How to find your lost iPhone.

(This story is told through the eyes and words of an iPhone)

The memories are foggy as to how my owner lost me, but that's not really what's important here.  What is important is that she found me, thanks to a really knowledgeable and awesome dude (The MacMentor), and a really smart mom (who kept her Apple ID and Password safe).

So here's what I remember...I was having a blast with my owner, down at the beach.  She was living it up, tanning and having fun with her friends, it was a great day!  A few hours go by, the sun started to set, and the next thing I know, she's gone!  Left without me.  I was so sad!  I didn't know what to do, so I waited, and waited and waited.  Thankfully I had a full battery charge.  My only hope was that my owner (who asked to remain anonymous here) remembered her Apple ID, and password.

So here's what happened next (I know because she told me).  My owner was so nervous that her mom was going to go berserk, but thankfully she has a Mac Guy who could help her, his name is The MacMentor (aka, Geoff Horwitz).  She called The MacMentor and told him of her terrible situation and asked him what to do.  The MacMentor asked her if she knew her Apple ID.  She gave him the ID she thought she used, and The MacMentor went to his trusty Mac, opened up Safari and proceeded to go to http://icloud.com.

Once there, he entered the Apple ID and Password my owner gave him (hidden for obvious reasons).  Sadly, he got a message back from iCloud that the Apple ID and password had not been set up!  The MacMentor shook his head in disbelief.  If iCloud had not been set up, how on earth would I (the iPhone) be found?  The MacMentor was sure that my owner had set up her iCloud, so he had her call her mom.  What happened next was just plain awesome!  Thankfully mom had written down the Apple ID and password my owner used for iCloud.  So, mom opened up Safari, went to iCloud.com and signed in with my owners Apple ID and password.

When mom did that she came to the screen capture above.  Next, mom pressed the Find my iPhone button which took her to a map, similar to the one below, but for security reasons, the map below is simply being used as an example.

It's a little hard to see, but on the top right of the screen capture above, there's a window with me, the iPhone, and underneath three buttons.  Play Sound, Lost Mode and Erase iPhone.  Mom was able to locate the iPhone on the beach where my owner had forgotten me, but it was dark out, and it would be really hard to find me!  So, mom called The MacMentor, and he told her to press the Play Sound button (I tell you, that MacMentor dude is a genius!).  This story keeps getting better!  You see, thankfully my battery still had plenty of charge, and I was still on.  So when mom pressed the Play Sound button on iCloud I started making a loud sonar noise.  And low and behold, a few minutes later, even though it was dark, my owner and her friends heard me calling her and she came and got me!  Yeah!  I love stories with a happy ending, and thanks to the wonderful MacMentor, and a resourceful mom,  I didn't get washed up in the tide and lost at sea!

So the moral of the story is this.  If you own an iPhone, make sure you sign in to iCloud, and make sure you remember your Apple ID and password!  And it would help if you knew The MacMentor as well...:).

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to keep your iPhone and iPad safe, using iCloud!

iOS 7 Tips Part II

So I hope you enjoyed my earlier blog with some great iOS 7 Tips...In case you didn't get enough the first time around, here are some more!

The first thing I'm going to toss out on this blog is an addition I've been looking for for quite some time.  Have you ever gone into the App store and wished there was a way to create a list of Apps you'd like to get, without having to either do a screen capture, or worse, jot the Apps down by hand!  Well, now there is an easy way, by creating a Wish List!  There is one caveat, it only works for paid apps...

Safari has gotten considerably better in iOS 7.  Beyond the cosmetic improvements, one great addition (for those with Twitter accounts), is the Shared Links @ tab, let searches your Twitter account and gathers pictures and articles in one place for easy reading!

Safari in iOS 7 also has a new way to view multiple pages, using tabs!  Now you can not only easily see what pages you have open in Safari, but easily close them by swiping to the left on the particular tab!

If you use Safari, and iCloud on your Mac (or PC!), you can share what you are viewing on your iOS device (as long as you have the Safari toggle in iCloud on your iOS device turned on as well).  In Safari on your iOS device, slide up from the bottom, to show the open tabs on the other devices you are using.  Very handy, and very cool as well...:).

You may or may not have used the Compass app in previous versions of iOS, but the App now has a great new feature, it's a compass, and a Level!  If you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend you do so...The level works, and is great for hanging pictures, or whatever else you need a level for!

Another great addition to iOS 7 is the FaceTime App for the iPhone.  Not sure what took Apple so long to give it it's own app on the iPhone, but its finally here!  With it, comes one of my favorite new features, FaceTime Audio!  Apple is going to great lengths to decrease your monthly Cellular bill, by giving you free texting (iMessage), and now free calling with FaceTime Audio!  That's right folks, and not only is it free, but it's amazingly clear, way more so that a traditional call, so if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it!

Maps in iOS 6 got more flack than all other iOS apps ever!  Thankfully, Apple did a nice job with Maps in iOS 7.  Many great new features, the one in particular that I'm going to point out here is the ability to have Maps give you either walking or driving directions.  Simply go to the Maps settings and set the default for whichever is best for you!

Another App thats gotten an overhaul in iOS 7 is Photos.  Now, your photo library is divided by date and location into Moments, Collections, and Years.  As more photos are added to those sections, the thumbnails get smaller.  To get a better idea of the pictures, simply long-press one, and move your finger around to view the others.

One of the great new additions to the App Store is a Kids section!  That's right, Apple has added (finally!) a section dedicated to kids only Apps!  The apps have three ranges:  5 and under, 6-8 and 9-11.  Parents now have an easy way to find age appropriate apps (and games) for their youngsters.

A cool new addition in Siri (of which there are many), is here ability to change settings for you.  For example, Siri can both make the screen darker, and brighter.  Check it out!

I decided to drop a second blog out this week because, quite frankly there are so many new features in iOS 7 I thought it be prudent to share more...look for a third and final blog on new features in the coming weeks...I hope these have helped, and if they have, share them with your friends, who should share it with their friends....etc...etc....etc...:).

Have an Awesome weekend!  

Until next time...best to you and your devices!

iOS 7 Tips and Tricks...

Hi!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and those of you that celebrate had a great Chanukah!  It's been almost two months now since iOS 7 was dropped in our laps, and I've been quite surprised at how few people have actually like it!  I do workshops all over the Chicagoland area, and I have not had more than a handful of people that have said that they like it better than previous iOS iterations.  I've been using iOS 7 since the first beta release came out this summer, and I actually like the changes.  So I came up with a list of 25 helpful tips and tricks that I am going to be posting.  12 in this blog, and 13 in the next (coming in a few weeks).  I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on iOS 7, what you like, and what you dislike.  Remember this.  You all were VERY familiar with the previous release of iOS (1-6).  Almost nothing changed visually, there were tweaks under the hood (in settings), so iOS 7 was a major change, and most people don't like change.  I'm here to challenge you to grasp iOS 7 and make yourself like it, because it's hear to stay!  Hopefully this blog (and the one that follows) will help make your iOS 7 adoption all the more easy!  So here we go!

First, I'm going to start with the Notification Center, or as I like to call it, the "What's Happening in your life" Center.  The Notification Center in iOS 7 is WAY more than just alerts.  It tell's you what's going on in your life (that is, if you use the Calendar on your phone and not some paper calendar!), as well as what's going on in the rest of the world.  What's great about the Notification Center, is that you get to decide how much or how little gets displayed.  You just go into Settings > Notification Center and toggle on what you wish to see!

Prices of the iPhone have not changed since the iPhone 3 came out.  However the price you pay for the iPhones has gotten downright silly.  Prior to the 5S being released, there wasn't a great market for older iPhones.  There was a few outlets where you could sell your phone and get a couple of dollars, or you could sell it yourself on eBay or Craigslist (or to a friend etc).  Now it seems like everyone wants your old iPhone.  I Sold my 4S back to Apple, for $204!  I got my 5S for $12 (taxes).  Not quite sure how Apple is making money there, but I'm ok with that.  Problem is, the real cost of these devices comes from the carrier plans.  You may get the device for free, but the plans are anything but free!  Now with iOS 7, you can decide which apps get to use your data plan, and which ones don't!  I call this the "Save the data" setting!  Here's how it works:  In the Cellular Setting, slide down and you'll see Use Cellular data for:  Underneath that header, are all your apps.  You can toggle on/off the apps you wish to use while not on Wi-Fi.  Saving your precious data for what's important, and possibly saving you some money as well!

Siri has come along way since it was first introduced.  Now with iOS 7 you can change Siri's voice from the familiar female voice, to a new male version.  This is very easily accomplished by clicking the General Setting > Siri> Voice Gender

Next tip...Bigger may or may not be better...when it comes to text that is...:).  You always had the ability to increase text within the apps that came with your iPhone (or iPad), now in iOS 7, you can increase or decrease text size in all apps that support resized text.  Simply go into the Accessibility setting, (within General), tap the Large Type setting (toggle it On).  A feature that is long overdue for those of us who may have a hard time seeing smaller text...

I've had numerous clients, friends and family tell me they think the text in iOS 7 is harder to see than in previous iOS versions.  Well, it is!  The white background used in iOS 7 has made the text appear less easy to read than it did in iOS 6 and earlier.  How do you change that, glad you asked...:).  Back in the Accessibility Setting, you'll want to toggle the Bold Text setting to On.  Just a heads up, when you do this, your phone will prompt you for a restart.  It's ok, let it restart, when it turns back on, your text (in every app!) will be much easier to see!  

Finally, real multi-tasking comes to your iOS device.  Now with iOS 7 you have the ability to choose if you'd like your apps to update while running in background mode.  This can be very useful, but, for the iPhone, can also assist in battery drainage, so be careful.  Within the General Setting, go to the Backgroup App Refresh setting, and choose which apps you'd like to have the ability to update in the background.  

I have been pleading with Apple, since the first iPhone came out, to implement automatic updates.  It's coming they kept on saying.  Well, it's here!  No more, "I'll update my apps later, it takes too long!"  Now you can have your Apps update automatically!  This is very easily accomplished by going into the iTunes and App Store Setting, and under Automatic Downloads, toggle the Updates switch to Green (or on)!  Thank you Apple!

Ever use your device to listen to music?  Ever have the screen lock while listening and then you want to fast forward to the next song, only to have to hit the home button to do it?  Now, a feature that's been on the iPad for a while, comes to the phone, as the lock-screen has been significantly enhanced to allow you to simply tap the pause, fast-forward or reverse button, and not have to press the home button to get to your music.  Maybe not the biggest or best new feature, but a welcome one for sure!

Many of us don't bother with Restrictions, or worse are not even aware they are available on our iOS devices!  Now, in addition to being able to restrict explicit song lyrics and "mature" apps, iOS 7 lets you limit adult content in Safari as well.  You can even add specific sites to the list that you may want to keep away from younger kids (or any kids for that matter!).   Simply go into General Setting > Restrictions  and Enable Restrictions.  Then slide down to the Websites setting and you can decide what you wish to restrict.  Another nice addition by Apple.  

And Apple said, "no longer do you have to download a flashlight App!"  There are a lot of great new features in the Control Center, one of them is the addition of a Flashlight.  Why it wasn't added sooner doesn't really matter, it's here now!  Simply bring up the Control Center, the bottom has four icons, the first being a Flashlight, simply press it and what do you know, your iPhone is a flashlight.  Nice...

There's a new way to share (on newer devices), AirDrop!  I'm sure you've emailed or texted a picture (or file) to one of your contacts (if you haven't, you need to call me and we can set up a session!).  Now, with iOS 7 there's a new way to share, AirDrop.  AirDrop is a new feature that uses Bluetooth technology to find other iOS 7 devices (that are AirDrop capable, not all are) that are near you,  and now, instead of messaging or emailing a file you can AirDrop it.  To do this, you  must have at least an iPhone 5, or iPad 4 running iOS 7...

Lastly for this blog, Make sure you set boundaries up for AirDrop!  One thing to be very careful about is who you share things with!  If you are sitting in an airport, and you go to AirDrop something to a family member, make sure you set AirDrop to Contacts Only.  If you turn on the Everyone setting, you'll end up seeing iDevices that you don't recognize, and you don't want to accidentally send something (personal) to an unknown, or unsuspecting person...:).  

There are well over 100 cool new things within iOS 7.  I hope what I've shown you today helps you improve how you use your devices.  I will be doing another blog shortly covering additional new features.  Until then, if you come across ones you'd like to share, please do so by commenting here.  As always, I hope you enjoy reading my blogs, I enjoy creating them for you!  Until next time...

Best to you and your devices!