iOS

As for the expanded emoji keyboard, first of all it’s a continuous scroll from left to right, showing all the emoji available (with a handy title for each section) as opposed to before when you had to tap the tabs to select from different panels. You can tap the options to jump to each selection…

So here’s how you set it up. First, open the Clock app on your iOS device, and then make sure you’re on the “Alarm” tab at the bottom. Afterward, either press “Edit” at the top and touch an existing alarm or select the plus button to configure a new one. Once you arrive at the add/edit…

See how the camera attempted to focus and expose for the item I’d tapped on my screen? That’s pretty useful, obviously, but this feature becomes even more critical when you’re trying to take pictures in varying light conditions. We’ve all seen our share of completely overexposed sunset shots, for example, and using this trick can…

Just as is the case with old cables, there are a lot of things you can do with your legacy mobile devices, and some of them are really cool. Once you go through the obvious “Hand It Off To A Family Member For Whom It Is An Upgrade” and “Possibly Repurpose For Some Other Nifty…

Device that cracks iPhone passcodes sidesteps data auto-delete feature MDSec got ahold of one of the brute force attack boxes for about £200 (about US$297) to see how it works, and it turns out the device is pretty clever. After trying a bad passcode, it shuts down your iPhone before it gets written to device…

If you swipe from left to right (in the direction of my green arrow below), you’ll need to unlock your device, but then you’ll jump right to that message within Mail. From there, you can reply to it or what have you, so that’s a convenient way to go where you need to. Even more awesome,…

Pyle Audio  has released a Bluetooth Infrared ear and body digital thermometer that works with iOS devices (iOS 6 and greater) and allows users to take a temperature in seconds without difficulties for the user or trauma to the patient.  The thermometer works independently, but it also works with the free Pyle Health Thermometer app for iOS. …

Today I will focus on filters you can use when taking photos with your iPhone. Some people (yours truly included among them) are filter snobs. These folks shy away from anything that adds or takes away from the photo. They want the photo to stand on its own merits, just as the shooter saw it.…

Load Up Apple's Home Page When Your Press Tab, the Search Box Opens (the image rotated during our screenshots) As noted above, this feature works with Safari and Omniweb in Yosemite. Our tests in Chrome for the Mac found it didn't work. Thanks to MacCast's Adam Christiansen for the heads up.

In my experience, though, the problem is almost always with iOS, and if that seems to be the case for you, there’s a quick trick you can try to get things running smoothly again. It’s a way to force your calendars or contacts to refresh themselves, and it’s so quick! You don’t even have to…

First, you can only Pin apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You must also have the (free) Pinterest app installed on your iOS device. Once installed, you can search the App Store for the app you want to Pin. When you find it, tap on it to bring up the “details” view, as…

There’s a part of this that a lot of folks don’t know, however. You don’t actually need to lock your iPhone or iPad to access your Handoff stuff; all you’ve gotta do is go to the so-called App Switcher, which you’ll see whenever you double-click your Home button. I’ve talked about the App Switcher recently…

XAgent malware can hit iPhones that aren't jailbroken The threat was found by the security research company Trend Micro said XAgent doesn't require victims use jailbroken iOS devices. The company said the malware is very advanced, and that it's similar to the SEDNIT threat for Windows. Jailbreaking is a process where iPhone users hack their…

Obviously, this is pretty annoying if you’re a person who (like me!) wants to get rid of books after reading them. So if you’re having a problem with that, first go out to your main library view (by touching “Library” if you’re in the middle of reading a book, or by tapping “My Books” at…

To check it out, head on over to the Settings app, and then touch “Music.” Under that heading is “EQ,” so pick that. Within there, you’ll see all sorts of audio adjustments you could try, including settings like “Treble Booster,” “Small Speakers,” or “Rock.” Most of these only apply to music you’re listening to, but…

To set this up on iOS, what you’ll need to do is go to the Messages app, tap on the conversation you’d like to mute, and then touch “Details” in the upper-right corner. On the following screen, scroll down and turn on the slider next to “Do Not Disturb.” On the Mac, it’s very similar—open…

OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle on the iPhone. Finally! The lucky early testers started getting invitations on Monday to try out the beta apps on Monday. The apps are being distributed through Apple's TestFlight system. OmniOutliner is an app for creating simple and complex outlines, and OmniGraffle makes easy work of designing flow charts and diagrams. Both…

Once you’re looking at your “Mailboxes” view, you should have an “Edit” button at the top. Touch that, and you’ll see the two new options you can turn on: “Thread Notifications” and “Today.” The “Today” mailbox is just what it sounds like—it’ll show all the messages that you’ve received today (as long as they’re still…

It’s like my friends are in the witness-protection program! That list is intended to help you quickly get in touch with the people you know. Tap someone’s avatar, and you’ll be given a variety of ways to make a connection. Here’s a neat trick, though—you can change what contacts this shows you. Visit Settings> Mail,…

itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/advancedSearch Here's the Power Search URL in Safari. You can stash this as a bookmark in your browser, and hit it whenever you need the power search. It will switch over to iTunes and show you the Power Search panel. But let's be honest, using a browser bookmark to do something in iTunes is SO…

You can track Santa's route from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac NORAD Tracks Santa NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defence Command, may spend most of the year keeping a lookout for enemy threats from the sky, but every Christmas all of that high tech gear is put to use for a more critical purpose:…

Episode #102 Many readers and friends had problems updating to iOS 8 over WiFi, reporting that their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch complained that the update couldn’t be installed because it requires at least 5.7GB of storage. If your iDevice only has 8 or 16GB of storage, chances are you saw a similar message. So…

Episode #102 Many readers and friends had problems updating to iOS 8 over WiFi, reporting that their iDevices complained that the update couldn’t be installed because it requires at least 5.7GB of storage. If your iDevice only has 8 or 16GB of storage, chances are you saw a similar message. So here is my advice…

You'll need to start by purchasing and downloading Workflow. It's currently priced at US$2.99, but that's going up to $4.99 after at some point. Once Workflow is installed on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, here's what to do: Start by building a workflow. The app walks you through the process when it's first launched.…