How Tos

If your iPhone or iPad storage space is dwindling at an alarming rate or your device feels like it's getting slower, then you could benefit from clearing the cache that apps use. Cached data includes all the files and images that are kept in your device's memory, which is meant to help apps avoid having to request the same data repeatedly and thereby keep things speedy – in theory. In ...

Animated GIFs have become a staple of the internet. Invented in 1987, the looping, soundless video clips can be found everywhere online, from social media networks to messaging platforms. They're often used to express emotions, communicate ideas, or just make people laugh. Because they are so short, GIF files are quick to load and they play automatically, so they communicate what you want...

With iOS 18, Apple introduced several handy improvements to the Notes app, making it easier to organize information and add visual flair to your notes. Read on to learn how these new features can improve your note-taking experience. The following four new Notes features are worth getting acquainted with in iOS 18. Collapsible sections allow for better organization of lengthy notes...

Ever need a moment of privacy without raising suspicion? If you're secretly shopping for a gift or planning a surprise party, you might want to temporarily obscure your actual location in Apple's Find My app on your iPhone without completely turning off location sharing. Here's a clever trick that lets you keep sharing enabled while displaying a different location – all by using another...

As part of Apple Intelligence, iOS 18.1 includes a new dedicated Reduce Interruptions focus mode that only shows you important notifications that need attention while filtering out everything else. Keep reading to learn how to use it. The Reduce Interruptions focus offers a middle ground between receiving all notifications and using Do Not Disturb. Essentially it acts as a smart filter for...

If you're concerned about hearing loss and own AirPods Pro 2, Apple in iOS 18.1 offers a convenient new clinical-grade hearing test that's easy to use. Here's everything you need to know about checking your hearing health with this new feature. Note that Apple's Hearing Test feature is not available in all regions, likely due to differing regulatory laws. Apple maintains a list on its website...

On iPhone and iPad, Apple provides users with granular control over the downloading and installing of system software updates. This article takes you through the options. In earlier versions of iOS, new software updates were downloaded automatically in the background and then installed through an Automatic Updates feature. But in modern versions of iOS you can customize Automatic Updates...

On iPhone or iPad, apps can be deleted from your device in several ways. This article explains how it's done. Delete Apps From the Home screen There are actually two slightly different ways to delete an app on the Home screen on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌. Press and hold the app for one second, then select the Remove App action from the pop-up menu. This will invoke a prompt giving you two options: De...

There's an app for everything these days, and it's easy to reach a point where you have so many of them on your iPhone that a sizable proportion are simply forgotten about, and soon storage space starts to become an issue. Fortunately, there's an easy way that you can keep tabs on which apps you use the most and which ones have basically become redundant, and are just adding needless clutter ...

WhatsApp has made it easier to organize your conversations with the global rollout of custom chat lists. This new feature expands on the chat filters introduced earlier this year, and offers a more personalized way to manage your messaging. To create a custom list, tap the plus (+) icon in the filter bar at the top of the Chats tab. You can add both individual contacts and group chats to...

If you're curious about how Apple Intelligence is working on your iPhone, iOS 18.1 offers transparency through the new ‌Apple Intelligence‌ Report feature. Here's how to generate your own report. Baked into iOS 18, ‌Apple Intelligence‌ can create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks, all through the use of...

Have you tried making your iPhone's Home Screen app icons dark using the new customization options in iOS 18? If so, you may have run up against the issue that, despite all efforts, some app icons simply refuse to turn dark. Well, we may have a solution for you. It's been over two months since Apple released iOS 18, but not all app developers have updated their apps to include equivalent...

Writing Tools is one of the main Apple Intelligence features that's available in the iOS 18.1 update that Apple released on October 28. As the name suggests, this toolset is meant to help you write, and as part of that, it can also proofread your text in various apps. Apple's Writing Tools feature offers much more than basic spell checking – it provides a sophisticated proofreading...

Say you've captured a stunning sunset at the beach, but there's a trash can ruining the foreground. Or maybe you've taken the perfect family portrait, only to later realize there's a stranger in the background. With iOS 18.1's new Clean Up tool, Apple aims to make such photo frustrations a thing of the past. Here's how it works. Clean Up uses Apple Intelligence to analyze your photos and...

Apple's iOS 18.1 update, set to be released on October 28, brings powerful new search functions to the Photos app. It now allows you to find specific images with unprecedented precision, thanks to its natural language input capabilities powered by Apple Intelligence. Here's how to make the most of it. In iOS 18.1, the key to effective searching in Photos is using natural language. Instead of ...

Writing Tools is one of the main Apple Intelligence features that's available in the iOS 18.1 update that Apple released on October 28. As the name suggests, this toolset is meant to help you write, but it also has the ability to summarize existing text in various apps. You can select text and use the Writing Tools summary options to automatically distill a longer piece of text into...

From business meetings to family memories, there are countless reasons to record a phone call, but until now, iPhone users have had to rely on third-party apps or complex workarounds. That changes on October 28 with the release of iOS 18.1, which introduces native call recording and transcription powered by Apple Intelligence. Apple's new Phone app feature not only records conversations but ...

In iOS 18, iPhone apps have both Light and Dark color options, making it possible to match the color of your icons when you have Dark mode enabled. Keep reading to learn how it works. Apple's built-in apps have both Light and Dark color options in iOS 18, and now that the update is available to the public, third-party apps are in the process of providing their own Light and Dark icon...

Apple's latest iPhone 16 models include a new Camera Control button (located on the lower right-hand side when holding the phone in portrait mode). The new button aims to make it easier to adjust photography settings when shooting with the iPhone in both portrait and landscape orientation. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A simple press of the Camera Control button...

Writing Tools is one of the main Apple Intelligence features that's available in the iOS 18.1 update released on October 28. As the name suggests, this toolset is meant to help you write, but it can also rewrite text that you think could be cleaned up or made better by adopting a different tone. The Writing Tools Rewrite feature can refine what you've written, but it can also be used to...