In this podcast, Thomas Domville takes us deep in to Focus, an iOS feature that helps you reduce distractions and set boundaries. When you want to concentrate on a specific activity, you can customize one of the provided Focus options—for example Work, Personal, or Sleep—or create a custom Focus. You can use Focus to temporarily silence all notifications, or allow only specific notifications—ones that apply to your task, for example—and let other people and apps know you’re busy.

More information on Focus is available from this Apple Support page.

In this podcast, Thomas Domville demonstrates how in iOS 16 you are now able to recover deleted conversations in the native iOS Messages app. Note that this will only be possible for up to approximately 30 days after the conversation was deleted.

1. Open the Messages app and double-tap the Edit button.
2. From the menu that appears, double-tap Show Recently Deleted.
3. Select at least one conversation.
4. Double-tap the Recover button.
5. Double-tap Recover Messages from the confirmation dialog.
6. Double-tap the Done button.

Alternatively, the VoiceOver rotor can be used to recover or permanently delete a conversation.

With the release of iOS 16, when sending messages using Siri, you can now skip the confirmation step. In this podcast, Thomas Domville shows us how this works and how to enable it.

With Always On Display, your iPhone 14 Pro or later pro-model iPhone will dim the Lock Screen while still showing information, such as the time, widgets and wallpaper, all while using new technologies that make the display power efficient.

There is likely to be no utility to this feature for blind and some low vision users, so in this episode Thomas Domville shows us how to disable it.

To disable Always On Display, go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On Display, and double-tap the "Always On Display" switch. This Apple support page provides more information on Using Always-On display with your pro-model iPhone.

In this episode, Thomas Domville shows us how to turn on the Mac-like startup and shutdown chimes that are available on all iPhone 14 and newer models. To do this, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual, and double-tap the "Power on and off sounds" toggle.

Note that as this option is facilitated by the iPhone's boot rom, the read-only code responsible for starting the iPhone and initializing iOS, it is limited to the iPhone 14 and newer devices. See this article for more information: How to enable the iPhone 14 boot chime

On iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple has replaced the ‘notch’ that's been a feature of Face ID-equipped iPhones since the iPhone X with what it calls the Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island is a small area of display pixels surrounding the pill-shaped cutout. It appears whenever your iPhone is unlocked, and changes size and shape to accommodate various types of alerts, notifications, and interactions such as music that’s playing, your timer, an AirDrop connection, and directions from Maps.

In this podcast, Thomas Domville shows us how VoiceOver users locate the Dynamic Island and its contents.

New to the iPhone with the release of iOS 16 is the ability to report SMS/MMS messages as junk. This expands on the built-in "Report Junk" feature in Messages that previously only let you report iMessages. Now you can use the same option to report an SMS/MMS message as junk, which will alert Apple and your network carrier and delete the message in question.

In this podcast, Thomas Domville shows us how it works.

Note that availability of this feature will depend upon your region and carrier. This Apple Support page provides more information.

Added in iOS 14, Sound Recognition is an accessibility feature that uses on-device intelligence to listen for certain sounds, like a doorbell, fire alarm or a baby crying, and alert the user if they're detected. With the release of iOS 16, Apple has made it possible to add your own custom sounds. In this podcast, Thomas Domville shows us how this works.

New with iOS 16 is the ability to unsend sent iMessages. In this podcast, Thomas Domville shows us how it works.

In this podcast, Thomas Domville discusses and shows us how — with the release of iOS 16 — Apple has made it possible to view details of all the Wi-Fi networks your iPhone has connected to in the past and remembered. If iCloud Keychain is enabled on all your Apple devices, you'll even be able to see the Wi-Fi networks saved by those other devices. For example, you could use your iPhone to see all the networks your Mac or iPad has saved, and copy the password so that you can connect via your iPhone. Additionally, you can remove old ones without being near their access points.