Four Notable iOS 13 Features

Apple has yet to make a big deal about their new operating system. In fact, some of these new features are hidden or have changed from their last update. I am going to discuss four new features; Battery Optimization, Update All, Rearranging Apps and Sharing Photo Location. You may want to check these out.

Apple unveils a new iPhone every year. Along with it comes a new mobile operating system (iOS), in this case iOS 13+. These features work on iPhones back to 6S and SE. If you have a 6 or 5s, you are stuck with iOS 12 variations.

This is for iPhone, iPad and Mac or any other device using iOS 13

Battery Optimization Feature

The first new feature I want to address is “Battery Optimization“. Its best to use for overnight charging. This feature learns how you charge your battery and sets up a routine of charging your phone to 80% until the time right before it knows you will wake up, at which point it will finish charging to 100%.

To set up, go to Settings>Battery>Battery Health and turn on Optimized Battery Charging. Once enabled, the slider control will be lit in green. Below is a screenshot:

Optimized Battery Charging
Optimized Battery Charging screenshot

Where is the Update All Feature?

The second feature is somewhat tricky. I don’t know why Apple took something so simple in their previous iOS and made this feature difficult. I assume they want you to rely on automatic updates. The feature is “Update All Apps“. In the new iOS, this feature seems to be missing, but we will get it back. This feature is for those who don’t want to wait for automatic updates.

First, lets go ahead and setup “Automatic Downloads“. To setup, go to Settings>iTunes & App Store>Cellular Data. To enable this feature, turn on the Automatic Downloads. The slider control will be lit in green. We are doing this in case you forget to manually update your apps.

Now, lets get the Update All feature back. Go to the App Store app and click on your profile at the top (it should have a small photo of you). Your screen will look like the below screenshot:

Updated Recently screenshot
Updated Recently screenshot

Your will notice the Updated Recently section followed by your iPhone Apps. To get the Update All feature, swipe down on the screen. Your screen will look as follows:

Update All screenshot
Update All screenshot

Notice the Update All feature magically appears IF you have pending updates. You can click this link to update all apps or manually update an app by clicking on its Update button.

Rearranging Apps Has Been Modified

The third feature is for Rearranging Apps. When you press and hold an app, a popup menu appears. These popups are different for each app. To get the “wiggles” for dragging an app to a different location or to create a folder by dragging apps on top of each other, continue to press and hold and the wiggles will appear. Even though the app icon may be hidden by the popup menu, just continue to press and hold. Tap Done at the top of the screen when finished.

A New Privacy Option for Photos

The last feature I want to mention is about a privacy option for photos. From the Photo app, select any number of photos you plan to share. Click the Share icon at the bottom. But before you share, click Options at the top; you will get the option to include location data or not. By removing the location data it makes it a lot harder for someone to track the location of the photo(s). Below is a screenshot of including the Location. To turn off, disable the Location slider control (the control will no longer be lit).

Location data for photos screenshot
Location data for photos screenshot

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry.Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Testimonials

I love you addressed nearly every frustrating feature change I have! Thanks for sharing and educating me. 

marilyn1998

I was just checking into the zoom meeting stuff. Thanks Raymond.

Debi Holcomb

How to Send a Messenger Video to Facebook

Are you unable to share a Messenger video on your iPhone to social media, like Facebook? This share feature is not available on the smartphone. But it is possible on your desktop or laptop.

This is for any device using Messenger and Facebook

Messenger on iPhone

On your iPhone, open Messenger and find the video you want to share like the example below:

Messenger video
Messenger video

You can click the Up Arrow rectangle box to send the video to certain friends and/or Create a Group. But we want to share the video to Facebook. Following are the steps:

Messenger on Desktop/Laptop

  • Open Messenger or Facebook on your desktop/laptop then select Messenger
  • Move your mouse next to the Up Arrow rectangle box
  • A Reply and More actions will magically appear
  • Click on More
  • Click on Save to Facebook

Your screen will look like the below image:

Saving Messenger video to Facebook
Saving Messenger video to Facebook

Facebook

  • Open Facebook on your Desktop/Laptop
  • Go to Home menu option on Facebook
  • On the left hand side menu, expand Explore (if necessary) and locate Saved
  • Click on Saved and you will see the video as shown below:

Saved video on Facebook
Saved video on Facebook

  • Click on the Share button to share on Facebook

Sometimes the author has blocked a video from being shared. If so, the Share button will not be displayed.

Courtesy Of

This tip is the courtesy of my wife, Dr. Aletha C. Oglesby. You may want to check out her blog on medical topics at Watercress Words-exploring and sharing the HEARTH of health.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Locate a Lost iPhone

Did you recently obtain a new iPhone? Are you concerned about losing the device? Apple owners can find the device with the Find My app for iOS 13 and above or Find My iPhone for older iOS. We are going to use iCloud to tract down your device.

Before your iPhone goes missing, there are a few options to turn on. For iOS 13+, do the following:

  • Tap on Settings
  • Tap on <Your Name>
  • Tap on Find My
  • Tap on Find My iPhone
  • Enable all three slider controls by tap and hold, then slide until the option is lit (highlighted in green)

For older iOS, tap on Settings, <Your Name>, iCloud, Find My iPhone and enable all three slider controls

Your screen should look like the image below:

Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone Screenshot

First, using another device, try calling your number. If that doesn’t work, lets try using your browser to locate your device.

Once again, the following is for iOS 13+. The steps are similar for older iOS.

  • Start your browser and go to iCloud.com
  • If you don’t have an iCloud account, you can download iCloud for Windows
  • Signin using your Apple ID and password

Your screen should look like the below image:

Signin to iCloud
Signin to iCloud
  • Click the Find iPhone icon
  • Select the All Devices drop down box at the top of the screen and find your iPhone
  • Select your iPhone on the map, its a green dot

Your results should look like the below image:

iCloud Results
Screenshot of my iPhone location

You now have three options:

  1. Play Sound on your iPhone
  2. Place the iPhone in Lost Mode which locks the iPhone so no one can access it. If someone finds its, the device will display your contact information.
  3. Erase iPhone. Please do not do this unless all hope is gone of recovering the device. Once the iPhone is erased, all personal information is gone. Your device can no longer be tracked through the app.

Locate Other Lost Devices

You may want to find any lost device like Airpods, headphones, Fitbit tracker, Apple Pencil, iPad, Apple Watch and others. As of this post, Wunderfind is a free iPhone app from the Apple Store. It is worth a look. Click here for a preview.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Tweet a Live Photo as a GIF

Starting with the iPhone 6s series, taking a Live Photo is on your device. This tip applies to iPhone and iPad.

This is for iPhone, iPad and Mac or similar devices.\

How to Take a Live Photo

  1. Open the Camera app.
  2. Make sure that your Camera is set to photo mode and that Live Photo is turned on. When it’s on, you see the Live Photo button (3 concentric circles icon) highlighted at the top of your Camera.
  3. Hold your device still
  4. Tap the shutter button

Live Photo is on by default. If you want to take a still image, tap the Live Photo button to turn off Live Photo. You can preserve your Camera settings so that Live Photo is always on or off. Go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings.

Tweet Your Live Photo as a GIF

  1. Open your Twitter app
  2. In the bottom right hand corner, tap on the Compose button. Its icon features a feather encased in a blue circle.
  3. Locate and tap on your Live Photo in the quick-access image bar. You should see the Live icon overlayed on the thumbnail. If you are unable to find the Live Photo, select the Gallery button and then tap on your desired image.
  4. With the Live Photo loaded into the Tweet preview, tap on the “GIF” button found in the lower left hand corner. The Live Photo will be converted into a GIF and will play. You can select the Play button that appears when it stops to see the animation again.
  5. Type a brief message to go along with your GIF and tap the Tweet button.

That’s it. You are done.

How to find and play your Live Photos

  1. Open the Photos app
  2. Go to the Photos tab
  3. Tap the Live Photo
  4. Firmly press the screen and hold

Also, you can Edit or add Effects to your Live Photo by tapping the appropriate option.

What if you want to transform a Live Photo to a static photo?

Instructions are for iOS 13:

  1. Open your Photos app
  2. Select the Live Photo
  3. Tap Edit
  4. Tap the Live Photo icon at bottom of the screen from the available actions
  5. Tap the Live Photo icon at the top of the screen so that it is not enabled
  6. Tap Done

Now, if you press hard on the photo, you won’t see any movement. You can always restore a Live Photo that you’ve edited by following those steps and tapping the icon to highlight it.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.