iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

The new Mac mini has caught my attention. Announced at the November Mac event—the third Apple event this fall—and starting at $699, the Mac mini (2020) is currently the cheapest Mac desktop available. Since the Mac mini lacks the portability of a laptop and the processing power of a full desktop (even with all its boasted improvements over the older model), many may wonder what the point of this computer is. However, this is the first desktop Apple has produced that uses an ARM chip, which is a significant change as previously they were only used in iPhones and iPads. As I'm looking to purchase both a desktop and my first Mac computer, not only the price tag but also the compact nature of the Mac mini call out to me. I'm also intrigued by the M1 chip, which may bring more iOS functionality to the Macs. My processing needs aren't very high, and I'm looking to set up a more stable home office thanks to the shift toward working from home in 2020. For others, though, the Mac mini may not have much to offer. Let's take a look at what the Mac mini (2020) is promising us and what type of buyer might be the right fit.

The Hassle-Free Way to Transfer & Save iPhone Content

(Sponsored Post) By Olena Kagui on Wed, 10/13/2021

Your iPhone contains an incredible amount of priceless photos, messages, and music, all of which you'd be sad to suddenly lose, right? The iMazing app by DigiDNA helps you safeguard your special memories with easy-to-use export, saving, and even printing options. Especially with the new iPhone 13 coming out, an app like this might just be what you’ve been looking for!

It used to take forever for new iPad cases to arrive. Now it takes days, at most weeks. Many of the new iPad Air cases got the size and shape right, but a few missed the magnets on folios that enable sleep/wake. This first batch of iPad Air cases doesn’t offer any new twists or innovations, instead continuing mostly with cases that are one-offs of earlier iPad cases. The variety does, however, suggest that iPad Air owners will have plenty of options to choose from.

Look for CES announcements to greatly expand the number of options available.

It’s a matter of when not if. To me it's a foregone conclusion that the release of a larger iPhone is not far off. Granted, this might not be the kind of news you want to be reminded of just days after unboxing your shiny new iPhones; but the fact remains: the impending introduction of the new iPhone 6 or iPhone Air (or whatever it ends up being called) is literally just around the corner. For Apple to deliver this highly anticipated and widely rumored iPhone to market seems a no-brainer; all one has to do is look at the popularity of the competition’s larger-screened smartphone devices to conclude that this would be a wise and prudent business plan.

Game Centered features roundups and in-depth reviews of the best in iOS games and related gaming news. This week, in advance of Apple’s annual iTunes Connect closing dates (12/21-12/27) we've been treated to a whole slew of top-of-the-line new games and big updates that slipped into the App Store just in time for Christmas! We've got a lot of exciting gaming news to cover, so let's dive right in. And don't forget, the App Store allows us to gift apps and any of the following games would make excellent holiday presents.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is part 34 of the series. If you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series here.

Whether you are for or against the new U.S. healthcare initiative, everyone agrees on one thing. The launch of the HealthCare.gov web site was an unqualified disaster. Most visitors who came to the site when it was first rolled out saw the message shown in Figure 1.

A reliable protective case comes in handy not only to ward off scratches and scrapes, a good, heavy-duty protective case can make the difference between a catastrophic, life-ending event for your iDevice and a mere bump in the road. Whether you are a bathtub iBook reader or an outdoor adventurer who always has their iPhone in tow, a ruggedly protective case that offers a high measure of insulation from outside elements can be a very worthwhile investment. Read on to find out which are the best iPhone 5s and 5c heavy-duty cases available right now.

A reliable protective case not only comes in handy to ward off scratches and scrapes, and a good, heavy-duty protective case can make the difference between a catastrophic, life-ending event for your iDevice and a mere bump in the road. Whether you are a bathtub iBook reader or an outdoor adventurer who always has their iPad in tow, a ruggedly protective case that offers a high measure of insulation from outside elements can be a very worthwhile investment.

With that in mind, check out these ultra-protective iPad cases, each with its own unique features and advantages, yet all designed to absorb and redirect the shock and potential damage to your iPad.

Apple was criticized and ridiculed for launching a low-cost iPhone. Many feared Apple's attempt to attract cost-conscious customers would turn out to be a tactical blunder and probably backfire. There was always a risk of alienating premium and loyal Apple customers. But the Cupertino-based firm was spot on with the launch of the candy-colored iPhone 5c. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, nearly half of the customers who bought the iPhone 5c in the months of September and October were users switching from Android phone, especially Samsung and LG.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is part 33 of the series. If  you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series here.

So far in this series, with the iAppsReview project we have always retrieved and stored data directly on the iOS device (or Simulator) using Core Data. However, we eventually need to retrieve and store data on the web so we can read other users' online reviews, and post our own reviews to the web. Accessing data on the web is definitely not trivial. That's why I've waited to introduce the subject. We'll take it slow and in this post I'll provide an overview of the concepts before we begin diving into some real code in the next few posts.

With over 2.19 trillion text messages sent annually, there’s a little known condition that is plaguing smartphone users known as "text neck." The injury involves stiffness in your neck and shoulders and typically is caused by excessive smartphone usage.

A 2011 study published in the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics found that 53 percent of mobile phone users suffer numbness or neck aches. Another study led by Erik Peper of San Francisco State University showed that 84 percent of subjects reported some hand and neck pain during texting. Moreover subjects also displayed other signs of tension, like holding their breath and increased heart rates.

I've been a fan of Rube Goldberg's drawings of overly complicated inventions since I first saw one. Now, through the magic of the iPad and Rube Works ($2.99), you can recreate some of his inventions, using an elegant, sophisticated interface.

If you're not familiar with Rube Goldberg, you owe it to yourself to do a Google search. Basically, he takes simple tasks, like an alarm to wake you up, and combines a plethora of obscure devices and even animals to accomplish the task! Rube Goldberg machines are far more complex than they need to be, and that's the point.

As a Google Apps for Business client (a paid, cloud-based productivity suite that helps you and your team connect and get work done from anywhere on any device using ad-free Gmail), I was seeing that my Gmail contacts were rarely identical to my iPhone contacts. The number of contacts I had in my Gmail contacts was nowhere close to the number of my iPhone contacts. This problem happens because when I receive an email from someone in Gmail and add them to my contacts, it didn't always sync with my iPhone contacts. You'd think it would; but it doesn't. And the same thing happens when I add a contact on my iPhone. 

How does a picture of actor Morgan Freeman wind up featured here on iPhone Life? Well, while he is undoubtedly a respected and immensely gifted performer, the reason you see his face here is because this image was created with only fingertips, talent, an iPad, and an amazing app called Procreate ($5.99). It really is a painting, though the detail rendered is mind-blowing, even when you zoom in on it. As an artist in my own right I can honestly say I've never seen such an amazing portrait, much less one created on an iPad.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is part 32 of the series. If  you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series here.

in this week's post, I'm going to break down the process of installing and running an app on a real iOS device (rather than the Simulator). Even if you think you know everything there is to know about this process, things have changed a bit under Xcode 5, so I recommend you read on!

These days there is a seemingly endless array of excellent quality Bluetooth speakers. However, out of the multitudes of Bluetooth speakers on the market, only a limited and select few can lay claim to being rugged and heavy duty. What follows are the cream of the crop of ultra-durable, shock-proof, and waterproof speakers. Read on to find the best rugged Bluetooth speakers for those who are adventurous or accident prone, or those who are looking for the perfect speaker for someone who can be really hard on their gear.

Apple fans from any generation seem to have a special love for product design. But up until this year, it was impossible to find a comprehensive collection of photographs covering Apple's design history, leaving many of these diehards with only mental images. Iconic, a massive photographic coffee table book on the history of Apple, showcases almost every product Apple has ever made. Author and creator Jonathan Zufi talked to iPhone Life about the book, taking the photos, and what it was like to talk to one of the founders of the world's most valuable company.

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