One major feature of the iPhone X is how it can unlock the screen with just your face — also known as Face ID. It’s the new replacement for Touch ID, because there’s no longer a home button. Instead of chunky edges around the screen, you’ll have to settle for a “notch” at the top, where the front-facing camera and the sensors for Face ID sit.
But people have already expressed dissatisfaction with the notch on the iPhone X, and some don’t like it at all. In our day-to-day use, we generally liked the look of the operating system flanking the notch, but we did find it broke immersion when watching YouTube videos or movies on Netflix. It can be distracting.
iOS splits the top status bar in two with information on both sides. On the right of the notch, we’ll call it a “shoulder,” you’ll see the battery, Wi-Fi, and cellular status. On the left shoulder is the clock. When the device is locked, the clock is placed in the middle of the screen and the left shoulder shows your carrier instead. The right shoulder is also where you swipe down to access the Control Center.
Some social media apps already have added support for the iPhone X. When you open apps such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, the interface blends in nicely with the notch. It will look the same as it does when you’re on the home screen or lock screen of your device, with all of the same information on its respective sides of the notch.
YouTube is another app that has already been updated to work with the iPhone X. The pinch the screen and the video will take over the full display, giving you an immersive experience. Doing this means you’re slightly cropping the video to fit the iPhone X screen, and that may mean cutting off the top of the video. With Netflix, you’ll need to double tap the screen to go into this immersive mode.
But there are still a large amount of apps that do not support the full display. These will easily stand out, because you’ll see large black bars on the top and bottom of the screen — making your iPhone X look like an iPhone 8. You won’t have trouble with Apple’s apps, but even Google has yet to add support for most of its apps. Slack, Trello, even Snapchat are just a few of the apps we saw that have yet to add support for the full display.
Apple told Digital Trends more and more apps are starting to submit updates adding support for the iPhone X, and we’ll likely see most apps adopting the full screen in the coming weeks.
For more about Apple’s latest flagship device, be sure to check out our iPhone X review.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.