Tutorial

Learn how to master your Apple devices with our comprehensive tutorials. From iPhone and iPad to Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and more, our expert guides will help you unlock the full potential of your Apple products. Discover new features, tips, and tricks each day to enhance your user experience.

How to turn off Netflix’s autoplay feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 26, 2023

Not everyone is a fan of bing watching. I, for one, rarely watch a dozen episodes of Friends in a row. If you're anything like me, Netflix's autoplay feature is probably something of an annoyance to you.

It's especially worrisome if Netflix uses cellular data: forgetting to stop the playback after you've just finished watching an episode won't stop Netflix from playing the next one automatically, resulting in unwanted data charges.

iDownloadBlog's tutorial series is here to help you with that: in this quick how-to, we'll show you how to turn off the video autoplay feature across all your Netflix devices—they're calling it Post-Play—with just a few clicks.

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How to use one-handed zoom on Google Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 10, 2016

Yesterday, iDownloadBlog detailed a cool new one-handed zoom gesture during video capture which Snapchat's latest update has implemented.

This incredibly convenient shortcut permits you to zoom in and out as you're shooting video with Snapchat's camera, in real time. As one of our commenters pointed out, Google Maps has long had a similar shortcut on its native iOS app.

With it, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users can zoom in and pan around in one-handed mode, without needing to use a two-fingered pinch-zoom gesture. Here's how one-handed zoom mode works on Google Maps for iOS.

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Pop-ups in Safari on your Mac? Here’s what to do

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 10, 2019

I hate pop-ups, and chances are, you probably do too. They're not only a nuisance, but most of the time they're also designed to get in your way to purposely try and scam you and get you to click on malicious material.

Safari in macOS comes with anti-pop-up measures, but those with malicious intent are always coming up with ways to get around those measures.

In this post, we'll talk about what you can do in a scenario when you get these annoying pop-up messages on your Mac and why you might be getting them.

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Tip: stop YouTube’s annoying video autoplay ‘Up Next’ feature within iOS app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 26, 2023

My colleague Anthony recently vented his frustration with YouTube's default handling of the 'Up Next' feature on the web. Autoplay in YouTube is one of the banes of my existence, too, but as Anthony states in his write-up, YouTube for iOS lacks a switch to disable auto-play videos.

Not anymore, though: the latest version of Google's native YouTube client for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad includes an easily overlooked switch that lets you stop an endless stream of recommended videos from being spoon-fed down your throat with a single tap.

If you watch a lot of YouTube through your iPhone's cellular connection, you're wholeheartedly recommended to disable 'Up Next' on the iOS app, here's how.

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Can’t sync your iPhone or iPad with iTunes? Try resetting your Lockdown folder

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 30, 2018

Those who use iTunes on a regular basis to keep their iOS devices in sync with one another are probably familiar with the problems that can arise from using the software, whether it's on a Mac or a PC.

If you're having problems while trying to sync or back up your iOS devices, the problem could very much be with your computer's Lockdown folder, and resetting it could resolve the problem.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to reset your iTunes Lockdown folder.

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What to do if you can’t make or receive FaceTime calls iPhone or iPad

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 9, 2019

Have you ever received one of those annoying messages that basically tells you FaceTime is having problems on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad? They can be incredibly annoying, but usually they're easy problems to fix.

In this piece, we'll talk about why you might be getting FaceTime errors on your iOS device and walk you through some ways to correct the problem.

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Top 3D Touch shortcuts and gestures available for the App Store and iTunes Store apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 8, 2016

The App Store and iTunes Store storefronts are 3D Touch-enabled on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, with each supporting some pretty smartly chosen Home screen shortcuts that'll save you a few taps once you get the hang of them.

On the other hand, previewing your apps and media via force-pressing isn't as developed as in other stock apps, such as Messages and Maps. But don't you worry—iDownloadBlog comes to the rescue!

This quick tutorial clearly demonstrates where on the App Store and iTunes Store common 3D Touch shortcuts and Peek and Pop gestures do and don't work.

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How to create stunning HDR photos in under 3 minutes

Jim Nix ∙ May 7, 2016

Do you take a lot of photos with your iPhone? Yep, I do too. I am often shooting with it even as I am capturing a scene with my professional camera. I find that I capture different views on a subject when doing so. For me, shooting with my iPhone is all about the fun, ease and whimsy of mobile photography. Plus, it’s always with you, right?

But do you ever capture photos that look great compositionally, but feel like they are just lacking a little something extra? You know, maybe they need a color boost to bring them up a little, or perhaps the shadows are too dark, or worse yet, there is a lot of digital noise in what should be a smooth sky?

It does happen, because despite being very convenient and a capable little camera, it can only do so much. There are many iPhone apps that people have turned to in order to make edits to their iPhone photos (myself included), but using professional software to make those adjustments can usually offer amazing results.

While we often think of making photo adjustments on the fly for a quick upload somewhere, consider how much more beautiful your shots will be if you exert a bit more fine-tuned control over the final image.

Today, we will take a look at doing just that, and help you create a stunning HDR image in just a couple of minutes, using Aurora HDR from Macphun.

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How to repost Instagram photos, videos, and stories on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 16, 2024
Repost photo to Instagram

The Instagram app lacks the option to repost Instagram photos, videos, and stories natively, so people usually screenshot photos to post them as their own. This works fine as a workaround but requires extra steps, such as cropping the screenshot. Maybe more importantly, it generates photos of poor quality.

Reposting, also known as regramming, is quite a common practice, even though the Instagram application doesn't provide a way to easily do that. As a result, you must use third-party applications. In this post, we will show you how to repost Instagram photos, videos, and stories from your iPhone using an app we developed ourselves called Reposter for Instagram.

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Finding your Mac model number

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 5, 2019

Not too long ago, we shared how you can find out what version and build of macOS you're running on your Mac, but another important piece of information you should know is the model number of the Mac you're using.

This is an important piece of information that is used by Apple to identify exactly when your computer was launched and what hardware it has inside of it.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can find the model number of your Mac.

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