Ankur Thakur
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iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, iOS, macOS, and more
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Linux, Crypto, NFT
Editor and Technical Consultant @iDownloadBlog
I post (mainly) about iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and everything else related to Apple. ❤️ 📱 💻
Articles by Ankur Thakur
2026 iPad mini wallpapers for iPhone and Android
Download 18 stunning new 2026 iPad mini wallpapers for your iPhone or Android device, featuring the word “mini” in a sleek, eye-catching Liquid Glass design. iPad mini (A20 Pro) wallpapers Apple unveiled the thin, powerful new iPad mini last week, powered by the A20 Pro chip. It’s the first iPad with an official water- and dust-resistance rating (IP67).
How to access App Switcher on Apple Watch in watchOS 27
Learn how to access the missing App Switcher on your Apple Watch in watchOS 27 to see your recently used apps and swipe left to force-close one. Before the watchOS 27 update, you could double-press the Digital Crown to bring up the App Switcher and access your recently used apps.
How to edit captions and comments of shared iCloud album in iOS 27
Learn how to change the captions or comments you added to photos in your shared iCloud photo albums on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web. iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, and macOS 27.2 Golden Gate now allow you to edit captions of a shared album as well as comments under individual photos. Before this update, if you needed to change a comment, you had to delete the comment and add a new one.
How to restore the classic red Apple Music icon on iOS 27
Find out how to have the red Apple Music icon on your iPhone or iPad Home Screen if you prefer the old icon to the new black-and-white one added in iOS 27. iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and tvOS 27 have removed the red Apple Music icon and replaced it with a black-and-white version. In my opinion, the new icon is amazing and better than the old one. I always found the red icons and red app theme to be a bright eyesore.
Fix Liquid Detected in iPhone charge port issue
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
Fix Liquid Detected in iPhone charge port issue
Find out what to do if you plug your iPhone into the charger but see a “Liquid Detected” alert message on the screen and the device doesn’t start to charge. Before you begin, relax and don’t panic. This is a safety feature, and your iPhone is likely fine. Liquid alert messages you may see When iOS detects water or other liquid in the charging port, it cuts off charging and accessory connection to protect your iPhone, cable, adapter, and the accessory.
How to stop X app videos from playing in background on iPhone
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to stop X app videos from playing in background on iPhone
In this brief tutorial, we show you when the X app (formerly Twitter) starts playing videos in Picture in Picture on your iPhone and how you can stop that from happening. When the X app plays video in the background Older versions of the X app would keep playing a video in Picture in Picture (PiP) if you swiped out of the app, as long as you had a premium subscription. But the recent version of the app no longer does that.
Tokyo blue sky wallpapers for iPhone and Android
In this week’s wallpaper collection, we feature 10 incredible backdrops by @supersub_aka, who has posted these dark photographs to their X account with the caption “TOKYO “BLUE” SKY.” Preview and download them for your iPhone and Android phone Lock Screen and Home Screen. Tokyo blue sky wallpapers Unlike other wallpapers, I think the blue sky is the main subject and highlight of these photos.
New touchscreen MacBook Pro highlights
After years of waiting and speculation, Apple has finally unveiled the new $2899 MacBook Pro (yes, it didn’t get a new name), whose major highlight is an OLED screen with a pill-shaped camera cutout that responds to finger touch.
How to shuffle all Apple TV screen savers in tvOS 27.2
Learn how to set your Apple TV to automatically shuffle through different kinds of screensavers in tvOS 27.2 instead of rotating through the same kind. Up until the tvOS 27.2 update, you could only select a particular type of screen saver for your Apple TV, like Snoopy and Woodstock, Aerial (Cityscape, Earth, Landscape, and Underwater), items from iCloud Photos (Memories, Slideshows, and Portraits), and music album art.
How to get birthday and anniversary reminder on call in iOS 27
Learn how to use the new Call Context feature on iPhone in iOS 27 that reminds you of the birthday or anniversary of the person you are talking to. Call Context in iOS 27 learns from apps like Contacts, Messages, Mail, and other sources, and can surface relevant information during a call. For example, if you have a flight-booking email in your Mail app, Call Context can automatically show your PNR or confirmation number on the screen when you call the airline’s customer support.
New 2026 iMac (M6) vs. the previous 2024 iMac (M4)
Today Apple announced the new iMac with an M6 chip, which offers minor improvements over its predecessor, the 2024 iMac with an M4 chip. Along with this new desktop, we also got the refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, which I have compared to its M5 version in another post. With these refreshers announced via Newsroom posts, Apple’s October 28th media event will likely focus solely on new touch-screen MacBooks with cellular connectivity. 2026 iMac (M6) vs.
New 2026 MacBook Pro (M6) vs. 2025 MacBook Pro (M5)
We got the new iPad mini with the A20 Pro chip yesterday, and today Apple announced refreshed versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac desktop, both with the M6 chip and a price bump over their predecessors. We’ll compare the new and old 14-inch MacBook Pro models here. Aside from a few cores, a performance bump in specific tasks, and networking features, there isn’t much difference between the two. 2026 MacBook Pro (M6) vs. 2025 MacBook Pro (M5) The first difference is obvious from the name.
Fix Apple TV screenshot and recording issues on Mac
Learn what to do if you cannot take screenshots or screen recordings of your Apple TV screen because it fails to show up in QuickTime Player on your Mac. To take a screenshot or make a recording of your Apple TV screen: Connect Apple TV to the same Wi-Fi as your Mac. Open Apple QuickTime Player. Click File > New Movie Recording from the top menu bar. Click the tiny arrow and select Apple TV as the screen, as seen in the screenshot below. Screenshot or screen record the QuickTime Player window.
New iPad mini 2026 vs. iPad mini 2024
The new 2026 iPad mini with the A20 Pro is the successor to the 2024 iPad mini with the A17 Pro chip. Instead of waiting till October 28 for its ‘Pro and Tell’ media event, Apple has dropped Newsroom posts unveiling the new iPad mini. Here’s how it compares to its predecessor. iPad mini 2026 vs. the 2024 model A chip bump is one of the things we all expected. The new one has the A20 Pro chip, the same as the foldable iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
How to enable sign language support for Apple TV
Learn how to enable American Sign Language (ASL) or British Sign Language (BSL) support for shows and movies in the Apple TV app on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Apple goes the extra mile to ensure people who can’t hear aren’t left behind, and they can enjoy music through the Music Haptics feature, which uses the iPhone’s haptic motor so they can feel music. And now the updated Apple TV app in iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS 27.2, and tvOS 27.2 has added sign language support.
How to disable all touch controls on your HomePod in 27.2
Learn how to use the new Lock Controls feature on your HomePod or HomePod mini running software version 27.2 or later to stop the top screen surface from responding to touches. The circular light display on top of HomePod responds to touch so you can play, pause, invoke Siri, change volume, and more. However, many people don’t use the touch surface at all and prefer using voice (Siri) or their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV to control playback on HomePod.
Sound glow gradient wallpapers for iPhone and Android
Refresh your iPhone and Android phone Lock Screen and Home Screen with 7 dreamy gradient wallpapers that come in calming, eye-friendly shades. Sound glow wallpapers In case you don’t always catch up on the latest Apple news, Sound Glow is a new feature added to HomePod in software version 27.2. It makes the top circular light screen on the HomePod mini and HomePod 2 glow in the album art’s color and the rhythm of the playing media. It’s a cool party trick, that looks neat.
How to turn on the new Sound Glow feature on HomePod
In this brief tutorial, we tell you about the new Sound Glow feature added to HomePod and HomePod mini running software version 27.2. Have you used the Visualizer in the Apple Music app on Mac, or Sync Lights with Music in a Tesla Model Y Premium? Both turn sound into light, with colors and glowing patterns that move with the music on your Mac screen or across the Tesla car’s interior accent light strip.
How to quickly add reminders and calendar without Siri in iOS 27
iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate support adding new reminder tasks and calendar events simply by typing in natural language.
How to draw and sketch in Freeform app on macOS 27
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to draw and sketch in Freeform app on macOS 27
Learn how to use the new drawing and sketching tools in the Apple Freeform app on Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate. macOS 27 has added a new native drawing option to the Notes app and the Freeform app. Before this, if you wanted to sketch something quick on your Mac, you had to use the touchscreen on your iPhone or iPad as a companion drawing board. This setup was definitely cool and even useful at times, but it came with challenges, which we have discussed in our Notes app post.
How to stop WhatsApp from saving files to Mac Downloads folder
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to stop WhatsApp from saving files to Mac Downloads folder
In this brief tutorial, we show you how to stop WhatsApp on your MacBook from automatically saving photos, videos, and files to the Downloads folder and cluttering it. If you have WhatsApp installed on your Mac, you may notice that every time you open it, the app automatically saves new media from your individual, business (read spam), and group chats to your Mac’s Downloads folder.
New flying Tesla Roadster wallpapers
Download more than 65 terrific Tesla Roadster wallpapers for your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, and computer. What even was that! Tesla just showed off its new Roadster, and the presentation blew millions of minds, since it’s something none of us have ever seen outside of sci-fi movies and comics. From tech titans like Google’s CEO to politicians, brands, and memers, everyone seems to be talking about it.
How to stop your iPhone reminders from syncing to Mac or iPad
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to stop your iPhone reminders from syncing to Mac or iPad
In this quick tutorial, we show you how to prevent your iPhone reminders from syncing to your other devices and sending duplicate alerts everywhere. Most people sign in with their Apple Account when setting up a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, and soon HomeView. Once you sign in, iCloud Reminders is enabled by default, so reminders you add or mark as completed sync across all your devices for a uniform experience.
Apple Rangoli wallpapers for iPhone and Android
Apple has unveiled a limited-edition AirPods 5 featuring a simple rangoli design engraved on its wireless charging case to celebrate India’s ongoing festival season. Additionally, there is a new ‘Display your creativity’ website where you can design your own Rangoli and download it as a wallpaper. Here are some of the best designs, along with some special Apple logo rangoli backdrops for your iPhone and Android phone.
How to turn off AI and Siri AI features on Mac in macOS 27
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to turn off AI and Siri AI features on Mac in macOS 27
In this guide, we show you how to block new Siri and AI features on your Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate so you can go back to simpler times. macOS 27 is full of AI features that feel like they are shoved in your face. For instance, go to rename a file in Finder or apps like Pages, and AI will start suggesting names for it. Right-click on the desktop and you’ll have an Ask Siri button to ask the new AI something. Then, try to write something, and you have Siri AI there as well.
iPhone Photos app features to quickly find and filter media
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
iPhone Photos app features to quickly filter and find items
In this guide, we walk you through features that make it easier to quickly find the right photo or video on your iPhone or iPad. Most of these also work on Mac. Note that the first few tips below are only available on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate. Enable star rating Just as you can rate movies and Uber rides with 1 to 5 stars, the updated Photos app on iOS 27 and macOS 27 lets you rate your pictures and videos with stars.
All about the new Apple HomeView smart home device
Apple has launched a new device called the “HomeView,” which is a smart home hub with a 7-inch square touchscreen display, FaceTime camera, speakers, and microphones. It’s a fusion of a HomePod (on the speaker side) and an iPad (on the display side), meant to sit on a desk or tabletop, or be mounted to the wall.
How to quickly insert emojis in macOS 27 with this colon trick
Enable a hidden Terminal command on your Mac running macOS Golden Gate to quickly insert emojis by typing a colon (:) followed by the emoji’s name. There are a few easy ways to insert emojis on your Mac, but my personal favorite is pressing the fn key (or Control + Command + Space Bar) to open the Character Viewer window and select one from there. The second option is to show the keyboard icon in the menu bar and access emojis from there.
How to search episodes within shows in Podcasts in iOS 27
In this brief guide, we show you how to use the new episode search feature in the Apple Podcasts app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate. Believe it or not, before this year’s OS updates, there was no easy, direct way to search for a specific episode when on a particular podcast show. This left people who switched from Spotify to Apple Podcasts surprised to find that ‘search within a show’ wasn’t available.
How to add keywords to photos & videos on iPhone in iOS 27
Find out how to add keywords to your photos and videos on iPhone and iPad in iOS 27 so you can easily search for them using those keywords and find them very quickly. Unlike the Settings app search, which has been broken for a few years now, the Photos app search is decent. It already lets you search for generic terms like food and shows all matching food photos across cuisines and styles.
Vessel of light wallpapers for iPhone and Android
In today’s collection, we feature seven beautiful wallpapers where light appears to emerge from a vessel (torch) and shoot up into the sky, creating a nice glowing effect. Use them as your iPhone or Android phone’s Lock Screen and Home Screen wallpaper to give your device a radiant look. Light vessel wallpapers The collection you see below is the work of an incredible digital artist who goes by @aan__x on X and @aanwallpapers on Telegram.
How to add divider lines in notes on iOS and macOS 27
In this brief tutorial, we’ll show you how to add divider lines to a note on iPhone, iPad, and Mac to clearly separate text blocks, drawings, and media for a cleaner, organized, and visually polished layout. iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate added a small but thoughtful addition to the Notes app. It lets you add a thin horizontal line to divide blocks of text, drawings, file attachments, or whatever else you add to your note, like a checklist or table.
How to hide Recently Viewed in Safari on iOS and macOS 27
In this brief tutorial, we show you why a new ‘Recently Viewed’ heading appears on your Safari Start Page and how to stop seeing a particular topic or the entire section. iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 have added almost a dozen new features and improvements to Safari. One of them is a new Recently Viewed section that shows your recent tabs, organized by topic, on your browser Start Page.
12 new features added to Safari in iOS and macOS 27
Safari is a core system app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and Apple improves it with every major software update. Here’s a list of new features and improvements added to the Safari browser in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate. Note that some features, like using AI to build extensions and getting notified of webpage updates, use Apple Intelligence and are not available on iPhone 15 and older.
11 features I wish iCloud Photos had
In this opinion piece, I talk about things I don’t like about iCloud Photos and potential new features that would improve my experience many times over. While I appreciate that iCloud Photos is a seamless, activate-once, use-forever background feature (of course, until you run out of iCloud space), it still misses a few things I think Apple should add in future updates. Here’s a list of gripes I have with iCloud Photos, along with some feature requests.
How to create a custom pass in Wallet app on iOS 27
MacHash is your real-time Apple news aggregator, delivering the latest headlines on Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iOS from top sources across the web. As a powerful content discovery platform, MacHash continuously curates breaking news, product announcements, software updates, reviews, and industry insights related to Apple Inc. and its ecosystem. MacHash helps you stay informed on everything from macOS and iOS developments to Apple Watch, AirPods, and the latest in tech and app innovation.
How to create a custom pass in Wallet app on iOS 27
In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to create custom passes for gift cards, event tickets, membership cards, loyalty cards, and more, so you can keep them with you on your iPhone and Apple Watch. When you book a movie or plane ticket, the app will often show an “Add to Wallet” button so you can save it to the iOS Wallet app. Similarly, you can add your payment cards to it.
Glass arc OPPO Find X10 series wallpapers
Download OPPO Find X10 wallpapers in blue, gray, salmon, and olive shades, featuring a glass-arc slab for your iPhone or Android phone. Find X10 is OPPO’s flagship smartphone lineup, featuring premium displays, powerful processors, advanced camera systems, and massive 8000 mAh batteries.
How to see when your Mac was manufactured in macOS 27
Learn about a quick, built-in way to see the month and year when your Mac was manufactured, as long as it’s running macOS 27 Golden Gate. Starting with iPhone 15, iPad Air M2, and iPad Pro M4, Apple started showing the battery’s manufacture date right in the Settings app. But Mac was left behind. So you had to use third-party apps like coconutBattery or estimate your Mac’s age based on its battery’s manufacturing date.
How to use new expressive Siri voice in iOS and macOS 27
In this tutorial, we show you how to adjust the pace and expressiveness of the Siri voice on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate. Apple has focused heavily on adding several AI features to this year’s software update, and expressive Siri voices are one of them. It lets you adjust how animated, emotional, excited, or natural Siri’s responses sound. For example, when the expressivity level is all the way down, Siri’s voice sounds close to robotic.
How to sign out of FaceTime on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and browser
In this quick tutorial, we show you how to completely sign out of FaceTime to stop using the service or troubleshoot issues. When FaceTime isn’t working properly on your device, one of the best ways to fix it is to sign out and sign back in. This is akin to restarting the system, which refreshes things and usually fixes the problem. Another reason to sign out of FaceTime is if you don’t use it on a particular device and don’t want it to ring when you get an audio or video call.
How to create profiles in Apple TV app for child or family
Learn how to create separate viewing profiles for your child and other family members in the Apple TV app on your iPhone and iPad. The TV app on Apple TV (i.e., Apple’s streaming hardware box) added the profile feature last year with the tvOS 26 update. Now, with the latest iOS and iPadOS 27 update, the same feature also makes its way to smaller screens. Other streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video have had user profiles for years, and it’s nice that Apple has finally caught up.
Paste Snippets Keyboard: the iPhone app to quickly insert repetitive text
Most of us have been there where we need to repeatedly type in specific information, like contact details, business information, and other canned responses via texts, emails, documents, and so forth. After the first few times, typing the same thing over and over can get mentally exhausting. Download Snippets One way to address this is to use the Text Replacements feature baked into iOS.
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