Controller support is better than ever. Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac
You’re probably used to using your EarPods to listen to music or make hands-free phone calls, but we’ve recently discovered another cool trick they can do. If you have a headphone-compatible Xbox One controller, you can also use Apple’s standard earbuds to pump your game and chat audio directly into your head.
You’ll have to adjust a setting or two first, though. And that’s only fair considering you’re asking Apple and Microsoft products to work together. Here’s what you need to do.
Netflix has a plan to win over new subscribers in an age of Apple TV+ Photo: Netflix
Bruce Springsteen once lamented that there were “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On),” and it’s only gotten worse. How do you find something good to watch in an era where Amazon, iTunes, HBO/Showtime, and a ton of network-specific apps and online sites threaten to overwhelm your screens, big and small?
It’s not as easy as you’d think, either, especially if you have more than one person controlling the remote.
I’ve gotten less happy to let Netflix choose what I watch these days and have tried to found new ways to see hidden treasures that might not end up on the main home screen.
Here are our suggestions on how to find the buried treasure on Netflix.
Here's more snap for your chat. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Snapchat is one of those essential social networking apps that makes a ton of sense to early adopters (read: young folks) and not much sense at all to those who arrive later to the party.
As obfuscated as most of Snapchat’s features are, it takes a bit of guidance if you want to go beyond simply snapping a shot and sending it to a buddy. These four easy Snapchat tips will turn you into a master.
Warming up before your workout and cooling down afterward can reduce your risk of injury and improve your performance. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
When you start a workout, Apple Watch only gives you a three-second countdown. There’s no time for a warmup first. And when you’re done, the Workout app does not prompt you to cool down either.
That is very different from the treadmills and bikes you find in most gyms, which ease you gently into your workout and steadily lower your pace at the end.
Apple Watch may not (yet) support the warmup and cool-down phases of a workout, but that does not mean you should skip them. These Apple Watch fitness tips will help you get the most out of your workouts.
It was a good day when Netflix added My List to the list of awesome features it has to allow us to watch anything we want on our TV, computer, or game console. It lets us all keep track of what we want to watch while helping corral the overwhelming amount of distracting movies and TV shows on offer.
However, Netflix still wants to manage what you watch; My List is ordered by some magic Netflix algorithm that makes sure it puts movies it wants you to see up front.
Switch your Netflix My List queue to Manual sorting, then move some stuff around, and you’ll supercharge your Netflix watch list in no time.
Watching a UK-only movie on Netflix from the US. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
If you live in the United States and use Netflix, you might be disappointed to find out that some shows, like Kajaki: The True Story, are unavailable due to region restrictions.
These are based on licensing agreements that Netflix has with content providers. Many shows and movies are region-locked, which means that you can’t watch a show in the U.S. if it’s only available in the U.K., and vice versa.
There is a way around it, however. Here’s how to beat Netflix region restrictions to watch whatever you want, whenever you want, from wherever you want.
If you come across someone cheating in a game that supports Game Center, you can easily report them. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
Up until recently, I almost always accepted Game Center invites from whoever. I like playing games on my iPhone and iPad and always welcome a worthy opponent. However, there are a lot of people out there cheating and faking scores. While I handled some of this by just deleting them, I also realized that there is a way to report these accounts via Game Center.
You now have to pay more for the best Netflix package. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
When you’re binge-watching a show like Walking Dead or Person of Interest on Netflix, you may at times need to get up for a snack or bathroom break (or both).
Fumbling around for the mouse to bring up the playback overlay is fine, but using the keyboard to pause your streaming media is much faster. Here are five hidden keyboard shortcuts that will put you in charge of your Netflix experience.
Expect Netflix to stay in the no. 1 spot for the foreseeable future. Photo: Global X / Flickr CC
It’s happened to all of us: We get to the thrilling conclusion of the latest Daredevil or Jessica Jones episode, and suddenly Netflix’s “buffering” logo appears, bringing our TV binge to an abrupt and unwelcome end.
Luckily, you can use Netflix’s hidden streaming menu to set your streaming speed to a lower tier, which should bypass the buffering foolishness. Here’s how to find it.
Watch your favorites while getting work done, too. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
Sometimes, work is boring. You might need a distraction from whatever routine task you’re doing on your Mac, like entering data into a spreadsheet or replying to email. Netflix is a great idea, but you have to portion your screen or move windows around in order to both watch a show on Netflix as well as get your work done.
Not anymore, though, as NEnhancer lets you use the magical power of Chrome to get a Netflix movie or TV show in a small window that will float on top of any other apps you’re running, making sure your Netflix video running in the foreground on your Mac.
Just be sure to actually get your work finished, too.
If you have an Apple Watch, Fantastical 2 makes managing grocery lists super simple! Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
Grocery shopping isn’t anyone’s favorite activity — and while using a list can make it a bit more manageable, constantly pulling out your iPhone to check items off can be inconvenient. However, creating an iOS grocery list in the Reminders app and syncing it with your Apple Watch can streamline the process significantly.
While walking through a local grocery store, I found myself pulling out my iPhone, launching Fantastical 2 and systematically checking things off as normal. I then remembered that my Apple Watch also had Fantastical 2 built right in, so I figured I would give that a go this time.
After a little experimenting, I figured out the perfect way to interact with checklists in Fantastical 2 on my Apple Watch.
Get up to speed with these awesome Safari tips Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The mobile web browser of choice for most iPhone and iPad users is still Safari. As the stock browser for iOS, it has been a staple of the iPhone since its release in 2007, but Safari has a few subtle features you’ve probably never heard of.
With Safari going through so many changes with each new iOS version, some tricks may have sneaked past your attention. In today’s video, we’ll show you 10 killer Safari tricks every iPhone and iPad users needs to know.
Don't get caught like this. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
In addition to various viruses that can harm your Mac, there’s a different kind of annoyance you might have stumbled upon: adware.
This might manifest itself as a web page that tells you you’ve been infected, with an accompanying phone number to call or malicious website to visit, or it might even show up as an ostensibly helpful Mac app you don’t remember installing.
If you’re experiencing the pain of malicious adware, we’re here to help. Here’s how to eliminate the adware that’s plaguing your Mac.
Want to monitor your iPhone's battery life no matter what you're doing? With Power you can! Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
While we already know you can check your Apple Watch’s battery life on your iPhone, what about the other way around? Can you check your iPhone’s battery life from your Apple Watch? As it turns out, you can, with the help of one app.
Reset your password with these simple steps. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
With Apple’s new two-step authentication procedures in place, resetting your password is a little trickier than it used to be. That’s a good thing, because if it’s tough for you, it’s even tougher for scammers to get into your iPhone, even if it’s stolen.
Here’s how to reset your Apple ID password with Apple’s current security system.
Want to go completely paperless? Here's how to better manage PDF documents on iPhone and iPad! Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
PDF handling on the iPhone and iPad has vastly improved over the last year or so. Not only can you scan documents as PDFs using the camera, you can sign documents and send them off to the recipient, and even request the signature of others electronically. If you need a reliable iPhone PDF converter, you can find everything you need inthis guide.
Ever take a photo where the foreground is took dark or the background is way too bright? Hydra solves that problem for you. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
The iPhone has a great built-in camera. Unfortunately, the Camera app itself sometimes falls short. If you’ve ever taken a photo outside only to find the sky way too bright while everything else is way too dark, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Hydra for iPhone does a great job balancing tricky lighting situations. Here’s how it works and why I love it so much…
Need offline maps for times when they're no cellular or Wi-Fi data available? Google Maps gives them to you for free. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
One of my favorite features of the Google Maps app is its ability to save offline maps on iPhone. Whether you want map access regardless of cell reception or you’re traveling abroad and won’t have a data connection, Google Maps is king. Even better, it costs you absolutely nothing.
Who's tracking your Instagram movements? Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Anyone can tap your profile in Instagram and see where you were when you took your snapshots. Creeped out, yet?
Every time you take a picture for Instagram, the photo-sharing app keeps track of where you are by default. Here’s how to remove the location data automatically added to your snaps and keep stalkers from tracking you on Instagram.
Get the public betas for iOS and Mac before your friends do. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Want to get your hands on the latest, greatest iOS and OS X features for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac before anyone else does? Do you love checking out all the new stuff in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan so you can be the first to comment on them?
All you need to do is sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program, and you’ll be able to access the public betas of these flagship operating systems before they’re available to the rank and file.
Here’s how to sign up for (and install) Apple’s latest public betas.
You owe it to yourself to take control of your passwords. And it's easier than you might think. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
As we store more and more of our information digitally, it becomes more important than ever to make sure our data is safeguarded. To ensure security, you should always use strong and unique passwords.
Password manager apps aren’t hard to use, and once you get started, they actually offer you more convenience than any other way of maintaining and storing passwords. Not convinced? Let me help you understand….
Wonder how Facebook users will react to this new software. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Trying to express your empathy for a friend’s grief, or your outrage at a recent political post, has been a Facebook conundrum since day one. No one wants to Like things they don’t actually, well, like. It’s just too limiting.
That’s why Mark Zuckerberg and Co. just rolled out Facebook’s new Reactions, five new emotional icons that we all get to use in place of the familiar thumbs-up Like button (which is still there, thank goodness).
The new Facebook Reactions system has rolled out to the web and your iOS devices today (via the Facebook app). Here’s how to respond to Facebook posts with a bit more color.