This week Dr. Mac looks at three new iPhone cases he likes and recommends and one iPhone case that was more fragile than the iPhone it was meant to protect.
iPhone
Apple Watch: Adjusting Your Move Goal on the Fly
Today’s Apple Watch Quick Tip is about adjusting your move goal. You may be getting notifications to change it on Mondays, but what if you want to switch things up later in the week? We’ll tell you how!
Peter Dinklage From Game of Thrones Fears His iPhone
What does the actor who plays a character who faces dragons, monsters, magic, and even his very own father fear in real life? If it’s Peter Dinklage—Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones, we’re talking about, it’s his iPhone 7. Mr. Dinklage gave an interview to CNET to promote Rememory, a SciFi film debuting this week at the Sundance Film Festival. In that interview, he said, “I just got an iPhone about six months ago, friends made fun of me. I’m afraid of it.” There’s a reason, though, and that’s concern over how tech is changing the way humans interact. To wit, when people approach him, the interaction has become solely about the selfie-with-Peter. He said, “We’re not even allowing a memory to sink in. They’ll have proof of meeting me, but […] there wasn’t anything to remember, because all you did was just take a picture.” It’s an interesting perspective on this particular concern.
iOS Tip: Avoid Charging Your Wet iPhone 7/7 Plus
This is less of a tip and more of a warning. Apple made the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus water and dust resistant, with a rating of IP67. This means that you won’t have to worry as much if you get a wet iPhone. Step One: Don’t panic, and grab your towel.
How To Fix The iPhone Rainbow Emoji Message Crash
Another messaging crash for iOS devices is making the rounds. This time, it involves the colorful rainbow emoji. The bug affects both iPhones and iPads running iOS 10.1 or below, but a variant of the crash can affect devices running iOS 10.2. Luckily the fix is very easy, and we’ll show you how.
iOS: Turning Off Safari Suggestions
This Quick Tip is about turning off Safari Suggestions, those top results that’ll appear within Safari on your iPad or iPhone to offer you, say, App Store content based on your search. Find those as irritating as Melissa Holt does? Then let’s stop them!
iOS Tip: Create Your Own Live Wallpaper with LivePapers
When Apple announced the iPhone 6s, they debuted a new way to interact with your iPhone, called 3D Touch. 3D Touch lets you “peek” and “pop” your way around apps. The company also introduced Live Photos—animated pictures that you capture and bring to life by 3D touching the photo. Apple provided a handful of Live wallpapers to use, but many people wondered if it was possible to make your own. That is what we’ll explore in this tip.
AT&T Officially Kills Off 2G, Original iPhone Support
Farewell, 2G. AT&T officially ended 2G support on its network as of the first of the year, and it’s a safe bet almost no one noticed. Dropping 2G support means older phones like the original iPhone won’t work for phone calls any more, and it also opens wireless spectrum that’ll eventually benefit LTE.
DONKEY.APP for iPhone and Apple Watch Recreates Bill Gates's DOS Classic
Can you kick it old school enough to remember DONKEY.BAS? It was one of the first racing games on DOS, and it was coded by a young tech exec named Bill Gates. Maybe you’ve heard of him. In any event, XVision has recreated this game on iPhone and Apple Watch, and they call it DONKEY.APP. It’s a, “super simple but frustratingly hard retro arcade game, inspired by Bill Gates’ one-and-only DOS game.” The player is a old-fashioned race car, only there are beasts of burden standing on the road. The player taps to change lanes to avoid the beasts, making it a game all about precise timing. It’s not particularly easy, either. Retro gaming is all the rage, and you can revisit this slice of tech history for US$0.99. I’d love to know your thoughts.
Apple Watch and iPhone: Filtering Your Activity Data
The iPhone’s Activity app, which connects to your Apple Watch and stores all kinds of data on what workouts you do, has a pretty neat set of filters and views you can check out to really get an idea of how you’re progressing. In this Quick Tip, we’ll show you how you can filter that data and what it looks like when you do!