By Jim Karpen
Apple introduced third-party keyboards in iOS 8 after a lot of user requests. Now, the options seem endless, from the popular SwiftKey app to adding a gif keyboard for fun communication between friends. To add a third-party keyboard, the first thing you need to do is download a keyboard app from the App Store. Once downloaded, the setup is easy.
By Conner Carey
The iBooks app for iPhone is a great way to collect and read your favorite books or pdfs. The iBooks store has the latest in e-reading across all genres. However, if you’re an avid user of iBooks, it’s easy to lose track of which books you’ve read and how many you haven’t. iBooks doesn’t let you filter by read and unread, but you can create collections to organize your reading list.
When Apple announced iOS 9, I got really excited about the forthcoming News app. And now that I'm using it regularly, I feel my excitement was warranted. Plus, I like the snappy and seamless manner in which one can toggle between the overview of the news and a specific story. And I recently learned there's an even easier way to return to the overview, as well as to read the next story without going to the overview.
By Paula Bostrom
I love using Wallet. Instead of my actual wallet or keychain getting weighed down with shopper loyalty cards, the Wallet app stores them all in one place, no plastic required. Here's how to switch from plastic to the Wallet app.
By Conner Carey
Maybe you’re not ready to buy those songs you love in iTunes, but you do want to save them for purchase later. Well, in iTunes you can easily create a wish list for those songs.
By Conner Carey
The iBooks app is extremely useful for keeping books and pdf files together in one place on your iPhone or iPad. From the iBooks app, you can visit the iBooks store and browse the top charts and featured books on the market. However, storage space fills up quickly and you may not want to keep all the books forever. When your My Books storage is getting cluttered, here’s how to remove iBooks from your iPhone or iPad.
By Conner Carey
In the Apple News app, you have the option to view stories you tap as a preview or as the full story. Preview is the default function and makes sense for slower Internet connections; however, if you want to automatically read the full story, here’s how to change the setting.
I use reading glasses for some things, a concession to middle age, but fortunately I don't ever need them when I'm using my iPad. That's because I've adjusted the settings so that the text is larger and bolded, making it much easier to see. These settings apply to all of Apple's apps and to third-party apps that support Apple's Dynamic Type. Ever since iOS 8 was introduced, Apple has gathered text size, bold, view, and brightness into a single panel in Settings.
If you receive an iTunes gift card or app code, you’re going to want to use it. You can redeem music in the iTunes app and other codes in the App Store. Doing so is easy and who doesn’t love free music and apps?
By Jim Karpen
I've been using my new Apple TV for several days now and have found the interface to be quite intuitive. However, I quickly discovered there are a lot of tips and tricks that make it even better. Here's a comprehensive roundup.
Social media is one of many ways to keep in contact with someone these days; it makes sense to include that information within a contact card, especially for the people you interact with most. Doing so allows you to view their social media profile directly from Contacts. Here’s how to include someone’s social media profile information in their contact card.
By Conner Carey
Proactive Assistant was one of the new features introduced with iOS 9. Since then, I’ve noticed a lot of misunderstanding as to just what Proactive Assistant does, how to utilize it, and how to turn it off. Proactive Assistant pays attention to what you do and where you use your phone. Proactive Assistant works with Siri to give you Spotlight Suggestions but the habit learning program has it’s own set of suggestions to help you out.
By Jim Karpen
Sometimes particular conversations or individuals can become a bit of a nuisance in Messages — so much so that you'd like to stop receiving notifications for that conversation. Maybe you are part of a group conversation run amok or a family member likes to text you during work hours? Fortunately, you can turn on Do Not Disturb for any particular conversation.
By Conner Carey
Apple Music is kind of tricky. Sometimes My Music wouldn't play when I was away from Wi-Fi and out of Cellular reach and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, not all of My Music in Apple Music is available offline. Which means I’ve been using Cellular data without knowing it. To prevent this, Apple Music has the option to view Only Offline Music.
By Conner Carey
On by default, Safari Quick Search uses search shortcuts to look within websites. Therefore, if you type a website name as a part of your search, Safari will look within that website for what you need. For example, type “Youtube cat video” to show YouTube search results for cat videos. If you’d rather this feature be turned off, here’s how.
By Conner Carey
When you type in popular app names into the Safari search url bar, Apple will try to match that with apps you either have or may want from the App store. It’s a suggestion feature turned on by default. Here’s how to turn it off.
One of the interesting new features of iOS 9 is its "proactive" smarts. Apple wants your device to anticipate what you want to do depending on the context. A good example of that is how your iPhone or iPad now responds when you plug in earbuds or headphones. Your device figures that you want to listen to something, and a small icon appears in the lower left corner of your lock screen that shows the most recent audio app you've been using, whether that's Apple Music, Spotify, Podcasts, or any other app.
By Conner Carey
With iOS 9, your iPhone looks through the Mail app to let you know who might be calling when an unknown number comes in. This is true for outgoing calls as well; iOS 9 will try to match the number you’re calling with a contact from emails. If this is a function you’d like to turn off, here’s how.
By Conner Carey
If Facebook is draining your battery, gobbling up your storage by caching huge amounts of data, or otherwise causing problems on your iPhone, you can delete the app and create a Home screen icon for the website instead.
Say goodbye to searching for a friend’s contact info when you want to call or email them. With 3D Touch (only on the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus), you can view contact information in any app where the circle containing a contact’s initials or image appears. You’ll be able to call, FaceTime, message, or email your friends and family without having to open a separate app.
