iOS 17.2: How to translate Speech with iPhone’s action button

Overcome communication barriers with the new custom Translation option for the iPhone’s Action button in iOS 17.2.

If you have an ‌iPhone‌ with an Action button, such as the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple’s iOS 17.2 software update brings a new translation option for the button that allows you to translate live conversations into multiple languages.

According to Apple, the translation is not just accurate but also context-aware, ensuring that nuances and colloquialisms are captured effectively. The feature should be a boon for travelers, students, and anyone learning a language.

Before you use the Translate function, it’s important to choose which language you want to translate. You can do this via Apple’s built-in Translate app. On the app’s main screen, use the chevrons next to the languages to make your selection.

Assign Translate to Action Button
Once you have chosen your languages, you are ready to select the Translate option for the Action button.

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Connect two pairs of headphones to Mac simultaneously

Next time you’re on a flight with someone and you both want to watch a video on your Mac without disturbing other passengers, try this convenient solution for sharing your Mac’s audio among two pairs of headphones.

The method described below should work regardless of whether you’re using one wired pair and one wireless pair of headphones, two pairs of Bluetooth headphones, or even several pairs.

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How to send original quality photos and videos in WhatsApp on iPhone

WhatsApp has rolled out a new option that lets users on iPhone share photos and video over the messaging platform in their original quality.

Previously, WhatsApp users could only send media in high resolution or “HD quality.” But while that is a welcome improvement that addressing the service’s low quality media sharing limitation, it still involves compression. Fortunately, a new feature gets around that.

WhatsApp’s latest feature avoids compression altogether by allowing photos and video to be shared as files, thereby preserving their original quality. WhatsApp says the new option is rolling out “over the coming weeks,” so you may not immediately see it on your device, depending where you are. Here’s how to use it.

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iOS 17.2: how to lock your iPhone journal

Apple announced in June 2023 announced it was bringing its own journaling app to iOS 17, and it has since been confirmed that the app is included in iOS 17.2, which is currently available to download as a beta. Apple’s Journal app lets you record your daily thoughts and activities, incorporating data like photos, music listened to, workouts, and more, plus it suggests topics to write about.

Of course, privacy and security are paramount when it comes to personal journaling. That’s why the Journal app comes with security features including encryption and passcode protection, to safeguard your journal from unauthorized access.

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iOS 17.2: How to set a journaling schedule on iPhone

Apple in iOS 17.2 added its long-awaited Journal app to iPhone. This article explains how to set a journaling schedule and get reminders for when it’s time to write. Apple announced in June 2023 announced it was bringing its own journaling app to iOS 17, and it has since been confirmed that the app is included in iOS 17.2, which is currently available to download as a beta.

Apple’s Journal app lets you record your daily thoughts and activities, incorporating data like photos, music listened to, workouts, and more, plus it suggests topics to write about.

Of course, anyone can start a journal with the best intentions, but many people find journaling with any frequency hard to sustain. Thankfully, Apple understands that staying consistent with journaling can be difficult, which is why it has included a scheduling feature.

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How to get Live Sports scores on your iPhone Lock Screen

iPhones running iOS 16 or later include a feature called Live Activities that you can use to follow sports scores in real time on your Lock Screen, so you don’t miss a thing. Keep reading to learn how it works.

Introduced in iOS 16, Live Activities are lingering interactive notifications that provide real-time updating information directly on an iPhone’s Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island on ‌iPhone‌ models that support it. If you’re following a sports game, for example, a Live Activity can show you the updated score.

When an ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro or iPhone 15 is locked, the score is shown in a widget on the Lock Screen instead. On the ‌‌iPhone 14‌‌ and ‌‌iPhone 14‌‌ Plus, and on all other ‌‌iPhone‌‌ models without the ‌‌Dynamic Island‌‌, Live Activities are limited to the Lock Screen.

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How to stop your kids from ruining your Apple Music recommendations

In iOS 17.2, you can turn off your Apple Music Listening History with a new Focus filter, so if you allow someone else to use your device to listen to music, you can quickly activate the Focus with a tap and prevent their song choices from affecting your recommendations.

Have you ever regretted letting a friend or family member use ‌Apple Music‌ on your iPhone after their poor song choices negatively influenced your personal music recommendations? If you have very young kids, the chances are that at some point you’ve played their favorite preschooler ditty to avoid a meltdown, only to later cringe when Apple’s algorithms slip “Baby Shark” or some other infuriatingly repetitive song into your recently played/replay mixes.

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iOS 17: How to Use AirDrop Without Wi-Fi

In iOS 17, Apple has enhanced iPhone AirDrop in many ways, and with the release of iOS 17.1, it’s about to getter, because you will no longer need to be in the same immediate location as someone to wirelessly transfer files to them over AirDrop.

Since its introduction in iOS 7, AirDrop has become the favored means for iPhone users to instantly share photos, videos, documents, and more to nearby Apple devices with relative ease. With the AirDrop screen open, if you’re near to another user with a supported Apple device, they will show up on your screen and you can share files with them.

Up until recently, AirDrop required you to stay within close proximity to the other person’s device for any transfer to complete. If you left AirDrop range, the transfer failed and the content wouldn’t be shared. This is particularly frustrating when you’re sending or receiving several large files like video content.

That’s set to change in iOS 17.1, currently in beta, which allows wireless AirDrop file transfers to continue over a cellular connection outside of AirDrop range, so long as both your ‌iPhone‌ and the recipient’s ‌iPhone‌ are signed in to an iCloud account.

With the new cellular data option enabled, you can continue to send and receive content via AirDrop over a cellular network when Wi-Fi is not available. This can prevent the file transfer from failing to send due to loss of Wi-Fi. Here’s how to make sure the new option is enabled on your device.

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How to add custom artwork to Apple Music Playlists

In iOS 17.1, currently in beta, Apple has added the ability for users to customize playlist artwork in Apple Music using a selection of preset options. Keep reading to learn how it’s done.

Previously in iOS, when creating a custom playlist, you had to use a basic tiled image made up of track album artwork, or upload a custom image. Given that you custom graphics or relevant photos aren’t always readily available for playlists and the default tiled artwork is relatively simple, playlists could be difficult to identify and look fairly generic.

Thankfully, Apple in iOS 17.1, now provides eight different artwork styles to choose from, featuring geometric shapes and gradients, with the title of your playlist displayed in the top left corner. The colors used in the artwork are picked from the album artwork of whatever song is first in your playlist.

If you don’t choose a custom artwork style for your playlist, the default artwork will be the tiled album artwork of the first four songs in the playlist, but you do have the option to choose a custom image from your photo library or the Files app.

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How to import and Annotate PDFs in Apple Notes

In iOS 17 and MacOS Sonoma, Apple added the ability to open and annotate PDFs right in the Notes app. In the latest version of iOS and macOS, Apple has updated the Notes app to support inline PDFs, which means you can insert a PDF into Notes and then read, annotate, and collaborate on the document. This functionality also works for scanned documents, and it is available on both the iPhone and the iPad.

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