Take Apple’s hearing test: You need an iPhone running iOS 18.1 and a pair of AirPods Pro 2. Put in your earbuds, open Settings on your iPhone, then tap the shortcut for AirPods settings. Look for Hearing Health, then tap Take a hearing test. Follow the on-screen prompts. Do it in a quiet place for the best results.
6 ways tech can solve life's little annoyances
Minor tech annoyances can seem small at the moment. But in the grand scheme of things, they can cause stress and wasted time. If you don’t want tech issues to have a significant impact, cut them off with these tech life hacks.
They can even help you when you’re away from your computer. Read on for a few easy ways to make your life easier.
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1. Stop missing important emails
Most email providers let you turn on alerts. This way, you know immediately whenever an email comes in. You may read this and think, “I get too many emails. If I turned on alerts, my phone would constantly blow up!”
Hold on a second. You can turn on alerts for specific email addresses. This way, you’ll never miss an email from an important contact.
Using Gmail as an example, here’s how to use this feature:
Follow these steps on your iPhone, iPad or Android:
- First, open the Gmail app.
- Tap Menu > Settings.
- Select your account.
- Then, tap Email notifications > High priority only.
2. Stop forgetting what you need at the store
Always forgetting that one thing at the store? Have your phone remind you to pick it up when you walk through the door. Make a shopping list in the notes section of the Reminders app on your iPhone. Here’s how:
For iPhone:
Skip the keyboard: How to dictate in Microsoft Word and Google Docs
Old science fiction shows depicting the future made a big deal out of voice control. Much of it came true! Decades later, we can ask questions and control devices with our voice, thanks to virtual assistants and smart home technology.
Big moves for accessibility: Apple’s new assistive features include built-in eye tracking (navigate apps and select items just by looking at them), vocal shortcuts, music haptics and CarPlay changes, such as larger text and sound recognition for honks.
100 out of 100
Quality of life score in Spain. It’s a hot destination for retirees since it’s easy to get around without a car, and the health care system, climate and flight accessibility are all top-notch. Hey, bet the kids would visit a lot.
Hidden apps on your smartphone and how to find them
There’s a slew of features baked into smartphones most people don’t know about. Tap or click here for my favorites, from seeing where a plane overhead is going to quickly delete your last few searches.
Some of the most valuable tricks are hiding in your phone’s accessibility menu. These features make things easier for folks with vision, hearing, and motor impairments. Tap or click for 10 handy accessibility settings anyone can use.
Change this hidden setting, or anyone can get into your iPhone
Your iPhone has a ton of important privacy features. For example, there is a setting to hide your IP address when you send an email. Advertisers cannot track you this way. Here’s how to turn it on.
What if you share your location or other access with someone and want to stop? There’s an easy way to make your texts, location, and other data private again.
Iconic: It’s easy to adjust the icon size on your computer. On Windows, right-click on the desktop, choose View, and select from Large icons, Medium icons or Small icons. On a Mac, click on your desktop to ensure you’re in the Finder. From the menu bar, go to View and choose Show View Options. A window will pop up where you can adjust the icon size using the slider provided. Sweet!
Stop squinting: Just make your text bigger! On an iPhone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. Next, tap Larger Text and enable Larger Accessibility Sizes. A slider at the bottom of the screen lets you increase or decrease the text size. On Android, open Settings > Accessibility > Text and display > Select font size, then adjust the slider. (Note: These steps may vary for Android, so if you can’t find ‘em immediately, just poke around under Accessibility.)
Android secret: One-handed mode makes it easier to reach everything with one thumb. From Settings, go to Accessibility > System controls > One-handed mode.
Windows makes it complicated: On Windows, open Settings > Ease of Access > Mouse Pointer or Mouse Pointer & Touch. You’ll see a slider to adjust the size. Voila!
💬 Add Instagram captions to your story: Click the + (plus) icon on your profile pic, and then tap the Stickers icon and select Captions. FYI: You can also get automatic captions for stories and reels on your feed. Just open Settings and activity > Accessibility > Captions and translations and toggle on Captions.
Type to Siri: Type out your requests to Siri on macOS if you can’t (or don’t want to) use your voice. Hit the Apple logo > System Settings > Accessibility > Siri to enable the option.
If you think it’s annoying when your phone gets brighter and dimmer on its own, turn that off. On iPhone, open Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle off Auto-Brightness. On Android, you’ll find it under Display settings.
Didn’t catch that: Always missing the audio? On your phone, look in the Accessibility settings for Live Captions, and turn it on. Whenever speech is detected, you’ll see the transcription in the center of your device’s screen.
Night vision: Blue light tells your brain to wake up. You can switch your iPhone to warmer red hues for bedtime — and it looks neat, too. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. Turn on Color Filters, then choose Color Tint, and move Intensity and Hue all the way to the right.
Hidden Windows features live in the Accessibility menu. We’re talking about the magnifier tool, text size settings, color contrast levels, voice-typing and narration features, caption settings, voice recognition and more. In Windows 10, go to Settings > Ease of Access. In Windows 11, go to Settings > Accessibility. So handy!
This might be the best iPhone feature you never knew existed
It’s no wonder iPhones are so popular. Even though the high-end models will set you back $1,000 or more, they’re undeniably easy to use and packed with incredible features.
Did you know you can use the Notes app as a document scanner? You can upload a document and share it however you like in just a few clicks. Tap or click to try this super easy tip.
Wait, what? 5 amazing things you don’t know your phone can do
Remember when a cell phone was for calls and a round or two of Snake? Today’s phones are pro-grade cameras, PDF scanners and even car keys.
I keep a digital copy of my driver’s license on my phone because it’s just so handy. Here’s how to do that.
3 smartphone tech tips everyone over 50 must know
Embracing the digital age can improve your life, both personally and professionally. But it can be hard to keep up with the crowd if you didn’t grow up with high-tech gadgets like smartphones or tablets. That’s why we’re sharing a few tech skills all folks over 50 should know.