Category Archives: iOS Basics

Apple’s iPhone 6 Event – Everything you need to know

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Last Tuesday, Apple launched their fall products for 2014 at a keynote event in Cuptertino, California. This event was the biggest Apple product launch in recent memory. Here’s everything you need to know about what they announced! iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus – This is the second year in a row that Apple has released two distinct iPhone models at its fall keynote address. Last year they released the brand new iPhone 5s alongside a repackaged and recolored version of the iPhone 5 – the 5c. This year, though, was quite a bit different than last year. For the first Continue Reading →

How to quickly switch to and use 3D Flyover Mode in Apple Maps App

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This is a quick and easy tip on how to switch to 3D Flyover Mode in the Maps App on your iPhone, iPad (Air, Mini), and iPod Touch. The Apple Maps app on iOS devices has greatly improved since it was announced a few years back. The Flyover feature is one of my favorites. Flyover allows you to zoom in on certain cities and get a photographic 3D view of the city. It is really fun to explore new cities this way or to get a 3D birds eye view of your own city. There are dozens of cities that Continue Reading →

How to use iMessages to quickly, securely, and easily share files (between Mac and iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

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How to use iMessages to quickly, securely, and easily share files (between Mac and iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

Often times there is a need to quickly transfer a file from your Mac to your iOS device or the other way around. In addition, you may want to securely send a file to someone else. You can use iMessages to quickly, securely, and easily share files. Apple is working on an even easier solution (when you are in proximity with another person or device) called Airdrop that will debut with the release of iOS 8 (coming September, 2014). Until iOS 8 is released, and in case your device is not new enough to transfer files via Airdrop, here is a quick Continue Reading →

New Features in iOS 8 – What to Expect

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Apple has announced iOS 8, the next version of its mobile operating system which will be released in the fall. In this post we’ll talk about what to expect. A few weeks back, Apple gave the public a preview of iOS 8 at its World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). There are a ton of new features that will be coming this fall to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch near you. In this post, we’ll run down and explain the most exciting new features that you can expect to see in iOS 8.   New Stock Keyboard with QuickType – Compared Continue Reading →

iOS 7: Keep your iPhone and iPad (Mini) contacts updated with Facebook Sync

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In iOS 6, Apple introduced deeper Facebook integration throughout all iOS devices. This continued with the updates in iOS 7. By default, this access is turned off. To activate it, simply go to Settings –> Facebook and login with your credentials. Once logged in, you will be able to use Siri to post updates to Facebook as well as upload or share photos directly from the Photos app. You also get the option of turning on Facebook Calendar which adds a calendar of all your upcoming Facebook events and another calendar with birthdays of all your friends. Beyond the status Continue Reading →

How to use airplane boarding passes in Passbook for iPhone

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This post shows you how to add airplane boarding passes to the Passbook app and use them from your iPhone, letting you skip long airport check in lines! Recently, I took a flight from Portland to Dallas for work. I don’t fly very often so I was excited to try out my airline’s iPhone app and connect it with Apple’s Passbook. I was pretty impressed by the experience and it ended up saving me a lot of time in the airport. In this post, I’ll show you how to do this for yourself on your next trip! Step 1: Download Continue Reading →

How to create iCloud contact groups for iPhone, iPad (Mini, Air) and iPod Touch

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This post shows you how to create contact groups in iCloud and easily send emails and texts to lists of people using your iOS device. If you’re like me, there are groups of people that you send texts and emails to all the time. It used to be that every time I needed to contact a given group I had to type each of their names individually into the To: field in the Messages app or my favorite email app. However, I recently discovered an easy way to create groups of contacts and quickly send them messages all at once in Continue Reading →

What AirPlay is and how to use it in iOS 7

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This post shows you how to use Apple’s AirPlay feature to share music, photos, video, and even what’s currently on your screen with another Apple device. One of the things that sets Apple apart from its competitors is their ability to create a cohesive ecosystem which allows all their products to work together seamlessly. One of my favorite examples of part of this ecosystem in action is a feature Apple introduced in 2010 called AirPlay.  It allows you to send all kinds of media (music, photos, video, screen mirroring) wirelessly between your Apple devices. If you take a photo or video Continue Reading →

How to save a water damaged iPhone, iPad (Mini, Air), or iPod Touch

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This post tells you how to save your iPhone, iPad (Mini, Air), or iPod Touch after its been damaged by water. Last week, my wife’s iPhone became a play toy for a little girl who decided it was a good idea to splash around with it in a dog bowl full of water. It was completely submerged and water got onto into all its ports and and buttons and when she tried to use if afterward it was behaving quite strangely. We were pretty bummed about what happened as we aren’t currently due for a phone upgrade and repairing an Continue Reading →

ayeris Review – The best iOS 7 theme for jailbroken iPhone and iPod Touch

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This post reviews ayeris, a new theme for jailbroken devices running iOS 7 that brings a subtle, but welcome, redesign to the iOS 7 icons and interface. One of the benefits of jailbreaking an iOS device is installing custom themes that change the icons and interface. Arguably, themes became even more beneficial with the advent of iOS 7’s controversial icon redesign. ayeris is a new theme by renowned designer Surenix that takes iOS 7’s design influences and enhances them, bringing subtle changes and a pastel-neon color palette. In this post, we’ll hold ayeris under the magnifying glass and show why Continue Reading →