iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

At $699, the iPhone 12 mini is not Apple’s cheapest iPhone. That title still belongs to the $399 iPhone SE 2020, but the mini is indeed the cheapest iPhone with 5G. It is also the cheapest iPhone with Face ID, the latest CPU, and Apple’s dual-camera system. But what is really impressive is that it is also the smallest iPhone with all of the above features!

Markup is a nifty iPhone feature that allows users to doodle, magnify, and place text on images and PDFs in the Photos, Mail, Notes, Files, and Messenger apps. Whether you need to add a signature, insert text or draw shapes onto existing documents or images, Markup has you covered. Learn to save time when signing digital documents as well as add your personal flair to your images. Markup is a powerful tool that is great for business as well as entertainment and is compatible with the Photos, Messages, and Mail apps. 

Use iPhone Life Insider to Master Your AirPods, iPhone & More

(Sponsored Post) By Erin Smith on Wed, 01/13/2021

Our catalog of expertly designed guides for Apple devices are one of the biggest draws of our iPhone Life Insider program. They help our subscribers master their apple devices via simple guidance and detailed how-tos, all while giving users the flexibility and control over when and how they access the information. Our upcoming AirPods Guide will be an excellent resource for anyone who wants to truly become one with their AirPods.

These days we have so many logins to different apps and websites that it’s impossible to keep track of them all. Thanks to iCloud Keychain, you can view saved passwords within your iPhone Settings instead of having to remember them. The Keychain feature securely stores your login information for you and allows you to access the passwords from your other devices. We’ll show you two different methods to access your iPhone's password manager so you can always find your login credentials when you need them.

This article covers all the new features in Photos and Camera apps in iOS 14 including how to add captions to photos, how to filter photos, the best way to organize photos, how to create a memory or make a slideshow from an album, how to save mirror selfies to your camera roll, and how to take burst photos on the iPhone using the volume controls. Some of the most exciting new features introduced with iOS 14 are in the Apple Photos and Camera apps. Let's take a look at what's new and how best to utilize these features.

If you have an external keyboard or iPad keyboard case, you know how convenient this type of iPad accessory can be. Still, there are times where you may want to change the keyboard you're using back to your on-screen keyboard. We've already written about how to connect a keyboard to your iPad, including the new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro and iPad, and how to turn the floating iPad keyboard off and on. Now, let's go over how to switch back and forth between your software keypad and the hardware keyboard for your iPad. 

The rollout of iOS 14 introduced a number of useful features. The one I was most excited to try was Back Tap, which allows me to tap the back of my iPhone with a series of two or three taps to enable pre-selected shortcuts, such as turning on VoiceOver or muting my phone. While Back Tap does have some limitations, it's a huge leap forward for those who find it difficult to navigate through the iPhone's menus and screens with the requisite numerous taps, swipes, and other motions. Let's go over how to enable and set up Back Tap, how to navigate the menus to select which functions your taps will prompt, and what to know about which iPhones can use Back tap.

Access to a deceased family member’s Apple account allows you to recover photos, finalize financial matters, and save other important digital information. To protect the privacy of customers who have passed away, Apple requires a court order before granting you access to a deceased person’s iCloud account. This ensures that your loved one’s information stays secure even after their passing. To help make this process as easy as possible for you, we've put together a guide to Apple's policies and requirements for gaining access to a deceased person's Apple or iCloud account.

We're all familiar with spam texts and calls, and I don't know anyone who actually enjoys getting them. I get political text messages, random surveys, and many other unknown text messages that I truly would not be sorry to never see again, but I do need to be able to still find messages from new contacts before I've saved their numbers! Fortunately, iPhones come equipped with a way to filter messages from unknown senders into a separate folder. This way if you happen to be looking for a text from someone you don't have saved in your contacts you can still find it, but you don't have to see those messages mixed in with your regular texts if you don't want to. Here's how to filter out messages from unknown senders in the Messages app on your iPhone.

If your recent iOS 14 update came with orange or green dots at the top of your screen, you’re not alone. But don’t worry, these indicators on the iPhone status bar are there to safeguard your security and privacy. They let you know when apps use your microphone or camera, and are especially helpful when you’re not aware that your microphone or camera is in use. Let’s take a look at what each dot means and how you can monitor which apps accessed your iPhone microphone or camera recently.

This article will tell you how to turn off Auto-Join Wi-Fi on an iPhone. The iPhone automatically connects to known Wi-Fi networks whenever it's in range. While auto-joining a known Wi-Fi network can be useful in saving us from having to manually reconnect to our preferred networks every time we want to use the internet, it can be frustrating to automatically join a network. Maybe you are in range of two known networks, such as the coffee shop where you're working and the restaurant next door and your iPhone connected to the wrong one, or maybe you don't want your device to connect to the coffee shop Wi-Fi every time you happen to walk by. Whatever your reason is, if you are unhappy when Wi-Fi keeps turning on on your iPhone, here is how to turn off Auto-Join Wi-Fi.

If you're a regular user of any device, it's likely that you listen to music or watch videos on your device as well. If you stream that media to another device in your home, you've probably wondered which streaming method works best for your device and whether AirPlay is more reliable than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. In this article we'll discuss the pros and cons of each streaming method, and offer some tips to get the most enjoyment out of your streaming.

It's easy to screen record a FaceTime call, but it's important to know some very specific details about doing so. Is it legal to screen record a FaceTime call in your state? Does a person know when you screen record a FaceTime call? Before you record audio and video on your iPhone it's better to know the answers to these questions first. In this article we'll take a look at these tips, and as a bonus we'll walk you through how to set up and use screen record to record FaceTime calls. Let's get into the nitty-gritty of FaceTime screen recording.

In iOS 14, the Photos App has some great new features. One of the new features is Effect Suggestions, and it uses intelligent suggestions to improve the quality of the photos you took with the iPhone Camera. This new iOS feature will help you edit your photos to be the best possible. Effect Suggestions selects photos that could be improved by adding a filter, adjusting the light, creating a loop, or by utilizing other effects available on your iPhone. 

Customizing which photos individual apps can access is a great security feature. Now, you do not have to allow every app to access all of your photos. You can grant access to a few photos or even just one depending on what you are using the app for. In this article, you will learn how to customize the photos an app can access on your iPhone. This is a feature new to iOS 14. You must have iOS 14 on your iPhone in order to utilize this setting.

What's the best way to charge your iPhone? What is MagSafe? What's the difference between fast charge and Quick Charge? Do you have to use Apple charger cables to charge your iPhone? There are so many questions about how to safely charge your phone. Don't worry, I've got your back. Instead of making you read every web page about chargers and battery health, I put together a list of the top charging methods, charger types, and rumors about charging. In this article you'll learn which charging method will work best for your iPhone, if fast charging or Quick Charge is bad for your battery, which MacBook adapters can charge your iPhone, which third-party charger cables may actually hurt your device, and other top charging tips. Let's get to it: here's Charging 101. 

Apple introduces 5G in iPhone 12 line

We've been hearing rumors about 5G iPhones for well over a year, so when the latest Apple event was announced, we were excited to see the title, "Hi, Speed." A title like that could only mean one thing; Apple was finally going to reveal its 5G iPhone line. Today, it finally happened; Apple has brought 5G to the entire iPhone 12 line. Let's go over what 5G means in terms of iPhone capabilities and whether 5G network rollouts will happen quickly enough for you to use this feature any time soon. Also, let's not forget battery function! Will 5G be a major battery drain, and, if so, what can we do about it? Read on to find out.

Apple's new, much more affordable HomePod mini is the anticipated answer to the many drawbacks of the first-ever HomePod. Apple's reports of streamlined syncing, a host of family features such as Intercom and voice recognition, and a seamless feel to your Siri smart assistant experience could make this a must-have for many. Yet it may still be too pricey for those of us who are happy with our Amazon Echo Dots. We'll look at what advocates are celebrating, what doubters are questioning, and what might help you decide whether a HomePod mini would be a good addition to your smart home.

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