Even Apple admits that its powerful iPhones need a little extra battery boost from time to time. But if you’ve taken a look at the $99 devices, you might not be super convinced they’re worth the price, or even all that attractive.
The Kuner iPhone battery case really kicks the Smart Battery case’s butt: it’s thinner, prettier to look at, and even gives you extra storage space for videos, music and documents. Take that, Apple Smart Battery case.
Have you ever wanted to make your own memes? You know, the funny pictures with the bold text on the top and bottom that all the kids are going crazy for these days?
With Photo Editor by Aviary, you can do just that, plus add stickers, frames, and even do some pretty great photo editing right in the same app.
Here’s how to make your own hilarious memes with Aviary (though we don’t guarantee your memes will actually be funny — that’s up to you).
When I think earbuds, I don’t think comfort. They’re light and let you take naps while in, but there’s really only so long I can handle keeping them in my ears.
That’s why this new set of “in-ear monitors,” called Sphear is so exciting — I’ve had them in to watch Netflix on an iPad, gone for a long training run, and just wore them around the house while working and making dinner for my kids.
Every time I put them in, they impress me with their balanced tone and high-quality sound. Most of all, though, I forget I’m wearing them. They’re that comfortable.
Facebook Messenger is more and more becoming my default chat tool as it’s the one app most of my buddies have, either on their laptop or mobile device, regardless of platform.
Thing is, Messenger filters a bunch of messages you’ve received, and I’m willing to bet you didn’t even know they were there.
If you want to find all those hidden Facebook messages, here’s how.
If you want to create amazing images like the one above, Enlight is a fantastic way to do so on the iPad (or iPhone).
Most of us don’t want to take a huge amount of time, either, learning how to create these images in-camera or with a big application like Photoshop.
Enlight makes it so easy, even a photo newbie like myself can create amazing double exposures with Enlight in just a few minutes.
Instagram has a fair amount of filters, but boy everyone uses them all the time. You know a photo’s come from the photo-sharing social network when you can call out the filters on it: X-Pro, Hefe, Clarendon!
If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd, check out AfterLight, a sweetly-priced iOS app for iPad (and iPhone) with over 74 amazing filters and effects (and that’s just the free ones) to make your photos the envy of all the other basic Instagram users out there.
Here’s how to make best use of AfterLight’s massive toolset.
We’ve all been using flash drives on our Macs for ages, ever since Apple dropped the disk drives from its computer lineup.
iPhones and iPads don’t have a USB port, so it’s hard to use the same external thumb drives on the go.
The new Xtra Drive from Naztech is the best of both worlds, providing a single microSD card-based solution that has both a USB and a Lightning connector that will let me back up and transfer files from my iOS device to any computer.
VSCO is a fantastic photo app for iPhone and iPad, and it lets you shoot some killer photos as well as edit them directly in the same app once you’ve taken your masterpiece.
The app is universal, which means it works well on iPhone and iPad, natively. The extra screen real estate, however, makes VCSO on iPad a fantastic choice just for editing any photos you like, whether you took them with your iPad, iPhone, or any other camera you might have.
Here’s how.
Why would you want to disable the fast mobile network speeds of LTE? Sometimes you’ll hit an area with spotty LTE coverage and your iPhone will bounce between 3G, LTE or even EDGE. That can kill your battery and you’ll want to disable LTE to avoid that.
Or maybe you just want to turn off your data to avoid any overages, or because you feel better when not constantly connected while on the go. Whatever your personal reason, here’s how to disable LTE on your iPhone.
Apple is 40 years old today, and its journey from scrappy indie to world-conquering behemoth is the stuff of anecdote, history, and even legend.
Get the scoop on this significant anniversary for our favorite company, a look at the latest iPhone SE and iPad Pro models (and learn how to set them up the right way), along with a roundup of all the cool Apple TV tricks and some quick tips on how to keep Facebook’s mobile app from draining your iPhone’s battery.
All this (and much, much more) in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.
Here are this week’s top stories:
Quick — go check and see if you have enough free space on your iPhone.
I’m guessing you’re like the rest of us, and can use a little more — especially if you’ve got a smaller iPhone in the 16 GB range.
If you’re looking to free up some storage space on any size iPhone, here’s a bizarre little trick that just might astound you.
I’ve heard of cigar box guitars, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen an oil can electric ukulele.
Bohemian Guitars makes a ton of unique metal oil can guitars, basses and ukuleles, and they’re as fun to play as they are to look at. This electric uke is easy to play, sounds great through an amp, and is the probably the most unique uke you ever did see.
The new, powerful iPad Pro is available at Apple Stores today and we’ve got a fantastic iPad Pro unboxing video to show you all the ins and outs of the new tablet.
Cult of Mac videographer Ste Smith talks us through the packaging, the setup and the latest-greatest device itself in this cool iPad Pro unboxing video that he made right after picking up the 9.7-inch tablet from his local Apple Store.
If you want to get your (virtual) hands on this sexy new iOS device, here’s your chance.
Looking to watch peerless films on your Apple TV? Look no further than Tribeca Shortlist, a service for film lovers that showcases a high-quality, curated list of films that are worth watching.
Already chosen as a Best New App for iPhone and iPad by Apple, Tribeca Shortlist is now available on the biggest screen in your home via Apple TV.
Paradox Interactive’s hilarious send-up of fantasy tabletop gaming (think Dungeons and Dragons), Knights of Pen and Paper 2, has just gotten a new free expansion.
Called “Back to the Source,” it has two new character classes, higher level caps, an all new mega-dungeon, and a ton of funny stuff packed into it — all for free.
Apparently, the developers missed a saving roll for monetization today.
Whether you need to make something to show of your science project, make the sale, or help museum patrons understand a work of art, chances are you’ll need to make a slideshow that incorporates images, text and other media. Sometimes, you might even need to make one on the fly.
FlowVella is a free slideshow creation app that works on your Mac, iPad, and now iPhone for making killer presentations both at home and on the go. Here’s how.
There’s nothing better than kicking back and playing an iOS game that respects your time, money and energy. Games that keep you entertained without costing you too much (especially at first) can be a great way to spend your time, whether you’re chilling on the couch at home, on the subway home after a long day at work, or waiting at the dentist’s office.
Here are all the hot new iOS games we found ourselves playing this month.
When it comes to charging 12.9-inch iPad Pro, you’re going to be better off thinking outside the box (it came in).
The larger, 29-watt USB-C charger is the one that should have come with the iPad Pro in the first place. It blows the 12-watt included charger out of the water so hard, you’re going to want to get one right now.
We’ve all noticed Apple’s latest operating system nomenclature, with each new release a device-centric OS, like iOS, tvOS, or watchOS.
Why not macOS, then?
A bit of source code in the current stable release of OS X (10.11.4) seems to point to that very thing.
What’s new on your Apple TV? Quite a bit, if you’ve got the latest fourth-generation device and have updated it to tvOS 9.2.
There’s a new folders system for total organization, new support for Bluetooth keyboards, a podcasts app, a multitasking visual upgrade and a new default video-scrubbing behavior.
Check out all of the awesome new tricks you can do with the latest Apple TV update.
There’s a new Apple TV update in town, and it adds a few obvious features, like Bluetooth keyboard support and Siri Dictation in search and user name/password fields.
tvOS 9.2 also has some less-obvious improvements, though. For instance, it’s easy to locate the exact spot you want to find in any video. Here’s how to scrub through video on Apple TV with your Siri Remote in tvOS 9.2.
Once again, Apple has refreshed its iPhone and iPad line with some better (albeit smaller) iOS devices, the iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
If you’re looking for all the details on these two new gadgets, or just want to know which is the right iPad or iPhone for you, be sure to grab this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, which also includes all the cool things you can do with iOS 9.3, a look at Cupertino’s new Apple Watch pivot, and a deeper dive on the keynote itself.
Here are this week’s top stories.
I’m generally of the function-over-form sake when I choose an iPhone case, but this delightfully thin Rosewood iPhone case has me rethinking that.
It’s not just that it’s thin — it’s classy. The deep brown hues and real woodgrain transform my iPhone 6 Plus from an object of tech-envy into more of a naturally lust-worthy product.
With this week’s release of tvOS 9.2 for Apple TV, the fourth-generation set-top box now works with Bluetooth keyboards. While the splash screen specifically calls out Apple wireless keyboards, the truth is that you might be able pair pretty much any Bluetooth external keyboard with your new Apple TV.
Here’s how. (And here’s how to upgrade to tvOS 9.2 if you haven’t already.)
The iPhone line just got more expansive, with the new, smaller-yet-powerful iPhone SE dropping into the fray to compliment the bigger and still powerful iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus handsets.
So how do you choose the best iPhone? That depends on your own needs, of course, but we’re here to help you figure it all out with our iPhone buyer’s guide.