Some website and app sign-in screens require you to pass CAPTCHA challenges, such as recognizing letters in unusual shapes. iCloud allows you to bypass many challenges by automatically and privately verifying your iPhone and account. It’s called Automatic Verification, and you can turn this bypass on or off.
With Screen Time, you can allow or block communication with certain contacts in iCloud—including phone calls, FaceTime calls, and messages. It can apply at all times or only during certain periods, like when your device use is paused, and you can choose Contacts Only, Contacts & Groups with at Least One Contact, or Everyone.
You can allow or block communication from certain contacts in iCloud, including incoming and outgoing phone calls, FaceTime calls, and messages, either at all times or during certain periods, such as when your device use is paused.
If you haven’t already turned on Contacts in iCloud, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud, tap See All next to Saved to iCloud, then turn on Contacts.
Note: Every one of your devices needs iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, or visionOS 27 or later to use all the latest Screen Time features. And if you’re setting up these features in a Family Sharing group, each device in the group needs iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, or visionOS 27 or later.
Calls and messages from someone who’s currently blocked by your Communication Limit settings won’t go through.
Try to call or message someone who’s currently blocked by your Communication Limit settings, and your list of recent calls or messages shows their name or number in red. Once the communication limit changes, you can communicate with them.
To communicate again with contacts who are blocked by your Communication Limit settings, use the steps above to change those settings.
You can get detailed driving directions to your destination. When you drive in select cities, you see enhanced details for crosswalks, bike lanes, and buildings, plus a street-level perspective that helps you find the right lane at complex intersections (supported models).
You can also estimate travel time for a future departure or arrival, and avoid tolls. You can get directions from anywhere on the map, or from an address you search for.
Here’s how to get driving directions in Maps on iPhone.
Note: Turn-by-turn spoken directions and the preferred route option aren’t available in all countries or regions.
Do either of the following: Touch and hold anywhere on the map.
If your preferred travel mode is Walking , Transit , or Cycling , tap the Driving button.
Siri: You can also ask Siri something like, “Give me driving directions home.” If you regularly drive the same route—such as between home and work—Maps may show it as “Your route,” making it easier to start navigation.
Based on your driving patterns and destinations, this preferred route option appears, and it may alert you to delays before you even leave.
Maps stays onscreen and keeps speaking directions when Driving Focus is on or iPhone locks automatically.
Even if you open another app, you continue to receive turn-by-turn directions. (To return to Maps from another app, tap the directions banner at the top of the screen or the navigation indicator in the status bar.)
Get driving directions, as above.
Predicted traffic may change the estimated travel time.
Get driving directions, as above.
Below Directions, tap Driving, then turn on or off Compass and Speed Limit.
On supported models, you can record a vocal layer on top of an instrumental recording without using headphones. This allows you to capture a musical inspiration: add vocals or a voiceover to an existing instrumental recording, try out lyrics, harmonize with instrumental music, and more.
After recording the second layer, you can mix the two layers or separate them to edit and play each one on its own. You can only create a layered recording on supported models, but you can play one on any device.
Here’s how to add a second layer to a Voice Memos recording on iPhone.
Layered recordings show the Layers button in the list of recordings.
A layered recording can play on any device, although you can only create one on supported models.
Note: Layered recordings use QTA (QuickTime Audio) format, so they won’t appear on devices running iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and earlier. Separate the layers, though, and you get each layer in .m4a format, which shows up on devices with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1 and earlier.
Transcription and recording in stereo or Spatial Audio work only on the first layer. Unless you separate them, you edit both layers of a layered recording together.
When you’ve recorded the second layer, you can mix the two layers.
With the second layer recorded, you can separate the two layers to edit them or play them separately.
In the list, the two layers then appear as separate recordings that you can select, edit, and play separately.
If Voice Memos is on in iCloud settings, an iPad that’s signed in to the same Apple Account can open a layered recording from your iPhone. Export the recording to Files there, and you can import it into Logic Pro for iPad for editing. In Logic Pro 11.1.1 or later, the two layers open automatically as two distinct tracks.
You can organize your apps into folders to make them easier to find on your Home Screen pages.
A folder can hold more than one screen’s worth, too: it can contain multiple pages of apps. You can create, rename, or delete a folder, or move an app from a folder back to the Home Screen. Organizing your apps on the Home Screen doesn’t affect App Library, either.
Here’s how to organize your apps in folders on iPhone.
A folder can contain multiple pages of apps.
If the apps begin to jiggle, tap the Home Screen background and try again.
Note: If you organize your apps on the Home Screen, it doesn’t affect the organization of apps in App Library.
When the folder is empty, it’s deleted automatically.
Moving an app from a folder to the Home Screen makes it easier to locate and open.
Use the Stocks app to track market activity and view the performance of stocks you follow. For any stock, you can see its most recent price, daily percentage change, market capitalization value, and more.
The list you see first is called the My Symbols watchlist. You don’t have to stick with it, though: you can add or remove symbols, create your own watchlists, and view charts, details, and news for each stock.
Siri: Ask Siri something like, “How are the markets doing?”
You can see a stock’s market capitalization value, daily percentage change, most recent price, and more.
The My Symbols watchlist is the list of ticker symbols that appears on the screen when you first open the Stocks app. Besides updating and managing it, you can create your own watchlists.
Note: If you delete a symbol from the My Symbols watchlist, that symbol is also deleted from your other watchlists.
For the ticker symbols in your watchlist and any symbols you search for, you can view interactive charts, performance details, and related news stories.
Quick tip: For a quick view of a symbol’s performance, touch and hold it in your watchlist.
The Lock Screen appears when you turn on or wake iPhone. From the Lock Screen, you can see notifications, open Camera and Control Center, get information from your favorite apps at a glance, control media playback, and more.
You can also follow Live Activities there, like directions from Maps or order updates from food delivery apps. And you can personalize your Lock Screen by choosing a wallpaper, showcasing a favorite photo, changing the font of the time, adding widgets, and more.
Here’s how to access features from the iPhone Lock Screen.
Even while iPhone is locked, the Lock Screen gives you quick access to useful features and information.
Go to the Lock Screen, then do any of the following:
Details about Calendar invitations, lines from Mail messages, and text from Messages can all show up in notification previews.
With Live Activities, you can follow the progress of app activities right on your Lock Screen. That includes directions from Maps, order updates from food delivery apps, live sports updates from the Apple TV app, and more.
Music, a movie, or other media you play on your iPhone also becomes one of these Live Activities, with playback controls on your Lock Screen to pause, play, fast-forward, or rewind. You can even control playback on a remote device like your Apple TV 4K or HomePod from your iPhone Lock Screen.
To change your Live Activity settings, go to Settings, tap Apps, tap the app with the settings you want to change, then tap Live Activities.
Note: Not all apps have a Live Activities setting.
In the Stocks app, you can read business news that’s driving the market. In countries where Apple News is available, you also see stories selected by the Apple News editors and stories from Apple News+.
You can browse Business News and Top Stories, or see stories related to a symbol in your watchlist. You can also listen to a story, and clear recommendations.
Here’s how to read business news in Stocks on iPhone.
Note: Apple News and Apple News+ aren’t available in all countries or regions.
Note: In order to save stories to Apple News, make sure you’re signed in to your Apple Account, then go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud, tap See All next to Saved to iCloud, then turn on News.
The newsfeed doesn’t show stories from publications you’ve blocked in Apple News.
Some news stories include an audio version that you can listen to in the News app. Tap the Play button to listen.
The Stocks app recommends stories based on what you’ve read in the past, but you can clear this information.
With Magic Keyboard, you can switch between the language keyboard for your region, an emoji keyboard, other language keyboards that you add, and the onscreen keyboard. A keyboard shortcut cycles between them, and you can show or hide the onscreen keyboard, too.
To show the onscreen keyboard, press the Eject key on Magic Keyboard. To hide the onscreen keyboard, press the Eject key again.
You can customize your preferences for the Reminders app in Settings. Choose the default list for new items, adjust notifications, and more.
You can add or remove accounts, allow content from Reminders to appear in Search and widgets, and change the sound for reminder alerts. Siri can make suggestions based on how you use Reminders, and you can choose your preferred languages when you’ve added more than one.
Here’s how to change your Reminders settings on iPhone.
If you’d rather not hear a sound when you receive a reminder alert, choose None.
