Lost an important text? Here’s how to get it back on your iPhone

Your phone holds your banking credentials, credit card info, and maybe even photos of identifying documents such as your driver’s license and passport. That’s why malware-laced apps can cause so much damage. Tap or click here for 13 dangerous apps disguised as helpful cleaning software you must immediately remove from your phone.

Your phone also holds important memories, like photos and videos of the people most precious to you. But, be honest, are you the one who always looks a little awkward in photos? Tap or click for a few simple steps to look better in pics.

Then there are your text messages. I recently heard from a woman on my national radio show who accidentally deleted texts from her late husband. She was heartbroken. Luckily, there are ways to recover deleted text messages on your iPhone.

The key to retrieving text messages

Your best bet for retrieving deleted messages is accessing an older backup of your phone. You can do that through iCloud for your iPhone.

There’s a big caveat you need to keep in mind: Restoring your phone to a previous backup means you lose new data after that backup.

Now, it’s worth saying that these steps don’t always work. If you strike out, you can try contacting your phone carrier. It may be able to restore deleted messages for you.

Have an iPhone? Turn on iCloud and iCloud Backup

On an iPhone, you have access to 5 GB of free storage. You will likely need to upgrade to an iCloud+ plan to store multiple backups and all your photos and videos. See pricing and tiers here.

To retrieve deleted texts on an iPhone, you must turn on iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. Here’s how to enable Drive.

  • Turn on iCloud Drive by going to Settings.
  • Then, select your Apple ID.
  • After that, tap iCloud.
  • Lastly, turn on iCloud Drive.

After that, you need to turn on iCloud Backup. Do this by opening Settings > Selecting your Apple ID > tapping iCloud and selecting iCloud Backup.

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Struggling with iPhone battery issues? Apple suggests this fix

Apple’s iOS 14 has been well received by many users, but not everyone is happy. There have been several complaints about glitches, crashes and battery issues — and many are tired of having their phone die on them.

Why the battery issues? Apple says it’s because you’re using your phone more after the update. Yes, really! Tap or click here for more details on what Apple said.

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🍏 Using old Apple tech? Starting Dec. 18, there’ll be no more iCloud backups for devices running on iOS 8 or earlier. Device-wise, that’s anything older than an iPhone 4s or iPad 2. Check if you can update to iOS 9 via Settings > Software Update. If not, it’s time to move on, friend. Cheap upgrades: iPad (10th-gen) for 20% off and the iPhone 12 (16% off).

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Practical Tech Tip: How to save important voicemails

Some voicemails are just too precious to delete — or too important. After all, you may need to reference that voicemail from your friend about the parking situation at their new house, or you may want to preserve the meaningful message from a departed loved one.

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