When describing its new Liquid Glass design language, Apple spoke only generally about how users could change the look of icons and widgets on their iPhone and iPad home screens to be dark, clear, or tinted, without specifying how to do that. The trick is to touch and hold an empty spot on the Home screen to enter jiggle mode, tap Edit in the upper-left corner, and select Customize to bring up a set of controls: choose from Default, Dark, Clear, and Tinted. For Tinted, set the color ➊ and opacity ➋ using the sliders, and use the buttons at the top of the Customize panel to change the brightness ➌, expand icons and remove names ➍, and use either the suggested image color ➎ or pick a color with the eye dropper ➏. The effectiveness of a Liquid Glass-enabled Home Screen will depend on how much you rely on color to identify icons at a glance. Read More from “How to Customize the iPhone and iPad Home Screen with Liquid Glass”

Although it’s easy to joke about how little we use our iPhones for actual phone calls, telephony remains a core feature that everyone depends on to some degree. In iOS 26, Apple put significant effort into improving the phone experience, delivering the most notable upgrade to the Phone app in years. Here’s what you’ll find. Read More from “Ten Useful New Features in iOS 26’s Phone App”

macOS 26 Tahoe is a larger visual leap than any recent upgrade. Although we don’t yet recommend that everyone upgrade, we want to show you some of the user interface changes that will impact your everyday experience of using the Mac. Read More from “Notable User Interface Changes to Expect in macOS 26”

The “visual intelligence” aspect of Apple Intelligence leverages the artificial intelligence capabilities of your iPhone to make what you see through the iPhone’s camera or on its screen interactive and actionable in ways that weren’t previously possible. It’s one of the most useful aspects of Apple Intelligence. Read More from “Make the Most of Visual Intelligence on the iPhone”

If you’ve been following Apple’s recent product releases, you’ve probably heard the term “Liquid Glass.” That’s what Apple calls its newest design language, a combination of an aesthetic look and functional philosophy for the user interface in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 Tahoe, in particular, but also in watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26 (we think of them collectively as OS 26). Apple describes Liquid Glass as a “translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, while dynamically transforming to help bring greater focus to content.” The company claims that Liquid Glass “makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful while being instantly familiar.” Apple even has an intro video. Read More from “What’s Liquid Glass, and What to Do If You Don’t Like It”

You’re in a meeting with colleagues, and after everyone else has trickled out, you talk about a sensitive topic with a trusted friend. That would typically be no problem with an in-person meeting, but with a modern virtual meeting, where an AI records a transcript, summarizes what was said, and automatically emails it to all participants, you might not want everyone to know about your coworker conflicts, job search, health issues, relationship troubles, or countless other confidential matters. Read More from “Watch What You Say in AI-Recorded Meetings”

Most people prefer Apple’s default of sorting contacts by last name, so “Andy Anderson” appears near the start of the list and “Liliana Velasco” toward the end. But some would also prefer to display contacts with their last name first, such as “Anderson, Andy,” and “Velasco, Liliana.” That’s not the default, but if it’s what you want, here’s how to accomplish it. On the iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Contacts > Display Order and select Last, First. On the Mac, open Contacts > Settings > General and from the Show First Name controls, select Following Last Name. Read More from “How to Display Contacts with Last Names First”

Recently, we’ve fielded a spate of questions from people who have used an AI chatbot to help with a technical issue and then asked us to confirm whether the information was accurate, helpful, or even safe.

First off, we’re not offended. If you can work through simple problems on your own with the help of an AI chatbot, that lets us focus on helping you with the bigger picture and issues that can be solved only by someone with awareness of your physical setup or broad knowledge of your workflow.

However, the mere fact that we’re getting these questions shows that people aren’t entirely comfortable with the AI answers, which is a good thing. Because chatbots work by giving you the most statistically likely words from their training models or extracted from search results, they can sometimes return incorrect information that could be harmful or even damaging. And, of course, they’ll do so in a breezy, confident tone that doesn’t suggest any concern. Read More from “When to Trust AI Tech Answers (And When to Call Us)”

Most AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s Gemini, let you control whether your conversations will be used to train future models. While allowing this could improve the AI, it also means that sensitive business information and intellectual property could become part of the chatbot’s training data. Once data is incorporated into AI training, it likely can’t be removed. Even with training disabled, you should be cautious about sharing sensitive business details, trade secrets, or proprietary code with any AI system. To reduce risks, disable these training options: Read More from “Keep Sensitive Data Private by Disabling AI Training Options”

With Apple’s recent launch of AppleCare One, which covers multiple devices, and updates to its traditional AppleCare+ plans, you might be wondering what the best strategy is for post-warranty coverage of your Apple devices. Here’s what we suggest. Read More from “When Should You Subscribe to AppleCare?”

Are you considering getting one of the new iPhone 17 models? While it’s always tempting to unbox a new device and dive right in, taking a methodical approach to setup will save you from potential frustrations down the road. When you’re ready to transfer your data—and, for many people, that means much of your digital life—to the new iPhone, follow these step-by-step instructions. For visual learners, Apple provides helpful setup videos as well. Read More from “Follow This Advice Before Switching to a New iPhone 17”

In the tech world, September brings the fruits of Apple’s harvest: new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods. At its recent Awe Dropping event, Apple introduced the new iPhone 17 lineup, the ultra-thin iPhone Air, the Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and the AirPods Pro 3. Read More from “Apple Unveils New iPhone 17 Lineup, Updated Apple Watches, and AirPods Pro 3”

Apple has raised the monthly subscription fee for Apple TV+ to $12.99, marking the third price increase since the streaming service launched at $4.99 in 2019. While the monthly cost has increased, Apple kept the annual subscription priced at $99, making it a more economical choice for those who plan to maintain their subscription throughout the year. Apple doesn’t put the annual billing option front and center on the Apple TV+ website, as you can see below, but you can easily switch to it in Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions on your iPhone or iPad or in System Settings > Your Name > Media & Purchases > Subscriptions > Manage on a Mac. Read More from “Pay for Apple TV+ Annually to Avoid the Recent Monthly Price Increase”

If you use Dropbox Passwords, it’s time to switch to a new password manager. Dropbox has announced it will discontinue the service on October 28, 2025, with key features being disabled in phases starting August 28. After the final shutdown date, all stored passwords will be permanently deleted. Dropbox recommends users switch to 1Password and has made that super easy. Read More from “Dropbox Passwords Ending: Switch to 1Password Now”