Shortcut Search Results

How To: Open Previous Drafts Faster in Your iPhone's Mail App — From Any Mailbox or Folder

All of your partially written, unsent emails live in your "Drafts" folders, in limbo until the day they are sent off or deleted. In Apple's Mail for iPhone, you can access all drafts from all accounts in a combined "All Drafts" folder from the app's main Mailboxes list — but only if you added it manually. But there's an even better way to access all of your drafts in Apple Mail in iOS; it's just not obvious.

How To: Type to Siri on Your iPhone When You Don't Want to Talk

Back in May 2017, Apple filed a patent application for a way to communicate with Siri by writing her questions and responses using iMessage. While that didn't make it into iOS, thankfully, something even better did — a way to ask Siri things with the keyboard directly in the Siri interface. This works in iOS 11 and later.

How To: Add an Actual Shutdown Button to the Windows 8 Start Screen

Windows 8 the biggest update to Windows yet. The new gesture-friendly version replaces the aging start menu with a dynamic new Start Screen, complete with live tiles that give you a glimpse into your apps before you launch them, not unlike the new Windows phones. With such a radical departure from the past, some familiar features have been moved around, which will take some getting used to. It's worth noting that the new Windows 8 does not abandon the old desktop model completely; it still ha...

How To: Program Your iPhone's Physical Buttons to Open Apps, Perform Actions, or Do Almost Anything Else

Your iPhone only has a few physical buttons, buttons with a set number of default actions assigned to them, like sleeping your display, controlling volume levels, and even taking pictures. But as much as these buttons can do for you, they can do more. You're not stuck with the out-of-the-box defaults. Every push button on your iPhone can be customized in one way or another.

How To: Your iPhone's Safari App Includes a Hidden Feature Every Web Browser Needs — And No One Is Talking About It!

Safari has a major new feature for your iPhone, something that will change how you share, receive, and interact with links — and nobody is talking about it. The feature works on the latest iOS software, as well as the latest iPadOS and macOS versions. Still, you won't find any information about it in Safari's app or settings, so it's pretty hidden if you haven't seen it by accident yet.

How To: Use a Secret Voice Command to Unlock Your iPhone

Your voice is the key to unlocking many features on your iPhone. For example, you can ask Siri to send a text message to a friend, add items to a list, run a custom shortcut, or turn on your lights, but Apple does not allow you to unlock your iPhone with a Siri voice command. Instead, you can turn to a lesser-known feature to unlock your iPhone without Face ID, Touch ID, or typing your passcode.

How To: Play YouTube Videos in the Background on Your iPhone — Even When the Display Turns Off

It's pretty clear with all of the annoying "Get YouTube Premium" pop-ups that litter the YouTube app that Google really wants you to pay for its Premium membership tier. That's why you'll see that "Get background play with YouTube Premium" ad after closing YouTube with a video playing — even in iOS 14 which supports Picture in Picture playback. But there are workarounds for background listening on iPhone.

How To: The 15 Most Annoying Things About iOS 7 for iPhone

I've been playing around with iOS 7 for a while now, and for the most part, I dig it. It's a nice update for a stale OS, and there are a lot of great new features. But like any good piece of tech, there are a few things to be disliked. Some of these are big issues, and some could be considered nitpicking, but given that I'm fairly used to the older iOS 6 version, they feel big to me. Paper cuts always hurt worse than gashes.

How To: 23 Things Your iPhone's Volume Buttons Can Do Besides Volume Adjustments

The volume buttons on the side of your iPhone can do more than just adjust the volume levels for media, ringers, alerts, Siri, and other sounds and voices. You can use them to perform different actions in certain apps and even create custom actions using the Shortcuts app. It's not exactly button mapping, but it's as close as you'll get without jailbreaking iOS.

How To: Open Your iPhone's App Library Faster from Your Home Screen or Anywhere Else

The App Library is an excellent tool for browsing all the apps on your iPhone, especially since it includes every one of the home screen bookmarks you've made for websites and shortcuts. But it's all the way past your last home screen page. If you have a lot of visible home screen pages, that's a lot of swiping to open the App Library. Luckily, there is a trick to accessing it faster.

How To: Stop Control Center from Opening Accidentally in Apps & Games on Your iPhone

You're in the middle of the fight for your life in your favorite iPhone game when all of a sudden, that critical move you tried to make activates Control Center inadvertently, throwing you completely off track. Instead of fuming, do something about it — block Control Center when you're in apps.

How To: Use This Trick in iPhone Games So You're Not Redirected to Other Apps When Accidentally Tapping Ads You Try to Close

When you're playing a game on your iPhone, the chances are good that you'll come across an ad you have to watch before you can continue — especially on free games. While it may be annoying to be forced to wait for 10 seconds or even up to a full minute, it can be even more frustrating when you accidentally leave the game to visit the ad's linked app or site when trying to hit the little "x" to continue gaming.

How To: Get Back the 'Favorites' Phone Widget on Your iPhone's Home Screen or Today View in iOS 14

There are plenty of reasons to upgrade to iOS 14, home screen widgets chief among them. With that in mind, it's ironic that Apple placed so much emphasis on "widgets" this year when the new update removes a fan-favorite widget of the past — the "Favorites" Phone widget, which was accessible via the Today View or quick actions on the home screen. Here's how to get it back.

How To: Access Your Screen Time Usage Stats Faster in iOS 12 for iPhone

Apple's digital health initiative in iOS 12 includes Screen Time, a settings menu that shows you how much time you spend playing games, reading news, and whatever else it is you do. This menu also lets you schedule downtime away from your iPhone, set time limits for your apps, and more. While this is all great, it's hidden inside the Settings app — but there's a faster way to access this data.

How To: Set Up Grandma's First iPhone (A Guide for Newbie iOS Users)

So, your grandmother finally wants to ditch her flip phone for a shiny new smartphone? Congratulations. But helping her get used to her new device, even when it's an iPhone, is no small task. Grandma mastered checking her email in late-2012 and just recently learned there's a thing called "Facebook." But we love grandma, and thanks to this guide, we can definitely make this happen for her.