Apple's HomePod speaker can recognize the voices of up to six people and tailor the music selection to an individual user's taste profile, respond to their own Personal Requests, and access their information to help them with everyday tasks. Before you can make use of ‌HomePod‌'s multi-user voice support, you have to set up the feature, and there are a few steps involved. This article explains what they are and also offers a few troubleshooting tips if you're experiencing issues. Check That Your Software is Up-to-Date The first thing you need to do is ensure that the ‌HomePod‌ and the iPhones or iPads of the people who intend to use it are updated to iOS 13.2 or later or iPadOS 13.2 or later. You can check what software your iOS devices are running by opening the Settings app and selecting General -> Software Update. To check the software version of your ‌HomePod‌, launch the Home app on your iOS device, tap the home icon in the upper left corner of the display, then scroll down to Software Update. You can pull down from the top of the iPhone or iPad screen to check for an update if you need to. Turn on Share My Location in Find My Share My Location must be set to This Device on the ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ of every user who wishes to be recognized by ‌HomePod‌, including yours. Launch the Settings app on the ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap your name in the banner at the top of the screen. Tap ‌Find My‌. Tap the toggle next to Share My Location to turn it to the green ON position. Next, set My Location to This Device. Add People to Your Home Network Whoever wants to be

If you've ever handed your iPhone or iPad to a baby or toddler to entertain them while you do something else, you'll probably be aware of just how easily their little fingers can navigate into all manner of screens and settings they shouldn't be messing with. Fortunately, Apple includes a feature in iOS that allows you to keep your device locked into a single app and control which features are available. It's called Guided Access, and this article explains how you can use it. How to Enable Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap General. Tap Accessibility. Tap Guided Access under the General section at the bottom of the screen. Tap the switch next to Guided Access to toggle it to the green ON position and reveal further options. If you use any other accessibility options, turn on the switch next to Accessibility Shortcut so that you can access them when Guided Access is active, using a triple-click of the Home button or Side button (depending on your device). Tap Passcode Settings, then tap Set Guided Access Passcode to set a special passcode for exiting the feature. Optionally, turn on the toggle next to Face ID or Touch ID (depending on your device) if you want to be able to use biometric authentication to exit Guided Access. How to Use Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Launch the app that you want the user to have access to. In our example, we're using the BBC iPlayer app to play a kids' show. If your device has a Home button, triple-click it to enter the Guided Access initialization screen. If your

Express Transit is an Apple Pay feature that lets you make a payment without unlocking your Apple Watch using Face ID or Touch ID. Thanks to Express Transit, you can now make a transaction at a transit gate just by tapping your iPhone or ‌Apple Watch‌. But first you have to set it up. This article shows you how. Where Can I Use Express Transit? Apple has a web page that it updates with the countries and regions that support the feature. As of writing, Express Transit works in the following places: In mainland China with Beijing Transit cards and Shanghai Transit cards. In Japan with all forms of transit that accept Suica. In London with Transport for London (TfL). In New York City with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) terminals at select stations. In Portland, Oregon, with all forms of transit that accept Hop Fastpass.How to Set Up Express Transit on ‌iPhone‌ To set up Express Transit, you need to be using an ‌iPhone‌ 6s or later with iOS 12.3 or later installed. You can check what software version your device is running by going to Settings -> General -> Software Update. Obviously, you also need to have a registered at least one debit or credit card with ‌Apple Pay‌. That said, it's worth mentioning that not all banks support Express Transit, but you can find out if your bank does by following these steps. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌. Tap Wallet & ‌Apple Pay‌. Tap Express Travel Card. Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None. Authenticate

The official YouTube app for iOS has gained a new voice search feature that aims to make searching for content easier when you're casting YouTube video to a smart TV. Once you've connected your iPhone or iPad to a smart TV, you can search with your voice via the mobile app, as well as use it to pause, play, and adjust the volume on your TV. Here's how it works. Download and launch the YouTube app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap the Cast button at the top of the Home tab. Launch the YouTube app on your smart TV. If you haven't connected your iOS device to your smart TV before, select Link with TV code and then tap LEARN NOW under "Learn how to get a TV code." Otherwise, tap YouTube on TV to connect. When your iOS device is connected to your TV, you'll see an overlay on your device's screen with a volume slider, a Remote button, and the new Voice search button – tap it. Tap the red microphone icon, and when you hear the audible prompt, say the word or phrase that you want to search on YouTube. You should see the results of your voice search appear on your TV. And don't forget, you can use the Remote option in the YouTube app's mobile interface to navigate and select the content that shows up on your TV. According to German site SmartDroid, YouTube is currently working on improving the remote interface for controlling YouTube casting. The updated controls are said to include quicker access to captions and playback quality settings, but there's no word on when we can expect them to roll out for the iOS YouTube

Apple is offering up to six months of Apple Music for free to Shazam users, in what looks like a limited-time deal for the holdays. First spotted by Macworld UK, the trial offer currently available appears to vary in length depending on where you're located and whether you've redeemed a free trial of ‌Apple Music‌ in the past. However, if you're in the U.S., Canada, or the United Kingdom, then you should be able to get at least a month of free access out of it – and perhaps more – even if you've used an ‌Apple Music‌ free trial before. Here's how it works. Download the free Shazam app for iOS from the App Store. Launch the app on your iPhone or iPad. Swipe right to enter the Library screen, or tap the Library icon in the top-left corner of the screen. Tap the Try Now pane offering a free trial of ‌Apple Music‌ for a 'Limited Time.' Tap the Try it Free button. You'll be switched to the ‌App Store‌ to redeem a pre-entered code. Tap Redeem, and you'll be notified of the length of your free trial and the date from which you'll make your first monthly payment if you continue with the subscription.If you're wary of over-running the free trial, put a date in your diary to remind you when to cancel it. For steps on how to cancel an ‌Apple Music‌ subscription, click here

Since watchOS 6, Apple Watch has included a native Calculator app that offers a couple of handy features for working out how much you should tip and how much each person in a group owes if you're splitting the bill. The steps below show you how it's done. Note that the two features can be used together, but you can also use them independently by selecting a 0% tip and changing the number of people, or changing the tip and leaving the People field set to 1. How to Use the Split Bill and Tip Calculator Functions on ‌Apple Watch‌ Launch the Calculator app on your ‌Apple Watch‌. Enter the total amount of the bill. Tap the TIP button in the top-right corner, just left of the divide button. With the Tip field highlighted in green, turn your watch's Digital Crown to change the percentage. To split the bill between a group of people, tap People and then use the Digital Crown to change the number (the maximum is 50).You'll see the total amount below the two fields change to reflect your tip adjustments, and the amount below that will change depending on how many people are paying. Here's another little tip: If you don't use the TIP function, you can actually change the button on the calculator layout to a standard percentage (%) function. Simply press firmly on the main calculator screen and tap either Tip Function or Percent.

If your Apple ID is locked or disabled, you won't be able to sign in to any Apple services. Keep reading to learn how you can regain access. If you or someone else enters your password, security questions, or other account information incorrectly too many times, Apple automatically locks your Apple ID for security reasons. If that's happened to your account, here are some of the kinds of messages you'll see: "This Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons." "You can't sign in because your account was disabled for security reasons." "This Apple ID has been locked for security reasons."Fortunately, you can unlock your Apple ID fairly quickly by verifying your identity. Here's how it works. How to Unlock a Disabled Apple ID Open a browser and go to iforgot.apple.com. Enter your Apple ID email in the box. Follow the onscreen prompts and answer the questions to verify that you are the owner of the account. If you're having trouble, call Apple support on 800-APL-CARE (800-275-2273) or chat to an Apple specialist online. After you change your password, you might need to update it in your iCloud settings and in any Apple services that you sign in to with your Apple ID.

iCloud is Apple's cloud platform that serves and secures all Apple devices. It can save and synchronize all your photos, contacts, files, reminders, and notes, and you can also use it to store device backups. You can access and manage your iCloud data on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and the web. Keep reading to learn how. ‌iCloud‌ stores your content securely and keeps your apps up to date across all your devices. That means all your data is safe and accessible wherever you are where there's an active internet connection available. ‌iCloud‌ Backups are another indispensable service from ‌iCloud‌. With an ‌iCloud‌ Backup of your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌, you can restore it on a new device, or use it if you need to erase or restore a device. ‌iCloud‌ comes with 5GB of free storage and you can add more storage at any time. The 50GB plan costs $0.99 per month, while the 200GB and 2TB plans cost $2.99 and $9.99 per month, respectively. How to Access ‌iCloud‌ on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap your name in the banner at the top. Tap ‌iCloud‌. Use the toggles next to the apps and data for syncing or unsyncing them to ‌iCloud‌. Scroll down and tap ‌iCloud‌ Backup to automatically make backups of your iOS device to the cloud. Keep scrolling down to manage any third-party apps you have installed that can sync with iCloud.How to Access ‌iCloud‌ on Mac Click the Apple  symbol in the top-left corner of your screen. Click System Preferences.... Click ‌iCloud‌. Use the checkboxes next to the apps and data for syncing or unsyncing them to ‌iCloud‌. Ther

If you just bought a new iPhone and then decided you want to get AppleCare+ for it, you can do so within a limited time period, even if you didn't buy the ‌iPhone‌ directly from Apple. Keep reading to learn how. Apple offers ‌AppleCare‌+ protection to customers going through the ‌iPhone‌ order process on its online store, but it's perfectly possible to get coverage after you've received your ‌iPhone‌, even if it's a refurbished device. What is ‌AppleCare‌+ and How Much Does it Cost? Apple includes a one-year limited warranty with all hardware and up to 90 days of technical support, so if a manufacturing defect arises within this period, you’re automatically covered. Buying ‌AppleCare‌+ basically extends your ‌iPhone‌ warranty to two years and also includes protection for physical damage, including up to two incidents of accidental damage, each subject to an excess fee of $29 for screen damage, or $99 for any other damage. In addition, ‌AppleCare‌+ gets you 24/7 priority access to Apple experts via chat or phone. ‌AppleCare‌+ prices depend on the model of ‌iPhone‌ you have. As of writing, Apple's prices are as follows:iPhone 8 – ‌AppleCare‌+ cost $129 ‌iPhone 8‌ Plus and iPhone XR – ‌AppleCare‌+ cost $149. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro – ‌AppleCare‌+ cost $199.What About Coverage for Theft and Loss? ‌AppleCare‌+ coverage for theft and loss is a separate plan, and theft and loss coverage requires you to have Find My ‌iPhone‌ enabled on your device at the time it is lost or stolen. ‌AppleCare‌+ with Theft and Loss prices depend on the model of ‌iPhone‌ you have. As of writing, Apple's

Some websites don't have a dedicated mobile app for accessing their content, but that doesn't mean you can't add bookmarks to favorite websites on your Home screen. Creating a bookmark on your Home screen lets you use it as a one-tap portal to access specific online content, instead of having to open a browser and then select a bookmark or type in a website's URL address. When you tap a website bookmark on your Home screen, it opens in Safari on the specific page you selected. If the site you're linking to has a dynamic mobile-friendly layout, accessing it from your Home screen can even become an app-like experience. What's more, you can create as many website links as you like and arrange them on your iPhone or iPad Home screen, just like you would with regular apps. Here's how it works. How to Create a Website Link on Your Home Screen Launch Safari on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Navigate to the site that you want to create a Home screen shortcut to. Tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow pointing out of it) at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down to the list of actions and tap Add to Home Screen. (If you don't see the action, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit Actions, then tap Add next to the Add to Home Screen action. After that, you'll be able to select it from the Share Sheet.) Type a name for your site link. This will be the title that appears beneath its icon on your Home screen. Tap Add in the top-right corner of the screen.Your new "web app" will appear in the next available space on your device's Home screen. To move it like you would any

In iOS 13.3, Apple added new Communication Limits to its Screen Time options, which let parents control who their children are able to contact. If you're not familiar with Apple's Screen Time functions, they enable users to keep track of their device usage and place self-imposed limits on the time they spend using their iPhone or iPad. Screen Time also serves as a parental control system for parents. The latest feature addition, Communication Limits, lets parents manage who their children are able to contact through FaceTime, Phone, Messages, and iCloud Contacts. The new options allow contacts only or everyone to be contacted during a child's allotted Screen Time, and there's a toggle that either allows or prevents people from being added to a group chat when a contact or family member is in the group. There's also a separate setting for communication limits during downtime, which can be set to allow everyone or just specific contacts. Follow the steps below to set your preferences for your child's Screen Time and Downtime. How to Set Communication Limits During Allowed Screen Time in iOS Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap Screen Time. Tap Communication Limits. Tap During Allowed Screen Time. Under Allowed Communication, select Everyone or Contacts Only. To allow people to be added to group conversations when an ‌iCloud‌ contact or a family member is in the same group, tap the toggle next to Allow Introductions in Groups so that it's in the green ON position. How to Set Communication Limits During Downtime in iOS Launch the Setting

Messages in iCloud, as the name suggests, stores your iMessages in Apple's cloud servers rather than on each of your individual devices, which has a number of benefits. When you receive a message on one device, it shows up on all devices logged into the same ‌iCloud‌ account. Likewise, when you delete messages and conversations they are instantly removed from all your devices. Another advantage of the feature is that your messages, photos, and other message attachments are stored in ‌iCloud‌, which frees up space on your devices. In addition, all your messages appear when you sign into a new device with the same ‌iCloud‌ account. To make sure that Messages in ‌iCloud‌ is turned on for you, follow these steps. How to Enable Messages in ‌iCloud‌ on iOS Bear in mind that iOS 11.4 or later must be running on your device for the feature to work. If you haven't already, enable two-factor authentication on your Apple account. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap your name in the banner at the top. Tap ‌iCloud‌. Make sure the switch next to Messages is toggled to its green ON position.How to Enable Messages in ‌iCloud‌ on Mac Note that Messages in ‌iCloud‌ only works on Macs running macOS High Sierra (10.13.5) or later. Launch the Messages app on your Mac – you can find it in the Applications folder. It can also be found in the Dock on new Macs. If this is your first time using Messages on Mac, you'll be asked to sign in. Enter the same Apple ID that you use with Messages on your ‌iPhone‌ and other Apple devices. If you have two-step or two-factor

In iOS 13.3, Apple has made improvements to its stock Messages app in order to minimize the amount of junk messages that users receive. However, the feature isn't always accurate and can sometimes prevent legitimate messages from being delivered as normal. If you're trying to send a message to someone on your iPhone and you see an alert that says the message was "delivered as junk," here's what you can do to make sure it doesn't happen again. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or iPad. Tap Messages. Tap Send & Receive. Make sure that only your phone number is selected under Start New Conversations From. (If your Apple ID is selected, the messages will be delivered as junk.)If that doesn't fix things, ask the person that you're trying to message to make sure that your phone number is in their Contacts. Also, ask the person that you're trying to message to send you a message first to start the conversation. Note that if you're on an ‌iPad‌ or iPod touch, you'll need to turn on Text Message Forwarding from your ‌iPhone‌ for your messages to be sent at

Apple TV+ has been praised for offering content in the highest streaming quality provided by any video streaming service. The only problem is that higher quality requires more bandwidth, and that isn't great news if you're watching on iPhone or iPad using a cellular connection and have a data cap to consider. Fortunately, you can change streaming quality settings for the Apple TV+ platform. Keep reading to learn how. How High is ‌Apple TV‌+ Streaming Quality? ‌Apple TV‌+ has the highest 4K streaming quality offered by a streaming service that supports 4K, according to tests conducted by FlatpanelsHD. For example, Apple original "See" is streamed at the highest bitrate on the platform, at an average of 29Mb/s video bitrate and a 41Mb/s peak. That's almost twice the video bitrate of a typical HD Blu-ray disc and around half of a typical UHD Blu-ray disc. By default, ‌Apple TV‌+ dynamically adjusts this bitrate based on the device that's being used, but always with a view to maximizing the quality. However, that behavior can be tempered by changing a single setting in iOS. Follow the steps below to do just that. How to Change ‌Apple TV‌+ Streaming Quality Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap TV. Tap iTunes Videos. Under Playback Quality, tap Wi-Fi or Mobile Data. Tap Good so that a tick appears alongside it.The data savings you can expect by changing this option will vary depending on the content you're watching, but in our tests we found that switching from Best Available to Good reduced streaming bandwidth by around 40 percent over

If your iPhone or iPad storage space is dwindling at an alarming rate or your device feels like it's getting slower, then you could benefit from clearing the cache that apps use. Cached data includes all the files and images that are kept in your device's memory, which is meant to help apps avoid having to request the same data repeatedly and thereby keep things speedy – in theory. In fact, it's possible for an overzealous app to fill up your ‌iPhone‌'s cache to the point where overall performance takes a hit. So it's good practice to spring-clean the cache now and again to ensure your device isn't bogged down unnecessarily. Here's how. How to Clear ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Cache The following steps clear all cookies and web data cached on your device by Safari, although AutoFill information remains unchanged. Note that when you clear Safari browsing history on a device running iOS 11 or higher, the same logs are cleared on any other devices signed into the same iCloud account. Open the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ and scroll down to Safari in the list. Scroll to the Privacy & Security section and tap the blue Clear History and Website Data option near the bottom of the menu. (Note that this setting might be grayed out if there's already no history to clear or if parental controls are set for websites.) Tap Clear History and Data in the popup pane to confirm. How to Clear ‌iPhone‌ Cache for Third-Party Apps The way to clear the cache used by third-party apps on your ‌iPhone‌ varies from app to app. For example, there's a cache reset option for Slack in the

Each year that Apple releases a major new version of macOS, a few older Mac models that ran the previous version usually fail to make the new list of officially supported Macs. In the case of Catalina, the latest macOS version, the operating system doesn't work on models released before mid-2012 (and Mac Pros before late 2013). Apple's official list of Macs supporting macOS Catalina: MacBook (Early 2015 or newer) MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer) MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer) Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer) iMac (Late 2012 or newer) iMac Pro (2017) Mac Pro (Late 2013)To check if your Mac is compatible, open the Apple () menu in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen and select About This Mac. Look just below the OS X version number in the Overview tab – if the Mac model name is the same or a later model year than the one shown in the compatibility list above, your Mac is compatible with ‌macOS Catalina‌. What You Can Do if You Have an Unsupported Mac If your Mac is too old to make it onto the above list, Apple has decided that it lacks the hardware required to meet the demands of Catalina. But that doesn't mean there's no way that you can get it running. DosDude Catalina Patcher is a popular third-party tool that allows users to patch the MacOS Catalina installer on otherwise unsupported Macs. Of course, just because you can do this, doesn't mean you should, as there's a good chance that performance will be sub-optimal, while Catalina features may depend on modern Mac hardware (Sidecar, for example) and likely won't work at all.

Google Photos for iOS offers users several picture and video sharing options like live albums, shared libraries, and shared albums, and now Google has built a messaging service into its ‌Photos‌ app that makes it possible to share individual snaps and video clips as part of an ongoing conversation. Why Add a Messaging Service to a ‌Photos‌ App? Previously, sharing individual photos through the app was done by creating an album for the photo and sharing a link to it, but user feedback suggested to Google that this sharing option could be a simpler experience, so it's adding an option to share individual photos as part of an ongoing, private conversation. You can like photos or comment in the conversation, and you can save photos or videos to your own gallery. Google says the new messaging feature isn't designed to replace the chat apps you already use, but it hopes that by including an option, users will find sharing moments with friends and family easier than before. Here's how it works. How to Share Media in a Google ‌Photos‌ Chat Thread Launch the Google ‌Photos‌ app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap a picture in your library that you want to share. Tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow pointing out). Type in the name or email address of the person with whom you want to share the photo, or select a contact from the Share Sheet options. You can also start a group chat by adding as many people as you like. Type a message to accompany the photo, then tap Send. You can keep up with the chat thread that you just created via the Sharing tab. You can easily share

Since the release of iOS 13, Apple has included a system-wide Dark Mode option for iPhones and iPads, similar to the one it brought to the Mac in 2018 with the release of macOS Mojave. Many third-party app developers have since added support for Dark mode to their apps, although it has to be said that some popular apps have been quicker than others. On September 24, 2019, Google announced a new dark mode for its Gmail app, but rollout of the feature has been glacially slow. Fast forward to December, and the option still isn't showing up for all its users. You can follow the steps below to find out if it's available for you. Okay, But Why Should I Use ‌Dark Mode‌ in Gmail? The Dark theme in Gmail is designed to be easier on the eyes by providing less harsh display brightness in situations where ambient lighting is lower, while maintaining contrast and vibrancy. If you have an OLED iPhone, such as an ‌iPhone‌ X, iPhone XS, or iPhone 11 Pro, enabling ‌Dark Mode‌ can also conserve battery life, since black pixels in an OLED panel basically switch off and consume far less power. How to Enable ‌Dark Mode‌ in Gmail for iOS Launch the Gmail app on your ‌iPhone‌ or iPad. Tap the Menu icon (the three lines) in the top-left corner of the screen. Scroll down and tap Settings. Tap Theme. (If you don't see the option, try force-quitting and then relaunching the app.) Select Light, Dark, or System default. The latter option makes Gmail's theme default to your device's system settings, which is a useful option if you've set the appearance of iOS to change automatically

Spotify added a Sleep Timer to its Android app earlier this year, and this week, it's making the feature available for Spotify users on iPhone and iPad. Keep reading to learn how to use the Sleep Timer and get a good night's sleep. What's the Spotify Sleep Timer For? Basically, the Sleep Timer feature is for anyone who goes to bed with Spotify playing on their iOS device and wants it to automatically stop playing after they've fallen asleep. It's a useful function to have if you don't want your ‌iPhone‌ playing through that carefully chosen playlist or podcast series when you're not awake to enjoy it. It can also help save your battery, and potentially your data allowance if you're streaming over cellular. How to Use the Spotify Sleep Timer Spotify is rolling out the feature via a software update, so make sure you've downloaded the latest version of the Spotify app from the App Store before following these steps. If you don't see the function in the Spotify app, check back later in the day, by which time the rollout will have hopefully reached you. Launch the Spotify app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Start playing your music or podcast of choice. Select the "now playing" screen so that the artwork and playback controls are front and center. If you're listening to music, tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the screen. If you're listening to a podcast, tap the little moon icon in the bottom-right corner. Scroll down and select Sleep Timer from the list of options that appear. Select a duration for your timer. There are six increments to choose from,

If you take your Mac everywhere with you, there's a good chance that it has connected to a number of private and public Wi-Fi networks over that time. These networks are remembered by macOS so that in the event that your Mac encounters one of them again, it can connect to it automatically and you won't have to manually select it or enter the password. If you want, you can edit this list of "preferred networks" that your Mac keeps and change individual network connection settings. Whether you want to remove redundant networks or just forget a specific one, the following steps guide you through the process. How to Forget a Wireless Network on Mac Click the Wi-Fi icon in the top-right corner of the Mac menu bar. Select Open Network Preferences.... Click Advanced. Click a network in the list to select it. (To select multiple networks, hold the Command key while clicking them.) You can also drag networks higher up the list to prioritize them over other local networks. Click the minus ("–") icon below the list to forget the selected network. Note that in the main Network pane of System Preferences there are two checkboxes. The first allows you to specify whether your Mac is allowed to automatically join the currently connected network, while the second allows you to force your Mac to ask you before it joins new