How to Change the Name of Your iPhone (and Other Settings)

Introduction

Your iPhone comes equipped with a name or title that helps identify it via Bluetooth, making it easier for sharing files via AirDrop or connecting with Personal Hotspots.

Name changes can be accomplished simply, and this article will demonstrate how to do so on an iPhone running iOS 11 or later.

Why Change the Name of Your iPhone?

The iPhone is an extremely capable device, offering everything from tracking fitness activities and playing music in your car, to automating light switches as soon as you arrive at home, to running automated shortcuts that turn on lights when you arrive home.

Unfortunately, however, with so much power come some responsibilities that can be challenging to keep track of without proper organization. Siri Shortcuts or Screen Recording shortcuts may come in handy here.

Another easy way of staying organized with iPhone use is changing its title; just head into Settings then General to change or update it easily.

Changing an iPhone’s information is a straightforward process that can help to avoid confusion between multiple devices. When you change the name of your iphone, it serves as its identifier so other devices will recognize it for services like iCloud storage and personal hotspot purposes as well as Find My.

Therefore if there are multiple iPhones, iPads and MacBooks within your family or workplace or you sharing one phone between people, having unique titles for all can be extremely useful.

Importantly, this method will only alter the name of your iPhone; any settings or other aspects of its operation remain unaffected and there’s no change to Apple Watches connected with it either.

If you own multiple Apple devices, another way of changing their titles from your computer can be using iTunes on Microsoft Windows and older macOS devices or Finder on more recent macOS devices.

Although this method might take a bit longer than changing directly through an iPhone device, it still presents an option worth exploring.

Top Reasons to Change the Name of Your iPhone

Your name might change for various reasons. Here are some of the top reasons to change your iPhone’s name:

Organization Purposes

Perhaps you own multiple iPhones serving different purposes in your household or multiple Apple products like an iPad, MacBook laptop and HomePod that you need to keep track of easily across devices and networks – giving each device its own title will help identify it quickly and make keeping track of which is doing what easier.

Personal Data Protection

Another big reason for changing the name is to protect your personal data. For instance, when giving someone else your phone to use or sell, its device title could become visible when connected with certain Bluetooth devices or iCloud Backup backup services (www.zdnet.com/how-to-protect-your-privacy-from-hackers-spies-and-the-government/).

By changing its title instead, you can ensure your privacy while making it more difficult for others to identify which iPhone or other Apple product is being used.

How to Change the Name of Your iPhone

To change the title of an iPhone from your computer, open iTunes and click the device button at the top. Choose your iPhone or iPads, click the Name tab and enter the desired title before hitting done when finished.

General

After tapping General, you’ll see your current title displayed at the top of the page; to make a change simply tap and delete/enter your desired new one! For consistent use across devices this change will take effect instantly!

Changing the Name of an iPads, iPod Touch and Mac is straightforward with Apple products like this article; just be mindful that any other Apple products will also be affected. Before proceeding, be certain you’re happy with any potential title changes before moving ahead with any alterations.

About

Navigate to About, then Name field. Here, delete your current title and enter a new one for use across services such as iCloud and Find My. Your device name will instantly update across these platforms.

Once you make this change, it will apply across your iCloud accounts and other services that utilize it exclusively, namely the Personal Hotspot feature as well as backups/synchronization, iMessage/FaceTime messages as well as more complex processes like changing Facebook profiles.

You can also still change the device name on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 7 by using iTunes to manage them; iTunes will also update their Bluetooth title accordingly each time it syncs, altering how other devices and computers identify your iPhone over Bluetooth. It’s essential that you understand what this process entails before beginning; otherwise, mistakes might be made!

Rename

Renaming your device in iOS assigns each iPhone an ID name that can help identify it when connecting to other devices or networks, so if you share a lot of files with someone or are using their Personal Hotspot, it’s important to remember what you chose as the new designation for future reference. Your device will appear as “iPhone” on their list of connected devices.

The Takeaway

Simply follow the previous advice and you should be able to name all of your Bluetooth accessories as well, like headphones or video doorbells, with ease. Just ensure the Bluetooth title corresponds with your iCloud title or else they will display that instead.