• September 1, 2022

    Use Your iPhone to Identify Plants, Wildlife, and Birds with Seek and Merlin

    Now and then, we run across iPhone apps that feel magical, and we want to share two of them: Seek and Merlin. They both use machine learning to help you identify something from the natural world using your iPhone. If you’re at all curious about the plants, wildlife, and birds you encounter outside, you’ll want to download these free apps.

    Seek from iNaturalist

    You’re out for a walk a... Read more
  • June 9, 2022

    Use the iPhone Camera’s Zoom to Avoid Glare, Reflections, and Shadow

    We increasingly need to take photos of documents—vaccination cards, driver licenses, passports, etc.—to submit for online verification. That’s often easier said than done, especially when taking a photo at night under lights that obscure the text with glare and shadows. Similarly, when photographing a screen to document a problem for tech support, it’s often difficult to capture it without a pr... Read more
  • February 1, 2022

    The Hidden Controls in the iPhone’s Camera App

    The beauty of the iPhone camera is that it combines the ease of use of a point-and-shoot camera with the image quality of a DSLR. To take a picture, you simply open the Camera app, frame your shot, and tap the shutter button. Simple, but what’s happening behind the scenes is anything but. The iPhone captures multiple images at once, concentrating on variables such as exposure, focus, tone, high... Read more