Transcript for Episode 312
Welcome to the show I am your host Rob and this is the Today in iOS podcast - First up I want to thank
Jeff for sending in the music you hear in the background. Jeff wrote:
Hi Rob,
I made this song with my iphone 4s using the GarageBand app. For free downloads and more music follow me @jeffj6 on twitter.
Regards,
Jeff J
SONG_Careless.mp3
Thanks Jeff for the music and folks I will put the full song at the end of the episode. I also want to thank TOM for sending in the Artwork for today's show. TOM wrote the following.
Hi Rob,
Here is a pic I made with dynamic light, photoshop express, and Aviary. This shot was taken June 11, 2014 off Indian Shores Florida.
Regards,
Tom
Well TOM Thanks again for sending in this artwork and folks you can see TOM'S artwork in the Tii App in the extras for ep 312
- or if you subscribe via iTunes on your computer as the album artwork and also as a stand alone post in the VIP section and at Facebook.com/todayinios.
If you have some artwork and or music you have created on your iOS device that you would like to share with the audience please email it to me at today in iOS at gmail dot com and please make sure to include which app or apps you used to create said artwork and or music.
01:58
In this segment of how wrong were they we have the following quote quote “The first troubling sign is the fact that you can still get an iPad today. They didn’t sell out. The pure slate form factor has failed all these years because, other than for vertical applications, people want and/or need a keyboard for regular use.” unquote
Jonathan Yarmis, Ovum, part of Datamonitor Group, 6 April 2010
Jonathan was correct about the iPad not selling out right away - it took a few days - then they were hard to find for months. But what he did not realize is that Word of Mouth would then cause sales to take off - Once People used the iPad they quickly found out it was not like any other Tablet before it and they liked it - they really really liked it.
02:50
For Promo codes - On Ep 311 we offered up chances to win promo codes for the APP - KUDOGRAM - I will be giving those out later this week - you can find more info about this app at the beginning of Ep 311
This week we have promo codes for a few Apps all from the Same Dev - The first App we have promo codes for is the App - TickerTalk - one word - Here is the review from the Dev - PLAY PROMO CODE FOR TICKERTALK - Thanks to the Dev for his review of his APP TICKERTALK and for sending in the promo codes to give away. Folks if you would like a chance for a promo code for this APP - send an email to todayinos at gmail dot com and put TICKERTALK in the subject line.
The Second App we have promo code for is the App - MUSHMOUTH - one word - Here is the review from the Dev - PLAY PROMO CODE FOR MUSHMOUTH - Thanks to the Dev for his review of his APP MUSHMOUTH and for sending in the promo codes to give away. Folks if you would like a chance for a promo code for this APP - send an email to todayinos at gmail dot com and put MUSHMOUTH in the subject line.
The THIRD App we have promo code for is the App - PICSYM - one word - SPELLED P I C S Y M Here is the review from the Dev - PLAY PROMO CODE FOR PICSYM AND PROMO ENDTAG - Thanks to the Dev for his review of his APP PICSYM and for sending in the promo codes to give away. Folks if you would like a chance for a promo code for this APP - send an email to todayinos at gmail dot com and put PICSYM - P I C S Y M in the subject line.
As Always - just send in one email for one specific App. If you send in multiple emails or ask for multiple apps in a single email - then well - No Soup for you.
A QUICK REMINDER if you are an App developer or an iBook Author email me if you want your app or iBook featured in the promo give away segment We Just need the 5 promo codes or more to give away. simply email me at today in ios @ gmail.com and please include a 60 sec or less audio review of your app or iBook - indicating you are the dev or author. Also when you send in the promo codes - please make sure to let me know when they expire.
06:29
If you had any issues last weekend and early this week calling into the show - my voicemail line is fixed - 206-666-6364 - that is 206-moon-dog. Seems k7.net had an issue with all 206-666 prefixes - and cell phones not being able to call those numbers - land lines worked fine for the most part - but cell phones got the this number is not in service message. Again the call in number is working again. And remember you can also just record a message on your iOS device and email it to me at today in iOS at gmail dot com.
Now lets get in to this episode.
On Ep 311 at the beginning of the episode I went over some of the new features and settings in iOS 8 - This episode we will pick up where we left off on the that episode - if you have not listened to ep 311 yet - you will want to go to the beginning of that ep around the 4 Minute 20 second mark to hear those other features.
Per new features and settings -
In the settings for Messages - You now have the option - Store Messages - by default this is set forever - but you can also choose for 30 days or 1 year. For those complaining about messages taking up multiple GB's - this is one way to get back a lot of that space.
Under FaceTime options there is now the option for iPhone Cellular Calls for the iPad - this lets you use your iPhones cellular connections to make and receive FaceTime calls on your other iOS device.
For Safari - as mentioned before there is now the addition of DuckDuckGo for a search engine to go along with Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Aslo added to Safari is the Option Quick Website Search - When turned on it will use the smart search field to search within websites by typing the website name as part of your search.
Under Block cookies there are new options - before it was Always or never or From 3rd parties and advertisers. Now it is block cookies - Always or never or Not from current website or Not from previously visited websites.
In the music app - there is now the option Genius - which if you turn on will send information about your library to Apple. It is off by default - and you want it off for battery savings.
In the Photos & Camera App - there is a new option - iCloud Photo library - quote automatically upload and store your entire library in iCloud to access photo and video from all of your devices unquote - and this one is turned off by default.
In the Podcasts App settings - there is now the option - Background App Refresh. This is on by default - turning off will save some power.
09:53
http://bgr.com/2014/06/17/ios-8-beta-2-download-iphone-ipad/
And just as expected - iOS 8 Beta 2 came out this week.
Here is one email that came in - which is why I have not updated my iPhone yet.
Hi Rob,
Something must have changed with Bluetooth. The Pebble cannot maintain a Bluetooth LE connection. I'm guessing it's going to take a Pebble update.
I'm getting poor battery life on the pebble and only texts notifications.
Regards,
Anonymous
And I did hear that from others as well - If you have a pebble watch - don't upgrade to the beta yet. I am now holding off upgrading my iPhone 5S to iOS beta until at least I get back from NY after the 4th of July weekend. Don't want to be traveling with issue with my Pebble.
Ok - The absolute biggest news about iOS 8 beta 2 - for podcasters at least is that the Podcasts App will now be native in iOS 8. Joining the iBooks app as a stand alone app in iOS 8 moving to a native nope you can't delete it app in iOS 8. Diggitty diggitty diggitty - this is huge huge news for Podcasting. This means come end of October over 500 million iOS devices will have a native Podcasts app on them - and by this time next year well over 750 million iOS devices will have the podcasts app. I will not go into to much detail here about what this means for podcasters - but listen to episode 24 of the Feed when it comes out in about 10 days and I will go over in great detail what it means for podcasters and what you need to do to prep your show for it.
Outside of the Podcasts app becomes native - some other news and new features for iOS 8 beta 2 are the following.
Apple updated Safari where it now blocks ads from automatically redirecting to the App store without user interaction.
Speaking of Safari - If on the iPad - and you have safari open and you pinch in - it will then show you what other browsers tabs are open not on your device but on other iOS device and macs. When I did this I could see a list of all the current browser windows open on my mac. and a list of those open on my iPhone 4S and 5S and my wifes iPad mini. We are talking devices running OS 10.8, iOS 6.x and iOS 7.x - Really cool and really creepy at the same time.
Quicktype keyboard suggestions are now available on the iPad as well. Quicktype is fun to play with - Start a sentence with Apple as the first word and then tap on the first suggestion and what you get is well gibberish. But if you get any funny sentence that are clearly easter eggs lets us know.
Under Privacy there is a new Home Data menu that will list apps that access your home data via homekit.
The Assistive touch menu now has options for Control Center and Notification center.
In Notifications there is a big addition - You now have one master toggle to turn off all types of notifications from an App. Before you had to go and turn on and off each type. Now one toggle off and they are all off.
The Photos App has new albums for Bursts Photos and Slo-Mo videos. Nice.
iBooks now combines books that are part of the same series.
There is a new Raise to listen option for voice messages.
And there are some other tweaks changes to buttons - but that stuff is boring or at least more boring than what I went over.
Again if you have a pebble - and you like your pebble and you use your pebble - then you will want to stay away from iOS 8 beta 2 for now.
We will talk more about iOS 8 beta software on future episodes.
But if you are someone playing with iOS 8 Beta 2 - and have some feedback - anonymously of course - please let me know - shoot an email to today in iOS at gmail dot com. Or not anonymous - by calling 206-666-6364.
Hi Rob,
Love the show. Always look forward to it every week.
I had a thought regarding Apples mobile gameplan and wanted to hear your thoughts about it: Apple said a lot regarding Continuity, iOS and the Mac OS. All good stuff to keep their products interconnected with the ability to throw a phone call, message, webpage etc, amongst iDevices and traditional computers. What wasn't brought up or introduced was any new hardware. Some have wondered why, others are still going over the presentation. What has occurred to me is that the rumored "iWatch" / Apple Wearable device isn't simply going to be a smartwatch/wearable. This device is going to be an alternative to the iPhone. It will be the wearable connected device that will provide the internet connectivity, allowing it to do all the fun stuff Apple has stated. For some, no more fumbling with your phone, just fling it from your wrist to your iPad, iPad Mini, MBP or iMac.
Your Apple wearable is now the gateway for all of your other devices. If you're a watch wearer you'll never lose this, there will be no "butt dialing", no chance of people shuffling through your stuff or any other intrusion that happens with smartphones and tablets just laying around. The gatekeeper is going to be on your wrist.
If this happens the way I've envisioned it, this will be the twist that no other manufacturer has foreseen. And if executed in true Apple style there will be a lot of naysayers and dropped jaws in the near future. This is going to flip the mobile market on its head! I could of course be wrong... What do you think?
Best regards,
Robert in Portland, OR
http://www.cyberockk.com/2014/06/11-features-in-ios-8-beta-2.html
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2014/06/ios-8-beta-2-whats-new.html
17:35
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/some-apple-european-
usb-adapters-overheat-pose-a-safety-risk/
Thanks to all that sent in this next one - and this for those living in Europe. Apple warns that certain USB adapters sold with iPhone can overheat and you can exchange them for a new adapter. The hot hot hot adapters in question were sold with the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S models between Oct 2009 and September 2012 - they also sold it during that time as a stand alone adapter. You can see if you are the lucky winner of a hot hot hot adapter by looking at the bottom of the device . If it is model A1300 - congrats - you win a trip to your local apple store and replacement adapter. If you have model A1400 - you have the new and improved adapter and nothing more is needed of you.
Check for the link in the show notes for more info on this.
18:36
Thanks again to lynda for sponsoring this episode - if you go to lynda dot com slash tii - that is l y n d a dot com slash tii - you will get a free 7 day trial to their service. They offer over 2,000 high quality video courses taught by industry experts.
These courses cover subjects including Business Skills like SEO, Viral Marketing, Content Marketing and Negotiating, There are Software video courses covering MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite and Final Cut Pro, And of course there are iOS App development courses - There are over 25 iOS Courses available at Lynda.com
If you want to learn how to program or just beef up your current knowledge in one area of Programming - Lynda has the tutorials for you.
One new tutorial as of June 10th is iPhoto for iOS essential training by Garrick Chow. Topics covered include Adjust exposure, color and white balance, Fixing red eyes, repairing specific areas of an image and of course the different ways to share photos and even how to order prints.
And speaking of iOS - Lynda just released their new updated iOS app - you can download courses right to your iOS device. Sync activity across devices and even stream course via Airplay to your TV.
Lynda is an all you can eat monthly service - Watch anytime and as often as you like from your computer or iOS device. There are Searchable Transcripts as well as closed-captioned transcripts.
And you don't need to take my word for the breadth and quality of their tutorials and service - you can check them out right now for yourself for free for 7 days by going to lynda dot com slash tii that is
l y n d a dot com slash t i i
Thanks Lynda for sponsoring this episode.
20:28
VOICEMAIL - Jonathan_RealEstate.m4a
Thanks Jonathan. Some other apps recommended are Realtor.com, Redfin, Mortgage Calculator and Mortgage rates app by Realtor.com, Credit Karma and Homesnap. Those apps were actually recommended in an article from iMore about apps for home buyers - but I could see them all being important to Realtors.
http://www.imore.com/best-iphone-apps-home-buyers-redfin-
homesnap-credit-karma-more
I had this email come in.
Hi Rob.
I wanted to ask you and the listeners who use Apple's Podcast App a question about playing back podcast episodes. I tend to download, sync, and then listen to episodes of lots of my favorite podcasts in "batches" so at any given time I might have 3 or 4 episodes of a particular podcast to catch up on.
I've noticed that in some cases, the Podcast App will play all the episodes I've loaded onto the device one after the other. But in other cases, it quits at the end of an episode and I have to go back in,manually select the next episode I want to listen to, and start playing it. I haven't been able to tell what settings control that.
I'm curious if there's a playback option somewhere that controls whether you playback ALL episodes or just ONE AT A TIME.
Just curious why this happens one way sometimes and another way other times - and what (if anything) I can do to specify how episodes are played back.
regards,
Jeff in Springfield Illinois
I sent Jeff the following - Hi Jeff,
In the Podcasts App
Go to your list of shows - My Podcasts
Then tap on one of the shows. Then tap again on that show near the artwork at the top. Then under the artwork you should see
"Settings" and "Share"
Tap on Settings
For Play it should be set to Oldest to Newest
For Sort Order it should be "Newest on Top"
If you have those settings - then you should be able to go to the oldest episode you have not listened to tap play and it will keep playing until you get to the end of the newest episode.
The only thing that will stop the playback between episodes is if you are on cellular. Then you may get a popup that asks about using cellular data for the new episode - I do believe that pop comes between each episode.
Other than that - the episodes should play back until the end of the newest episode.
And then Jeff did reply to my comments.
Thanks Rob,
Your tip answered my question.
As I’d noted earlier, some of my podcasts were doing this and some weren’t.
I saw that the ones that weren’t playing back all episodes continuously had their Play order set to "Newest to Oldest".
But when I switched it to Oldest to Newest the podcast app does play them continuous.
This is what I want it to do MOST OF THE TIME.
Regards,
—Jeff
As stated earlier - the Podcasts App will be native with iOS 8 - so I expect more questions out in the ether about the app. I also expect a lot more people to be consuming podcasts.
Hi Rob,
I wanted to reply to the listener who said he was using Daylite on his Mac for Managing projects and clients. I was really surprised that he was searching for an iOS app to complement it because I’m using Daylite on my Mac and on my iOS Devices too. As you can imagine they are very compatible and sync everything.
I’ve been using Daylite for years now and I don’t know how I would manage without it… I’m running a small (one woman) design agency.
Also the staff at Marketcircle are super friendly and helpful.
You can find it here
https://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/
Regards,
Anna R
Hi Rob,
A listener wanted a replacement for ACT! contact management software. I recommend VIPorbit. It is authored by Mike Muhney who is one of the developers of ACT!.
More information on VIPOrbit can be found on Chuck Joiner's MacVoices Podcast, episodes 13190 and 13203.
Regards,
David W
25:43
https://plus.google.com/communities/105412562215997292912?
cfem=1
We are now over 900 members in our Google+ community and growing.
Thanks to everyone that has joined and thanks for the great posts.
One post in the G+ community this past week came from -
Craig Shipp - he said he was looking for an app that allows users to search and listen to supreme court oral arguments and did anyone have any ideas. One answer came from Andrew Paez who suggested Pocket Justice. If anyone has any other suggestions please look for the June 15th post from Craig and leave a response there.
I also had to delete my first post that had replies in it - and that was with regards to a service called shou - which was first developed for android and now is available for iOS and is supposed to allow you to record screen casts. They install some software on your iOS device - non-jailbroken iOS device - via some sort of side load. The devs are from China on this. And well I pulled the post because I could not verify how legit and safe this service is - they are installing an app on your iOS device that can record all going on on your screen and transmit it back to their servers. Ummmm - yeah nothing could possible go wrong with this set up. I am doing some research and when I learn more I will post back on the community about what I find out.
- This past week there were also dozens and dozens of other new posts in the Tii Google+ community - which is an Android bois free zone and spammer free zone. Yup it is the most civil Google+ community covering iOS.
Folks Go to today in iOS dot com slash community to join in.
And thanks to all 900+ of you already in the community and contributing.
27:48
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/06/14/apples-
new-family-plan-makes-it-easy-to-solve-the-itunes-identity-crisis/
Thanks to Dr. John also to the article titled - Apples new family plan makes it easy to solve the iTunes identity crisis from Forbes.com
This article goes into details about why and how Apples new family plan works. Which is one parent becomes the Admin of the family account and invites other family members for a total of up to six people. All linked iTunes accounts need to share the same payment method slash credit card.
This means more separation of sync'd data via iCloud - which is good - I don't want some of the info I am accessing to sync up with my kids devices. And don't want podcasts I download to sync up - Joe Rogan and Marc Maron - are not exactly the type of content I want my 6 and 8 years old getting on their devices.
So it seems one idea behind family sharing is you can still share apps purchased among family members - but some other data you don't want to share can be kept from other family members.
VOICEMAIL - Kevin_Famil_sharing
30:25
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-19/how-
an-iphone-update-lowered-new-york-citys-crime-rate
Thanks to all that sent in links to the various stories covering this next one. And that is About Activation lock introduced in iOS 7. This is the one when first announced was met with some skepticism from some prominent lawmakers - well guess what - it has made an impact - a big impact in apple picking.
In a report published on Thursday robberies involving Apple products in NY City dropped 19 percent over the first 5 months of this year compared with the same period last year.
Overall in NY City during that period yr over yr - robberies in general dropped 9.4% across NY City - and since about half of robberies involve mobile device the over decline in crime in NY City is directly related to the release of iOS 7 and activation lock.
So kudos to Apple again for Activation lock and glad to see measured results showing it is doing what people had hoped for.
Now there is a push by some lawmakers to do what they do best and make a law requiring carriers and cell manufactures to have kill switches on all new phones. But I say hey just let people know the iPhone is available and if they want a device with a kill switch - it is available with iOS 7 and greater devices. Why was tax payers money on a law that is not needed. I mean really who is going to steal an Android phone? Well who in their right mind that is - and if they are not in their right mind a kill switch on an Android device is not going to stop them from taking the device anyway.
32:09
http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/18/iphone-6-likely-to-sport-
barometer-air-pressure-sensors-to-measure-altitude-weather/
With the release of iOS 8 beta 2 some people have started digging through the code for other hidden features and one thing they found is that the Coremotion API's reference new altitude measuring abilities. And it appears these are in reference to new hardware - IE the iPhone 6 may be getting a barometer - and yes cue back to some long ago episode when I chided an Android device for having a barometer. You know - I really still don't get it for the iPhone either.
But I am sure come September and the iPhone 6 unveiling Apple will explain it and why it is important - and I probably will still go - huh - I don't get it.
33:00
http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/19/iwatch-2-5-
inch-screen-july-production/
More rumors on the mythical iWatch. This time it will be a 2.5 inch screen diagonally with a slightly rectangular face - this is right in line with past rumors which had it with a round face and 1.3 inches in diameter. Oh wait no that is nothing alike. Ahhh the life of a rumor reader a new week a new rumor or two or three. I would get into more details but why bother - 2.5 inches across ummm - not buying it one bit. Not unless Johnny Ive has a long time man crush on Dick Tracy - which might be possible - but well not very probable.
33:40
http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iwatch/
MacRumors put together a piece trying to tie up all the different rumors on he iWatch - Thanks Brent H for the heads up on this article.
Per the specs - as mentioned anywhere from 1.3 to 2.5 ".
Round or rectangular or maybe a square or trapezoid or well it will have a shape.
Some rumors say it will run full iOS - others not so much.
4 to 5 days of batter life targets - unless it has more or less than that.
It will have biometric sensors - because it has to.
And it will launch tentatively in October.
Some rumors have it using Sapphire glass - other say it will be Cornings new Willow glass.
After reading the whole article here is what I took from it - Nobody has the foggiest idea on what this will be or do or if it will be or doing anything - it could all just be a big rumor mess. Which is why rumors of Apple hitting production issues due to well pick any of the following:
Battery Life
Sapphire glass shortage
Display technology issues
Manufacturability - i.e. it is too difficult to put together.
Wireless charging issues.
Issues with liquid metal used for case
And the every popular - Seeing low yields from production
Good to see Macrumors was able to clear all this up so nicely.
35:09
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/06/apple-removes-fake-
and-purchased-app-reviews-and-ratings-on-the-app-store
Thanks to Jim M for this next one.
And if you are a long time listener - you may remember back 4+ years ago I did a blog post titled - Bogus App review site has hundreds of paid reviews in iTunes. I went through and found some clearly bogus app reviewers and the apps they were paid to review. I called them out and sent the info to Apple and then NOTHING.
If you want to read the post on the Tii website - look for the menu bar item - blog posts - click on it and select the top blog post listed.
The long of the short - again clearly there were un-ethical people doing paid app reviews - some of which replied in the comments - and Apple did not yank the apps.
Well now it seems Apple is finally getting around to pulling App reviews that are fake.
Sadly many of the apps I mentioned in my post 4+ years ago - still are in the App store and still have the fake app reviews.
It is still easy to spot an app with fake reviews - if you look at the chart of reviews - it looks like the letter C. With a group of paid apps making up the 5 star reviews and then the real reviews making up the 1 start reviews and very little for 2, 3 and 4 star reviews.
Of course sometimes it looks like the letter L - that is when they get lots and lots of 1 star reviews from real folks - like the App Stocks with Tapfolio HD - which I called out 4+ years ago.
36:51
http://news.msn.com/science-technology/report-chinese-
phone-comes-preloaded-with-spyware
Thanks to Max for this next one.
Which is one of those stories that make you thankful you are not on Android. Seems a Smartphone coming out of China comes preloaded with Malware - because they figured - hey you are just going to download some malware eventually - so you might as well get it pre-loaded to start with. The phone in question is the Star N9500 - This phone is for sale on several major retail websites. the Security company G Data that discovered the malware issue said it could allow a hacker to steal persona data, place rogue calls or turn on the phones camera and microphone - you know nothing all that major.
For the Article via AP - Bjoern Rupp Chief executive of Berlin based mobile security company GSMK said such cases are more common than people think. Last Fall German cellphone service provider e-plus found malware on some handsets delivered to its customers.
Back to the Star 9500 smartphones - the malware is sending personal data to a server located in china and is able to covertly install additional applications - because you know the initial malware was not enough.
Like I said - makes you glad you are not on the android side of the fence.
38:23
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27908105
At least one company is stepping up to help on this issue - Ebay - yes the same company that does not allow the sale of Lawn darts - is taking that drive and they are barring listings for Star N9500 after they found out about the pre-loaded malware issue.
38:50
VOICEMAIL - Johnathan_Wire_headphones.m4a
Hi Rob,
According to AT&T, even though you may be connected to a wifi network, you are actually still using cellular data unless you drill down into the phone settings and turn off cellular data (and then, of course, turn it back on when you leave the wifi network). THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME! (Yes, I'm on a rant.) If this is indeed the truth, then I think AT&T is ripping off it's customers who are under the impression they are not consuming data from their cellular plan every month.
Have you ever heard of this phenomenon?
Regards,
Jonathan Miller
Hi Jonathan - interesting question.
There is a very easy way to test this.
Go to your router and disconnect the internet from it. Leave it on and running so you still get a wifi signal to connect to - but you should not be able to get email or surf the web or download a podcast.
If you can send / receive emails or surf the web while connected - then the internet connection is via Cellular.
My understanding is that with AT&T and other cell carriers - when connected to wifi - it does not use cellular data.
But once you loose the connection to a wifi hotspot - then Cellular kicks in.
Again it is a quick easy test for you to try at home - and when I just did the test I found it worked how I would expect. And that is it stayed connected via wifi - but I could not surf the web, download podcasts, send or receive emails or check twitter. I had no internet. Even though I had a good strong LTE connection. Which once I turned off wifi kicked in and I could do everything. So at least from my tests no cellular data is being used when wifi is on and you have a connection to a wifi base station - even if that wifi base station does not have an internet connection. A wifi connection neuters your Cellular connection - as it should.
Hi Rob,
I was listening to episode 311 and you were talking about 3rd party keyboards in iOS8. I have to admit that I am really looking forward to this. I have been a very happy Android user but lately made the switch to both an iPad 4th gen and an iPhone 5S. I am not new to iOS as I bought a iPod Touch 2nd gen with they first came out. I used Swiftkey on both my Android tablet and my Samsung S1 and later S3. It worked nearly flawlessly in the way that it learned how I type and what words I may use next. I could type an email about 2 to 3 times faster on my S1 than I could on the iPod touch. Between it learning my typing technique and the fact that after a few letters it would give 3 words to choose from, I didn't mind typing on it at all. I got my iPhone about a month ago, and typing on it was driving me crazy. Then I heard that iOS8 was going to allow Swiftkey, and I am very excited now. I've tried the other keyboards you mentioned, but Swiftkey is the best. Regards,
Chad
For those with decent memories you will remember me talking about the Legion Meter on Kickstarter - well this week - I got the email saying the funding period was over and I was being charged my $39 for the unit. Right now they have an Oct 2014 estimated delivery date - we shall see. Once nice feature they added to the Legion Meter is a slide switch - this lets you switch between faster charging and data pass through with standard charging. A really nice thing about this feature is when you switch it to faster charging - it blocks the ability for people to pass data through to your device at a public charging station - that is one of those theoretical exploits that the researchers from GT showed. So this works as a kind of prophylactic for your iOS device when you start putting it into unknown ports in public places. This is one I am really excited to try out and talk about on a future episode of the show. Hopefully that will be an October 2014 episode and not something in 2015. You listening to me SOS Charger and Soundband folks - yeah - I talking about you.
43:54
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smartatoms/lametric-
customizable-smart-ticker-for-life-and-bu
Thanks to Tash for the heads up on this next one. Which is the LaMetric customizable smart ticker for life and business found in kickstarter dot com. Think Textlite display shrunk down and controlled by your iOS device. For those not familiar with Textlite displays - you actually probably are you just did not know it. They were the long black rectangular display with red front - and text would scroll on it.
I know a little about this as I worked for a computer repair company in high school as I mentioned - and they were the national repair center for these displays.
Anyway I digress quite a bit.
The LaMetric is a miniature version of this and it had a goal of $69,000 - because why not - and they have raised over $78,000 and have until Fri August 1st at 8:58 AM CT for the funding. Pricing on this is $119 while slots are left at that level - Then it goes up to $129.
I used to want to get one of the textlite displays for my Car. That way I could put it in the back window and send message to the person behind me - like - Nice driving - or hey are you available to go out. Or maybe even both. Ah the mind set of a 16 year old. I actually had a scrapped unit I was working on repairing to do that when I left for college. Sadly I never did get it done. Maybe now I could relive my youth. Or not.
Anyway - I am digressing or regressing again - if you want your own mini textlite display that works with your iOS device to display relevant data or just totally irrelevant data - your choice - search for LaMetric in kickstarter dot com - their descriptions are not skewed by flash backs to a 16 / 17 year old geek working in a computer repair store.
46:07
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/myev-by-mycarma-
electric-vehicle-logger-app
Hi Bob
I checked your website and saw you own Tesla stock, so I thought you may be interred in reporting about this project on Indigogo:
myEV by MyCarma: electric vehicle logger & app
at:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/myev-by-mycarma-electric-vehicle-logger-app
They need your support. They are almost halfway there.
I just got my Tesla Model S and just love it. I can't wait to tell and show all my friends and family about it. It feels like driving the future, and no bad after taste like when I drove my gas-engine car to my sail boat to enjoy a pollution-free day on the water.
Best regards
Rolf
You can always tell the ones that don't really listen to the show - they either call me Robert or Bob. So I doubt Rolf ever knows this goes up. That said - I did think it was worth mentioning.
Folks if you have an Electric Vehicle - then search for myEV at indiegogo dot com.
But Rolf did mention something - I should mention any stocks I own - I put in the about section of Today in iOS dot com. And yes Tesla is one along with Apple, Facebook, twitter and GTAT - that last one is the company supposedly making the sapphire screens for the next iPhone.
47:42
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/t-mobile-offers-customers-7-
day-trial-iphone-5s
Interesting news here - T-Mobile is offering people the ability to take home the latest iPhone 5S for a seven-day trial. That will let them see if they get good reception at their home and office - if not bring it back and no cost for you. This offer is supposed to start out on Monday the 23rd of June.
Will be interesting to see if any other carriers copy this offer.
48:07
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fotor-photo-editor-photo-
collage/id440159265?mt=8
Hi Rob,
Thanks for previously mentioning Fotor on your podcast. Fotor has been updated to version 4.5.0.
I wrote to you hoping you could review for its new features.
New features in version 4.5.0:
1.PhotoBox: all photos taken with the in-app camera will automatically be added to the "Fotor" album stored in your device's photo albums.
(Tip: Make sure to open the album permissions or your photos in PhotoBox will be lost.)
2.Soccer Stickers: Know any big soccer games in 2014? Kick off your next soccer game with these-themed stickers.
3. All in-app-purchase items are free (June 19th - June 27th)
I'd really appreciate your consideration for a review.
Regards,
Sharon
Well Sharon - You just did the review for me. Fotor is a free app with in app purchases - which now are all free until June 27th. This is a nice app and to get to the in-app purchases - take a phone with the app - then go to the photo to edit it - you will then see a shopping cart for a few of the options - click on it and download them all - I think there were about 4 different shopping carts to find in all.
49:54
VOICEMAIL - Answr_FIOS_verizon.m4a
Hi Rob,
To the gentlemen with the question regarding using Verizon FiOS apps with a wifi router other than the Verizon provided one, let me reassure him that what Verizon told him is flat out untrue. In my home I have the standard Verizon wifi/router which is bridged over to an Apple Time Capsule. The time capsule provides the wifi connection to all my devices. If set up this way, all the Verizon apps will work. I use the apps to change channels, schedule recordings, mange my DVR space, etc.
Verizon Modem/router -> Bridge -> Apple Time Capsule -> Wifi Devices
Regards,
Jerry
Hey Rob,
Regarding the Verizon router question from Wayne on Item 0311, I have Verizon Fios and use an Apple Airport Extreme and have no problems at all using any of the Verizon apps. I can control any of the 3 TVs in my home, schedule recordings, etc.
I do have a Verizon router. I then plug my Airport Extreme into it and have the Airport Extreme set to (I believe it’s called) bridge mode. This is where I allow the Verizon router to set all of the addresses. I then use the Airport Extreme to create the wireless network and login to that on my iPhone and iPad. I never connect directly to the Verizon router wirelessly.
I would suggest Wayne tries this setup.
Regards, Darrin
Hi Rob
Is there a way to attach a PDF file to an email? I know you can compose an email from the PDF itself, but this doesn't work when you want to respond to an email and a PDF to it. Any advice would be appreciated.
Regards
Steve
Brisbane
And I replied back to Steve -
You mean like this?
In which I replied with a PDF in the email.
To do this it is simple - just open the PDF in iBooks and email it to yourself. And then copy it in the email you received from yourself and paste it into the reply of the email you want to send it in.
Dear Rob,
I am one of the many blind people who own and love the i-Phone.
Descriptive video has been around for a couple of decades at least.
It is a way in which descriptions of movies and other video programming is made available.
Generally, the producer of descriptive video writes a script which is fitted into quiet parts of the movie.
I watched American in with descriptive video and the long dance sceens came alive.
You asked about third party keyboards your listeners like.
I am writing this e-mail using MBraille, a wonderful ap which alows blind people to write and edit on i-phones and i-PADS in braille.
We put our fingers where the braille keys would be and type away.
Apple talked about braille support in ios 8.
MBraille is the best braille app out there and I truly hope Apple recognizes this.
Regards,
Jan B
Thanks Jan for that feedback.
Here are a couple of emails - First is a question and then the answer.
Hi Rob
I have had 2 different answers from Apple on this, so am seeking your clarification. I have just sold an old iPhone 4 and am wondering if find my iPhone needed to be manually turned off before I did erase all content and settings or does erase all content and settings turn off find my iPhone if it had been left on? Just need to know so I can do the right thing and ensure the new owner doesn't have a locked device.
Regards,
Steve in Brisbane.
Hi Rob
Somemeone from Apple clarified. You do need to turn off find my iPhone before restoring to factory settings as if you don't, the device is locked for the new owner and they need the old user's password to access the phone. The only way around this is this happens is to get the old user to login to iCloud and disassociate the device from their iCloud account.
Regards,
Steve in Brisbane
Steve - thanks for the reply back on that. Something folks should know as we get closer to the iPhone 6 and I am sure more than a few of you will be selling your old iOS device.
Hey Rob,
Do you think IOS 8 eliminates the reasoning for jailbreaking?
Thank you,
Shawna W
Hi Shawna - NOPE - as long as you still can't have Display recorder or use the Hotspot for a grandfathered AT&T plan - there are reasons to jailbreak.And those are just two for me.
There is also the ability to have locked folders and 5 icons in a row on the iPhone.
iOS 8 actually guarantees there will be a jailbreak for iOS 8.
But does it reduce the need for some - Yes - each version of iOS that added in a feature that was jailbreak only before - removes the need for a few.
But since there are more people joint the iOS world all the time - I still think it is net sum gain for those that would want a jailbreak. And as more people come over from Android - there is even more of a need.
So over all I think we will see more of a demand for jailbreaking when iOS 8 launches.
57:36
http://www.ravpower.com/ravpower-rp-wd01-filehub-
3000mah-power-bank.html
Hi Rob - I recently purchased something I think may be of interest to your listeners. It's called the RavPower Filehub, and allows you to stream video's, music and images to your iOS device.
It's creates its own WiFi network (ie it doesn't require an external Wifi network or cellular signal) and allows up to 5 devices to join at once to view media stored on it. The device has a SD card slot and a USB port allowing pretty much unlimited storage.
Think of a long car journey or camping during a downpour with the kids, up to 5 of you can access 5 different movies to watch at the same time.
In addition it can double as an iPhone/iPad charger as it has a 3000mAh internal battery.
It's only $45USD, comes in black or white and is similar in size and weight to an iphone.
Another feature is the ability to transfer photo's from the iPhone/iPad back to FileHub to free up space on your device.
I recommend using something like the 'GoodPlayer' app to get best use out of it as the default app 'Rav Filehub' doesn't' play every video filetype.
I find myself using it all the time now, I've transferred a large number of TV and movie files to the 128gb SD card i have, and use it that way, rather than the usual manner of connecting the iOS device to a computer and transferring files to an app like VLC, AV Player etc.
Here's the product page - bit.ly/filehub
Cheers
Simmo
New Zealand
59:27
http://www.macworld.com/article/2363215/a-cure-for-
too-many-contacts.html
Thanks to Tash for this next one - which is a combo iOS / Mac OS tip - and it is about what to do if you have too many contacts and you are having issues with them syncing back and forth.
Granted the person they use for an example has 18,000 contacts - and started having issues when he hit 10,000. Think.
I start to think when you have over 10,000 contacts - you know - they really are not contacts - but just random peoples info you culled from the internet. Just sayin.
But anyway what one of the things mentioned was about setting up smart groups. Which you can search for contacts with no email and not phone number and put them in a group. Which I thought was neat.
I have a bunch of contacts I need to better organize - and a bunch of duplicates I need to delete.
Again - just a quick mention for mac OS and iOS users.
1:00:43
Hello Rob!
I have a problem I can't manage to resolve on my own by searching on the Internet.
I gave my iPhone 4S to my mother. She has the latest iOS 7.1.1 with no
jailbreak. The last 2+ months she loses randomly some old messages in
the message app but not all the messages whether they are imessages or
SMS. For example I have been sending her for 5 months and now she has
messages only from the day before yesterday. At the same time she has
other messages from January.
I have already tried to reset all network settings but the problem remains.
Do you have any idea?
Greetings from Greece
Regards
Zafiris
And this is one of those I throw out to the audience for some help - if anyone can help Zafiris - if you had this issue and fixed it - please let us know how you fixed it - 206-666-6364 that is 206-moon-dog or send an email to today in iOS at gmail dot com.
Hi Rob,
I suspect you mat know that the original technical spec for this format did say how to pronounce the name of the standard… the same as the peanut butter. It did even include the line “choosey programmers choose Gif”. I personally think that the people who create things get to name them.
Chris C
Hi Rob,
Regarding the controversy that was brought up in episode 311 about the proper pronunciation of GIF, there is no better place to go for the answer than the horse’s mouth, so to speak. And the creator of the GIF format, Steve Wilhite, revealed at the Webby Awards in 2013 "It's pronounced JIF, not GIF.” Like the peanut butter.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/
Now that this has been disclosed, we’re all free to go on pronouncing it however we like. :-)
Regards,
Howard B
Howard maybe or maybe not - here is some more feedback on this.
VOICEMAIL - Kevin_GIF.m4A
VOICEMAIL - Jonathan_GIF.m4a
VOICEMAIL - Dave_GIFvsJIF.m4a
So the question is do I capitulate and give in and pronounce the name in a method that breaks english language rules but is the wish of the programer - or do I say a programmers bad pronunciation and lack of knowledge of the english language is no right to mispronounce a word - and I stick with proper english and say Gif.
Well I am going to Jive this some more thought - and after I jathered more info on this I will be sure to jet back to everyone on how I am joing to proceed in the future.
1:06:00
Thanks again to lynda dot com for their support of Tii - and if you go to lynda dot com slash tii - that is l y n d a dot com slash t i i - you will get a free 7 day trial. Thanks Lynda for sponsoring this show and for the free offer.
And Before we go today I want to remind you to send in your feedback to the show - 206-666-6364 - that 206-moon-dog - or record your feedback and email it to the show at today in iOS at gmail dot com - The feedback can be a question or comment per something someone said on this episode or it can be a question or rant you have about something else. An App or product review - good or bad - as long as it is iOS related - it is welcomed. I am always looking for new Artwork to feature that you created on an iOS device - just put some Tii branding on it and send it in. And of course we are always looking for more music created on an iOS device to play on the show. This is your show and your feedback is greatly desired. And don't forget to check out our Moderated Google Plus community by going to todayinios dot com slash community.
And that folks is going to do it for us today.
OUTRO
OUTRO MUSIC
