iPhone How-To - page 6

Skip the hassle of manually sending your family all the vacation photos — enable a shared iCloud Photo library instead. Everyone in your family automatically gets all the family photos as if the images were in their own camera roll — in full quality.

Your iPhone will identify faces in photos (securely and privately), and any pictures of people who are in the family will be added to the shared library. If all of your phones are in the same place while you’re taking a lot of pictures, even if you aren’t in them (like at an aquarium or a museum), those pictures will be added automatically, too. As you’re shooting in the camera, you can easily toggle between the shared library for everyone and the private photo library on your own devices.

Starting a Shared Photo Library with your family is the best way to organize family photos. Continue reading to see how to turn it on.

Apple Intelligence brings the long-awaited new Siri … but not quite yet. The Siri improvements so far include extensive knowledge of Apple products, integration with ChatGPT, a brand-new design and the ability to text Siri your questions rather than speaking them aloud.

The even-more-powerful Siri that will be able to see your screen and take actions on your behalf inside apps has been delayed to iOS 19 — with a fully conversational LLM-powered Siri likely another year further.

But there are quite a few neat things you can try out now, if you’re willing to board the Apple Intelligence train. Here’s what the new Siri can do.

iOS 18.1 comes with a veritable boatload of big new features. The update, which is out now, brings Apple Intelligence, hearing aid support for AirPods, sleep apnea detection for Apple Watch, phone call recording and more.

Apple Intelligence features are being rolled out slowly with every new iOS update. The process is expected to take a while. This first update hits the ground running with 10 features. But that’s not all — there’s more in this update for those of us with an older iPhone or who live in the European Union.

Keep reading or watch our video on the new features in iOS 18.1.

It’s only taken 17 years, but iPhone call recording is finally here. In iOS 18.1, you can record a phone call on your iPhone for future reference. If your device supports Apple Intelligence, you’ll get transcriptions of the phone calls, too.

This feature is a great way to refer back to a previous conversation. Who said what? What date did they say? What exactly did you agree to?

If you used a shady call recording app before, you can bid it adieu. There’s a convenient button built right into the Phone app; and you can refer back to your recordings in Notes. Here’s how it all works.

Location sharing is an incredibly versatile feature of iOS that makes coordinating with others much easier. Whether you’re meeting up with someone, exploring a new place, or spending the day out with friends, it’s a breeze to share your location. This feature is especially helpful in large public spaces, such as malls, amusement parks, and stadiums. If you’re wondering how does sharing location work on iPhone, you can check out this detailed guide: Everything You Need to Know About Location Sharing in iOS.

Giving directions on precisely where to pick up someone along a street block or in a parking lot is made much easier by sending a pin in an iMessage chat. With Family Sharing, I can see if my wife is on her way home without first sharing her ETA in Apple Maps. Another benefit is that I can use Find My to ping her phone if it’s lost in the house.

Here’s how to use location sharing.

Here is how to stop your iPhone from autocorrecting swear words. It’s not a simple toggle switch in Settings, unfortunately — but it’ll only take you a few minutes to fix it once and for all.

Apple presents an annoyingly family-friendly image. It doesn’t want the iPhone to autocorrect a swear word to protect the innocence of children. It doesn’t want porn on the App Store (even if it’s a tap away in Safari).

Luckily, for the adults in the room, it’s all surface-level means of protection. Here’s how you can get your iPhone to let you swear again.

Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus in iOS 18 that judges on the fly which notifications seem important, using Apple Intelligence.

Setting up a Focus mode by hand is a bit of a chore. You need to know exactly which contacts and apps you want to silence and let through. You need to keep maintaining them as you add new contacts and download new apps.

Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus mode that’s a slightly smarter Do Not Disturb. There’s no work necessary. And, if you do have a highly customized existing Focus, you can add its smarts on top of your existing rules and customizations. Here’s how to make the most of it.

You can create a photo memories movie using the Apple Photos app, powered by Apple Intelligence. Just type in a prompt, it’ll browse through your collection, and create a bespoke video set to music of your choosing. It’s a fun way to put together a memory movie. And you can be very specific with the kinds of prompts you give it.

The new Photos app powered by Apple Intelligence also has a more powerful search feature. Here’s how it all works together.

You can easily remove any object from a photo using the new Apple Intelligence Clean Up tool.

As the graphic designer among my friends, I’ve always been asked to Photoshop things out of my friend’s pictures. A romantic shot in a gazebo, with a phone sitting on the handrail in an obvious spot. A group photo from a fun night out, with someone’s tote bag sitting by their feet. A picture from a big conference, with an ugly lanyard around someone’s neck.

Now, you have the power to clean up your own photos — a chance to make your almost-perfect shots perfect. Here’s how it works.

Those tiny, cryptic symbols on clothing tags and car dashboards can confuse anyone. However, your iPhone camera can quickly decipher the meaning of laundry symbols and dashboard icons. You don’t need to look up a guide or Google their meaning. Just take a picture and your iPhone will tell you.

While in my testing the iPhone didn’t identify every single symbol, the feature will do in a pinch. And if you want to use a third-party app for the best possible results, I can recommend two that I found on the App Store that can help you.

Set up scheduled, automatic Apple Cash payments to send money to your friends or family on a regular basis. You can use this to pay back your housemates for bills, send your kids some money or pay back personal debts.

Whatever the reason may be, Apple Cash is a fast and easy way to send money. I even have a pro tip for scheduling a singular payment in advance. Here’s how to set up recurring payments.

Apple’s Focus modes are a powerful way to change how your iPhone, iPad and Mac look and feel whether you’re driving, sleeping, relaxing or working. It’s all about fully immersing yourself in whatever you’re doing.

You can change all kinds of things: from who can reach you and which apps send notifications to custom Lock Screens, Home Screens and more. The tools can totally transform how your phone looks and works based on context. You don’t need all the same apps and widgets on your Home Screen while you’re at work or yoga as you do at home. 

Setting up a Focus with rich customization makes your phone more personal. Keep reading to find out how.