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The default passcode length on the Apple Watch is just four digits. And while it’s true that you don’t keep as much sensitive data on the smartwatch as you do on an iPhone, and that your Apple Watch is arguably safer from bad actors because it is always strapped to your wrist, it’s still worth making this passcode more secure. After all, it’s not like you have to enter your strong passcode very often, right?

Today we’ll see how to change your Apple Watch passcode to a longer one. And we’ll also check out a neat feature that lets you skip entering the passcode altogether.

Timely space-race drama For All Mankind just might propel Apple TV+ into becoming must-see TV. The show kicks off in the late 1960s, a couple of weeks before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin strap themselves into a giant metal tube full of fuel that’s aimed at the moon.

From there, the story takes a sharp turn away from history and examines what the world would look like if the USSR planted its flag on the moon first. Space is obviously a huge part of For All Mankind, but the way creator Ronald D. Moore uses it as a vehicle to tackle topics like family, patriotism and feminism is what makes the show worth watching.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Newly leaked screenshots depict an updated AirTags section in the “Find My” app. Although they are referred to by their codename “B389,” the screenshots show how AirTags findability will work.

AirPods are the rumored item tracker tags which promise to help users to locate bags, keys, and assorted other valuables.

Juuk’s awesome new Qrono is my favorite metal band for Apple Watch. I just reviewed the cosmic gray model and I absolutely love it. And now you can get yours in several new color options.

Find brun, obsidian, and silver in the Cult of Mac Store today.

You know how you can double-press the side button on your Apple Watch, and then wave it over a contactless terminal to pay with your credit card? Wouldn’t it be great if you could do the same with your Mac login password? Instead of having to type your password to authenticate yourself, you’d be able to double-tap the Apple Watch’s side button to do it instantly.

Well, now you can do exactly this — if you’re running macOS Catalina.

Night Mode is one of the iPhone 11’s two big new camera features (the other is the Ultra Wide lens). Night Mode captures lots and lots of images, and then uses the iPhone’s A13 Bionic processor to combine them, pulling out details not available in a single low-light shot.

It’s the computational-photography mad science equivalent of putting your regular camera on a tripod and opening up the shutter for a few seconds to let more light in. Only you don’t need the tripod, and the images should almost always end up sharp.

Here’s how to use iPhone 11’s Night Mode.

Apple’s new 10.2-inch iPad only arrived in stores yesterday, and already the good folks at iFixit have gotten hold of the device and cracked it open for a teardown.

Here’s what they found. (Hint: a lot of things stay the same, but there are a couple of neat touches!)

Look Around is Apple’s answer to Google’s Street View, and it’s about a zillion times better — if your area has coverage, that is. Look Around is just getting started, and covers very few places. Street View, on the other hand, is available for pretty much anywhere, including underwater, up mountains and on hiking trails.

Why is Look Around better? Well, it’s faster, for one. And it just looks nicer. The images are super-high-resolution and full-screen. Using it on a 13-inch iPad Pro feels like taking a virtual street tour of a neighborhood.

Is Apple Watch Series 5 really worth the upgrade if you already have an older model? The answer is yes if you care about an always-on display, according to the first reviews out today.

Here’s what everyone is saying about Apple’s newest wearable.

You spoke and Apple listened. There was widespread criticism that last year’s iPhones were too expensive, and so the just-announced iPhone 11 is a better device for less money.

Even as the target of negative comments, the iPhone XR was the world’s best-selling smartphone for many months. The cheaper replacement is going see even stronger sales because the iPhone 11 is certainly a better value.

How much space do duplicate files take up on your iPad? In theory, they use no extra storage. Thanks to the design of the Apple File System (APFS) used on iOS and macOS, duplicating a file doesn’t actually create a copy. It just creates a reference that points to the original file on the disk.

But what about File Providers, and iCloud, and all that stuff? I decided to take a deep dive and find out if you can really make a zillion copies of a file with no penalty. The results were, to say the least, confusing.

Apple added full transcript search to its podcast directory in iOS 13. Even though you can’t actually read the podcast transcripts, this is still huge. You can search across the content of podcast episodes the way you can search websites with DuckDuckGo (or other search engines) today.

Did you know you can send regular old green-bubble SMS (and MMS) messages from your iPad? And even from your Mac? Well, you can, and it is dead easy. It’s called Text Message Forwarding, and it works by using your iPhone as a conduit to the cellular phone network.

Let’s set it up and see how it works.

When you spend upwards of $1,000 on a smartphone, you shouldn’t rely on a $3 case to keep it safe. You should protect your investment by lavishing it in luxurious leather that keeps (almost) every inch of it suitably covered up.

That’s what I did with the gorgeous Ullu Pocket Wallet.

Handcrafted from Italian calf leather, this case carries your iPhone and credit cards in a compact, stylish package that won’t weigh you down. It protects your handset from scratches, scuffs, and dirt without getting in your way.

It’s also on sale right now — and you should get your own.

Production of Apple’s upcoming augmented reality glasses has supposedly been “terminated,” according to one of the worst sources of Apple rumors on the internet.

A number of websites have taken DigiTimes’ dubious report of the canceled Apple smart glasses as fact. However, after digging into iOS 13’s assets, one of the best Apple sleuths in the world says there’s still a lot of evidence that the AR glasses might come even sooner than expected.

When you send a photo to somebody in iOS 12 or earlier, you also share that photo’s location. If you upload a picture to a classified ad or auction site, you potentially show everyone exactly where you live. And if you send a photo to a friend or family member, they may share that image publicly (on Facebook, for instance) — and share your home address along with the picture.

In iOS 13, you can disable location sharing for any photo you share. Some annoying limits hurt this new feature, and you have to remember to do it every time you share an image or video, but it’s still a lot better than what we have in iOS 12.

Apple’s top leadership teams are seeing quite the shake-up today. First, we got news that design boss Jony Ive departing with two new people filling his shoes. Now it looks like Apple has a new senior VP of operations too.

We’ve seen magician Simon Pierro do things with an iPad that would amaze the smartest of Apple’s engineers.

Now he has a robot called Pepper in on the act.

I hate my friends. I want to show them a photo, or that screenshot I took of those cute otters, and all they can do is take one look, and then swipe off into the rest of my photos. And trust me, you don’t want to know what I have lurking back there. And I also hate myself, because I do the exact same thing without thinking. It’s human nature.

Some apps let you load up a few photos to show to other people, so they can’t pull back the virtual shower curtain and peek at your private photos. But these require that you do extra work to prepare them.

Happily, iOS offers a way to lock down a single image. That way, when you hand your iPhone or iPad over to a friend, or anyone else, they can’t swipe to other photos. In fact, they can’t do anything at all, because you’ve locked the whole touchscreen. Best of all, you can toggle this on and off in a second.

The iOS 13 Shortcuts app brings plenty of radical changes — automatic scheduled and location-based shortcuts, for example — but one super-neat new feature will make a world of difference. Now, if you have a compatible iPhone, you can combine NFC tags with Shortcuts. That is, you can run any shortcut just by tapping your iPhone onto an NFC sticker.

Seriously. Pretty wild, right? You could tap your iPhone onto a sticker atop a speaker in your kitchen, and it would start playing the radio, for instance. Let’s check out how NFC shortcuts will work.

The iPadOS beta is out, and it has one killer feature — mouse support. Not only can you use any Bluetooth mouse or trackpad to control the text-selection cursor on the iPad, you can use the mouse just like you would on a Mac — clicking buttons anywhere in the entire iPad user interface.

The feature is not on by default. It’s not even a regular checkbox. To enable mouse and trackpad support on your iPad, you have to dig into the Accessibility settings.

Ever wanted to resize a photo before sending it, or posting it to the web? The quickest and easiest way to do this is with a shortcut. And it’s even quicker and easier because I’ve already written it for you. All you have to do is share the photo from inside the Photos app, pick this shortcut, and you’re pretty much done. Check it out.

The Apple Smart Keyboard Folio turns an iPad Pro into an ultralight laptop, but it’s so slim it doesn’t do much to shield the tablet inside. We tested a sleeve from Dodocase that goes around Apple’s keyboard to protect both it and the iPad. It also improves the look of the keyboard case.

Be sure to read our hands-on review of the handy Keyboard Folio Sleeve.

Apple has finally given us the ability to pay for App Store, iTunes, and Books purchases with Apple Pay.

The company’s own mobile payments system can also be used for Apple Music and iCloud storage subscriptions. Here’s how to set it up.

Mother’s Day is on Sunday, so how about gifting a little something for her Apple Watch?

Cult of Mac has rounded up a beautiful collection of Apple Watch bands, chargers and stands specifically picked for Mom in our Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

If you mother is a nerd, a Luddite, a traveler or style maven, we’ve got the goods for her. There’s a unique gift for every Apple Watch-loving momma out there.