Take the Back Off Iphone

Offensive pictures, depressing tweets, political statuses, and just plain old dumb comments are only a few of the reasons why people unfriend or unfollow others on social media sites. Sometimes it's just social spring cleaning, other times there's no reason at all. Personally ...more

The hype around augmented reality has risen to a fever pitch over the past two years, and if this week's selection of business news stories are any indication, the din is about to get down right deafening. That's because the Microsoft's follow-up to the original HoloLens is a ...more

Nothing beats a human translator, but Google Translate and other software-based solutions have developed into decent alternatives for help with basic translations. Need an English word translated into German? No problem — but what if you need to have a conversation with someon ...more

Whether you mean to or not, taking burst photos is super easy on the iPhone. In the Camera app, just compose your photo, tap-and-hold the shutter button, and watch the number of pics go up and up until you take your finger off the screen. However, finding that one special keep ...more

It took many months of cries from all around the internet—and a particularly large groan from an ex-Lifehacker editor-in-chief—but Apple has not only acknowledged the existence of its iMessage problem, it's promising a fix. Update: Apple has finally fixed the issue by creatin ...more

I recently had my iPhone stolen at public park and did everything I could to locate it, but with Find My iPhone disabled (I know, what an idiot) and no exact address to give to the police, I had about a .00000001 percent chance of getting it back. Maybe if it was an Android p ...more

After more than two years of teasing, augmented reality startup Mojo Vision has confirmed that "invisible computing" means what we've suspected all along. That's right -- the company is working on smart contact lenses, and it claims to have a working model in testing. On Wedn ...more

In years past, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) mostly dabbled in the future as far as the long-term vision for augmented reality was concerned. This year, however, objects in the future are much closer than they appear. While the outlook for truly mainstream AR smartglass ...more

How many times have you sent a message on Facebook Messenger that you immediately wanted to take back? Most email services have an unsend option, as well as Instagram Direct, and Messenger has caught on to this convenience with a take-back button for any chat you're in — even ...more

People like to cite the iPhone as the device that started the smartphone craze, but the truth is, smartphones had existed for years by the time Apple got into the game. The real groundbreaking feature that this device brought to the table was a multi-touch screen to go along w ...more

Fireworks are the best part about the Fourth of July and other celebrations, but they can easily cause accidental injuries. It's both safer and more fun to set them off remotely, so we'll hack some standard fireworks with nichrome wire, a relay, and an Arduino to ignite remote ...more

It is a scary time to be alive. As states start to ease back shelter-in-place restrictions, the new world you're entering is still unsafe. With a vaccine months away, your best bet is to follow CDC guidelines and use the tools at your disposal. Your trusty smartphone can offe ...more

Whether you're calling the unemployment office, a popular radio contest, or any other phone line that gets super busy, having to recall the number manually is a pain. Whatever you do, however, don't punch in the same digits over again and again — our smartphones can help do it ...more

The Calculator app on your iPhone may seem boring and basic, but there are a few interesting tricks worth knowing. You can ask Siri to perform calculations for you, long-press on results to copy them, long-press the field to paste numbers in, and swipe left or right above the ...more

The wearables space experienced its "big bang" moment back in 2015 when Apple released its first wearable device, the Apple Watch. Although the device was initially dismissed by some as an unnecessary charm bracelet packed with frivolous tech, in very short order, the public l ...more

While Apple's smartglasses development reportedly moves forward behind-the-scenes, the company continues to build on its AR software foundation in its mobile ecosystem with further iterations to its ARKit platform and the introduction of new AR development tools. On the other ...more

Reading the augmented reality news lately has felt a bit like reading a John Grisham novel, as the business side of things has dripped with legal drama. This week alone, a patent infringement case involving Meta Company (or what's left of it) approached its climax. Meanwhile, ...more

While there aren't as many improvements compared to iOS 11's Photos additions, the tabs menu in Apple's updated Photos app for iOS 12 was revamped to include "Memories" inside a new "For You" tab that also houses featured photos and effects suggestions. This is also where you ...more

When you leave your iPhone on a table or anywhere within somebody else's eyeshot, a private message may pop up on your lock screen that could be read by anyone who sees it. But there's a way to keep others from reading your possibly sensitive text messages and emails without g ...more

The default Camera app got a few more tricks up its sleeves when iOS 11 was released, and the best addition by far was the inclusion of a built-in QR code reader since that meant no more third-party apps just for QR code scanning. However, Apple's built-in QR code scanner did ...more

As expected, Apple began pushing out the final version of iOS 11.2.5 to all iPads, iPhone, and iPod touches today after 41 days of beta testing. Highlights include a fix for the ChaiOS vulnerability, a persistent Now Playing bar in Music, and some signs of AirPlay 2 just in ti ...more

When it comes to Hi-Fi music streaming services, Jay-Z's Tidal is one of your only choices. But as you can imagine, true High Fidelity audio requires faster download speeds than your average music service. So the question becomes, how do you listen to Hi-Fi tracks on Tidal whe ...more

Brace yourselves, because Siri has a trick up its sleeve that iPhone users have wanted for some time. Yep, that's right, I'm talking about the ability to use Siri without having to talk out loud for the whole world to hear. It's great for privacy, Siri-ing on the down-low when ...more

There are a lot of exciting improvements in store for Siri in iOS 11. Apple showed off some of the highlights at WWDC, but there are five changes in particular that you don't want to miss. From a new voice to a cool on-device learning feature, this Siri update could have a pr ...more

Sometimes it's impossible to concentrate — let alone direct your personal assistant Siri — when someone is blasting music on their phone or talking to thin air. I mean I'm loud, but not that loud. So, it's a relief to hear that this could be changing for the better. According ...more

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but the shortest way to launch an app on an iPhone can be a much more complicated process. While Android users can practically drown themselves in home launchers and widgets for quick-launching apps, iPhone users ar ...more

WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the commu ...more

New Year's Eve. It will be one hell of a chaotic night. Trust me. The overcrowded streets. Long lines for the urinal. Maxing out your credit card on that shot of Cuervo. You'll be lucky to make it out alive. If you do manage to stave off alcohol poisoning and survive the asc ...more

After years of being a PC technician and Windows System administrator, I had the blind hatred for Apple that I thought I was suppose to have. I swore that I'd never even touch an iPod, let alone buy an Apple product. But I found a new career that drug me out of the Windows ser ...more

I can't say it's absolutely true, but when it comes to mobile word gaming, there's Scrabble people and then there's Words with Friends people. It feels segregational. Rarely does one play both. At least, that's what I see when it comes to my family and friends. Everyone who l ...more

Since the invention of the printing press, books have been a dominant and iconic paradigm in our culture and throughout the world. During my years in elementary and high school, the digital world was on the rise sparking the conversation: Are Books Obsolete. Over the last year ...more

Sometimes an iDevice is best used for idle, pointless fun. Today's segment of Making Art on Your iOS Deviceis a mixed bag of time-wasting cool effects and random, but useful art-making tools. Below, 10 apps for creating anything from erratic hand-shaken digital effects to your ...more

It's finally here. After years of rumors and speculation, Apple unveiled the new iPhone SE on April 15. While it doesn't have a 4-inch display like the original SE, it's the smallest new iPhone you can buy today, with the chipset of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. So, w ...more

If you want to use your iPhone with another carrier, all you have to do is contact the original carrier to request an unlock, which is usually granted in a few days. Unfortunately, you need to meet specific criteria to officially carrier-unlock your iPhone, like paying off the ...more

With Touch ID on iOS devices, it's a little more difficult to lock yourself out. However, it can still happen if you don't use it, have a busted fingerprint scanner, or use an older device that doesn't have Touch ID, which means you're passcode dependent (unless you have zero ...more

If you're ever faced with a situation of handing over your iPhone to law enforcement (or getting it taken forcibly), whether by the police, feds, or court system, there are things you can do to prevent them from getting access to all that potentially self-incriminating data. A ...more

Imagine a scenario where you're nowhere near your iPhone, but it's on loud, and you really need to silence it. An alarm may be blaring, notifications could be spitting out sounds left and right, and calls may be ringing. Things can get annoying real quick for whoever's around ...more

Chances are, you just point, shoot, and share photos and videos on your iPhone without a second thought about how your privacy is affected. It's fairly easy to do so since the Camera and Photos apps that Apple provides seem so innocent. But there are a few things you need to k ...more

Your iPhone's Voice Memos app is an easy tool for quickly recording lectures at school, jam sessions at the studio, or just verbal notes to yourself. While it's a straightforward app, there are several hidden features you might not know about that can improve the quality of yo ...more

There are a ton of new features in iOS 11, but some of the best ones, in my opinion, are in the Camera app. They're not huge features, but they're much appreciated to anyone who's ever taken a Live Photo or portrait, or even to those who've needed to scan a QR code quickly. W ...more

Not much about 2020 is what you'd call normal, but if one thing remains the same, it's that Apple will still release new iPhone models. This year, the company is offering four new options: two "Pro" models and two "consumer" devices. If you want to know more about the latter t ...more

In iOS, Apple provides a few live wallpapers that you can use for the background on your iPhone's lock screen, but these animated options are just wavy color shifts and ink-in-water effects. To really customize your lock screen, you can use a Live Photo for your wallpaper. If ...more

Aside from the second-generation iPhone SE, all new iPhone models since the iPhone X have had Face ID instead of Touch ID as the biometric authentication technology. While Touch ID can be touchy, Face ID is not without its own issues. If you can't get Face ID on your iPhone to ...more

When your iPhone is being sluggish, one thing you can do to get performance back up to snuff is clear the device's random access memory. It's not a publicized feature from Apple, but it's there nonetheless. And while it's easy enough to utilize on iPhones with Home buttons, th ...more

The 2020 iPhone SE had been through the rumor mill for a long time, but Apple finally unveiled the second-generation iPhone SE on Wednesday, April 15. While it doesn't sport the 4-inch design of the original SE, it combines a small form-factor with modern specs. The big questi ...more

Back in iOS 8, Apple introduced the option to use third-party keyboards on iPhone, and since then, there have been a ton of third-party keyboards available such as Gboard, AudioShot, SwiftKey, Slated, and many more. However, adding and even using these keyboards can be kind of ...more

Apple just pushed out the iOS 10.3 update to everyone on March 27, so if you haven't installed it yet, make sure to do so by going to Settings -> General -> Software Update. Trust us, you'll want to. iOS 10.3 is a fairly major update, and will succeed iOS 10.2.1 on your iPad, ...more

Sure, emojis are all the rage, but there's not an emoji for every emotion or feeling just yet. That's where emoticons come into play, emoji's older typographical sibling. Unfortunately, emoticons can be hard to type out, easy to forget, and ASCII art, in general, can be pretty ...more

Apple may pride itself on its commitment to user privacy and security, but it isn't invulnerable. We now know there is a bug in the latest version of iOS 12 and iOS 12.1 beta that allows those in the know to bypass your passcode and access contacts and photos. This applies to ...more

Apple is set to release its latest operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch this fall, and if you haven't noticed yet from our iOS 7 softModder guides, it's going to be pretty slick. Gone are the boring old icons that have remained basically unchanged since the very ...more

If you're all out of prank ideas for April Fool's Day, we've got a few that your Apple-loving friends will enjoy (or hate?). You can have a little bit of fun if you don't have access to their iOS device or Mac, but for the best pranks, you will need access to their devices, ev ...more

Back in June 2017, Apple promised us AirPlay 2, a simple way to connect and control multiple speakers together via an iPhone or other Apple device. While the feature was included in early iOS betas, by iOS 11's official release, AirPlay 2 was nowhere to be found. After all the ...more

The iTunes App Store makes it easy to buy an app or game on someone else's behalf, and it's a great way to send an iPhone user a thoughtful gift. The Google Play Store doesn't have such functionality, but there are still a few workarounds to accomplish the same goal: gifting a ...more

Apple always finds a way to sneak in tiny, inconspicuous features that improve the iPhone experience. And with iOS 14, there's a hidden, unannounced gesture that makes it possible to navigate apps and menus faster than ever before. When you go deep into an app's pages and men ...more

Unlike on Android, you can't easily hide your iPhone apps. Sure, you can nestle them away in folders labeled "junk," but they're supposed to be omni-present somewhere on your home screen. That is, until one day they're just ... gone. The fact that some of your apps disappeared ...more

When you don't want somebody you're calling to know the real phone number associated with your iPhone, whether it's for privacy reasons, to avoid being called back, or to prevent being ignored, there are multiple things you can do to block it on their caller ID. Some of the b ...more

Before, the only way to really tell how your iPhone's lithium-ion battery was performing was to use tools such as Geekbench and Battery Life, but now Apple has included some quick battery health checks right into iOS 11. This feature is only available starting in iOS 11.3, so ...more

There are many impressive features in the new iOS 11 for iPhones, and the Maps app got a lot of love from Apple. This means it's finally about time you stop relying on Google Maps for all of your navigation needs, since Apple Maps is not only more accurate than it used to be, ...more

Even under normal circumstances, it's almost impossible to speak to a representative for a government agency or company in just one try. Many systems will put you on hold for long periods or ask to call you back when someone is available, but there are still some out there tha ...more

Smartphones have become such a big part of our lives these days that they're now closely associated with our personal identities. No longer is it Ford versus Chevy, rock versus rap, or PC versus Mac—now, you're either an Android person or an iOS person. Don't Miss: 10 Things ...more