iOS 11 - page 5

How to change the default location of saved files on iOS 11

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default locations dropbox iOS 11
You're no longer required to use iCloud Drive as your default.
Photo: Cult of Mac

You probably know by now that iOS 11’s Files app can integrate services like Dropbox, and Google Drive, so that they appear and act like regular folders on your iPhone or iPad. But did you know that you can choose these third-party services at the default storage option for your apps? Take Apple’s own Pages, for instance. In the olden days, it would store files in your iCloud Drive, or locally on your iPad. Now, you can pick anything, including Dropbox, as the default location for saving.

How to replace the App Store’s missing Wish List in iOS 11

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bookmark wish list
Apple removed the App Store wish list in iOS 11. Maybe it'll be back, but if not, there are options.
Photo: Cult of Mac

In iOS 11, the App Store Wish List disappeared. Maybe it’ll come back in future updates, and maybe it won’t, but for now there’s no built-in way to save an interesting app to go back to later. You may bookmark an app for several reasons. You might be researching several similar apps. You might want to do some more research on an app later, before buying it. You may want to save an app that someone you know would be interested in. Or maybe you’re just holding off until the price drops, or until you’re on Wi-Fi to download a big app.

Whatever your reasons, there are third-party options. Today we’ll look at a dedicated app for making an app wish list, as well as a Workflow to do the same, and a third option you may not have considered. Best off all, they all have gone big advantage over the old wish list — they can save free apps as well as paid.

It’s too late to turn back if you’ve upgraded to iOS 11

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Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in iOS 11 control center
Apple has stopped signing iOS 10.3.3.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Downloaded iOS 11 but found that you don’t like it for whatever reason? Well, too bad — because Apple has officially done away with the ability to let you downgrade back to iOS 10.

As it usually does following the release of refreshed versions of iOS, Apple’s stopped signing iOS 10.3.3, last year’s final version of Apple’s iPad and iPhone operating system. While Apple always gives a brief window to let you downgrade to the previous version should you want, that window has now closed for iOS 10.

How to use iMessage apps in iOS 11

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iMessage apps
Delicious, juicy stickers. Mmmm.
Photo: Cult of Mac

iMessage apps aren’t all about stickers. They’re also a neat and handy way to share information from your favorite regular apps. And in iOS 11, they’ve become a lot easier to use. In iOS 10, iMessage apps required several taps just to get to a list to choose what you wanted. In iOS 11, there’s a brand-new dock at the bottom of the app which lets you quickly swipe and tap to the exact app you want, even if you have a lot of them active.

Sonos speakers will support AirPlay 2 next year

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Sonos supports AirPlay2
Sonos speakers connect to over 80 streaming services.
Photo: Sonos

Sonos’ new voice-activated Sonos One smart speaker will work with Amazon’s Alexa assistant when it ships later this month, and will add support for Apple’s new AirPlay 2 streaming protocol next year.

The new smart speaker, which will ship Oct. 24, places an emphasis on high-end audio. With its $199 price point and promised compatibility with multiple platforms, it should put pressure on Apple’s upcoming HomePod, which costs nearly twice as much.

iOS 11.0.2 is here to fix iPhone 8 crackling earpiece issue

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iPhone 8 Plus MacBook
One of the iPhone 8's worst problems just got fixed.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iPhone and iPad users received a surprise update from Apple today in the form of iOS 11.0.2.

The new update was never seeded to developers for beta testing, but it appears to come with some much-needed bug fixes and performance improvements for Apple’s mobile devices.

Best shelf apps for iOS 11 so far

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shelf apps
Shelves are super-useful, in real life and in iOS 11.
Photo: Ismus/Flickr CC

iOS 11’s neat Split View and Drag and Drop implementation has spawned a new class of apps, for iOS at least: shelf apps. These apps provide a slide-out shelf, or junk drawer, into which you can drag items for temporary storage.

This proves useful for all kinds of reasons. You may want to gather up a whole bunch of files for different places before dragging them into an email. You may want to have oft-used files, or snippets of text, or URLs close to hand, or you may like to use a shelf to organize a project, keeping everything together.

However you use them, you can find several shelf apps on the App Store so far, with more arriving all the time. Here’s a look at the Cult of Mac pick for best shelf app (along with a few other options that offer different features).

iOS 11 Drag and Drop is great, but not for everything

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drag drop iOS 11 dock
Drag-and-drop is a great. way to get things done, but not the only way.
Photo: Cult of Mac

iOS 11’s biggest new feature, for iPad users at least, is drag-and-drop support, which goes way beyond just letting you drag a file or snippet of text between apps. I’ve been using iOS 11 since the first beta last summer, and while drag-and-drop was neat, it didn’t really come into its own until third-party apps started supporting it.

Two things have surprised me. One: How useful drag-and-drop is inside a single app (which works on iPhone, too). And two: How bad drag-and-drop is for certain tasks.

How to capture FaceTime Live Photos

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facetime live view
FaceTime can capture LivePhotos and save them to your camera roll.
Photo: Cult of Mac

You know how when you’re on a FaceTime call with your parents, and your father holds his favorite recipe up to the camera, and you use the screenshot to capture a photo of it? Well, now there’s a proper, official way to capture images from FaceTime calls. Even better, they’re not just stills. The captures are Live Photos, so you can relive that goofy smile from your grandparent long after they’re gone.

How to zip files in iOS 11’s Files app

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zip files in iOS 11 hero
Zipped works on iPhone too, only without the drag-and-drop.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Zipping files just got a whole lot easier on the iPad thanks to iOS 11’s new Files app. Now, instead of having to fire up a third party app and somehow get your files in there, you can use drag-and-drop, or other methods, from right inside Files, and then save the results back to Files. Today we’ll take a look at two zipping apps which work with Files to zip files in iOS 11, both with different approaches: Kpressor, and Zipped.

Half app converts your JPEGs to space-saving HEIC files

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Use the Half app to convert JPG to HEIC, saving space without losing quality.
The Half app converts JPG to HEIC, saving space without losing quality.
Photo: Cult of Mac

The iPhones 7, 8 and X all capture images in the new HEIC format, which creates images much smaller than JPEGs, with the same quality.

All new images you snap, and movies you capture, will be saved in the new HIEC and HVEC (for movies) formats. But what if you want to convert your older images from JPEG to HEIC to save some space? That’s exactly what Half App does.

Why Control Center no longer turns off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11

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Bluetooth in iOS 11
In iOS 11, AirPods (and other Apple accessories) remain connected, even when you hit the Bluetooth "off" switch.
Photo: Cult of Mac

It used to be so simple: If you swiped open the iOS Control Center and tapped the Bluetooth icon, then Bluetooth would be toggled on or off. That was it, and the same went for Wi-Fi.

In iOS 11, tapping the same Bluetooth button doesn’t do that. Instead, the Control Center Bluetooth button disconnects your iPhone or iPad from connected Bluetooth accessories, leaving the actual Bluetooth radio on. What’s more, not all accessories get disconnected. Just what in the blazes is going on here?

iOS 11 lets you customize left and right AirPod double-tap shortcuts

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AirPods
iOS 11 brings independent left/right controls to AirPods.
Photo: Cult of Mac

iOS 11 is full of small tweaks that have a big impact. Today’s tip is one of those. In iOS 10, you can customize the double-tap shortcuts on your Apple AirPods to perform various actions — invoke Siri, or play/pause, for example. But the same shortcut would apply to both AirPods. In iOS 11, you can customize each AirPod independently. So, your left ear could be set to call Siri, and your right ear set to play and pause. That’s double the options, with just a software update!

Dropbox is now baked into the iOS 11 Files App

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dropbox files
Dropbox is now just another folder on your iPad or iPhone.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Dropbox now shows up as a regular old folder in the new iOS 11 Files app. The latest update to the Dropbox iOS aa brings full integration with Files, making it work much more like it does on the Mac and PC. For instance, now you can drag a file from a Dropbox folder into an iCloud Drive folder, and it just works.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Everything you need to know about iOS 11 and more!

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Cult of Mac Magazine: Everything you need to know about iOS 11

Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s latest mobile operating system brings tons of great new features. From multitasking to drag-and-drop functionality, iOS 11 will turbocharge your device. Find out how to make the most of your iPhone or iPad in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine with our roundup of the best iOS 11 tips and how-tos.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find those stories and more. Get the latest on on how iOS 11 will change the way you use your iPad. Check out our roundups of the best new cases for your iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus as well as the best straps to outfit your new Apple Watch Series 3. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

How to manually offload and reinstall apps in iOS 11

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iphone
iOS 11 introduces 'offloading,' a way to delete an app without deleting its data. Here's how to manually offload and reinstall any app on your iPhone or iPad
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 11 can automatically delete apps when space gets tight on your iPhone or iPad. It’s called offloading, and only the app itself gets removed.

All the app’s data is saved. That way, if you reinstall the app in the future, it will be like you never deleted it. Wouldn’t it be great if you could choose to offload apps yourself, instead of deleting them? Well, good news, because you can totally do that. Here’s how.

How to scan QR codes with iOS 11’s Camera app

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QR codes
Beware sketchy QR codes if you’re using iOS 11.
Photo: Thomas Leuthard/Flickr

QR codes are set to take off in a big way, thanks to a new feature included in iOS 11 that makes scanning the quirky-looking blocks easier than ever before.

Apple didn’t announce the feature during its WWDC 2017 keynote, but the new QR-scanning capability is among the many minor iOS 11 features that may prove to be a big deal. Even though QR codes have been around for nearly two decades, they haven’t been super-useful to regular consumers.

That’s about to change.

Notes app gets new turbocharged text tools in iOS 11

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iOS 11 notes
Notes app behaves more like a piece of paper than ever in iOS 11.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Up until now, if you wanted to do fancy formatting with the iOS Notes app, you had to dust off your Mac to do it. Now, with the iOS 11 Notes update, you no longer need to boot up a desktop computer just to switch a note to a monospaced font, or add a table. You can do it all on your iPhone or iPad. And this is in addition to the great new in-line sketch features and document scanner that headline this update.

iOS 11 makes Spotlight search super-powerful

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spotlight search in iOS 11
Spotlight in iOS 11 is a power-users dream, letting you find anything -- whether on the web on on your device -- fast.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Spotlight search gets a big overhaul in iOS 11. The Spotlight updates in iOS 11 don’t seem quite as spectacular as the iPad’s new Dock, or drag-and-drop, but the small tweaks make the search tool a lot more useful.

Now you can search both your iPad and the web, similar to how you conduct a search in Safari. If you ever used Launchbar, Alfred or Quicksilver on the Mac, the new iOS 11 Spotlight will feel familiar.

Everything you need to know about iOS 11

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iPhone 7 iOS 11
The new Control Center is just one of many great new iOS 11 features.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Over the past two months, Cult of Mac scoured the iOS 11 betas to collect tips and tricks for Apple’s latest mobile operating system. We’ve covered everything, from the iPad’s amazing new Dock and Drag-and-Drop to the iPhone’s new lifesaving Do Not Disturb While Driving.

We’ve created this iOS 11 guide, which we will update going forward, so you can easily find links to our best iOS 11 tips and how-tos. Read on for more on the radically improved Notes app, iOS 11’s powerful new camera features and more.

Apple’s whimsical ads welcome users to the new App Store

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App Store
The App Store has undergone major renovations.
Photo: Apple

Big changes have been made to the App Store with the release of iOS 11 and Apple is ready to help users get acclimated in its latest series of ads.

The company published four new videos that showcase some of the new features. iOS 11 users will immediately notice the layout of the store is completely different thanks to the new Today section that makes finding new apps easier. Some of the UI changes have taken some cues from Apple News and Apple Music.

Check it out:

How iOS 11 frees up space on your iPhone or iPad

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How to free up storage space iOS 11
New features in iOS 11 make it easier to avoid the dreaded "Storage Almost Full" message.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

Running out of storage space on your iPhone or iPad is a total drag. It slows down your device and can make it impossible to download files or perform other essential tasks.

With iOS 11, Apple takes some serious steps to free up space on iOS devices. Here’s a quick look at how Apple will ease the pain when iOS 11 lands this fall, with instructions for taking advantage of the new features.