iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

During past Consumer Electronics Shows, iPhone Life's team of editors have walked the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center for the best new technology for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users. This year's CES was a much smaller, all-online event and we all missed the magical experience of unexpectedly stumbling upon new and innovative or weird but wonderful tech products on the show floor. Even so, we did our best, watching online presentations and attending video meetings in search of new and exciting tech to share with our readers. Unsurprisingly, antimicrobial and disinfecting tech turned out to be the big theme of CES 2021, with everything from disinfectant foggers to UV-C lights to germ repelling bags, phone cases, and more on virtual display.  The following Best of CES 2021 Awards go to our favorite gear we found that's coming to market this year, ranging from the truly exciting (a smartphone with a flexible OLED!) to the less flashy but infinitely more likely to make your daily life better (a cup holdercar mount! A wireless CarPlay receiver!) 

Use iPhone Life Insider to Master Your AirPods, iPhone & More

(Sponsored Post) By Erin Smith on Wed, 01/13/2021

Our catalog of expertly designed guides for Apple devices are one of the biggest draws of our iPhone Life Insider program. They help our subscribers master their apple devices via simple guidance and detailed how-tos, all while giving users the flexibility and control over when and how they access the information. Our upcoming AirPods Guide will be an excellent resource for anyone who wants to truly become one with their AirPods.

Optimized Battery Charging is designed to improve battery life, and part of charging optimization includes reducing the time that the iPhone spends fully charged. When this function is enabled, your iPhone will delay charging past 80% in certain situations. There are various benefits to keeping iPhone optimized charging on, but you can experience a faster charge if you turn charging optimization off.

I take a screenshot on my iPhone several times a day, so I'm happy that Apple has introduced a new way to take a screenshot. One of the new iOS 14 features Apple has rolled out is Back Tap, a set of shortcuts that allow iPhone users to double or triple tap the back of their phones to perform various tasks. Back Tap is a great iPhone accessibility feature for people with reduced dexterity or limited vision, but being able to take a screenshot with a few taps on the back of our iPhones is convenient for everyone. Let's learn how to take a screenshot on your iPhone using Back Tap. Back Tap works with the iPhone 8 and later, including the iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and the new iPhone 12 line.

Are you wondering, "how do I find my photos and videos I imported to my iPhone?" There's a section just for imported media in the Photos app where you can easily find all the images and videos you've saved from text messages, the web, and more. We'll show you how to find Imports, and filter for pictures, video, edited media, and favorites, so it's easier to find the image or video you're searching for. 

When you make an Up Next playlist in the Podcasts app, the top podcast in your list will play when your current episode is finished. Once you've created this playlist or queue, you can add, remove, or rearrange your podcast episodes. Let's learn how to create an Up Next list, then add, subtract, and rearrange your podcast playlist in the Podcasts app.

At $699, the iPhone 12 mini is not Apple’s cheapest iPhone. That title still belongs to the $399 iPhone SE 2020, but the mini is indeed the cheapest iPhone with 5G. It is also the cheapest iPhone with Face ID, the latest CPU, and Apple’s dual-camera system. But what is really impressive is that it is also the smallest iPhone with all of the above features!

Markup is a nifty iPhone feature that allows users to doodle, magnify, and place text on images and PDFs in the Photos, Mail, Notes, Files, and Messenger apps. Whether you need to add a signature, insert text or draw shapes onto existing documents or images, Markup has you covered. Learn to save time when signing digital documents as well as add your personal flair to your images. Markup is a powerful tool that is great for business as well as entertainment and is compatible with the Photos, Messages, and Mail apps. 

Are you wondering how to organize photos on your iPhone? You can make a folder to hold multiple photo albums and other folders! Unfortunately, you can't move already existing photo albums into an album folder you create; hopefully, that feature will be added in a future operating system. Let's go over how to add a folder to the Photos app on your iPhone.

Many Apple Watch users love the Start and End Workout reminders because, like me, they forget to properly track their workouts. However, other users are irritated be the constant reminders, and since they already know how to end a workout on the Apple Watch, they don't want to deal with the additional notifications. We'll show you how to change your Apple Watch settings to stop these reminders.

Isn't the whole point of an Apple Watch to make communication simpler and more accessible? That was the idea behind Default Replies and Smart Replies on Apple Watch, but too often you just can't find the right reply, or you use one so often that you'd rather have it handy each time you text someone back. We’ll show you how to create custom message responses on your Apple Watch for just such occasions.

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