iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

If you’ve just bought your first Apple product, whether you’re switching from Android or finally cracking and purchasing your first smartphone, you’ll need to set up an Apple ID. Your Apple ID is the account that you use to access all things Apple; iTunes, the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, iMessage, FaceTime, and more. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know to create an Apple ID and make sure your account is secure, as well as where and how you can use your Apple ID. We’ll also troubleshoot some common problems and issues with your Apple ID including changing the ID, changing the password, what to do if you forgot your Apple ID, and more. Let’s dig in.

Recently I picked up a set of ThinOptics readers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and I wrote about them. One concern I had is that they were so small and light that they didn't have a full frame to rest on your ears. The company reached out and sent me its Frontpage Computer Glasses and Milano Case ($49.95). These ThinOptics readers do include a frame and more!

I have reviewed a number of game controllers for the iPhone and they often fall short in one area or another. GameSir may have found the right mix with its interestingly named G6 Mobile Gaming Touchroller ($42.99). The company sent me this controller and right away I could see it was different. Most controllers are designed to mimic PlayStation and Xbox controllers with joystick or diamond pad buttons on each side. The "touchroller" leaves the right-hand side clear of such buttons. This asymmetric design makes it easier to use your right thumb or other finger to access the touchscreen. Plus it leaves the Lightning port completely open for charging or connecting a headset.

The Apple Watch Series 5 is on the horizon, with watchers increasingly hopeful the big reveal will happen on the 10th of September 2019. Rumored features and improvements of the Watch Series 5, like luxory case options and sleep monitoring technology are gaining momentum online. Read on to learn more about rumored features and pricing, ordered by most to least likely.

Most professional videographers agree that high-quality audio capture is just as important, if not more so than, high-quality video capture. Watching a low resolution YouTube video with superb audio reproduction is far more tolerable than watching a high resolution video with poor audio quality. That is why I find it so surprising that Apple has focused so much of its iPhone feature attention on camera and video capture quality while still utilizing a run of the mill embedded mono microphone for audio. The founders of Hooke Audio saw this subpar configuration in not just the iPhone but other smartphones and video capture devices like GoPro's, and built a product to address this discrepancy. Read on to find out if the Hooke Verse wireless binaural 3D audio microphone system ($159.99) succeeds at eliminating this mobile audio capture fidelity problem.

I have Qi wireless charging pads all around the house, and also at work, so I never have to go too far to charge my iPhone. But I envision a world where Qi charging pads are used for a lot more than just smartphones. The folks at Choetech apparently agree, and they sent me their Wireless Charging Nighlight ($23.39) to try as an example.