How to quickly access network settings on an iPhone
Apple is full of surprises in iOS. Nearly every icon on your home screen reveals a menu of options when you touch and hold. These have varying degrees of usefulness, but one that I’ve found…
Glenn Fleishman
Don’t buy locked Apple hardware when shopping for used gear
When purchasing used Apple hardware, make sure that it’s unlocked before you hand over funds. Otherwise, you’ve bought something akin to a fancy brick. A number of people have written Mac 911, and you find…
How to remove an item from Find My
The tiny AirTag tracker Apple introduced in 2021 provides a low-effort way to keep track of your stuff: a backpack, a wallet, a bike, a car, and even a pet. (You may need an AirTag case to…
How to control the brightness of your iPhone or iPad
We’ve come a long way in adjusting the brightness setting on our iPhones to strike a balance between legibility (especially in sunlight) and battery life. Modern iPhones and iPads have bright enough screens to remain…
How to share passwords with Apple’s Shared Groups
While most passwords we create should be kept strictly private, there are always some accounts or other secrets we need to share with a limited number of other people. Starting in iOS 17, iPadOS 17,…
How to use plants, birds, and other object identifiers in Photos
Apple built machine learning into Photos starting in iOS 15, iPadOS 15.1, and macOS 12 to identify certain kinds of items in photos. These include works of art, flowers and other plants, pets and animals,…
How to identify unwanted tracking by a compact Bluetooth device
The Apple AirTag has always been a two-edged sword: It’s a cheap way to track stuff you own using a tiny piece of hardware with a battery that lasts about a year. Third-party Find My…
How to combine user account data in macOS
Families and workplaces can wind up with many accounts on a shared Mac. You may also have set up extra accounts for testing or particular purposes. Whatever the reason, if you want to simplify and…
How to set up Medical ID in the iPhone Health app for emergencies
A key advantage of carrying an always-connected device with you is that you can summon help in nearly any emergency. But what if you’re incapacitated? By setting up Medical ID within the Health app in…
How to lock/unlock the Recently Deleted and Hidden albums in Photos
What’s the point of hiding media in the Photos app if other people with access to your device can see it? That seemed to be the point of Apple’s upgrade to Photos in iOS 16,…