iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the nerd or geek in your life? No matter what kind of tech your friend or family member is into, we've found a present for them. We've selected a range of products at a variety of manageable price points, so you can find something for everyone on your list, old, young, and everywhere in between. Here are our top picks for geeky gear in 2019!

The folder-sharing feature available starting with iOS 13 is a great collaboration tool for those who've long enjoyed the convenience of the Notes app, as well as those using it for the first time. We've already covered how to move a note into a folder in the Notes app, so now let's go over how to invite one or more people to a shared Notes folder on your iPhone or iPad. 

BaseLynx Charging Modules: Scosche’s Customizable & Stylish Charging Solution

(Sponsored Post) By Erin Smith on Thu, 01/07/2021

The BaseLynx Modular Charging system by Scosche is a creative and fully customizable way to power your devices without having to use several separate chargers. Why end up with a tangle of cords and cables when you can select the exact number of chargers you want and connect them seamlessly into one attractive charging station? These modules can be arranged and rearranged as you see fit, and are certified safe for your devices.

I’ve long been complaining about the lack of any “find in page” functionality in most mobile Web browsers. Now that I’ve played a bit with JavaScript scriptlets, I can proudly present a working solution to this problem.

All you need to do is, independent of the Web browser you use, add the following favorite:

If you've been having trouble with pop-ups on your iPhone whenever you try to browse online, you're probably hoping for a way to block pop-ups on Safari. Luckily, your iPhone does have a way to disable pop-ups in Safari so that you don't have to deal with these annoying interruptions anymore. Conversely, you may want to enable pop-ups on your iPhone if the pop-up blocker for Safari is stopping pop-ups you actually need. Let's get started learning how to disable and allow pop-ups in Safari on your iPhone so you can browse the web in peace. (Note that this article doesn't cover how to disable in-app rating requests on the iPhone; you will need to do that in the App Store settings.)

A couple days ago I posted about "crap apps": entertaining and completely useless apps A couple days ago I posted about "crap apps": entertaining and completely useless apps that in some cases make a lot more money for the developer than serious apps. Now the Wall Street Journal has an article on what might be called "ad apps": apps whose main purpose is to promote a product.

If you're getting ready to trade, give away, or sell your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you're probably wondering how to erase your iPhone, then restore your iPhone to factory settings, so all your data and settings are deleted. If you want to know how to factory reset an iPhone, there are two methods for accomplishing this. If you have a computer available, you can factory reset your iPhone with iTunes or the Finder. If you need to know how to reset your iPhone or iPad without a computer, you can still factory reset your iPhone from the Settings app. If you're wondering how to delete everything on your iPhone, it doesn't matter which model you have. A factory reset for an iPhone works the same way, whether it's an older generation like an iPhone 4, 5, 6, 7, or a newer iPhone 8, X, or 11. Ready to learn how to wipe an iPhone or iPad and completely reset it? Let's get started! 

There are two ways to set a custom image as the wallpaper of your opening “unlock” screen:

  • Go to Photos, display the desired image, tap on the lower-left options button, and select “Use as Wallpaper” from the pop-up menu.
  • Open the Settings app and select General >Wallpaper.

Either of these methods allows you to use any photo or image on the iPhone/iPod touch as wallpaper. Follow these steps to add a wallpaper folder, so you don't have to look through all your photos to find an image:

Yesterday I wrote about a FAIL where movies for many iphone users are not playing. I do not have a the full answer as to why it’s not working, although it seems that the .flv (flash version) of the video is playing instead of the h.264 (apple version).   As of this writing, it still does not work for me; even after a few reboots.  However, I did find a way to get video to work.

I represented iPhone Life magazine at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and there was plenty of news to report for iPhone and iPod touch users. The following are notes from the event, plus brief reviews of some of the gadgets we were able to get our hands on after CES was over.

High-tech headwear

At least two vendors are trying to integrate headphones or speakers into something you already wear.

It can be a nerve-wracking step, buying your child their first iPhone. There's a lot of inappropriate content in songs, movies, and apps, not to mention creepers and weirdos on the internet. Luckily, the iPhone has parental controls we can set to keep our children from accessing the more unsavory side of the digital world. In this tip, we'll learn how to use the Restrictions screen to enable restrictions and set a passcode so those settings can't be changed by anyone but you. Let's get started learning how to block websites, lock apps, and decide on Allowed Content, Privacy, Allowed Changes, and Game Center features. 

In addition to the four icons in the bar at the bottom, the Home screen holds 16 application icons. You can create up to eight additional pages for application icons and each page can hold an addition 16 app icons. So a total of nine Home screen pages, each of which can hold up to 16 app icons, plus the 4 icons at the bottom, means that you can have up to 148 apps on your iPhone.

Let's hope that you never have to use RepairPal. But you really ought to have it on your iPhone just in case. If you're out and about and your car breaks down, you'll need this app. This free application gives you information ranging from diagnosing a problem, estimating a fair repair price, and finding the right mechanic to do the work. 

Due to the Apple SDK constraints on developers of iPhone software, data exchanges with your phone is limited to email and local area network connectivity. 

Some iPhone applications such as “Files” allow you to import and read your Word, Excel, and PDF files from your desktop computer to your phone, and move that data to the iPhone by establishing a wireless connection between the phone and desktop over a LAN.

Groucho Marx once said he wouldn't belong to a club that would have him as a member.  The iPhone club, while already setting records in the smartphone industry, is about to get bigger.

Not everybody has the luxury of an Apple store nearby, and not every AT&T store sells the iPhone.  Plus, when the iPhone 3G was introduced, online ordering went away.  With all of these obstacles, Apple knows there is always room for improvement.

There is a starbucks near where I live, but the wifi there is horrible. Worse, I cannot get 3G, so basically, I go elsewhere. Then AT&T announced they were going to give iPhone users free wifi access. Great! But, you have to go through this silly login process: Link to process.. Whatever. It’s not a chore so much as just plain annoying. So much so, I do not bother and stick with edge.

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