Technologies

Ditch Apple’s Mail and Safari apps on your new iPhone or iPad with this feature

If you want to use Gmail, Chrome or a third-party email or web browser, here’s how to set them up as the default.

A new iPhone can be a great holiday gift. You can pack it full of fun apps, use it for amazing photography, and just generally enjoy using it day after day. But, for a long time, you also got stuck with Apple’s default mail and web-browsing apps, regardless of your preferred defaults.

Fortunately, Apple has been loosening its grip on the iPhone and iPad by adding the option to put widgets on the iPhone’s home screen, create custom app icons and, although somewhat limited, change the default apps for email and web browsing. (Here are some of our other favorite features from iOS 15.)

That means you can use Gmail or Google Chrome — or another app of your choice — on your new iPhone and finally leave Safari and Apple Mail behind. It’s a big win for iPhone and iPad users.

Read more: The best iPhone 13 cases

The process to change over your default mail and browser app is really simple, but also somewhat hidden. Apple doesn’t make it as easy as Android, where there’s a dedicated section for setting default apps in settings. You have to know where to look, and below, we’ll show you where that is.

Set your default mail or browser

In order to use another app as an email or web browser replacement, the developer will need to update the app with support for the new feature. Make sure to check the App Store for any updates before trying to change your default app. Here’s what you need to do.

Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Scroll down until you find the app you want to use. For example, find Google Chrome if you want it to be your main browser. Or Outlook if you want to use it as your email app and tap it. Select the appropriate option, either Default Browser App or Default Email App. Pick from the list of available apps on the next screen, then back out of settings.

With a new default app set, anytime you click a link, your preferred browser will open. Or whenever you tap an email address, your email app will launch. It’s about time Apple added this capability.

Default apps aren’t the only cool feature in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 — we found a bunch. We also figured out some specific tricks, like how to get free iCloud storage.

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.