Learn how to perform instant unit and currency conversions and get live exchange rates using Spotlight search on your iPhone and iPad.
How to convert units and currencies with Spotlight on iPhone and iPad
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 share Live Photos
Apple won't describe them as such, but Live Photos are just short video files, and like any files, they can quickly be shared with friends and family. But unlike video files, Live Photos need to be shared in very specific ways in order to preserve the live aspect of the photo.
For instance, if you email a Live Photo to someone, the file will be stripped of the video component and will be attached and sent as a jpeg. So how do you send a Live Photo while making sure the "live" part of the photo remains?
How to disable the mouse pointer shake gesture on Mac
Have you ever woken your Mac up from sleep, and couldn't find the mouse pointer among the mess of windows and desktop icons. We've all been there before.
Starting with El Capitan, macOS is hoping to help out with that, courtesy of a brand new addition to the operating system. It's certainly not a headline feature, but macOS can help you quickly locate your mouse or trackpad pointer by simply shaking your mouse or swiping your finger back and forth on the trackpad in quick succession.
Watch our video inside to see how it works. We'll also show you where to go to disable the feature in System Preferences.
How to turn a Live Photo into a still photo
Live Photos was one of the main features introduced with iOS 9 and iPhone 6s. Some might see it as a gimmicky feature, others like me might see it as a great way to inject a little more life into photos.
The process of taking a Live Photo is pretty simple. It's on by default, and you have nothing to do. Simply shoot a photo like you would normally do, and you're done. Your device will capture an extra 1.5 second of video before and after the photo was taken, stitching it together and turning a frozen moment into a lively one.
But what if you want to turn a Live Photo into a still one? As with most things iOS, it's actually pretty simple.
You can finally send messages completely hands free with watchOS 2
A new feature of watchOS 2 finally allows users to send messages completely hands free, and even though there is a catch, it's a much welcome improvement to communicate via text message without having to physically touch the device.
The catch is that this new feature only applies to messages you create from the Home or Watchface screen using Siri. It does not work for replies to messages you receive, and doesn't work if you go straight to the Messages app and tap Reply. Still, if used right, it can make the process of sending messages completely frictionless.
How to zoom in and out of your iPhone 6s screen with 3D Touch
We have been covering various 3D Touch features extensively here on iDownloadBlog and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
In addition to using your iPhone 6s keyboard in trackpad mode, adjusting the sensitivity of 3D Touch and turning the feature on and off, iOS 9 also provides a way for iPhone 6s owners to use its built-in zooming capability in conjunction with 3D Touch, based on the amount of force exerted on an on-screen controller.
They're calling it Peek Zoom and once activated lets you invoke iOS's standard Zoom feature through 3D Touch rather than requiring you to double-tap with three fingers.
How to enable 1080p Slo-mo videos on iPhone
The iPhone iSight camera has received several remarkable improvements over the year, headlined by its ability to shoot 4K video. Another big feature is its ability to shoot slow motion videos in 1080p. Older iPhones, like the iPhone 6, were only capable of shooting "Slo-mo" videos in 720p resolution. With new iPhones, you can now enjoy slow motion videos in full HD glory.
How to take photos while recording a video on iPhone
Learn how to snap up pictures while shooting video on your iPhone or iPad without having to stop the recording session or download camera apps.
How to turn iPhone keyboard into a trackpad with 3D Touch and select text with precision
iOS 9 brought out a new feature for iPads called easy text selection which lets you slide two fingers on the screen to turn the keyboard into a trackpad of sorts. While in this mode, you can control cursor movement and select chunks of text with precision.
Thanks to 3D Touch, you can bring up this trackpad-esque functionality on your iPhone 7 or later in order to easily select and manipulate text with great precision, here's how.
How to adjust 3D Touch sensitivity
Using a grid of 96 sensors that read microscopic changes in the distance between the cover glass and the backlight, your iPhone is able to detect different degrees of pressure. This headline feature, called 3D Touch, is used to reveal content previews and contextual menus within apps and quick actions on app icons on the Home screen.
Do you feel like 3D Touch requires you to press the screen too hard? If so, iOS offers a handy slide to change the amount of pressure you need to activate the feature.
How to turn off and on 3D Touch on your iPhone
So you got your brand new iPhone and decided that 3D Touch is more of a nuisance than gets in your way than a time-saving feature you'd like to use on an everyday basis. Worry not, for iOS gives you an easy way to disable 3D Touch on a system-wide level with just a few taps.
3D Touch, of course, offers shortcuts to commonly used app-specific actions right from the Home screen and lets you preview content or jump straight into it within supported apps by applying varying degrees of pressure to the screen.
People with disabilities, those with limited motor skills and everyone who would rather do without these handy shortcuts for one reason or another can easily disable 3D Touch on your iPhone.
How to only transfer Activity and Health app data to a new iPhone
Transitioning to a new iPhone is made simple by iCloud backups, iTunes, and a few clicks or taps. Apple ensures it is easy to move from a fully loaded and setup device to a completely fresh iPhone with the same information, using their backup options. Most laypeople, almost always choose to restore new iPhones from their backups; however, more technically inclined concerned people tend to start with a fresh iPhone and do not restore from backup to prevent carrying over any unwanted information.
Earlier this week Christian highlighted two methods for upgrading to a new device and retaining your Activity and Health data. Method #1: use a third-party app to import your Health data, but it lacks Activity logs. Method #2: backing up your old device to iCloud or iTunes and restoring from backup, as I've described above.
But, what if you want both your Activity and Health data, but a fresh setup too? Step inside to learn how to install both, yet only, your previous device's Activity and Health data on your new iPhone.