When you think of the Apple Watch app launcher or Home screen, you think of the grid of icons that Apple shows in all of its promotional material. That’s become the way to use an Apple Watch. But for some users, it’s never been a great way to find apps. And even if you know where they are, tapping them isn’t always the easiest thing in the world. Apple fixed all of that in modern versions of watchOS by adding the option to see all of your apps in an alphabetical list instead.
Ever accidentally tapped on the screen of iPhone or iPad while watching Netflix and paused the show or skipped ahead or something else? If you use the Netflix app on your iPhone or iPad to binge-watch your favorite TV shows and movies, you might be excited to know about this interesting new feature that prevents you from mis-clicking while watching video content. This feature can also be helpful for parents who want to lock the screen to Netflix on an iPhone or iPad so that it can’t be interrupted. It’s sort of like a Netflix specific guided access mode, and it’s worth checking out for many viewers.
Apple has released release candidates iOS 14.2 GM and iPadOS 14.2 GM to users enrolled in the beta testing programs
GM builds are typically the finalized version of a beta software schedule, and typically match the final public version. The release candidate / GM build suggests the final version of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 could be available to the general public in the near future.
iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 include a new Shazam widget, new wallpapers, and over a hundred new Emoji icons like musical instruments, an anatomic heart and anatomic lungs, Dodo bird, a transgender symbol, transgender flag, gender inclusive emojis like a man in a wedding veil and person in a wedding dress, ninja, plunger, beaver, blueberries, several bugs, a bison, mammoth, plants, a coin, and more. Additionally, the release apparently stops a bug that some users experienced where a frequent ‘a new iOS update is now available’ alert would appear on iPhone or iPad devices running beta versions. Presumably other bug fixes, enhancements, and improvements are also included.
Users who are enrolled in the iOS and iPadOS beta testing programs can find iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 available to download now from the Software Update section of the Settings app.
The GM builds also include full release notes rather than beta release notes, which further suggests the versions are being finalized for the public.
With release candidate builds available now for beta testers, it seems reasonable to expect a final version will be released to the general public shortly, perhaps sometime next week.
If you were previously in a beta release and left the iOS 14 beta program then you will not see this version available as an update, instead you’ll eventually see the final version when it’s available to everyone.
Currently, the most recently available version of system software for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is iPadOS 14.1 and iOS 14.1.
Rarely, you may need to put an iPhone SE into DFU mode as a troubleshooting method or recovery method. This shouldn’t be necessary with any regularity, but if you have some particular difficulties with the device where it appears completely unusable (bricked), or fails during the middle of a software update and the device is no longer usable, even after forced restarting, then DFU mode may be a helpful solution.
Are you looking for an easier way to change the watch face on your Apple Watch? In that case, you may be interested in learning how you can change the Apple Watch face right from your iPhone within a matter of seconds.
For many users, the easiest and best way to sync your photos across multiple devices is undoubtedly using iCloud Photos on the Mac, but that requires a reliable high speed internet connection, and depending on the amount of photos you have, perhaps a lot of iCloud space too.
Fortunately, another option exists, and you can still sync things directly between iPhone and Mac with a cable the old fashioned way, should you want to use that option for whatever reason. Naturally, this article is going to show you how you can sync photos directly between an iPhone, iPad, or Mac using Finder in macOS Big Sur or Catalina.
Apple has released macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta 1 for users involved in the beta testing program for MacOS Big Sur. The beta has first arrived to developers, but the same build typically comes to public beta testers soon after.
The versioning is somewhat fascinating because macOS Big Sur 11 has yet to be released to the general public. It’s unclear why the new beta release didn’t simply arrive as macOS Big Sur beta 11, but perhaps there was a versioning error, or perhaps the final release of macOS Big Sur is imminent, as it has been rumored to be for a few weeks now.
Did you know that you can set a custom icon for any app that you want to launch on your iOS or iPadOS device? Thanks to the Shortcuts app that comes preinstalled on iOS and iPadOS devices, you can actually use any image as an app icon. This lets you effectively change icons of apps on your home screen, and if you get really committed to it you can basically theme your device screen this way.
If you use Group FaceTime, you’re probably aware of how the face tiles move around and resize based on who’s actively speaking. This may be considered as a good feature by some, but for the others, they may rather that Group FaceTime does not move around and resize depending on who is active. Regardless of how you feel about this feature, there’s an option to disable it (or enable it) during your iPhone or iPad video calls.
Do you use Google Chrome instead of Safari as your preferred web browser on your iOS device? Perhaps you have even set Chrome as the default browser on your iPhone or iPad. In that case, you might be interested in learning how you can add Chrome bookmarks to your iPhone or iPad home screen.
It’s all too easy to wind up with two folders that should contain a single set of files but have managed to be strewn across your computer’s storage in two different folders. Wouldn’t it be nice to merge those two folders of the same name into one on the Mac?
Whether newbie or computer wizard, it can be easy in MacOS to end up with two folders when you really wanted one. The obscurity of some elements of the macOS filesystem may even contribute to this happening for some user workflows. But if you do find yourself in need of a way to combine two folders into a single one to rule them all, fear not. We have a solution.
Do you take advantage of Apple’s iCloud Photos service to conveniently store all your photos online? If you’ve been a regular user of iCloud Photos over the years, you may occasionally run into issues where it doesn’t always work seamlessly, and sometimes that means iCloud Photos are not downloading to an iPhone or iPad as expected.
Do you use the stock Notes app on your iPhone or iPad to take down notes, make to-do lists, and store other valuable information? In that case, you may want to learn how you can move your Notes from your device to iCloud, and vice-versa.
Are you not a big fan of using App Library on iPhone? In that case, you may be looking for ways to disable App Library on your iPhone so that you don’t see it or accidentally activate it.
If you’re looking for a short answer to the question of “can I disable App Library” then the answer is no, despite what you might read elsewhere, you can’t completely disable the App Library. Apple has yet to introduce a setting that allows it to be turned off. However, the long answer is more interesting than you think, and there are ways to basically use an iPhone as if App Library didn’t exist. avoid using App Library
Do you use the stock Notes app on your iPhone or iPad to write down important info, manage checklists, scan documents, make to-do lists, quickly jot down notes, draw, or share info? For whatever purpose you use Notes, you may be interested in changing the paper style to lines, grids, or default, whatever is a better suited style for your needs.
You can now change the default web browser app on iPhone and iPad to be Chrome, so if you’d rather use Chrome instead of Safari, that’s now an easy option, as long as your device is running iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later.
Got a new model iPhone SE? Whether you’re new to the iOS ecosystem after switching over from Android, or you’re just new to this particular model of iPhone, you might be interested to know how you can turn the iPhone SE off, and on again. And if you turn the device off and back on right away, you’re effectively soft restarting the iPhone SE that way. To be clear, we’re talking about the 2020 models here.
