Do you need to be careful about how much data you use with your iPhone or iPad, either via cellular or Wi-Fi? That could be true for those with Internet data caps, people using an international plan while traveling, and anyone in an area with slow data speeds. To reduce your data usage, turn on Low Data Mode, which you can do separately for cellular and Wi-Fi. For cellular, look in Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options, where you can either enable Low Data Mode for LTE/4G or take one more step into Data Mode for 5G. If you’re using two plans with a dual SIM iPhone, you can set each one separately. For Wi-Fi, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the i button next to the desired Wi-Fi network and then tap Low Data Mode. Apple lists what you can expect to change in Low Data Mode. If you need a similar capability for the Mac, check out TripMode.
(Featured image by iStock.com/Created_by_light)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/04/knotted-hose-data-pipe-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2022-04-01 10:07:002022-05-02 02:58:35Reduce iPhone and iPad Data Usage with Low Data Mode
Normally, when you rotate an iPad, the screen happily flips from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal) orientation as appropriate. Rotating an iPhone has the same effect in some apps, though many are written to work only in one orientation. If you ever end up in a situation where your device’s screen doesn’t rotate when you think it should, the reason is likely that Rotation Lock has been turned on in Control Center. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen (or up from the bottom of the screen on a Touch ID iPhone) and disable the Rotation Lock button. You can turn it on again later if you ever want to prevent the screen from rotating temporarily.
(Featured image by iStock.com/Jacephoto)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/03/Rotation-Lock-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2022-03-01 10:08:002022-03-31 21:22:23Can’t Rotate the Screen on an iPad or iPhone? Fix the Problem in Control Center
Over the past few months, there has been a spate of media reports about how people may have been tracked without their knowledge using AirTags, Apple’s elegant location trackers. Like many mainstream media forays into the tech world, the reports are often short on detail and sometimes unclear on the reality of how the AirTags work. Nor is it clear that there have been many successful cases of AirTag abuse, but the mere fact that people are trying to use AirTags to stalk others is concerning.
Apple put significant effort into preventing such abuses, revolving around three features:
Safety alerts: If you have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 14.5 or later and an unknown AirTag is traveling with you, your device will alert you to that fact. Although safety alerts aren’t available for those using Android smartphones, Android users can download Apple’s Tracker Detect app to scan manually.
Safety sounds: After an AirTag has been separated from its owner for several days, it will make a sound the next time it moves.
NFC identification: If you find an AirTag, you can hold it up to an iPhone or other NFC-capable smartphone to load a website that reveals the AirTag’s serial number and the last four digits of the owner’s phone number. The police can use this information to learn the owner’s identity from Apple.
Sadly, those precautions haven’t been sufficient either to dissuade all would-be stalkers or to educate potential stalking victims (and let’s be real—dissuading stalkers is also a matter of educating people that it’s unethical, likely dangerous, and often illegal to abuse an AirTag in this way). Apple has responded in two ways, one general, the other specific to AirTags.
Personal Safety User Guide
Apple documents its products and services quite well, but the company tends to generate many focused pages without much high-level organization. It’s all too easy to flail around within Apple’s support documentation looking for help if you don’t know what search terms are likely to work. In an effort to mitigate that problem for issues surrounding personal safety, Apple has created the Personal Safety User Guide website, also available as a downloadable 56-page PDF.
The Personal Safety User Guide brings together numerous Apple support articles in two main sections:
Review and take action: The first section helps you review how your devices and apps are set up, with a focus on settings that could expose you to harm. It helps you manage sharing settings, look at location sharing, control your Home accessories, and more. You’ll also learn how to block unknown sign-in attempts, document suspicious activity, delete suspicious content, and avoid fraudulent requests to share information, among much else. The main criticism here is that the section on AirTag safety doesn’t explain or link to all the features Apple provides.
Safety and privacy tools: The second section is a bit more generic, providing support documentation that encourages you to take advantage of the features Apple has provided to protect your safety and privacy. Among other topics, it discusses passcodes, setting up Face ID and Touch ID, using two-factor authentication, seeing which apps are accessing your data, blocking unwanted calls and messages, and using Emergency SOS.
The Personal Safety Guide ends with three checklists, each of which walks you through a series of steps. These are extremely useful because almost no one would necessarily know or remember all the places to check. The checklists help you:
See who has access to your device or accounts
Stop sharing with someone
Control how someone else can see your location
The Personal Safety User Guide website is best when you want an answer to a specific question, but it doesn’t lend itself to reading front to back. For that, we recommend downloading the PDF, which you can read at whatever depth you desire. But do at least scan the entire thing to get a sense of what it contains should you need that information later.
Apple AirTag Announcement
Shortly after releasing the Personal Safety Guide, Apple also posted a short but detailed statement on its website. In it, the company makes it clear that it is actively working with law enforcement on all cases involving AirTag abuse. Apple also says that it has updated its unwanted tracking documentation to explain AirTag safety features more clearly to users and to include resources for those who feel their safety is at risk.
Apple also outlined important advancements that will be coming to the AirTag and Find My network systems via software updates later this year:
New privacy warnings during AirTag setup: To ensure that everyone understands the utility of AirTags and the implications of abuse, people setting up an AirTag for the first time will see a message that clearly states that AirTags are meant to track their own belongings, that tracking people without their consent is a crime in many places, that AirTags are designed to alert victims to their presence, and that law enforcement can request identifying information about the owner of an AirTag.
Better alerts for AirPods: Instead of an “Unknown Accessory Detected” alert when your iPhone detects Find My network-compatible AirPods traveling with you, the alert will specify that AirPods are involved, not an AirTag. (There are third-party Find My network accessories that will still generate this alert, such as the Chipolo ONE Spot.)
Refined unwanted tracking logic: Apple will be updating its unwanted tracking alert system to notify users sooner that an unknown AirTag or Find My network accessory is traveling with them.
Precision Finding for unknown AirTags: Those with an iPhone 11, iPhone 12, or iPhone 13 will be able to take advantage of Find My’s Precision Finding feature to home in on the location of an unknown AirTag. Previously, this capability was limited to your own AirTags.
Display alerts with unknown AirTag sound: When an unknown AirTag emits a sound to alert anyone nearby to its presence, and it’s detected moving with your iPhone or iPad, an alert will also appear to help you play the sound again or use Precision Finding, if available. This should help when an unknown AirTag is in a place that blocks sound or if its speaker has been disabled.
More obvious AirTag alert sound: Apple will be adjusting the tone sequences to make an unknown AirTag’s alert sound easier to hear and find.
Overall, these changes are welcome, and it’s a testament to the care Apple took when designing the AirTag and Find My network systems that it can make such enhancements through software updates—no hardware changes are necessary. It’s also good to see Apple taking the problem—however small it might actually be—seriously and working to reduce it even further.
(Featured image by Apple)
Social Media: Media reports suggest that miscreants are trying to use Apple’s AirTag location trackers to stalk people. Apple has responded with personal safety advice and promised AirTag safety enhancements.
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/03/AirTag-privacy-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2022-03-01 10:04:002022-03-09 00:06:04Apple Works to Improve Safety in the Wake of AirTag Stalking Reports
There’s little more frustrating than running out of space, which always seems to happen at just the wrong time. Luckily, Apple makes it easy to check any time, before it becomes a problem. On the Mac, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu and click Storage. On an iPhone or iPad, navigate to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage. For iCloud, you can look in either System Preferences > Apple ID on the Mac or in Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage on an iPhone or iPad. Once you know how much space is consumed by what, you can more easily clear unnecessary data.
(Featured image by iStock.com/alphaspirit)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/02/man-stressed-by-too-much-stuff-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2022-02-01 13:07:002022-02-28 22:38:50Where to Check macOS, iOS/iPadOS, and iCloud Storage Status
Siri has plenty of tricks up its sleeve, and we’ve just discovered a new one. Let’s say you set iPhone alarms to wake up and remind you to take medication throughout the day. However, if you don’t have your iPhone handy when those alarms go off, it can be annoying (for both you and others) to find your phone and stop or snooze the alarm. If you have a HomePod, it turns out that you (or someone else) can say, “Hey Siri, snooze the alarm” or “Hey Siri, stop the alarm.” Siri usually asks for confirmation—just reply with “Yes”—and sometimes tells you to continue on the iPhone, but it can be easier than finding the iPhone and stopping the alarm. (And yes, if you’re wearing an Apple Watch, you can stop the alarm from it as well. It’s also possible to set alarms on a HomePod directly, though they’re useful only if you’re guaranteed to be home when they go off.)
(Featured image by iStock.com/Antonio_Diaz)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/01/turn-off-alarm-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2022-01-03 13:06:002022-01-31 17:29:08Did You Know That Siri on a HomePod Can Control Alarms on Other Devices?
Did you know that pressing and holding the side button and one of the volume buttons on an iPhone 8 or later brings up a screen that lets you power your iPhone off, show your medical ID, and invoke Emergency SOS? (On earlier iPhones, press the side or top button five times.) Slide Emergency SOS, and your iPhone will immediately call emergency services, which could be lifesaving in a real emergency. Even without touching that slider, if you continue to hold the side button and volume button, after a 5-second countdown, the iPhone automatically calls emergency services, which may not be what you want. At least in the US, even if you hang up, that will likely cause the 911 dispatcher to send police to your location. To ensure that you can’t accidentally trigger Emergency SOS to call automatically, go to Settings > Emergency SOS and turn off Auto Call. We won’t say how we know this can happen.
(Featured image by iStock.com/LightFieldStudios)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/12/Emergency-SOS-police-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2021-12-01 13:08:002022-01-02 15:17:25Pay Attention to the iPhone’s Emergency SOS Auto Call Feature
Thanks to Apple’s 2020 acquisition of weather company Dark Sky, the iPhone’s Weather app has learned some new tricks in iOS 15. (It still isn’t available on the iPad, oddly.) Most obvious is its addition of weather maps that can show precipitation, temperature, and air quality. More subtle are the notifications that can alert you to incoming precipitation at your precise location. To turn them on in Weather, tap the location button in the lower-right corner of the screen, tap Turn On Notifications, and agree to the necessary location and notification permissions when prompted. (You can also do this later in Settings > Weather > Location and Settings > Weather > Notifications.) From then on, whenever Weather thinks precipitation is about to start or stop at any of your preset locations, you’ll get an alert. Some people find that Weather’s notifications aren’t as frequent or accurate as those from other weather apps like CARROT Weather, but Apple will likely be improving the system.
(Featured image by iStock.com/trendobjects)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/12/Notifications-in-Weather-photo-1.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2021-12-01 13:06:002022-01-02 15:18:31Avoid Inclement Weather by Enabling Notifications in iOS 15’s Weather App
When you move from an old iPhone or iPad to a new one, the easiest approach is often the Quick Start device-to-device transfer. But if that doesn’t work, or if you have to give up one device before receiving the other, iCloud Backup is a fine alternative. Fine, that is, if you have enough iCloud storage space, which many people with the free 5 GB plan do not. For devices running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, Apple just introduced the option to create a temporary iCloud backup that’s larger than the available space. Tap Settings > General > Transfer or Reset Device > Get Started to create the backup. You have 21 days (plus another 21 if necessary) to restore that backup, and it sticks around for another 7 days after you restore.
(Featured image by iStock.com/honley)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/11/Temporary-iCloud-cranes-clouds-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2021-11-01 13:06:002021-12-01 09:09:08Apple Provides Temporary iCloud Backup Space for New Device Transfers
Here’s a tricky situation that threw one of our clients for a loop recently. Texts they sent in Messages via iMessage (indicated by blue bubbles) to their son, letting him know they were stopping by weren’t being delivered, making their visits a surprise. But other texts worked fine. The problem, it turned out, was that Cellular Data had somehow gotten turned off in Settings > Cellular. So messages worked fine as long as the iPhone was on Wi-Fi at home, but as soon as they were on the road using a cellular connection, the iPhone could no longer communicate with the Internet. In theory, Messages should fall back to SMS (indicated by green bubbles), which doesn’t require cellular data, but that doesn’t always happen. The fix? Just enable Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data again.
(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Dima Berlin)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/10/Messages-not-delivered.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2021-10-01 12:07:002021-11-01 04:31:06Messages Not Being Delivered to Blue-Bubble Friends? Check Cellular Data
You have a new iPhone or iPad—congratulations! When transferring your data to the new device, you have three options: Quick Start, an iCloud backup, or a Mac backup. All will work, but they don’t quite provide the same end result (particularly if you didn’t encrypt your Mac backup). Our advice—backed by this post from Apple expert John Gruber—is to try Quick Start first because it transfers everything directly from your old device to your new one, maintaining app logins in most cases and allowing you to transfer your Apple Watch pairing. It may seem like it’s taking a long time before you can use the device, but it’s worth it to avoid logging in to numerous apps and unpairing and repairing your Apple Watch.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
https://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/10/Quick-Start-iPhone-13-photo.jpg8001280F-11 Photohttps://f11photo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/06/PR-F11Photo-logo.jpgF-11 Photo2021-10-01 12:05:002021-11-01 04:31:19When Migrating to a New iPhone or iPad, Try Quick Start First