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iOS 13 spills ‘Items’ tracking ahead of Apple tags

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Tile will speak out against Apple in Congress antitrust hearing
Tile will speak out against Apple in Congress antitrust hearing
Photo: Tile

iOS 13 screenshots have revealed a new “Items” tracking feature that appears to pave the way for rumored “Apple Tags.”

Baked into the Find My app, but currently hidden in the public version of the software, the Items section appears alongside People and Devices and lets you “keep track of your everyday items.”

How to use iOS 13’s Audio Sharing

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Audio sharing in iOS 13
Look how friendly these people are. Just look.
Photo: Apple

In iOS 13, you can share songs and watch movies with a friend, with each of you using your own AirPods. The new feature is called Audio Sharing, and it lets you instantly — and temporarily — pair a second set of AirPods to your iPhone or iPad. It’s like the olde schoole method of using a headphone splitter to plug two sets of headphones into one jack socket, only way more expensive and fancy.

Here’s how to use it.

Check out these great hidden features in iOS 13’s Reminders app

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iOS-13-reminders-app
The new iOS 13 Reminders app.
Photo: Ben Geskin

Apple’s Reminders app gets a massive update in iPadOS and iOS 13. It’s no longer a joke app that needs a million taps just to set a notification time on your action item. We already know about the new layout, which splits tasks into Today, Scheduled, All and Lists, and we also know about the excellent new natural-language input, which makes typing a reminder as easy as dictating it to Siri.

But the big update also brings some other new features you likely haven’t heard about yet: Today Notifications and Type to Siri (right there in the Spotlight screen).

How to get around with Apple Maps’ Look Around in iOS 13

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Look around on iPad
Look Around is like GTA, only you can't steal cars or murder people.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

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.

Check out the amazing new iOS 13 video-editing features

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iOS 13 video editing
Confused?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

In iPadOS and iOS 13, you can edit videos just the same way you’ve always ben able to edit photos. You can crop them, rotate them, add filters and adjust their color. And — finally — you can simply save the edited version instead of spawning a copy every time you make a simple trim. No need for iMovie — the iOS Photos app can now perform radical edits to videos. This isn’t limited to the iPhones 11, either. You can do all this on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 13.

Check out the great new iOS 13 video editing features:

3 ways to block annoying calls and messages in iOS 13

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Red pillarbox
It's even simpler to block email, messages and unknown callers in iOS 13.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The trouble with modern technology is that anyone can try to reach you, at any time. Your boss can leave a passive aggressive email at the top of your inbox overnight, so you see it when you want to check personal mail. Anyone can send you an SMS or iMessage. And anyone with your phone number can spam you, any time.

Currently in iOS, you can block iMessage senders. But in iOS 13, you gain two new ways to keep stalkers, weird friends and over-sharing co-workers out of your digital life. Now you can block unknown phone callers and email senders.

Get your game on: Apple Arcade opens for business [Review]

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Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade has a surprisingly wide array of games for a service launching today.
Photo: Apple

You can write off being productive for the rest of the day because Apple Arcade just launched. This all-you-can-play gaming service brings dozens of titles in a variety of genres. The monthly cost is fairly low, and games can be played on almost every type of Apple computer.

Thanks to early access, I’ve been enjoying Apple Arcade for several days. Here’s why I think you’ll like it too.

8 great iOS 13 and iPadOS features (and 2 terrible ones)

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With iPadOS, you're one step closer to replacing your Mac with an iPad.
With iPadOS, you're one step closer to replacing your Mac with an iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iPadOS 13 brings some real game-changing new features, plus a lot of excellent comfort tweaks that make using it much easier. And iOS 13 is no slouch.

Today I’ll list my favorite new features in iOS 13 and iPadOS, along with a few changes I’d be happy to live without.

Check out the next-level photo editing tools in iOS 13

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In iOS 13, Photos is now an image-editing powerhouse
In iOS 13, Photos is now an image-editing powerhouse
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The Photos app in iOS 13 is now good enough that you may never need another app to edit your photos, for regular edits at least. Somehow Apple made the app even easier to use, and added some new features, while making existing features far easier to find.

For instance, Portrait Mode now gets its own tab; the automatic magic wand tool can now be fine-tuned (as can the built-in filters); and the crop tool now fixes perspective, and mirror-flips your photos.

iOS 13 is out now, but here’s why you might wait to install it

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iOS 13
iOS 13 is loaded with new features.
Screen capture: Apple

The long wait for the next version of iOS is finally over. Apple just released the upgrade to iOS 13 to iPhone users, bringing Dark Mode, a better version of Safari, and lots more improvements.

iPad users won’t get their version until next week. And even iPhone owners might consider holding off until that same time.

Form’s AR swim goggles blow Apple Watch out of the water [Review]

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Will AR swim goggles replace Apple Watch in the pool?
Now you can check your heart rate while you are swimming
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Fitness tech startup Form launches its first product today: augmented reality swimming goggles.

You might think AR sounds like a bit of a gimmick for swimmers. I certainly did. My Apple Watch already does a pretty good job of logging my swimming workouts, so I didn’t see the need for yet another gadget.

But after testing a pair of Form Swim Goggles for the past month, I’m so impressed that I’ll never use my Apple Watch in the pool again.

How to use Safari’s amazing new settings in iOS 13

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safari
Not this kind of safari.
Photo: Cult of Mac/Charlie Sorrel

Safari’s new “desktop-class” features are getting all the press in iPadOS, but the new download folder, and better website support aren’t everything. There’s also a new in-app settings panels with a ton of options — per-site text size, for example — and even a new font in the Safari Reader View. Let’s check it out.

How to use the new copy, paste and undo gestures in iPadOS 13

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iPadOS productivity gestures
This is how text editing used to feel on iOS.
Photo: Jason Leung/Unsplash

It wasn’t until I installed iPadOS on my regular iPad that I realized how great iOS 13 is. It’s one thing to run it on an old, battered test unit, but a whole other thing to use it day to day. And, surprisingly, it’s the small features that make the biggest difference. The per-page view setting in Safari, for example. Or the new multi-app Slide Over panel. And, more than anything else, the new text-editing gestures, which are finally good enough to replace a mouse and a Mac.

Let’s take a look at how to use iPadOS 13’s new copy, paste, undo and redo gestures, plus text selection in general.

Learn how to work from anywhere, on your own terms [Deals]

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The Become A Solopreneur Expert Bundle
Master the tools and concepts of solo entrepreneurship.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

In these days of freelancing and precarious employment, more and more people are striking out on their own. It doesn’t have to feel uneasy, though — if you have the right tools and skills.

If you’re thinking of working on your own terms, this lesson bundle is a great place to start.

Everything you need to know about iOS 13

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Pile of usb junk
iOS 13 lets you plug almost any USB device into your iPhone or iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 13, which launches today, focuses more on adding a range of incredibly useful features and tweaks rather than pursuing a bold, overarching new direction. For instance, Safari on iPad now functions as a full desktop browser, just like on your Mac. Another great addition is the redesigned share sheet, which includes a top row of one-tap buttons for easily sharing with friends via iMessage. If you’re curious about when someone shares their location how do you see it, iOS also introduces enhancements to location-sharing features, which you can learn more about here.

Or, in iPadOS 13, which ships at the end of the month, you can plug in pretty much any USB device and it will work. Hard drives, SD cards full of movies, anything.

So, while you’re waiting for the new version of iOS to install on your device(s), check out all the new iOS 13 features right here.

iPhone 11 could be hiding extra 2GB of camera RAM

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iPhone-11-Pro-camera
Google won't let original photos go free.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new iPhone 11 lineup may be hiding an additional 2GB of RAM allocated exclusively to its camera.

We learned this week that iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max pack 4GB of system RAM for everyday tasks. But it now appears there could be more, fenced off for one important funtion.

10.2-inch iPad’s entry-level specs match its budget price

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Here’s the 10.2-inch iPad for 2019.
Despite a larger display, the 2019 iPad has much in common with last year’s model.
Photo: Apple

The recently-announced 10.2-inch iPad replaces the 9.7-inch iPad in Apple’s lineup, but it’s not a big jump in internal specifications.

That said, Apple’s latest tablet reportedly has more RAM than its predecessor.

First iPhone 11 Pro Max teardown shows off gigantic new battery

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iPhone Pro Max battery life gets an extra 5 hours
A larger battery will contribute to a longer time between charges for the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Screenshot: Apple

A teardown video divulges one of the specs Apple refuses to reveal about the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The new phone includes a 3,969 mAh battery, significantly larger than the one inside the XS Max.

See other internal details of Apple’s new flagship device by watching the teardown video below.

Apple rolls out iOS 13.1 beta 4 ahead of September 30 release

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iOS-13
Go download it now!
Photo: Apple

Apple today rolled out iOS 13.1 beta four ahead of the update’s public release on September 30.

The latest release is available to both public and developer testers. It doesn’t appear to make any obvious changes, so likely focuses on performance and stability improvements.

iPhone 11 uses Intel’s last 4G modem

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intel
The days when iPhones use Intel modems are almost over, but not yet.
Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

The end of the Apple’s war with Qualcomm didn’t come soon enough for this chip maker to get its 4G modems into the 2019 iPhone models. All three of Apple’s new handsets use a modem designed before Intel got out of this business.

Which possibly means this phone isn’t as fast as it could be.