Tausi Insider

Photo : nikkimeel ( Shutterstock ) Updating your iPhone is annoying. Yes, the updates are often full of new features and changes that make upgrading worthwhile , but it can be hard to find the time to install a brand new update on your iPhone. Taking your phone out of commission during the day isn’t always an option. Wouldn’t it be nice if Apple let you schedule these updates for when you actually had time? Well, ask and ye shall receive. As it turns out, Apple includes an option to schedule software updates on each and every iPhone. It’s just that f or some reason, the company hides it from us. I’m not sure why—i t’s certainly not due to a lack of screen space: Half of the Software Updates settings page is blank. The option also isn’t featured in the Automatic Updates settings menu either , so don’t go looking for it there. Speaking of which, when I refer to scheduling updates for later, I’m not talking about iOS’ Automatic Updates feature. Sure, this option will theoretical...

Photo : Tada Images ( Shutterstock ) Who remembers the games that shipped with classic iPods? You could have a pixel war in   Parachute , smash blocks in Brick , play cards in Solitaire , and test your knowledge of your own iPod’s library with Music Quiz . Of course, Apple has since discontinued the iPod, but they seem to have trouble letting go of the past.   Music Quiz lives on as a hidden iPhone game. The hidden music quiz hasn’t been around forever, but isn’t all that new either. Apple first added it to the iPhone not as a game but as a shortcut, back in 2020 with iOS 14 . The game w as part of a small series of “Starter Shortcuts”—the idea, I assume, was to offer users a quick look at what was possible with shortcuts (even though the app launch two years prior with iOS 12). Either way, it doesn’t seem to have been a wholly effective marketing campaign— I had no idea this music quiz existed. It’s just the kind of hidden feature that’s a pleasant surprise to discover ....

Screenshot : Jake Peterson I’m not trying to bullshit you. If you have a Samsung Galaxy — virtually any one of them — then you have a hidden chihuahua on your phone. You would never stumble upon it, which is why you’ve likely never seen nor known about it, but it’s there, lurking, ready to greet you at a moment’ s notice. The chihuahua is a picture, but it isn’t your Galaxy’s Gallery app—i t’s in a hidden menu called “diagnostic mode.” These diagnostics are n’ t advertised by Samsung in any way and you won’t find them by digging through the Settings app (or even entering developer mode ). How to launch diagnostic mode on your Samsung Galaxy To launch diagnostic mode on any Samsung Galaxy device, open the Phone app, then dial *#0*#. No matter what Galaxy you have, you’ll see a simple menu appear with a series of options that allow you to test different functions of your phone . For example, you’ll likely see “RED,” “GREEN,” or “BLUE” at the top of the grid, which test the scr...

Your iPhone and Apple Watch want to keep you safe, but sometimes, they’re a bit overzealous about it. In an effort to save your life in the event of a car crash, they’ll reach out to emergency services on your behalf and let them know what’s going on. Only occasionally, they’ll mistake innocuous activities for horrible accidents. One minute, you’re enjoying skiing down the slopes; the next, you’re explaining to the police that no, you’re actually not in danger. The feature in at fault here is Crash Detection, a new addition to recent Apple devices, including the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max, as well as the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and the latest Apple Watch SE. Using the updated tech in these devices, Crash Detection analyzes your surroundings to determine if you’ve been in a severe crash. According to Apple , the devices are looking for “front-impact, side-impact, and rear-end collisions, and rollovers,” involving “sedans, minivans, SUVs, pickup truck...

Photo : wavebreakmedia ( Shutterstock ) Many of us have been using iPhones since the beginning, and its “hidden” or “secret” features are things we’ve know about for ages. But every once in a while, I learn something new about iOS. This time , it’s a feature that lets you instantly measure someone with just your iPhone’s camera. This feature isn’t new , but it is only available on a select group of iPhones, specifically “Pro” models. If you have an iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro, or 14 Pro Max, you have an instant people-measuring tool in your pocket. However, even if you have the most recent iPhone 14 or 14 Plus, you don’t. ( Weird how a brand-new iPhone doesn’t have a feature the two-year-old iPhone 12 Pro does.) How Li DAR works on iPhones Even if Apple wanted to add this feature to non-Pro iPhones, it likely couldn’t— the measure feature is hardware-based, relying on the LiDAR sensor built-into the cameras of the Pro iPhones. If you have one, you’ve lik...

Photo : Emils Vanags ( Shutterstock ) If you’re buying Apple devices as last-minute gifts this holiday season, there’s an easy way to figure out if you still time to get them delivered before the big day. When ordering directly from Apple’s online store, you can quickly check if the iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple Watches you’re looking for are indeed available to ship in time for you to wrap them. Head over to Apple’s holiday shipping page to check if the gadgets you want will be shipped on time. The “Order By” dates on the page reflect the last date you can place an order on Apple’s online store in order to get the gifts by Christmas. It’s too late for these items shipped from Apple At the time of writing, the following gadgets are listed as unavailable to ship in time for Christmas: iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max AirPods Max (engraved) AirTag (engraved) Some other options, such as the iPad mini or non-engraved AirTags, are close to the cut-off dates for online orders on A...

Photo : ALDECA studio ( Shutterstock ) Smartphones these days have great cameras, to the point where it’s tough to make the wrong decision when picking one. If you’re like most people, though, you’re a bit loyal to one brand, especially if that brand happens to be iPhone, and never have a chance to really see what else is out there. It’s possible your current smartphone doesn’t actually take your favorite photos, but without shopping around, how would you know? Marques Brownlee, otherwise known as MKBHD , wants to help. At the end of each year, the MKBHD team holds a blind smartphone camera test to see which smartphone photos people actually prefer. They started the tradition back in 2017, pitting the top five smartphones of the year against each other in a YouTube video (without telling you which was which, of course) but the test has grown exponentially since then . Now, the list covers the top 16 smartphones of the year, and millions of people vote on their favorite. The po...

Finally . Anyone running iOS 16 (or macOS Ventura, for that matter) can edit or undo iMessages they send in error . When you send an iMessage, you have 15 minutes to edit it, after which time the message will lock itself in. Be warned, though: Any edits you make will be visible in an edit history available under a convenient “Edited” tag, so this feature is best for making small corrections you’d usually fix with a follow-up message. If you’d rather cover up a message entirely, delete it instead. You have two minutes after sending a message to remove it from your device and the devices of others in the chat. Of course, they have the same power, too. https://www.tausiinsider.com/45-of-tausiinsiders-favorite-iphone-hacks-of-2022/?feed_id=327058&_unique_id=6410f00c74c23

Photo : Kicking Studio ( Shutterstock ) Just as you’d service your car to keep it running smoothly, an annual review of your iPhone can prevent a lot of issues in the long run. Phones accumulate a ton of digital cruft, and since a more organized device works better for longer, take the start of a new year as your opportunity to clear it all out. Your iPhone may feel brand new again by the time you’re done. Delete the apps you don’t use anymore We all download a host of apps that are almost never used. If you have a bunch, consider uninstalling them to save space and bandwidth. Unused apps can make your phone slow sometimes, and they keep downloading updates automatically, which can eat into your internet plan’s limited bandwidth. You can go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and select Enable next to Offload Unused Apps . This will free up a lot of space. Next, you can scroll down on the storage settings page, swipe towards the left on apps that you don’t use, and sele...

Photo : Kaspars Grinvalds ( Shutterstock ) The new Always-On Displays on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max provide a nifty way to keep tabs on your smartphone without needing to interact with it. However, Apple’s original design choice was odd: By default, the 14 Pros dim your wallpaper in addition to the clock and notifications, which is both confusing and a presumed battery drain. Apple “fixed” the problem with iOS 16.2 , offering users the option to disable their wallpaper on the AOD . Since the 14 Pro has an OLED display, it can turn off the pixels that aren’t in use. You’d think, then, disabling the wallpaper for AOD, and thus leaving a lot of the display black, would net big battery savings. Well, apparently not. PhoneBuff recently ran a test comparing battery performance of three iPhone 14 Pro Maxes: One with the default AOD with wallpaper enabled, one with only text enabled, and one with the AOD disabled. For added measure, PhoneBuff reset all the phones to be free...

Photo : mokjc ( Shutterstock ) These days, iPhones are huge . Aside from the minis (which Apple no longer makes), most iPhones are difficult to properly use with one hand— and some even with two. If you’ve recently switched to a larger iPhone and are struggling to adapt to its size, t here are some steps you can take to make your new phone easier to use. Change how you hold your iPhone Smaller iPhones are far better suited to one-handed use than their larger counterparts. If you’re used to gripping your iPhone with one hand, the sad fact is you’ll likely enjoy your phone more if you switch to a two-handed grip for more tasks. If you can’t kick the one-handed habit, though, here’s what to try next. Take advantage of Siri more often Rather than attempt to stretch your fingers for every task on your iPhone, delegate some of them to Siri. Siri can be frustrating to use, but it’s quite good for basic tasks like setting reminders, playing music, or creating alarms. You can even hang u...