Latest news with #TuckerBowe
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Yahoo
Your Apple Watch Is Getting a Neat New Feature That You'll Actually Use
But, unfortunately, not every Apple Watch model will support it. Earlier this week, Apple gave us a first glimpse of watchOS 26 and the upcoming features it's going to bring to the Apple Watch. And there are quite a few. Some of the standouts include a more helpful Smart Stack, support for Live Translations (for messages), and 'Workout Buddy' — an AI-powered feature that feeds you real-time data and words of encouragement during your workout. But out of all the new features and capabilities coming to the Apple Watch, one in particular genuinely has me excited … because I know I'll actually use it. The feature is called 'Wrist Flick' and it's meant to make it easier to manage unruly Apple Watch notifications, which often aren't that important and/or appear at the most inopportune times. Specifically, you'll be able to dismiss them with a quick flick of your wrist. With Wrist Flick, you can quickly dismiss things like app notifications, incoming calls and timers by doing a simple movement — quickly rolling your wrist (and Apple Watch) away from you. Wrist Flick will be an Accessibility feature similar to Double Tap — which lets you control your Apple Watch by tapping your thumb and index fingers together twice — but promises to be infinitely easier to use. Plus, more useful. As somebody who constantly gets annoyed by random notifications, such a message from my Apple TV or from an Instagram group chat, most of which seem to come when I'm doing a workout, having the ability to quickly dismiss them without even touching my Apple Watch … it seems like a godsend. Like with Double Tap, Wrist Flick is an Accessibility feature that will only be available on relatively new Apple Watch models — you need a Series 9, Series 10 or Ultra 2. This means that if you have a first-gen Apple Watch Ultra or any SE model, Wrist Flick will not be supported. The reason is that they don't have Apple's newer S9 (or newer S10) processor. Apple will officially release watchOS 26 this fall, most likely in early September, when it announces the next-gen Apple Watch models. To learn more about watchOS 26's upcoming features, check out Apple's blog post. Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple Gave One of Its Most Popular iPhone Apps a Secret Feature You Probably Didn't Know About
It's a handy and simple feature that you're probably not taking advantage of. When Apple rolled out iOS 18 this past fall, it brought numerous new features to your current iPhone. (That's right, we're not talking about the Apple Intelligence features that are only supported on the latest iPhones.) And that's especially true in regards to your iPhone's Notes app. For years, the Notes app has been one of the most popular and most basic apps on your iPhone. It gave you a blank canvas to jot down your thoughts, synced effortlessly across your other Apple devices, and even supported some advanced features, such as the ability to scan documents. And while the Notes app is still straightforward to use, iOS 18 definitely took it up a gear. It added collapsible sections so that advanced note-takers could better organize notes with headings and subheadings. It also introduced highlighting text in five different colors. And, perhaps most notably, Apple has upgraded the Notes app with a built-in audio recorder — just like Voice Memos — so you can record audio and transcribe it directly from the Notes app. Pretty incredibe. But there are other little things that, for the average note-taker, might be even more useful and you'll use more often. With iOS 18, Apple significantly upgraded the default Calculator app on your iPhone, too. Specifically, it added a built-in converter tool, so you can more easily convert units like lengths, volumes, temperatures, as well as currencies. It also added Math Notes, a feature that gives you the ability to solve advanced math and scientific equations. What you probably didn't know is that Apple carried similar features over to the Notes app. So you can do simple conversions or math right from the Notes app. You just need to use the equals (=) sign. That's right, Apple upgraded the equals sign in the Notes app with immense power. Just type in a unit of measurement, hit the equals sign and the Notes app will automatically show you the converted metric. (If it's not the correct metric you want, you can go into the Calculator app to fine-tune it.) For example: When you type in '46 ounces' and hit the equals sign, the Notes app converts it to '1.304 kilograms.' When you type in '199 meters' and hit the equals sign, the Notes app converts it to '652 feet 10.646 inches.' When you type in '96 degrees' and hit the equals sign, the Notes app converts it to '35.556 Celsius.' And you can do the same thing with currencies. When you type in '£287' or '287 Euros' and hit the equals sign, the Notes app converts it to '388.13 USD.' It's kind of incredible how much power the equals sign now has in the Notes app. So, next time you have a question about conversions, whether it be units of measurement, temperature or currencies, simple open the Notes app, type it in and hit the equals sign. It takes a second. Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Your iPhone Is About to Get a Helpful New Charging Feature
Apple is expected to roll out the feature with the next big iOS update. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is set to kick off next week — on June 9th — and, as is tradition, it's going to give us a first look at the next-gen software updates coming to all its various devices in the fall. iOS 19 is the upcoming major software update for iPhones (although there are reports that Apple will jump to iOS 26, a more convenient naming convention for 2026) and, naturally, it's expected to deliver a new look and a lot of new features. And, if the rumors are true, one of those is a new charging feature that could be super useful for any iPhone user on the go. In November, with the second beta of iOS 18.2, there was code uncovered hinting at a new feature called 'BatteryIntelligence.' This was an Apple Intelligence feature that was supposed to provide an estimate of how long it would take your iPhone to fully charge (or reach the charge limit you've set). However, when iOS 18.2 was rolled out, as well as all subsequent iOS 18 updates, this feature never materialized. That's expected to finally change once iOS 19 is rolled out. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the upcoming operating system will add 'a lock-screen indicator showing how long it will take to charge up' your iPhone. This way, you'll have an idea how long you'll need to let your iPhone charge before you grab it and go — no need to even unlock your iPhone. Of course, it's unclear how your iPhone will know what kind of charger you'll be using (as wired charging is still much faster than wireless charging, MagSafe or not). But we'll learn more of those details in good time. Apple is expected to announce iOS 19 — or iOS 26, if rumors are correct — on June 9th at WWDC. The software update will then be rolled out to the general public in September, following the announcement of the new iPhones. Given that this feature is expected to harness Apple Intelligence, you'll likely need an iPhone that supports it. That means you'll need to have an iPhone 16 (any model) or an iPhone 15 Pro/Max. Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Your iPhone Has a Neat Feature You Probably Didn't Know About
Apple quietly rolled out the feature a year and a half ago. If you take a video call on your Mac and don't have an external microphone or headphones/earbuds with a built-in mic, did you know that your iPhone can step in? That's right, your iPhone has the ability to function as an external mic for your Mac. And yes, it's likely to make you sound better because the built-in mics on a Mac — especially older Macs — aren't as good as those on your iPhone. Here's what you need to know. Apple introduced the ability to use your iPhone as a Mac external microphone with macOS 13, which was released in the fall of 2022. The feature is an extension of Continuity Camera, which also allows you to use your iPhone's camera as a webcam for your Mac. It's simple to use as you just have to follow a few steps. The only caveat is that both your iPhone and Mac must be running iOS 16 and macOS 13, respectively, or later, which shouldn't be a problem since both have been available since 2022. And your iPhone and Mac need to be registered under the same Apple Account. Make sure your iPhone and Mac are next to each other. Select the Apple icon in your Mac's top-left corner. Select System Settings. Scroll down and select Sound (left column). In the Output & Input section, click the Input tab. Select the line that shows your iPhone and reads 'Camera Continuity.' Once the input is selected, your iPhone will make a ping sound — typically takes a second — and start functioning as a microphone for your Mac. Once you're finished, simply select the 'Disconnect' button on your iPhone. Note: If you select Disconnect and then follow the above steps to re-use your iPhone as a microphone for your Mac, you might not see the Camera Continuity option in Sound settings. If that is the case, make your Mac 'sleep' and then try again. Your iPhone should appear as an option. Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
