Fall 2021 Regular Departments 4
Editor's Message
6
Stuff the iPhone Life Team Is Loving
Great Gear
iNews
16 Hands on with AirTag Are Apple’s new trackers too good?
Life & Tech
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42 Smart Gear for Your Plants Keep your plants thriving indoors all winter long.
Top Tips
iOS 15 Is Coming Everything we can expect from the iPhone’s new OS.
14 iPhone 13: What’s Next? Rumors and predictions for the upcoming iPhone line.
38 A History of the iPhone What made Apple’s first smartphone such a breakout success.
46 Your iPhone Photo Printing Guide Everything you need to know for professionalquality prints.
Alenka Karabanova/shutterstock nyker nyker/shutterstock
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The
BEST APPS Guide The Picks We Can’t Put Down 24 iPhone Life’s Best Apps Issue 26 Staff & Reader Favorites 27 Staying in Touch 28 Photo & Video
THE BEST OF
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IOS 15
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30 Health & Fitness 31 Read & Listen 32 Food & Drink 34 Productivity 36 Games 37 Making a Difference
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Editor's Message Fall Is for Apple Fans
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or a decade, we’ve been able to predict Apple’s release patterns like the weather. Each fall, a new iPhone and operating system are in the forecast, with a chance of upgraded MacBooks and iPads. This year, with iOS 15, we’re anticipating new features like media sharing in FaceTime, text recognition in photos, and a new Focus mode that helps you stay on task. The forthcoming new iPhone could have a longer-lasting battery and smaller notch, and we could see new AirPods and a MacBook Pro equipped with an even more powerful chip than the M1. Of course, we’ve got everything you need to know about iOS 15 (page 8) and the iPhone 13 (page 14) in this issue. But we also want to zoom out and take you back to where it all started. It’s been 14 years since Steve Jobs unveiled the very first iPhone. While many of the features present in Apple’s smartphone already existed at the time, the original iPhone was more than the sum of its parts—it offered a different way of interacting with technology that captured the imagination of millions. In a piece on the history of the iPhone, one of our new staff writers Elisabeth Garry explores what led to its breakout success (page 38). Today, it’s hard to imagine life without our iPhones; they feel as central to our lives as the air we breathe. But looking back at their origin story leaves you wondering what our personal electronics would look and feel like today if a rebel with a vision named Steve Jobs hadn’t come along.
“The original iPhone was more than the sum of its parts—it offered a different way of interacting with technology that captured the imagination of millions.”
While new iPhones are top of mind in the fall, it’s also a time to nest and use technology to make our domestic spaces nicer as we prepare to spend time indoors. With that in mind, our Senior Web Editor and houseplant veteran Sarah Kingsbury put together a guide to caring for plants through the winter using iPhone gear and apps. From creating the right lighting and humidity levels for your ferns to testing smart gardening systems to grow herbs and vegetables in your kitchen, Sarah’s got you covered (page 42). We’ll also help you bring your space to life with prints of your best iPhone photography. It’s a shame to leave all your best memories on your iPhone where you’ll rarely see them. Instead, our SEO Specialist Leanne Hays has put together a complete guide to printing your iPhone photos. Whether you want a framed print of your family for your living room or photo magnets of your dog for your fridge, you’ll find the tips you’re looking for here (page 46). Finally, our annual Best Apps Issue arrives each fall! As you’re flipping through the following pages, you’ll find 100 of the most outstanding apps that our Associate Editor Amy Spitzfaden-Both hand-tested for you (page 24). This is our most popular issue of the year among readers, and I can see why. Knowing which apps to download is the key to unlocking the capabilities of these amazing multipurpose tools. We’ve done the hard work for you and present you only the best in categories ranging from food to productivity to reading. We hope you’ll find some new favorites!
Donna Cleveland Editor in Chief at iPhone Life
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Around the Office
STUFF THE IPHONE LIFE TEAM IS LOVING Ashleigh Page, Feature Writer Arteza Real Brush Pens ($32.99) Initially purchased for travel, these nifty brush pens quickly became my favorite medium. With a little added water, I can blend colors and create texture with all the versatility of regular paints, but without the mess.
Amy Spitzfaden-Both, Associate Editor Cocofloss 3-Spool Set ($25) I love everything about this floss, from its colors to its scents to the fact that it’s made of natural ingredients that clean a lot better than the plastic stuff I was using. Plus, the packaging is sustainable!
Erin MacPherson, Web Editor Logitech MS Master 2S Mouse ($63 on Amazon) I love my Logitech MX Master 2S mouse. I borrowed one and almost immediately decided to buy my own! Bluetooth means I don’t have to plug it into my MacBook Air, and the fastscrolling function saves me so much time.
Cullen Thomas, Writer & Producer Borges & Scott Doyle Teardrop Fedora ($43.95) After a decade plus of constant use, my favorite fedora earned a comfortable retirement, but replacing it was an odyssey with many failures along the way. The Borges & Scott crushable 100% wool Doyle hat finally met my exacting standards.
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Olena Kagui, Feature Writer AirPods (2nd Generation) (From $159) I finally got AirPods, and they have been such a game changer for me! I love using them with the Time to Walk audio guide on my Apple Watch, and I am so impressed with their sound quality.
Nicholas Naioti, Ad Specialist & Video Producer Deacon King Kong by James McBride ($12.65 on Amazon) This is my favorite novel I’ve read in a long time. This urban fiction kept me eagerly awaiting what was to come. It’s funny, endearing, and thought-provoking. It deals with serious issues with a lighthearted and humorous tone.
PUBLISHER & CEO
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
David Averbach • david@iphonelife.com
Amy Spitzfaden-Both • amy@iphonelife.com
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
WEB EDITOR
Raphael Burnes • raphael@iphonelife.com
Erin MacPherson • erin@iphonelife.com
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Noah Siemsen • noah@iphonelife.com
Olena Kagui • olena@iphonelife.com
FEATURE WRITERS
EDITOR IN CHIEF Donna Schill Cleveland • donna@iphonelife.com
Elisabeth Garry • elisabeth@iphonelife.com
FOUNDER & COLUMNIST Hal Goldstein • hal@iphonelife.com
MARKETING ASSISTANT Austin Durr • austin@iphonelife.com
ART DIRECTOR
CONTRIBUTORS
Jaime Thatcher • jaime@iphonelife.com SENIOR WEB EDITOR Sarah Kingsbury • sarah@iphonelife.com
Donna Cleveland (page 4) Elisabeth Garry (pages 16, 38)
SENIOR VIDEO PRODUCER
Leanne Hays (pages 8, 46)
Rheanne Taylor • rheanne@iphonelife.com
Olena Kagui (page 34)
SEO CONTENT STRATEGIST
Sarah Kingsbury (page 42)
Leanne Hays • leanne@iphonelife.com
Nicholas Naioti (page 32)
WRITER & PRODUCER
Ashleigh Page (page 27)
Cullen Thomas • cullen@iphonelife.com
Amy Spitzfaden-Both (pages 14, 26, 28, 30, 31, 36, 37)
AD SPECIALIST & VIDEO EDITOR Nicholas Naioti • nicholas@iphonelife.com
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payable in U.S. dollars, checks drawn on a U.S. bank, or by credit card—one year: $19.97, two years: $29.97. Postage: United States free; Canada and Mexico add $7 per year; outside North America, add $18 per year. Please allow 14 to 16 weeks for receipt of first issue. Executive, Editorial, Circulation, Advertising, Marketing Offices: 402 North B St. #108, Fairfield, IA 52556. Telephone: 641-472-6330. © Copyright 2021, 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 help@iphonelife.com or call 630-474-6631. Cover images courtesy of: Apple Inc.
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THE BEST
OF IOS 15 FACETIME FOR ANDROID, FASTER SIRI & PRIVACY CONTROLS WITH ICLOUD PLUS BY LEANNE HAYS
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t its annual WWDC Keynote, Apple revealed iOS 15, the latest software coming to your iPhone this fall. The update is designed to help you connect with friends and family in new ways using FaceTime, reclaim your time, and get more from apps we’ve all grown comfortable with like Photos, Wallet, and Maps.
IOS 15 RELEASE DATE & COMPATIBILITY The public release of iOS 15 will roll out this fall. If you’re an early adopter, Apple will release a beta version of iOS 15 to the public in July. Everyone with the iPhone 6S or later, original iPhone SE or later, and seventh-generation iPod Touch will be able to download and run iOS 15. However, features including Spatial Audio, the Maps app city experience, Live Text in the Photos app, Visual Look Up, and new Weather app map features require an iPhone XS or newer.
SHARE CONTENT WITH FACETIME In a time when many of us are still working from home or navigating the uncertain transition from COVID-19 precautions back to our former routines, Apple revealed new FaceTime features that make it easier to communicate both professionally and socially. Notably, FaceTime will now have cross-platform support, working on Android devices and Windows computers. The new SharePlay feature is game-changing too— allowing users to bring music into their calls, watch movies or TV shows together with synced playback and controls, or share their screens throughout their FaceTime call. Volume automatically adjusts, so the conversation and music or dialog will be balanced. Apple has also added grid-view to FaceTime. Now you’ll see all your friends or coworkers in their own evenly sized tiles, with the speaker highlighted. Spatial audio makes it sound like each person’s voice is coming from the direction of their tile. There’s a new Mic mode called Voice Isolation that filters out background noise for clearer conversation or
“THESE IMPROVEMENTS ALLOW FACETIME TO RIVAL WORK-FROMHOME ESSENTIALS LIKE ZOOM AND SLACK.” Wide Spectrum that amplifies ambient noise. Finally, Portrait mode puts the camera focus on your face and blurs the image behind you. These improvements allow FaceTime to rival work-from-home essentials like Zoom and Slack, especially now that Android and Windows device owners can join in. Of course, there’s the bonus of end-to-end encryption and meeting links. I wish these features were around during lockdown when my choir unsuccessfully tried to practice via Zoom!
TRANSLATE PHOTOS TO TEXT WITH LIVE TEXT With iOS 15, you’ll be able to point your camera at text, then use the menu that pops up to Copy, Select All, or Look Up the text. You can then use that data to send emails, make calls, log into Wi-Fi networks, get directions, and more. With Live Text in Safari and the Photos app, you can copy, paste, look up, and even translate text into seven languages. This even applies to handwriting!
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“FOCUS— ESSENTIALLY A CONTEXTUAL VERSION OF DO NOT DISTURB—IS AN IOS 15 FEATURE THAT MATCHES APPS AND NOTIFICATIONS TO THE TASK AT HAND.” RECLAIM YOUR TIME WITH REDESIGNED NOTIFICATIONS Notifications can get out of control, not to mention annoying, and Apple is here to help with its iOS 15 upgrades. Your iPhone will deliver a daily collection of notifications in priority order, called a notification summary, and you get to set the schedule. App icons and contact photos will be larger as well, letting you know at a glance where notifications are coming from.
give you more information about the subject of the photo, whether it’s a landmark, work of art, plant, food, vehicle, book, or even a species of wild or domesticated animal . . . the list goes on!
COMPARTMENTALIZE WITH FOCUS Our iPhones are truly multipurpose tools. With so many capabilities at our fingertips, it can be difficult to stay on track. Focus— essentially a contextual version of Do Not Disturb—is an iOS 15 feature that matches apps and notifications to the task at hand, including work, home, fitness, sleep, or a customizable option. Contacts outside those allowed to interrupt will be informed that your notifications are silenced but will be able to break through with an urgent message. You’ll have the final decision about whether to allow that message through, and of course, Do Not Disturb will still be available to mute all notifications.
FIND MORE WITH SPOTLIGHT The Spotlight feature will be more convenient than ever before. You can search your own photos or web images by location, objects, people, pets, and even text and handwriting thanks to Live Text. Search for one of your contacts to see your shared photos, recent conversations, and location. Look up music, TV shows, movies, actors, and musicians to learn all about your favorite celebrity and access their body of work. You can install apps and even use action buttons from companies that support App Clips, so you can order dinner or make an appointment right from Spotlight.
VIEW 3D DESTINATIONS IN APPLE MAPS IDENTIFY PHOTO SUBJECTS WITH VISUAL LOOK UP iPhone users can swipe up on photos or tap the info icon to enable the brand-new Visual Look Up feature. Your iPhone will
Apple Maps has some cool upgrades coming, among them enhanced three-dimensional maps and route information. This will include important details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, crosswalks, and 3D perspective at complex intersections. A feature called Interactive Globe will show geographical features in 3D and landmarks in major cities like (Continued on page 12)
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(Continued from page 10) London, New York, and San Francisco. Maps will be more visually appealing, as well, with a new moonlit Night mode. Unfortunately, some of these new features, particularly 3D city landmarks, won’t be available to any but those in the largest cities for a while. After all, here in Iowa, we’re still waiting for the bike route maps introduced with iOS 14!
COLLABORATE ON NOTES You’ll be able to find the notes you need faster with new iOS 15 Notes features. Now you can add hashtags to categorize your notes, then use the Tag Browser to view these tagged notes. Create custom Smart Folders to collect all your notes with related tags. You’ll also be able to see what collaborators have added to shared notes with the new Activity view. If you need to notify a collaborator of a change or update, you can tag them, too.
VIEW WEATHER MAPS Once again, iOS offers more information shared in a more aesthetically pleasing way. The updated Weather app now includes full-screen maps with changing animated backgrounds that include direction and intensity of precipitation, cloud cover, sun position, air quality, temperature, and even UV intensity. Notifications will let you know when precipitation is predicted to begin and end.
CREATE MEMORIES IN PHOTOS Apple has lots of great upgrades for the Photos app this year, particularly for Memories, which will be more fun to watch and share as a result. There are new Memory themes with iOS 15, including more international holidays and pet memories that can even differentiate between your pets! Apple Music song suggestions to go along with Memories will be personalized based on your own tastes. Hundreds of song options have been added, and if you’re an Apple Music subscriber, you’ll be able to add songs from your music library. Under the For You tab in Photos, you’ll soon find Shared with You, where you’ll see pictures that friends and family have texted you. When you swipe up on a picture or tap the info icon, you’ll see details like camera, shutter speed, lens, file size, and who sent you the image. You’ll be able to edit the date and location the photo was taken, add captions, and use the Visual Look Up feature, as well. People identification and naming are also improved, and as mentioned before, the Photos app will finally recognize your pets as individuals (and rightly so).
MULTITASK WITH TAB GROUPS IN SAFARI Apple promises to make its browser more customizable and easier to navigate with one hand. The upgrade offers a minimized
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tab bar that appears and disappears with a tap or when you scroll. A Smart Search field is included in the tab bar. You can also organize tab groups to save your favorite websites. These groups and your customized start page sync across devices.
GAIN GREATER CONTROL WITH ACCESSIBILITY Blind people and those with visual impairments will enjoy the new ability to explore images with VoiceOver. You’ll be able to move a finger over photos to learn which people, locations, and items are in the image, and their position relative to each other. Nutrition labels, receipts, and other text will be read out as well. Markup is also adding the ability to add image descriptions so VoiceOver can read them, and Magnifier is becoming a default iOS app, so it should be easier to access.
USE DIGITAL KEYS IN APPLE WALLET With iOS 15 Wallet app upgrades, you can add digital keys for compatible HomeKit locks for your house, office, and participating hotels to your iPhone or Apple Watch. Unlock or preheat your car, open your trunk, or even honk your horn using controls in the Wallet app! Traveling is about to get easier, as long as you keep your iPhone charged. Participating states will start allowing iPhone owners to add their driver’s license and state ID cards to the Wallet app to use at TSA checkpoints or if you get pulled over (hopefully not).
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY WITH ICLOUD PLUS An enhancement to iCloud’s subscription tiers called iCloud Plus offers premium web-privacy features for subscribers. On-device processing for Siri will be fast and keep your voice data on your own phone. A new centralized App Privacy Report in iOS lets you track how your apps use your data. Finally, end-to-end encrypted FaceTime calls will be possible with Windows and Android users.
SHARE HEALTH DATA WITH YOUR DOCTOR Apple aims to make caring for yourself and your family—plus communicating with your health care provider—much simpler with iOS 15. Updates to the Health app will make it easier to access and share medical records and log physical symptoms and health history for yourself, as well as for family members. Ѷ Leanne Hays is an SEO Content Strategist 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, long-term goals include a bike tour of Italy and writing a novel.
ANTICIPATING THE
IPHONE 13 EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT IPHONE RELEASE BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
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Phone 13 rumors are flying, and with fall on the horizon, it’s natural to wonder, “What’s next?” Apple will likely unveil the new iPhone by mid-September, and there are some interesting theories about the release, such as a bigger battery and the return of Touch ID. We’ve done some digging and have compiled the most compelling rumors for you here.
WHEN WILL WE SEE IT? With the exception of the iPhone SE, Apple has announced its new iPhone lineup every fall since 2011. While Apple deviated from its usual schedule last year with the late October release of the iPhone 12, we typically see an earlyto mid-September announcement, with the release about a week later. Even with the variance we saw last year, we’ll likely see the new iPhone line in September.
WHAT WILL IT BE CALLED? While the iPhone 13 is a safe guess in terms of possible names for the new line, Apple has thrown us a few curveballs in the not-so-distant past. It gave us the iPhone X for its tenth-anniversary phone, skipping right over the iPhone 9. Plus, many consider 13 to be an unlucky number—hotels frequently skip over room 13 and even floor 13, so perhaps Apple shares a similar superstition. If it does, I’d place my money on another one- to two-letter name. Wouldn’t it be cool to see an iPhone Z?
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING NOTCH Tech research site MySmartPrice has leaked a rendering of the new iPhone, which has given us a lot to get excited about! MySmartPrice has a fairly solid track record with renderings, but we’re still taking everything with a grain of salt. If the rendering we’ve seen is accurate, the iPhone 13 will come with a smaller notch. Apple will apparently achieve this by moving the earpiece into the top bezel, making room to shrink the notch by about 10 percent. This has been on many users’ wish lists for quite some time, so we’ll be interested to see if it’s finally happening.
BIGGER BATTERY One of the most exciting aspects of the iPhone 13 line is the prospect of bigger—and therefore longer-lasting—batteries. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in a recent investor note that the new iPhone models “feature a larger battery capacity than the iPhone 12 series, thanks to the space-saving design of many components. Hence, the new 2H21 iPhone models are also slightly heavier than the iPhone 12.” iPhones have never been reputed for their amazing battery life, so improvement in this area would be welcome.
DIAGONAL CAMERAS While the MySmartPrice rendering shows a diagonal placement of the back cameras, another Apple leaker with a mixed track record called LeaksApplePro shows the same camera placement as the iPhone 12, only with larger sensors. Bigger sensors would make for brighter photos, so we’re hoping for that.
NO SIZE DIFFERENCE The new iPhone 13 will be the same size as its predecessor and the Pro and mini versions will also be the same size as the iPhone 12 line, with 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch options. Enjoy the mini while it lasts—rumor has it that Apple will retire its littlest iPhone next year.
SMOOTHER DISPLAY Display analyst Ross Young expects the iPhone 13 Pro models to sport 120Hz ProMotion technology in its display, resulting in a fast refresh rate and smooth screen display. ProMotion could take up some of the bigger battery’s capacity, but a better and faster display is still a welcome development in my book.
NO PORT? A report from 9to5Mac claimed that the iPhone 13 would not feature a Lightning or USB-C port and instead rely solely on MagSafe charging. MacRumors disagrees, however, saying Ming-Chi Kuo put this rumor to rest. Removing all ports would certainly be a bold step forward, so it’s not surprising if Apple wants to put this decision off.
RETURN OF TOUCH ID The final Apple rumor I’ll leave you with is that we may just see the return of Touch ID to the iPhone. In a recent report, Kuo stated that an under-glass fingerprint sensor is likely coming, but may not arrive until 2022. This means we won’t see that same round Touch ID button we saw on previous models, but instead, a smooth glass bottom with an on-screen button showing us where to rest our finger. The rendering supports the theory of no visible button, but whether Touch ID is really coming back remains to be seen. Ѷ Amy Spitzfaden-Both is the Associate Editor at iPhone Life, an award-winning novelist, and an iPhone enthusiast. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. When she’s not writing or glued to her iPhone, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and creating her own tea blends.
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ENTER AIRTAGS APPLE’S NEW BLUETOOTH TRACKER HELPS YOU FIND YOUR KEYS, BUT MIGHT ALSO HELP OTHERS FIND YOU BY ELISABETH GARRY
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pple’s new AirTag is a device that helps you find those important items you’re always misplacing. You can attach one to your keys, purse, backpack, or even the elusive remote (with the help of some adhesive) and use the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad to locate it. Here, I’ll share my experiences with the AirTag, warts and all, after a month of hands-on testing.
TRACKING DOWN ITEMS IN YOUR HOUSE I’m happy to report that as far as tracking misplaced items, the AirTag delivers on its promise. After a short setup process, I was able to successfully use three different methods to locate the AirTag, whether hidden in my apartment or left with a friend. Two of these methods will be familiar to Find My users: you can have the AirTag play a sound if you suspect it’s in the room or get directions to it via Apple Maps if it’s further away. Both worked as expected, though the sound may be difficult to detect if the AirTag is muffled, is in a loud environment, or if you’re hard of hearing.
“AS FAR AS TRACKING MISPLACED ITEMS, THE AIRTAG DELIVERS ON ITS PROMISE.” The third method is new and the most fun to play around with. Precision Finding allows you to use your iPhone 11 or
iPhone 12 running iOS 14.5 or later like a compass pointing you to the AirTag. Getting started may prove frustrating—I found myself wandering around my living room in circles, waving my phone like I was performing an arcane ritual to get my phone to display directions to my AirTag. Once connected, however, the directions were easy to follow and accurate, and it felt like a fun geocaching experiment. I appreciated that my iPhone displayed both the direction of my AirTag and its distance from my iPhone.
TESTING OUT LOST MODE Having exhausted my own 500-square-foot apartment, I reached out to a friend to be my guinea pig for separating an AirTag from the device it’s registered to. So, I bid farewell to my brand-new AirTag and left it in the hands of my Androidusing friend, Katie. First, we tested the AirTag’s Lost Mode. I enabled Lost Mode from my iPhone and posted a message that anyone with an NFC-enabled device should be able to read upon finding an AirTag. Katie was able to scan the AirTag with her phone and see my contact information. She then callously refused to return the AirTag to me—because we still had work to do.
WILL AIRTAGS EMPOWER STALKERS? AirTags and other tracking devices like them have raised concerns among anti-abuse advocates. It’s not hard to see why. At 1.26 inches in diameter and weighing 0.39 ounces, an AirTag is easy to covertly slip into a pocket, purse, or car. The owner can then track the AirTag as it travels. Of course, Katie knew she was carrying my AirTag, but if she hadn’t, I still would have been able to follow her throughout her day. I checked my Find My app and saw her at work, at the specialty dog-food store (really), on the road, and at home (where her address displayed prominently in the app).
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“THERE ARE STILL GAPING HOLES IN THE AIRTAG’S ANTI-STALKING MEASURES.” This isn’t a bug or a failure of technology. This is the AirTag working exactly as it’s designed to. The problem is with people who would use it with malign intent. Apple is aware of these issues, as AirTags do have some built-in anti-stalking protections. If you have an iPhone and it detects a stowaway AirTag, you’ll get a notification, including instructions on how to disable the device. If you don’t have an iPhone, you’ll have to wait longer to discover the strange AirTag accompanying you—three days longer, in fact. After a period of three days’ separation from its registered owner, an AirTag will emit a high-pitched chirp for a few seconds. This, like the sound you can play to help find it, is relatively quiet. Katie finally heard the AirTag chirp as she was getting ready to bring it back to me, well over 72 hours since I’d last been anywhere near the AirTag. She said she thought she might have heard something like it the night before, but it had been brief and soft enough she’d paid it little mind. This anti-stalking feature also fails to take into account that many victims live with the person who may be surreptitiously stalking them: if the AirTag is connecting with its registered owner’s iPhone every morning and night, the person being tracked may never notice it’s there.
It alleviates that panic response I used to feel whenever I couldn’t immediately find my keys, which is certainly worth the $29 price tag. I should make it clear: purchasing an AirTag of your own will in no way expose you to the privacy issues I’ve discussed above. Others can’t use your own AirTag to track you (at least, not in the ways I’ve mentioned in this article). What you get when you purchase an AirTag is a convenient way to find misplaced items.
PROS: • The Find My app accurately pinpointed the location of my AirTag, whether under a couch cushion or miles away. • Apple offers three easy and accurate options for tracking: playing a sound, getting directions, and using Precision Finding. • At $29 for a single AirTag or $99 for a four-pack, the AirTag is Apple’s most affordable device. • Setup is easy, and batteries last up to one year.
CONS: • There are still gaping holes in the AirTag’s anti-stalking measures, and we can only hope that Apple will do more to address these in the future. • It depends on the Find My network for tracking, which can cause problems if there are no other iPhones around. This might be an issue if you lose your item in a rural location. • The low volume of the AirTag is easy to miss. • Precision Finding only offers a small radius of functionality and took time to locate my AirTag from 12 feet away in my living room. • It often requires extra accessories, like a keychain.
“AS A CHRONICALLY DISORGANIZED PERSON, I’M THRILLED TO HAVE AN AIRTAG.” The AirTag privacy issues are important, and are by far the device’s biggest flaw. But I don’t want the fact that AirTags are very effective at tracking items to get lost in the mix. As a chronically disorganized person, I’m thrilled to have an AirTag.
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FINAL VERDICT: The AirTag is a helpful tool for the absentminded among us and will provide valuable peace of mind even for those of us who aren’t particularly prone to losing things. Unfortunately, you may be exposed to the cons of AirTags if you fall victim to unwanted tracking. For your personal use, however, the AirTag is worth buying. Ѷ
Elisabeth Garry is a Feature Web Writer for iPhone Life. Formerly of Gartner, she has four years’ experience writing about technology. As a former college writing instructor, she is passionate about accessible communication, which is perhaps why she loves helping people make the best use of the strongest communication tools they have available: their iPhones. She has a degree in Russian from Reed College.
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Constructed using Apple’s certified magnet supplier, this stylish vegan leather wallet works just as well as Apple’s iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe but at a fraction of the cost. Compatible with the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, the CASEBUDi Magnetic Wallet is the perfect size for credit cards or folded bills. The best part is that it doesn’t take up too much extra space and feels natural in your hand. With a convenient thumb notch, the wallet provides easy access to all your cards, even on the go. Finally, the vegan leather has the same look, feel, and quality of genuine leather while being animal-friendly and water resistant.
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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 this product from Matias, 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 precise 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.
IPHONE LIFE MARKETPLACE - SPONSORED PROMOTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS
Eargo Hearing Aids (Prices vary, Eargo.com) One in eight people in the United States over the age of 12 suffer from hearing loss, but many shy away from bulky hearing aids. Eargo creates award-winning hearing aids that are comfortable and discreet, letting you say hello to a world of sound without shouting it from the rooftop. Eargo Hearing Aids have rechargeable batteries that power up in their case, just like AirPods. The iPhone-compatible app lets you personalize settings for different listening environments with the click of a button.
Customers enjoy lifetime support from licensed hearing professionals, a 24-month warranty, and a 45-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t 100 percent satisfied. Don’t forget that you might be able to get help from your insurance to cover costs; otherwise, you can finance your Eargo Hearing Aids with affordable monthly payments. Request a free sample today to ensure a perfect fit and begin your journey to better hearing!
Withings Body+ Scale ($99.95, Withings.com) Withings is known for creating award-winning body composition scales in the past, but Body+ is like nothing you’ve seen before! This high-precision smart scale doesn’t just focus on weight; it also offers measurements of your body fat, muscle mass, total body water, and bone density. Body+ makes it so much easier to see the impact of every lifestyle change you make. It helps empower people by giving them all the information they need to make better health choices tailored to their unique bodies. For example, it can help clarify if a weight change is due to increased fat, muscle, or water intake.
Understanding and analyzing these metrics can help motivate you to keep going strong on your wellness journey, whether your goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, or maintain your fitness level. Body+ can automatically recognize up to eight users and link to the Apple Health app to keep users’ health metrics in one place. Make smarter health choices with the smartest scale by Withings.
Informant 5 (7-day free trial, $24.99/year, PocketInformant.com) You need a calendar app that can do it all—a one-stop place for reviewing everything on your to-do list and schedule. Whether you’re managing a multi-part work project or planning a dinner date, Informant 5 keeps your life organized. Informant 5 has a 30day calendar view that allows users to create events, todos, projects, and tasks to help keep track of everything that life throws your way. The 7-day view in Informant 5 is the favorite at iPhone Life, as it lays out everything beautifully, and is even color-coded for an easy glance at the week ahead. Other features include weather and email integration, a Travel Assist setting that automatically manages any potential time zone confusion, and Dark Mode that makes your schedule more comfortable to see in low-light situations. With these features and many more, we highly recommend checking out the calendar app Informant 5. It’s free to try and well worth it.
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IPHONE LIFE MARKETPLACE - SPONSORED PROMOTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS
PhoneSoap Pro ($119.95, PhoneSoap.com) You might have heard that our iPhones are dirtier than surfaces in a bathroom, and it’s true. Since you can’t wash your phone in the sink or risk destroying the protective coating on your iPhone with alcohol wipes, you need a smarter solution to keep your phone clean. PhoneSoap Pro uses the power of UV-C light to eliminate 99.99 percent of bacteria and viruses in just 5 minutes (twice the speed of competing products). It has even been proven to kill COVID-19 germs!
PhoneSoap Pro allows quick USB-C charging while it cleans, making it a dual-purpose tool for your busy schedule. You can use your PhoneSoap Pro to clean any small items that fit inside, including your Apple Watch, keys, jewelry, ID, and credit cards. The lightbulbs in the PhoneSoap Pro have a lifespan of 4,000 hours, which means that you can use it 48,000 times before replacing. Add your most-handled tech to your cleaning routine with PhoneSoap Pro today!
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OWC Copy That App (Free, OWCCopyThat.com) Our iPhones and iPads hold some of our most precious memories, including photos and videos of moments we can’t do over. The OWC Copy That app makes it easier to protect them by providing an innovative solution to data storage. Plug an external drive into your iDevice and back up the types of files you need with a single tap of the Copy That button.
Create default settings to skip selfies, screenshots, or other content and only duplicate the files that matter. Plus, for an in-app fee of $2.99 each, you can purchase bonus features such as Verified Copy, which compares copies of data to the originals for extra security, and Delete from Device, which automatically deletes backed-up files from your device. That way, you save time and stress less about losing data. Try OWC Copy That to make your data storage safer, quicker, and smarter!
iOS 15 Course for iPhone Life Insider Subscribers ($9.99/month, Insider.iPhoneLife.com) This September, we are not only expecting the launch of a new iPhone but also Apple’s iOS 15 software update with many remarkable features. When you subscribe to iPhone Life Insider, you can enjoy our live iOS 15 course with expert instructors the week the new software comes out, so you won’t miss a beat! We’ll also have a guide for you the day iOS 15 is released so you can instantly master the new FaceTime SharePlay, Focus, and Live Text capabilities, and so much more!
As an iPhone Life Insider, you can enjoy daily 1-minute video tips, in-depth video guides, every issue of iPhone Life magazine, our premium ad-free podcast, and unlimited access to live online courses. Plus, you get guaranteed answers to any Applerelated questions from our team of experts via Ask an Expert. You can sign up for $9.99/ month if you pay monthly or $7.99/month if you pay annually. We offer an extra 10 percent off for seniors, veterans, and service personnel.
The
BEST APPS Guide
F
rom productivity to health to entertainment, here are our top picks to download from the App Store to bring a world of possibilities to your iPhone.
The Highlights Staff & Reader Favorites Everyone has that app they can’t live without. We’ve reached out to our staff and readers for their top favorite app in any category. Here are our most exciting finds (page 26).
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Entertainment We’ve researched the best ways you can spend your downtime on your iPhone. From books to podcasts to games, these apps offer enriching content to enjoy from anywhere (pages 31, 36).
Make a Difference With a special focus on how you can make a positive impact in the world, these apps keep the future looking bright (page 37).
Best Apps
STAFF & READER PICKS OUR TEAM’S AND READERS’ HOME SCREEN HEROES
STAFF FAVORITES Inkflow Visual Notebook (Free) This visual notebook is a fun go-to app for mapping out DIY projects and outlining stories. Jot down thoughts, draw diagrams, and drop in photos. 1 Second Everyday: Video Diary (Free) 1 Second Everyday takes photo journaling to a new level. With Live Photos enabled, you can use this app to create unique videos summarizing your past week, month, or even year!
TUNE UP! GuitarTuna: Guitar, Bass Tuner (Free) Perfectly tune your guitar in standard or custom tunings. GuitarTuna also offers a chord library, metronome, and games to help you learn new chords. Canva: Graphic Design & Video (Free) Warning: Canva is addictive! Create everything from beautiful Instagram posts to professional website infographics. It even has filters for easy photo editing!
SEND US YOUR FAVORITES We asked our team and readers which apps they cannot live without. We found some hidden gems and tried-andtrue staples. Are we missing your all-time favorite app? Let us know by emailing editors@iphonelife.com!
READER FAVORITES My Row Counter, Knit & Crochet (Free) My Row Counter is here for all your knitting and crochet needs! Import patterns straight from the web, and count your rows to keep track of where you are in a project. Relax Melodies: Sleep Sounds (Free) Drown out distracting noise with over 200 sound and music options. Explore meditations and SleepMovies to relax, or listen to bedtime stories.
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1Password – Password Manager ($2.99/month) Having to remember passwords to sites can be a pain, but having to remember only one password makes it a breeze. A must for anyone who is serious about their privacy and security. WHAT’S FOR DINNER? Paprika Recipe Manager 3 ($29.99) Save recipes from anywhere and quickly add the ingredients you need for any dish to your grocery list.
Think Dirty – Shop Clean (Free) It can be hard to make sense of the ingredients of your soaps and cosmetics, but Think Dirty is here to help! Look up any ingredient or product and receive a rating on how healthy it is. Night Sky (Free) Know exactly what you’re looking at when you gaze at the sky! Align your iPhone with any part of the sky and receive information such as star names and constellation outlines.
Best Apps
STAYING IN TOUCH COMMUNICATE WITH FRIENDS & FAMILY BY ASHLEIGH PAGE
PRIVATE & SECURE Signal (Free) With end-to-end encryption, password security, and minimal data storage, this no-frills interface prioritizes your privacy whether calling, texting, or video chatting.
MILITARY-GRADE ENCRYPTION Dust – A Safer Place to Text (Free) Send any information, and remove messages from your device and the recipient’s phone. Texts turn to “dust” and delete after a set time.
Telegram Messenger (Free) Sync content across your devices and send media files of any size with this simple, reliable, and secure app that allows you to set a selfdestruct timer for any message. Wickr Me – Private Messenger (Free) Enjoy a versatile interface as you call, text, and send voice memos with high-level security. Bonus: pin your favorite chats to keep them at the top of your screen.
COMMUNICATION DURING THE PANDEMIC This roundup focuses on apps that offer creative ways to stay in touch. However, we can’t ignore the crown jewels such as Zoom, Skype, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger. Many of these platforms saw a drastic increase in users due to the pandemic. Between December 2019 and April 2020, Zoom’s daily meeting participants jumped from an estimated 10 million to 300 million!
FUN, CREATIVE & INNOVATIVE Houseparty (Free) Snuggle up at home with group video chats consisting of up to ten friends. Stream Fortnite, start an inapp UNO game, or purchase a $0.99 trivia set to amp up the fun.
GroupMe (Free) This messaging app is a necessity for large groups, with features that allow you to share important moments, control notifications, and mute specific chats.
Marco Polo – Stay in Touch (Free) Record video messages of any length to update one friend or many. This app is perfect for long-distance communication, especially for those with large time differences.
Discord – Talk, Chat, Hang Out (Free) Geared toward multi-person games, Discord helps players form teams, start forums, and communicate during gameplay with text, video, and voice chat.
Airtime – A Live Social Space (Free) Create a private room or community to collaborate, share, and learn about your interests, hobbies, fandoms, and passions. Join via video, audio, or text chat.
MO VIE NIGHT Rave – Watch Party (Free) Create a private room for friends and family to watch movies and TV shows in sync from your favorite streaming services while messaging and video chatting.
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Best Apps
PHOTO & VIDEO RECORD, EDIT, STORE & SAVE BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
FOR CASUAL USE PicCollage: Fun Layout Editor (Free) PicCollage offers an easy way to make cards, social media posts, and collages of your favorite photos. Choose themed frames and your desired template, then plug in your photos!
Google Photos (Free) Upload and store photos to your Google account rather than iPhone, freeing up storage on your device and your iCloud account. Bonus features make organization easy.
LightLeap by Lightricks Pro ($19.99/year) LightLeap brings pro editing tools to your iPhone in an easy and intuitive way. Change lighting, add filters, and even remove objects just by touching your screen!
iMovie (Free) One of the easiest video making options is Apple’s native app. Choose effects, soundtracks, and video clips, then upload them seamlessly to whatever platform you prefer.
InShot – Video Editor (Free, In-App Purchases) InShot offers a hybrid of basic and premium features through oneoff purchase options for things like watermark removal, bonus stickers, and filters.
Snapseed (Free) If you like consistency in your work, Snapseed is here for you. Save your editing “looks” and automatically apply them to pictures you import for a coherent gallery.
EXTRA STORAGE
FULFILL YOUR VISION Vixer – Video Editor & Maker (Free) Create your video exactly how you imagine it with Vixer’s speed, music, and filter offerings. The premium version offers more options, but there’s plenty to do with the basic version. BEST SHARING
Vimeo – Unlock Video Power (Free) Vimeo’s own video sharing platform offers higher quality options than YouTube and, best of all, no ads.
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Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor ($4.99/month) Lightroom is a great blend of high-powered tools and easy usability. It also offers cloud-based storage to free up room on your iPhone. Organization and sharing options add to the fun!
Afterlight – Photo Editor (Free) Afterlight goes beyond the usual light balancing photo editing options and offers filters and tools that can turn your photos into works of art.
Pixlr (Free) Pixlr offers great collage creation and photo editing options. Make sure every photo in your collage has the right balance and filter to bring forth your vision.
Darkroom: Photo & Video Editor (Free) Perhaps the best app for serious photographers, Darkroom offers support for RAW photos and editing tools that go beyond filters.
G E T C R E A T IV E
Best Apps
HEALTH & FITNESS APPS FOR YOUR BODY & MIND BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
DOCTOR IN YOUR POCKET Betterhelp – Online Counseling (From $60/week) Get live counseling on your iPhone from one of Betterhelp’s 10,000 licensed counselors. Communicate with instant message in addition to live video sessions.
LIFESAVER Medisafe Medication Management (Free) Improper medicine dosage can lead to all sorts of problems. Luckily, Medisafe lets you set up reminders and track your usage to keep you on track.
MDLIVE (Cost Varies by Insurance) Telehealth has seen a boom since the pandemic, and it’s here to stay. Visit with board-certified physicians through video chat any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays. WebMD: Symptoms, RX, & Doctors (Free) WebMD offers a host of useful medical assistance, from its famed symptoms checker, to finding local doctors, to a built-in pill checker, to helping you track down drug savings.
NO APPLE WATCH? NO WORRIES
A study by Parks Associates finds that 49 percent of iPhone users own an Apple Watch, fitness tracker, or other health device. But that still leaves a whole lot of us who don’t! Here are health and fitness apps you can use without an external tracker.
INVEST IN YOURSELF Noom ($59/month) Noom helps you reach your weight loss goals by restructuring your relationship with food. It offers a complete course in the psychology of food to help you make healthy choices. MyFitnessPal (Free) Track your weight and fitness journey by logging meals, tracking your habits, and receiving motivation from this app. Premium tiers offer more content, but there’s plenty to do for free!
Waterlogged – Drink More Water (Free) If you have a hard time remembering to hydrate, Waterlogged is here for you. Track your daily water intake and receive reminders to drink that glass of H2O.
GET MO TI VATED StepBet: Walk, Get Active, Win ($6.99/month) Bet on yourself—literally! StepBet has you bet you’ll reach your goal weight or activity level, then offers fun motivation. Get healthier and win money!
ShopWell (Free) Health starts at the grocery store. Shopwell helps you make better choices while shopping, giving facts and recommendations about the food you buy. Sleep Cycle – Sleep Tracker ($29.99/year) Sleep Cycle analyzes your sleep habits and quality by tracking sounds in your room. Unlike many sleep apps, you don’t need an external device. Stats and recommendations help improve your sleep!
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Best Apps
READ & LISTEN ALL THE BEST APPS FOR BOOKS & PODCASTS BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
BOOKS Bookly ($4.99/month) Bookly helps you build and track your reading habits by offering reading-time reminders, goals, timers, stats, and even white noise to help you focus.
Chirp Audiobooks (Free) If you want to keep the books you listen to, Chirp is the way to go. It offers a massive database of discount audiobooks. Many cost $2 or less and I’ve never seen higher than $4.99!
Scribd ($9.99/month) Access unlimited e-books, audiobooks, magazines, documents, snapshots, and even sheet music. While there is a monthly fee, Sribd doesn’t cap how much you can access per month.
Goodreads (Free) Enter your reading on Goodreads! Track your progress, set a reading goal for yourself, leave and read reviews, and see what your friends are enjoying.
Litsy (Free) Share your reading habits and make new friends with this bookbased social media app. Track your stats, share reviews and quotes, and spend your days talking about books!
Kindle (Free) Read e-books on any device. Buy titles straight from Amazon, import from other places, or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited ($9.99/ month) for exclusive access to indie titles.
Libby (Free) Borrow e-books and audiobooks from your local library. While Hoopla offers more media, Libby’s the most popular library app, so you may have the best luck finding a library that uses Libby.
ThriftBooks: New & Used Books (Free) If buying books is your favorite hobby, ThriftBooks is here for you. Offering both new and used titles, this is an easy, socially responsible way to buy books and get suggestions.
Hoopla Digital (Free) Hoopla connects you to your local library and allows you to borrow e-books, audiobooks, music, and videos. Not all libraries participate, so be sure to check yours.
BUILD A HABIT
PODCASTS Apple Podcasts (Free) Apple’s native podcast app offers effortless listening. You can enjoy both free and premium content and create playlists and favorites to suit your interests.
PREMIUM CONTENT
Stitcher (Free) A favorite among podcast listeners, Stitcher lets you listen for free, but the premium version ($4.99/ month) offers exclusive goodies!
Spotify (Free) Spotify’s curated podcast recommendations make it easy to discover new shows and explore subjects you’re interested in or maybe didn’t even know about.
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Best Apps
FOOD TOP PICKS FOR THE GOURMET CHEF BY NICHOLAS NAIOTI
GO GROCERY SHOPPING Yummly (Free) This customizable app filters recipes from a variety of sources, allowing you to set dietary restrictions and curate a grocery list directly from the app based on saved recipes. SURPRISINGLY USEFUL
Reminders (Free) This Apple native app is perfect for maintaining a shared grocery list with your family. Lists are updated live, so you can check things off as they go in the cart.
Bring! Shopping List & Recipes (Free) This inventive app allows you to share your shopping list with as many people as you want, allowing for easy curation and collaboration with your workplace or roommates.
Fooducate – Eat Better Coach (Free) This nutrition app has a massive database of illuminating information about the food we eat. It uses an algorithm to score foods based on nutritional value and how processed they are.
Lifesum: Diet & Macro Tracker (Starting at $4.17/ month) This nutrition app lets you track more than calories—it offers personalized diet plans, packaged food scanning, and water intake tracking.
Thrive Market – Shop Healthy ($5/month) Thrive focuses on organic and sustainable goods at discounted costs. It’s a great way to stock up on quality pantry staples without breaking the bank.
ENJOY A SATISFYING MEAL
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ChefsFeed (Free) Often cited as the “Anti-Yelp,” this app provides recommendations for local bars and eateries through attentive reviews and dining guides from food and beverage professionals.
Instacart: Grocery Deliveries (Starting at $3.99 per delivery) This next-level delivery service gets produce, snacks, and household items to you in as little as two hours. You can even chat in real time to change your order!
Coupe: Cocktail Recipes ($1.99) This cocktail app offers recipes for hundreds of classic cocktails, including ones based on ingredients you have in stock.
DoorDash – Food Delivery ($9.99/month for unlimited deliveries) This is an on-demand delivery service for restaurants and convenience stores in your area. Best of all, they deliver alcoholic beverages!
Tasty (Free) This recipe app makes food preparation feel more approachable by providing a quick video showing how to make each recipe. This is extra useful if you’re a visual learner!
OpenTable (Free) This app helps you discover restaurants in your area based on your dietary preferences and reserve a table right from the app. No more waiting around for a table!
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BARTENDER APPROVED
Best Apps
PRODUCTIVITY WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER BY OLENA KAGUI
BUILD GOOD HABITS Streaks ($4.99/month) Build up to twelve daily goals with an easy-totap app that comes with a complication for your Apple Watch! Streaks is perfect for microhabits and major goals alike. LastPass Password Manager (Free) LastPass is a secure vault for all your passwords and personal information. Stop wasting time resetting passwords and let LastPass help you work without unwanted distractions.
Focus Keeper - Time Management ($4.99/month) Work on your ability to focus with task-specific timers. Complete one at a time and take breaks when prompted to maximize every minute. Try free for a week before committing!
HIDDEN GEM Truecaller (Free) Truecaller identifies spam calls and blocks them. Spend your time on tasks that matter rather than arguing with robocallers.
AFFORDABLE FOCUS
The characteristics that define highly productive people include knowing how to prioritize, plan effectively, stay laser-focused, and use the right tools. Each of these apps contains valuable productivity tools that can help you reach all your goals without breaking the bank.
GET ORGANIZED Things 3 ($9.99) Manage tasks, set priorities, and see upcoming reminders at a glance with this award-winning personal task manager. Take advantage of their Apple Watch complication and Siri integration! SMOOTH SCHEDULING PocketLife Calendar (Free) Consolidate your calendars with the tap of a button. PocketLife Calendar is a master calendar with an easy-to-navigate design!
Clear Todos ($4.99) Regular to-do lists can get overwhelming, which is why Clear Todos sorts items by priority. Knock out urgent tasks first or rearrange them easily if your priorities change. Due ($6.99/month) Set one-time or repeat reminders easily and add unique notification sounds to stay extra organized. See all your upcoming tasks at a glance and mark them complete with a swipe.
Checkmark 2 ($4.99) Set location-based tasks to keep your various responsibilities separate and organized. Reschedule with a tap, set recurring reminders, and set priorities by dragging a reminder! Asana (Free) Self-organization is one thing; coordinating tasks with a team is a whole different animal. Work on projects with others by assigning tasks and seeing everyone’s progress.
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Best Apps
GAMES TOP PICKS FOR FUN ON DEMAND BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
TAKE YOUR TIME Sky: Children of the Light (Free) Explore beautiful worlds with a mesmerizing soundtrack while completing quests that build a story. Easy to learn and fully immersive, this is a journey for anyone looking for magic.
The Sims Mobile (Free) This familiar favorite is available on iOS! Choose your character and build your dream life right on your phone. Play a few minutes or get lost for hours.
Pokémon Go (Free) This game has just been getting better since its 2016 launch. Go out into the world and catch Pokémon, make friends, battle, and overcome challenges as a team.
Happy Color (Free) This paint by numbers app is a perfect way to unwind after a long day. Choose from thousands of images and watch the color slowly emerge. Hints are available if you can’t find a spot!
CLASSIC!
Wordscapes (Free) This highly popular crossword game does not disappoint. Solve word puzzles on beautiful backgrounds, and get bonus points for rare words. What could be better? CHILL OUT
My Oasis: Anxiety Relief Game (Free) Build a calming oasis, complete with wildlife and relaxing melodies. The gentle pace keeps you from feeling overwhelmed.
IF YOU LIKE A CHALLENGE Bingo Blitz (Free) This adorable game lets you explore the world, collect artifacts, cook new dishes, and make new friends! Every day you get free credits to play, so in-game purchases aren’t necessary. Tiny Wings ($1.99) Race a tiny bird through hilly landscapes to a beautiful soundtrack. Controls are simple—just press the screen when going downhill and release when you want to fly.
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Trivia Crack Adventure (Free) Roll a dice and advance on a board by answering timed trivia questions. Play against friends and mark questions as fun or boring for a customized experience. Angry Birds 2 (Free) Turns out slingshotting birds at pigs is still fun. Enjoy fresh characters and graphics, while the playful destruction is as satisfying as ever. Be sure to catch the seasonal events!
Bubble Witch 3 Saga (Free) This match-three bubble shooter game is one of the most charming and best working out there. Whether you’re familiar with the franchise or new, you’ll find lots to love in this game. Mahjong+ (Free) Enjoy a new take on this traditional puzzle game. Different levels offer new challenges, and the quicker you make your moves, the more bonus points you get.
Best Apps
MAKE A DIFFERENCE APPS TO HELP YOU HELP OTHERS BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH
MAKE A DONATION ShareTheMeal: Charity Donate (Free) Pay for meals for people in need all around the globe through the United Nations World Food Programme. Choose a cause, set your donation amount, and see how many meals that buys.
RoundUp App: Donate Change (Free) RoundUp will automatically round up your purchases to the next dollar and use these micro-amounts for monthly donations.
InLieu (Free) Have a birthday coming up? Ask your friends to donate to your favorite cause in lieu of gifts. An activity feed shows donations, though the amount stays private.
TreeClicks: Shop & Plant Trees (Free) TreeClicks partners with websites to plant a tree every time you make a purchase through the app. You’ll find tons of popular stores there— including Walmart and Amazon!
PLANT A TREE
DO GOOD, FEEL GOOD! Did you know helping others can actually help you live longer? According to a study in the American Journal of Public Health, helping others can significantly reduce mortality even in people with high levels of stress. Whether you want to give money, reduce food waste, or volunteer, these apps let you help others right from your iPhone.
TAKE ACTION Golden Volunteer Opportunities (Free) Search for volunteer opportunities by location, schedule, and even activity level. You can also find virtual volunteer opportunities so you can help from home.
SAY THANKS! Gthx: Gratitude (Free) Gratitude journals are great for mental health, and Gthx takes it further by emphasizing kindness and giving you the chance to thank the people in your life.
Good on You – Ethical Fashion (Free) See brands rated by their labor, environmental, and animal practices. If a brand you like isn’t great, don’t worry—you’ll get recommendations for similar ones with higher ratings. Be My Eyes (Free) Be My Eyes connects blind or partially sighted people to sighted people, who can aid in things like reading and daily tasks through video chat. Join to give or receive aid.
Too Good To Go: End Food Waste (Free) Locate food and meals in your area that could go to waste and buy them for discounted prices. It’s not available in every area yet, though.
LOW-PLASTIC LIVING My Little Plastic Footprint (Free) Learn ways to reduce your plastic footprint. Go on a “plastic diet” by choosing a room and getting tips on how to use less plastic there.
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THE HISTORY OF THE IPHONE
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A RETROSPECTIVE ON THE BREAKOUT SUCCESS OF APPLE’S FIRST SMARTPHONE BY ELISABETH GARRY ave you ever held your iPhone 12 Pro Max in your hands and wondered, like David Byrne, “How did we get here?” It may seem like we’ve always had our smartphones in our lives, but in reality, it was just 14 short years ago when the first iPhone came out. Imagine the year 2007: no one owned an iPhone and the term “selfie” wasn’t even a twinkle in a future Instagrammer’s eye. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and learn what was special about the first iPhone that made it the household name it is today.
H
THE SMARTPHONE LANDSCAPE PRE-IPHONE The iPhone was not the first smartphone: that honor goes to IBM’s Simon Personal Communicator, which was released all the way back in 1994. This early smartphone included a touchscreen and could send and receive faxes and emails (primarily entreaties for help from a Nigerian prince). In the 2000s, prior to the iPhone’s debut, the smartphone landscape was dominated by devices like the BlackBerry and Motorola RAZR, which featured external keyboards and smaller screens. Other competitors like the Nokia N95 and HTC Touch matched or even surpassed the original iPhone in some areas but failed to capture the zeitgeist in the way Apple’s phone did. You might be surprised to know that the iPhone was not Apple’s first foray into cellphone technology. That dubious honor goes to the ROKR E1, a 2005 collaboration with Motorola that dissatisfied consumers and then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs alike.
THE FIRST IPHONE LAUNCH In 2003, Apple began work on Project Purple, the internal initiative that would eventually produce the first iPhone. That’s
right, Apple began ideation before their disastrous collaboration with Motorola, though the failure of the ROKR E1 may have been what convinced Apple to produce their own phone in order to get the product they wanted. Four years later on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in his Macworld keynote address. For the public release on June 29, 2007, eager customers lined up around Apple stores for a chance to snag one of the highly anticipated devices.
“THOUGH THE IPOD DESIGN WOULDN’T MAKE IT ONTO THE FIRST IPHONE, ONE THING THE DEVICES HAD IN COMMON WAS RELIANCE ON ITUNES.” Not everyone was queuing up to give Apple accolades. TechCrunch predicted, just weeks before its debut, that the iPhone was doomed to fail. Then-CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone’s exorbitant price point and lack of a physical keyboard (don’t worry, we’ll talk about that later), saying it wouldn’t appeal to businesspeople (who were the key smartphone demographic at the time). Ballmer likely wasn’t laughing quite so heartily as sales numbers and reviews began to come in. By and large, people liked the touchscreen user interface, sleek design, and the way it successfully combined an iPod and a phone. Other reviewers praised the first iPhone for its ease of use. What people didn’t like was that in order to get a working iPhone, users were locked into a two-year contract with AT&T and iP hone L i fe
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forced to use the 2G EDGE network, which was notoriously slow and spotty. Neither were they big fans of the price tag or the way the screen collected fingerprints like Easter eggs.
“THE FIRST IPHONE’S SOFT KEYBOARD WAS PERHAPS ITS MOST REVOLUTIONARY FEATURE AT THE TIME.” None of that stopped Apple from moving 1.39 million units in the latter half of 2007. The new phone that everyone was clamoring for seems meager by today’s standards: customers could choose between a 4-gigabyte model for $499 and an 8-gigabyte model for $599. I couldn’t even fit half the videos of my dog on that! But that would not have been a concern, since you could not record video on the first iPhone. Maybe it was for the best: the original iPhone only had a 2-megapixel camera (compare that with the iPhone 12’s 12-megapixel primary camera).
probably remember iPod commercials: black silhouettes dancing on bright backgrounds, stark white iPods clutched in their hands, white earbud wires twirling with them. The iPod made Apple stylish, and in another world, we may have gotten an iPhone designed much like the iPod, complete with its signature scroll wheel. That was the first design pursued by Apple’s Project Purple; it was rejected and later lambasted by Jobs in his Macworld address unveiling the iPhone. Though the iPod design wouldn’t make it onto the first iPhone, one thing the devices had in common was reliance on iTunes. Today, your iPhone can go through its whole lifecycle without once being plugged into a computer, if you so desire. But back in 2007, if you wanted any of the music, movies, and TV shows you had stored in iTunes on your iPhone, you’d need to plug in and sync up.
“REMOVING THE PHYSICAL KEYBOARDS OPENED THE DOOR TO MUCH BIGGER SCREENS, WHICH IN TURN CHANGED HOW WE USED OUR PHONES. But make no mistake, for 2007, the first iPhone was the real deal, offering many new technologies not before seen on the smartphone market.
WHAT WAS SPECIAL ABOUT THE FIRST IPHONE? Today, it’s easy to forget the internal landscape at Apple that the first iPhone was born into. Back then, Apple’s hottest product was undoubtedly the iPod. Launched in October 2001, it was built around iTunes, which had debuted in January of that year. If you were around back then, you
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The first iPhone was indeed groundbreaking in many ways. Unlike earlier smartphones, it included a bevy of new features, including a multitouch interface, a soft keyboard, and visual voicemail. It also offered a feature we’ve all come to know and love (while being occasionally frustrated by): the accelerometer, which is what allows you to switch back and forth between landscape and portrait mode on your phone.
The first iPhone’s soft keyboard was perhaps its most revolutionary feature at the time. Other popular smartphones of the mid-2000s, like the BlackBerry, were dominated by keyboards with physical buttons on which users would type and navigate their screens. Physical keyboards took up nearly half of the phone, forcing designers to squeeze the user interface into small, crowded screens. Apple wanted nothing to do with the limitations inherent in a physical keyboard. Though there is some disagreement on who first had the idea to build a fully touchscreen phone, Apple diverted resources from its prototype touchscreen tablet dubbed Model 035 to begin work on a touchscreen mobile phone. The engineers quickly ran into a problem, though: the buttons on the soft keyboard were so small that accuracy was a big challenge. Former Apple executive Scott Forstall stopped work on other aspects of the phone and tasked all his user interface developers with building a better soft keyboard. Eventually, an unnamed engineer landed on technology that used artificial intelligence to predict what letter users would type next.
“THOUGH THE FIRST IPHONE ESCHEWED FEATURES OTHER SMARTPHONES OF THE TIME OFFERED, LIKE 3G AND MMS, ITS FOCUS ON USER EXPERIENCE PUT IT HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE ITS COMPETITORS.” With this technology, Apple had developed an accurate keyboard built right into a touchscreen smartphone. Because they didn’t need to build a hard keyboard, they were able to make the screen bigger. As Growth Marketer and Freelance Tech Writer Nelson Jordan puts it, “Removing the physical keyboards opened the door to much bigger screens, which in turn changed how we used our phones. They weren’t just for talk, text, and email anymore. They were for games, videos, and entertainment. Indeed, that’s how we use them the vast majority of the time today.”
You might be surprised to learn that the first iPhone did not include the App Store. Though today it’s hard to imagine our iPhones without a veritable smorgasbord of apps, Steve Jobs was not wild about the idea of ceding any control over the device to third parties. It’s a good thing Apple came around on that—just imagine all the fancy brunches that would have gone undocumented on Instagram! Other novel technologies debuted with the first iPhone were a proximity sensor that prevented unwanted screen interaction when holding your phone to your ear when on calls, and an ambient light sensor, which adjusted screen brightness based on your surroundings. Both features remain with the iPhone today. From the very beginning, the iPhone differed from its competitors by using Safari for web browsing, which allowed the first iPhone to display web pages closer to how they would appear on a desktop. All these features: the touchscreen, the soft keyboard, the accelerometer, mobile Safari, and more were designed with ease of use in mind. Though the first iPhone eschewed features other smartphones of the time offered, like 3G and MMS, its focus on user experience put it head and shoulders above its competitors. Undoubtedly, this focus on user experience paid off. Since its launch in 2007, the iPhone has gone through an incredible twenty iterations. Some have been more popular than others, but the iPhone line has been wildly successful by any measure. Indeed, it’s hard to think of smartphones at all without thinking of the iPhone. Though one can hardly call the iPhone’s beginnings humble, the strides taken in just 14 years are nothing to sneeze at. So, next time you take a panoramic video with your 12-megapixel camera, edit it with a third-party app from the App Store, and send it out to all your friends over your 5G connection, spare a thought for a time in which it was a cool party trick just to pull out your first-generation iPhone and turn it sideways to show off the accelerometer’s landscape orientation. Ѷ Elisabeth Garry is a Feature Web Writer for iPhone Life. Formerly of Gartner, she has four years’ experience writing about technology. As a former college writing instructor, she is passionate about accessible communication, which is perhaps why she loves helping people make the best use of the strongest communication tools they have available: their iPhones. She has a degree in Russian from Reed College.
MASTER YOUR IPHONE iphonelife.com/getinsider
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SMART PLANT GEAR & APPS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO CREATE A THRIVING INDOOR JUNGLE BY SARAH KINGSBURY
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inter is coming. It’s time to drag all your houseplants inside from their outdoor abode where they’ve been living their best lives and figure out how to keep them alive in the dry indoor air and limited winter sunlight. Having a house full of vibrant greenery offers a delightful contrast to the cold gray outdoors, but keeping plants happy requires the right tools. Here are all the apps and smart gear I use to keep my indoor garden thriving all winter long.
GENERAL CARE A plant’s needs vary seasonally according to temperature and light exposure. This means that what is good for a plant in the summer may be harmful in the winter. That’s why I use the free app Vera: Plant Care Made Simple to track when I water, fertilize, repot, and prune each plant. I also take regular pictures to track their growth. I can familiarize myself with the physical indicators of when a plant is thirsty, such as how my
arrowhead plant flops dramatically or my succulents’ leaves soften, along with patterns of how much water and feeding my plants need at different times of the year.
“MY SUN-LOVING HIBISCUS REWARDS ME BY FLOWERING ALL WINTER, WHILE MY BIRD OF PARADISE CONTINUES PUTTING OUT NEW LEAVES AT ALMOST THE SAME PACE THAT IT DOES IN THE SUMMER.” Alenka Karabanova/shutterstock
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BRINGING THE LIGHT INDOORS The number one thing plants need to thrive over the winter is adequate light. I use Plant Light Meter ($2.99) to learn about the light needs of common houseplants. The app uses the iPhone camera to measure light to determine whether my plants are getting enough sunshine. It’s important to take multiple light measurements of a location at different times of day in order to determine whether it’s getting enough light overall. And in cases when it’s not, you can supplement the natural light coming through your windows with grow lights. Rather than investing in expensive grow lights with timers, I turn regular lamps or plug-in pendants that blend into my decor into smart grow lights. It’s as simple as plugging them into HomeKit-compatible plugs, such as the Meross Smart Plug Mini ($39.99 for four-pack) and using GE BR30 LED Grow Light Bulbs ($11.30), which give off natural white light and have the E26 base that is compatible with most home light fixtures. Whichever type of grow light you choose, make sure you get LED bulbs, since they are significantly cheaper to power and give off far less heat than other types of grow lights. I automate my grow light schedules in the Home app, about 12 to 16 hours per day, depending on each plant’s needs. I like to set the lights to turn on very early in the morning so that my plants will have gotten enough light by the end of my workday, and I can enjoy softer, more restful lighting in the evenings. The result? Rather than slowly losing all its leaves over the winter, my sunloving hibiscus rewards me by flowering all winter, while my bird of paradise continues putting out new leaves at almost the same pace that it does in the summer. And because I can focus each lamp or pendant light on a single plant, I can keep these plants with high light needs
right next to other plants that prefer lower light levels.
HUMIDITY Indoor air tends to be very dry during the winter, while most houseplants prefer humidity levels between 40 and 60 percent. But not all plants will thrive in humid conditions and may even be more prone to diseases and pests. I like to use small humidifiers to create zones of humidity around the plants that need it. Because my grow lights give me the flexibility to group plants with different light requirements, I am free to pair them according to their humidity needs. I can place plants together that like drier air, like my sun-loving jade plant and my snake plant that likes lower light, while my bird of paradise and hibiscus can group around a humidifier along with my pothos and blue star fern, which don’t like too much direct sunlight. While I’m a big fan of turning regular appliances into smart ones with the help of smart plugs, in the case of my humidity-loving plants, I prefer to use the VOCOlinc Flowerbud Smart Diffuser ($59.99) because it can sense the ambient humidity. I have this smart cool-mist humidifier configured in the Home app to run when humidity levels drop below 45 percent and shut off when they reach 60. And though it’s not necessary for my plants, I enjoy the cozy feeling the colorful night light brings to a dark winter night as well.
TASTE OF SUMMER
While I’m much more of a houseplant enthusiast than an actual gardener, I do love growing fresh herbs and tomatoes over the summer, and it’s hard to switch to pale, tasteless
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grocery store tomatoes and packages of four wilted basil leaves that cost a fortune. However, providing the right conditions to grow fresh herbs and fruiting plants is a lot more complicated than hanging a few pendant lights over them. This year I’m trying something new with the Smart Garden 9 PRO ($259.95), which the folks at Click & Grow were kind enough to send me to test for this article. This app-controlled smart gardening system consists of a bar of LED grow lights over plant containers that wick water up from a reservoir and clear plastic lids that create a greenhouse effect to encourage germination. It’s as simple as inserting the proprietary plant pods (a growing medium with seeds in it) and plugging in the garden. The companion app then sends you notifications and information about the plants that are supposedly timed to the plants’ growth. My plants germinated a bit sooner than the instructions said they would, so the actual timing of the notifications is off. Still, overall this setup is ideal for someone like me who has never successfully started a plant from seed before. The Smart Garden comes with mini tomato, basil, and lettuce seed capsules, and you can order more directly from the company. In the future I will probably skip the lettuce and order a larger variety of herbs and stagger the planting of my tomatoes for an ongoing crop.
TROUBLESHOOTING Sometimes, despite my best efforts, one of my plants just fails to thrive, for example, my new fiddle leaf fig. I knew that this plant variety can be finicky and that moving it to the new environment of my house could be the cause of the leaf drop I was seeing, but the sickly new growth told me that there was a bigger problem. I inserted the North Plant Tracker ($19.95) into the plant’s soil to try to figure out the issue. This smart monitor has light, nutrient, and moisture
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sensors and syncs the data to the companion iPhone app. Within the app, you can see the plant’s accumulated light exposure along with moisture and soil nutrient levels on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Armed with this information, I moved the plant to a brighter location, changed the watering schedule, and ultimately decided to repot it with a better potting soil. I’m happy to report that it has not lost any more leaves, and a pair of healthy new leaves just appeared.
“PLANT SUBREDDITS PROVIDE GREAT ADVICE ON POTTING SOIL, GROW LIGHTS, PEST REMEDIES, AND PLANT IDENTIFICATION.” Although many apps promise support to struggling plant parents, the best source of plant help I’ve ever encountered is on Reddit (free), where the opportunity to interact with experienced plant lovers is invaluable. Plant subreddits provide great advice on potting soil, grow lights, pest remedies, and plant identification. Recently when the blue star fern shipped to me as a gift arrived in bad shape, a kind fern enthusiast gave me all the advice I needed to pull it back from the brink of death within minutes of my posting. As with any crowd-sourced advice, you will need to apply common sense when applying it. I’m happy to report that the blue star fern is now exploding with healthy new growth, but I doubt I will ever take it into the bathroom with me every time I shower like that particular Redditor recommended. Ѷ 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.
HOW TO PRINT PHOTOS FROM YOUR IPHONE GET PROFESSIONAL -QUALIT Y PRINTS ON PHOTO PAPER, CANVAS, MUGS & MORE BY LEANNE HAYS
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t’s easy to share photos, videos, and entire albums from your iPhone to your friends’ and family members’ devices. But, as Marvin Gaye once sang, “Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.” If you want paper photos you can frame, put in your wallet, or send to friends and family, you have several options available to you. You can print them at home; use an app to have them printed at a nearby store; or use a professional service
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that will duplicate and mail your pictures in a variety of sizes on things like photo paper, canvases, mugs, calendars, and stickers. DIY photo printing is a great way to make high-quality, personalized gifts and marketing materials right from your iPhone. The possibilities are endless! Here’s how to print photos at home, at a local business, and with the help of online photo printing services.
Photos by Rheanne Taylor & Leanne Hays
PHOTO PRINT ING AT HOME Photo printing at home is quick and easy once you have the right setup, but if you only need a few photos, it’s more cost effective to use one of the professional photo printing services mentioned in the next two sections. This is because you’ll need an AirPrint-enabled inkjet printer, colored ink, and photo paper to get professional-quality photos. You can spend top dollar on high-end printers; for example, an Epson SureColor P900 17-inch Photo Printer for $1,195 that can print large format, exhibition quality photos up to 17 inches wide. There are also bare-bones options like the Canon Pixma TS3520 Wireless All-In-One Printer, which costs a more budget-friendly $79.99. iPhone Life Web Editor Erin MacPherson has vetted photo printers from every major brand and recommends a middleof-the-road option, the Epson Expression Premium XP7100. Ringing in at $199.99, this wireless printer features touchscreen controls and includes a scanner and copier. Erin reports that the XP-7100 offers consistently crisp printing and smooth photos, especially when using high-quality photo paper. She recommends HP Glossy Advanced Photo Paper for Inkjet, a bargain at $22.99 for 50 8.5x11-inch sheets.
GETT ING READY TO PRINT Once you have your printer set up, here’s how to print one or more pictures from the Photos app on your iPhone in just a few short steps. Note: It’s a good idea to print a test photo before committing to a large batch, because printer pigments are not always color correct and printed photos don’t have a light behind them like photos on your iPhone screen.
PRINT A SINGLE PHOTO 1. Open the Photos app and tap the photo you want to print. 2. Tap the Share icon in the lower-left corner. 3. Scroll down and tap Print. 4. Make sure your printer is selected and tap Print in the upper-right corner.
PRINT MULT IPLE PHOTOS 1. Open the Photos app and tap Select in the upper-right corner. 2. Tap the photos you want to print. 3. Tap the Share icon in the lower-left corner. 4. Make sure your printer is selected, then tap Print in the upper-right corner.
ORDER & PICK UP PHOTOS FROM A NEARBY BUSINESS Visiting a nearby business is a happy medium if you want to print photos from your iPhone but don’t want to invest hundreds of dollars in hardware and materials. The photo printing service at a nearby store lets you check a task off your list without going out of your way or waiting several days or more for delivery. Lots of national chains like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS offer photo printing, and you can access them through apps like Walmart’s Photo Prints+ (free) and CVS’s Photo Prints Now (free). You can also use Kodak Moments (free), which lets customers print pictures from kiosks at a variety of stores, as well as offers pick-up and delivery options. My mom enjoyed visiting her local Target, transferring
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PHOTO PRINT ING FAVORIT ES Friends and coworkers weigh in with their favorite photo-printing services Canva I used Canva’s printing service for a large order of greeting cards and got exactly what I was hoping for. The paper was high quality, colors were bright and saturated, and the design came out exactly as shown on the proof page. The packaging was minimal and stylish and added a nice touch. My coworkers were impressed! -Ursula Schaefer, Co-owner of Gorge Community Music Social Print Studio Social Print Studio is my favorite! I put together a photography show featuring over 200 prints, and I used Social Print Studio for all of them. Not only did the prints turn out
photos via Wi-Fi, and printing directly from the Kodak kiosk there. She appreciated the larger interface and ability to print test copies before ordering a larger batch of photos. I prefer ordering photos with the app and picking them up in-store after completing my shopping, mostly because it cuts down on the amount of time I have to spend in a noisy place! To order photos, download one of the apps suggested above, then choose the store location that’s most convenient. Allow access to your photos, choose your shots, then choose from the products available at your location. For me, that includes prints, collages, and cards. The app will walk you through design decisions and offer a variety of sizes in whatever quantity works for you. Send the order to the store, and you’ll be contacted when your photos are ready. Simple!
ORDER PHOTO PRODUCTS FROM A PROFESSIONAL PHOTO PRINT ING SERVICE If you’re looking for a broader range of photo products and don’t mind waiting for delivery, check out one of the many photo printing services in the App Store. Each service has its own features and perks that make it stand out from the others; research several before deciding which one to use for your project. Note: We suggest ordering an inexpensive test product before investing in a large canvas because the colors you see on your screen will not be the same colors you see on a piece of photo paper, canvas, or other material.
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beautifully, but the company reps were a dream to work with. I have also ordered magnets, wooden prints, and stickers from them and love them all! The service also has an app that makes ordering easy. -Rheanne Taylor, Senior Video Producer at iPhone Life PrintRunner I’ve been using PrintRunner for my business for years. I can print as much or as little as I need at a price that beats most of the competition. I’ve ordered everything from business cards to postcards, stickers, and labels, all of which come out beautifully. The ordering process is a breeze, customer service is very helpful and responsive, and shipping is fast and affordable. -Kenzie Fox, Owner of Soapbox Fox Soaps & Mindful Moon Candle Company
Snapfish (Free) This highly rated app provides 100 free 4x6inch prints every month; all you pay is shipping! They also offer drag and drop collage layouts for canvas prints and photo books, customizable calendars and mugs, and even metallic foil cards. Snapfish products are perfect for holidays, wedding save the dates, and more. Shutterfly (Free) Another popular and highly rated app, Shutterfly offers unlimited free photo storage, great coupons and sales, and unlimited free 4x4-inch and 4x6-inch prints (though shipping is pricey). Standout products include custom stationery, canvas, poster, and collage wall prints. Mpix Tap to Print (Free) This is my favorite of the apps I’ve researched due to its unique Collagewall kits, as well as metal and wood print offerings. Quality is high, pricing is reasonable, shipping is quick, but the app interface is a bit unintuitive when compared to competitors. The 25 percent off first order coupon made up for that, though! Ѷ Leanne Hays is an SEO Content Strategist 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, long-term goals include a bike tour of Italy and writing a novel.