Tips

Your ringtone on the iPhone lets you know when you have an incoming call or text. Here’s how to change your default ringtone on an iPhone. Since you’re likely to hear the sound often, it’s nice to choose one you like. You can choose to use a ringtone that Apple has built-in or use ringtones you’ve purchased within the iTunes Store on your iPhone. 

Adding a picture to a text message in Apple's Messages app used to be quick and easy; you just tapped the little camera icon to the left of the text field, chose an image, or multiple images, to attach, and sent your text as usual. If you're stumped, here's how to add a photo to a text message on your iPhone. Starting with iOS 12, the familiar process for sending photos in Messages has changed: The camera icon is still there, but it only offers the option to take a new image to send and accessing your Photos app from there requires a second step. Don't worry though, it's still very simple to send images from the Photos app on your iPhone; let's learn the new way right now!

The most common way we all know to turn off or power down our iPhones is by using the buttons on the iPhone. But did you know that you can also power off your iPhone from within Settings? As long as your iPhone isn't frozen, you can shut it down without having to use the power or volume buttons (or Home button if you have one). Here’s how to shut down your iPhone without using buttons.

Have you received a GIF in a text on your iPhone and wondered, "what does GIF stand for, anyway?" If you've been wondering what GIF means and how to find the GIF keyboard on your iPhone so you can start sending them, too, this is the article for you. GIFs are basically small, moving or animated pictures that you can use and send in a variety of ways. In this tip, we'll go over how to search for and send an Messages GIF. You won't need a GIF app or anything extra, and it's fun and easy. Let's get started!

Within the Clock app on the iPhone there is a stopwatch you can use. Here’s how to use the iPhone’s stopwatch, and why you would want to use it. Whether you want to track how quickly someone runs a mile, time individual laps or circuits, or simply track the time it takes to complete a task, you can use the stopwatch to do it. 

If you have an iPhone 5s or later, and that iPhone has a Home button, or if you have an iPad that offers Touch ID, you can set it up to work as a passcode for your iPhone or iPad and App Store purchases and for apps like 1Password or Notes. If your iPhone or iPad doesn't have a Home button, you'll want to read our article on how to set up Face ID instead. If you're not sure if your device has Touch ID, see the full list of compatible devices at the end of this article. Using Touch ID is as simple as placing your finger on your Home button, which is where Touch ID resides. Touch ID recognizes your fingerprints, up to five of them. But first you'll need to set up Touch ID and allow it to be used across your device. 

Did you know you can use your Apple Watch as a timer? Since the Apple Watch is on my wrist, I'm less likely to ignore the the timer going off than if I were using my iPhone, or drop my Apple Watch if I'm using the timer while cooking with slippery ingredients or washing dishes. For less fumbling and more punctual time management, try using the Timer app on your Apple Watch.

Want to know more about why your iPhone looks the way it does? If you have an iPhone 8 Plus or earlier, here's a general overview of what the external ports and buttons are for. Knowing which functions the buttons perform and what the ports are for can help you navigate and use your device to its full capability. Below I show example of iPhones from Apple's support page to better explain your device.

If you want to quickly revisit pages in Safari, you can save them as bookmarks. But did you know you can save Safari bookmarks in bookmark folders? Instead of scrolling through all the bookmarks you've saved, you can categorize them into folders, making your bookmarks organized and easy to browse. Below, I'll show you how to create Safari bookmark folders.

If you enjoy downloading and trying new apps, the Home screen on your iPhone or iPad will quickly fill up with little app icons. At a certain point, you may want to organize those apps into folders, which you can label. I’ll go over everything you need to know about organizing your home screen on the iPhone or iPad, including how to move app icons, how to create and add folders to your Home screen, and how to put those apps into the new folders. Creating a folder is fairly easy once you get the hang of it, and you can create new folders on iPhone for all the different categories of apps you might have. On my Home screen, I have a folder dedicated to Apple apps, games, productivity, social media, and more. 

If you're trying to find a better way to keep in touch, FaceTime is a great option! FaceTime has features you can use like call waiting, and we have a FaceTime guide you can browse to learn more about this helpful video and audio calling app. Below, I show the first thing you need to know about FaceTime: how to make a FaceTime audio or video call. The person you call will also have to have FaceTime enabled on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac.