Tag: iphones
Apple’s Dream for iPhones Could Actually Be a Nightmare – CNET
How to customize your iPhone’s app icons
Have you ever wanted to make your iPhone your own, with your individualized style and flair? Sure, you can change your homescreen wallpaper. But if you really want to personalize your phone, why not create your own app icons?
It’s doable, using Apple’s built-in Shortcuts app. You actually won’t be replacing the icons that the apps came with — rather, you’ll be creating separate shortcuts that lead to the app. It’s a tedious and time-consuming process, but in the end, you can have a fully customized iPhone homescreen.
Here’s how you do it:
- Before you begin, it’s a good idea to find an icon for your new shortcut. There are a bunch of icon sources online (Flaticon, for example), or if you’re artistic and / or ambitious, you can create…
DIY replacement screens and batteries for iPhones and Pixels are 20 percent off at iFixit
You know, just because it’s new phone season doesn’t mean you actually need to buy a new phone. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the new hotness, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4’s unique experience or the iPhone 14 Pro’s quirky new dynamic island, but maybe your current phone is perfectly fine if it just gets some overdue TLC (or perhaps some DIY love).
If you’ve got an older iPhone or Pixel phone with a cracked screen or rapidly depleting battery, iFixit is running a 20 percent-off sale on repairs kits through September 30th to help you bring it back up to spec yourself. This promo covers all of iFixit’s screen and battery repair kits on iPhones and Pixels as recent as last year’s iPhone 13 and Pixel 6. For example, a battery replacement…
Daily Authority: 👎 iPhone’s major misstep
iOS 16.1 Will Bring Live Sports Scores to Your iPhone’s Lock Screen
In the first iOS 16.1 beta made available to developers and public testers this week, Apple is testing Live Activities integration with sports games via the TV app.
In the TV app, tapping on the Follow button for a sports game results in a Live Activity appearing on the Lock Screen for the game, complete with a live-updating scoreboard and play-by-play action, such as a baseball player striking out on a fastball.
As shown in the screenshots below, provided to us by reader Alec Cohen, a brief summary of the game is also shown above the time, next to the date.
Live Activities appear at the bottom of the Lock Screen on iPhone 13 models and earlier, as well as on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. On the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Live Activities will appear at the top of the Lock Screen in the Dynamic Island, a new pill-shaped area surrounding the Face ID sensors and front camera that can expand to display system alerts and other content at a glance.
Apple says iOS 16.1 will be released later this year, bringing Live Activities to the masses. For sports, the feature will be available for MLB games for users in the U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K., Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea, along with NBA and Premier League games for users in the U.S. and Canada only at launch.
Live Activities also supports timers set in the Clock app, while third-party apps can support the feature too. Once the iOS 16.1 Release Candidate is available, Apple says developers will be able to submit apps with Live Activities to the App Store.
iPhone 14 Pro models launch this Friday in the U.S. and are already starting to arrive to customers in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
This article, “iOS 16.1 Will Bring Live Sports Scores to Your iPhone’s Lock Screen” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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How to use iPhone’s Safety Check and Emergency SOS features
While there has — rightly — been a great deal written and broadcast about how to deal with attacks and privacy violations online and via social media, there is now increasing attention being paid to helping people stay safe in their homes and out in the world. Two features offered via Apple’s iPhones — one just introduced in iOS 16 — can help people who may need to separate themselves from dangerous people or situations: Safety Check and Emergency SOS.
Safety Check
One of the most significant new features in iOS 16 is Safety Check, which is specifically meant for people who find themselves in a difficult or abusive situation at home.
It is very common for friends and partners to share various apps and features such as photos, calendars,…
iOS 16’s battery update won’t come to smaller iPhones
‘Clean Energy Charging’ is coming to iPhones this year
Even though iOS 16 is only just in the hands of most iPhone users, Apple has already revealed some details about what’s ahead for the operating system. A feature called Clean Energy Charging, which the company will roll out in the US as part of an update later this year, will optimize charging times to take into account when the power grid is using more sustainable sources of energy. Apple says the aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of iPhones.
The feature complements the Optimizing Battery Charging option Apple introduced a few years ago to maximize battery health. With this setting enabled, your iPhone will figure out your daily charging routine and limit the battery’s charge to 80 percent until close to when you’re going to start using your iPhone (or Mac, since that has the feature too).
In addition, iCloud Shared Photo Library is coming later this year. That will create a separate iCloud library that up to six people can access. Apple will also introduce support for the Matter smart home standard once that becomes available sometime this fall.
Those with an iOS 16-compatible iPhone now have access to a boatload of new features, primarily to do with personalization. The Live Activities function should make it easier to track certain things in real time, such as the status of a delivery and sports scores. The option to edit and unsend messages in iMessage will be a big deal for many, as will the ability to copy and paste an object from one photo to another.
iOS 16 Features and Changes Exclusive to Newer iPhones
The biggest iOS 16 features, such as the personalized Lock Screen, will be available on all devices supported by the latest version. Other features of iOS 16, however, require devices with more powerful chips. We’ve broken down four features below that have specific device requirements on iOS 16 and will not be available on all compatible devices.
Lifting Subjects Out of Images
In iOS 16, you can select and isolate subjects from photos in the Photos app by holding down on a photo for a few seconds until you see a white glow appear around the subject. You can then drag the subject out of the Photos app and into Messages, Mail, Notes, and more.
In Safari, users can hold down on an image to copy the subject but will not be able to drag and paste it into other apps as they can do in the Photos app.
The feature works by using advanced neural networking and image detection to detect the subject in a photo, so it’s not available on all the devices that support iOS 16. This feature is only available on devices with the A12 Bionic chip and above, which includes the iPhone XS and later.
All-New Dictation Experience
Coming with iOS 16 is a redesigned Dictation experience that better leverages on-device machine learning for more accurate voice-to-text and a new design that makes it easier to switch between voice and typing. The new Dictation experience allows users to convert voice into text while instantly switching to typing as the keyboard always remains visible.
Since the new Dictation experience uses on-device machine learning, it is limited to devices with processors that can handle the heavy lifting. The new and improved Dictation experience is only available on iPhones with the A12 Bionic chip and later, which includes the iPhone XS and above.
Live Captions for Videos and Calls
In iOS 16, users will be able to activate Live Captions for videos and even live FaceTime calls, providing real-time captioning for what’s being said. The feature is part of several new accessibility tools coming in iOS 16. Live Captions will work on devices with the A12 Bionic chip and later, which includes the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, the second-generation iPhone SE, and iPhone 14 series devices.
Battery Percentage in the Status Bar
Starting with iOS 16, Apple is finally letting users see their battery percentage directly in their status bar without having to swipe down into Control Center. The new battery percentage toggle was added in an earlier beta of iOS 16 over the summer. If you’re excited to try it out, we may have some bad news.
The new battery percentage toggle will not be available on a number of iPhone models, including the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini.
This article, “iOS 16 Features and Changes Exclusive to Newer iPhones” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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