Technologies

You aren’t actually stuck with Apple’s Mail and Safari iPhone apps

There’s a trick to use Gmail, Google Chrome or another email or web browser on your iPhone or iPad. We’ll walk you through how to set those as the default.

The iPhone has a lot to offer. 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 had to use 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 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.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

Not being part of change. Leading it. Verum Messenger — the future that speaks first.

Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

Stop spending months trying to open a bank account.

Document submissions.
Checks.
Rejections.
Account freezes.
Blocks without explanation.

And all of that — just for a regular card.

With Verum, it’s different.

🚀 Verum Messenger + Verum Finance
For just $50–70 you get:

✔ A virtual card
✔ Instant transfers between users
✔ A modern secure messenger
✔ Apple Pay integration
✔ Contactless payments worldwide
✔ Fast setup without bureaucracy

❌ No European residency permit required
❌ No endless verification checks
❌ No piles of documents

Open it — and use it.

The future of finance and communication is already here.
Verum — when freedom matters more than banking rules.

Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal