Guides

Anybody who has young children (and probably most who don't) knows that one of the quickest cures for restlessness is to hand over your iPhone so they can, depending on their age, immerse themselves in games, surf the web, check their social media or just tap randomly and watch the results. You hope that it isn't handed back to you with hundreds of dollars of in-app purchases, screwed up settings, inappropriate sites in your browser history or strange new "friends" on Facebook. Fortunately Apple has built "Restrictions" into iOS that are often updated to stay current.

While the majority of communication these days is digital, one's signature remains an integral part of many contractual, legal and financial documents, and without it progress can come to a halt. For years the solution was to print out a document, sign it and either fax it back or scan it and email it back. Then there were desktop solutions that would allow you to sign documents. But why wait until you get home to get the ball rolling when you can sign a contract and send it right from your iPhone or iPad.

Most iPhone users should know that the Do Not Disturb mode is the easiest way to stop their phone from ringing, chirping and vibrating while they are at the movies, in a meeting or just trying to get a good night's sleep. What many may not know, however, is that you can customize the Do Not Disturb settings to allow certain calls and notifications through, and you can schedule it to automatically turn on at specific times. If you want to allow possible emergency calls from family come through, you can do that.

Apple's ReplayKit was introduced at last year's WWDC as a tool to record video game play on both the iPhone and iPad. Considering the popularity of video game streaming on sites like Twitch and YouTube, it is a welcome addition.

Now that spring is just about half way through, many have followed tradition and cleaned their homes, producing piles of junk and old clothes in the process. Thanks to online marketplaces like ebay and Craigslist, everybody is aware by now that items that once would have been tossed without a second thought can easily put some cash in their pocket. While everybody knows the aforementioned behemoths, there are many lesser known marketplaces that may suit the job better in some circumstances.