The HomePod smart speaker gained a few features recently, thanks to Apple’s rollout of new operating systems for all its devices. Once you’ve installed iOS 12 on your iPhone, you can install iOS 12 for HomePod manually, or it will install automatically shortly after the iOS 12 installation is complete. Make and Take Phone Calls…
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You probably use Apple’s Siri voice assistant at least occasionally, asking it to “call my brother,” or “play music that I’ll like.” Apple has enhanced Siri in iOS 12 with Siri Shortcuts. At a basic level, Siri Shortcuts are useful because they let you assign your own Siri voice command to a wide range of…
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Are you shopping for an iPad for a child? Our handy guide helps you find the right iPad for your child’s needs—and your budget. iPad mini 4 vs. sixth-generation iPad If your child isn’t yet in high school, focus your decision-making on the more affordable iPad mini 4 and the sixth-generation iPad, which are the…
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Available as a free upgrade for the Apple Watch Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3, and shipping with the new Apple Watch Series 4, watchOS 5 brings a nice collection of new features to your wrist without making big changes to the overall interface. (Unfortunately, watchOS 5 can’t be installed on an “original” first-generation…
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iPhone notifications are undeniably useful—they can keep you on schedule, display incoming messages, and much more. But because notifications can also be distracting and annoying, Apple added an Instant Tuning feature to iOS 12 that makes it easier to adjust an app’s notification approach. Start with any notification on the Lock screen or in Notification…
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Have you ever wanted to come back to a Web page later, but not enough to bother making a bookmark? Try asking Siri to do the work! With a Web page open in Safari on the Mac or in iOS, simply tell Siri to “remind me about this.” Siri responds by adding a reminder to…
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At a special event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Apple threw back the curtains on significant updates to the long-ignored MacBook Air and even longer-ignored Mac mini. Then Tim Cook and company followed up with revamped 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, complete with an enhanced Smart Keyboard Folio and redesigned Apple Pencil. You can…
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Face ID works well for quickly unlocking the iPhone X and newer, but until now it has been limited to only one face, making it impossible to give a trusted family member quick access with Face ID. Instead, such people had to wait for Face ID to fail and then tap in your passcode. That’s…
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Do you have trouble with your hearing occasionally, but not often enough to need hearing aids? If yes, you should try the iPhone’s Live Listen feature with your AirPods. With Live Listen, the iPhone’s microphone picks up the sound around you and sends it to your AirPods, helping you hear whatever the mic is pointed…
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If you can’t remember what song a lyric comes from, check out the Music app in iOS 12. In the past, you could find tunes based on the name of a song, album, or artist, but with iOS 12, you can also search for lyrics! In the Music app, tap Search at the bottom-right corner…
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