Settings

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Do you swipe on emails to trash them only to see they've been archived instead of deleted?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. 

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. 

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. 

If you're worried that your child is spending too much time on their iPhone or iPad, and may even have a screen addiction, Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, is here to help. With iOS 12, parental restrictions are easy to put in place, and you can limit not only the total amount of time spent on a device but also set restrictions for individual apps, as well as content and privacy. Let's get started learning how to set up Screen Time restrictions for a child or teenager on iPhone or iPad.  

Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, is supposed to bring improved battery performance to every iPhone, even older ones. You don't have to take anyone's word for it though, because one of the new features being rolled out with iOS 12 is improved battery health tracking (Battery Health was first introduced with iOS 11). Your iPhone's battery usage is broken down app by app in this new set of data so that you can see not only the percentage of battery life used by each app but also how long you spent on individual apps. Let's get started learning how to check your iPhone's battery health. 

Screen addiction is a very real issue for many smartphone users and Apple is taking the problem seriously. With the rollout of the latest operating system, iOS 12, there's a new feature called Screen Time that can help iPhone and iPad users become aware of how much time they spend on their devices, then cut back if they feel the need. One of these settings is called Downtime, and it's exactly what it sounds like; a set time of day where your device reminds you that it's time to unplug and do something else. Let's get started learning how to set up Downtime in iOS 12 now. 

If you have favorite shows in the Podcasts app, but keep forgetting to check for new episodes, you'll probably benefit from turning on notifications so you can find out whenever there's new content waiting for you. On the other hand; if you're subscribed to lots of podcasts, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the notifications about new episodes. Let's learn how to customize your notifications from Podcasts, so you're informed about the shows you really want to listen to, while silencing the ones you only occasionally tune into. 

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!