Take Control of iOS 12
ISBN:978-1-947282-27-8
Version:1.1.1
Pages:188
Size (PDF):7.2 MB
Date:October 1, 2018
Learn how to make the most of iOS 12!

Take Control of
iOS 12

Josh Centers

Whether you use an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, you’ll find lots to explore in _Take Control of iOS 12_ by TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers. Learn about what’s new in iOS 12—and how to customize it to fit your needs.

This product has been discontinued.

Although iOS 12 focuses largely on performance and usability improvements, it also contains dozens of useful new features. In Take Control of iOS 12, TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers takes you through all the new stuff—including some powerful but obscure capabilities you may never notice on your own. You’ll learn about Screen Time (to help you monitor and address screen addiction); updated notifications; improvements to Siri, Camera, Messages, and Photos; new password management tools; and a long list of other changes—as well as the new Shortcuts app, which provides new and improved automation features to iOS. Anyone with a compatible iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will benefit from Josh’s in-depth explanations.

But the book also goes far beyond the new features, providing an extensive guide to getting the most out of iOS 12. For example, you’ll learn how to:

  • Make sense of the Lock screen, Home screen, and Control Center—and customize them to meet your needs
  • Search with Spotlight
  • Switch between apps and use Handoff to transfer your work
  • Use Siri effectively, and even create your own custom Siri shortcuts
  • Become a whiz at using the various keyboards and editing controls built into iOS 12
  • Use Share Sheets (for more than just sharing)
  • Make the most of special iPad features like Instant Note, multitasking, and drag & drop
  • Navigate the App Store
  • Understand the ins and outs of Family Sharing
  • Manage your data—both locally on your device and in the cloud
  • Use Screen Time to make better choices about when and how you use your device
  • Take photos and videos, apply camera effects, and organize your media
  • Send and receive messages in any of numerous ways with the Messages app
  • Make calls and use FaceTime and Voicemail
  • Surf the web with Safari
  • Use Maps, Find My iPhone, and Find My Friends
  • Organize your Wallet and use Apple Pay
  • Install, delete, create, and use shortcuts in the Shortcuts app
  • Protect your privacy
  • Make the most of numerous iOS accessibility features
  • Improve your battery life
Josh Centers

About Josh Centers

Josh Centers is is a Business Journalist at TextExpander, editor-in-chief of Unprepared, and founder of Apple Buying Advice. He has been featured in USA Today, Macworld, Scientific American, the Washington Post, Boing Boing, the Wirecutter, and other publications, as well as on Comedy Central, HuffPost Live, and Voice of America. Josh lives in Tennessee with his wife and children.

Version 1.1 of this book brings the text up to date with the release version of iOS 12. Changes include:

  • Mention of the new iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR throughout
  • Discussion of third-party password manager integration in Autofill Passwords
  • Instructions for the new Sharing Suggestions feature; see Sharing with Sharing Suggestions
  • Clarification on how third-party apps work with Siri Shortcuts; see Create Siri Shortcuts

Version 1.1.1 is a tiny update to fix a few small typos.

What devices will iOS 12 run on?

The minimum hardware requirements for running iOS 12 are the iPhone 5s, iPad mini 2, iPad Air, iPad Pro, and sixth-generation iPod touch.

What’s New with iOS

Posted by Josh Centers on April 4, 2019

There have been some welcome improvements in iOS 12 since the version 1.1 update of Take Control of iOS 12, but none that warrant a new edition of the book just yet.

iOS 12.1.1, released in December 2018, made it so that you no longer have to press the ellipsis button to swap cameras during a FaceTime call. It also allows for Live Photo capture during FaceTime calls. To learn more, see the TidBITS article Apple Releases iOS 12.1.1, macOS 10.14.2, and tvOS 12.1.1.

iOS 12.2, released in March 2019, included a number of substantial changes, such as:

  • The new Apple News+ service, which offers a variety of publications for $9.99 per month. See the TidBITS article Apple News+ Debuts With Magazines, Newspapers, and Web Sites.
  • The capability to control an Apple TV via iOS Siri using commands like “Pause the bedroom Apple TV.”
  • Customizable Downtime schedules in Screen Time.
  • You can now customize Safari’s Smart Search suggestions.
  • AirPlay has been improved to play more nicely with multitasking.
  • When AirPlaying content from iOS to an Apple TV, playback controls show in Control Center and on the Lock screen.
  • The Apple TV Control Center icon now looks like a Siri Remote instead of showing the Apple TV logo.

For more, see the TidBITS article iOS 12.2 and macOS 10.14.4 Add Apple News+ and Enhance Apps.

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