iphone x Archives - Iran News Daily

All the features I’m still getting used to on the iPhone X

reporter 1222 — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 08:50:15 +0000

Since the week before Thanksgiving, I’ve been using the iPhone X. Prior to that, I was using the iPhone 8 Plus, which Apple loaned me. During the busy fall reviews season, I also used the Google Pixel 2 and briefly used the Essential smartphone.

But this article isn’t a round up of these new phones or a direct comparison of all four. It’s about the iPhone X.

Some of my fellow Verge writers determined that iPhone X is “easily the best smartphone ever made.” There are a lot of things to love about the iPhone X, including its ridiculously long battery life, excellent camera (front-facing Portrait mode!), and just how fast the thing is. I can see why my co-workers found true smartphone love. I haven’t yet.

Nearly a month later, I’m still adjusting to certain interactions on the iPhone X. It demands a precision in swiping and pressing that just makes me much more aware of the phone, rather than having the phone exist as a comfortable appendage, one that I need but don’t need to think about much when I’m using it.

I’m sure I’d get used to a couple of these new features with more time. Or maybe they’ll be tweaked. But here are the things that are still bugging me about it.

ONE-HANDED NOTIFICATION ACCESS IS BAD

I’m obviously not the first person to notice this. When I ran a search for this problem to determine if it was a thing or if it was just me, I found this article, which describes what I’ve been experiencing with the iPhone X.

If you have smallish hands, it can be difficult to use the phone in one hand and reach the upper left-hand corner of the display with your thumb to pull down notifications, which is where they now live. My thumb just doesn’t reach. I either have to slide the phone down in my right hand, which means I’ll probably drop it at some point; or I hold the phone in my left hand while using my right hand to pull down notifications.

I know Reachability is supposed to help this. But I still don’t think this is a perfect solution. On earlier, Plus-sized iPhones, Reachability was easy to trigger with the physical home button. Reachability on the iPhone X requires a precise pull-down on the bar at the bottom of the home screen, and a slightly-off swipe opens up Spotlight search instead.

THE STATUS BAR AT THE TOP NO LONGER SHOWS BATTERY LIFE PERCENTAGE

Yup. To the right of the notch at the top of the iPhone X, you see icons for cellular signal, WiFi, and a battery icon. What you don’t see is battery life percentage.

It’s not too far away: if you swipe down from the right-hand side of the notch to access the Control Center, the battery percentage appears. But you’re no longer able to see it with a quick glance, which means you’re now living in a binary battery world: green or red. And, while the Control Center is a little bit more customizable now, you can’t customize the home screen so that it shows percentage.

ERRANT SCREENSHOTS

With old iPhones, capturing an image of your phone screen was easy: you pressed the home button and the power button simultaneously. That’s not the case with iPhone X, because, again, there isn’t a home button. Now you press a combination of the right-side button and one of the volume buttons, which means that any time you just happen to squeeze your phone a certain way, you might take a screenshot.

To be honest, this has only happened a handful of times for me so far. Others are experiencing it a lot more. Either way it’s not ideal.

IT’S AWKWARD TO USE WHEN IT’S DOCKED IN A CAR

Why the hell are you using your phone while you’re driving? This is the stupidest argument ever. Alright, glad we got that out of the way.

I don’t actively use my phone while I’m driving. But I do prop my phone up in a dock on the dashboard and use it to listen to podcasts and music and take phone calls. (My car doesn’t have a built-in, interactive display, so everything happens through the phone.) And, occasionally, I want to wake up or unlock the phone when the car is stopped.

With a fingerprint sensor/home button, unlocking the phone was easy. I didn’t even have to look at the phone. Now I lean towards the center console and position my face in front of the phone for FaceID and when that doesn’t work, I have to punch in a passcode.

Sure, I could change some settings each and every time I go somewhere, so that my screen never auto-locks, but then I’d have to remember to turn that off afterwards, too. Basically, I miss having a fingerprint sensor/home button when the phone is within reach but is something I shouldn’t be paying attention to.

I FOUND MYSELF ACCIDENTALLY SWIPING THE DICTATION MICROPHONE

One of the biggest changes with the iPhone X has been swiping up from the bottom center of an app page in order to switch between apps, rather than double-pressing the physical home button.

But in certain messaging apps – whether Facebook Messenger, Messages, or WhatsApp – you have to swipe up precisely from the center and not slightly from the right, where your thumb is hanging out. Otherwise you end up triggering whatever button is hanging out on the bottom right-hand side of the keyboard. Which means hitting the dictation microphone rather than swiping the entire app away.

It’s a minor thing, and you can turn dictation off entirely in keyboard settings. But it’s one that underscores the importance of having thoughtfully-designed apps that are optimized for new interactions, especially when one of the most important companies in the world rolls out dramatic design changes.

Right now there’s a good chance I’m going back to an iPhone 8, or another phone. Some people would argue that, as a tech reviewer, I’ll be putting myself in a position where I’m using hardware that will soon feel (or already is) outdated — that the mobile world is moving away from buttons, has been for awhile, and I might as well get used to it. That may be the case, and this phone does feel like the future of phones. But until certain features and apps are truly optimized to support the new hardware, I’m fine with having a phone that requires a little less cognitive load, a little less precision.

The post All the features I’m still getting used to on the iPhone X appeared first on Iran News Daily.

We’re in love with this gold iPhone X

reporter 1222 — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 15:15:10 +0000

Apple announced the iPhone X in two colourways, Space Gray or Silver (Stainless Steel), which isn’t good news for fans of Apple’s Gold or Rose Gold variants.

Enter Ten², which will plate your Silver iPhone X in 24ct Gold.

Yep, someone found a way to make iPhone X even more expensive.

Now in the past, gold plated iPhones have always lacked a certain subtlety. They were downright tasteless.

But it turns out Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever is the perfect device to receive the gold plating treatment.

It begs the question, why didn’t Apple release a gold iPhone X Edition (similar to the Apple Watch Edition), and charge £10,000 for it?

The iPhone X just looks right with the glamourous gold edges, check it out in Dom Esposito’s YouTube video below:

There are a few drawbacks. Firstly, Ten² can only do this with the Silver iPhone X at the moment. We’d love to see the Space Grey model plated as well.

Secondly, you’ll need to remove the gold plating if you take your iPhone into Apple for repair, as it probably voids warranty.

Still, they are small prices to pay for such a stunning transformation.

The service costs $399 (around £399) and includes fully insured two-day shipping, 60 day warranty on our plating, $150 plates for touchups, and a tempered glass screen protector and rear film to protect your phone.

Oh, and if 24ct Yellow Gold isn’t your bag, Ten² also offer an 18ct Rose Gold option.

The post We’re in love with this gold iPhone X appeared first on Iran News Daily.

How to use iPhone X gestures to do everything you’re used to on iOS with no home button

reporter 1222 — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 12:30:46 +0000

The iPhone X is here and it is really, really good. Many users are currently in a period of acclimatisation though, as Apple’s flagship handset markedly changes the way you interact with it, mandating the use of a series of new gestures as the iPhone X has no home button. Luckily, thanks to the fact that the iPhone X has an almost bezel-free display, Apple has been able to cram in a wide-variety of replacement Screen Edge Gestures, which not only replace the home button’s functionality but expand on it also.

There’s no doubting though that these new gestures require a little time to get used to, which is why we’ve put together this handy gesture guide to navigating throughout the iOS UI on an iPhone X with no home button. Before we get to the gestures proper though, let’s quickly run over the new iPhone X definitions so we’re all on the same page when we get to the explaining (see boxout).

IPHONE X: NO HOME BUTTON? NO PROBLEM!

How to navigate Home – Ok, this is one of the easiest gestures to get comfortable with. To navigate to Home simply swipe up from the Home Indicator/bottom of the screen.

How to wake iPhone X – Let’s start with what is one of the most used functions, waking the iPhone. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, including pressing the Side button, tapping anywhere on the iPhone’s display, using the ‘Raise to Wake’ option, or opening the iPhone X Leather Folio.

How to sleep iPhone X – There’s not as many ways to sleep the iPhone X as wake it, however, you can do so by both pressing the Side button or closing the iPhone X Leather Folio.

How to raise the App Switcher – Similar to navigating to Home, this requires you to swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then pausing.

How to close apps – And talking of the App Switcher, if you want to close any app then simply open it and then long press on any app card to show a close button. Once the close button is active you can either tap it or swipe the card up to close.

How to delete app icons – This one hasn’t changed. Simply long press on a Home screen app icon for a couple of seconds and then press on the X delete micro button.

How to temporarily disable FaceID – While we are not sure why you would want to do this, as FaceID is everything we’d hoped it would be, you can turn it off for a moment by pressing the Side button five times.

How to activate Siri – Apple’s smart assistant can be raised by either using the tried and tested oration of “Hey Siri”, or by pressing and holding the iPhone X’s side button.

How to jump straight to notifications – A super handy shortcut, simply swipe down from the upper left-hand corner of the iPhone X’s display.

How to get to widgets – This can be achieved in two super easy ways, the first by swiping right from the Home scree, and the second by swiping right from the Notification Center.

How to trigger Spotlight Search – Swipe down from the middle of the display.

How to activate Apple Pay – Apple Pay is becoming more and more wide-spread and, naturally, with an iPhone X you’ll want to make the most of it. To invoke Apple Pay simply press the Side button twice while in close proximity to an NFC-enabled payment system.

How to take a screenshot – Simply press the Side button and Volume Up button simultaneously.

How to force an iPhone X restart – To force restart the iPhone X you need to first press and quickly release Volume Up and then Volume Down, before pressing and holding the Side button for 10 seconds.

And, there you have it – nothing too complicated and, as you’ll see when you’ve spent a day or two using the iPhone X, all rather fast and intuitive. Plus, the bonus you now have is that your phone has a far more spacious display upon which you can work and play.

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