Guides

The iPhone has a reputation as being very secure, so much so that the FBI has had publicized problems getting into them in various investigations in recent years. Most people are fairly confident that the average would-be thief is not going to be able to get past their Touch ID or Face ID, or guess their security code. Even if they can, the owner can use Find My iPhone to figure out the phone's location, and to erase it if it contains highly sensitive data. But how many iPhone owners have considered that a thief could take and use their SIM card to make calls and use data?

Everybody wants meaningful wallpaper on their smartphone, whether it is a peaceful view of nature, an undulating palette of colors, a photo of friends and family or anything else that inspires them. iPhone owners have had the ability to add new wallpapers (aside from the ones provided with iOS) going back to the original iPhone and iOS, though not all may be aware of how to do it. So if you are new to iPhone, need a refresher or have simply never bothered with it, here's how to install new backgrounds on your iPhone:

Apple's history of support for chapters within podcasts has been shaky at best, going through several versions of limited support over the past several years. iOS 12 improves the Podcasts app handling of chapters, making it a useful feature - finding a point that you want to hear again, or skipping a part that you're not interested in are much easier tasks to accomplish now, rather than blindly scrubbing through. Of course the podcast producers need to implement chapters for you to make use of them, but if you have one that does have chapters, here's how to view them on iPhone and iPad:

Turning on subtitles in your various media sources like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. is usually easy enough, often just requiring you to tap the "CC" button or open up the app's settings. If, however, you use subtitles all the time, you can permanently turn them on in iOS settings. Once they are on, they will show up on everything you watch through the TV app. What's more, you can choose from several caption styles and even customize your own. Here's how to do it on iPhone and iPad:

While finding directions to a destination is simple enough to do on any navigation app, many of us like to research travel destinations on our computers or tablets beforehand, if for no other reason than having a bigger screen to look at. If you look up directions as part of this pre-travel research, you might as well send them along to your phone so they are ready to go as soon as you sit down in your car. It's not a life changing shortcut but it is a convenience that both Apple Maps and Google Maps offer. Here's how to use it for each:

Apple Maps