iPhone Settings

For those with iOS 11 or later installed, Apple has added a new option to power off an iPhone or iPad without using a physical button. The sleep/wake or power button has always been a fixture of the iPhone. Also known as the side or top button, this switch will wake or sleep iOS with a quick press. Long press will enter the "slide to power off" screen. The alternative is a software shutdown, which can be performed by following these steps:

If you have updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 11, you may have noticed that the new Control Center toggles for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi don't fully turn off either service. If you turn them off you will disconnect from any devices that your iPhone is connected to, like AirPods, heart rate monitors, wireless speakers, or other accessories, but both services will remain on. This wasn't the case with iOS 10, where both could be fully disabled from the Control Center.

The Settings screen on iOS devices keeps growing longer. With every new feature of Apple's mobile operating system, another menu item is added to the list. Unfortunately, this makes finding a particular setting on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch more difficult. Sometimes it's not even clear whether or not a particular feature can be customized. Luckily there are two tricks you can use to more efficiently access iOS Settings, saving time and effort.

Anybody who has young children (and probably most who don't) knows that one of the quickest cures for restlessness is to hand over your iPhone so they can, depending on their age, immerse themselves in games, surf the web, check their social media or just tap randomly and watch the results. You hope that it isn't handed back to you with hundreds of dollars of in-app purchases, screwed up settings, inappropriate sites in your browser history or strange new "friends" on Facebook. Fortunately Apple has built "Restrictions" into iOS that are often updated to stay current.

Most iPhone users should know that the Do Not Disturb mode is the easiest way to stop their phone from ringing, chirping and vibrating while they are at the movies, in a meeting or just trying to get a good night's sleep. What many may not know, however, is that you can customize the Do Not Disturb settings to allow certain calls and notifications through, and you can schedule it to automatically turn on at specific times. If you want to allow possible emergency calls from family come through, you can do that.