📱Secret iPhone Gestures, My Top 4 iPad Apps

iOS 16.4 is Coming Next Week

Tuesday, March 28 will be a day of new devices and software releases! Not only is the new Sonos Era 300 speaker launching (watch for a special review comparing to HomePod 2), Apple Music Classical will be available to download, and iOS 16.4 should be out for all Apple devices.

You better believe next week’s newsletter will be all Apple Music Classical, but there are other notable features coming to iOS 16.4. Apple’s Home architecture update for your smart home is coming, updates to the Apple Podcasts app, and most importantly, new emoji 😏

Secret iPhone Gestures

In the following video, I cover 10 hidden gestures for navigating your iPhone. Quickly select items in a list with a two-finger drag, undo without violently shaking your iPhone, and a few more! Viewers left some suggestions in the comments as well:

My Top 4 iPad Apps

While there is no shortage of “best iPad app” videos and articles, I wanted to finally put my official choices on video. I often hear Apple (especially Mac-first enthusiasts) proclaim they still don’t know what an iPad is for. It seems everything an iPad can do, a Mac can do better 🤷‍♂️

In this video, I highlight three unique use cases where I find no other device can match the functionality of iPad: digital sheet music, podcast editing with Pencil, and, boringly, marking up documents. The fourth is an app I don’t use personally, but I know many video creators swear by: LumaFusion. You can watch the full video here:

The First Battery-Powered HSV Doorbell

If you’re not familiar with HSV, you’re not alone. It stands for HomeKit Secure Video, Apple’s term for the cloud storage option HomeKit devices can utilize for recording video clips. There is a strict list of prerequisites a smart home camera must meet in order to access HSV, so there are only a precious few to choose from. But if you already pay for iCloud storage or one of the Apple One services bundles, you can get smart home camera recordings for free!

When it came to building our smart home, I knew I wanted to go all-in on Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem, and that included finding a doorbell camera that works with HSV. At the time, there were exactly two options: the Logitech Circle View Doorbell and Belkin Wemo Doorbell. I tried both, didn’t care for the Wemo, and went with the Logitech option. It’s great, and you can see it in action in my Smart Home Tour video.

Not only were these the only two options that supported HSV, but both were hardwired doorbells. No battery-powered, wireless option existed that worked with HSV. For friends and family that required a completely wireless doorbell camera, I would recommend the Arlo Video Doorbell. It’s a great option, my Mom uses it! (Hey Mom ☺️)

But now there is a brand new option for those who want an Apple Home doorbell camera that’s completely wireless, and that’s the Aqara G4 Video Doorbell. You guessed it, I did a full video review and compared it with my current Logitech Circle View. Watch it here!

AirPods on a Plane

And finally, I brought both the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max on my recent flight to Las Vegas in order to settle once and for all the debate: which is better with noise cancellation. Spoiler: I preferred the AirPods Pro 2, and here’s why: