Table of contents for 169 in iPad & iPhone User

Apple makes a big deal about being at the forefront of privacy protection online. So it’s surprising that, for all these years, Siri has required an Internet connection to work. It processes all your requests online, even for things that have no online component like setting timers. So much as utter, “Hey Siri” when not connected to the Internet and you’ll get the opposite screen shot. With iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, that’s finally changing. Siri will gain a new on-device speech recognition model on all devices with an A12 Bionic processor or later (that’s an iPhone XS/XR or later). That’s a huge boon to the privacy-conscious, as it means your recorded voice is never, intentionally or unintentionally, leaving your device. Apple has confirmed that offline Siri access will not…

Apple made a big deal about 5G in the iPhone 12, but there was one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the keynote hype – the modem isn’t made by Apple. It’s one of the few essential iPhone chips that Apple doesn’t manufacture, and a new report says that isn’t going to change with the next few models. Apple has been working on a 5G modem since last year following its purchase of Intel’s shuttered mobile modem business. The billion-dollar deal brought patents, intellectual property, and a couple of thousand employees as Apple looks to cut ties with Qualcomm, which currently supplies the X55 modem in the iPhone 12. However, TFT Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports (via MacRumors) that Apple isn’t close to making its own mobile modem: Qualcomm stands to…

At its WWDC keynote, Apple revealed the next generation of watchOS, which will come to our wrists in the autumn. Here are the new features we’re most exited to try: PHOTOS AND MESSAGING The Photos app is used for one of the most popular watch faces, so a big update here will for many people change the overall look and feel of the device: yes, the Apple Watch is getting the iPhone’s Portrait mode. These dynamic, multilayered photos breathe new life into portrait shots of your friends and family, and in watchOS 8 you’ll also be able to play around with the positioning of the time and other information on the display to better fit the picture. Also new in the Photos app are daily memories and featured photos, plus…

Apple loves a good second-gen product, frequently snaring early adopters with a promising but flawed or incomplete original product before hitting the mainstream with a sequel that fixes the biggest issues with the first model. This list goes on – Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, even the original iPhone. And now we can add the AirTag to that list. While there’s a lot to like about Apple’s tracker, there are several ways Apple can improve it with the inevitable AirTag 2. 1. THE HOLE TRUTH Some object trackers have holes and some do not, but the ones against which the AirTag is most obviously competing – the Tile Pro and Mate, Samsung SmartTag, even the Chipolo One Spot hosted on Apple’s own Find My network – tend to fall into the…

Apple crammed a lot of new stuff into its near-two-hour keynote, but not everything was able to make it to the main presentation. Here are the best iOS 15 features you didn’t hear about. 1. FACETIME MUTE ALERTS There’s nothing worse than having a conversation that the other people can’t hear. Among the many changes coming to FaceTime, your phone will let you know if you start talking while muted. Then you can tap the alert to quickly unmute and make sure your voice is heard. 2. VOICE MEMOS SILENCE Voice Memos will analyse your audio recordings and automatically skip over gaps with a single tap. 3. NEW WIDGETS Apple is adding widgets for Find My, Game Centre, App Store Today, Sleep, Mail, and People with Family Sharing integration. 4.…

Noise-cancelling headphones are one of the most popular types of cans, and for good reason. They block out ambient noise that can distract from you enjoying your favourite tunes. While they’re particularly useful for air travel and daily commutes – especially via public transport – they’re also great at isolating you from at-home noise pollution, whether that be your dog barking, the whir of your computer’s cooling fans, or your neighbour’s lawn mower. Noise cancellation can be accomplished in two ways: through active or passive measures. Our focus here is on the former. The latter isn’t a technology per se; rather, it refers to how much ambient noise a headphone will physically block. Closed-back over-ear headphones and in-ear headphones with memory-foam tips offer the best passive noise cancellation. Headphones with…

The iPad Pro with a 12.9in Retina XDR display and M1 processor is barely on shelves, but we’re already hearing rumours about the next round of iPad upgrades, which should arrive in later in 2021. According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple is looking to update the entry-level iPad and iPad mini this year and possibly bring a big change to charging on the next iPad Pro. Mark Gurman reports that the iPad mini is due for its first redesign in six years, with “narrower screen borders” and the possible removal of the home button. Removing the Touch ID sensor from the front of the iPad mini would likely mirror the look of the iPad Air, with the fingerprint sensor built into the power button and slim, uniform bezels. We’ve…

During its WWDC Keynote presentation earlier this month, Apple took the wraps off iOS 15. While new hardware is always exciting, iOS is maybe Apple’s most important and impactful product of all, as it gets installed on over a billion iPhones around the world. Due to release this autumn with a beta test starting right away, it’s full of new features and changes both big and small. These are the top five features that will have the biggest impact on iPhone users. BIG FACETIME UPGRADES FaceTime is getting a big boost in iOS 15. Spatial audio will separate out voices, so group chats sound more natural. A new grid view shows everyone the same size, and highlights the person talking. New microphone modes makes it easier for others to hear…

tvOS is the operating system for the Apple TV. Every year Apple introduces various changes to the software that runs on the Apple TV and 2021 looks to be no different. This year, we may see the biggest change to tvOS we have seen for some time. WWDC21 revealed some information about the next update, tvOS 15, so here’s when to expect it, what it’ll feature and more. RELEASE DATE Apple confirmed that the updates will be coming this autumn, which is in line with the September release of previous versions. The release of tvOS 15 will likely coincide with the rollout of iOS 15. SIRI HOMEPOD MINI VOICE SUPPORT Users with HomePod mini can now use voice control to play specific episodes and/or movies on Apple TV. This is…

Since the iPad Pro debuted in 2015, Apple has been offering two different sizes of its highend tablet. One is about the size of a regular iPad or iPad Air (first 10.5 inches and now 11 inches), and the other has always been a bigger 12.9in version, a size you can only get in the iPad Pro. The two sizes have traditionally been essentially the same, with the larger version costing about £200 more. The choice was simple: pay more for If you want a bigger display. But the new M1-powered iPad Pro isn’t a different animal. For one, the price gap has stretched to £250, but that’s because the 12.9in model has a really significant difference – a new HDR display with mini-LED backlights. Here’s how the two Pros…

The new AirTag from Apple is a compact tracking device that has an extremely long life and precise locating ability in the right circumstances. Unlike a GPS tracker, which requires cell service and may drain a battery quickly, an AirTag relies on the distributed Find My network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs that hundreds of millions of people around the world carry with them, and uses Bluetooth LE to signal that hardware. While there are a thousand positive and legitimate ways to use an AirTag, it can be abused when someone tracks you without your knowledge, which potentially exposes you to violence and danger. Apple has put some safeguards in place so that an iPhone, iPad, and AirTag provide varying alerts and information if one is moving with you or…

If you’ve been waiting for the second-generation AirPods Pro model to arrive, you might not want to hear this: A report from Bloomberg says the new high-end earbuds might not land until 2022. According to Mark Gurman, the AirPods Pro refresh, which was originally planned for this year, won’t arrive until next year. Along with a possible design change, the new AirPods Pro will also reportedly feature “updated motion sensors with a focus on fitness tracking”. Motion sensors could automatically detect the difference between walking and running to start a workout or measure distance and pace while exercising. Other earbud makers have also incorporated heart-rate sensors into their earbuds, and Apple could offer a compelling tie-in with its Fitness+ service, which sells for £10 a month. Gurman also says Apple…

At this year’s WWDC Keynote presentation, Apple unveiled the next generation of iPadOS. It will bring a lot of the changes we got with iOS 14 on the iPhone along with a few new features geared toward power users. Here are the top features Apple is bringing to our iPads with iPadOS 15. WIDGETS Apple introduced a completely redesigned Home Screen with widgets in iOS 14 and it’s finally bringing them to the tablet. They function much as they do on the iPhone, offering small boxes that live among the icons on your screen and provide at-a-glance information to things like weather, photos and stocks. Apple is making them even more powerful on the iPad, however, with support for larger-format widgets with much more information and interaction for things like…

Apple introduced new iCloud features during its WWDC keynote as part of a new iCloud+ service. These features focus on preserving your privacy, and the company is making these features available to paid iCloud subscribers at no additional cost. ACCOUNT RECOVERY Apple adds another option to getting a security code that you need to access your account. The new option allows you to add a trusted contact to get the code info. For example, if you select your mother as an Account Recovery contact, she will get the forgotten password code that you need. She can then relay that code for you to use. LEGACY CONTACT Sooner or later, it happens to all of us: we die. And if you rely heavily on the cloud to store your pictures, videos,…

Last year, in the grips of a sudden and shocking global pandemic, Apple continued rolling. New product announcements kept dropping. A new set of operating-system releases were announced, went into beta, and shipped. The transition to Apple silicon started. Everyone at Apple deserves a lot of credit for keeping the machine chugging along during 2020, but the company was helped out by the its policy of working well in advance, laying the groundwork for products and features over a long stretch of time. Unfortunately, that approach also has a downside: it reduces the company’s nimbleness. Last spring it was clear that masks were going to be a major feature of public life for a while, but there was no way the next iPhone could be adapted to add Touch ID…