How Tos

Starting with tvOS 26.2, Apple TVs began displaying a user profile selection screen every time you wake the device from sleep. The feature helps households with multiple users maintain separate viewing histories and recommendations, but it can feel like an unnecessary step if you're the sole user. Fortunately, Apple lets you disable this prompt entirely. Here's how to turn off the user...

Apple in macOS Tahoe 26.2 introduced Edge Light, a clever new feature that turns your Mac's display into a virtual ring light during video calls. Instead of fumbling with external lighting equipment, your Mac can now illuminate your face automatically when you're sitting in a dark room. Basically, Edge Light adds a soft glow around the edges of your display to brighten your face during video ...

Unlike some Android phones, iPhones don't have a dedicated notification LED that lights up when you get a call, text, or other alert. What iPhones do include is an optional Accessibility feature for the deaf and hard of hearing that blinks the rear camera flash and provides a visual cue for incoming notifications. And in iOS 26.2, Apple has added the ability to flash the front display, too....

In macOS Tahoe 26, Apple gave Spotlight a major update with a visual overhaul, clipboard access, and Actions for performing tasks within apps directly from the search bar. There's quite a lot of hidden potential in Spotlight's new manifestation. Below, we've put together a cheat sheet of Spotlight functionality to help you make the most of it. Getting Started With Spotlight You can open...

Apple has changed how you dismiss iPhone alarms in iOS 26.1, and your morning muscle memory may have needed tweaking as a result. By default, the Clock app now requires a slide gesture to stop an alarm from the Lock Screen, replacing the previous tap-to-stop button that was redesigned in iOS 26. Snoozing still works with a simple tap, but turning off an alarm entirely demands the extra swipe...

Apple doesn't currently allow iPhone users to change the Side button's Siri functionality to another assistant, but owners of iPhone 15 Pro and newer models can assign ChatGPT to the Action button instead. Keep reading to learn how. OpenAI's free ChatGPT app for iPhone lets you interact with the chatbot using text or voice. What's more, if you assign voice mode directly to the Action button, ...

In iOS 26.2, currently in beta, Apple has added a new optional feature that provides the Reminders app with a more urgent notification system. When you need to ensure you don't miss an important task, you can now set an alarm that works just like your morning wake-up call, with a snooze button and slide-to-stop slider. The feature distinguishes Reminder alarms from standard Clock alarms by...

In iOS 26.1, Apple has introcued a welcome change for anyone who's ever accidentally launched the Camera app while pulling their iPhone out of their pocket or bag. For the first time, you can now disable the Lock Screen's swipe-to-open-camera gesture. The Lock Screen camera gesture has been a staple ‌iPhone‌ feature for years, allowing you to quickly swipe left to capture spontaneous moments....

Apple's redesigned Phone app in iOS 26 introduces a unified view that combines recents, favorite contacts, and search on a single screen. But if you prefer the familiar tabbed interface from iOS 18, you can easily switch back to the classic layout. The Classic Phone app layout in iOS 26 What's Different in iOS 26 The new unified design consolidates recent phone activity into one...

With iOS 26, Apple introduced a radically new design material called Liquid Glass which focuses on transparency in order to let the content on your display shine through the controls. Not everyone likes it though – so Apple has responded by adding a new toggle in iOS 26.1 that lets you tone down the effects. Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new...

In watchOS 26, Apple made the Control Center more customizable than ever. You can rearrange it and add third-party app controls, and if you don't like your changes, you can revert to the original design. Here's how it works. With watchOS 26, the Apple Watch Control Center got a major upgrade. It still offers instant access to default functions like turning on the flashlight, toggling Low...

In iOS 26, Apple has added new call filtering options to FaceTime. You can still silence unknown callers, but you can now have missed calls and voicemails from unsaved numbers sorted into an Unknown Callers list that's hidden from view unless you select it. Enable FaceTime Call Filtering Call filtering for FaceTime is opt-in, so if you often get calls from unknown numbers, you can turn it...

In iOS 26, Apple has extended its Sensitive Content Warning protection to FaceTime video calls. Previously the feature only worked in Contacts, Messages, AirDrop, and shared photo albums. When the feature's enabled, your iPhone uses on-device machine learning to detect nudity during live FaceTime calls and pauses the video feed before displaying potentially sensitive content. The way it...

Apple has expanded the Background Sounds feature in iOS 26, adding eight new ambient soundscapes to help you focus, relax, or mask distracting environmental noise. Here's how to make the most of them. Background Sounds is an accessibility feature designed to minimize distractions and help you stay focused or calm. The sounds play continuously in the background, masking unwanted environmental ...

If you wear AirPods during your commute but don't want your podcast or music suddenly blasting through the car speakers when you start the engine, there's a new setting in iOS 26 that can ensure it doesn't happen. Apple has thoughtfully added a new "Keep Audio with Headphones" setting that prevents your iPhone from automatically switching audio to CarPlay or other Bluetooth speakers when...

Switching from Android to iPhone is a lot easier than it used to be. With the release of iOS 26, Apple has streamlined the process of transferring your eSIM from an Android device, and in most cases you won't need to contact your carrier for a QR code. Transferring an eSIM from iPhone to iPhone has been relatively simple since iOS 18, but Android-to-iPhone transfers have remained...

Buried within iOS 26 is a hidden history that lets you see every call you've ever exchanged with a specific contact, potentially going back years. You might not know it, but you can access this detailed call history on your iPhone in seconds. Viewing the new extended history screen can come in handy when you need to recall when you last spoke with someone. It's also pretty useful when you...

In iOS 26, Apple's Live Translation feature can turn your iPhone into a real-time interpreter during phone calls. Whether you're talking business with international clients or chatting with family abroad, the Phone app can now handle translation automatically (with a few exceptions). As of writing, Live Translation in the Phone app works with one-to-one phone calls and supports English (UK...

If you make a call and are placed on hold, a new feature in ‌iOS 26‌ will do the waiting for you so you can do other things. Hold Assist listens for hold music playing, and then alerts you when a person comes on the line so you can pick up the call. Hold Assist is available on any iPhone that supports iOS 26 (i.e. it's not an Apple Intelligence feature). The feature works automatically...

In iOS 26, your iPhone gains a handy new charging feature that takes the guesswork out of knowing when your device will be fully powered up. Instead of waiting around or checking your battery percentage every few minutes, you can now see exactly how much time remains until your device reaches 100%. A real-time estimate appears right in your Battery settings while your iPhone is plugged in,...