iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Big news broke the internet recently. Since Instagram now has Snapchat-like features such as disappearing photo stories, the social network decided to continue its imitation: if someone takes a screenshot of your disappearing photo, you will receive a notification. While the internet seemed to freak out over this, it’s a great measure for privacy. Disappearing photos are supposed to...well, disappear. So it only makes sense that you’d receive a notification when someone decides you disappearing photo should be a more permanent photo on their device. Now that Instagram stories are a bit more secure, here’s how to take an Instagram photo that will disappear.

Facebook’s selection of free stickers is so much better than Apple’s, which is one of the many reasons users love Messenger so much. Stickers in Facebook Messenger work very similarly to stickers in Messages: you can download sticker packs and send them to friends. Since Facebook Messenger has such a great variety of stickers, they’re a lot of fun to use. Here’s how to download stickers for Facebook Messenger on iPhone.

Both the Apple Maps app and Google Maps app automatically creates a maps search history on your iPhone. This is intended to make it easy to find previous places you’ve been and quickly get directions to them again. However, if you go on vacation or recently moved, there’s no reason to keep an old location history on your iPhone that’s no longer applicable. Here’s how to clear Apple Maps and Google Maps history from your iPhone.

When you search the web in Safari on iPhone or iPad, the iOS default search engine determines what site is used to look for results. Even if you’re in the Safari browser, you can still choose to use Google search instead of say Bing or Yahoo. iPhone also gives you the option to use DuckDuckGo for Safari, which doesn't track users' search history, for greater privacy. Changing the default browser on  iPhone or iPad couldn’t be easier. You can choose what you want your iPhone default search engine to be within Settings. Here’s how to change your default search engine in Safari on iPhone or iPad. Please note that if you set Google as your default browser in Safari it is different from browsing the web with Chrome. To make Chrome the default browser on your iPhone or iPad, simply download the iOS Chrome app from the App Store and browse the web using the Chrome app instead of the Safari app.

Within Settings on iPhone, there are plenty of ways to access your Apple ID. Before iOS.3 on iPhone, you would find your devices, access to Apple ID, storage and iCloud information, and other important device info scattered throughout the Settings app. But when Apple recently released iOS 10.3, that all changed. Now, when you open the Settings app, your Apple ID profile is the first thing you’ll see. Let’s take a quick tour.

I was able to try the IonSlim 5K for USB-C ($54.95) from Moshi before it was released. Like other Moshi products, it's elegantly designed, with quality materials, including anodized aluminum. At 8.5 mm, it's also incredibly slim, almost as slim as an iPhone 7, yet it provides 5,150 mAh of power and Fast Charging at 15 Watts (5 volts at 3 amps), which is impressive given the thickness (or lack of thickness.)

With such an infinite array of wired and Bluetooth headphones for running and working out, how do we know our money will buy an investment and not another piece of temporary tech? Headphones are a very competitive electronics category with players ranging from obscure to household name. As a complete and total music nerd, I have owned many a headphone pair. Studio monitors, wired and wireless earbuds of every gimmick and design, Bluetooth on-ears, in-ears, and over-ears, and countless random sets from disposable to decadent. Headphones have been an emotional receptor for me throughout my life, and a mirror for my artistic expression as a musician. Just over three months ago, I began a rigorous workout schedule, and I knew I would need the best sport headphones I could find. I played with a few wired and Bluetooth headphones for working out before I had the opportunity to write this article, and saw it as the perfect way to test these workout headphones in the field. Well, actually I tested them in the gym, in the field, on the trail, on a bike, and on a skateboard, but I think I covered some solid ground during the tests.

In the 58th episode, members of the iPhone Life team share their favorite summer iPhone gear for everything from the best rugged Bluetooth speaker for outdoor entertaining to the coolest solar-powered smart flashlight for camping. They also share useful tips on topics ranging from what to do if you forget your Apple ID password to using Emergency SOS on your Apple Watch (and how to cancel it if you accidentally activate it.) Plus, listen to the end for an important downside to keep in mind about sharing your AirPods with others.

No one wants to search through dozens (if not hundreds) of messages looking for the specific conversation. Not too long ago iMessages added a search bar at the top, but your iMessage history only goes so far. In fact, of the following apps (iMessage, Facebook and Whatsapp), searching Whatsapp is the easiest, with Facebook search close behind, and iMessage search following. But you can search through your text messages history so long as you haven’t deleted the conversation thread. We’ll go over how to search through your messages on iPhone  and iPad using iMessage, Facebook, and Whatsapp.