Top stories - page 245

It’s pretty hard to argue against the quality of AirPods and AirPods Pro — especially if you’re a fan of Apple products. Unfortunately, they come with a pretty hefty price tag. And while reviewers across the board can make the argument that they come loaded with premium features, you can find similarly high-quality earbuds for a fraction of the price.

These Sound Sense Bluetooth Earphones + Portable Charging Box are a great AirPods alternative, offering both high-quality sound and 30 hours of playback off a single charge.

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.

Quickly connect to Bluetooth devices by using Control Center on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You won’t need to fiddle around inside Settings or System Preferences — just a couple of taps is all it takes to start pairing.

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.

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.

Need to disable True Tone on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac? You could open the Settings app and dig around inside there for a few minutes until you find what you need. Or you could toggle the feature in an instant right inside Control Center.

We’ll show you how.

The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe includes both Lightning and USB Type-C connectors so it plugs into almost any computer. You can easily access the same collection of files from an iPhone, Mac or iPad without resorting to iCloud, etc. Even better, the drive is small and comes in an all-metal casing.

I tested the iXpand Luxe with multiple devices. Here’s its strengths and weaknesses.

If there’s one thing you should get a handle on, it’s your overall wellness. An Apple Watch works great for that, but you don’t necessarily need to spend the same amount of cash to get a robust fitness tracker. The Smart Fit Multi-Functional Wellness & Fitness Watch offers 15 high-tech features to help you monitor stats that will help you meet your fitness goals.

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.

Worried your iPhone or iPad battery isn’t going to last you all day? Activate Low Power Mode inside Control Center to minimize how much energy your device is consuming when it’s not being used. It’s super-simple to use, won’t get in your way, and it makes a big difference.

We’ll show you how and explain a similar feature — Power Reserve — that you can activate on Apple Watch.

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.

You don’t need to keep the Calculator app on your iPhone’s Home screen just to make it easy to find when you need it. Add it to Control Center instead and you’ll be ready to do math anywhere, anytime with just a swipe and a tap.

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 dig around inside the Settings app to activate Dark Mode on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Simply add the Dark Mode button to Control Center and you can quickly toggle it on or off in just a tap.

We’ll show you how in this Control Center pro tip.

If you’ve ever accidentally deleted some of your most important Mac files, keep reading. This data-saving app might just change your life.

Disk Drill Pro is an easy-to-use data-recovery app that allows you to recover documents, music, photos, videos or even whole partitions that have gone missing from your computer. That’s right: Those accidentally deleted files may not be lost forever as you feared.

While recovering your most precious files is priceless, Disk Drill Pro 4 is available now for just $49.99, making data retrieval easier and cheaper than ever before.

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.

Need to scan a QR code in a jiffy? Add a handy code reader to Control Center on iPhone and iPad that’s quick and easy to find in just a swipe. We’ll show you how.

iOS 14.5 is the best update of the pandemic era because it works with your Apple Watch to remove the hassle of unlocking your iPhone while wearing a face mask. You don’t have to type in your passcode every single damn time. The phone just unlocks. Like it’s supposed to.

But the trick does require an Apple Watch. If you’ve been on the bubble about getting one, this feature should go a long way toward convincing you. It serves as yet another elegant example of how Apple’s ecosystem offers users simple solutions to modern life’s annoyances.

If you’ve ever messed around with design software like Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign, you know they aren’t exactly intuitive — especially if you don’t have design experience.

However, owning effective marketing and design collateral is essential if you want to grow your brand. Luckily, when you’re short on time (and resources), technology is on your side. This RelayThat Design App: Lifetime Subscription helps you automatically produce the designs you need in just a fraction of the time, for whatever platform you need to publish your fresh new assets on.

The fresh emoji appearing in iOS 14.5 will set your heart afire. Or at least let you show that in texts. The new collection of pictographs also includes some new faces, and plenty of additional variations to show how we couple up in the 21st century.

iPad users get the same emoji thanks to iPadOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3, which also launched on Monday.

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.

iPhone and iPad just got a significant new privacy protection, preventing third-party apps from tracking you without permission. App Tracking Transparency debuted in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Here’s how to use it. And what to do about all the popups asking, “Allow [THIS APP] to track your activity?”

macOS Big Sur 11 was apparently such a significant update that Apple doesn’t have much to add in follow ups. Version 11.3 launched Tuesday bringing a collection of tweaks but not big changes.

Apple on Monday gave all iPhone users access to iOS 14.5. And iPad users can install iPadOS 14.5  Today’s updates bring a ton of new features, including unlocking an iPhone with an Apple Watch while wearing a mask.

The OS updates also bring App Tracking Transparency, a controversial change that makes it harder for apps to track users for targeted advertising. Other upgrades include new emoji, fresh Siri voices, additional features for Apple’s news and map apps, support for the just-announced AirTag trackers and a wholesale redesign of the Podcasts app.

watchOS 7.4, which is necessary for the new mask-friendly Face ID feature, and tvOS 14.5 also became available today, along with macOS Big Sur 11.3.

Redditor KunalBH bought a compact, no-frills Anker keyboard to use with his iPad in 2017. Now he’s asking the universe for help finding a worthy replacement (or additional) keyboard for his MacBook Pro-based setup.

Passionate suggestions are pouring in. See below for some of the leading contenders.

Need an affordable Mac that can handle all your everyday tasks? Order a powerful Mac mini or MacBook Pro refurb from Woot and save hundreds. Prices start at just $589.99, but the sale is good for today only.

Don’t miss out!

AirPods are famous for their seamless multi-device syncing ability. But there’s one snag that can annoy Mac users: The AirPods experience is optimized for iPhones and iPads, not macOS.

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.

Left your reading glasses at home? Switch system text sizes on the fly using Control Center to make text messages, emails, websites, and more easier to read on iPhone and iPad. 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.

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.

Want to capture what’s happening on the screen of your iPhone or iPad. Apple’s built-in screen recording feature makes that incredibly easy, and you can activate it 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.

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.