iOS 18: how to Lock and Hide iPhone Apps

In iOS 17, Apple doesn’t offer a system-level method for individually locking sensitive apps like Photos behind Face ID. There is a Shortcut action that provides rudimentary protection, but it’s not infallible. Thankfully, iOS 18 includes a dedicated option to lock and even hide individual apps even when the iPhone itself is already unlocked.

This is useful because it means you can unlock your iPhone and hand it to someone for them to look at something, knowing they won’t be able to open the apps you have locked. If someone using your iPhone tries to open an app that you have manually locked using the method described below, they will see a popup informing them that it can’t be accessed without secondary authentication via Face ID (or Touch ID on the iPhone SE).

Notably, if Stolen Device Protection is active, entering a passcode to unlock an app is not an option, so even if your iPhone is stolen and the thief knows your passcode, they still won’t be able to open the app. However, if Stolen Device Protection is not enabled, a passcode prompt appears that can be used to unlock the app after three failed Face ID attempts.

It’s worth noting that not all apps can be locked. As things stand in the first iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 betas, Apple does not provide the lock option for non-sensitive apps like Maps, Clock, Calculator, and Stocks. Otherwise, almost every other app can be locked, including third-party apps. Here’s how it’s done.

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How to speak with ChatGPT in the Background on iPhone

Last year, OpenAI launched its free-to-use ChatGPT app for iPhone and iPad. Using the app, you can interact with the AI chatbot via text input and voice, allowing you to make the most of its generative artificial intelligence to get answers to questions and receive advice on all manner of subjects. OpenAI says that ChatGPT can help with all of the following:

Instant answers: Get precise information without sifting through ads or multiple results.
Tailored advice: Seek guidance on cooking, travel plans, or crafting thoughtful messages.
Creative inspiration: Generate gift ideas, outline presentations, or write the perfect poem.
Professional input: Boost productivity with idea feedback, note summarization, and technical topic assistance.
Learning opportunities: Explore new languages, modern history, and more at your own pace.
History is synced across devices, so you can see your ChatGPT interactions both on the web and on iOS devices, and it integrates the Whisper speech recognition system.

One of the lesser known features in the app is its Background Conversations feature. Basically, it allows ChatGPT to continue processing and responding to your queries even when the app is not actively open on the screen. This means you can switch to other apps or perform other tasks on your iPhone without interrupting the conversation. Here’s how to fire it up.
Talk With ChatGPT in the Background on iPhone

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How to use Google Gemini AI on iPhone

Gemini is Google’s state-of-the-art AI model, designed to compete with other large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4. On iPhones, you can chat with Gemini right within the Google app. Keep reading to learn how it’s done.

Apple recently announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to iOS 18 later this year, and Apple has suggested that it is looking into partnerships with other AI companies to offer Apple device users more chat bot options, such as Google Gemini. But until that happens, you can access Google Gemini via the Google app for iOS.

Google Gemini has a range of practical applications that iPhone users might want to experiment with. In search queries, for example, Gemini enhances the accuracy and relevance of results by better understanding the context and nuances in queries. And when it comes to content creation, Gemini can generate and summarize text, create images, and assist with various creative tasks through the use of prompts.

Google Gemini requires a personal Google Account, or a Google Workspace account that can access the Google Search app. To get started with Gemini, download the Google app on your iPhone, then follow these steps.

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How to Downgrade from the iOS 18 Beta to iOS 17

If you installed iOS 18 Beta or iPadOS 18 Beta through Apple’s Developer Program or Software Beta Program, you may decide you want to downgrade because of usability or stability issues. Keep reading to learn how it’s done.

Apple’s beta versions of its major software updates can be notoriously buggy, especially the early releases. You may find apps not working properly, poor battery life, device crashes, and features that don’t do what they’re supposed to. Fortunately, you can restore your iPhone or iPad to the previous version of iOS.

If you made an archived backup before you installed the iOS 18 beta, you can remove the ‌beta and restore the backup. If you didn’t make a backup, you can still downgrade, but you won’t be able to restore your device to its original state before you upgraded. Also, bear in mind that if you’ve installed watchOS 11 on your Apple Watch, you won’t be able to use it with your ‌iPhone‌ once you’ve gone back to iOS 17. And downgrading an Apple Watch to a previous version of watchOS can’t be done manually either – if you want to remove ‌watchOS 11‌, you’ll have to send your watch in to Apple.
How to Downgrade From iOS 18 Beta or iPadOS 18 Beta.

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How to get your iPhone ready for repair

In iOS 17.5, Apple added a “Repair State” feature that’s designed to allow an iPhone to be sent in for service without having to deactivate Find My and Activation Lock. Keep reading to learn how it works and why it’s worth using the next time you send an ‌iPhone‌ in for repair.

Before iOS 17.5 was released, sending an ‌iPhone‌ to Apple for repair required disabling ‌Find My‌, since Apple states that it “might not” repair devices with ‌Find My‌ activated. However, disabling ‌Find My‌ also turns off Activation Lock, a crucial security feature that prevents unauthorized use of an ‌iPhone‌ with a different Apple ID.

Apple relies on ‌Find My‌ and Activation Lock to verify device ownership and prevent theft. When ‌Find My‌ is turned off, the ‌iPhone‌ cannot be tracked and is vulnerable to theft during the repair process. Also, if the device is lost or stolen in transit, it cannot be recovered. Worse, turning off ‌Find My‌ involves a one-hour delay, which prolongs the repair process.

To avoid ‌Find My‌ deactivation, Apple in iOS 17.5 introduced a new “Repair State” feature that allows ‌Find My‌ to remain active, keeping Activation Lock enabled and the ‌iPhone‌ trackable through the ‌Find My‌ app during repairs. When the feature is enabled, the device will display a “Ready for Repair” label, indicating that it remains fully functional in this state.
Get Ready for iPhone Repair
Before enabling the Repair State feature on your ‌iPhone‌, there are also a couple of other recommended steps to perform prior to sending your device to Apple. First and foremost, you should back up your ‌iPhone‌. You can back up your device either to your computer or via iCloud.

In addition, for security reasons you should remove any cards and passes from Apple Wallet: Open the Wallet app, select a card or pass, tap the More button, then tap Card (or Pass) Details. Lastly, tap Remove Card (or Pass).

When you’ve performed the above steps, you’re ready to enable Repair State:

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Automatically Trigger iPhone Low Power mode earlier

Most ‌iPhone‌ users are familiar with the way iOS throws up a prompt to turn on Low Power Mode when the battery reaches 20%. Low Power Mode can also be turned on manually at any time by going to Settings -> Battery and toggling on the switch next to Low Power Mode.

If you find yourself constantly having to turn on Low Power Mode late in the day, you can save some time by setting it up to run automatically when your battery is depleted to a specific custom level. This can be done in the Shortcuts app, as the following steps show.

Bear in mind that Low Power Mode reduces your ‌iPhone‌’s performance and cuts out some background activities. For example, mail must be fetched manually, background app refresh is disabled, and motion and brightness are reduced.If you’re okay with those limitations, follow the steps below to automate the setting on your ‌iPhone‌.

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Separate your iPhone browsing Habits with Safari profiles

With iOS 17, Safari gained a feature called Profiles that’s designed to help you separate your browsing sessions into categories like Work, School, Personal, or custom categories that you find useful to have siloed. Apple in ‌iOS 17‌ expanded on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that lets you separate out your browsing into different use cases. You can create a “Work” profile and a “Personal” profile, for example, so all of your work-related browsing is kept separate from your personal browsing.

Each profile gets its own icon and silos all of your history, Tab Groups, Favorites, Private Browsing tabs, and cookies. You can even assign specific third-party extensions to different profiles to optimize your browsing experience based on the task at hand. Here’s how to create your own profile in Safari.

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How to create your iPhone contact poster

With iOS 17, Apple introduced Contact Posters to its stock Phone and Contacts apps. Keep reading to learn what Contact Posters are and how to use them.

Apple in ‌iOS 17‌ offers iPhone users a novel way to express themselves when it comes to calls, with the addition of personalizable Contact Posters.

Contact Posters allow you to customize how you’re represented when you call another ‌iPhone‌ owner. You can use photos and emoji to personalize your Contact Poster, which appears on a person’s ‌iPhone‌ when you call them. And like the ‌iPhone‌ Lock Screen, you can match images with eye-catching typography.

But your Contact Poster doesn’t just show up in calls. It’s also part of your contact card in the Contacts app, giving consistency in the places where you communicate and share. Apple has also made APIs available to developers so that Contact Posters appear for third-party VoIP apps, too.

As mentioned above, customizing your Contact Poster works a lot like personalizing your Lock Screen. You can choose an image, font, and color. The following steps show you how it’s done on devices running ‌iOS 17‌ and later.

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Access your recent files from iPhone home screen

Did you know you can quickly access your most recent files on your iPhone without navigating through folders or apps? Thanks to Apple’s Files widget, you can directly access your files with a tap of your Home Screen.

The Files widget helps keep your important documents at the forefront. It’s great way to keep track of your most recent work without manually sorting through files, ensuring that nothing important gets lost or overlooked.

Using the widget also makes for a tidier and more orderly ‌Home Screen‌, since it reduces the need for numerous app icons dedicated to file access.

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Get Siri to read Messages to you in another language

Previously in iOS 17, ‌Siri‌’s interaction with Messages was limited to one option – the ability for ‌Siri‌ to automatically send your dictated messages without asking you to confirm them first.

In iOS 17.4, however, ‌Siri‌ can also read messages to you in another language different to the primary language that ‌Siri‌ listens to and responds in. It’s a neat option to have if you are bilingual or you’re learning a new language.

Thanks to the new setting, you can choose from any of the following languages:

Arabic
Chinese (Cantonese – Hong Kong)
Chinese (Mandarin – China mainland)
Chinese (Mandarin – Taiwan)
Danish
Dutch (Netherlands)
Finnish
French (Canada)
French (France)
German (Germany)
Hebrew
Italian (Italy)
Japanese
Korean
Malay
Norwegian Bokmål
Portuguese (Brazil)
Russian
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)
Thai
Turkish

Note that you aren’t limited to just one language – you can choose several if you prefer. Here’s how to enable the setting on iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later (if you haven’t updated yet, go to Settings and select General ➝ Software Update).

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