Apple iOS 9.0.2 Has Three New Nasty Surprises

by Adrian Mikeliunas | Oct 13, 2015 | Apple Mobile, iPad, iPhone

It’s time to call it: iOS 9 has had a rough start. Despite its impressive new features, the platform has needed two dedicated bug patches in as many weeks. But not only have these patches failed to fix all the problems, it turns out they are introducing a whole host of new surprises along the way…

Problem #1: Broken Notifications

Yes, this is a doozy. Multiple sources are reporting iPhones, iPads and even iPod touches are giving no audible or vibration alerts for new notifications. This is across both default Apple apps and third party apps. Called out examples include Mail, Gmail, WhatsApp, Facebook FB +1.08%, and even reminders…

Problem #2: Hanging Email

While those not getting email notifications are frustrated, they are lucky compared to the 27,000 strong Apple Support Communities thread which says they are not receiving their emails at all.

Affected users can see new emails have arrived but when they try to open them nothing happens and they get a pop-up saying “message not yet downloaded from server”. Contacting me directly one of the affected users pointed out the bug even impacts deleted emails in both the sent and trash folders…

Problem #3: iMessage Failures

Finally this Reddit thread piles on the misery of iPhone owners with numerous users reporting iMessage on iOS 9.0.2 don’t work. Instead an iMessage eventually times out and is sent as a text message instead. Customers across Sprint, Verizon, AT&TT +0.00%, T-Mobile even Telus in Canada are all reporting the issue with claims Apple and T-Mobile are now admitting the problem exists…

Source: www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/10/09/apple-ios-9-0-2-three-more-problems/

iOS 9 Review

by Adrian Mikeliunas | Oct 11, 2015 | Apple Mobile, iPad, iPhone

iOS 9 Review: A Powerful iPad Experience And Many Refinements Make iOS Flow Better

Proactive Assistance

Better Spotlight

iPad Multitasking

Content Blockers

News [new app!]

Notes

Maps

Apple Pay

Performance Optimization

Security

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/16/ios-9-review/

iOS 9 Review: A Powerful iPad Experience And Many Refinements Make iOS Flow Better

by Adrian Mikeliunas | Sep 21, 2015 | Apple Mobile, iPad, iPhone

iOS 9 Review: A Powerful iPad Experience And Many Refinements Make iOS Flow Better

Apple has been releasing major iOS updates every year for the past eight years, and it doesn’t look like the company is going to slow down any time soon. iOS 9 once again brings many improvements, both small and large, including many subtle refinements that make your iPhone and iPad feel better and get things done faster. I’ve been playing with the update for more than a month now; here’s what you should be looking for.
Proactive Assistance
Until now, the company has very rarely added “smart” features to its mobile operating system other than Siri.
Now, it seems like Apple is going all in when it comes to making your smartphone smarter. And it starts with Spotlight. You can now call up the search screen by pulling down on the home screen or by swiping to the left of your first home screen.

Spotlight
You can now search for sports scores, weather conditions and stock prices without having to say anything. You can also use Spotlight as a ubiquitous calculator. Finally, when you search for a contact name, you don’t need to jump to the address book as you can initiate a call or a message directly from the search results

iPad Multitasking
Apple wants to differentiate the iPad as much as possible from the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus. So there are three iPad-exclusive multitasking features in iOS 9:
Slide Over lets you open a second app in a drawer-like interface. It’s great to send a quick message, or check your emails while you are doing something else. You just need to swipe your finger from the right edge of the screen to launch a second app on top of the existing app. This feature is available on the iPad Air, Air 2, Mini 2, Mini 3, and the recently announced Mini 4 and iPad Pro.
Split View is a different beast. Instead of running an app on top of your existing app, you can run two apps side by side. You can copy and paste things from one app to the other, scroll through your emails and browse the web at the same time, and more. You decide if you want to split your screen in two halves or if you want a smaller one third app. Due to the memory requirements, Split View is only available on the iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4 and iPad Pro.
Apple has also added picture in picture video playback. It’s a great way to watch a baseball game and do something else on your iPad. Picture in picture also supports FaceTime calls.

Content Blockers
Whether publishers like it or not, ad blockers are already hugely popular on OS X. People are using ad blockers in Safari and in other browsers, and it makes sense to bring this feature to iOS. When you install a content blocker on iOS, you don’t see any ad in Safari.
I’ve played with a few ad blockers already, and it dramatically changes Safari. Things are much snappier, websites load nearly instantly on a good connection, you use less data. There’s no way anyone is going to try an ad blocker and remove it later. As an added benefit, ad blocking also improves your privacy

News
The News app is Apple’s second take on news reading. The Newsstand is gone, now it’s all about optimizing your content for the News app. When you first launch this app, you have to pick a few topics and news sources to create a collection of stories tailored to your interests.
You then get a feed of articles in the News app and in Spotlight. When you open an article, you can like it or save it for later. The reading views are clean and change based on the publication.

Notes
In the Notes app, you can now make checklists, embed photos and draw sketches in the Notes app. You can also add links. In other words, Notes is no longer a text-only app, it’s a rich-text editor

Maps
After acquiring Embark and Hopstop, Maps is rolling out transit systems, starting with New York City and London. When you plan an itinerary, Maps takes into account trains, subways, buses and walking.

Apple Pay
iOS 9 also brings a couple of new features: you can now store your rewards cards in the Passbook app, which is now called Wallet.
This is an interesting feature as these loyalty cards can help you build a habit, and you might end up using Apple Pay every time you need to pay for your coffee

Security
Apple has taken a few measures to improve security. By default, iOS now asks you to set up a 6-digit passcode. By moving away from 4-digit passcodes, the company has increased the number of possibilities from around a 10,000 to a million.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/16/ios-9-review/#.j0nioy:Ls01

Using The New iOS 7 Siri Commands

by Adrian Mikeliunas | Nov 11, 2013 | iPhone

f you find yourself fumbling with your iPhone to make a simple phone call, locate and launch an app, set a reminder or wake-up alarm then you’re probably not using Siri enough. If you still don’t know about Siri or you’re new to the iPhone or iPad, Siri allows you to issue voice commands on your device, saving you the trouble of all the tapping, typing, and searching by hand.

Siri was first introduced with iOS 5, back in 2010. We have covered what you can do with Siri, from calling people and making restaurant reservations dictating messages and notes using the voice to text feature. In this article I highlight some of the new commands in the iOS 7 version of Siri, as well as suggest some tips for getting the most out of the feature
Your First Siri Command

Your first Siri command couldn’t be easier. Whether your iPhone or iPad is in lock mode or not, simply press down on the Home button until you here the two-tone prompt and the new Siri screen comes up. If you don’t know what to say, you can tap on question at bottom-left of the screen to get a list of commands, or if you don’t speak for a few seconds a list of commands will appear on the screen.

The list of Siri commands you see are related to all of the default iOS apps. Tapping on a listed app gets you additional commands and questions you can use. But if you’re just getting your feet wet with Siri you might feel a little overwhelmed with the long list. I will highlight a few of the new and most practical commands you might should know about.

Phone Calls and Messages
Voice Command Control Center
Launch Applications
Play iTunes Radio Station
Twitter Searches
Questions & Answers
Siri Settings
Siri Does It Faster

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/do-more-with-siri-using-the-new-ios-7-siri-commands

Mobile Security

by Adrian Mikeliunas | May 20, 2013 | Android Mobile, Apple Mobile, iPhone, Security

Well, there is a lot of noise in Washington DC this week!…
But I’m NOT talking about the IRS or Benghazi, I’m talking about high tech and the final approval of the US Department of Defense (DoD) of the iPhone! Android had been previously cleared. Unfortunately, bring your own device (BYOD) is still NOT secure enough for defense work…

Mobile Security – Android vs. iOS

Infographic by Veracode Application Security

How to make the best of iOS 6’s Do Not Disturb feature

by Adrian Mikeliunas | Sep 25, 2012 | Apple Mobile, iPad, iPhone

Great article on how to make the best use of iOS 6’s Do Not Disturb feature
Finally a great way to disconnect from the grid w/o a third party app!
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/how-to-make-the-best-of-ios-6s-do-not-disturb-feature/