Apple Watch - page 18

If you looked at Cult of Mac this week, you saw loads of news about the release of iOS 14.5 (with its controversial App Tracking Transparency feature) and about Apple’s astonishing earnings.

But did you miss all the useful tips in our Control Center Week series?

For those not familiar, Control Center is one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. The how-tos, written by our own Killian Bell, explain how to get the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. In case you didn’t see them all — and there are a lot of them! — we rounded them up in one place.

Hit that link, or read them in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Time to seize control!

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Make your favorite Control Center tools and shortcuts easier to find by reorganizing and cleaning up your Control Center window. It’s easy on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch — and we’ll show you how.

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Can’t remember where you left your iPhone? Use Control Center on your Apple Watch to “ping” it so that you can quickly track it down. You can even have your iPhone light up so that it’s easier to find in the dark.

We’ll show you how.

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Schooltime is a handy new feature, introduced in watchOS 7, that keeps Apple Watch quiet and prevents it from being a distraction in the classroom. It can be added to your Control Center options so that enabling Schooltime at any time takes just a swipe and a tap.

We’ll show you how.

Woot is offering refurbished Apple Watch Series 4 units, with edge-to-edge displays and a built-in ECG, from just $179.99 today only. Bag yours before they’re all gone!

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Searching for something in a dark room? You can turn your iPhone, iPad and even your Apple Watch into a flashlight with just one tap inside Control Center. We’ll show you how.

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Heading into an important meeting and need your iPhone to keep quiet? Don’t worry about turning off your device or messing around inside the Settings app; toggle Do Not Disturb mode with one tap in Control Center.

We’ll show you how on all Apple devices.

iOS 14.5 gives us the ability to unlock iPhone with an Apple Watch for the first time. It’s perfect for those who can’t get Face ID to work when wearing a mask.

We’ll show you how to get it all set up.

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Have you noticed your Apple Watch isn’t sounding so good after getting wet? That’s likely because there is liquid lodged inside its speaker. But don’t worry — you can quickly clear it with just one tap in Control Center.

We’ll show you how.

We want to help you master Control Center, one of the most powerful and underutilized features on Apple devices. Cult of Mac’s Control Center Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of this useful toolbox on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

There’s no need to mess around inside System Preferences or the Settings app when you want to change Wi-Fi networks. Open Control Center on your Apple device and make the switch in a snap.

We’ll show you how on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

This week, Cult of Mac is giving away three classy Apple Watch bands from Monowear. You have a chance to win the brand-new burnt orange Perforated Leather Band in your choice of two sizes.

Monowear’s Perforated Leather Band is made with the highest-quality leather. Finished with classy, motor-sport-inspired perforations, it will keep your wrist cool. And it makes you look cool to boot.

Previously available in black, brown and burgundy, Monowear’s perforated band looks great in the new burnt orange color. Known to promote motivation, orange is a color that radiates happiness and warmth. If your Apple Watch is in need of a vibrant pop of color, be sure to enter this giveaway.

Are you bored of your oh-so-basic Apple Watch? Did you know you can easily add some glamor without breaking the bank?

Mifa’s gorgeous Sparkle Bracelet is made from shiny stainless steel (in silver or rose gold) and finished with a gorgeous mother of pearl decoration. It oozes luxury, but costs a mere $25.

AliveCor, a company which makes Apple device-compatible, FDA-cleared ECG devices, has sued Apple for allegedly infringing on three of its patents with the Apple Watch. An ECG — or electrocardiogram — records the rhythm, the rate, and the electrical activity of the heart.

The health-conscious startup claims, in a press release, that Apple is trying to “eliminate” it as competition in this space. Until the matter is settled, it wants a judge to stop Apple from importing the Apple Watch into the United States. That would, in essence, stop Apple from selling the Apple Watch in its biggest market.

Apple revealed on Tuesday that iOS 14.5 and the iPad equivalent will reach customers iPhones and tablets some time “next week.” These include a rush of new features, like unlocking an iPhone with an Apple Watch. And a controversial change that make it harder for apps to track users for ads.

To help make the launches possible, developers were given access to the release candidates for these upcoming operating system versions on Tuesday. They can both look for bugs and  test their own applications with the new OS versions.

Get your Apple Watch ready for summer with these colorful, high-quality Milano leather bands from Laut. They’re beautifully made, with a slim and lightweight design that’s great for warm weather, and they’re nicely priced at under $50. Bag yours today from the Cult of Mac Store.

Apple Watch can be the perfect workout partner, but only if it’s comfortable to wear during even the most strenuous activities. That’s why Laut designed the ultra-comfortable Active 2.0 sports band.

Made from a bespoke rubber compound developed specifically for active lifestyles, the Active 2.0 is lightweight, incredibly durable, and feels great no matter what you get up to. It’s also sweat-resistant.

Get yours in one of a number of vibrant color options for under $30.

Can the iPhone and Apple Watch help predict illnesses like COVID-19? That’s the question being asked by researchers from Apple, the Seattle Flu Study, and the University of Washington — and you can help them answer it. And get loaned an Apple Watch for the duration of the six-month study for your troubles.

The study is currently recruiting for participants who live in the greater Seattle area. Participants must have “higher than normal risk of respiratory illness because of frequent exposure to other people through work or other activities, health conditions, or other factors.”

Most folks refer to Siri as “she,” but that’s not always true. The original British English Siri, for example, was male-only up until iOS 7.1 added a female version. And in the latest iOS 14.5 beta, a female Siri is not the default option.

No matter what, you don’t have to stick with your local version of Apple’s comically bad voice assistant. U.S. English speakers, for example, can currently choose from American, Australian, British, Indian, Irish and South African accents for Siri, and also pick male or female versions — with more voices coming soon.

So, if you’re a U.S. native who views the U.K. Standard English accent as quaint, cute, respectful, sexy or reproachful, it’s easy to set your iPhone or iPad to sound like a Brit or whatever you want. And your choice of Siri accent will follow you on all Apple devices logged into with your Apple ID. (In addition to iPhone and iPad, Siri works with just about everything now: Mac, AirPods, iPod, Apple Watch, CarPlay, HomePod and Apple TV.)

Let’s see how to change Siri’s accent.

Your hands are full and you need to look something up on your Apple Watch. Engineers at Apple dreamed up a system that would allow you to control the wearable by blowing on it. A newly filed patent application also imagines a breath-controlled iPhone.

So far, there’s no sign this is an April Fools’ Day joke. But it’s possible.

Keep your shiny new iPhone 12 protected and in pristine condition with some high-quality cases from SwitchEasy. They’re brilliantly designed and well-built. And when you buy one from the Cult of Mac Store right now, you’ll get another absolutely free.

This deal ends Friday, April 2, so enjoy it while you can!

Bag Apple Watch Series 6 Nike+ at one of its best prices to date, thanks to a rare $50 discount from Best Buy. New models start at just $349 with six months of Apple Fitness+ free of charge.

Order yours before the discount disappears.

A ruggedized version of Apple Watch could take the device’s lifesaving smarts to new extremes.

The so-called Apple Watch Explorer Edition, rumored to be in the works with a possible release as early as this year, could be Cupertino’s answer to Casio’s ultra-popular G-Shock watches. The benefits of implanting Apple Watch’s advanced sensors into such a beefy body seem like a no-brainer.

Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensors, heart rate monitors and fall detection can make a difference in the daily life of average folks. But they could prove far more valuable to wearers snowboarding down frigid slopes, climbing up sand dunes or mountains, scrabbling over mud and rocks or diving the ocean’s depths.

Such extreme environments, in which adventurous humans test their limits, are just dying for an injection of Apple Watch smarts.

Cult of Mac is giving away a stunning Apple Watch band from our friends at Goldenerre. The crystal pavé link band is the newest piece in Goldenerre’s collection, and it comes in shiny gold, rose gold or silver.

With more than 820 brilliant crystals, the sparkle factor is off the charts with this band! And to sweeten the deal, Goldenerre is including one stacking bracelet of your choice for every winner.

Lads, if you want to win points with the lady in your life, you need to enter this giveaway!

Apple is considering whether to launch a more ruggedized Apple Watch aimed at athletes and people doing outdoor activities in extreme environments, Bloomberg reported Friday.

This device could potentially be launched as early as this year or 2022. Inside Apple, the project is referred to as the “Explorer Edition” Apple Watch. It would offer the same basic functionality as the regular Apple Watch, but with added rubberized impact-resistance and protection — similar to Casio’s G-Shock line of watches.

After throwing in the towel on the original HomePod after just three years, Apple should stop releasing pricey, niche products.

They don’t sell well — at least not well enough to keep Apple interested, apparently — and it’s not fair to consumers who shell out big bucks, then get stuck with a product that vanishes after just one generation.

Yes, Apple says it will continue to support the full-size HomePod with software updates, even as it refocuses on the $99 HomePod mini. But the old-school HomePod is a dead-end product.

You can read the HomePod debacle as an admission of failure regarding Apple’s framing of the device as a smart speaker rather than high-end audio gear. But it’s more than that. It’s an illustration of Apple’s faltering strategy of creating premium products for niche corners of the market.