Settings

Next, enter your new name and then tap Done on the keyboard to complete the change.The first time you set up your AirPods, you’ll notice that Apple assigns them a default name based on the device with which you’re pairing them. While this is fine to get you started, chances are you’ll soon want to rename them. There are so many wireless headphones users who own Apple AirPods that, sooner or later, it’s likely you’ll be sharing a Wi-Fi network with another owner. When that happens, life will be a little easier if you’ve given your AirPods a name of their own. Thankfully, while learning how to connect AirPods to your Apple device may seem a bit tricky at first, renaming them is in fact pretty simple. 

Setting a website to always open in your preferred mode, such as Desktop or Reader View, makes it easier to browse your favorite websites from the iPhone. With Safari's custom controls, you can also allow or disable your microphone, camera, and location sharing for individual websites. Here's how to customize your Safari experience on the iPhone.

Dark Mode is Apple's new feature that offers a muted, eye-strain reducing color scheme; it's especially helpful for low-light environments. If you'd like to schedule Dark Mode so that it turns on and off automatically at sunset and sunrise or at customized times, it's possible on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Let's get started learning how to schedule Dark Mode on your device.

If you're limited in the amount of cellular data that you can use because of your internet plan, you'll want to know how to turn on low-data mode on your iPhone. It's possible to turn on low-data mode separately for Wi-Fi and cellular, and in this tip, we'll show you how to do both. Let's get started learning how to save data on your iPhone. 

If you've set up Screen Time for your child's iOS devices and have blocked or limited social media and other apps, those apps's services may still be accessible via their URL websites, providing kids with a way get around your restrictions. Here's how to limit access to those websites on any browser on an iPhone or iPad so 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.

Sometimes I'll have words randomly capitalized while texting, such as "may" into "May" like the month. If you're bothered by unwanted or random capitalizations while typing on your iPhone or iPad, you can try turning off auto-capitalization in your device's keyboard settings, which can be found under General in the Settings app. While this is not the same as turning off auto-correct, having auto-capitalization off can stop words from being capitalized when you don't want them to be. Try this tip to cut down on your texting frustration!

Have you ever had an alert go off on your Apple Watch that took you just a little too long to turn off? Here's how to enable Cover to Mute on your Apple Watch, so you can turn off alerts without having to even look at your watch! This is a good tip to use if you just want to mute alerts as needed instead of putting your Watch on Silent Mode. Note that if you use this tip while receiving an incoming call, the watch will be muted but may still vibrate if those settings are enabled.

Renaming your AirPods can save you a headache if you have a variety of Bluetooth devices or share a Wi-Fi network with multiple people using their own devices. Here's how to change the display name of your AirPods, making them quick to find if you need to do some adjustments. Note that your AirPods will need to be paired and connected to your iPhone to change their name.

If you've ever struggled to get Hey Siri to listen to your requests or wondered how to optimize Siri to meet your needs, then you've come to the right place. This guide will teach you how to set up and activate Siri on your iPhone, AirPods, and HomePod, plus share tips and tricks to get the most out of features like Ask Siri and My Shortcuts. Read on to learn everything you've ever wanted to know about setting up, activating, and using Siri.

When searching the web on your iPhone, you can use the search suggestions that appear below the search bar in Safari or Chrome instead of typing out your whole query. Usually when you tap a search suggestion, it immediately searches with those terms. With iOS 12.2 or later, when you tap the blue arrow next to a search suggestion, the phrase is added to the search bar and you'll be able to continue typing or tapping to add additional search suggestions 

Have you noticed the Photos tab in the Photos app doesn't display all the photos you took at last night's party or from your morning walk? You can turn off Summarize Photos to view photos, as in ALL photos, in the Photos app. When Summarize Photos is on, the Photos tab chooses key photos to display. For example, if you took multiple photos of the same flower, Summarize Photos will have one or maybe two displayed when you browse the Photos tab. Here's how to turn off Summarize Photos so you can view all photos on your iPhone.

Do you swipe on emails to trash them only to see they've been archived instead of deleted? Here's how to delete emails on your iPhone, by changing the default swipe action from archive to delete. Below I'll show you how to change these settings for two different email apps. The Apple Mail app will need to have its settings changed from your iPhone's Settings app, while the Gmail app settings will be adjusted from within the Gmail app. If you use another third-party email app like Yahoo! and your emails are archived by default, try opening its settings within the app similar to the instructions below for Gmail.

If you use a sleep tracking app or otherwise like wearing your Apple Watch while you sleep instead of charging your watch overnight, you might struggle to find times to charge your watch and keep your battery levels up. Here's a list of suggestions for how to save Apple Watch battery life at night, while you sleep! While there's no way to keep your battery fully powered, if you try one or a combination of the suggestions below, you'll notice a difference and be able to roll out of bed without having to recharge your Apple Watch battery as often!

If you have a 3D Touch-supported device, starting with iPhone 6s (but not including the iPhone SE or XR), you can add a 3D Touch multitasking gesture by way of AssistiveTouch. So, instead of pinching to zoom, you can use the AssistiveTouch button and zoom with a tap instead! Zoom and other gestures or actions can become a shortcut accessible by 3D Touching the AssistiveTouch button. This is an ideal option if you have a Home button that isn't too reliable or just want to take advantage of the convenience. 

I didn't use walkie-talkies much as a kid, but now with this feature on Apple Watch I can indulge in a slightly more futuristic way. Here's a general overview on how to use Walkie-Talkie on Apple Watch. To use Walkie-Talkie, you'll need Apple Watch series 1 or later updated to watchOS 5.

If you lose sight of your phone in a public place, like leaving it plugged into the wall of the coffee shop while you do some remote work, your data is susceptible to USB hacking tools such as keyloggers. USB Restricted Mode can help secure your data by preventing access to the Lightning port after your device has been locked for an hour. 

It's important to update your iPhone's software, so why not make iOS updates automatic? Instead of getting notified to update the software, and understandably keep putting it off for later, you can enable your iPhone can do it by itself when the update becomes available. All you'll need to do is leave your iPhone locked and charging in Wi-Fi for the update to happen. And if you charge your iPhone overnight on a regular basis, you're already doing that. Here's how to enable automatic iOS updates on your iPhone.

Apple has offered biometric locking features since it introduced Touch ID with the iPhone 5s. With the iPhone X, biometric authentication took the leap to Face ID, and that feature is also included in Apple's newest iPhones, the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. There's a convenient new feature with the latest operating system, iOS 12, that allows facial recognition for not just one, but two people. Now if you'd like to share your iPhone with a partner, friend, or child, you don't have to give them your passcode or open the phone yourself before handing it to them. Let's get started setting your iPhone X and later to recognize a second face. 

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. iOS 12 features Screen Time controls that make parental control not only easy, but also free, whereas in the past you might have to pay for parental control apps to make sure inappropriate content wasn't getting through on your kids' devices. Let's get started learning 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. 

I love using a thesaurus when I write, so the fact that this option has been missing from the Look Up feature in Safari has been a sore spot for me. With iOS 12 I'll no longer need a thesaurus app, because we can now add a thesaurus to Look Up on iPhone and iPad for free! Let's get started learning how to add a Thesaurus to Look Up, so we can find a synonym or antonym whenever we need one, and expand our vocabularies.