Tips

Activation Lock helps keep your iPhone and personal data safe. In the early days of the iPhone, devices were more easily stolen and wiped for resale on the black market. Thanks to Activation Lock and Find My, devices are kept secure from anyone who's not the rightful owner. A lost iPhone can even be erased remotely. Without your Apple ID and password an iPhone cannot be erased or reactivated, and Find My cannot be switched off.

Apple makes it possible to keep money stored with your Apple ID for purchases. When you have a credit in your Apple Account, this is the first method used to pay. After the balance is depleted, the next form of payment such as Apple Pay or a debit card is tapped. Funds can be added to your Apple ID at any time, and be used to pay for anything from Apple. This includes iCloud storage, digital content, Apple Music or Apple TV+ subscriptions, apps, and more.

Google has expanded the functionality of dark mode in the Google Maps app on iPhone and iPad. Now when browsing a map or looking for businesses and locations this can be done in dark mode. Before this update, Google Maps users could only see dark mode when actively navigation with turn-by-turn directions. Dark mode can be configured to match the status of the iOS system's dark mode, or to display dark backgrounds and light text all of the time.

Spotify has added a new feature to the social component of its music streaming service. Users can now block individual users from the app, without contacting Spotify customer service. Previously there was a button to "Report abuse", but no way to quickly prevent all interactions with another user. The latest functionality started rolling out to Spotify's app users last week.

The Reminders app continues to add features, making it easier than ever to keep track of to-do lists. Frequent users of Apple Reminders on iPhone or iPad may have noticed that completed reminders are stored indefinitely. This reminders history stays with iOS and is even synced with iCloud when this feature is switched on. iPhone owners may be surprised to know that Reminders keeps so many old and expired reminders around.