone at the age of seven, cheers to constantly checking their location. Ѷ Hannah Nichols is a freelance marketing consultant and writer. She is obsessed with audiobooks and podcasts and always asks people for recommendations. Hannah loves going to the gym and taking really long walks with friends. She enjoys traveling with her partner and seven-year-old son.
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iVIEW
I Bought the New $250 AirPods Pro. Was It Worth it?
Illustration by Mikaila Maidment, mikailamaidment.com
or years, I’ve been listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and music on my first-generation AirPods. I’d misplace them occasionally and try other wireless earbuds, but I always returned to them for the seamless iPhone connection, snug fit, and the tap controls that paused and restarted the audio. Besides the fluke connectivity problems, they just worked. When the new AirPods Pro came out, it didn’t take me long to buy them on Amazon. I am not an audiophile—I just wanted more of the hassle-free listening that drew me to the AirPods in the first place. I’m not alone in upgrading. The AirPods Pro are selling well. Reports indicate that Apple increased its monthly order from one million to two million units to meet holiday demand. For those of you considering the purchase, I’ll share my experiences with Apple’s newest earbuds with you here. The day after the AirPods Pro arrived, I took them with me on a flight. Several times, I found myself crawling on the floor near my airline seat searching for an AirPod that fell out of my ear. I later discovered the built-in iPhone Ear Tip Fit Test. (In Settings, go to Bluetooth, and tap the info icon next to AirPods Pro.) I tried each of the supplied small, medium, and large tips, learning what constituted a good fit. With a correct fit, they are at least as snug as the original AirPods. They still fall out when I don’t put them in correctly, and I’ve found that the tips occasionally detach from an AirPod and stick in the ear. I’ve noticed a couple other small nuisances: to change the tips, you must pull and push hard to get them on and off. Also, I have not yet mastered the skill of removing the AirPods Pro from their case. Unlike the tapping controls of the original AirPods, you control the Pro by pinching the stem. At first, I found the new way unintuitive, awkward, and hit and miss. Several times, while trying to find the correct pinching spot, I sent an AirPod flying. Now that I’m more used to it, I use pinching the stem to pause, enable noise cancellation, and skip forward and back. As of this writing, the AirPods Pro firmware is flakey. When
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an AirPod is removed from the ear, the audio should pause. Instead, sometimes it continues to play either through the iPhone speaker or the AirPods. I was surprised by how much I appreciate the noise cancellation feature and better sound quality. It was a pleasure watching a movie with the AirPods Pro in noise cancellation mode on the plane compared to straining trying to listen on board with the original AirPods. I also appreciated the quieter ride wearing my AirPod Pros without audio. I’ve also noticed an extra benefit. A friend used to complain that she could hear sound when I listened with my original pair. Using the AirPods Pro, no matter the mode, she no longer hears noise. A few other benefits I noticed include up to 3.5 hours of talk time, which is much better than the 1 to 2 hours I experienced with the original AirPods. I also enjoy a better and faster AirPods Pro connection to my iPhone than I did with the AirPods. Additionally, the new AirPods Pro hardware allow them to function at a greater distance range than the AirPods. Now it’s time to answer my original question. Was it worth spending $250 for the AirPods Pro? The answer is yes. Even with initial stumbles, I’m glad I made the purchase. Ѷ Hal, along with his wife Rita, founded iPhone Life’s original publishing company, Thaddeus Computing, in 1985. You can reach him at hal@thaddeus.com. Check out Hal’s new book at meditatingentrepreneur.com.