Apple released iOS 17.5 in May and the update brought some new features to some iPhones, such as the ability to detect third-party trackers. But the update also introduced a fun new word game for Apple News Plus subscribers ($13/month) called Quartiles, which I’ve been playing non-stop.
In this game, you have to build words from letter tiles, and if you use four of these tiles to make a word, that’s called Quartile. Untangling the words can be difficult, but the good news is that you are not limited to a certain number of riddles per puzzle, like in Wordle. Finding quartiles in the jumble of letters is as satisfying to my brain as peeling the plastic off the screen of a new device.
“Our new daily Quartiles word game is a fun addition to our popular crossword offerings,” Lauren Kern, editor in chief of Apple News, said in a blog post. “We are always working to improve the experience of our News+ subscribers.”
Below we explain how to access the quartiles and what you need to know about the game.
Read more: Why you should download iOS 17.5.1 right now
How can I access the quartiles?
This is where Apple News Plus subscribers can find quartiles.
1. Open the Apple News app.
2. Tap Following in the menu at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Puzzle.
On the Riddles page, you can find today’s quartiles in Today’s puzzles. You can also find the last quartiles by tapping Quartiles at the top of the Puzzle page, next to the options for Crossword and Mini Crossword.
While you have to subscribe to Apple News Plus, which costs $13 a month, you can get a free three-month trial of the service with the purchase of a New iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Read more: How to play your daily crossword in iOS 17
How do you play quartiles?
As you find words, they appear in a menu at the top of the screen. Apple/KeynoteUSA Screenshot
Quartiles is a word game where you have to match tiles into different words to get points. There are 20 tiles arranged in a 4×5 grid, and each tile has between two and four letters. There are usually between 25 and 30 words you can create with these tiles.
There are always five words and each one uses four tiles to create, called quartiles. No two quartiles use the same letter tiles, meaning that all five quartiles will use all 20 tiles perfectly. So if you use the letters “ion” to create the word “jurisdiction”, those letters will not appear in any of the other quartiles. Those letter tiles can still be used to create other shorter words.
You can also mix the tiles whenever you want to get a new perspective on the letters. When you solve a quartile, those letters stay still while the other tiles move around the screen.
How are quartiles earned?
Even after finding all the quartiles, you may not get the rank of Expert. Apple/KeynoteUSA Screenshot
The goal is to create as many words as possible with your 20 tiles. Each word you create gives you a certain amount of points depending on the length of the word. Single-tile words, like “carpet” or “car,” will give you one point each, while quartiles, like “pterodactyl,” will give you eight points a piece. If you find all the quartiles you get a bonus of 40 points.
The game also assigns ranks to your score. Those ranks, from lowest to highest, are Novice, Apprentice, Builder, Artisan, Wordsmith, and Expert. To reach the rank of Expert, you must obtain more than 100 points, and even after obtaining 100 points, there are usually more words to find.
What if I can’t find any more words?
If you can’t find any more words, you can tap the three dots (…) in the upper right corner of the screen and then tap Reveal all the words. Make sure you really want to reveal the words, because this will end the game for the day.
Can you play Quartiles with others?
You can compete against friends and others by sharing your quartile score in Game Center. That is how.
1. Open Settings.
2. Tap News.
3. Tap the button next to Game Center.
You can also play together with others on the same screen. Sometimes my wife and I play Quartiles together, and by that I mean she gently takes the phone from me with a disappointed sigh after she tries to form a word with random letters. Yes, I know “electal” probably isn’t a word, but maybe it is and I’ve never heard or seen it before. Spoiler: It is not.
To learn more about Apple, you can check out everything the company announced at WWDC 2024 and all the features included in iOS 18. You can also check out how to download the iOS 18 developer beta and why you might want to wait.
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