Gadget Hacks: Page 14

If it's always been your dream to work for a large company as an app developer, there's never been a better time to consider the field than right now — especially with companies like Apple staffing up in this department. It feels like everywhere you turn, companies are starting to move in this forward-thinking direction.

As the U.S. inches closer to herd immunity and reopening after the pandemic, it may become necessary to keep your COVID-19 vaccination cards on you at all times to gain access to places and events that are prone to spreading the coronavirus. You probably won't want to lose your card, so it may be wise to load a copy onto your smartphone for easy access.

Apple's big iOS 14.5 update adds over 60 new features and changes to your iPhone, some of which are upgrades that audiophiles and even casual music listeners can appreciate. Whether you subscribe to the Apple Music streaming service or simply use the Music app for your own library of tunes, iOS 14.5 has a few things you should know about.

Safety means something different to everyone, but everyone wants to feel safe. For many, the best way to feel safe is to have something external that offers that sense of security, whether it's an alarm system, a friend on standby, or just something that helps you feel in control.

Apple released the newest update for iPhone, iOS 14.5.1, today, Monday, May 3. The update (build number 18E212) is the first since iOS 14.5, which Apple made available one week earlier on Monday, April 26.

Apple seeded developers the second iOS 14.6 beta today, Friday, April 30. The update (build number 18F5055b) comes four days after the launch of iOS 14.5, which introduced over 60 new features and changes to iPhone, and eight days after the first 14.6 beta hit developers' iPhones.

When you need to drive somewhere unfamiliar, you probably use Apple Maps to get there if you're an iPhone user. But just getting there isn't enough sometimes. If you pull up to the location, and there's nowhere to park, it doesn't matter that you arrived on time since you'll be late trying to find somewhere to leave your car. That's where Apple's new Maps tool comes in handy.

Apple Card is the iPhone OEM's big leap into the credit card market. Its low barrier to entry and ease of use make it an appealing option, especially for those who often pay for goods with Apple Pay. To get the best rewards possible, make sure you use the Apple Card at stores where you can get 3% cash back.

Apple's new iOS 14.5 will be coming out very soon, and that's even more evident now with the release of the iOS 14.5 Release Candidate (RC) on Tuesday, April 20. Anyone can install this update and get all of the same features iOS 14.5 will give everyone for iPhone; only you'll have a head start to using all of the updates in Maps, Music, Podcasts, Reminders, Shortcuts, Siri, and more.

Your iPhone keeps track of every single place you go, especially those you frequent most often, and syncs those locations across all your iCloud-connected devices. People who gain access or already have access to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac may be able to view all of these locations to see where you've been and where you might be. If this worries you, there are things you can do.

One of the smaller frustrations of the coronavirus pandemic is unlocking your iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask. If you have an iPhone with Touch ID, you won't need to punch in your passcode every time Face ID fails since you can use your fingerprint. But for those of us without Home buttons, unlocking our iPhones just got a lot easier — even if we're wearing a mask.

IT is a competitive field, and finding success requires more than knowledge of a couple of coding languages or knowing how to google really well. To stand out among your peers and competitors, you should learn everything you can and get as much diverse experience as is available.

Driving is anything but problem-free. Speed traps, accidents, and other hazards can appear at any time, requiring motorists to be attentive, quick, and prepared for anything. If you see something dangerous on your route that you want to warn others about, there's an easy way to do so in Apple Maps.

Apple's "Spring Loaded" event introduced us to many new and exciting products, including iMac and iPad Pro models with the M1 chip, an upgraded Apple TV 4K, a purple iPhone, and the long-awaited AirTag. However, one of the most anticipated announcements came in the form of a software update — the biggest update since iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0 came out — and that's iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Sometimes, you don't want to be the only one enjoying killer lyrics from your favorite songs. Sure, you can text your friends and let them know how great these tracks are, but you could also take advantage of one of Apple Music's coolest new features of iOS 14.5 — lyrics sharing!

If you're like me, you're not too keen on being tracked. So when an app asks you if it can track your iPhone activity across other programs and websites for ads or data brokers, the answer is pretty much always "no." If you're tired of choosing "Ask App Not to Track" over and over again, there is a way to stop apps from even being able to ask in the first place.

If you rely on Apple Maps to get around over other navigation apps, there's a lot you can do. Look Around lets you tour cities up close, restaurant reservations make dining less frustrating, and 3D view gives a new perspective of a neighborhood. While there are many more where that came from, iOS 14.5 just added six new features and changes you need to know about.

Many of us choose to use an iPhone — as well as other devices in the Apple ecosystem — because of the company's dedication to user privacy and security. If you need more proof of that commitment, look no further than iOS 14.5, released April 26, which adds new tools to protect our data while browsing the web and more control over the data installed apps collect on us.

Apple's Reminders app has come a long way. In the past, if you really wanted to keep track of your important daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, you needed to install a specialty third-party app to make it work. While those apps still offer valuable features, Reminders can get the job done for many iPhone users now. With iOS 14.5, Apple only sweetens the deal.

If you're looking to improve your browsing experience, then a VPN is the right way to go. If you're tired of censored or geographically blocked sites and wary of companies selling your data, then a good VPN can be your answer to a problem that limits every aspect of your experience online.

The biggest problem with Netflix (which is hardly a real problem) is the overwhelming amount of content available for streaming. Browsing through profile-specific categories might help narrow down your search on something to watch, but some of those categories come and go without warning, and it's impossible to find them again—but not anymore.

If you have no intention of getting personalized engravings on your AirTags, you don't need to shop on the Apple Store unless you have an Apple Card you want to earn Daily Cash with. Best Buy. Target. Adorama. B&H Photo. All of those places will let you preorder AirTags now but so does Amazon, America's second-biggest retailer, a good choice whether you have Amazon Prime or not.

Apple officially unveiled iOS 14 on June 22 at its first all-virtual WWDC. After months of beta testing, iOS 14 hit iPhones on Sept. 16, but that doesn't mean that Apple is done beta testing iOS 14. There will be new features to try out right up until iOS 15 comes out next year.

Apple released the eighth iOS 14.5 public beta on Tuesday, April 13. The update (build number 18E5199a) comes three hours after Apple seeded developers 14.5 beta 8, so we know that it contains little-to-no surface-level features or changes. Any changes, at this time, appear to be under the hood.

Improving your experience online is getting easier every year. Browsing can be safe, easy, and boundary-less with the right VPN, and gaming online is working better than ever to connect and compete with other players.

Apple's iOS 14.5 is the biggest update since iOS 14.0 came out, with over 50 confirmed features and more being discovered every day. There are new emoji, support for AirTags, more privacy controls, and exciting upgrades to Siri, Maps, Reminders, Podcasts, Music, and even Shortcuts. So it wouldn't surprise us if you want to get this on your iPhone ASAP.

Apple wants to support the advertising economy, but its primary focus of late has been user privacy and security. In Safari, cross-site tracking, which lets content providers track you across websites and apps to show you more targeted ads, is disabled by default. However, content providers can get around that using less privacy-invasive ad measurements, but you can stop that too in iOS 14.5.

You use your iPhone's Reminders app to keep track of everything from grocery lists to the day's most important tasks. Over recent iOS updates, Apple has added tools to Reminders to make it even more powerful, like assigning tasks to other people and setting location-based reminders. Now there's another great update, and it gives you the ability to sort your lists.

Since iOS 11, a thumbnail preview appears on your iPhone whenever you take a screenshot. It's useful for access to quick sharing options and editing tools, but you can't disable the preview image. You can wait for it to disappear or swipe it off-screen, but that's as good as it gets — until now. In an iOS 14 update, there's an option to disable the screenshot preview — only you won't find it in Settings.

With its emphasis on well-rounded audible entertainment, Deezer gives all music and podcast fans the best of both worlds. As great as the app is, it's inconvenient to constantly tell Siri to play your music and podcasts through Deezer so that it doesn't default to Apple Music or Apple Podcasts instead. But as of iOS 14.5, you can set Deezer as your iPhone's "default" music player for Siri.

If Pandora is your primary music app on your iPhone, you know it can be frustrating to use with Siri. The digital assistant always wants to use Apple Music instead, so you need to specify that you want to play through Pandora with almost every request. That's now a thing of the past because iOS 14.5 allows you to set Pandora as your Siri's preferred music player.

Back in Android 9, Google took away the expanding mini-menu for Bluetooth connections. The way it used to be, you could long-press the Bluetooth toggle in your Quick Settings, then the panel would turn into a fast-access menu for Bluetooth settings. It was a fairly minor feature, but dropping it has made it a lot harder to switch between your various Bluetooth accessories.

If you buy an Android phone from any of the big US carriers, it will come with several extra apps in addition to any apps the manufacturer preinstalled. It's all in the name of profit, of course. Some of these apps are from companies that paid the carriers to distribute their software, and some are from the carriers themselves, usually aimed at upselling you or perhaps collecting a little data.

Bloatware is a problem on Android, and it's not just a Samsung thing. Removing apps that have the Uninstall or Disable button grayed out in Settings has always involved sending ADB commands to your phone from a computer, which itself was always such a pain to set up. Thankfully, that has finally changed.

Game design is among the fastest-growing industries in tech. What once was a passing hobby or niche job has become a thriving industry with a huge variety of work. If you are interested in learning game design, either as a hobby or a profession, then The 2021 Complete Learn to Code by Making Games in Unity Bundle will hold some interest for you — and it's on sale for $39.99.

You can't hand over your iPhone to a kid and expect everything to be OK. Not only will they drop your iPhone (and they will), they could also do something much worse than a cracked screen — in-app purchases.

When you think of an online music service nowadays, Spotify is probably near the first that come to mind, and for good reason. Being able to create, share, and take all of your playlists anywhere, across all of your devices, is something that I couldn't live without. Unfortunately, nothing this good is free, and with Spotify Premium, users of their free service are left with very limited features when streaming on their mobile devices.

Learning a new language as an adult isn't just hard because your brain works differently from when you were a kid. You also have to contend with having less time and energy to practice. However, if you're looking to add another language to your repertoire at a pace you decide, then the Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription for All Languages: 2-Pack will be a useful tool for you.

Apple's iOS 14.5 is the biggest update to your iPhone since iOS 14. The new software features over 40 features and changes, including 217 new emoji, controller support for PS5 and Xbox Series X, and battery calibration for the iPhone 11 line. Now, Apple is inching closer to the finish line with 14.5 beta 7.

HomePod and HomePod mini are excellent smart speakers if you're entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. They even offer ways to protect your sensitive information from friends and visitors who try to ask Siri to spill your secrets. But there's an extra layer of privacy you can put in place to make sure nobody gains access to any important notes, reminders, and calendar events.