Tag Archives: iOS

Family Sharing may be draining your iPhone’s battery

BatteryIconXIf your iPhone is suddenly not holding its charge, then the problem may be stemming from the use of Apple’s Family Sharing service.

Being a fairly generic problem, battery drain on an iPhone can happen from a number of different reasons, and while potential causes include worn out or damaged batteries not being able to hold a charge, this generally progresses over time and is more prevalent with older devices. Continue reading

Messages bug will force your iPhone to restart 

NewMessagesIconXIf you have recently found your iPhone’s Messages app crashes upon receiving a new messages, then you are not alone. Apparently a bug exists in the app where if a certain string of text is received, then the app will crash, and possibly result in your iPhone restarting. This bug is reminiscent of a problem where Safari would similarly crash when rendering a specific text string. Given that the problematic text is very specific, if you are experiencing this problem, then it is likely because someone has singled you out as a prank, or otherwise. Continue reading

Five tips for speeding up your iPhone or iPad

iPhoneIconXUnless you are using a significantly older iOS device, then iOS should run at acceptable speeds on supported devices. Even if some apps have relatively demanding hardware requirements and give you choppy performance, when browsing through your apps, using Apple’s provided apps, and otherwise using the OS’s built-in features should at least be a relatively responsive experience. However, if not then there are some things you can try to make your iOS device more responsive and snappy. Continue reading

How to contact your iOS App’s developer

MacAppStoreIconXEvery now and then you may have an app on your iOS device that stops working properly. In some cases it may stop responding to tapping and dragging, or it may unexpectedly quit and drop you back to the main iOS home screen, either during launch or shortly after loading. At other times your app may be working as expected, but you have a special need or concern that you would like to have addressed. In either situation, contacting your app’s developer may give you some quick answers. Continue reading

How to take screenshots on any supported Apple device

DisplaysIconXCapturing the current view of your Mac or iPhone can be useful for communicating exactly what you are seeing on your screen to someone. This can be great for troubleshooting and guiding someone on a specific procedure, but can also be useful for quickly preserving an image or some text you are seeing. Most Apple devices that display content support a screenshot option, and this can be invoked in most conditions to capture what you are seeing. Continue reading

‘No iOS Zone’ flaw may crash unpatched iOS devices

BurnIconXA bug exists in iOS 8 that will allow a maliciously configured Wi-Fi hotspot to crash any iOS device that connects to it. The flaw, was found by security researchers at Skycure, and operates by manipulating SSL certificates. When your iPhone or iPad connects to one of these hotspots, it may suddenly restart, and then continue doing so in a loop as long as it attempts to reconnect to the same hotspot. Continue reading

Check whether your bank is participating in Apple Pay

ApplePayIconXApple Pay accompanies Google Wallet, Paypal, and several other competing technologies as the future of payment systems, but being new, the number of financial institutions that support it are somewhat limited. Granted the more popular and larger banks are practically all on board with Apple Pay so most people will be able to set it up with their accounts; however, those who are part of local credit unions and other small financial institutions may still be waiting. Continue reading

How to significantly decrease your iOS device’s brightness

iPhoneIconXIf you have an iPad or iPhone, chances are that you periodically use it in a location or two that have very low light, where even the brightness level at its lowest settings may still cause the device to glare and be somewhat intrusive. Specific instances of this might be if you want to read in bed but have a partner who is sleeping, or are otherwise in an environment where others are enjoying the dark. In these instances, you can make use of a hidden feature in your iOS device to make its brightness even dimmer. Continue reading

How to quickly manage messages on iOS’s lock screen

iPhoneMailIconXWhen you receive a new e-mail message on your iPhone or iPad, if your device is currently locked then the message will show up in Notification Center and display on your home screen. If you want to access your message directly, then instead of unlocking your device and going to Mail, you have several options available to you right on the home screen. Continue reading

How to magnify your iPad’s screen

iPadIconXEven though content on your iPad should be mostly legible, there are  instances where a magnifying glass would be useful to see some nuance of your screen. If you own an iPad and find yourself sometimes squinting at your screen to see some minute set of text, or the details of an image, then there are several built-in tricks you can use to get a better view of what you are looking at. Continue reading