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If you've set up Screen Time on an iPhone or iPad for your child and have blocked or limited social media and other apps, those apps' services may still be accessible via their URL websites, providing kids with a way to get around your parental controls. Here's how to block a website on Safari, Chrome, or any browser on an iPhone or iPad. Whether it's Facebook, YouTube, or any other website that's too mature for your kids, you'll be able to fully block an app's website and not worry about kids finding a way to use them. This tip can also be used by adults who are trying to limit their own social media use, or don't want adult content unexpectedly popping up on their devices.

The Apple Notes app is a convenient way to keep track of lists, ideas, and more. You can choose to start a new note from your Lock screen every time you need to jot something down, or to continue with the last note you were working on. We've already shown you how to write a note directly from your iPhone's Lock screen, and how to organize your notes by transferring them to a folder. Now, let's learn how to set whether to continue a previous note or start a new note when opening Notes from your Lock screen. 

Location Services on your iPhone lets Apple apps (like the Camera app) and third-party apps (like your banking app) figure out where you're located while using your phone. When iPhone Photo Location Services is turned on and you take a photo, it'll tag your photo with your current location. This way, you can search through the photos that you took on your vacation to Bora Bora or in your own hometown. Location Services uses Wi-Fi or cellular data plus GPS services to find your location. If you're connected to data or Wi-Fi but your photos aren't being tagged, we have a few simple fixes for you to try. Here's how to get Photos Location Services working again.

In Apple's Safari browser on your iPhone and iPad, you can add an article or web page you want to save to your Reading List. The Reading List on your iPhone and iPad is a Safari feature that makes it easy to come back later and read all your saved articles. With iOS 11 and later, iPhone and iPad owners can tell Safari to save articles to read later, even offline, without internet access. This is an easily overlooked feature that’s actually really cool. We've already shown you how to enable Safari Reader mode, so you can look at web pages without ads. Now, here’s how to save web pages and articles on your iPhone and iPad with the Safari browser for online or offline reading. We'll also cover how to find your Reading List, so you can keep reading no matter what your location.

The default mail app in the iPhone and iPad has always been Apple Mail. While it is a great email app, users who prefer Outlook, Gmail or something else have been at a disadvantage. The new iOS 14 update, however, allows users to pick the default mail app of their choice. Changing your mail app will make it auto-open when you click on an email link while browsing the internet. This can make managing your personal and work email accounts easier, allowing you to easily navigate incoming and outgoing email.

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.

A hilarious function of modern devices is the extra sounds we have to mimic the sounds older technology used to make. Two such sounds are the Keyboard Clicks and Lock Sounds on the iPhone. When the function is turned on, you’ll hear a sound similar to a door closing when pressing your side button (Sleep/Wake button) that lets you know you’ve locked your phone without needing to look. Or, when you’re typing on the iOS keyboard, you’ll hear clicking sounds letting you know you haven’t missed a letter. However, a lot of people find this unnecessary or even annoying and want to turn off the typing sounds, the locking sound, or both. Here’s how to turn off Lock Sound and Keyboard Clicks 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.

Some iPad and iPhone apps require mic and camera access to function properly, and some don't. Apple has introduced new app privacy settings with iOS 14, which allow users to customize access to personal data like photos and videos, app by app, choosing to allow full access, partial access, or no access at all. There's also a way to check microphone and camera access in your Settings app. This way, you can change camera and microphone settings for any app, all in the same place, so apps that don't need to listen to you or see you can't. Let's learn how to allow camera access on your iPhone and iPad or turn it off, and how to allow microphone access, or turn off access to your iPhone or iPad microphone.  

Learn how to protect your data and limit your iPhone's Lightning port to charging only with USB restricted mode. If you lose your iPhone, or even lose sight of your phone in a public place, like plugged into the wall of the coffee shop, your data is susceptible to USB hacking tools such as keyloggers, even if it's locked. USB Restricted Mode is an iPad and iPhone security setting that can help secure your data by disabling access to the Lightning port after your device has been locked for an hour. After USB Restricted Mode turns on, your iPhone's USB/Lightning port is disabled, and you'll have to use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to unlock your iPhone so you can use USB accessories. Let's go over how to enable restricted mode, and how to turn off or disable restricted mode.

When I’m going on a longer bike ride or one in an unfamiliar area, I always consult Apple Maps to plan my cycling route. A new feature from Apple Maps makes this even easier, and more personalized; users can now avoid hills and busy roads! This is excellent news for those of us who are a little out of shape, and who would rather avoid excessive encounters with cars when possible. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to planning a cycling route with no hills and no busy streets in Apple Maps.

If you’re wondering how to block a website on Safari, never fear. In this tutorial, we’ll explain how to block websites on iPhone and how to block websites on an iPad running iPadOS. Most smartphone users keep their devices to themselves and have no real need to share their phones except to share pictures or lend it to a friend to make a call. There are times, however, when restricting website access is necessary. Say your kids or grandkids are over, and they want to check out your apps. You’ll want to be sure to block explicit content. Or maybe some malware or ransomware is circulating. Knowing how to block a website or sites on your iPhone or iPad will keep things safe and blocking content will automatically apply to all installed browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or Opera Touch.

Learn how to keep your podcasts from deleting themselves from your iPhone. If you’re wondering why your podcasts keep getting randomly deleted from the Podcasts app, you’re in the right place! What you’re likely dealing with is a setting that was designed to help keep your iPhone storage from getting too full. You can keep your podcasts from being deleted with a quick change to your settings, and the steps to get back deleted podcast episodes are pretty simple as well.

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.

If you have a child who uses your iPad or iPhone, you'll love this tip. Keeping our kids from seeing inappropriate content online can be a struggle, but Apple makes putting parental controls on your iPad or iPhone easy. (We cover how to use Parental Controls to set restrictions on a child's personal device in a different tip.) If you ever hand your iPhone to the back seat to keep your kids occupied on a long car ride or let them watch a movie on your iPad while you get dinner together, you'll want to read how to restrict your iPad or iPhone for your child to make sure they're only accessing age-appropriate material. 

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. 

Apple Pay Cash gives iPhone users a convenient way to send and receive money right from the Messages app on the iPhone. Apple Cash doesn't need any new accounts or app downloads to work; it functions within your normal iMessages as long as you already have Apple Pay set up. While Apple Pay is a super convenient way to receive money, not everyone will want to keep their entire balance on their Apple Cash card. We've already gone over how to use Apple Pay in the Safari browser on your iPhone, and how to send money with Apple Pay. Now, if you've been wondering, "how do I transfer money from Apple Pay to my bank account?" we'll show you how to use the Wallet app to transfer money from Apple Cash to your bank account of choice, instantly, or in one to three days. 

Did you know that your iPhone tracks everywhere you go? It does; and if there is a place you visit often enough, it marks it as a Significant Location (a feature formerly known as Frequent Locations). This tip will show you how to find your iPhone location history in your Location Services settings. And we'll also cover how to turn Significant Locations tracking off and how to clear your iPhone location history, in case looking at the list of all the places you frequently visit gives you the heebie-jeebies.

Did you know you can use Siri without talking? You can type to Siri instead. Typing to talk to Siri is ideal for quiet settings or in very loud public places. You can even set up Siri to respond by text when your ringer is turned off. This is great, because it means you can use Siri anytime. You’ll still be able to say, “Hey, Siri,” and speak, but you’ll also have the option to activate Siri without voice and type instead! Here’s how to enable Type to Siri on the iPhone. You can also use this tip to get rid of Type to Siri if you've been wondering why you have to type for Siri when you activate the digital assistant using the Side button.

Type a word in messages, and predictive text will suggest the emoji that matches that word. Many people don’t want to replace a word, even with emoji as cute or useful as the smiley face, thinking, crying, or tears of joy emoji; they simply want to include the emoji after the word. Luckily, you can add emojis to your messages without opening the emoji keyboard, then avoid replacing the word with a simple tap of the space bar. The emoji will remain in your predictive text suggestions and you can easily select the emoji to appear right after the word for it. I’ll show you what I mean below; here’s how to prevent emojis from replacing words in Messages.

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