Settings

Enabling Touch ID for use in apps means you can lock apps with your fingerprint. Touch ID apps allow you to lock apps on your iPad or iPhone in order to protect sensitive information such as private documents or personal finance information, instead of setting a password you might forget. However, other apps such as Facebook don’t allow you to use Touch ID to lock the app. Whether or not an app uses Touch ID depends on the developer and how they intend you use the app. Once you have Touch ID enabled on your iPhone, you can use your fingerprint to open the Touch ID apps of your choosing. We’ll go over how to set up Touch ID apps below. We’ll also cover which popular apps are Touch ID apps and which ones offer fingerprint lock. And since setting up fingerprint lock on your iPhone often requires a passcode, we'll also cover how to put a password on apps.

3D Touch can be a cool, helpful feature for a lot of people. But I also know some who never use the feature or even find that it gets in the way of simply pressing and holding something on the screen. Whatever your reasoning, you can turn 3D Touch off on your iPhone. And it’s very easy to do. Here’s how to turn 3D Touch off on iPhone.

We’re all familiar with updating our iPhone’s iOS; but every now and again, a little box will pop-up telling us that our carrier settings need to be updated. Regardless of what cellular provider you use (Verizon, TFW, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc), every carrier has settings that need to be updated at times. A carrier settings update won’t take long to install. But it’s important to update your carrier settings on iPhone because the updates allow your cellular provider to update your network, enhance performance, and add new features such a Wi-Fi calling. We’ll cover a bit more on what a carrier settings update is below, as well as how to update your iPhone’s carrier settings.

Let’s say you’re listening to music using your fantastic Bluetooth speaker and you get a call. When you answer that call, it will probably default to your iPhone. But what if you want the call to automatically default to you speaker? Or your headphones? You can choose where your call audio defaults to in your settings on iPhone. Here’s how to set your speaker or headphones as the default audio on iPhone.

With iOS 10 on iPhone and iPad, the Game Center app we’re used to is gone. Apple ditched the app, but most Game Center features remain. Within apps, you can still sign into Game Center. It will track your score for the Leaderboards and take a tally of your in-game achievements. But without a designated app, how do you change your Game Center username? Here’s how.

When you delete cookies from your iPhone or iPad, you free up storage space and improve your device's performance speeds. When you clear the cache and cookies on your iPad or iPhone, you can also better protect your online privacy and potentially remove any malicious bugs your device may have picked up. And the good news is that to delete cookies from your iPhone takes only four simple steps in your Safari settings. Keep in minde that clearing cookies on your iPhone will delete saved logins and other website information.

A while ago, Facebook introduced autoplay for videos on the social network. Perhaps the most obnoxious part about it is that every time a video ad starts playing in your News Feed, you are essentially paying with your precious data or battery power for them to advertise to you. Fortunately, it's easy to disable this feature. Here’s how to disable Facebook’s video autoplay.

The stuff on our iPhones and iPads tends to accumulate, using up valuable storage space. But if you're careful, you can use your storage space more efficiently. And one way to do that is to enable a setting to automatically delete text messages after 30 days. This will be especially useful in saving space if your text messages include video and audio messages. Just be aware that deleted messages can’t be searched, so make sure to save any information you need before your message history is deleted. Here’s how to automatically erase old text messages on iPhone.

I remember when the Sunrise calendar app stopped getting updates. My (first) world fell apart. I jest over dramatically for effect, of course, but it was truly difficult to find an app to replace it. Had I known in advance, I could have started looking for that replacement sooner. (I now use Vantage, by the way). Luckily, you can actually check if an app you have won’t be receiving new updates on your iPhone or iPad. Here’s how to see which of your apps will no longer have updates available in the future.

It’s lovely to live during a time when music is so readily available. If you have Apple Music, you can go from discovering a song to listening to it offline in a matter of minutes. Apple Music allows you to have a library of music that’s stored in the cloud, as well as music that's downloaded to your device, which you can play when you don’t have an internet connection. But the music you download will certainly start to take up a lot of space after a while. Here’s how you can mass delete downloaded artists in Apple Music, without removing the music from your Apple Music library altogether.

Your iPhone is given a default name when you first set it up. That name appears in a few different places such as on iTunes when you plug in your iPhone or in Find My iPhone when you’re looking for it or another device. When you check to see what devices are using your Apple ID, all of your devices will be listed by name. So why not have some fun with it? Whether you want to rename it for clarity or just to be silly, here’s how to give your iPhone a new name.

Accessibility features on iPhone improve year after year. It used to be that those who are color blind could only to choose to use grayscale, but did you know that’s no longer the case? If you’re color blind, you can go into your settings and select the color correct palette that works with your specific type of color blindness. It’s pretty incredible. Even those with ‘regular’ vision should check it out. Here’s how to correct your iPhone’s colors for your vision.

On your iPhone, there are many instances in which you can shake to undo something. For example, if you delete an email and quickly realize you didn't mean to do that, you can simply shake your phone to undo deleting it. However, plenty of iPhone users have complained about the feature, and they would rather just turn the damn thing off. Luckily, you can. Here’s how to turn off shake to undo on iPhone.

Did you know you can set your iPhone display to appear only in grayscale? Your first thought may be,  “Why would I want my display to appear gray rather than in color?” There are two main reasons. First, for those who are color blind, items on menus may be hard to distinguish if they rely on color to stand out from a background. Grayscale can make the display more readable for those who are color blind. And second, if your battery is running low and you know that it will be a while before you'll have the opportunity to charge it, grayscale can extend battery life. Here’s how to turn on grayscale mode on your iPhone or iPad.

Say you’re taking a trip abroad or somewhere else outside your carrier’s service area. You can turn on your phone and use Wi-fi when you’re near a connection, but what if you leave your phone on when you leave the hotel? There’s a simple way to avoid roaming charges when you’re traveling, and it lives in your iPhone settings (this tip also applies to cellular models of iPads). Here’s how to turn off cellular data to avoid roaming charges on iPhone while traveling.

The TV app, which was introduced with iOS 10.3, finally brings all of your TV and movie watching together. Within the TV app, you can see what your viewing options are all in one place, including shows from streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. While a lot of Apple TV users have cut the cable cord, just as many still rely on their regular cable package to watch favorite shows. And most of your favorite networks (ABC, NBC, HGTV, etc) have apps that you can download to your Apple TV, as well as your iPhone and iPad. But when you download those apps, you have to prove you’re a cable subscriber, which is what this tip allows you to do in a couple easy steps (less if you have iCloud Keychain turned on). Here’s how to watch cable on your iPhone or iPad.

Your ringtone on iPhone lets you know when you have an incoming call or text. Since you’re likely to hear the sound often, it’s nice to choose one you like. You can choose to use a ringtone that Apple has built-in. But you can also use ringtones you’ve purchased within the iTunes Store on your iPhone. Here’s how to change your default ringtone on iPhone.

Owning an iPhone makes it very convenient to complete a variety of tasks, including those that require writing. The iPhone’s keyboard is acceptable for writing quick emails or jotting down notes, but if you have more in-depth work to accomplish, like in your Pages app, it’s easier to use a regular-size keyboard. There are various keyboards you can get. Some are made to travel, so they fold up. Others attach to your iPad for productivity. And there’s always the option to use an Apple keyboard. Regardless of your choice, setting up the keyboard is easy to do within settings. Here’s how to set up a Bluetooth keyboard on iPhone or iPad.

While it would be nice if Apple allowed us to easily select any song on our iPhone for use as a ringtone, it just doesn't work that way. There are certain apps that will allow you to use music from your iTunes, but that’s another article in itself. For around a dollar, however, you can buy a ringtone of your favorite song or melody from the iTunes Store. I recently purchased the incredibly nostalgic Sailor Moon intro melody for my iPhone. You can find popular songs, TV and movie melodies, sound effects, and more. Once you’ve purchased a ringtone, it’s easy to use. Here’s how to make your favorite song your iPhone ringtone.

There’s a setting called Show Subject Field on on iPhone that a lot of people are scratching their head over. Simply put, this setting allows you to add or remove the subject line in iMessages and text messages in general. Whether you’ve never used this feature but would like to add a subject line to your text messages or you have this feature and want to get rid of the subject line—we’ll cover both here. Here’s what the Show Subject Field setting means on iPhone and how to add or remove a subject line in Messages.