iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

If you’re wondering how to save battery on your iPhone, you’re probably thinking about keeping it going through the day, but saving battery doesn't just mean making your iPhone last longer on one charge, it also means making sure your iPhone's lithium-ion battery itself lasts longer, thus extending the life of your iPhone; and the sooner you start, the better. To help you save battery on your iPhone and extend the life of the physical battery, we'll explain how to check your iPhone Battery Health regularly, when you should replace a worn out battery, how to take care of your lithium-ion battery’s physical safety, and what to do if your phone won’t charge. Let’s get started.

Portrait mode has been making folks look great since the iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus—taking great portraits has never been so easy as picking a Portrait Lighting mode and letting the iPhone work its magic. With iOS 13, Apple has added even more flexibility: you can adjust the intensity of the lighting effect applied in Portrait mode. To avoid your photo looking like a bad photoshop job, just tap the lighting intensity icon at the top of the screen and swipe on the slider left or right to tune the effect up or down. A little goes a long way! Let's get started.

I do a lot of videography, so I was excited when Movo sent a review unit of the SmartCine Complete Universal Smartphone Video Kit ($99.95). It is a multi-component kit that you assemble to create a full-featured videography tool that just needs your smartphone. Technically, it also needs a 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapter, because Apple chose to drop that feature. The SmartCine includes a lot of items in one, namely a quality HD microphone, a multi-level lighting ring that surrounds the camera lens, and the option of adding either a wide angle or fisheye lens. The lenses screw in easily, but be careful you don't get fingerprints on them. I've used other cases with lenses that attach via magnet and that is a nice touch.

For an extra layer of protection when using the Notes app, Apple now allows you to create a unique password for each of your Notes accounts, whether that's iCloud, On iPhone or On iPad, or an email-associated account. Before iOS 13, when you locked a note with a passcword for the first time, that password became the password for locking notes in all your Notes app accounts. You can now create a unique password for a Notes account by going to Notes in the Settings app and selecting Password. 

Customize a display picture in your Messages app profile and you’ll be able to share the face you choose with anyone you message. As of iOS 13, you can edit your profile picture and name; simply open messages, tap the three dots at the top of the screen, tap Edit Name and Photo, and swipe left or right to select an option. You can use a memoji or animoji, your initials with a custom color, or any picture on your iPhone. Once it’s set, you can choose whether to make your profile name and image visible to everyone in your contacts list, or only to select contacts. Let’s get started.

I love the juxtoposition of high-technology and old-fashioned materials, like leather and wood. That describes the Woo-dy Mechanical Keyboard (starting at $99) that UNICK sent me to review. The keyboard is being crowdfunded but it has already passed its goal and I was able to try a real unit. Here are my impressions. First, it's beautiful. Customers can choose the wood type and key cap colors, and then use the software (Windows only, currently) to customize the backlighting and keyboard layout. While mine had a "WIN" key, it worked just like an Apple Command key.