| Cult of Mac

How to use Apple Maps public transit directions

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Stockholm's excellent public transit.
Stockholm's excellent public transit.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple Maps offers surprisingly great public transport features. It recently expanded transit directions across Europe, so you can get “turn-by-turn” directions for metro, tram and other modes of public transit.

Even if your city isn’t yet covered by these directions, there’s still a whole lot of really useful information available. For instance, just tap a station on the map, and it will show all upcoming departures.

Let’s take a look at Apple Maps public transit features.

Stay secure on public Wi-Fi networks with a VPN [Deals]

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pexels-photo-227690
Protect your online activity and browse without restriction for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Whether you travel for the holidays or as part of your everyday life, going online on the road typically means being vulnerable to threats. Snoops and identity thieves love public Wi-Fi networks. For protection and peace of mind on the go, your best bet is a VPN.

This eSIM lets you roam in Europe and the US

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Finally, your can leave your travel SIMs at home.
Finally, your can leave your travel SIMs at home.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

KnowRoaming’s new eSIM lets travelers in the United States and Europe add a new roaming SIM to their late-model iPhone or iPad, just by scanning a barcode. So, if you’re already on vacation, and you can’t bring yourself to speak to the locals, you can easily sign up and get started — all without a physical SIM card.

How to save gigabytes of data while traveling

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Nothing says
Nothing says "freedom" and "pioneer spirit" like a creepy abandoned canoe.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Summer! That time of year where you stay in somebody else’s home via Airbnb, crank up their air conditioning and wear a sweater in the house, even though it’s 90 degrees outside. Aka the season where you leave the limitless comfort of your home Wi-Fi, to venture out into the world using just a restricted cellular plan.

Summer revives that old pioneering spirit of hardship, the bare essentials of living, and of making do with whatever you have. And just like the original English and Spanish invaders of the modern-day United States, you’ll have to do without the comforts of on-demand GPS and automatic app updates.

Today we’ll see how you can stretch your meager data allowance while traveling.

The perfect minimalist travel kit for iPhone and iPad fans

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The Bagsmart travel organizer
Everything in its place.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

I don’t travel much, but when I do, I like to do it properly. And by “properly,” I mean with all my gadgets organized. Yes, you can drop your chargers into the bottom of your backpack or suitcase. Or you can stuff them into a pocket.

But they’ll get damaged, you’ll end up losing something, and if you need to take out one charger, adapter, dongle or cable, you’ll end up dropping the rest all over the floor of the departure lounge.

You need to get organized, and here’s one great way to do it.

How to instantly track a flight from the Messages app

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This flight tracker is built into every iPhone and iPad track flights
This flight tracker is built into every iPhone and iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

It’s Christmas season, and you know what that means: Extra-long queues at airport check-in and “security;” once-a-year travelers who won’t just get out of the plane’s aisle and just sit the hell down; and of course parents/kids/friends who insist that you never emailed them the details of your flight.

We can’t fix the queues, the morons who mill in the aisles, or your lying friends and family, but I can show you how to quickly track a flight right from the Messages app, or anywhere else you see a flight number written down on your iPhone. Let’s take a look.

Meet the guy who built an iPhone from scratch

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Scotty Allen
Scotty Allen takes his viewers to Strange Parts for unvarnished stories about technology.
Photo: Scotty Allen

Millions have watched Scotty Allen build an iPhone from parts mined from the electronics markets of Shenzhen, China.

DIYers and hackers write Allen, eager to repeat his geeky feat. So do people from third-world countries looking for an affordable way to get their hands on a pricey device that imparts status.

Allen, 39, loves the wild enthusiasm his YouTube videos have sparked, but the scratch iPhone isn’t the point.