iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Planning trips can go either way: you plan them to the minute or you have a general idea of what you want to do. TripAdvisor helps you to decide on the best travel ideas by finding local spots of interest based on reviews and photos by other regular people. This travel planning app features suggestions by travel magazines and famous personalities who you can follow in the app in order to find more travel destinations that appeal to you. You can also book transport, hotels, and restaurant reservations within this app, making it your travel-planning utility knife.

Having reviewed tech products for so many years, I may be one of the few contributing editors at iPhone Life to have spent considerable time with nearly every one of Phiaton's headphone product line. Just added to this list is Phiaton's Curve headset, one that culminates the company's audio expertise, design aesthetic and comfort into a noise-canceling, high battery capacity listening experience. How does the Curve ($79) compare to the Phiaton headsets that have come before it? Read on to find out.

​It can be a hassle to scroll through several pages of Emojis on your iPhone just to find the right one. Here's how to quickly find the perfect Emoji so your text messaging doesn't become a drag.

I'm working on a video and podcasting studio, so when the Rubix44 ($299.99) from Roland showed up, it was the perfect accessory to try to integrate. The Rubix44 is reminiscent of a Rubic's Cube, because it looks straightforward, but it's actually quite sophisticated, and you'll want to read the instructions to master it. For example, while I love that it has special combo jacks that support both XLR and 1/4-inch microphone connections, the instructions state to use XLR to ensure higher volume. That stymied me for a while, but then I read the manual! Note that Roland only includes a setup guide in the box. The manual has to be downloaded, so it's not entirely my fault!

If you ride a bicycle or walk outside and want to listen to music, but don't want to block out the outside world, try the Lucyd Loud ($99). Lucyd sent me their Lucyd Loud sunglasses which have built-in audio capabilities. They act as earbuds using Bluetooth 4.1, but you don't have to place anything inside your ears. They use bone conduction to transmit the sound, and they do so quite well.

I have reviewed a number of car mounts, in particular several that support Qi wireless charging, and it's a pleasure to use them. You just place your phone in the cradle, or close to it, and it snaps into place and starts charging! But if you don't have a Qi-based phone, you could try the iTap 2 Magnetic 2 Dash & Windshield Mount ($29.95), which iOttie sent me to try. I tried to review it on that premise, that I didn't want Qi charging or didn't have a phone that supported it.

Google Chrome is a popular search engine and it's likely you have several tabs open right now. If you need to switch devices, such as from your computer to your iPhone, Google Chrome can be synced so you don't have to find everything all over again. Being able to switch from one device to another with minimal effort is a huge advantage. Here's how to view your computer's open Chrome tabs, Chrome bookmarks, and more on your iPhone.