Tag: iOS 13

iOS 13.4 Mail App Move and Compose Controls No Longer Tucked Away

iOS Mail App Icon

Mail App Move and Compose Controls in iOS 13.0 to 13.3.1

In Apple’s iOS 13 release, they decided to hide some of their Mail app controls. As a result, instead of using all the toolbar real estate at the bottom of an open email, Apple only puts two buttons there, one for Delete (Trash navigation bar and tab bar icon - iOS 13.4 Mail App Changes) and the other for Reply (Reply navigation bar and tab bar icon).

If you would like to perform other actions, say Move (Organize navigation bar and tab bar icon - iOS 13.4 Mail App Changes) or Compose (Compose navigation bar and tab bar icon), you’ll have to tap the Reply button to get to those actions. Obviously, this is very unintuitive.

We all get enough emails as it is. By hiding the frequently used controls, Apple is really getting on people’s nerves.

iOS 13 Mail App Toolbar

Then again, Apple likes to have us scratching our heads with design decisions like this from time to time. Think the hastily released Apple Maps, trashcan Mac Pro, Magic Mouse 2 charging port and MacBook butterfly keyboard. The list goes on.

My theory is someone on the iOS 13 software team really wanted to troll their Mail app users.

Changes to Mail App Controls in the Upcoming iOS 13.4

The good news is, users will get back control of their Mail app buttons in the next iOS 13 release which is iOS 13.4. Or to put it more precisely, Apple is going to give its users back control of the Mail app buttons.

In the latest iOS 13.4 public beta, Apple no longer tucks away the Move and Compose buttons in the Reply button. The Delete, Move, Reply and Compose buttons are now side-by-side on the toolbar. This makes it easier for you to go through your emails.

iOS 13.4 Public Beta Mail App Toolbar

Finally, if you are interested in trying out the iOS 13.4 public beta, you can sign up at beta.apple.com. Just remember to not do this with your primary daily driver.

If you are already using iOS 13.4 public beta, what are some of the changes that you like?

How to Recover Closed Browser Tabs – Chrome and Safari on Mac and iPhone

How to Recover Closed Browser Tabs - Chrome, Safari, iOS 13, macOS CatalinaAccidentally closing a browser tab can be infuriating. Fortunately, the process is easy to undo for both Chrome and Safari. Here’s how you can recover closed Chrome or Safari browser tabs on a Mac or an iPhone.

Chrome

How to Recover A Closed Chrome Tab in macOS

To reopen a closed Chrome tab on a Mac, press Shift-Command-T (⇧⌘T) on the keyboard.

Recover Closed Chrome Tab on Mac Shift-Command-T

How to Recover A Closed Chrome Tab in iOS

To recover a closed Chrome tab on an iPhone, first, tap the More (More tab bar icon) button on the bottom right of the screen, and then tap Recent Tabs.

Recover Recent Chrome Tabs on iPhone

Safari

How to Recover A Closed Safari Tab in macOS

To reopen a closed Safari tab on a Mac, use the “undo” keyboard shortcut Command-Z (⌘Z).

Recover Closed Safari Tab on Mac Command-Z

How to Recover A Closed Safari Tab in iOS

To recover a closed Safari tab on an iPhone, tap the Tabs button on the bottom right of the screen, and then tap and hold on the Plus (Add navigation bar and tab bar icon) button in the middle of the screen to bring up the Recently Closed Tabs window. From there, you can pick any tab to recover.

Safari on iPhone Add New Tab Tap and Hold to Recover Closed Tabs

Do you find these tips on how to recover closed browser tabs helpful? If you would like to learn more Safari keyboard shortcuts, check out this post.

How to Delete Synced from iTunes in Podcasts App on iPhone

Synced from iTunes Podcast Episodes 

Apple’s Podcasts app can be overly complicated sometimes. I recently synced my iPhone (running iOS 13.3) with my laptop (running macOS Catalina), and a new section called “Synced from iTunes” appeared in a couple of podcast programs on my iPhone.

Synced from iTunes in Apple Podcasts App on iOS

Now, this bugs me for two reasons.

One, those episodes just simply should not be there. They were old episodes that I already listened to, but they do not auto-delete. Swiping or force touching on them does not reveal a delete option either. Because they are in my library, they keep appearing in Playing Next to haunt and taunt me. 

Two, didn’t Apple just split iTunes into three different apps in their latest macOS? So why does it still say iTunes?

I tried to not let those episodes bother me, but finally, it became too much and I had to do something.

How to Get Rid of Them

While I was not able to find a solution for it, I did find a workaround that worked for me. Here’s the link to the original Apple Communities post that contained the workaround.

    1. Tap Synced from iTunes to go into the section
    2. Tap the add button Add button on each episode, and then tap the download button Download button
    3. Once all the episodes are downloaded, Synced from iTunes should disappear
    4. If you still see Synced from iTunes, delete all the downloaded episodes in My Episodes

Following these steps should help you get rid of Synced from iTunes and regain control of the Podcasts app. Hopefully, Apple does not somehow find another way to screw things up.

One More Thing

If you mostly listen to podcasts on the go, you’ll probably want to stop syncing them between your computer and your phone.

Uncheck Sync Podcasts

Let us know in the comments if you had the same issue! We hope this post was helpful!

Apple Podcasts

iOS 13 – 3 Things We Like

It’s that time of the year again! One more fall, one more iOS release. With iOS 13 coming out sometime this September, here are 3 things we like based on what we are seeing in the latest public beta release, which is public beta 6 (developer beta 7), build number 17A5565b.

Dark Mode

Well it works. Beg for it long enough, Apple’ll give it to you. Your iPhone will finally have dark mode with the release of iOS 13.

What is so good about dark mode?

For one thing, it looks really cool and it does help you focus. We first saw Apple doing dark mode in macOS Mojave in 2018. I don’t use dark mode on my Mac all the time, but I do find myself toggling it on when I know I need to focus and type away on the keyboard for a while.

The other things is, it just feels good to finally get dark mode on the iPhone. Apple sure has made us wait long enough. Even though we know that’s the way they do things, it still feels pretty darn good.

To activate dark mode, go to Settings, and then Display & Brightness and choose Dark under Appearance. Notice Apple gives you the option to automatically switch between dark and light modes based on the sunset and sunrise time.

Alternatively you could also turn dark mode on using Control Center. Swipe up from the bottom of your device, and 3D Touch or long press on the screen brightness control, you’ll see the option to turn dark mode on or off.

Apple has even made a Control Center control specifically for dark mode. Go to Settings, Control Center, Customize Controls and you’ll see it right there. Add it to Control Center and you’ll be able to turn dark mode on or off with just one swipe and one tap.

Updated CarPlay

CarPlay gets a new interface with iOS 13.

The home button is replaced with a new button to switch between the rows of apps view and what Apple calls the CarPlay Dashboard view.

 New CarPlay Home Button in iOS 13

CarPlay Dashboard

The CarPlay Dashboard view is a doozy. You can glance at multiple things on the same screen – your map on the left filling up the largest tile, your Music controls, calendar items and Siri on the right. 

Speaking of Siri, she now no longer takes up the whole screen. You can keep an eye on things like directions whilst dealing out commands to her – easy commands though, she’s not Alexa or Google Assistant, so go easy on her.

Oh in case you didn’t notice, your album artwork now shows up on the screen as well. 

CarPlay in iOS 13 also gets a new Settings app to change between dark and light display mode, as well as Do Not Disturb and a few other settings. 

One last thing worth noting in the updated CarPlay is, say you have Maps on your dashboard and you pick up your phone (not that we recommend this while you are driving) and quit Maps on your phone, that won’t quit Maps in CarPlay. How awesome is that!

Limited Warranty

Ever wondered how far in you are with your limited warranty for your device? While you could always go to checkcoverage.apple.com, type in your serial number and see your warranty information, now you could also see it right in your Settings app on your device.

Go to Settings, General, About and now you’ll see a row called Limited Warranty where you could see when yours is about to expire.

This is such a small thing, but Apple sure knows how to make these incremental changes to keep their users happy.

iOS 13 comes packed with loads of new features and these 3 are some of our favorites.

Want to find out if your device could run iOS 13 come its release date? Here is a list of compatible devices:

  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • iPhone 6s
  • iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPhone SE
  • iPod touch (7th generation)

Can’t wait for the public release? Check out this page to join the Apple Beta program and test out iOS 13 today. The public beta is at beta 6 right now so it’s pretty safe even for your daily driver. Although the lawyer in me is telling me to also mention you should try it at your own risk.

Got a iOS 13 feature you want to share with us? Or have a question regarding iOS 13? Leave comment and let us know!