Apple Apps

You can add money to your Apple ID account for App Store purchases without buying an iTunes gift card. Here's how to directly add funds to your Apple ID. If you budget your app or iTunes purchases, you can load the balance you want to spend and make purchases accordingly.

Have a song stuck in your head but can't figure out what it is? Starting with iOS 12, you can search for songs in Apple Music by lyrics. Even if the words replaying in your head don't include the title, there's still a good chance you'll find what you're looking for in the search results. Here's how to search with lyrics in Apple Music.

When you're planning a trip, in town or further afield, it can be a good idea to check the hourly weather forecast for your destination. You can do this in Apple Maps, which is especially useful if you already have the app open for navigation purposes.

There are lots of picture apps and photo apps available for the iPhone and iPad, and lots of them are even free, but one of my favorite photography apps for my iPhone is Apple's Photos app. Not only are Apple's native Camera and Photos app free, but they keep on improving with every new operating system. With iOS 12, for example, we can now use multiple search terms to find the photo we're looking for in the Photos app. This feature is a real time saver, and I'll show you how to use it right now so you can search your pictures faster and more accurately than ever before. 

One of my favorite new features in iOS 12 is the handy Measure app. Apple's new measurement app uses augmented reality (AR) to function as a tape measure and level all in one. You'll be able to use this app once you update to the latest operating system as long as you have an iPhone SE or iPhone 6S or later. In this tip we'll go over how to use the Measure app on iPhone and iPad to take measurements; we'll cover how to use the level feature in another tip. Let's get started learning how to use Apple's new, free Measure app. 

Apple's iBooks app has gotten some major renovations with iOS 12 and is now just called Books. In addition to a new look and updated interfaces, there are lots of new features to explore including the ability to save books to a Wish List for later purchase. Let's get started learning how to save audiobooks and e-books to purchase later in the Books app on your iPhone or iPad. 

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 with iOS 12, Apple makes it even easier to set content restrictions on your personal devices (we will cover how to use Parental Controls to set restrictions on a child's personal device in a future 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 this tip to make sure they're only accessing age-appropriate material. 

One of the iOS 12 features I've been eagerly awaiting is Apple's new Shortcuts app. This new app allows you to instruct Siri to accomplish a task or series of tasks with native and third-party apps, all triggered by a phrase of your own choosing. In addition to creating your own Shortcut, Apple's latest help app also lets you choose from a Gallery of pre-designed shortcuts. Let's get started learning how to find the Shortcuts app on iPhone and iPad, and then use the Gallery to install a Shortcut we all need from time to time: finding directions home. Once you've installed the driving directions Shortcut, you can choose and configure as many other Gallery Shortcuts as you need. We'll go over how to create your own Shortcut in a future tip.

Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, has a set of Screen Time features that can be used to combat smartphone and device addiction by setting app limits. There are some apps, though, that you may want to have constantly available; luckily you can choose some apps that will always be allowed in your Screen Time settings. Let's get started learning how to set Always Allowed apps on iPhone and iPad. 

Apple's Photos app lets you do location-based searches. Now, instead of trying scrolling through vacation pictures looking for the photos you took in a specific place, you can just search for that area, and all the pictures from that location will pop right up! Let's get started learning how to use this Photos search feature right now. 

FaceTime, the Apple live video chat app, is a fun way to connect with friends and family when hearing their voice just isn't enough. Now FaceTime is getting even better with a new filter feature in iOS 12. There are lots of filters to choose from, so you'll always find something to fit your mood: a cartoon filter, a few black and white choices, and much more. Let's get started learning how to use FaceTime filters on iPhone or iPad. 

Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, introduces a new, useful measurement app that also includes a level (the Compass app no longer has a level feature). Third-party developers have long offered a level app, a tape measure app, or both, so it's great that owners of the iPhone 8 and later can now enjoy this Apple app for free. I've written about how to use the augmented reality (AR) tape measure portion of the Measure app in a previous tip, so now it's time to go over how to use the level feature; let's get started! 

If you've been frustrated with your inability to stop wasting time on your iPhone, iOS 12 has just the features you need to combat technology addiction. The new iOS update comes with Screen Time, a set of tools that track how much time you spend on your device in general, as well as on particular activities, sites, and apps. If you've been wanting to spend less time on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or any other addictive app, read on to learn how to use Screen Time to set an amount of time per day that you'd like to limit yourself to for specific applications on your iPhone. 

iOS 12 has added tons of helpful and fun new features to your iPhone's software, one of my favorite new ones is the ability to add cool effects and Animojis (and Memojis!) while taking a picture or video in the Messages app.

Apple's Stocks app was formerly a pretty bare-bones affair, but with iOS 12 it's receiving a much-needed update. In addition to expanded data on the markets and stocks you're interested in, there's a section with business news stories relevant to your interests. The Stocks app has always been included on the iPhone and is now also available for iPads. This new-and-improved version comes with the ability to tailor and manage the stocks you are following in a Watchlist, so you always have the information you need to make informed financial decisions. Let's get started learning how to customize your Watchlist in the Stocks app now. 

If you have an iPhone X, iPhone XS, or an iPhone 7 Plus or 8 Plus with 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom, you can easily select the exact amount of zoom you'd like to use with each shot with the zoom slider. This is a really fun iPhone photography feature to play around with, so let's get started learning how to use the zoom slider to catch all the detail you've been aiming for in your pictures. 

Your Apple Watch Dock is a versatile, multi-functional interface that can help you quickly access your favorite Apple Watch apps including Messages, Calendar, Activity, and many more. One of the first things you'll want to know is how to set up your Apple Watch Dock with your favorite apps, so you have all the information and functionality you need literally at your fingertips. Let's get started learning how to customize your Apple Watch Dock! 

If you have an older iPad, you may have noticed that it's not as fast as it used to be and asked yourself, "why is my iPad so slow?" There are lots of different reasons why your iPad may be running more slowly than it did when you first bought it, and luckily there are just as many ways to speed it back up again! Whether you have an original iPad, iPad 2, older iPad mini, or a more recent version of Apple's tablet, we'll go over all the possible reasons why your iPad is running slow and lagging, and explore some fixes for these problems. Some of the slow iPad solutions we'll cover include how to check Wi-Fi connection and internet speed, updating to the latest iOS version, how to reset your iPad, how to delete apps on iPad, how to clear the cache or cached data, and even what to do with an old iPad that just can't keep up with your needs any longer. Let's get started! 

The Apple Watch Workout app is a fantastic activity tracker app. This fitness app not only tracks the duration and type of your workouts but also monitors other metrics like calories burned and distance traveled. Once your running, cardio, swimming, or other workout has been tracked, it counts towards your fitness goals for that day. But what if you forget to start a workout in the Workout app? That workout won't be included in your progress. Don't worry, though; if you forget to start a workout on your Apple Watch, you can still add the data manually later in the iPhone Health app. Let's get started learning how! 

If you like to download and try out new apps, you know how quickly the Home Screen on your iPhone can become a disorganized mess. We've already gone over how to move apps on the iPhone, as well as how to create app folders; but iOS 11 introduced a cool new trick that makes it easier than ever to rearrange an entire Home Screens of apps at once or drag multiple apps in to a folder at once on your iPhone. Let's get started learning how to quickly and easily get all those app icons where you want them on your Home Screen.