Category: iPhone

iPhone Tip: Find My iPhone Will Make Sound Even If Ringer Switch Is On Mute

Have you ever “lost” your iPhone in between the couch cushions or in the tangle of sheets on your bed? Then you should know that Find My iPhone can help you find it by forcing your iPhone to emit a beeping sound, allowing you to track down your iPhone in your home.

But what if you’re like me and keep the iPhone’s ringer switch on mute most of the time? No worries, Find My iPhone will still force your iPhone to make a beeping noise, even with the ringer switch on mute.

Want to know what other sounds the ringer switch doesn’t mute. Check out my article titled What Does the iPhone Ringer Switch Mute (And Not Mute)?

Review: Agenda Is a Nice Replacement for the iPhone’s Calendar App

It wasn’t until I tried the Agenda ($0.99) calendar app that I realized the iPhone’s default Calendar app is kind of annoying to use, especially when it comes to its interface. Where Calendar forces the user to tap tiny buttons to move through dates, Agenda relies on finger swipes, which prove less frustrating for navigation through small or large amounts of time within the calendar. With Agenda, all it takes is one swipe to move between various calendar views (6 months, 1 month, 7 days, 1 day), where with Calendar it takes several button taps.

Another advantage of using Agenda is that it lets you infinitely scroll through your weekly calendar with a swipe of your finger. In the weekly calendar view, you can swipe up or down to infinitely scroll through the days. While it may not seem like a big deal, when comparing Agenda’s easy scrolling to Calendar’s tapping a touchscreen button a few dozens times, Agenda just provides a more pleasant experience.

Agenda has all the functionality of the default Calendar app; in fact, the screen for adding an event looks exactly the same, with all the same options like alerts for events and invitees for meetings, etc. So there’s not much of a learning curve to switching over to the app. I don’t do anything fancy with my iPhone calendar like creating multi-invite meetings, but Agenda does have those advanced features, including the ability to SMS or email all invitees to a meeting and inserting links to Google Maps in events.

Overall, I found that Agenda, with its swipe-based interface, is just a much smoother experience than the iPhone’s default Calendar app, which relies more on touchscreen buttons. And that’s why I’ve switched away from Calendar and replaced its icon in the coveted spot of my iPhone’s first homescreen with Agenda.

iPhone Tips: How to Block SMS Text Message Spam

Text-message spam is not only annoying, it can hurt you in the wallet when each message costs you money. With the help of wireless carriers though, there are a few ways for iPhone users to combat SMS text-message spam.

Text Message Spam Comes Mostly From…Email?!

A little-known fact is that every cell-phone number is also an email address (example, 555555555@mms.att.net). And most, but not all, text-message spam comes from email spammers simply guessing your cell phone’s email address and sending email spam (which shows up as a text message). So how do you prevent that from happening? Most major carriers let you block text messages sent from an email address (see the next section).

Harder to block is spam sent from another telephone number. You can combat spam from telephone numbers by forwarding the spam to the carrier (see the How to Stop Spam Sent From Telephone Numbers section below).

How to Turn Off Text-Message Spam From Email Addresses

AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint all let customers turn off text-messages sent from email addresses. Below are instructions, in a nut shell, for each.

AT&T Wireless:

1. Go to mymessages.wireless.att.com.
2. Register your cell phone.
3. Choose Blocking Options.
4. Select Block all text messages sent to you as email.
5. Save your options.

You can also choose to block all messages sent to your xxx-xxx-xxxx@txt.att.net email address, period. Simply choose Block from the drop-down menu.

Official SMS text-message spam instructions for AT&T Wireless can be found here.

Verizon Wireless:

1. Log in (or register) at verizonwireless.com
2. Under Plan, select Block Calls & Messages.
3. Click on the Internet Spam Blocking tab.
4. Choose Block All Text Messages from Email and Block All Text Messages from the Internet.

Sprint:

1. Create a text message.
2. Type in: block email.
3. Send it to short code 9999.

Official instructions for Sprint can be found here.

How to Stop Spam Sent From Telephone Numbers

More tricky to stop is spam sent from other telephone numbers. All the major carriers in the US (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint) let you forward the spam to 7726 (short code for SPAM on your phone’s keyboard). By doing this, you won’t have to pay for the spam text message. It also helps carriers block spam coming from those numbers. After you forward the spam, the carrier will text you again asking for the phone number it came from. To find that number on your iPhone, simply tap on the blue and white circle on the right side of the spam text message to view the number it came from.

To forward a text message on the iPhone, tap Edit in the top right corner, select the message by tapping the circle on the lefthand side, then tap Forward. If the spam came from a telephone number, they will ask you to reply with that number (at no cost to you).

Tip: To make it easier to forward spam, create a contact on the iPhone, give it the phone number 7726, and name it Spam. Next time you want to forward spam to your carrier, you won’t have to remember the number, just SPAM!

Endnotes:

  • Not all text messages sent via email are bad or spam. For example, Google Maps lets you send a URL link to a set of directions via text message. If you block all text messages from email, you also won’t receive these messages either.
  • Both AT&T and Verizon let you create new “alias” email addresses for your cell phone to help fool spammers. For example, you can create a new email address, like ArtOfTheiPhone@txt.att.net, and have text messages sent to that instead.
  • Text message spam cost consumers over $300 million in fees a year, according to some studies.

Is AppleCare+ for the iPhone Worth It? (It Covers Accidental Damage)

A lot of people are interested in insuring their iPhone for accidental damage. Until last year, only third-party companies offered insurance for the iPhone. But in 2011, Apple stepped up to the plate and now offers AppleCare+ for iPhone. In a nutshell, AppleCare+ for iPhone costs $99 for a two-year extended warranty that covers accidental damage like broken screens and water damage. The kicker is that is has a $49 additional fee for each time you need your iPhone fixed (for up to two times).

So, is it worth paying $99 up front for a chance to pay $49 to get your iPhone fixed or replaced in the future? What are the costs to get your iPhone fixed if you don’t have insurance? Read on.

What It Costs to Fix Your iPhone Without Insurance

Most major damage to your iPhone, like cracked front screens and water damage, will cost you $200 to get it “fixed” by Apple, with fixed really meaning you’ll likely get a whole new iPhone. The $200 uninsured repair cost is only $50 more than the $150 AppleCare+ cost (the $99 up-front price plus the $49 repair fee). Sure, you are saving $50 with AppleCare+, but then again, you may end up paying $99 for AppleCare+ and never have a need for it.

Where AppleCare+ starts to pay off is if you break your iPhone again. Without insurance, it’s $400 to “fix” your iPhone twice, compared to AppleCare+’s $200 total fee for two repairs.

Oh, and if you’re uninsured and only break the iPhone’s rear glass screen, count yourself lucky. Apple only charges $29 to replace it.

Should You Buy AppleCare+ for iPhone?

For most people, AppleCare+ for iPhone is likely not worth it, but some people in unique situations might find it useful. For example, do you have a history of breaking iPhones multiple times or are in a situation where that could happen (kids like to throw things or work in a hazardous environment)? Then AppleCare+ might be totally worth it. Are you completely new to the iPhone and want phone tech support at home for how to work the darned thing? AppleCare+ might be worth it.

I don’t purchase AppleCare+ for iPhone for a few reasons. First, I’ve kept my previous generation iPhones as backups in case the new one breaks. Even then, I would likely pay the $200 for a new one—that is, if it wasn’t rumored a new iPhone was just a few months away. I also don’t need the phone tech support (there’s the Internet and a few Apple Stores in my city as well).

Overall, AppleCare+ for iPhone is a tough sell, and if you can afford the expensive monthly phone carrier fees, you can likely afford to go without it. Then again, if you are abusive to your iPhone, it may be worth it in the end.

Notes:

  • AppleCare+ for iPhone does not cover losing your iPhone or having it stolen.
  • If you don’t live near an Apple Store, you can send in your iPhone via mail to get it fixed. They’ll even send you a loaner iPhone while you wait. You just need to supply a credit number for authorization as security for the retail price of the replacement iPhone or any shipping costs.
  • If you want to know all the ins-and-outs of AppleCare+ for iPhone, you can find Apple’s legal documents in PDF form here.
  • Apple introduced AppleCare+ for the iPad ($99) in March 2012, and unlike the iPhone version, it may actually be worth buying.
  • Best Buy’s insurance for the iPhone costs $15 a month. That’s $360 total over a course of two years.

Basics: The iPhone’s Screen Brightness Settings, Explained

The iPhone has a feature called Auto-Brightness that is turned on by default and will automatically control the brightness of your iPhone’s screen. Auto-Brightness will dim or brighten the screen depending on ambient light levels. It uses a sensor behind the iPhone’s screen to measure light levels and dim the screen in dark surroundings and brighten in bright surroundings. By lowering screen brightness when it’s not needed, Auto-Brightness also works to conserve battery life. However, you can manually set the brightness of the iPhone’s screen. Here’s how.

How to Change the iPhone’s Screen Brightness

If you go into the iPhone’s Settings–>Brightness, you’ll see the following:

The Brightness Slider lets you manually set the screen’s brightness. If you’d like the screen to always stay at a specific brightness level, you should turn Auto-Brightness off.

However, if you have Auto-Brightness turned on and manually adjust the screen’s brightness, Auto-Brightness will use your brightness setting as a baseline and dim/brighten the screen based around that. For example, if you manually increase brightness by 25%, then Auto-Brightness will continue to dim/brighten, only 25% brighter.

Notes:

  • The brighter the screen, the shorter the iPhone’s battery life. Keep this in mind when manually adjusting brightness levels.
  • While the iPhone’ screen is often used as a makeshift flashlight, the iPhone 4 and newer models have a much brighter light in the form of the camera flash, located on the iPhone’s back. There are many great free apps, like Flashlight by Rik, that let you use the flash as a flashlight or strobe light.

Basics: The iPhone’s Separate Volume Controls for Ringtones and General Audio

A little-known and somewhat confusing fact about the iPhone is that it has two different volume levels: one for ringtones/alerts, and one for general audio. And the confusing part is that both can be controlled with the iPhone’s volume buttons. Here’s how to set which of the two the iPhone’s volume buttons control.

How to Switch the iPhone’s Volume Buttons to Control Ringtone Volume or General Audio Volume

If you go to into the iPhone’s Settings and tap Sounds, you’ll see the following:

The slider for Ringer and Alerts does what you’d expect: it adjusts the volume level for ringtone/alerts. But it’s the Change With Buttons switch where things get confusing.

If the toggle is set to Off, the volume of ringtones/alerts cannot be changed with the volume buttons (with an exception).

If the toggle is set to On, then the volume buttons will change the volume of the ringer when other audio isn’t playing.

Whenever you press the iPhone’s volume buttons, you’ll know which of the volumes the buttons are changing via one of two graphics that can appear:

To Confuse You Even More…

There are a few exceptions to the above.

When a ringtone/alert is actually playing, you can lower/raise the volume of the ringtone/alert with the volume buttons, regardless of your iPhone’s settings. If you change the volume while the ringtone is playing, the ringtone’s volume will remain at that level until you change it again by either going into the iPhone’s Settings (if the Change With Buttons switch is set to Off) or via the volume buttons (if the switch is set to On).

Likewise, if you are listening to general audio (like music), the volume buttons will always change the audio’s volume, regardless of your iPhone’s settings.

Basics: What Does the iPhone Ringer Switch Mute (And Not Mute)?

The iPhone’s ringer switch seems like it should be a simple thing. You move the iPhone’s ringer switch to the “mute” position, and all sound is muted, right? Wrong. Just ask the gentleman who infamously brought the New York Philharmonic to a standstill because his iPhone’s ringtone started playing even though he had the ringer switch set on mute. How could that happen? Because the ringer switch only mutes some sounds but not others. What exactly does the ringer switch mute and not mute? It’s complicated, but let’s start with what it doesn’t mute.

What the Ringer Switch Doesn’t Mute

  • Alarms from the Clock app (example, setting an alarm to go off at 6 am).
  • Timers from the Clock app (example, setting a 15-minute countdown timer).
  • Audio from the iPhone’s Music app (example, playing the Beatle’s “Hey Jude”).
  • Audio from the iPhone’s Video app (example, playing an episode of Lost).
  • Some audio from third-party apps like streaming radio, video, and music (examples, playing a radio station via the TuneIn Radio app or a video in the YouTube app).
  • Tones when tapped in the iPhone’s various settings (for example, when changing your ringtone or text-message alert tone) and in the Clock app (for example, when selecting what sound the iPhone will make when the timer runs down to zero).
  • Tones when changing the volume of Ringer and Alerts in Settings–>Sounds
  • A sound alert when sent from the Find My iPhone service.

Basically, Apple’s rationale for the ringer switch not muting these sounds is that if a user does something and expects the iPhone to make a sound, like tapping the play button for a song or setting an alarm to wake them up, the iPhone should make that sound regardless of the ringer switch’s position. Apple has this advice for developers in their developer guidelines:

The Ring/Silent (or Silent) switch does not silence sounds that result from user actions that are solely and explicitly intended to produce sound.

So what exactly does the ringer switch mute then? Basically, everything else.

What the Ringer Switch Does Mute:

  • Phone-call ringtones
  • Text-message alert tones
  • Notification alert tones (from iPhone apps and third-party apps)
  • Calendar alerts
  • Reminders
  • Camera sounds (snapping a photo)
  • Game music

There’s been much debate about whether this is the best way for the ringer switch to behave. Some feel there is no perfect solution and that Apple has reached the right balance. Others feel that the ringer switch should simply mute all sound and the burden of error should fall on the user (eg, my alarm didn’t wake me up because I had my phone on mute…my bad!). I’m on the side that Apple has made the correct compromises.

Notes and Interesting Facts:

  • By law, iPhones in Japan must make a sound when a picture is taken, even if the ringer switch is on mute. This is because men snapping photos up women’s skirts and down their shirts have become a big problem in Japan.
  • The iPad’s switch is not called a “ringer” switch. Apple simply refers to it as the “side” switch. The iPad’s side switch can either mute alert sounds or function as an orientation lock, depending on what the user selects in the iPad’s settings.
  • The iPhone has separate volume levels for ringtones and for general audio (music, videos, etc.). You can find and change the separate ringtone/alert volume in Settings–>Sounds
  • Using the volume buttons, you cannot decrease the ringer volume to zero (0), it will only go to 1. To completely silence tones, you must use the ringer switch.
  • The ringer switch does not effect sound through headphones. For example, even if the ringer switch was set to mute, you will still hear your phone ring through your headphones.

iPhone Tip: Too Many Apps to Update in iTunes? Update Only the Apps on Your iPhone Instead

After you’ve owned an iPhone for a while, you’ll collect a lot of apps…likely hundreds of apps if you’re anything like me. Many of these apps you’ll use once and delete off your iPhone. The problem is, these apps can stick around in iTunes on your computer. And when the apps are updated, iTunes will ask you to update them all. This can lead to dozens of annoying and useless app updates waiting for you in iTunes. But here’s a little tip to minimize useless app updates: update only the apps on your iPhone.

This can be done by tapping the Update All button in the iPhone’s App Store app. For instructions on how to find it, see the step-by-step instructions below. Note that you should be connected to a Wi-Fi network so that app updates over 20 MB will download.

1. Launch the App Store app on your iPhone:

2. Tap the Updates tab in the launch bar at the bottom right corner:

3. Tap the Update All button in the top right:

4. Enter in your iTunes password to begin downloading. Apps will download one by one in the background.

iPhone & iPad Tip: Use iOS 5’s Reader Feature to Automatically Load the Next Page of an Article

Multipage articles on the web can be annoying, especially when you have to click to the next page every few hundred words. It’s a dirty trick websites use to inflate pageviews for advertisers, all at the expense of user experience. Apple has your back though with the new built-in Reader feature, which can load the next page of an article without you having to do anything.

To see it work, simply tap the Reader button in Mobile Safari’s URL bar and then scroll down to the end of a multi-page article. When the end comes into view, the next page will load automatically. Oh Apple, you clever bastards, you.

What Is Reader?

New to the iPhone/iPad and don’t know what I’m talking about? No problem, Reader is simply a button that (sometimes) appears in Mobile Safari’s address bar when you browse to an individual article on the web. Whether the button appears or not depends on different factors, but it’s supposed to appear on articles and not on things like home pages, etc.

When you tap the Reader button, Reader strips away advertising and extraneous formatting and presents just basic text to you for a more comfortable reading experience. On a multi-page article, when you scroll down to the end of one page, it should begin loading the next one. Reader doesn’t always work perfectly though, as some sites can break the feature and/or Reader won’t recognize an article as more than one page.

Notes:

  • The Reader button doesn’t always appear after loading individual web articles, as the coding on some sites isn’t compatible with Reader, but it should appear most of the time.
  • The next page won’t load until the end of the current page becomes visible in Reader’s window.
  • Reader lets you adjust font size. Just tap the two letter A’s in the top left corner to increase/decrease font size.

Review: Motorola SD10-HD Bluetooth Headphones

As a runner who runs with his iPhone, I purchased the “sweat proof” Motorola S10-HD ($85) wireless bluetooth headphones hoping they’d be a great solution for my long runs. Being wireless and sweat proof made the SD10’s seem like the holy grail of headphones for athletes. Sadly, they’re not as advertised, and certainly not sweat proof, as after only my fifth sweat-drenching run, one of the headphones shorted out.

And I’m not the only athlete to have the SD10-HD’s short out on them. Reviews on Amazon.com are filled with stories of the “sweat proof” SD10-HD’s conking out after a few workouts.

I had other problems with the SD10’s. The controls, which are located near the eartips, require you to blindly grope for the buttons. The buttons themselves are difficult and awkward to press and can lead to annoying moments when you accidentally call somebody during a run or skip a song when you didn’t mean to.

The SD10-HD’s also do not use normal eartips. The headphones come with 4 sets of gigantic, clear rubber eartips that rest on the outside of the ear canal; thus, the SD10’s aren’t true in-ear headphones.

This outside-the-ear-canal design, while comfortable, led to problems when exercising. When sweat runs into the ear canal, it becomes trapped by the ear tips, creating an unpleasant water-in-the-ear feeling. You know that feeling just after you step out of the pool? That’s what it feels like 20 minutes into a run with the SD10-HD’s.

And it’s a shame too, as the headphones have a few attributes that work well for runners. For example, I was surprised how steady and comfortable the headphones stayed during runs—I was expecting them to flop all over the place. And the fact that they are wireless means no awkward cord bouncing or snagging.

The sound quality of the SD10’s is also pretty good considering they’re both bluetooth and not true in-ear headphones. I would stop short of calling the sound quality great though. They were adequate in bass levels as well as with mids and highs. I did experience some problems with volume levels not being loud enough. The max volume falls short of what even the cheapest headphones are capable of. For most music and podcasts, it wasn’t be a problem, but if you have audio that is quiet to begin with, you will have problems compensating with the SD10-HD’s volume levels.

I also experienced many problems with getting the headphones to turn off. I’m not sure if I received a faulty on/off button, but 80% of the time I could not get the headphones to shut off by pressing the on/off button and instead just had to let the battery run out.

Review Summary

The Motorola SD10-HD bluetooth wireless headphones did not live up to their athlete-friendly billing nor their high price tag. Motorola advertises them as “sweat proof,” but I and many others found them anything but. With its frustrating controls, poor sound levels, and an uncomfortable problem with trapping sweat in the ear, I can’t recommend the SD10-HD’s to athletes.

The Motorola SD10-HD currently sell for around $60 on Amazon or can be found at Apple Stores for around $85.