How-To

Being offered an app free trial, whether it's a three-day free trial, one week-free trial, or even a month-long freebie, is a tempting and frequently useful offer. I watch sports exactly once every four years, so a free trial enables me to watch the few games of the FIFA Women's World Cup that I care about without signing up for a whole platform I wouldn't use outside of a six week window. They're also perfect for their intended purpose of testing out an app to see if it's something you want to subscribe to. Unfortunately, it can also be a money drain when you forget to cancel and end up with charges on your card for apps you don't want. Here is how to enjoy free trials without ever seeing a charge.

In this tip, we'll show you how to create a new folder on your iPhone or iPad, right in the Notes app. Once you've written multiple notes, you may have a hard time finding the note you need. Use this tip to make folders for every type of note, then move your notes into the appropriate folders, so you always know where to find them. 

We all want our kids to avoid screen addiction and be safe online, but that can be hard to accomplish when children have open access to the internet via their iPhone or iPad. Fortunately, Apple's Screen Time parental controls are easy and free to use. In the past you might have had to pay for iPad or iPhone parental control apps to make sure inappropriate content wasn't getting through on your kids' devices, but not anymore. Learn how to set up Screen Time settings on your child's iPhone and iPad, and how to lock those settings so your curious kids can't access the content you've blocked.

Forget package tracking apps! Did you know you can track shipments on your iPhone without ever leaving the app in which you received the tracking number? If you’re worried about porch pirates, one of the best security measures is knowing when a package is supposed to arrive. Your iPhone will automatically detect tracking any tracking number that you receive in Mail or Messages. You can also use the same method to track packages from websites like Amazon by copying and pasting the tracking number into Notes. For an extra layer of security, you can add a unique passcode to Notes. With this tip, you’ll be able to set up tracking from any carrier. Let’s dive in to how to use iPhone package tracking.

If you're wondering, "how can I stop spending so much time on my phone," Screen Time settings can help you combat smartphone addiction. Apple offers Screen Time settings on your iPhone and iPad with a section called App Limits that tracks and limits how much time you spend on particular activities, sites, and apps. Read on to learn how to set restrictions on the iPhone and iPad and limit screen time for specific apps. 

The native Apple Books app, formerly iBooks, has the ability to save e-books and audiobooks to a wish list for later purchase. This feature, called Want to Buy, is perfect for keeping track of which e-book or audiobook you'd like to read or listen to next. Let's get started learning how to save audiobooks and e-books to purchase later in the Books app on your iPhone or iPad. 

Is your Apple Watch frozen? ​It's always annoying when an app freezes or glitches on your Apple Watch. We'll show you how to force quit the app and reopen it. Happily, the process to force close an app on the Apple Watch is short and sweet, so your app should be back up and running properly in no time. If not, we have a few more Apple Watch troubleshooting steps to try.

Most people use the Calendar app on the iPhone and iPad to set reminders for meetings and appointments. These events are usually scheduled to begin when the minute hand is at a 0 or 5, so scrolling through each minute to get to the right time can be annoying. But Apple's Calendar app for the iPhone and iPad is more versatile than you may have realized; here's a quick tip for setting precise times in the Calendar app that will take less than a minute to learn!

Voice Memos is Apple's voice and audio memos app that enables you to keep voice recordings for later. While manually naming these memos is the most reliable way to know the content, this isn't always convenient or even possible when you are on the go. Automatically naming voice memos by location is an easy way to take you back to where you were when you had the thought — whether it was at work, home, or on vacation, you'll remember where you were and be able to search by where you were. And you can always rename the voice memo later when it's more convenient.