Looking for an easier way to collaborate with colleagues and a better way to brainstorm ideas and get your thoughts written down and organized? Well look no further! Freeform is one of the latest pieces of software Apple has built right into macOS, and one we highly recommend checking out!
Getting Creative with "Do Not Disturb While Driving"
When Apple came out with iOS 11, I was so excited for the “Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature. I was hoping this would help me never be distracted by my phone while on the road again! Unfortunately, I quickly realized that my phone acts as my GPS. I need my Maps App (whether you use Waze, Google Maps, or Apple Maps), to be active on my phone! And that does not happen when “Do Not Disturb While Driving” is enabled.
So, if you prefer not to use this feature while driving, what else can you use it for? We will discuss exactly that in this post.
The Importance of Staying Current with Software
My father, a practicing pediatrician, constantly advises patients to eat healthier foods. In response, they complain of how expensive eating healthy is. My father always replies, “Think how expensive your doctor and hospital bills will be if you don’t take care of your body. Plus, you will feel a lot better!”
In much the same way, staying current on our software ensures the best, fastest working systems possible. Effective technology allows businesses to increase profitability and everyday users to simplify their lives. As we keep our software up-to-date, we will need to consider (1) why software updates are vitally important, (2) how often we should update our devices, and (3) how to update our systems.
My Top 5 Favorite Features of iOS 11
At precisely 10 AM in Cupertino, CA, iOS 11 became available for iPhone and iPad. As a wannabe-technical-nerd, I wanted to be one of the first to download it. By the time dinner came around, I installed the update, tested many features, and was ready to tell my wife about all the awesome updates. Here are 5 of my favorites.
iOS 11 is NOW AVAILABLE!
Starting today, iPhone and iPad customers around the world will be able to update their devices to iOS 11, a major update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system and the biggest software release ever for iPad. iOS 11 brings augmented reality to hundreds of millions of iOS devices and new professional capabilities improve images in Photos and Camera. Siri is more natural and useful and a redesigned App Store makes it easier to discover apps and games.
Using Custom Notification for VIPs iOS
This post comes from a recent reader question: "When I receive an email from a specific person, I want to be notified in a way that it looks and sounds different than any other email. How do I do this?!"
With phone calls and text messages, we can edit a contact entry in iOS so that when that person calls or texts, the ringtone or sound differs from that of everyone else. This is a great feature because it allows you to determine who is texting or calling without looking at your phone. Wouldn't it be great if we could apply that same principal to incoming email? While we can't set a specific sound for each individual when we receive email from them, we can use a relatively new feature in iOS called VIP to distinguish VIPs from everyone else. As long as that VIP list is short, it will do exactly what you're looking for. Here's how it works.
Apple's WWDC 2016 Keynote Event
Apple kicked off their annual WWDC event with their greatly-anticipated keynote, held in the historic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA (the remainder of the conference will be held at the Moscone Conference Center in downtown San Francisco).
Markup Attachments Right On Your iPhone or iPad
One of the coolest, most powerful (and sadly the least used) new features in iOS 9 is the Markup tool in Mail. This feature allows you to quickly add signatures, lines, arrows, magnification circles and text boxes to any PDF or image file with the tap of a button. Once the changes are made, another tap allows you to easily send that file via the Mail app.
This is a great tool for signing contracts, marking up documents, annotating images and more. So why aren't more people using it? Quite frankly, because I think that most people don't know that it exists! So that's why I wrote this post. To educate and encourage you to use this tool. So let's dive in!
Quickly and Easily Recover Deleted Notes
The built-in Notes app in OS X and iOS is a great way to gather and organize your thoughts. It can be especially powerful when used in conjunction with the Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro (even without the Apple Pencil, the drawing features are very useful).
If you're like me, you know it's a good idea to tidy up once in a while by deleting notes that you know yo won't need anymore (quick drawings, reminders to yourself, etc). A quick swipe on the note and tap on "Delete" is all it takes to delete notes. Because it's so easy to delete, however, you may find yourself deleting notes that you didn't want to delete. There's a quick and easy way to recover those deleted notes.
Reader Question: Using your iPhone as a Speedometer
I receive questions from readers like you all the time, and I love it! The question I received that prompted this post was one that I hadn't really been asked before, so it was worth a post. The question is this: "I am an avid cyclist and am looking for an easy way to track my speed and distance using my iPhone, which is already attached to my handlebars for music and texting. Do you have any recommendations?"
My first thought was, why not use a Garmin or other devices that are specifically designed for sports like cycling? But if you already have you're iPhone mounded to your handlebars for music and texting, I have just the app for you!
Create a Screencast of Your iPhone or iPad
I love teaching people, including showing off new tricks and ways to improve their efficiency on their iPhone. There is a huge amount of power contained within these devices, and quick training sessions can help to unleash that power for the end-user. The problem is that it can be challenging to do this when you are remote. You can only go so far with, "Tell me what you see on your phone now".
In today's tech tip, I am going to show you an easy way to create a video screencast of your iPhone. Creating screencasts is a great way to really convey what it is you are trying to show off. Just like a screen recording of your laptop, a screencast of your iPhone is a video recording of exactly what you see on your iPhone's screen. This is super handy for training opportunities and helpful when showing off your favorite apps. Powerful? Oh yeah!
How to Create Your Own TrueType Font in Minutes
Having your own personalized font is more than just cool or fun, it can be useful. Many years ago, I had a professional typeface designer create my own font for me, and I called it "Kevin's Hand". I still use it all the time for filling out forms, writing personalized notes and more. While super-useful to have, to cost a pretty penny to create (around $400, if I remember correctly).
What would you say if I told you that you can create your own custom font in a matter of minutes using your iPad, and that it would cost you less than $10? I know, right?! And what if I told you that this font could be used on your iPhone, iPad and even your Mac? It's all true. Read more to find out how.
Block Unwanted Calls and Messages
Hopefully, receiving unwanted calls or messages is not a problem for you, but unfortunately, it is for many. It can start as a minor annoyance, but quickly turn into a major probem if it isn't addressed quickly enough. No one should have to put up with this.
There are two ways to mitigate this annoyance/problem. One way is to simply avoid answering the call or replying to the message each time. The problem with this method is you are still subjected to knowing that they are calling and/or messaging you. The alternative (and much better, long-term solution) would be to add that person to a list of blocked callers
Night Shift: What It Is and How It Works
When Apple released iOS 9.3 on March 21, it included a slew of new features. One feature in particular has caught the eye of many people, literally. The feature is called "NIght Shift" and is pretty interesting.
So what is Night Shift and how does it work? Studies have shown that too much "blue light" in the evening is detrimental to our circadian rhythm. In other words, our bodies are designed to consume less blue light as we wind down for bed time, not more. Staring at a bright computer display (laptop, iPhone, iPad... you name it) doesn't allow for that natural process to take place. Instead, the excess blue light tricks out bodies into thinking it's still day time. Hence, the disruption to our circadian rhythm. Night Shift solves that problem (well, as much as it can) and here's how.
Locking and Unlocking Notes in the Notes App
The Notes app gained a major security feature when Apple released the free updates to iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4,.. the ability to securely lock individual notes! This is a welcome improvement for many of us who store secure information in the Notes app.
Using this new security feature may not be obvious to many, but because I think everyone should know how to use it, I will walk you through it step-by-step. Here we go!