Amy Spitzfaden Both is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life, an award-winning novelist, and an iPhone enthusiast. Over the past decade, her work in the publishing industry has included live coverage of industry events including the Yale Publishing Course and Magazine Innovation’s ACT 9 Experience, providing editing services for several start-up publishing houses, and acting as newsstand consultant for magazines such as The Old Farmer’s Almanac and The New York Review of Books. She graduated from M.I.U. with a Bachelor’s in Literature and Writing, and has gone on to publish two novels and two short stories. Her debut novel Untold won the 2014 Chelson Award for Fiction.
Writing everything from book reviews to skincare tips, Amy discovered a passion for bringing exciting and useful information to even the most casual researcher. The mix of usability and endless possibilities is what drew her to Apple products originally, and the more she learns, the more she loves.
Amy lives in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. When she’s not writing or glued to her iPhone, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and creating her own tea blends.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
In this quick guide, we’ll first show you how to turn off the passcode on your iPhone. Next, we'll show you alternatives that protect your security while minimizing the hassle of constantly entering your passcode without having to turn your iPhone passcode off, such as enabling Face ID or changing your Auto-Lock settings.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Many of us share our data with our family members via a Wi-Fi hotspot on a regular basis—perhaps a spouse needs to get some work done or your kids are trying to do homework. Whatever the reason, sharing password access can be arduous, and it's unnecessary if you have Family Sharing. This easy method lets you bypass passwords and allow the people you trust to connect effortlessly to your hotspot. Not every service provider offers hotspots; so before you set this up, check to make sure this is available with your plan. Let's take a look at how to turn off the password requirement for family members when sharing data through a WiFi hotspot.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
If you're like me and depend on your Notes app to organize your life, it can be frustrating to realize there's no tab key to indent on iPad or iPhone keyboards. Nested lists in the Notes app make navigation easier and let you mark tasks as partially done, and indenting blocks of text can draw attention to quotes or important items. But without an obvious option on the keyboard, how does one indent text in the Notes app? It's easier than you think.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Are you looking for a way to support people of color and the Black Lives Matter movement? One easy thing you can do is support black app developers by downloading and using their apps. Here's a collection of apps from black developers to try out, including kids' apps, community apps, free game apps, a reading app, a restaurant app, a money management app, and more. Enjoy!
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Learn how to hang up on a FaceTime call and how to leave a group FaceTime call to avoid those embarrassing situations where you stay on the line well after the call has ended.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
One of the biggest announcements Apple made at today's WWDC keynote was its new macOS, which it ambitiously named Big Sur. While it's currently unclear whether the version will be called macOS 10.16 or 11, the name Big Sur encapsulates Apple's goal for the OS, which is to be "entirely new yet instantly familiar." Almost every aspect of the design is new to macOS but borrowed from iOS, from app icons and symbols, to a whole new suite of sounds. The goal is to add consistency across Apple devices. Floating buttons, a new sidebar design, and a space-efficient toolbar are all exciting features of this redesign aimed toward making it easier to access what you need. Arguably the most exciting feature of Big Sur is the new Privacy Report in Safari, which gives you a look at which sites are using (and sharing) your data, as well as keeps tabs on which of your passwords may have been compromised. In an age when data can spread like wildfire, these updates are not only reassuring, but needed.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Apple’s default iPhone alarm sound might be too harsh if you prefer softer sounds or too gentle if you’re hard of hearing. Fortunately, it's easy to change the alarm sound on an iPhone is easy. Here’s how to change the alarm sound on an iPhone using Apple’s ringtones, Apple Music, or iTunes ringtones.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Want to keep your iPhone contacts updated and available on all your devices? We’ll explain how to sync your iPhone contacts to your Mac using iCloud, AirDrop, and the Finder/ iTunes feature. Apple’s iCloud can keep all your data, including contacts, updated even if they get deleted from your physical phone. You need an iOS 5 or above and OS X Lion 10.7.5 or above to use iCloud for Contacts. You also need an internet connection and an Apple ID. On the other hand, the AirDrop feature (iOS 7 or above for iPhones and Mac OS X 10.7 for computers) lets you share contacts from your phone to your computer through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Finder/iTunes feature lets you sync contacts through a USB connection. For this article, we used an iPhone running on iOS 13 and a computer on macOS Catalina (macOS 10.15).
We've been busy at iPhone Life creating new guides and updating our existing ones. With all the ongoing changes to the latest iPhone operating system, we've been updating our guides with fresh steps, videos, and screenshots! The Notes app is a core app for iPhone users, and the 2022 Guide update is available to help you stay organized and experience a productivity boost. This updated in-depth guide is available exclusively to iPhone Life Subscribers later this month.
Hearing well can transform the way we experience the world, and with Eargo 6, no compromises are necessary. These virtually invisible hearing aids are comfortable, water-resistant, and easy to charge, and automatically optimize your experience for changing sound environments! The new Sound Adjust feature with Eargo 6 identifies background noise and automatically reduces it, which helps the wearer hear speech more clearly without extraneous noise. It also adapts to loud environments and lower-volume situations. Start listening to your full potential with Eargo 6 today!
Have you ever taken a photo and wished the sky turned out bluer? Or regretted not taking the time to put on concealer? Luminar Neo is here to save the day! This free app empowers iPhone users to take their photos to the next level. With the help of built-in AI, you can easily emulate the golden light of sunset, automatically detect and remove skin imperfections, and even simulate weather effects like fog, all with the click of a button. Start enhancing your photos today with Luminar Neo.
