Month: February 2023

A noted Apple analyst says the iPhone maker has a new plan for its next mid-range phone.

Apple may have solved a big issue holding back its future phone plans, as the company has reportedly restarted development of the iPhone SE 4, its next affordable handset.

At the beginning of the year, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the company had canceled the fourth generation of its iPhone SE line. But now he believes the phone is back on track and may use the first of Apple’s internally-developed modems, or 5G baseband chips, Kuo tweeted in a lengthy thread of predictions.

Rumors have swirled for years that Apple has wanted to build its own baseband chips, which handle the iPhone’s antenna functions. Back in 2021, Kuo predicted that Apple may stop using Qualcomm’s silicon in favor of its own baseband chips in as little as two years, though that effort seemingly stalled as Apple struggled to develop its own connectivity hardware.

Kuo’s newest update suggests Apple may have solved at least some of its issues with producing an in-house baseband chip, though he noted that it will only support sub-6 5G, the midband set of 5G frequencies that most carriers around the world use for their 5G networks.

See Also
Best iPhone in 2023: Which Apple Phone Should You Buy?
iOS 16 Cheat Sheet: What to Know About the iPhone Update
All the Most Important Rumors About iPhone 15
But since it’s still unclear if Apple’s baseband chips will support the higher-speed millimeter wave flavor of 5G or satellite communications for the Emergency SOS feature, Kuo doesn’t know whether the first flagship iPhones that could use the chips — the iPhone 16 series coming in 2024 — will have them.

If Apple starts producing baseband 5G chips for the iPhone SE 4 in the first half of 2024, then those chips could come to the iPad and Apple Watch next, Kuo said. That would mean much fewer orders for Qualcomm connectivity chips.

Aside from the new silicon, the iPhone SE 4 could pack an OLED display instead of an LCD screen, six years after the first flagship iPhone switched to an OLED display with the iPhone X in 2017.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment by time of publication.

Here are keyboard shortcuts, built-in tools and more ways to take screenshots on your PC.

Microsoft no longer sells Windows 10, but the software giant will still support the operating system until October 2025. Afterwards, you’ll have to switch to Windows 11. There are some differences between the two operating systems, but one thing both operating systems have in common is they each offer a few ways to take screenshots.

Taking screenshots of important documents, like plane tickets or receipts for online purchases, is a good way to make sure you have access to your documents in case ticket apps or your email aren’t working. Whether you have Windows 10 or Windows 11, there are a few easy ways to take screenshots of all (or part) of your screen.

Here’s how to use built-in tools and other shortcuts for taking screenshots in Windows 10 and Windows 11, so you can decide which you like best.

Snip & Sketch
The Snip & Sketch tool is easier to access, share and annotate screenshots than the old Snipping Tool. It can now capture a screenshot of a window on your desktop, a surprising omission when the app was first introduced that kept us on Team Snipping Tool until recently.

The easiest way to call up Snip & Sketch is with the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Shift + S. You can also find the Snip & Sketch tool listed in the alphabetical list of apps accessed from the Start button as well as in the notification panel where it’s listed as Screen snip. Or you can just search for it if you don’t commit the keyboard shortcut to memory. (If you’re a frequent screenshot taker, we recommend pinning the app to the taskbar.)

Either the keyboard shortcut or the notification button will dim your screen and open a tiny menu at the top of your screen that lets you choose which type of screenshot you want to take: rectangular, freeform, window or full-screen. Once you take your screenshot, it will be saved to your clipboard and show up momentarily as a notification in the lower-right corner of your screen. Click the notification to open the screenshot in the Snip & Sketch app to annotate, save or share it. (If you miss the notification, open the notification panel and you’ll see it sitting there.)

If you open Snip & Sketch from the Start menu or by searching for it, it will open the Snip & Sketch window instead of the small panel at the top of the screen. From here, you need to click the New button in the upper left to initiate a screen capture and open the small panel. It’s an extra step to proceed this way, but it also lets you delay a screenshot. Click the down-arrow button next to the New button to delay a snip for 3 or 10 seconds.

What to Know About Windows 11
Windows 11 Review: Microsoft’s Subtle Changes Make You Ask, Update or Wait?
Every Difference You Should Care About Between Windows 10 and Windows 11
The Best Windows 11 Features: Android Apps, Widgets and More
Snipping Tool
The Snipping Tool has been around since Windows Vista. Windows has warned for a couple years that the Snipping Tool is going away, but it’s still kicking around in Windows 11. The Snipping Tool has been delisted from the list of apps in the Start menu, but you can still easily access it via the search bar.

Click the New button to begin the screenshot process. The default snip type is rectangular, but you can also take free-form, full-screen and window snips.

Snipping Tool does not automatically save your screenshots — you will need to manually save them in the tool before you exit — and it does automatically copy your captures to the clipboard.

Print Screen
To capture your entire screen, tap the Print Screen (sometimes labeled PrtScn) key. Your screenshot won’t be saved as a file, but it will be copied to the clipboard. You’ll need to open an image editing tool (such as Microsoft Paint), paste the screenshot into the editor and save the file from there.

You can also set the PrtScn button to open the Snip & Sketch tool by going to Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard and toggling on Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping under Print Screen Shortcut.

Windows key + Print Screen
To capture your entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, tap the Windows key + Print Screen key. Your screen will briefly go dim to indicate you’ve just taken a screenshot, and the screenshot will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Alt + Print Screen
To take a quick screenshot of the active window, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will snap your currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You’ll need to open the shot in an image editor to save it.

No Print Screen key?
If your computer doesn’t have the PrtScn key, no worries, Microsoft has another keyboard shortcut for you. You can press Fn + Windows logo key + Space Bar to take a screenshot. It will then be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Game bar
You can use the Game bar to snap a screenshot, whether you’re in the middle of playing a game or not. First, you’ll need to enable the Game bar from the settings page by making sure you’ve toggled on Record game clips, screenshots and broadcasts using Game bar. Once enabled, hit the Windows key + G key to call up the Game bar. From here, you can click the screenshot button in the Game bar or use the default keyboard shortcut Windows key + Alt + PrtScn to snap a full-screen screenshot. To set your own Game bar screenshot keyboard shortcut, to Settings > Gaming > Game bar.

Windows Logo + volume down
If you’re rocking a Microsoft Surface device, you can use the physical (well, sort of physical) buttons to take a screenshot of your entire screen — similar to how you would take a screenshot on any other phone or tablet. To do this, hold down the Windows Logo touch button at the bottom of your Surface screen and hit the physical volume-down button on the side of the tablet. The screen will dim briefly and the screenshot will be automatically saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Want more Windows info? Check out CNET’s Windows 11 review and every difference between Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can also check out what Microsoft 365 Basic offers.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple may launch the second generation of its rumored mix-reality headset, including a low-end device, in 2025.

Apple has yet to confirm plans for its first augmented and virtual reality headset, but there are already rumors brewing about a second generation of the device.

A second-generation AR/VR headset from Apple will include both high-end and low-end models that will “likely” launch in 2025, said Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a Medium post on Friday.

Apple’s first mixed reality headset could be unveiled in June at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, according to Bloomberg. The long-rumored device is expected to be priced in the $3,000 range. It could be similar to Meta’s Quest Pro, with mixed reality and eye tracking onboard.

Even if the rumored headset is introduced at WWDC, Apple tends to announce new products months before they’re available. Kuo seemed to back up that point on Friday, saying the “probability of the headset launch alongside iPhone 15 in 3Q23 is rising.”

2023 is gearing up to be a major year for virtual reality headsets, with both the PlayStation VR 2 and Meta Quest 3 being released — in addition to Apple’s rumored headset.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

If you want to make your life easier, you should memorize these underrated Command keyboard shortcuts on MacOS.

Every time you’re on your Mac, you’re using modifier keys on your keyboard. These modifier keys, like Command and Option, are probably the most important keys you have, because they can perform shortcuts that are necessary to be more productive and efficient on your computer.

The most basic and common examples are copy (Command-C) and paste (Command-V), but these keyboard shortcuts also allow you to do more complicated things like force-close an app (Option-Command-Esc) or quickly take a screenshot (Command-Shift-4).

And the most important modifier key of them all? Command.

With it, you can copy and paste text, undo typing, select all your items at once, open a new window and so on. And in addition to all the routine shortcuts it’s known for, the Command key is much more powerful than you might think.

Even if you’re a MacOS power user, you may not be acquainted with everything the Command key has to offer, such as the ability to quickly hide windows cluttering up your desktop or search for anything stored on your computer.

Check out six not so commonly known keyboard shortcuts that use the Command key below.

And if you want to learn more about your Mac, check out the best MacOS Ventura features, as well as 10 tips to help you flex your Mac superpowers.

1. Cycle through all the open windows on your desktop
   The keyboard shortcut Command-Tab allows you to quickly step through every app window open on your desktop. As long as the window is open on your desktop and not minimized in your dock, holding down the Command-Tab combination will bring up a window with all your open apps. Continue holding down Command as you tap the Tab key to cycle through the apps and let go when the app you want brought to the front is highlighted.
2. Hide the window that’s currently open on your desktop
   Instead of minimizing your window with the yellow minus button up in the top left corner, you can quickly hide any window that’s open on your desktop with the Command-H shortcut. Unlike minimizing, the hide keyboard shortcut hides the window from both your desktop and dock, without closing it completely. To open the window back up, simply click the app icon in either your dock or elsewhere. And if you want to hide all app windows except for the one in front, you can use Option-Command-H.
3. Bring up Spotlight to search for files and apps on your computer
   Spotlight search is one of the Mac’s most powerful features. Bring up the search bar and type whatever you want to search for, such as text messages, emails, documents, applications, notes, music, settings, movies or locations. You can use the magnifying glass in the menu bar to bring up Spotlight search, but this keyboard shortcut is at your fingertips: Command-spacebar.
4. Highlight the URL in your web browser to quickly share it
   Usually, if you’re sharing a web address you double-click in the search bar and then copy the selected text to your clipboard. However, there’s a faster way to do this: use Command-L. This will immediately highlight whatever is in the address bar in Safari, Chrome or another web browser, whether it’s something you typed or the URL of the website you’re on. You can then hit Command-C to copy it so you can paste it elsewhere.
5. Reopen any closed tabs in the Safari web browser
   You may be familiar with Command-T in Safari, which opens a new tab, but there’s also a shortcut that can reopen an accidentally closed tab. Simply hit Command-Shift-T and you’ll recover whatever tab you most recently closed. And if you’ve closed several tabs and want to recover all of them, you can continue pressing the Command-Shift-T shortcut to open multiple closed tabs.
6. Open something new in various native Apple applications
   The Command-N keyboard shortcut is not nearly used enough. While it’s almost universally known for opening up a new window in many popular applications, on your Mac the Command-N shortcut can open a new email in Mail, a text message in iMessage, a window in Safari, a note in Notes, an event in Calendar and more. Try it out in your favorite apps and see what Command-N can open for you.

Location metadata is embedded in your iPhone photos and videos by default. Here’s how to disable this feature.

Your iPhone keeps track of your location, but it’s usually for a good reason. Apps depend on accurate location tracking to function properly, like when you’re getting directions in Google Maps or using Find My to locate your lost phone. And if you didn’t know, that precise location feature extends to the photos and videos you take on your iPhone.

Any time you snap a photo or record a video with your iPhone, it creates information related to the file — including the creation date and your location — and then stores this metadata within your media.

Although metadata has useful and even essential purposes, it can become a privacy issue — especially when it comes to your location. If someone has access to the photos you took on their smartphone, they can easily scour the metadata to identify locations and discover where you live, work, or study.

Fortunately, Apple has made it easy to remove (or even spoof) your location from photos and videos you take on your iPhone, so that prying eyes can’t see where you are. We’ll explain how to do it.

For more on iPhone privacy, check out privacy settings you need to double-check, how to prevent ads from tracking you across the web and Safari browser privacy settings to change.

What exactly is photo metadata? The TL;DR version
Nearly every photo you take on your iPhone has a batch of hidden information stored within: metadata. This metadata, known more specifically as EXIF data for images, contains descriptive information that makes each image unique. That includes the creation date, camera information and settings and your location.

This information allows apps to quickly identify photos and organize them. On your iPhone, it’s why you can do something like arrange your photos by date taken, or why iOS can create those personalized Memories videos of you on vacation.

So metadata is extremely useful, unless it gets in the wrong hands. Someone with access to the metadata can discover where you go and where you live, and you can see how that could become a problem. If that gives you the creeps, you may want to strip the location metadata from your photos and videos.

How to remove your iPhone photos’ location information
Underneath every photo you take on your iPhone, you can see a map showing the approximate location of where the photo was taken. Here’s how to access this information and remove a photo’s location:

1. In the Photos app, navigate to the photo you want to adjust.
2. Now, either swipe up on the photo or tap the info (i) button to view the photo’s information.
3. Next, tap Adjust on the bottom right corner of the map. This will show the exact address or location where the photo was taken.
4. Finally, tap No Location. You’ll be redirected back to the photo’s information, where the map will then disappear and the location metadata will be gone.

How to spoof a photo’s location metadata
If you don’t want to remove the location metadata, you can always spoof it, which means you assign another location to a photo instead. Although removing the location is preferred for privacy reasons, spoofing could make someone think you’re somewhere else, such as in another country.

1. Go back into the Photos app, choose a photo and swipe up to view the photo’s information.
2. In the map that appears, tap Adjust.
3. At the top of the Adjust Location page, enter a location or address into the search area. As you type, suggestions will appear underneath.
4. Choose the location you want to give the photo. This will become the photo’s new location stored in the metadata.

How does my iPhone track my location?
Your iPhone uses something called Location Services to pinpoint your phone’s location, using a combination of GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi hotspots and cell tower locations.

It’s what helps you find local events on Eventbrite, browse through movie times in the Cinemark Theatres app or tag where you are on Instagram — and it’s what marks your location anytime you take a photo.

Isn’t it good that my iPhone photos are geotagged?
For the most part, having your photo location tracked, or geotagged, is a good thing. Using search in the Photos app, you can enter a location like “Los Angeles,” and every photo you’ve ever taken in LA will appear. Every so often, I enjoy scrolling through the photos I took on vacation, which are easy to find only because of their location metadata.

So why should I care?
In the wrong hands, metadata can be used for malicious purposes.

For example, let’s say you just met someone new, maybe from a dating site, and you’re interested in them. You take a few selfies at home and you send them via text. But before you can meet this person in person, things go sour and you end contact.

However, they have your photos, and with that, they could also have the metadata that can show where you live, work, eat or visit, depending on where you took the photos you sent. And for privacy reasons, that may make you uncomfortable.

You don’t have to worry about photos you upload to social networks
Fortunately for you, not all your photos or videos will contain location metadata, because it may have been wiped for you. For example, any photos or videos you upload to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media services have their EXIF data stripped, for privacy reasons. If someone downloads your photos from your social media accounts, there’s no way they can figure out your location from the metadata.

What else can I do to protect myself?
However, if your privacy concerns aren’t quelled by this metadata-stripping technique on your iPhone, you can always completely disable Location Services in your settings so that every single photo or video you take won’t have location metadata stored within:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on Privacy > Location Services.
3. Scroll down and tap on Camera.
4. Select Never.

Once Location Services is disabled for the Camera app, you’ll no longer see location metadata for the photos and videos you take.

Whether you’re a new user or hardened veteran on the iPhone, here are some of iOS 16’s best hidden features and everything new on iOS 16.

Any great video can lose impact if it’s been shot in the wrong orientation. Thankfully there’s an easy for that directly on your iPhone.

Sometimes you might start shooting a video vertically on your iPhone only to realize moments later that it’s recording horizontally instead. Flipping your phone midway doesn’t work, since the iPhone locks the video in the orientation you started recording in.

Apple knows this is a common occurrence and has equipped iPhones with a handy solution you can use after you’re done recording. All it involves is a series of taps, and you should have your video in the correct orientation in seconds.

Apple added the ability to rotate a video’s orientation with the release of iOS 13 in 2019. In fact, as long as your iPhone is running iOS 13 or newer, you can take advantage of the feature and quickly fix any videos recorded the wrong way. Here’s how.

How to fix your iPhone’s video orientation

1. Open the Photos app and find the video you want to fix.
2. Tap the Edit button on the upper right of the screen to bring up a toolbar at the bottom.
3. Now tap the Crop icon on the far right side on the toolbar.
4. Next tap the Rotate tool icon (a square with a tiny arrow) on the top left of the screen.
5. Once the video is in the orientation you want, tap the Done button.

If you enjoyed this tech tip, make sure to check out these 10 hidden iOS 16 settings that’ll change how you use your iPhone, as well as the most annoying iOS 16 features and how to fix them.

You don’t have to get rid of photos, videos and apps to free up storage on your iPhone.

If don’t have have any storage space left on your iPhone, it’s pretty difficult to get anything done. You can’t install the latest iOS software updates, download more apps or even take a single photo or video. And your phone will probably crash more often. You do have a few obvious options to clear up your storage, but they require you to either delete things or spend money.

You can remove large files, like movies, TV shows and music albums, but maybe you’re not ready to give those up. There are also various cloud alternatives to beef up your existing storage, but that requires shifting files around, and you may have to pay for it. You could also just buy a new phone with more storage — but that’s an expensive option.

That’s why, if these options aren’t appealing to you, you can and should take advantage of certain iOS features to free up storage on your iPhone without having to delete anything or spend any money.

There are two built-in iOS settings that can help you clean up a significant amount of storage on your iPhone — one permanent and the other temporary — so that you can install the latest software updates, take more photos and videos and download more apps. Here’s what you need to know.

If you want more tips on getting more iPhone storage, check out how to free up space on your iPhone with these easy tricks and the best cloud storage options in 2023.

Optimize your iPhone photos and videos
It’s not always easy to just delete what’s in your camera roll, so if you want to keep your precious memories, or even just your meme screenshots, but still want to free up device storage, the easiest way to do that is by optimizing the photos and videos already stored on your device.

By default, every time you take a photo or video, it is saved in full resolution on your device. If you’re capturing photos and videos in the highest resolution possible, they can take up quite a bit of space. A minute of video shot in 4K at 60fps takes up approximately 400MB — nearly half a GB. That’s pretty significant.

To optimize your photos and videos, go to Settings > Photos and toggle on Optimize iPhone Storage (for this to work, you’ll need to have the iCloud Photos setting above it enabled). Depending on how many photos and videos you have on your iPhone, this can take up quite a bit of time, but once it’s finished, you should see significantly more space on your device storage.

All of your full-resolution photos and videos are then transferred over to your iCloud, while smaller, lower-resolution versions are kept on your device, to take up less space. If you want to access your higher-resolution photos and videos, you can go into the Photos app and download any file that’s being optimized, but this requires a decent internet connection. Your more recently taken photos and videos may exist in full-resolution, so you won’t need to download every photo or video.

If you don’t have enough iCloud storage, it’s easier to upgrade your cloud than get a new phone. In the US, you can upgrade to 50GB for only a dollar a month, or you can go bigger: 200GB for $3 a month or 2TB for $10 a month. Prices range depending on your country or region.

To upgrade your iCloud on your iPhone, go to Settings > (your name) > iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Buy More Storage. Choose a plan and then follow the instructions. If you upgrade to any paid iCloud subscription, you’ll get access to iCloud+, which also offers the iCloud Private Relay and Hide My Email features.

Offload your biggest apps
You don’t use every application stored on your iPhone. Many of them just sit there, like apps for your favorite airlines, third-party cameras and music production. And even if you use them only every once in a while, you probably don’t need consistent, daily access to most apps, which is why you should consider offloading apps in case you desperately need storage.

Say for example you want to download and install the latest iOS update. If it’s a major update, like iOS 16, you may need a little over 5GB to successfully install the software. If it’s a point update, like iOS 16.1, you’re looking at around 1GB. And if you don’t have enough storage space to update, you can quickly offload apps, which is a middle ground between keeping and deleting your apps.

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and check which apps are taking up the most storage. Certain built-in apps like Photos and Messages cannot be offloaded, so be warned. If you find a sizable app you want to offload, tap on it and hit Offload App. Wait a little bit and the app should then be removed offline, while your documents and data will stay saved on your device.

If you need temporary storage, for a software download, just go through the list and offload every app you can. The amount that’s offloaded for each app will vary, but you should see the number next to App Size. Discard the number next to Documents & Data, because that will stay on your device. The only way to get rid of that is to actually delete the app.

Offload as many apps as you need until you have enough storage. Obviously you can’t use an app that’s offloaded, but if you want to get an offloaded app back, go to your App Library and tap on the iCloud button to redownload it. If the offloaded app is on your home screen, simply tap on it to download it. You won’t have to re-sign in or anything — you’ll have access to the app as if it was never deleted.

Exchanges are being restricted so the AI chatbot won’t get too strange.

Microsoft is limiting how extensively people can converse with its Bing AI chatbot, following media coverage of the bot going off the rails during long exchanges.

Bing Chat will now reply to up to five questions or statements in a row for each conversation, after which users will be prompted to start a new topic, the company said in a blog post Friday. Users will also be limited to 50 total replies per day.

The restrictions are meant to keep conversations from getting weird. Microsoft said long discussions “can confuse the underlying chat model.”

On Wednesday the company had said it was working to fix problems with Bing, launched just over a week before, including factual errors and odd exchanges. Bizarre responses reported online have included Bing telling a New York Times columnist to abandon his marriage for the chatbot, and the AI demanding an apology from a Reddit user over whether we’re in the year 2022 or 2023.

The chatbot’s responses have also included factual errors. Microsoft said on Wednesday that it was tweaking the AI model to quadruple the amount of data from which it can source answers. The company said it would also give users more control over whether they want precise answers, which are sourced from Microsoft’s proprietary Bing AI technology or more “creative” responses that use OpenAI’s ChatGPT tech.

Bing’s AI chat functionality is still in beta testing, with potential users on a wait list for access. With the tool, Microsoft hopes to get a head start on what some say will be the next revolution in internet search.

The ChatGPT technology made a big splash when it launched in November, but OpenAI itself has warned of potential pitfalls, and Microsoft has acknowledged limitations with AI. Despite AI’s impressive qualities, concerns have been raised about artificial intelligence being used for nefarious purposes like spreading misinformation and churning out phishing emails.

With Bing’s AI capabilities, Microsoft would also like to get a jump on search powerhouse Google, which announced its own AI chat model, Bard, last week. Bard has had its own problems with factual errors, fumbling a response during its first public demo.

In its Friday blog post, Microsoft suggested the new AI chat restrictions are based on information gleaned from the beta test.

“Our data has shown that the vast majority of you find the answers you’re looking for within 5 turns and that only ~1% of chat conversations have 50+ messages,” it said. “As we continue to get your feedback, we will explore expanding the caps on chat sessions to further enhance search and discovery experiences.”

New emoji, Apple Podcasts changes and more are included in the public beta.

Apple’s first iOS 16.4 public beta was released to testers on Friday, a day after Apple released the beta to developers. Beta testers can try out new features, like updates to Apple Podcasts and new emoji.

These features are only available to people who are a part of Apple’s Beta Software Program. New iOS features can be fun, but we recommend only downloading a beta on something other than your primary phone just in case the new software causes issues. Apple provides beta testers with an app called Feedback. This app lets testers notify Apple of any issues in the new software with the app, that way the problem can be addressed before general release.

Here are some of the new features that testers can find in the first iOS 16.4 beta.

31 new emoji
The latest iOS software brings 31 new emoji to your iOS device. The new emoji include a new smiley, new animals — like a moose and a goose — and new heart colors — like pink and light blue.

The new emoji all come from Unicode’s September 2022 recommendation list, Emoji 15.0.

Apple Podcasts updates
The beta software brings a few changes to how you navigate Apple Podcasts. Now, you can access podcast channels you subscribe to in your Library. You can also use Up Next to resume podcast episodes you’ve started, start episodes you’ve saved and remove episodes you want to skip.

Preview Mastodon links in Messages
Apple’s iOS 16.4 beta is enabling rich previews of Mastodon links in Messages. That’s good because Mastodon saw a 400% increase in the rate of new accounts in December, so you might be receiving Mastodon links in Messages.

Music app changes
The Kid Cudi album Man On the Moon artwork with the track list below
A small banner appears at the bottom of the screen when you choose to play a song next in Apple Music in the iOS 16.4 beta.

Zach McAuliffe/CNET
The Music interface has been slightly modified in the iOS 16.4 beta. When you add a song to your queue, a small banner appears near the bottom of your screen instead of a fullscreen pop-up.

See who and what is covered under AppleCare
You can check who and what devices are covered on your AppleCare plan now in Settings. No more wonder if a certain device lost coverage.

Focus Mode, Shortcuts and always-on display
If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, iOS 16.4 beta lets you enable or disable the always-on display option with certain Focus Modes. There’s also a new Set Always on Display option in Shortcuts, in addition to new Lock Screen and Set VPN actions.

New Apple Wallet widgets
You can add three new order-tracking widgets for Apple Wallet to your home screen with the iOS 16.4 beta. The widgets all display your tracking information on active orders, but they are different sizes — small, medium and large.

More accessibility option
The beta update adds a new accessibility option, too. The new option is called Dim Flashing Lights, and it can be found in the Motion menu in Settings. The option’s description says that video content depicts repeated flashing or strobing lights will automatically be dimmed. Video timelines will also show when flashing lights will occur.

Two new keyboards
The iOS 16.4 beta adds keyboards for the Choctaw and Chickasaw languages.

There is no word on when iOS 16.4 will be released to the general public. There’s no guarantee that these beta features will be released with iOS 16.4, or that these will be the only features that are released with the update.

This quick reset will give your browsers a fresh look at websites.
Your browser cache acts like a digital shortcut — it stores website data so your browser has a head start the next time you load up that page. In the short term, that helps speed up the process. But over time, the data stored in your cache can become outdated and no longer match what the site actually needs. If that happens, pages will load slower, and the formatting might be wrong.

That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage.

Website cookies are similar, except they store information about user data, rather than data on the website itself. Clearing your cookies gives you a chance to reset those preferences, which could improve your browsing experience. Note that clearing your cache and cookies will log you out of sites, which means you’ll have to log into them again and reset any preferences. But the upfront investment of that time can lead to a smoother experience down the road, and it can be a useful fix if you’ve recently changed settings that aren’t being applied properly.

Your iPhone is an amazing little computer that fits in your pocket, gives you access to the worldwide web and lets you browse online at high speeds. But even the latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models might start to feel sluggish over time. One thing you can do to keep your iPhone’s browsers moving as fast as possible is to regularly clearing your cache.

Whether you use Chrome, Safari or other browsers on your iPhone, your cache builds up digital clutter over time. Clearing your cache gives the browser a new start, which can speed up your web surfing, even on iOS 16.3.1. (And if you’re trying to get your phone to run faster, try managing your iPhone’s storage.)

How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari
Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your Safari cache in a few short steps. Starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed in to your iCloud account. As a result, all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign in to everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Select Safari from the list of apps.
3. Go to Clear History and Website Data.
4. Choose Clear History and Data in the pop-up box.

Then you’re set!

Chrome is another popular browser for iPhone users. The overall process for clearing your Chrome cache requires a few more steps, and you’ll need to do things through the Chrome browser itself. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome app.
2. Select the three dots in the bottom right to open more options.
3. Scroll across the top and select Settings.
4. Select Privacy and Security in the next menu.
5. Then select Clear Browsing Data to open up one last menu.
6. Select the intended time range at the top of the menu (anywhere from Last Hour to All Time).
7. Make sure that Cookies, Site Data is selected, along with Cached Images and Files. Finally, hit Clear Browsing Data at the bottom of the screen.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Firefox
If you’re a Firefox devotee, don’t worry. Clearing the cache on your iPhone is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps.

1. Click the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner to open up options.
2. Choose Settings at the bottom of the menu.
3. Select Data Management in the Privacy section.
4. You can select Website Data to clear data for individual sites, or select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen to clear data from all selected fields.

Read more: Experiencing Slow Wi-Fi? It Could Be Caused by Internet Throttling. Here’s How to Tell

What happens when you clear the cache?
Clearing your cache removes the website data your phone stored locally to prevent having to download that data upon each new visit. The data in your cache builds over time and can end up slowing things down if it becomes too bulky or out of date. (My phone had about 150MB of data stored in Chrome when I checked.) Clearing that data gives sites a fresh start, which may fix some loading errors and speed up your browser. However, clearing your cache also signs you out of pages, so be prepared to sign in to everything again.

How often do I need to clear my cache?
Most people only need to clear their caches once every month or two. That’s generally the point when your browser will build up a cache large enough to start slowing things down. If you frequent a large number of sites, you should err on the side of clearing your cache more often.

For more, check out how to download iOS 16 today, the best new iOS 16.3 features and some hidden iOS 16 features. You can also take a look at how each new iPhone 14 model compares to the others.