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18 Best Apple Watch Ultra Tips and Tricks of 2025

by Kevin Hollington

If you just bought an Apple Watch Ultra, here are 18 best Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks to make the most out of your wearable.

The Apple Watch ultra is packed with unique features that you’ll want to take advantage of. It’s Apple’s most rugged Apple Watch with improved GPS, a 49mm casing, a more durable display, extra long battery life, a built-in Action button, and more. Let’s jump straight into it and check out some of the best Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks to help you master your device.

Apple’s WatchOS 9 update, which arrived in September, brought even more features to the Apple Watch. Additions include more detailed sleep monitoring and a new app for tracking medications. But of course, you need to know exactly how to use these Apple Watch features, or else you’ll be at a loss.

Fortunately,mastering an Apple Watch is pretty easy. Here are the best tips and tricks for Apple Watch Ultra that will help you master your watch in no time.

Best Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks in 2023

1. Adjust all of your Activity goals

Apple makes it easy for users to change their goals for the amount of time they stand and exercise. Previously, you could only change your Move (or calories) goal.

So instead of using the defaults — 30 minutes of exercise and a cumulative 12 standing hours a day — it’s a good idea to change either one to fit your actual daily routine.

This Apple Watch Ultra trick makes it possible for you to hit your own targets when you actually start your day, not when Apple tells you to. For example, if you use sleep tracking overnight and need to charge your watch more often in the morning, you won’t feel like you’ve lost an hour of time needed to close those rings. Follow the steps below:

  1. Start the Activity app on your watch.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Change Goals.
  3. Make your adjustments for all three metrics and start closing those rings.

2. So long, random screenshots

The best Apple Watch Ultra trick we can show you is how to stop random screenshot on the Watch. To take a screenshot, you simply press the Digital Crown and side button at the same time. It’s a simple and convenient method, unless you’re like me and find yourself frequently triggering it accidentally, filling up the Photos app with random pictures of your watch face.

To turn off the ability to take screenshots altogether, follow the steps below:

  1. Start the Settings app on your watch or use the Watch app on your phone.
  2. Tap on General.
  3. Scroll down until you find Screenshots. Tap this option.
  4. Toggle off the switch next to Enable Screenshots for a clutter-free camera roll.

3. Customize which apps appear in your dock

If you have a lot of apps installed on your Apple Watch, it can be difficult to find the right ones when you need them. That’s where this Apple Watch Ultra trick comes in handy. If you’re not familiar, the dock on the Apple Watch is equivalent to the app switcher on the iPhone. You can trigger it by tapping the side button, which pulls up a carousel of recently used apps.

However, you can also customize the dock to show any apps you want instead of your most recent apps. To do this on your watch, follow the steps below:

  1. open the Settings menu on your watch.
  2. Tap Dock and select the Favorites option.

But I recommend setting this up in the Phone’s Watch app instead so that you can customize these apps.

  1. Start the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on Dock.
  3. After selecting your Favorites option, you’ll see a list of apps divided into two sections: Favorites and Do Not Include. Favorites are the apps that are currently in your dock, while the latter lists all of the other apps on your watch that aren’t included.
  4. Tap the Edit button located at the top right corner to customize the Favorites list to your liking.

4. Choose the Portrait mode photos you want to see on your wrist

The next Apple Watch Ultra trick lets you set Portrait mode photos as the background for your watch face. But first, you have to dig into the settings in the Watch app on your iPhone. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Navigate to the Face Gallery tab at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Tap the Portraits option under the New Watch Faces category.
  4. Tap the Choose Photos option under Content to select up to 24 photos that will rotate automatically when you raise your wrist or tap the screen.

5. Keep the Apple Watch’s screen awake for a longer period of time

The next Apple Watch Ultra trick lets you stop the screen from going idle right away. Perhaps you were in the middle of reading a long text message and got distracted, or maybe you want to keep an eye on your timer. Once you tap the Apple Watch’s screen, it typically stays active for 15 seconds. But you can extend that to 70 seconds by following the steps below:

  1. Launch the Settings menu on your watch.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness.
  3. Tap Wake Duration.
  4. Select the Wake for 70 Seconds option.

6. Stop every app from automatically installing

Every time you install an app on your iPhone, it will automatically install its Apple Watch counterpart if there is one. This can clutter up your watch’s app grid pretty quickly, making it hard to find the apps you do want to use on your watch. Thankfully, there’s a cool Apple Watch Ultra trick that lets you stop this behavior. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Go to Settings.
  3. Choose General.
  4. Slide the switch next to Automatic App Install to the Off position.

You can also do this on the watch by following the steps below:

  1. Open Settings menu on your Apple Watch.
  2. Tap App Store.
  3. Toggle off the switch next to Automatic Downloads.

From now on, you’ll install individual apps on your watch by opening the Watch app on your phone, then scrolling to the bottom where you’ll find a list of available apps.

7. Silence those noisy notifications

An Apple Watch can come in handy when you want to discreetly check an alert or the time. But loud notifications can defeat the purpose. Turn on your Apple Watch’s silent mode by following the steps below:

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the Control Center.
  2. Tap the icon that looks like a bell to trigger Silent Mode.

You can also do this by following the steps below:

  1. Open settings on your Apple Watch.
  2. Scroll down and tap Sound & Haptics.
  3. Toggle on the switch next to Silent Mode.

There’s also a volume slider for adjusting how loud or quiet incoming notifications sound if you’d rather not mute them completely.

8. Have Siri only speak out loud when you’re wearing headphones

Siri can be useful for quickly setting timers, starting workouts or checking the weather from your watch. But you might not always want to have Siri speak out loud. You can easily change this so that Siri only provides audible feedback when you’re wearing headphones. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Settings menu on your Apple Watch.
  2. Scroll down to Siri.
  3. Under Siri Responses section, tap the Headphones Only option.

When your Bluetooth headphones are connected to your Apple Watch, you should now see the name of your headphones appear above the Siri volume setting in the watch’s settings menu.

9. Make text easier to read by increasing the font size

Reading notifications and news headlines can be difficult on a screen that’s so small. Luckily, there’s a hidden Apple Watch Ultra trick that lets you increase the font size to make things a bit easier on your eyes. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Launch the Settings app on your watch.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness.
  3. Scroll down to Text Size.
  4. Rotate the Digital Crown or tap the letters that appear on either side of the meter to adjust the text size on your watch.

10. Stop those annoying reminders to breathe

The Breathe reminder is designed to help you take a few minutes to clear your mind and control your respiration, potentially helping you feel more centered and calm. But if you’re like me and never follow the prompt, use this hidden Apple Watch Ultra trick to turn it off so you no longer have to be reminded to breathe. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Scroll down and tap theMindfulness app option.
  3. Next, select Notifications off.

11. Unlock your Apple Watch with your iPhone

Typing in your passcode to unlock your Apple Watch can be a pain, but there’s cool Apple Watch Ultra trick that lets you do it easily. You can choose to have your Apple Watch unlock automatically when your iPhone is unlocked. Follow the steps below:

  1. Tap the Digital Crown and navigate to the Apple Watch’s Settings menu.
  2. Scroll down to Passcode.
  3. Make sure the switch next to Unlock with iPhone is toggled on. Your iPhone will now also display an alert saying that your iPhone is being used to unlock your Apple Watch whenever you put this into practice.

12. Make it easier to find your apps

The honeycomb app grid looks great at first glance, but it can be a pain to find the app you want to launch, particularly if you have a lot of apps installed on your watch. Instead of in a grid, the watch can display all of your apps in an alphabetical list. Follow the steps below:

  1. Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the Watch, tap App View.
  2. Tap on List View.

Now, when you press the Digital Crown to leave your watch face, you’ll see a list of apps that you can quickly scroll through and find what you’re looking for.

13. Control when you’ll see Siri

You can activate Siri on your Apple Watch in three different ways. You can raise your wrist toward your mouth and start talking, long-press the Digital Crown or use the wake phrase, “Hey, Siri.”

I’ve found that I often accidentally trigger Siri when trying to check the time or read a notification while I’m talking to someone else (but my watch thinks I’m trying to talk to Siri). It’s annoying, but it can be changed using this hidden Apple Watch Ultra trick. Follow the steps below:

  1. Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the Watch, select Siri.
  2. You’ll see three buttons to control when you’ll see Siri.
  3. Slide each button to the Off position for any of the options you don’t want to use.

14. Rearrange Control Center

Just like Control Center on your iPhone, Control Center on the Apple Watch is where you turn to quickly adjust settings like do not disturb and airplane mode and to activate the flashlight.

You may find the default list of options in the Control Center isn’t the best fit for how you use your watch, however, and you want to rearrange the list. For me, that means moving the Bedtime toggle from near the bottom of the list to the top. That way when I want to track my sleep over the weekend when I don’t have sleep goals set, I can swipe up and tap the icon. Follow the steps below:

  1. To access the Control Center on your watch, swipe up from the bottom of the watch face, or when in an app you can long-press on the bottom of the screen until you see Control Center start to slide up.
  2. After which you just need to slide your finger up to access it.
  3. Change the order, or hide some buttons in the Control Center by tapping the Edit button at the bottom of the list.
  4. The icons will begin to jiggle and show a red minus sign to hide an option.
  5. Drag and drop the icons into your preferred order, or tap the red minus button to remove the option altogether.
  6. When you’re done, tap Done or press the Digital Crown on the side of your watch to go back to the watch face.

15. Track Your Temperature

The Apple Watch Ultra includes a temperature sensor that can be used to track your temperature at night. Apple added this function primarily for women to monitor their cycles and fertility, but it can be used by anyone and can be an indicator if you’re getting sick.

To take advantage of this Apple Watch trick, simply wear your Watch to bed with sleep tracking enabled. Your device will take periodic temperature readings, which you can then view in the Health app.

  1. On your ‌iPhone‌, open the Health app.
  2. Tap Browse, then tap Body Measurements.
  3. Tap Wrist Temperature.

If you see “Needs More Data” at the top of the chart, your baseline temperature has not yet been established and you’ll need to wear your Apple Watch for more nights. The number of nights required will be displayed below the chart.

Note that Apple warns that the Apple Watch temperature sensing feature is not intended for medical purposes as wrist temperature is not as accurate as other temperature sensing methods.

16. Get Even More Battery Life on Apple Watch Ultra

The Apple Watch Ultra‌ offers up to 60 hours of battery life, which is great for multi-day usage without needing to charge.

This functionality is enabled through a combination of Low Power Mode and additional battery saving settings for Workouts. 60 hour battery life is exclusive to the ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ thanks to its larger battery, and other models are limited to 36 hours maximum with Low Power Mode.
To get extended battery life, ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ models need to have workout settings enabled for fewer heart rate and GPS readings.

  1. Open the Settings app on your ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Workout.
  3. Enable the switch next to Low Power Mode.
  4. Below ”During Low Power Mode,” enable the switch next to Fewer GPS and Heart Rate Readings.

With Low Power Mode turned on and these Low Power Mode options for workouts enabled, the ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ is able to preserve battery life for walking, running, and hiking workouts by cutting down on the frequency of heart rate and GPS readings and disabling alerts, splits, and segments.

17. Use Night Mode on Apple Watch Ultra

The ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ comes with an exclusive Wayfinder watch face that has a built-in Night Mode. ‌This Apple Watch Ultra lets you ‌ turn the display red, making it easier to see when lighting is poor. Red light also preserves night vision, so you won’t be temporarily blinded when out on a hike if you look at your Apple watch Ultra in the dark.

Here’s how to turn on ‌Night Mode‌:

  1. If it isn’t already active, swipe to the new Wayfinder watch face.
  2. Turn the Digital Crown to engage ‌Night Mode‌.
  3. To turn it off, rotate the Digital Crown in the opposite direction.

Please Note: Night Mode only works when the Wayfinder watch face is being used – it’s an exclusive feature to Wayfinder and cannot be enabled when any other watch face is displayed.

18. Customize the Action Button on Apple Watch Ultra

The ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ includes an Action button that is not available on any other Apple Watch model, and it can be set to perform numerous tasks. It can start a workout, launch the stopwatch, set a waypoint in the Compass app, activate the Compass app backtrack feature, start a dive, activate the Flashlight, or activate any Shortcut.

There are even deeper functions available depending on what’s assigned. If you have the Action Button set to start a Workout, for example, you can choose a specific workout. And in the middle of a compatible workout, it can perform a secondary function such as marking segments or laps in a track workout.
If you want to change the function of your Action Button after setup, here’s how:

  1. Start the Settings app on your Apple Watch Ultra.
  2. Scroll down and tap Action Button.
  3. Tap the menu under “Action” and select one of the following options: Workout, Stopwatch, Waypoint, Backtrack, Dive, Flashlight, and Shortcut.
  4. Tap the arrow located at the left-hand corner to go back to Action Button settings.
  5. Tap the menu under ”App” if it appears, then select an app to perform the action. Some actions, such as Flashlight, don’t show the App option.
  6. Tap the arrow to go back.
  7. Tap the menu under “First Press” if it appears, then select an action. Some features allow different actions to happen on the first and second press of the button.

Tips appear on the screen under “Gestures” explaining how the Action button works with the settings that you’ve assigned to it.

You’re also able to configure your Action Button on the Apple Watch app on ‌iPhone‌.

  1. Start the Watch app on your ‌iPhone‌.
  2. Tap the My Watch tab if it’s not already selected.
  3. Tap Action Button.
  4. Under ”Action,” tap the currently selected action to change it.
  5. Select from one of the following options: Workout, Stopwatch, Waypoint, Backtrack, Dive, Flashlight, and Shortcut.
  6. Tap Action Button to return to the previous menu.
  7. Tap the menu under “App” if it appears, then select an app to perform the action. Some actions, such as Flashlight, don’t show the App option.
  8. Tap the arrow to go back.
  9. Tap the menu under “First Press” if it appears, then select an action. Some features allow different actions to happen on the first and second press of the button.

Your favorite Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks?

These are our favorite Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks. What are your favorite Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks? Also, if you know of any other useful Apple Watch Ultra tips and tricks we’ve not included here, we’d love to know them in the comments section below.

Tag: Apple Watch Tips
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12 Must Know iPad Air Tips and Tricks of 2024

by Moses Johnson

If you just got yourself a new iPad Air, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into. From arranging your homescreen widgets to taming notifications, there are plenty of cool iPad Air tips and tricks to familiarize yourself with. The real question, however, is where should you begin? Thankfully, we’ve assembled 12 best tips and tricks for iPad Air owners that will prove handy advice for anyone trying one of Apple’s tablets for the first time—and maybe even teach experienced users may a gem they weren’t aware of.

Apple tablets offers a pretty good experience right out of the box, but here are twelve iPad Air tips and tricks you can try on your shiny new device and get the most out of it.

1. Arrange your home screen widgets

Once you navigate to your iPads home screen, you’ll notice the widget layout. By default, your iPad will include the clock, notes, calendar, weather and news. You can edit this layout to best fit your needs. Even if you’re happy with the default apps in place, long-press the app to see extra customization options, or hold and drag to rearrange the widgets.

If you want to edit the widgets, swipe right on the screen and tap Edit. From here you can remove or add widgets, giving you quicker access to the e-book you’re reading or your favorite games or streaming service.

2. Check out Apple’s free trials

If your iPad is new, you’ll be thrilled to know that Apple includes a free trial for Apple TV Plus and Apple Arcade. So, in addition to downloading your favorite TV streaming apps, games and linking accounts, you can try something new.

Apple Arcade is Apple’s $5-a-month mobile gaming service. It includes hundreds of games you can play offline and more are added every week. With a new iOS device, you can try out Apple Arcade with a three-month free trial, as well as a one-month free trial for new subscribers. Apple TV Plus is Apple’s subscription video service that includes original TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Schmigadoon and The Morning Show.

3. Join the dark side

Dark mode is a hidden iPad Air trick that’s often forgotten, so be sure to set it up.

  1. Go toSettings.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness
  3. Choose Dark.

You can also set custom schedules (like your screen dimming at sunset), and use True Tone, the feature that automatically adjusts your screen’s brightness based on current ambient lighting.

4. Split screen

Split screen is a cool iPad Air trick that can come in handy during those times when you want to keep a reference image nearby when you are working on a drawing in the Procreate digital illustration app. But you can use split screen with just about any combination of apps. A common use might be opening your calendar app while writing out a to-do list in the reminders app. To start a split view, follow the steps below:

  1. Open an app.
  2. Tap the small horizontal trio of dots at the top of your screen and choose the layout you want.

5. Scribble for Apple Pencil

If you use an Apple Pencil with your iPad Air, the Scribble feature, introduced in iOS 14, lets you do more without having to put your pencil down. The feature converts your handwriting, letting you write in text fields that you’d previously type in. This iPad Air trick allows you to quickly jot down notes or put a personalized touch on things. For example, if you’re sketching in Procreate and need a reference image, you can open Google, jot what you’re searching for (just as you’d type it) and get the result — all without putting down your Apple Pencil.

6. Save time with Touch ID

If your iPad Air offers a fingerprint sensor, it’s possible to enable Touch ID during your initial device setup. It’s not a requirement, but it can make signing in, as well as confirming purchases and downloads a bit quicker. If you want Touch ID on your iPad Air, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select Touch ID & Passcode. The device passcode is one of the first things you’re prompted to set up after turning on your iPad, but you can change or turn off the passcode here as well.
  3. To set up Touch ID, tap Add a Fingerprint and follow the prompts. Afterward, you can customize what your Touch ID can be used for, like unlocking your device and password autofill.

7. Use Sign in with Apple

Sign in with Apple is an iPad Air trick to be aware of and use, rather than a setting to adjust on your device. The tool is another layer of defense for your security, like adjusting your device’s privacy settings or using privacy tools like a virtual private network or DuckDuckGo.

When you create a new account for an app or website, you can choose Sign in with Apple instead of signing in with Facebook, Google or email. The tool creates a random email address that can only be used for one specific app. The app or website will use the generated email, but Apple will forward any correspondence to your real email, protecting your identity. You can reply to whichever emails you like without exposing your personal email address.

There’s also the Hide My Email option. Apple creates a random email address for you to use when signing up for any service — you’ll recognize it by the unique alphanumeric string followed by @privaterelay.appleid.com.

8. Speech to text

If your ideas are flowing faster than you can use this iPad Air trick. The dictation feature on iPad Air works across email, text messages and notes. For example, you can open the Notes app and tap the microphone icon on the keyboard. Apple will ask if you want to enable dictation; tap yes. Now when you tap the microphone when it’s available on the keyboard, you can use speech to text. If you use speech to text in third-party apps, you may have to grant additional permissions.

To turn off speech to text, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Keyboards.
  3. Scroll down and toggle off Enable Dictation.

9. Learn more about your photos

The iPad photos app has a handy tool that works a bit like Google Lens.

  1. Open up the photos app.
  2. Select an image and tap the little “i” in the upper-right corner.

A panel will open and you can see details like camera spec information, as well as when the photo was taken. You can also add a caption and the location of the image.

You can also learn more about what’s in your photo. Tap the Look Up option in the info panel and your iPad will offer information from Siri, the web and maps (if applicable).

10. Minimize distractions

Your iPad Air should be at your service, not the other way around. To avoid being destructed often, customize your notifications by using this iPad Air trick. Follow the steps below:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap Notifications.

Return things back to the essentials. Use the most discreet alerts wherever possible, and it’s good to avoid sounds except for apps you genuinely need to respond to immediately. Think of your iPad like your MacBook—you’re going to want to keep working or playing as long as possible without getting interrupted.

11. Protect your privacy

The iPad is without a doubt an excellent device if you want to safeguard your data, habits, and personal details.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy & Security.

Here you can fine-tune your setup.

The list of privacy settings here isn’t organized by app (a list of which would be overwhelming), but by what the apps are requesting access to. Select Camera, for example, and you’ll see a list of all the apps currently accessing it and you can tap the green toggle to deny this access from now on.

Pay particular attention to the Tracking entry near the top. This is for apps that have asked to track your activity across other apps and websites. We routinely deny this request (and recommend having the global toggle for “Allow Apps to Request to Track” turned off) but this menu makes it easy to withdraw permission retroactively.

12. Level up your keyboard

In landscape orientation especially, the iPad’s keyboard takes up a lot of screen space. Thankfully, you can use an iPad Air trick to shrink it down to a more manageable size.

  1. Pinch inwards with two fingers (the same gesture you’d use to zoom out of an image). The smaller floating keyboard can sit anywhere on the screen, just use the bar at the bottom to move it around.
  2. If you want to go back to the full-size keyboard, do a “pinch out” gesture using two fingers.

A third option is the split keyboard, although bear in mind that not all iPad Air models support this feature. To turn this on, go to Keyboard Settings (either via Settings > General > Keyboard or by tapping and holding the emoji key) and toggle Split Keyboard to On.

Finally and perhaps most useful of all, your iPad’s onscreen keyboard can also serve as a trackpad. Tap and hold the keyboard with two fingers and the keys will all gray out. and a cursor will appear in the text Then move your fingers to control the cursor and find the text you want to edit. Hold still for about a second and the cursor will change shape to indicate that you’re now in text selection mode.

It’s just like having a trackpad.
Foundry

Tag: iPad Tips
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13 best iPad Pro Tips and Tricks You Should Know in 2025

by Dave Johnson

Did you buy a new iPad Pro over the holidays or get one as a gift from a friend? Well, congratulations, and we hope you like it and are excited to try out all the fun new features. If you’re new to the world of iPadOS, then you may find all the new settings and features a bit overwhelming. Apple does a pretty good job of walking you through all the basic steps during the setup, so we doubt you’ll have any issues setting things up and getting to the homescreen. But once you’re done with the setup, there are several iPad Pro tips, tricks and hacks that can help you make the most out of your device. That’s exactly what we’re going to help you with. So, grab your tablet, sit back, and check out the best tips and tricks for iPad Pro!

1. Use a Mouse and Keyboard With Your iPad Pro

If you want to turn your ‌iPad Pro into a replacement for a Mac when you’re working at a desk, you can do so with a mouse and a keyboard.

As with a Mac, you can connect any Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, or trackpad to your ‌iPad Pro‌ to use those inputs as an alternative to the touch screen. It’s really as simple as opening up Bluetooth and initiating the pairing process.

With Universal Control, a feature that Apple introduced in iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3, you can use a single mouse or trackpad across all of your iPad Pros and Macs, making it even simpler to control your ‌iPad Pro‌ if you’re using it alongside a Mac.

2. Use App Library to Keep Your Home Screen Clean

Have an ‌a Home Screen that’s cluttered up with all manner of apps? Well, this iPad Pro trick can get rid of that problem. The App Library offers you instant access to a well-organized list of all the apps on your ‌iPad Pro‌.

To access it, just swipe all the way over to the end of your ‌Home Screen‌ pages. App Library will automatically organize your apps into various categories such as Games, Entertainment, Health & Fitness, Social, and more.
You can scroll through the categories and tap into each one to see all the apps listed there, or you can simply use the search feature.

Tip: You can delete your ‌Home Screen‌ pages in bulk or rearrange them by long pressing on an empty area of the ‌Home Screen‌ and then tapping on the row of dots at the bottom of the display. You can drag ‌Home Screen‌ pages to rearrange, or tap on the checkmark and then the “-“ to delete them.

3. Drag and Drop Text Between Apps

If you want to move text from one app to another on the ‌iPad Pro‌, such as pasting some text from Safari into Notes, you can easily do so with a drag-and-drop gesture.

  1. Select the text that you want to move from one app to another by long pressing. Drag the two little bars to get exactly the text you want.
  2. On the highlighted text, press and hold to pull it up from the page.
  3. Keep your finger on the text while you use another finger or your other hand to open up the app you want to move the text to.
  4. When the text is situated in the app where you want it to go, lift your finger and it will be pasted over.

Tip: This drag-and-drop text gesture is easiest to use in multitasking mode, where you have two app windows open side by side.

4. Use an Apple Pencil

Without a doubt, an Apple Pencil is one of the best tool that you can get to use with an ‌iPad Pro‌. If you didn’t purchase an ‌Apple Pencil‌ alongside the iPad Pro‌, consider doing so.

An ‌Apple Pencil‌ lets you sketch and draw within drawing apps, note-taking apps, and more, but you can also use it for navigation‌ and you can write in any text field on the ‌iPad Pro‌, with the ‌iPad Pro‌ translating it into typed text.
In the built-in Notes app, for example, you can open it up and just start writing with the Pencil. The same goes for Safari searches, Calendar events, Messages, and so much more.

The ‌Apple Pencil‌ comes in two different versions, so the model you need will depend on which iPad Pro you have. To see your ‌iPad Pro‌ model, launch the Settings app, tap on “General” and then tap on “About.” Your model is listed under “Model name.”

‌Apple Pencil‌ 1 Devices

  • 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ (1st and 2nd Gen)
  • 10.5-inch ‌iPad Pro‌
  • 9.7-inch ‌iPad Pro‌

‌Apple Pencil‌ 2 Devices

  • 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ (3rd Gen and Newer)
  • 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ (All models)

5. Take Advantage of Widgets

Many of Apple’s apps and third-party apps come with widgets, which you can place on your ‌Home Screen‌ or view in the Today Center to get information at a glance. Adding a widgets on the homescreen is a cool iPad Pro trick you shouldn’t fail to try.

Follow the steps below to add a widget to your ‌Home Screen‌:

  1. Long press on an empty space on the ‌Home Screen‌ until the app icons start wiggling.
  2. Tap on the “ ” button located at the upper left hand corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll through the widget suggestions, or simply search for a specific widget.
  4. Tap on the widget you want, and then swipe through the the different options. For many widgets, you can choose a size, and for others, you can customize the function.
  5. After customizing your widget the way you want, tap “Add Widget.”
  6. It will be placed on the ‌Home Screen‌, and from here you can drag it into the position that you desire.
  7. Hit “Done” when you’re through.

Tip: On the ‌iPad Pro‌, you have access to XL widgets, a larger-sized widget that’s not available on the iPhone. You can also add widgets to the Today View by going to your first ‌Home Screen‌ page and then swiping again from left or right to open the Today View interface.

Add a widget by long pressing on the display and then tapping the “ ” button as outlined above. You can drag and drop widgets to rearrange them, or pull one out from Today View to your ‌Home Screen‌.

6. Use Quick Notes

This ‌iPad Pro‌ trick lets you jot down notes without having to open up the Notes app. Quick Notes can be used with or without an ‌Apple Pencil‌, and you can access the interface at any time with a simple gesture.

  1. In any app, or on the ‌Home Screen‌, swipe up diagonally from the right hand corner of the screen.
  2. You can perform the diagonal swipe in either portrait or landscape mode – it works the same.
  3. Type down your notes or write using an ‌Apple Pencil‌.
  4. Swipe to collapse the Quick Note to the side if you want to hide it temporarily and bring it back to look something up.
  5. Hit “Done” when you’re finished.

Tip: You can also access Quick Notes from the Control Center by tapping on the Notes icon, or by using the Globe key Q keyboard shortcut. If you have an ‌Apple Pencil‌, you can also tap it on the ‌iPad Pro‌’s locked screen to bring up a note.

7. Use Your iPad Pro as a Second Screen

If you own a Mac and it’s not too old, you can use your ‌iPad Pro‌ as a second screen with Apple’s Sidecar feature. A cool iPad Pro trick, isn’t it?

To use Sidecar, you just need to access the display section of the Control Center on your Mac and beaming your screen to your ‌iPad Pro.

Sidecar‌ requires a Mac compatible with macOS Catalina or later, and it works with the following MacBooks:

  • MacBook Pro launched in 2016 or later
  • MacBook launched in 2016 or later
  • ‌iMac‌ (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
  • ‌iMac‌ Pro
  • Mac mini launched in 2018 or later
  • Mac Pro launched in 2019

8. Enhance Safari With Extensions

Safari on the ‌iPad Pro‌ works with all of the same extensions that you might get on your Mac, so you can download extensions for turning all webpages to dark mode, using password managers, avoiding AMP pages, and more.

To get Safari Extensions, simply open the Settings app, go to Safari, select Extensions, and then tap on More Extensions to get to the Extensions section in the App Store.

9. Multitask with Stage Manager

iPadOS 16 brought a multitasking interface which Apple called Stage Manager, which is meant to be more like Mac multitasking. Some people like ‌Stage Manager‌, while others hate it, but you should definitely try it out to see how it works for you.

Here’s how to turn ‌Stage Manager‌ on and off on iPad Pro‌:

  1. Swipe down from the right corner of the screen to bring up the Control Center.
  2. Tap on the ‌Stage Manager‌ button that resembles a rectangle with three squares on the left of it. You can tap it to toggle ‌Stage Manager‌ on or off.
  3. Alternatively, launch the Settings app, select ‌Home Screen‌ and Multitasking, and then Choose ‌Stage Manager‌ to turn it on or off.

10. Find Anything With Spotlight

If you don’t already use Spotlight on your ‌tablet‌, it’s actually the best iPad Pro trick to find just about anything. To open it, just navigate to the ‌Home Screen‌ and swipe down.

In addition to Siri Suggestions, which offers up apps you might want to access based on your usage history, Apple provides a search bar. If you tap into it, you can search for anything you want. Here are just a few things you can use Spotlight for:

  • Finding and opening apps you have installed on your iPad
  • Finding new apps in the ‌App Store‌
  • Rearranging apps (search for an app and then drag it out of Spotlight to the ‌Home Screen‌)
  • Installing apps on your iPad (after a search, tap on “Get”)
  • Deleting apps on your iPad (long press and choose delete)
  • Looking for photos (search by date, person, or object in the photo)
  • Facts about actors, actresses, and other well-known people
  • Information on contacts
  • Web images (search for [subject] images)
  • Converting measurements right from your iPad
  • Converting currency
  • Performing simple calculations
  • Finding content in Notes, Messages, and other apps

Tip: If you swipe down from the Lock Screen on your ‌iPad Pro‌, you can get to a Spotlight Search interface without having to unlock your device.

11. Use the Freeform App

After upgrading to the latest iPadOS 16.2 update, you can access Freeform, a blank canvas whiteboard style app where you can create anything. Freeform is installed automatically with iPadOS 16.2, and there’s nothing else that you need to do besides open it up and experiment.

The app has various drawing tools that are similar to those available in the photo editing interface, along with options to add hundreds of shapes, stickies, photos, scans, documents, and more. You can have multiple boards and even collaborate on projects with other people, and all edits and changes are shown in real time.

12. Try Some Karaoke With Apple Music Sing

This iPad Pro trick turns your ‌tablet into a little karaoke machine if you’re an ‌Apple Music‌ subscriber. Using the built-in lyrics feature, the ‌Apple Music‌ Sing option lets you sing along with a song, with your voice replacing the song’s vocals.

Vocal volume can be adjusted, and there are settings for duets, plus a ton of playlist options highlighting the best ‌Apple Music‌ Sing songs in the ‌Apple Music‌ app.
‌Apple Music‌ Sing is available on these iPad Pros:

  • ‌iPad Pro 12.9-inch (Fifth-generation and newer)
  • ‌iPad Pro 11-inch (Third-generation and newer)

Follow the steps below to use ‌Apple Music‌ Sing on iPad Pro:

  • Launch the Music app on your ‌iPad Pro‌ and start playing a track.
  • With the fullscreen playback controls open, tap the Lyrics button (the quotation mark speech bubble) in the bottom left corner (if it’s available for the song).
  • Tap the Sing button (the mic and stars) on the right, just above the track progress bar. If you don’t see it, the Sing feature isn’t available for this song.
  • With the track playing, press and hold the Sing button, then drag the slider up or down to adjust the volume of the vocals.

13. Check the Weather

There’s a dedicated Weather app on the ‌iPad Pro‌ as of ‌iPadOS 16‌, so you can get all the weather info you’re used to seeing on your ‌iPhone‌ on your ‌iPad Pro‌.

Just launch the Weather app to see the weather in your location or a location of your choice, with 10-day forecasts, precipitation charts, and other modules that show you in-depth information on metrics like humidity, air quality, wind speed, sunset/sunrise times, pressure, visibility, and more.

Tag: iPad Tips
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10 Best macOS Ventura Tips & Tricks You Must Know in 2024

by Dave Johnson

Whether you have a new Mac or just got around to updating your old one, macOS Ventura has a ton of new features to get to know. Regardless of whether you’re a veteran or a new Mac user, these macOS Ventura tips and tricks are ones you’ll want to take advantage of. Check out the best macOS Ventura tips and tricks to make the most out of your Mac.

On the surface, macOS Ventura may appear so complex, however it’s actually very easy to use. You can do a lot on macOS Ventura, if you’re a power user. And if you’re a beginner who only wants to learn a few tips and tricks, then worry not — the OS is intuitive to use, and you’ll find your way around. macOS Ventura has a ton of hidden features that not all users are aware of. They’re sometimes very basic, yet make a difference when incorporating them into a person’s workflow. Here are the best macOS Ventura tips and tricks you should know about.

1. Use your iPhone as a webcam

Did you buy a new iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Apple Studio Display? Brace yourself, because there’s something not so good about those machines: the built-in FaceTime camera is a disappointment. But if you own an iPhone 11 or newer, you can skip that camera and use a new macOS Ventura trick that lets you use your iPhone as a webcam with Continuity Camera.

While you may be familiar with the Continuity Camera feature from previous versions of macOS, in Ventura, the Cupertino tech giant has expanded the feature with iPhone webcam support. You can mount an iPhone to your Mac or place it on a stand and Ventura automatically senses the device and wirelessly connects to it. You can then use your iPhone’s camera in FaceTime and other apps on your Mac.

With an iPhone as a webcam, you also gain the ability to use Center Stage to keep you in the center of the frame, as well as Portrait mode. If you’re using an iPhone 12 or newer, there’s a Studio Light feature that uses the iPhone flash to provide better lighting. And finally, a nifty Desk View feature creates a two-shot view, one of the person, and another of the desktop in front of the Mac, which cane come in handy when doing demos.

2. Show live Captions in FaceTime calls

If you’re experiencing trouble hearing the person you’re having a FaceTime call with, you can solve that problem with this macOS Ventura trick. When the Live Captions feature is enabled, the spoken words of the person you’re talking to are transcribed in a window on the right side of the FaceTime window.

To activate this feature, follow the steps below:

  1. Head over to System Settings.
  2. Click Accessibility.
  3. Click Live Captions (Beta).
  4. In the “In-App Live Captions” section switch on Live Captions in FaceTime.

Apart from using Live Captions on FaceTime, you can use the feature while watching a video that doesn’t have captions. But as it says in the name, Live Captions is in beta, which means you could run into bugs, inaccurate captions, and other quirks.

3. Unsend Messages and emails

I understand you might not need to use this macOS Ventura trick right away, but it’s happened to all of us—we send an email or text to the wrong person, make a silly spelling mistake, or just wish we could immediately take back the note we just sent. Thankfully, a cool macOS Ventura trick makes it possible to unsend messages. Follow the steps below

  1. In Messages, right-click on the message bubble.
  2. In the pop-up that appears on the screen, click Undo Send.

Please note: Apple offers you two minutes to unsend a message after sending it. Once it’s unsent, the message will be deleted but the recipient will see a note that says that the message was deleted. This feature is also available on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 and only works only when everyone involved is using iMessage. A text message sent from an iPhone to an Android phone or another non-Apple device cannot be unsent.

In Mail, after you send an email, you have 10 seconds to unsend it. At the bottom of the Sidebar, an Undo Send link appears and you can click it to undo the sent email. This feature is also available in iOS 16 for iPhone and iPadOS 16 for iPad.

4. Quickly lift a subject from the background in photos

If you’ve been spending lots of time in an image editing app to remove the background in a photo, then you’ll you’ll appreciate the time saving aspect of this macOS Ventura trick. With this feature, you can automatically select the subject that you want, copy it, and then you can paste it anywhere.

This feature is available in both the Preview and Photos apps that come with macOS Ventura, and it also works in Quick Look when you select a file in the Finder and press the spacebar to see a preview. Follow the steps below:

  1. Point the cursor over the subject.
  2. Right-click it.
  3. Mouse over Copy Subject in the pop-up menu. Ventura senses the subject and shows you what will be selected with a glowing outline.
  4. Click the Copy Selection command, and you can then paste it into a new image.

This feature is also available in iOS 16 for the iPhone and iPadOS 16 for the iPad.

5. Password-protect Hidden and Recently Deleted photos

If you use Photos to manage your pictures, the app allows you to hide an image from your feed if you right-click it and then select Hide Photo. It gets placed in a Hidden photo album, but before this macOS Ventura trick was developed, anyone who has access to your Mac account can open that album.

Finally, in Ventura, the Hidden photo album–as well as the Recently Deleted folder–can be password-protected. To turn this on, follow the steps below:

  1. Head over to Photos.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click General.
  4. In the Privacy section, check the box for Use Password.

Now, when those albums are accessed, you’ll need to type in your user password or use Touch ID. Make sure not to forget it.

6. Play background white noise

White noise can help with your concentration, especially if you’re in an area with a lot of distractions, or it’s dead silent. With this hidden macOS Ventura trick, you can have white noise play from your Mac, and you can turn it on and off as you like. Follow the steps below:

  1. Head over to System Settings.
  2. Click Accessibility.
  3. Click Audio.
  4. Scroll down to the Background Sounds section, and you can flip the switch to turn it on.
  5. You can also choose the type of sound you want to play and adjust the volume. After it’s all set up, you can turn it on and off in the Control Center.

7. Kill time with the Clock app

Apple added the Clock app that is on iOS and iPadOS on the Mac. It works just like it does on the iPhone and iPad, so it’s all very familiar. You can set timers and alarms, and track different times all over the world in a easy to use interface that lets you see time zones in locations all over the world. And it also works with Siri on the Mac, so you can use voice commands instead of opening the app.

8. Stage Manager

Stage Manager is a new feature in macOS 13 Ventura for organizing your windows. If you work in several applications at a time, Stage Manager can be used to easily switch between apps and documents, saving you from the headache of finding the window you need.

It’s easy to set up, but it’s a big change from what we’ve been using for decades on the Mac.

You can turn on/off Stage Manager in the Control Center, but you can also activate and customize it in System Settings. Follow the steps below:

  1. Head over to System Settings.
  2. Select Desktop & Dock in the left column.
  3. In the main section of the window, scroll down until you find the Stage Manager section. Click the switch to turn on/off Stage Manager. When you turn it on for the first time, a pop-up window explains what Stage Manager does. You need to click the Turn On Stage Manager button to confirm that you want to turn it on.

Once you enable stage manager, the system automatically organizes your apps and windows in a single view on Mac. The function helps you focus while moving between tasks. You can even create a group of apps for specific tasks or projects. For example, you can group Lightroom, Photoshop, and Canva and pin them in Stage Manager to summon with a single click.

Similarly, you can group social media or writing apps and focus on a single project, removing other obstructions.

Tweak, Customize and Be Productive with These macOS Ventura tips and tricks

Whether you are a power user or trying to get familiar with macOS Ventura, these tips and tricks will help you adjust to the changes in the new OS.

If you know of any other cool macOS Ventura tips and tricks not listed here, drop a comment and let us know.

Tag: Mac Tips
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13 Apple Watch Ultra Settings You Should Change Right Now

by GeeksModo Staff

So you got yourself an Apple Watch Ultra, and you’re not sure where to start? Luckily, the Apple Watch is already easy enough to set up and use. But changing a few settings can make it even more convenient.

For example, you can decide how you’d like to activate Siri, select which apps appear in your dock, make your apps appear in a list view rather than a grid and set Portrait Mode photos from your iPhone as your watch background.

Here’s a look at the Apple Watch Ultra settings you should change to get the most out of your watch.

Adjust all of your Activity goals

With the release of WatchOS 7 in 2020, Apple added the option to change your goals for the amount of time you stand and exercise. Previously, you could only change your Move (or calories) goal.

So instead of using the defaults — 30 minutes of exercise and a cumulative 12 standing hours a day — you can change either one to fit your actual daily routine.

This small change will make it possible for you to hit your own targets when you actually start your day, not when Apple tells you to. For example, if you use sleep tracking overnight and need to charge your watch more often in the morning, you won’t feel like you’ve lost an hour of time needed to close those rings.

  1. Open the Activity app on your watch.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Change Goals.
  3. Make your adjustments for all three metrics and start closing those rings.

So long, random screenshots

To take a screenshot on the Apple Watch Ultra, you press the Digital Crown and side button at the same time. It’s a simple and convenient method, unless you’re like me and find yourself frequently triggering it accidentally, filling up the Photos app with random pictures of your watch face.

To turn off the ability to take screenshots altogether:

  1. Open the Settings app on your watch or use the Watch app on your phone.
  2. Go to General.
  3. Scroll down until you find Screenshots. Tap this option.
  4. Toggle off the switch next to Enable Screenshots for a clutter-free camera roll.

3. Customize which apps appear in your dock

If you have a lot of apps installed on your Apple Watch Ultra, it can be difficult to find the right ones when you need them. That’s where the Apple Watch’s dock comes in handy. If you’re not familiar, the dock is essentially the iPhone’s app switcher, but for the Apple Watch. You can trigger it by tapping the side button, which pulls up a carousel of recently used apps.

However, you can also customize the dock to show any apps you want instead of your most recent apps. To do this on your watch, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu.
  2. Tap Dock.
  3. Select the Favorites option. But I recommend setting this up in the Phone’s Watch app instead so that you can customize these apps.
  4. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
  5. Tap Dock.
  6. Once the Favorites option is selected, you’ll see a list of apps divided into two sections: Favorites and Do Not Include. Favorites are the apps that are currently in your dock, while the latter lists all of the other apps on your watch that aren’t included. Tap the Edit button in the top right corner to customize the Favorites list to your liking.

4. Choose the Portrait mode photos you want to see on your wrist

You can set Portrait mode photos as the background for your watch face. But first, you have to dig into the settings in the Watch app on your iPhone. To get started:

  1. Launch the Watch app.
  2. Navigate to the Face Gallery tab at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap the Portraits option under the New Watch Faces category.
  3. Tap the Choose Photos option under Content to select up to 24 photos that will rotate automatically when you raise your wrist or tap the screen.

5. Keep the Apple Watch Ultra screen awake for a longer period of time

There are times when you might not want your Apple Watch’s screen to go idle right away. Perhaps you were in the middle of reading a long text message and got distracted, or maybe you want to keep an eye on your timer. Once you tap the Apple Watch’s screen, it typically stays active for 15 seconds. But you can extend that to 70 seconds by following these steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu on your watch.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness.
  3. Select Wake Duration.
  4. Choose the Wake for 70 Seconds option.

6. Stop every app from automatically installing on your Apple Watch Ultra

Every time you install an app on your iPhone, it will automatically install its Apple Watch counterpart if there is one. This can clutter up your watch’s app grid pretty quickly, making it hard to find the apps you do want to use on your watch.

  1. Open the Watch app on your phone.
  2. Tap on Settings.
  3. Tap General.
  4. Slide the switch next to Automatic App Install to the Off position.

You can also do this on the watch by opening the Settings menu, tapping App Store and toggling the switch next to Automatic Downloads.

From now on, you’ll install individual apps on your watch by opening the Watch app on your phone, then scrolling to the bottom where you’ll find a list of available apps.

7. Silence those noisy notifications

Apple Watch ultra can can come in handy when you want to discreetly checking an alert or the time. But loud notifications can defeat the purpose. Turn on your Apple Watch’s silent mode.

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch the Control Center.
  2. Tap the icon that looks like a bell to trigger Silent Mode.

You can also do this by opening the Apple Watch’s Settings menu, scrolling down to Sound & Haptics and toggling the switch next to Silent Mode. There’s also a volume slider for adjusting how loud or quiet incoming notifications sound if you’d rather not mute them completely.

8. Have Siri only speak out loud when you’re wearing headphones

Siri can be useful for quickly setting timers, starting workouts or checking the weather from your watch. But you might not always want to have Siri speak out loud. You can easily change this so that Siri only provides audible feedback when you’re wearing headphones.

  1. Open the Settings menu on your Apple Watch,
  2. scroll down to Siri and navigate to the Siri Responses section.
  3. Tap the Headphones Only option.

When your Bluetooth headphones are connected to your Apple Watch, you should now see the name of your headphones appear above the Siri volume setting in the watch’s settings menu.

9. Make text easier to read by increasing the font size

Reading notifications and news headlines can be difficult on a screen that’s so small. Luckily, you can increase the font size on the Apple Watch Ultra to make things a bit easier on your eyes. To do this:

  1. Launch the Settings app on your watch.
  2. Tap Display & Brightness.
  3. Scroll down to Text Size.
  4. Rotate the Digital Crown or tap the letters that appear on either side of the meter to adjust the text size on your watch.

10. Stop those annoying reminders to breathe

The Breathe reminder is designed to help you take a few minutes to clear your mind and control your respiration, potentially helping you feel more centered and calm. But if you’re like me and never follow the prompt, take a few seconds to turn it off so you no longer have to be reminded to breathe.

  1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone,.
  2. Scroll down and tap the Mindfulness app option.
  3. Next, select Notifications off.
  4. Unlock your Apple Watch with your iPhone

Typing in your passcode to unlock your Apple Watch Ultra can be a pain, but there’s an easier way to do it. You can choose to have your Apple Watch unlock automatically when your iPhone is unlocked.

  1. Tap the Digital Crown and navigate to the Apple Watch’s Settings menu.
  2. Scroll down to Passcode, and make sure the switch next to Unlock with iPhone is toggled on.

Your iPhone will now also display an alert saying that your iPhone is being used to unlock your Apple Watch whenever you put this into practice.

12. Make it easier to find your apps

The honeycomb app grid looks great at first glance, but it can be difficult to find the app you want to launch, particularly if you have a lot of apps installed on your Apple watch Ultra. Instead of in a grid, the watch can display all of your apps in an alphabetical list.

  1. Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the Watch, tap App View.
  2. Tap List View.

Now, when you press the Digital Crown to leave your watch face, you’ll see a list of apps that you can quickly scroll through and find what you’re looking for.

13. Control when you’ll see Siri

There are three different ways to activate Siri on your Apple Watch Ultra. You can raise your wrist toward your mouth and start talking, long-press the Digital Crown or use the wake phrase, “Hey, Siri.”

I’ve found that I often accidentally trigger Siri when trying to check the time or read a notification while I’m talking to someone else (but my watch thinks I’m trying to talk to Siri). It’s annoying, but it can be changed.

  1. Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the Watch, select Siri.
  2. You’ll find three buttons to control when you’ll see Siri. Slide each button to the Off position for any of the options you don’t want to use.

14. Rearrange Control Center

Just like Control Center on your iPhone, Control Center on the Apple Watch is where you go to quickly adjust settings like do not disturb and airplane mode and to activate the flashlight.

You may find the default list of options in the Control Center isn’t the best fit for how you use your watch, however, and you want to rearrange the list. For me, that means moving the Bedtime toggle from near the bottom of the list to the top. That way when I want to track my sleep over the weekend when I don’t have sleep goals set, I can swipe up and tap the icon.

To access the Control Center on your watch Ultra:

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the watch face, or when in an app you can long-press on the bottom of the screen until you see Control Center start to slide up, after which you just need to slide your finger up to access it. The same trick works to view your notifications from anywhere.
  2. Change the order, or hide some buttons in the Control Center by tapping the Edit button at the bottom of the list. The icons will begin to jiggle and show a red minus sign to hide an option. Drag and drop the icons into your preferred order, or tap the red minus button to remove the option altogether.
  3. When you’re done, tap Done or press the Digital Crown on the side of your watch to go back to the watch face.
Tag: Apple Watch Guides
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10 Important Uses of an Apple Watch Everybody Should Know

by Kevin Hollington

The Apple Watch is great for health and fitness use, but that’s not all. Here are some other uses of an Apple Watch that you might not know about.

We’ve spent the last year digging into all of the weird and wonderful things that the best fitness trackers, like the Apple Watch, can offer, and we’ve discovered some important uses of an Apple Watch we think everyone should be aware of.

Without further ado, here are the best uses of an Apple Watch that you should know about.

1. Detailed sleep quality reports

Most people know this, but thought it worthy of a highlight at the top in any case. An Apple Watch offers the best way to track sleep outside of a professional study, as it can track things and offer trend reports that a phone app just can’t.

Apple’s sleep tracking is one of the best, offering 14-day trends, weekday and weekend sleep schedules, goals, sleep focus mode and a whole lot more. We love the ‘wind down’ feature that reminds us to wrap up our day and prepare our body and mind for bedtime.

2. Auto workout playlists (for Apple Music)

If you don’t want to bother carrying your iPhone with you during workout but still want to listen to your Apple Music playlist, you can do so with your Apple Watch—even if you’re offline!

it’s perhaps understandable that an Apple Music subscription opens up a whole new set of integrations. The best one might be the ability to tie a particular playlist with a workout, eliminating the need to jump around apps just when you want to set off.

3. Hand washing timer

Be honest, has your ‘happy birthday’ singing been lacking while washing your hands lately? While we were all diligent about hand hygiene just a couple of years ago, like any habit it can be difficult to stick to it long-term. Thankfully the Apple Watch has a timer specially designed for hand-washing, so you can be sure that you’re doing a thorough job – no singing required.

4. Cardio fitness alerts

Unless you’ve splashed out on a personal trainer, it’s likely that you only have a rough idea of your cardio fitness levels based on how you feel during and after a period of activity. The Apple Watch makes this a lot more precise, using data like your age, sex, weight, height, medications, and your VO² max range. You will even get an alert when this data indicates your fitness is lower than average.

5. Fall detection

Smartwatches aren’t just for athletes – they also have many functions for everyday safety and well-being. Apple Watch’s Fall Detection feature, for example, is a way to ensure an accident doesn’t go unnoticed. If the device detects that you have fallen down, it will display an option to call emergency services or press the ‘I’m OK’ button if things aren’t that serious. After a minute, help will be called automatically. You can also choose key contacts to be notified.

6. Access Siri from anywhere

Siri might not be as much of a household name as Google Assistant or Alexa, but it’s a great smart assistant if you’re an Apple user. Being able to access Siri from your Apple Watch is a bit of a gamechanger, as it means you have the helpful robot with you at all times (don’t worry, you can stop her from listening if you want), even without a HomePod Mini in the vicinity. Ask her questions, translate conversations on the go, or set timers and alerts with your voice.

7. Decompress with ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode

The ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode might be our favorite thing about the Apple Watch and iPhone, allowing us to literally switch off unnecessary distractions either when we want to get down to some focused work or wind down for the evening. Just a few taps on your wrist and precious silence is achievable. This mode silences everything except alarms, and you can also set certain contacts to be able to get through in an emergency. Otherwise, your time and attention are yours.

8. Get some ‘me time’ with apps like Headspace

Apple Health has its own meditation and mindfulness features, but we’re big fans of Headspace for its approachable tone and abundance of content. We’ve found that having Headspace (and other apps like Calm or Simple Habit) on your Apple Watch means you’re much more likely to fire up a guided meditation or calming video than if you had to unlock your phone in the morning.

9. Accessorise with different straps

Let’s face it, smartwatches are fantastic in a lot of ways, but they aren’t always the most stylish. Thankfully, there are a ton of third-party brands that have brought out their own straps that you can retrofit onto the Apple Watch face.sure the band matches your model.

10. Control Your iPhone’s Camera With Your Apple Watch

One of the coolest features on your Apple Watch is that you can use it as a camera remote to control your iPhone’s camera.

Those times when you are alone, and want to position your iPhone for a photo and then take the photo from a distance, you can use your Apple Watch to view the iPhone camera image and take the photo. You can also use your Apple Watch to set a shutter timer—this gives you time to lower your wrist and raise your eyes when you’re in the shot.

Use Your Apple Watch to Its Fullest

If you own an Apple Watch, you probably know all about its fitness-related uses, but there’s a lot more to smartwatches than that. With these 10 lesser-known uses of an Apple Watch, you can be sure to make the most out of it.

Tag: Apple Watch Products
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The best sleep tracker apps for the Apple Watch Ultra

by Kevin Hollington

If you’re finding yourself nodding off in the afternoon, or waking up feeling like you’ve only just gone to bed, then what you need is a report on your sleep quality to find out what’s happening. If you’ve got an Apple Watch Ultra, then you already have the device you need to help you track your sleep glued to your wrist. All you need is the right software to unleash its potential.

You can track your sleep using the Sleep app on the Apple Watch Ultra. The app lets you create Wind Down and Bedtime schedules to help you meet your sleep goals. It also tracks your sleep automatically when you wear your Apple Watch to bed. Once you wake up, you can view how much sleep you got the last night on the Sleep app. In addition, you can view your sleep trends over the past two weeks. The Sleep app on the Apple Watch Ultra also offers a Sleep Focus feature, which limits distractions before you go to bed and ensures you don’t wake up due to untimely notifications.

Apple’s built-in sleep tracking in the Apple Watch Ultra is not bad at all, but it’s not perfect. For example, if you take a little nap during the day, it won’t register. And while the stats it throws out will satisfy the most incurious of you, there is so much more that can be gleaned from our time in the land of nod.

I’ve tried a ton of sleep tracking apps on my Apple Watch Ultra — these are the best of the bunch.

AutoSleep

AutoSleep is probably the best sleep tracking app for Apple Watch Ultra, and for good reason. It’s one of the few sleep trackers that includes a companion app for your Apple Watch, so you can see your sleep quality right on your wrist without having to look at your iPhone.

The amount of stats AutoSleep can produce from your night’s sleep is simply staggering, and tapping on any of them seems to reveal even more layers of information.
It also uses a simple ring-based scoring system that is very like Apple’s own Move, Exercise and Stand rings, combined with a green, amber and red color scheme that everybody will be familiar with. Red is bad, amber better and green is good. We also thought it did a better job of accurately deducing how long we’d been asleep than the other apps, too, but we’ll be honest, we still felt Apple’s own Health app did the most accurate job of estimating how long we’d been asleep.

AutoSleep isn’t free, but it’s only $4.99 on the App Store, which is a one-time purchase that isn’t going to break the bank. And after that purchase you don’t need to worry about a monthly subscription or more in-app purchases, as you do with a lot of other sleep tracking apps.

The amount of stats AutoSleep can produce from your night’s sleep is simply staggering, and tapping on any of them seems to reveal even more layers of information. If you want to find out if you have any medical conditions, like say, sleep apnea, then the data here will give you solid proof of what’s going on, which you could present to a medical doctor for a diagnosis. But there are also simple graphs that show you at a glance how well you’re sleeping — we particularly liked the Sleep Fuel Rating, which is the equivalent of a car’s gas tank meter, but showing if the sleep you’re getting is of sufficient quality to ‘fuel’ your tank.

Best of all is the companion app that is loaded onto your Apple Watch. This means you just have to glance at your wrist to see the important information about how well you just slept when you get up in the morning. Your rings show you your REM sleep and Deep Sleep times and your average heart rate, as well as AutoSleep’s best feature — the Sleep Bank. Here you can see if you are behind on your sleep requirement. Over a week the amount of sleep you’re missing out on can add up to truly staggering amounts, which might make you rethink your sleep patterns and enact a positive change in your lifestyle.

Sleep

Sleep is another great sleep tracking app for Apple Watch Ultra. The app offers support for automatic sleep detection, bedtime reminders, sleep goals, and more. In the Sleep app, the main interface provides a detailed look at your sleep habits over the past few days.

Like its competitors, Sleep also offers quite a bit of data on sleep trends, cycles, phases, and more. You can also see a detailed timeline of your sleep, including when you were restful, restless, and awake, with a particularly neat look at when your “best sleep” occurred.”

One of the best things about Sleep is that it’s completely free, with an optional in-app purchase to remove advertisements. If you’re looking for a data-rich automatic sleep tracker for your Apple Watch Ultra, you can download Sleep on the App Store.

Pillow

With features like automatic sleep detection and heart-rate analysis, Pillow is a great sleep tracking app for Apple Watch Ultra.

One of the key features of Pillow is its support for recording important audio events throughout the night. This means the app can track data including snoring, sleep apnea, and sleep talking, but the biggest caveat here is that noise detection only works in manual mode.

There’s also support for viewing detailed sleep trends over time, personalized recommendations, and more. You can try Pillow on the App Store for free with in-app purchases.

NapBot

NapBot is a newcomer to the Apple Watch sleep tracking fun, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most powerful options. NapBot uses machine learning to perform automatic sleep tracking, allowing you to see details on phases, trends, and more.

NapBot offers an impressive amount of data in an impressively easy-to-navigate interface. The “Calendar” tab in the app allows you to get a detailed look at your sleep on a daily basis, and you can pick a specific day to see more detailed information on heart rate and phases.

NapBot also just launched its first Apple Watch app that’s completely independent of the iPhone. It currently only allows you to see the previous day’s sleep, but hopefully it will add more capabilities and historical data over time.

NapBot is the newest Apple Watch sleep tracking app, but it’s also quickly becoming my go-to. You can download it on the App Store for free with in-app purchases.

Tag: Apple Watch Apps
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10 Apple Watch Series 8 Hacks You Should Know About

by GeeksModo Staff

If you just purchased the Apple Watch series 8, there are a variety of hacks that can help you get the most out of your new wearable. Read on for some guidance on our favorite Apple Watch series 8 hacks to help you make the most out of it.

1. Setting up your Apple Watch activity rings

For the vast majority of people, the Apple Watch is first and foremost a fitness-focused wearable. The key to this is a trio of rings each represented by a different color: red for move, green for exercise, and blue for stand.

By default, the green exercise ring closes when you log 30 minutes of intense activity, the blue stand or roll ring closes when you move around for at least one minute of 12 different hours, and the red move ring closes when you meet your personal goal for active calories burned in a day.

Apple also offers you the ability to customize your exercise and stand goals. Maybe you’re recovering from an injury and 12 stand hours paired with 30 minutes of exercise is too much for your body to handle. People have also been calling on Apple to integrate rest days into the Apple Watch rings system, and this feature at least gives users more control over their goals.

Follow the steps below to change your Apple Watch move, exercise, and stand goals:

  1. On your Apple Watch, open the Activity app.
  2. Scroll down to the bottom and find the “Change Goals” button.
  3. Use the or – buttons to adjust your goals, or use the Digital Crown.
  4. Tap “OK” to confirm your changes.

The exercise ring can be lowered or raised in intervals of five, down to a minimum of 10 minutes or a maximum of 60 minutes. The stand goal can be changed in single-hour intervals, down to a minimum of six hours. You can’t increase the stand goal beyond the default 12-hour mark.

2. Customizing your watch face

Another cool Apple Watch series 8 hack is the ability to customize watch face to your liking. On your watch face, you can add bits of information known as complications, including things such as weather, activity data, heart rate information, and much more. The easiest way to build an Apple Watch face is with the Apple Watch app on iPhone.

You can find the entire library of watch faces in the “Face Gallery” tab of the app, and as you build them, you can add faces to your personal collection. Once you create multiple watch faces, you can swipe between them from your Apple Watch, making it easy to adjust on the fly for different scenarios.

3. Apple Watch App Store

Another Apple Watch Series 8 hack most people don’t know is that you can find apps built specifically for the Watch in the watchOS App Store.

  1. Press the digital crown on your Apple Watch.
  2. Look for the App Store icon and tap on it. Here, you’ll be able to easily find and install dedicated Apple Watch applications without using your iPhone at all.

4. Sharing your activity

Another great Apple Watch series 8 hack is the ability to share your activity data with friends and family. When you do this, you can see when your friends complete workouts, how much progress they’ve made towards their goals, and when they earn new awards.

To share your Apple Watch activity data with others, follow the steps below:

  1. Start the Fitness app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the sharing icon located at the bottom-right corner.
  3. Tap the “ ” button located at the top corner.
  4. Start typing a name, then tap the name you’d like to add. If the other person has an Apple Watch the name will turn red.
  5. Hit the Send button, then wait for your friend to accept your Activity request. Once accepted, you’ll receive a notification on your Apple Watch.

5. Set up health monitoring features

The Apple Watch series 8 is not only useful for deliberately tracking your fitness progress, but also for passively monitoring it in the background.

Fall Detection

One such feature is called Fall Detection, and it uses the gyroscope and accelerometer to detect if you’ve fallen, and more importantly, if you’ve fallen and cannot get back up. By default, Fall Detection is disabled for users under the age of 65, but you can manually enable it by following the steps below:

  1. Start the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Go to Emergency SOS.
  3. Find the Fall Detection toggle. Apple warns that more physically active users may trigger Fall Detection even when you haven’t fallen. This is due to high impact activity, and may appear as a fall.
  4. Tap Confirm.

6. Heart

Another cool Apple Watch series 8 hack is that you can enable a suite of features that will allow your Watch to help you look after your heart.

  1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

  2. Find the Heart category. In this section, you can enable the following features:

  3. Install the ECG app for taking electrocardiograms from your Apple Watch

  4. Set up Cardio Fitness Levels and notifications, which are a strong indicator of your overall health.

  5. Irregular Rhythm notifications for receiving a notification when Apple Watch identifies multiple heart rhythms that may be atrial fibrillation.

  6. High Heart Rate notifications for receiving a notification when Apple Watch detects a heart rate that rises to a certain level while you appear inactive.

  7. Low Heart Rate notifications for receiving notification when Apple Watch detects a heart rate that falls below 50 bpm for 10 minutes.

7. Blood oxygen

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers support for taking blood oxygen readings with your device. Apple Watch can also take measurements in the background so you have data to regularly reflect on.

  1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone,
  2. Find the Blood Oxygen category and tap on it.
  3. Enable the settings as you desire.

8. Rein in your notifications

The Apple Watch series 8 makes it pretty easy to stay on top of your notifications. Every time an app sends a push notification, you’ll get a tap on the wrist and hear a sound. For many people, however, this can actually be overwhelming and unnecessary.

To manage notifications on your Apple Watch, follow the steps below:

  1. Start the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Choose the Notifications category.

Here, you can see a list of applications and manage notifications as necessary. My recommendation is to limit notifications as much as possible on your Apple Watch, otherwise, you might become overwhelmed.

9. Check out Apple Fitness

Apple Fitness offers access to a library of hundreds of on-demand workouts across popular categories such as running, cycling, HIIT, rowing, yoga, and more.

Apple Fitness features deep integration with Apple Watch series 8, showing live data from your Apple Watch on the screen during your workout. Plus, if you recently got a new Apple Watch, you likely have three months of free access to the service.

You can find Apple Fitness in the Fitness app on your iPhone or Apple TV. It’s also available on the iPad, and you can download it from the iPadOS App Store to get started.

10. Rearrange Control Center

Just like Control Center on your iPhone, Control Center on the Apple Watch is where you go to quickly adjust settings like do not disturb and airplane mode and to activate the flashlight.

You may find the default list of options in the Control Center isn’t the best fit for how you use your watch, however, and you want to rearrange the list. For me, that means moving the Bedtime toggle from near the bottom of the list to the top. That way when I want to track my sleep over the weekend when I don’t have sleep goals set, I can swipe up and tap the icon.

To access the Control Center on your watch series 8:

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the watch face, or when in an app you can long-press on the bottom of the screen until you see Control Center start to slide up, after which you just need to slide your finger up to access it. The same trick works to view your notifications from anywhere.
  2. Change the order, or hide some buttons in the Control Center by tapping the Edit button at the bottom of the list. The icons will begin to jiggle and show a red minus sign to hide an option. Drag and drop the icons into your preferred order, or tap the red minus button to remove the option altogether.
  3. When you’re done, tap Done or press the Digital Crown on the side of your watch to go back to the watch face.
Tag: Apple Watch Series 8
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10 Reasons iPads Are Better Than Other Tablets

by Dave Johnson

Here are all the reasons we think an Apple iPad is better than a Samsung, Lenovo, Amazon, Microsoft, or any other tablet.

iPads have been around for a while now, and in that time they’ve cemented themselves as some of the most popular tablets on the market. They’re well-designed, easy to use, and come with some great features. But why are they so popular? And more importantly, why are they better than Android-based tablets?

In this article, we’ll explore ten reasons why we think Apple tablets are better than the competition, touching on everything from durability to ease of purchase, and more.

Top 10 Reasons Why iPads are Better than other tablets

1. The Immersive Experience

The first reason why iPads are better than the competition is their high-quality audio, video, and typing experiences, which makes them more immersive devices as a whole. Here’s what we mean:

  • The Retina Display has a higher pixel density than most Android tablet screen, which makes everything appear sharper. Only very high-end Android tablets come with the comparable display quality.
  • The Magic keyboard for iPad uses scissor-switch keys, so the key travel and spacing make it very comfortable to type on, not finicky like most Android keyboards.
  • iPad speakers are way ahead of the competition and sound far better than almost every non-Apple tablet.

The iPad offers various forms of input; touch, pencil, and mouse. As a result, you can use an iPad as a tablet, laptop, and notepad—all at the same time. You can use it just like a regular tablet, then use the Apple Pencil to write anything you wish. Foe example, you can use your iPad to take note during a meeting which is actually better for remembering them compared to typing them out.

But when you have to type up a long document, you can connect a physical keyboard to the iPad to make writing process more seamless. iPads have become versatile products, rather than just tablets. The iPad can adapt to your needs or any situation and be the device you need to get most of your work done.

2. Design and portability

Let’s face it: iPads are cool. They have a sleek design that other tablet brands try (and fail) to copy and Apple has spent years building its brand’s social status as premium and creative.

People see you with an iPad and are likely to think you’re creative, stylish, and probably successful. Of course, you can be all of those things with any type of tablet. But there’s no denying that iPads offer a certain social cachet that other tablets just don’t have.

One big advantages of iPads over other tablets is that iPads are incredibly thin and light. The refreshed design with minimal bezels makes them even more portable, allowing you to easily take one out during outdoor activities or put it in a backpack. Since iPads are very light, they won’t add much weight to your bag, which is excellent since you could be carrying other staff at the same time.

3. iPads works beautifully with Apple Pencil

The Apple Pencil is one of the best accessories of the iPad. The Apple Pencil provides a smooth, responsive writing experience that is unlike any other tablet on the market.

If you purchase an iPad Air, iPad Pro, or iPad Mini, you will have the option to buy the second-generation Apple Pencil. The second-generation Apple Pencil is arguably one of the best digital writing experiences on a tablet. If you you ever need to create graphics, the iPad and Apple Pencil will surely make your work easier. In addition to that, you can find several apps that are great for the Apple Pencil. Most tablets from other brands today don’t create Digital pencil, as their focus is on other utilities.

4. iPads support Cellular Connection

Another huge advantage of an iPad over other tablets is that you can use an iPad over cellular data. This lets you perform tasks that requires internet connection even when you don’t have wi-fi access. Apple laptops don’t have built-in cellular, and using a phone hotspot can be tedious and drain your phone’s battery quickly. However, you can buy the iPad Air, iPad Pro, and iPad mini with 5G cellular capabilities. Unlike other tablets, you don’t have to carry another device to connect an iPad to the internet if Wi-Fi is unavailable.

The major carriers in the US also offer plans for iPads. You can also purchase an iPad on an installment plan through carriers such as AT&T and Verizon if you prefer to pay for the device monthly.

5. iPadOS and Apps

Another big selling point for iPads is the operating system. Apple tablets come with iPadOS, Apple’s operating system, which is a highly stable and user-friendly platform, built especially for Apple’s tablets. Many people find it easier to use iPadOS compared to Android.

Moreover, it comes with a variety of built-in iPad applications that are designed to work well with, again, all your other Apple products. The App Store is also filled with more high-quality apps that are perfect for productivity, creativity, and entertainment.

6. iPads have High-Quality Cameras

Another advantage of iPads is that they feature exceptional cameras for all the things you may need them for. Your video calls will look crispy clear, unlike mediocre android tablet webcams, and you’ll be able to show people what you can see with the forward-facing camera. In addition, you can use the high-quality primary cameras on the iPad to scan documents onto your device effortlessly. This feature can be beneficial to your daily tasks.

7. Ease of Purchase

There are two reasons why iPads are easier to purchase.

Firstly, they only come in three kinds—iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad Pro—each with different target markets. This shortened list of options makes choosing the best tablet for you easier. Compare this to other brands, like Samsung, who have tons of varieties of the same tablets, with undecipherable names.

Secondly, Apple’s online store is well-organized and easy to navigate, and the company’s retail locations are dotted all across the globe, packed with knowledgeable staff to help you make your purchase. In contrast, many other tablet manufacturers’ websites can be difficult to navigate, and their retail locations can be cluttered and overwhelming.

8. The Apple Ecosystem

The Apple ecosystem comprises of all the hardware and software that Apple designs and puts out. Almost all Apple devices, apps, and operating systems are a part of the ecosystem: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Mac, iCloud, Apple Music, and so on.

So, when people talk about the Apple ecosystem, they’re actually referring to how well all these products work together. It’s the ecosystem that makes it possible for you to start a task (like creating a note on your iPad and then pick up right where you left off on your iPhone or Mac.

The ability to seamlessly move between Apple devices is one of the reasons why iPads are better than other tablets. Other tablet manufacturers have tried to create their own ecosystems, but none of them have been as successful as Apple. As a result, iPads tend to offer a more integrated and seamless experience than other tablets.

9. Quality and Durability

Not only are Apple tablets packed with industry-leading hardware, but they’re also high-quality and durable. With regular, moderate care, an iPad can easily last you five years or more. All you need to do is learn how to take care of your iPad properly.

Though many tablets compete strongly in this area, iPads take the lead. They have a strong aluminum and steel frame around their body, which makes them sturdy and significantly more resistant to wear and tear (unless you drop and dent them, of course). And even if anything does go wrong, Apple covers every product with a one-year warranty and it’s easy to book a repair at your nearest Apple Store.

10. Longevity and Resale Value

One of the greatest advantages of iPads over other tablets is their longevity and value-retention. While many tablets can last you several years (or more), iPads are the only tablet that will still look stylish after all that time and still fetch a good price on the second-hand market.

As time goes on, apps grow bigger and all tablets start slowing down. But Apple is one of the best companies around for continually supporting old devices with new software updates. Not only does this keep you secure against the latest online threats, but it means you can also keep getting new features on your iPad as it ages.

Perhaps this longevity is the reason why iPads retain their value so well. You can usually sell a three-year-old iPad for around 50% of its original price. But a three-year-old Android tablet? You’ll be lucky to get 25% of its original value.

Is It All Rainbows and Butterflies?

From their longevity and resale value to their design and portability, there are plenty of reasons to choose an iPad over another type of tablet, like Android devices. When you factor in ease of purchase and the a huge library of apps, it’s clear why iPads are industry-leading products.

But, iPad still have some drawbacks. Depending on what you want to use your tablet for, the iPad may just not suit you.

Tag: iPad Tips
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Apps Not Working on iPhone 14 Pro Max? 12 Ways to Fix it

by Kevin Hollington

If apps are not working on your iPhone 14 Pro Max, here’s our troubleshooting guide to fix the issue.

Applications sit at the center of smartphone technology. With these cool software programs, we can do just about anything, from communicating, to shopping, to checking the weather right from our iPhones. But iOS apps aren’t perfect. They can stop working properly, which is especially frustrating if we are in the middle of doing something. So, what are the most common causes of an app that won’t open or work properly on your iPhone 14 Pro Max?

There can be many reasons why apps are not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max. These include the following:

  • Lack of enough memory
  • bugs in your application
  • Incompatibility.
  • bandwidth limitation

Some of reported problems include:

  • Apps won’t open on iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • Apps won’t respond on iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • Apps crashing on iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Follow the fixes below to solve issues that prevent apps on iPhone 14 Pro Max from working properly.

Fixes for apps not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max

Note: information in this article apply to iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

1. Force quit the problematic app and reopen it

The first solution to try if an app is not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max is to force close it. Apps can crash or stop working unexpectedly if it’s unable to run a required task at a time.

Meanwhile, force-closing an app shuts down the app and its processes, then restart them when you relaunch it. That’s a way to fixing the app not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max issue sometimes.

Here’s how to force close an app on iPhone:

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the app switcher.
  2. Find the the problematic app.
  3. Drag the app card all the way up to force close it.
  4. After 15 seconds, open the app again, and it should work.

2. Restart your iPhone

If the app is still not working after trying the above troubleshooting step, try to restart your iPhone. This works so well for resolving many common app not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max issues, and it’s so simple, that you absolutely should try this next.

Here’s how to restart your iPhone:

  1. Go to settings.
  2. Select General.
  3. Tap shut down.
  4. When you see the red power slider, Drag it from left to right to turn off your iPhone.
  5. Wait until your iPhone shut down completely. This may take a few seconds. Then press and hold the on/off button until you see the Apple logo.

3. Force Restart iPhone

The next method to fix iPhone 14 Pro Max apps not working issue is to try to force reboot your device.

Here’s how to force restart your iPhone:

  1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.
  2. Press and quickly release the volume down button.
  3. Hold down the side button until the device flashes the Apple logo.

When your iPhone boot back up, try to use the app again, it should work. If not, try the next solution!

4. Restart your Wi-Fi Router

When YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or other apps do not work correctly on your iPhone 14 Pro Max, one easy way to fix such issues is restarting the Router.

Switching off your Wi-Fi router using its main wall switch and switching it on after a few seconds will help fix the network issues.

5. Check for iOS updates

Updates to iOS often include bug fixes for system software, but some of those bug fixes and refinements also impact third party apps too.

Additionally, some apps actually require a new version of iOS for certain features to work, or even for the application to work at all.

Follow the steps below to check and install iOS updates.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select General.
  3. Tap Software Update.
  4. If an update is available, tap Download & Install.

This will ensure that third-party apps like Gmail, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram etc work perfectly on your iPhone 14 Pro Max.

6. Check for app updates

If an app is not working on your iPhone 14 Pro Max due to a bug, updating the app should fix the issue.

Keeping apps updated is often crucial in maintaining application stability and the reason is quite simple: developers identify bugs within their apps, fix them, and then push an update to the app.

Of course many users will ignore app updates, but if you’re experiencing a problem with a particular app on your iPhone 14 Pro Max, don’t do that, keep the app updated (it’s good practice anyway).

Follow the steps below to update your apps:

  1. Open the App Store.
  2. Tap your account avatar in the upper-right corner of the screen
  3. Drag the updates screen down to refresh it.
  4. In the ”Available Updates” section, find the app update you want to install and then tap ”Update.”
  5. To update all your apps at a go, tap Update All

7. Ensure your iPhone is connected to the internet

If an app requires an internet connection to function, make sure your iPhone 14 Pro Max is connected to the internet.

To check if your iPhone has internet access, launch Safari and visit a website such as geeksmodo.com. If it loads, that’s excellent. If not, see this troubleshooting guide to fix internet problems on iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Secondly, if you are using cellular data or metered Wi-Fi, ensure you have sufficient data allowance for the day or month.

8. Make sure cellular data for the problematic app is switched on

Again, if an app requires internet connection to work, make sure it’s allowed to use cellular data.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Cellular.
  3. Scroll down and make sure the toggle next to the app you are having problems with is green.

9. Enable and disable Airplane Mode

When you put your iPhone in Airplane Mode, it disconnects all radio connections like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Cellular. Doing this will fix network issues and ensure your internet based apps works again.

You can enable and disable Airplane Mode from the iOS Control Center by tapping the plane icon. Alternatively, followthe steps below:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Turn on Airplane Mode.
  3. After about 30 seconds, tap the same switch to turn it off.

10. Free space on your device to fix apps not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max

If you have just a few MBs of free space on your iPhone 14 Pro Max, apps may crash or quit randomly. To solve this, get rid of junk files on your iPhone to make space.

See also: How To Delete Documents And Data On iPhone or iPad

11. Uninstall the problematic app and reinstall it

If non of the above methods worked, try deleting the problematic app and reinstalling it.

If it’s a paid app, don’t worry you won’t need to pay for it a second time. The App Store keeps track of every app you’ve ever installed, and allows you to reinstall them with a tap.

To delete your app, follow the steps below:

  1. Tap and hold the problematic app until it start jiggling.
  2. Tap delete app.
  3. Tap Delete to remove the app. Then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to stop the jiggling.
  4. Go to the App Store then search for the app you just deleted.
  5. Tap the Redownload icon to reinstall this app.

12. Contact the app developer

If all else fails, you may have to ask the app’s developer for help, if this is a third party app. Because app developers are responsible for supporting their applications. Here is how you can contact app developer:

Apps not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max: fixed!

There is no one thing that causes all application problems. An array of factors can play into these issues, ranging from temporary to long-term. Thankfully, if any of your apps are not working properly, one of the solutions listed above should fix the problem. Do you have another fix that works for when apps are not working on iPhone 14 Pro Max or crashes at launch? Let us know in the comments what works for you!

Tag: iPhone Troubleshooting
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