"Got an older iOS device? Having a problem downloading an app? Now the App Store recognizes you've got an older iOS device and gives you the option to download an older version of the app that will run on your older device. Nice touch by Apple. Click here for more info," Jim Hamm says.
iMessage Feature: Blue, Green, Red?
Jim Hamm sends some interesting how-to for users of iMessage. "One nice feature of iOS is iMessage. If both parties have a device (an iPhone or iPad) with iMessage then text messages can be sent to each other for free. This bypasses the carrier and no text message fee is encountered by either party.
"Apple has made it easy to determine if the message will be free for both parties. When you go to send an iMessage and tap the number (or email address) of the person you want to send the message to, take a look at the number or email's color. If it is blue it means both parties have iMessage and the text will be sent free of charge. If the color is green on an iPhone (or red on an iPad) it means the message will be sent as a regular text message and fees will be incurred by both parties. If one, or both, parties have already subscribed to and paid a monthly fee for text messaging, there won't be an incremental charge.
"Apple's servers know if both parties have the capability of iMessage. If, say, you have an iOS device and want to send a text message via iMessage to someone who doesn't have iMessage, then the color of the number will be green or red instead of blue. Both parties could incur a text message charge from their respective carrier.
"If you haven't tried iMessage, you might give it a try. A quick and easy way to communicate with someone. Remember, if it's blue it's free to do...(grin)."
iPhone Tips & Tricks from Apple
"Apple has come out with their own 'Tips and Tricks' blog for the iPhone. Although the heading says iPhone 5s, I'm thinking it will cover any phone using iOS 7. Take a look," suggests Jim Hamm. Here's the link: Apple - iPhone 5s - Tips and Tricks http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/tips/
Laptop Battery Solution?
When Jim Hamm wrote, " Here is an article explaining that it's not a good idea to keep your laptop plugged into electricity all the time," the question came up: what's been your experience with charging your computer batteries? Jim replies, "Here's what Apple says about their batteries. When using my laptop I have been just leaving it plugged in. I think now I'll start to run it more on just the battery and plug it in when it reaches a 50% discharge state." And we know a happy battery makes a happy computer!
iCloud and iTunes
"Here's an interesting nuance about your iTunes music you may have stored in Apple's iCloud," Jim Hamm states. "As the article recommends, it's a good idea to store your music — or anything else, for that matter — in a separate external device. It's not that I think the 'cloud' is bad, per se, I just don't trust my 'stuff' to something I can't see."
Tips for iPhone and iPad iOS 7
An iPhone and iPad user guide describing the new features of iOS 7 is recommended to us by PMUG Secretary Bobbie Pastor. See it here.
She also reminds us of the Joint PC and PMUG SIG (Special Interest Group) that meets Saturday, from 1 to 3 pm in the Prescott Library Founders Suite. John Carter will be speaking about helpful tips and tricks for the iPad.
Compare Smartphone Cameras
How do the smartphones' cameras compare? Jim Hamm sends this "smartphone camera shootout" video that he found. http://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/columnist/talkingtech/2013/09/25/2871623/
Curious About Apple?
What do you know about Apple? What's new? Take a look at these lists and links. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/apple
Jim Hamm adds some important info on Apple's iPhone revenue. WOW. http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/26/apples-iphone-revenue-alone-bigger-than-microsoft-boeing-procter-gamble
Features of the Camera in iOS 7
"Here is a helpful article on new features for the camera in iOS 7," Jim Hamm brings to our attention.
Here's the Help You Need
John Carter is a busy guy. You've heard his PMUG presentations, maybe his SIG ones, too. But John can give you personal help for those pesky problems that are slowing you down. At Saturday's PMUG meeting former Prez Howard LaPittus was bragging on John's helpfulness. Email John here. And he passes along the following info, too. Zenda Sergo is another local resource for anyone looking to take a formal class on how to use their Apple device or to learn a particular app like iPhoto or Pages. Zenda has a website that shows what classes she is offering. All classes are 2 hours in length, and she provides handouts ("Unlike me," comments John. "but then I don't have a formal class schedule to work from."). Click here for her website.
Comparing iOS 6 and iOS 7
"Here is an interesting side by side comparison of various features between iOS 6 and iOS 7. If you haven't upgraded yet, this look may help you decide. If you've already upgraded, do you miss what you had, or like the new look better?
"All things considered, I like the new look better," Jim Hamm concludes.
90 Tips for iOS 7
"Here's an article from MacLife with 90 tips for using iOS 7. It looks like it will be quite helpful in using and understanding the new iOS 7," notes Jim Hamm.
iPhone User Guide for iOS 7
"If you've upgraded to iOS 7 on your iPhone, here is a tutorial from Apple that might be helpful," and this tip is from Jim Hamm who is also helpful.
Let's Look at Safari
What's new in Safari :
Describes SmartSearch Field, Tab View, iCloud Tabs, Sharing, More New Features such as better privacy, offline reading list, developer features and improvements for Chinese Users.
What is Safari : http://www.apple.com/safari/what-is.html
Describes HTML5 and CSS3 for integrated audio and video tags, animations, special effects, filters. Scroll half-way down the page to View demos that illustrate the capabilities of HTML5 and web standards.
Describes the “worry-free web.” Privacy pane, protection against cross-site scripting, phishing, and malware attacks. Gives EV (Extended Validation) Certificate support.
Features : http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html describes 250+ innovative features available. It’s a 17 page long list that explains these features.
Safari Extensions are a great way for you to add new features to Safari. Built by developers, Safari Extensions use the latest HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript web technologies. And they’re digitally signed for improved security. You can install extensions with one click — no need to restart Safari.
- Categories
- Most Popular
- Most Recent
- Bookmarking
- Developer
- Entertainment
- News
- Photos
- Productivity
- RSS Tools
- Search Tools
- Security
- Shopping
- Social Networking
- Translation
- Twitter Tools
- URL Shorteners
- Other
Take a look at some of these possibilities:
AdBlock, Social Fixer for Facebook fixes, Exposer, Facebook Photo Zoom, 1-click weather for Safari from the Weather Channel, Gmail Counter, Awesome Screenshot, clea.nr Videos for YouTube, Facebook Cleaner, ClickToFlash, Turn off the Lights, Translate, My eBay Manager, New York Times Updates, YouTube Wide, Duplicate Tab Button, Reload Button, WIT (know which websites you can trust with the Web of Trust WOT), Ultimate Status Bar “which embiggens shortened URLs,” SafariRestore, Add to Amazon Wish List, Firebug Lite for Safari, Cloudy.
Interesting: under Most Recent you can click to install Coupons at Checkout which you click the code to apply to your favorite retail websites from e-commerce websites across US, UK, Canada, and Australia
Under Email: Enlocked gives mail encryption on all your devices and works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and Microsoft Live
Under Mail you can get toolbar extension The Moscow Times and get recent and top English-language news from Russia. Others: breaking news from New York Times, Fox News Ticker.
Under Other: you can choose to install HelveticaTheWorld which allows you to make Helvetica the primary font on every web page.
Want to develop your own extensions? Click to join Safari Developer Program.
Here’s the official notification to consider before adding Extensions:
Extensions can modify the appearance and behavior of Safari, and access your private information at websites. Apple is providing links to these extensions as a courtesy, and makes no representations regarding the extensions or any information related thereto. When you download and install an extension, the file is delivered by the developer, not by Apple. Some of the extensions listed here may require payment to the developer for use of the extension; this transaction is between the user and the developer. Any questions, complaints, claims, or support requests regarding an extension must be directed to the appropriate software developer.
On the Safari menu bar go to File > Share. You can choose to email this page, message, Twitter, or Facebook. Go to Safari Help and note the categories there for additional ways to use Safari. In Help note some useful tips: have you used Reader? You can print an article without all the ads in the sidebars. Do you bookmark and then organize those bookmarks. Read about this under Help, too.
Have you used any of the Safari features and extensions? Improvements can be both challenging and rewarding. Want to share ideas with PMUG? Write me at editor@pmug.us
Learning with Mac is fun! And productive!
This was today's handout at PMUG, 9-21-13 by Elaine Hardt
Password Problems
After speaking to the PMUG meeting this morning, Jim Hamm informs us, "Here's another article about the NSA after our passwords again. As I discussed in my presentation today, articles about passwords and password hacking are increasingly in the news.
"It's a tough call to balance the needs of national security with the needs for personal privacy."
Make that iOS 7 Easier to Read
"If you've upgraded to iOS 7 and find the font a bit difficult to read, here's an article on how to make the font easier to read," says Jim Hamm, in his email to us, short and to the point.
Privacy Settings in iOS 7
"Here is an article with some suggestions for privacy settings in iOS 7," Jim Hamm wants us to know.
14 Mac Tips
" Here's an article with some helpful tips (they refer to them as 'hacks') for your Mac," Jim Hamm introduces his latest email to us. "You may already be knowledgeable of these tips, but a new one (to me) I just tried was the terminal command 'purge' to free up memory. I'm not sure what it exactly did, but the command definitely freed up memory on my MacBook Air and my apps and music kept right on running.
"My 'Air' only has 4GB of memory, and free memory tends to disappear after using my Air for awhile, so this tip is helpful and quick to use. The article refers to a video wherein the author mentions a free App from the App Store titled 'FreeMemory,' which purportedly does the same thing. The app gets good ratings in the App Store."
(And if you come to PMUG on Saturday you can chat with Jim. He's the speaker this month.)
Bypass This Vulnerability in iOS 7
This is just in from Jim Hamm, "Here is an article on how the lockscreen can be bypassed in iOS 7. Apple is aware of this vulnerability and said a fix will be coming in a future update. The article describes what one can do in the meantime."
The 16 Best Things About iOS 7
"If you're still wondering/waiting on whether to upgrade to iOS 7, here's some comments that might help you to decide. The more I use it, the better I like iOS 7," writes Jim Hamm. The 16 Best Things About iOS 7: http://mashable.com/2013/09/19/16-best-things-ios-7/