How-To - page 29

Apple Watch is a great swimming companion, offering highly accurate length counts, pace measurements and stroke recognition. But the benefits to swimmers don’t stop there.

You’ll find plenty more useful swim stats in the Fitness app on your iPhone. Strokes Per 25/50/100 is especially valuable because it tracks your swim efficiency, which is key if you want to go faster, further or just look more cool in the pool.

But the way Apple Watch counts your strokes is not as simple as it seems. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert swimmer, it’s worth taking time out to understand exactly how it works.

Apple’s next big keynote of 2020 is less than a couple of hours away. We expect the “One more thing” event to bring the first Macs powered by Apple Silicon, new AirPods Studio headphones, and more.

When the keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific, you’ll be able to watch it live online from almost anywhere. We’ll tell you how.

Apple’s new Intercom feature lets you use HomePods to send short audio messages to almost anyone with an Apple device. While Apple showcased Intercom when unveiling the upcoming HomePod mini smart speaker, the feature also works with the regular HomePod as well as iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and more.

If you a HomePod, and you’ve updated it (and your other Apple devices) with the latest software, you can use Intercom to communicate with your family or housemates in new ways.

Facebook this week quietly rolled out a brand-new dark mode for its iPhone app. It’s not yet available to every user, but it seems a large number of people are already able to activate it. We’ll show you how.

If you plan to preorder iPhone 12 mini or Pro Max on Friday, November 6, through the iPhone Upgrade Program, then do yourself a massive favor and get preapproved early. It will make the whole process quicker and easier.

We’ll show you how.

If you’re lucky enough to have already picked up an iPhone 12 or 12 Pro, and you live in an area where 5G is available, you may have noticed that you sometimes see different 5G icons in your status bar.

There are three altogether, and they change depending on what kind of 5G network you’re connected to. Here’s how to understand them.

Everyone in Apple’s beta program is running a pre-release version of the next iOS version. Which is great, until you get a new iPhone or iPad. Then you can’t restore the new device from the backup made on your previous one because the old device is running a newer OS.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t panic — there are a couple of possible solutions. We’ll walk you through both.

Apple now has its very own music channel, dubbed Apple Music TV, that streams music videos and more 24 hours a day. You can watch it on any Apple device (as long as you live in the U.S.) absolutely free.

Here’s how — and what you need to know.

Most people’s drawing skills peaked in first grade. Which means the diagrams we include in handwritten notes often look like they were drawn by a moderately skilled raccoon. Fortunately, iPadOS 14 offers shape recognition, turning our scrawls into the neat geometric shapes we envisioned.

Using this feature in Apple Notes or Email is easy. But there’s a trick to it. Here’s how to use shape recognition with an iPad and any stylus.

Hidden in Tuesday’s invite to the October Apple event is a hint that the company is about to make a big push into augmented reality.

The graphic for the event invite is the Apple logo surrounded by bubbles. iPhone and iPad users can transfer that design to the real 3D world, and put it in motion.

With the public release of macOS Big Sur right around the corner, it’s a good time to think about leaving the beta program — especially if you’ve been running the new release on your primary machine.

Dropping out ensures you get stable releases and quick fixes as soon as they’re available, and prevents potentially buggy future betas from being installed on your device. We’ll walk you through the process.

Apple has acknowledged problems with iOS 14 and watchOS 7 that can cause some users to lose GPS data and experience excessive battery drain on Apple Watch and iPhone — among other things.

There is a way to fix these issues and prevent future data loss, and it means resetting your devices. We’ll walk you through it.

Smart Selection in iPadOS 14 can be amazingly useful for anyone who takes notes with their iPad. This new feature lets you handwrite some words, then turn them into text at any point later on.

Here’s how it works.

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 put Apple’s brand-new Translate app on your iPhone and iPad. If you plan to use it the next time you’re in a foreign country, you’ll want to download some languages for offline access.

We’ll show you how.

Apple recently gave AirPods and AirPods Pro the ability to automatically switch between different devices depending on what you’re doing. Sometimes the feature is useful, but other times it’s really frustrating.

You may have noticed it after updating to iOS 14 on your iPhone or iPadOS 14 on your iPad. The good news is, it’s possible to disable the feature and take care of switching yourself.

We’ll show you how.

Apple’s new watchOS 7 update gives Apple Watch owners the ability to share their best faces for the first time. It also lets you download awesome faces designed by others — and it’s all incredibly simple.

We’ll show you how.

Fortnite developer Epic Games has warned iPhone and iPad users that they could lose access to its hit battle royale game when updating to iOS 14. But there is a way to ensure that doesn’t happen.

We’ll show you how before you start installing the latest update.

It’s no longer necessary to jailbreak your iPhone to completely overhaul the appearance of its Home screen. All you need is the Shortcuts app in iOS 14, and you can use custom icons for any app you have installed.

With some simple tweaks and plenty of spare time, you can make your iPhone feel like a brand-new smartphone with a completely different operating system designed just by you. We’ll show you how.

iPadOS 14 brings handwriting recognition to Apple tablets, at long last. The new system is called Scribble, and it’s easy to use, fast and flexible.

Here’s how to enter text on your iPad with Scribble.

Apple just removed one of the biggest remaining restrictions from the iPhone and iPad. It’s finally possible to change the default email application in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to something other than Apple Mail.

Making the change is easy. However, a current limitation will delay many people from taking immediate advantage of it.

The new Handwashing app in watchOS 7 gives you a handy reminder to keep your mitts clean. Thoroughly, COVID-19-fighting clean. However, you need to make two quick tweaks to maximize the effectiveness of this new handwashing tool.

Thinking about picking up one of Apple’s new Solo Loop or Braided Solo Loop bands for Apple Watch? Unlike others, they’re not adjustable, so you’ll need to pick the right size for a perfect fit.

We’ll show you how.

iOS 14 is finally out and packed full of awesome new features that make being an iPhone user even greater. We’ve got real Home screen widgets, a useful new App Drawer, Picture in Picture, and more!

If you were able to avoid the iOS 14 beta and all these things are still brand-new to you, you might be wondering how some of them work. Well, don’t worry — Cult of Mac has how-to guides on all of them.

Find out how to use some of the best new features in iOS 14 right here.

With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 on its way to all, you no longer need to be enrolled in Apple’s beta program to get your hands on them. In fact, it’s a good idea to leave the program now that it’s not necessary.

While you have a beta profile still installed on your device, you will miss out on public releases that could include important fixes and security patches. We’ll show you how to easily remove it.

We live in a multicultural world, but a translation feature built into Safari in iOS 14 will make it just a bit easier for us to understand one another. Converting a web page from an unknown languages into your preferred one is as easy a couple of screen taps.

The same holds true for iPadOS 14, too.