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Category: iPhone (page 1 of 19)

September 19, 2018

Use Shortcuts to Set a Custom Do Not Disturb (and to Hush Walkie-Talkie)

iOS 12 added some great functionality to Do Not Disturb, including the ability to set Do Not Disturb for an hour, until the evening, or until you leave your current location. Since my phone is silent and I get all notifications through taps from my Apple Watch, I can ignore most distractions pretty easily. As a result, I never bothered to activate DND when entering a meeting or starting a phone call on my office phone.

The introduction of the Walkie-Talkie app in watchOS 5 changed all this. Walkie-Talkie messages from a pre-approved contact blurt out from your Watch, unless you’ve either activated DND or changed your availability in the Walkie-Talkie app. I’ve started activating DND for an hour before I make phone calls on my office phone, but what I really need is the ability to set DND for a brief period of time.

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May 10, 2018

iPhone J.D.’s Tips for using 3D Touch →

Jeff Richardson, writing for iPhone J.D.:

If you tap on the Messages app icon, you will probably see your most recent text message conversation.  But if you 3D Touch on the Messages app, you will see a list of names of folks who have recently had text message conversations with you.  Assuming that you wanted to send a message to, or review a recent message from, one of those three people, this is a faster way to jump directly to the text message conversation with that person.

If you’re like me, 3D Touch is a feature you intend to use more but never do. Maybe this article by Jeff Richardson is the impetus you need. Jeff describes several handy ways to use 3D Touch. If nothing else, make sure you heed the tip for using 3D Touch to move your cursor when typing.


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January 31, 2018

The iPhone Battery Replacement Program Has Genius Bar Appointments in Short Supply

(UPDATE 2018-02-01 – I went online again this morning, and appointments were more plentiful. I have no idea if that means Apple has added capacity, or if my previous experience uncovered  a temporary glitch in their system.)

If you need a Genius Bar appointment for an Apple device, good luck. It’s only one source, but an Apple online advisor has told me that Genius Bars are booked solid dealing with the iPhone battery replacement program.

I ‘m having a power issue with my iPad Pro, and tried to schedule a Genius Bar Appointment for the Apple Store near me. You’re normally able to go online and book these appointments as much as a week in advance, but there wasn’t a single opening over the next week. I thought I might have better luck if I spoke to an online Apple advisor, so I went that route, and she wasn’t able to get me an appointment at my local store either.1 She told me that Genius Bars are at capacity due to the battery replacement program.

 

With as much press coverage as the battery replacement program received, this isn’t the least bit surprising. This is something to keep in mind if you are having any issues with your Apple devices.

  1. I’m not sure if she didn’t have the ability to schedule an appointment even if the Genius Bar’s schedule was booked (i.e,, the schedule is the schedule, and there are no appointments held open for online advisors to claim), or my problem didn’t warrant this measure.↩


April 24, 2016

My Two-Item iOS 10 Wish List

Every year, Federico Viticci of MacStories publishes a wish list for the next version of iOS. He’s done it again this year, and I’d love it if even half of his wishes come true. I don’t use iOS to near the extent that Federico does, so my personal wish list contains just two items, including one that I didn’t find on Federico’s list:

1) A share sheet for the Mail app. This is perhaps my biggest source of annoyance on iOS, and the reason why I constantly evaluate third party mail clients. All I want is an easy way to get content directly from the Mail app into OmniFocus and other apps. I can use Omni’s Mail Drop service for this, but with Mail Drop, I need to later go in and add projects and contexts to my tasks. Omni is also adding automation support to OmniFocus 2.14, which could make use of the share sheet even more helpful.

2) A search box in the Slide Over app picker. As more apps support split screen multitasking, the shortcomings of the Slide Over app picker become more glaring. Having to scroll, and scroll,and scroll, and scroll, and (you get the idea) just to find an app is a chore. Federico has mocked up very a great fix, with a tighter clustering of apps, the ability to search, and the ability to pin favorite apps. All three would be great, but I’d be happy with just the ability to search apps.

To see this mock up, and many others, hit the link below. I hope some influential people at Apple read MacStories.

iOS 10: Wishes and Concept Video – MacStories


April 19, 2016

A Rant About the Slow Adoption of Apple Pay

Pretty soon, it’s going to be hard to find a bank in the U.S. that doesn’t offer Apple Pay:

Apple Pay officially expanded to its sixth country yesterday with Apple adding support for Singapore and today, the company has added support for over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States.

(From Apple Pay comes to over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States | 9to5Mac)

Rant time: seeing an article like this just reminds me how hard it is to find merchants who accept contactless payment options like Apple Pay, at least where I’m located in Pennsylvania. It’s telling that I’m pleasantly surprised when I discover a merchant that accepts Apple Pay, instead of being disappointed when one doesn’t.

I have no clue what Apple is doing behind the scenes to get more merchants on board, so I don’t know whether the fault lies with Apple, or with merchants who are slow to adopt change. I’d love to know if Apple has any incentives, such as subsidies for new contactless payment terminals, to get smaller merchants on board.

Once you’ve used Apple Pay (or, I presume, a competing contactless payment system like Android Pay), you realize just how simple it makes the checkout process, and don’t want to go back to using cash or a credit card. That’s doubly true if you’re paying from your Apple Watch. No more fumbling around for cash or a credit card. Checkout lines would be cut in half for some merchants. My wife is probably tired of hearing me say, “this line would be gone if all these people were using Apple Pay.”

So, come on folks, what’s the hold up?


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