iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

Since the dawn of Siri, I’ve wanted my iPhone to read my messages to me. Now my wish is fulfilled; with iOS 13 and a compatible set of earbuds, Siri can read your texts to you in the privacy of your earbud audio. When you are sitting in the car, or out on a walk at night, Siri will announce your message contents as they arrive, and save you the trouble of scrambling for your phone and squinting at a bright screen. Let me show you how to turn on the feature and have Siri announce your text messages.

Apple's Live Photos are fun, three-second videos that capture a brief period of movement and sound, rather than a standard, static picture. These moving pictures can be turned into GIFs, used as your Lock screen, still photos can be saved from them, and more. With iOS 13, Live Photos have a new, fun capability that you'll want to try out; you can now make videos out of two or more Live Photos. If you've been wondering how to make videos from your Live Photos, read on to find out! 

One of the main reasons I enjoy writing about technology so much is the significant advances made by innovators and manufacturers in such a sort time span. A perfect example of this is the breakneck pace of wireless earbud development. A year ago, I heaped praise on what I subjectively proclaimed at the time were the best wireless earbuds on the market, Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless Earbuds. While that product still holds up well today, the competition hasn't been idle. One manufacturer that has made significant strides in the wireless earbud market is Jabra, a company that has been in the phone headset business for decades. Does their latest recently released Elite 75t ($179.99) wireless earbuds exceed last year's top headset in my assessment?  Read on to find out.

High-Key Light Mono, for the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, is a gray-scale portrait effect that whites out the background and turns up the highlights on your subject. To use this effect, open your Camera app and use the Portrait Mode lighting wheel to select High-Key Light Mono. Here’s how to use High-Key Light Mono in the Photo app on your iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max.

Steve Jobs was often asked about the concept of a touchscreen Mac. He believed that a desktop computer should not have a touchscreen because it put too much strain on the user to reach forward and up to touch or drag a finger across a touchscreen throughout the work day. It's hard to keep your hand elevated for long periods and he felt the iPad was better suited on your lap or balanced on another arm, etc. But something happened since he left us. The iPad got bigger and gained USB-C so you can plug in peripherals. The new iPadOS adds multitasking and Apple is openly asking us to ask "what is a computer", so now it's not unreasonable to see a fully loaded iPad Pro on a desk with a keyboard, companion monitor, and even a mouse.

In the past, searching for a specific text in Messages was a headache. Now, Messages in-app search is not only optimized for text but also lets you browse images, screenshots, and links in a gallery view. You can access the search function by opening the Messages app and dragging down from the top of the screen. If you'd like to search Facebook messages or WhatsApp messages, you can also do that! Here’s how to use search in Messages to find the information you need.