When traveling internationally with your iPhone, staying connected and avoiding unexpected surprises can be a bit of a balancing act. Whether it’s navigating unfamiliar streets, keeping in touch with family, or ensuring you don’t get hit with outrageous roaming fees, a little preparation goes a long way. Here’s how you can improve your iPhone use while traveling internationally.
Apple named the finalists Monday for its annual App Store Awards. These awards honor “exceptional user experience, design, and innovation,” according to the Mac-maker. App awards come in a range of categories, like iPhone App of the Year, Mac Game of the Year, and many more.
The nominations aren’t just kudos for developers — they’re a great way for users to find high-quality software.
Apple reportedly will delay many of iOS 19’s bigger features until spring 2026. They will arrive eventually as part of iOS 19.4 instead of becoming available when the iPhone’s new operating system first drops in September 2025.
Apparently, the delay will affect “a larger-than-usual number of features.”
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The rumored “iPhone 17 Air” supposedly will delete major features to become Apple’s thinnest smartphone ever — and sell at a premium price. We debate the pros and cons of such a scenario. Plus, Apple reportedly plans to make AirTags even better … and might be reconsidering making an actual TV set.
It’s a rumor-packed podcast!
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
The United Kingdom could precipitate a significant iPhone revamp after a government report found that “Apple’s rules restrict other competitors from being able to deliver new, innovative features that could benefit consumers.”
The findings in the report are sure to inform government regulators as they enforce the U.K.’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which goes into effect in January 2025.
I always use Apple’s privacy-focused Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email services whenever I get the option.
The Sign in with Apple feature, which lets you log into third-party accounts using your Apple ID while keeping your personal info private, is so easy to use that I utilize it everywhere. But that also means my disguised logins pile up, accumulating in the digital junk drawer that is iCloud Settings. If you ever need to manage or transfer your Apple purchases history, Apple now offers an option to migrate digital purchases between accounts.
I’ll show you where you can find, manage or delete these accounts. Perhaps you’re jumping ship from iPhone to Android, and you want to make sure you still have another way of signing into your Chipotle account.
The Hide My Email service is similar. It creates a temporary email address that forwards to your real one — handy if you’re signing up for a shady website, or if you need a public contact email. I’ll show you where you can create new ones and delete the old ones.
![How to set AirDrop to exchange pictures with anyone's iPhone [Pro Tip]](https://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AirDrop-To-Everyone.jpg "How to set AirDrop to share iPhone photos with anyone [Pro Tip]")
You’re at a party and your friend takes a great picture. You ask them to AirDrop you a copy and the two iPhones won’t connect. So frustrating … what the %^#* is wrong? Why can’t you share iPhone photos the way you used to? You probably just need to tweak a setting to turn on AirDrop’s capability to work with any iPhone.
You see, Apple changed the way AirDrop works in iOS 16. If you haven’t updated your AirDrop settings, it might not work the way you want. Here’s how to set the easy wireless file-transfer system so you can get that picture from your friend.
Sick of apps constantly asking you to rate them? There is a way you can block App Store rating requests completely on iPhone, iPad and Mac so that the pesky popups no longer appear. We’ll show you how.
A troubling new trend is emerging as thieves exploit tracking information to intercept iPhone deliveries as they arrive at customers’ doorsteps, according to a new report. When thieves target iPhone deliveries, it leaves Apple users particularly vulnerable, obviously. But you can take action to protect your deliveries.
Camo is a powerful app that lets you use your iPhone, and any connected USB camera, as a webcam for your Mac. I use it every week to record videos and livestream podcasts. The camera built into the MacBook — and even the high-end Studio Display — just doesn’t compare to the clarity and quality of an iPhone camera.
Apple built a basic version of this feature into macOS and called it Continuity Camera. But like most apps that have been sherlocked, Camo goes above and beyond with powerful tools and pro features.
Camo also works with Windows PCs, Android phones and most modern cameras, not just Macs and iPhones.
Anyone hoping to hack into an iPhone now finds it more difficult thanks to a change in iOS 18.1. Whether this is police, foreign espionage agents or criminal hackers, there’s now much less time to crack the security on Apple handsets because of a simple trick.
It’s another example of Apple being serious about protecting user privacy.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The first benchmarks for the M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pros come in amazingly good. And early reviews from the “access media” rave about the new Apple laptops, too. (What else did you expect?)
It might be time for Erfon’s long-overdue upgrade.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
iOS 18.2 brings exciting new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration. These flashy new tools let users create images and custom emoji, look up information using the iPhone’s camera and tap into one of the hottest AI chatbots around.
How well do they work? Keep reading or watch our hands-on video to see iOS 18.2’s new Apple Intelligence features in action.
Update: With the U.S. election now over, this feature has been disabled.
As Americans head to the polls Tuesday for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Apple makes it easier than ever for iOS users to stay informed with real-time results. The Apple News app’s Live Activities feature displayed election results right on an iPhone or iPad’s Lock Screen and Home Screen.
You can set it up with just one tap in Apple News on each device. But watch out: Doing so could ensure you’ll obsessively look at your devices thousands of times in the next couple days as results come in.
Everyone misplaces their iPhone.* You’re walking around, you set down your iPhone, you do some chores, you get ready to go. Where is it? If you own an Apple Watch, it really is the fastest way to find your lost iPhone.
It’s totally easy to ping your iPhone from your Apple Watch. At the push of a button, you can make your iPhone ring, even if it’s on silent. And, while you might know about the basic feature that lets you ping your iPhone, the Apple Watch also offers advanced options for tracking down your missing device.
Bonus: Even if you don’t own an Apple Watch, anyone in your Family Sharing group can ring your iPhone even louder with the Find My app. And if you don’t have a family, you can use any other device signed into your Apple account.
★★★★☆
In a world of look-alike 3-in-1 chargers for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, the new Journey Nova 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station stands out. Like its distinctive looks or not, seeing it without any devices charging might make you wonder what the hell it is — an abstract sculpture, or maybe a prop from the original Star Trek? But for many it could be the sleek charger that subtly fits in with modern decor — if they’re willing to pay the hefty asking price ($139.99).
Apple pays Globalstar to provide the satellites needed for the iPhone’s Messages via satellite service, and an updated agreement between the two companies includes a $1.1 billion payment for the infrastructure.
Clearly, this is an iPhone feature that’ll be available for years to come.
November 1, 2007: Six months after Steve Jobs showed it off, the original iPhone becomes Time magazine’s “best invention of the year.”
The iPhone stands out from the rest of 2007’s gadget pack, which includes the Nikon Coolpix S51c digital camera, the Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Phone and the Samsung P2 music player. Remember those? (Yeah, we thought not.)
Apple might switch to in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips starting with next year’s iPhone 17. The company plans to fully transition to its custom Wi-Fi chips within three years after that.
Broadcom currently supplies Apple with more than 300 million Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules yearly for its products.
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.
Apple is secretly testing a new health app designed to help individuals with prediabetes manage their diet and lifestyle choices, according to a new report. The experimental app, tested with select employees earlier this year, focuses on helping users understand how different foods affect their blood sugar levels. That might help stave off Type 2 diabetes for some.
Some might use it just to marvel at how that cookie is spiking their blood sugar and choose an apple next time, instead.
With Apple Intelligence features coming out to much fanfare, it seems smartphone users don’t actually rank AI very high on their wishlists when considering smartphone upgrades, according to a new survey out Friday. With AI low on smartphone upgrade wishlists, what do they crave? Much higher among their hopes are longer battery life, more storage and better cameras. You know, the “classics.”
In central London, thieves snatch an iPhone out of someone’s hand every 6 minutes, often via passing moped. The problem is so pervasive someone came up with a new line of comically intimidating iPhone cases as part of an awareness campaign called “The Unsnatchable.”
One case bristles with silver spikes. Another looks like an angry electric eel. A third conveys a curse within. And a fourth takes the form of a gauntlet you wear to clutch the handset in an iron grip.
Studies show that a haptic keyboard improves touchscreen typing speed and input accuracy, but very few people know you can enable it on your iPhone.
Android phones years ago had haptic keyboards, but without a precision vibration motor, the haptic feedback was too slow to complete the illusion. With the Taptic Engine — hardware in every iPhone since the iPhone 6s that can simulate all kinds of vibrating textures — Apple created a perfectly convincing effect to enable the haptic keyboard way back in iOS 16.
Leaving the keyboard click sounds on in public is a minor social faux pas, but you really do type better when you have some sort of feedback for hitting the keys. It feels incredible. I turned it on years ago, and every time I type something in on a friend’s phone without it enabled, it feels broken. You can’t go back once you turn it on — it’s that great.
Read on to see where to enable it.