macosxhints.com iPhone tips

Provide limited, secure, ad hoc access to iOS device

Wed, 08 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

If you have an iPad or iPhone, and a friend wants to check out a web site, or your child wants to play a game, you may not feel comfortable lending them the device, since they can access your email, bookmarks, contacts and other personal data.

There's a way to lend a device to someone, however, so they can only access the current app. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility, and scroll down to the Learning section and tap Guided Access. Turn this on, and enter a PIN. Go back to the Accessibility settings, and scroll all the way down: you'll see, in the Triple-click section, that Triple-click Home is set to Guided Access. (Unless you've already set something else for the Triple-click Home setting.)

Now, to lend your device to someone, open the app they're going to use, triple click the Home button, then tap on Start. (You can also set some options before allowing access; tap the Options button at the bottom of the screen.) When the user is finished, triple cli ...

Save on mobile bandwidth by disabling remote images in iOS Mail

Fri, 03 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

I've just moved from a country where I had unlimited (really) data on my iPhone contract to one where data plans are metered and expensive. So this recent article by David Chartier, on the Finer Things in Tech web site, comes at the right time. It points out the simple setting in iOS to turn off automatic loading of images in Mail. As with Mail on OS X, you can load images later, but you won't need to load them for every message, saving download time and bandwidth.

To change this setting, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts & Calendars, and toggle Load Remote Images to OFF. If you get an email with images, and want to see them, just tap on Load All Images in the message.

This setting would make more sense if it only affected image downloads when using cellular data. But it's an all-or-nothing choice, so even when you connect via Wi-Fi, you'll need to d ...

Prevent Google Now from depleting iOS batteries

Wed, 01 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Google has added Google Now to its Google Search app for iOS. This provides local traffic information, weather data and more. Unfortunately, this also keeps GPS on permanently on an iOS device, depleting its battery.

After installing the new Google Search app, I had noticed that my iPhone's Location Services icon was on permanently. I quit all apps that could be using GPS or location services, but it was still visible. I restarted the phone, and it was still visible. It turns out that it was Google Now, and I resolved the issue by deleting the Google Search app.

You can also just turn off Google Now, in the Google Search app's settings. (See this screenshot by Dave Hamilton.) If you want to use Google Now, be aware that it will drain your battery, and remember to turn it off when you don't need it.

...

Selective quoting with iOS Mail app

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:30:00 -0700

If you reply to an email message in iOS, you normally wind up quoting the entire message you are replying to. Usually, all you want to reply to is a portion of the message.

By selecting that portion of the message in the received mail before replying, only that selection will be quoted, just as with OS X Mail app and most other computer-based email programs.

To do this, tap and hold on a word in the section of the email you want to quote. When the selection handles come up, drag them to select only that portion of the email you want to quote. Then tap on the arrow button to reply to the message.

[kirkmc adds: This is pretty basic, but there's no hint on the site, and I'd bet a lot of iOS users aren't aware of this.]

Prepare iOS device to give or sell

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:30:00 -0700

I'm giving one of my iPads to someone soon, and a recent TechHive article pointed out the easiest way to prepare an iOS device to give or sell to someone.

Go to General > Reset, then tap on Erase All Content and Settings. If you have a passcode set, you'll need to enter the passcode to continue. An Erase iPad dialog will inform you that this will erase all media and data, and reset all settings; tap on Erase. Another dialog will ask if you're really sure you want to do this. Again, tap on Erase.

The screen will go black with an Apple logo and a progress bar, then you'll see the iOS device's name (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) and a slider. Slide the slider to begin setting up the iOS device as a new device.

The TechHive article also noted that you can use this process to wipe and restore an iOS device; at one point in the setup process, you'll see a choice to set ...

iOS text to speech from iBooks

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Our sister publication, Macworld UK, published a neat hint on recently, showing how to have an iOS device read texts from iBooks. iOS has accessibility features that can perform text to speech, but you need to know the trick to get this to work in iBooks.

First, turn on text to speech: go to Settings > General > Accessibility, and set Speak Selection to On.

Next, in a book, switch to scroll mode (tap the aA icon, then tap Themes to get to this theme), you can select a word and drag the selection far ahead in the book. Then, in the menu that displays, tap on Speak.

You can use this technique to have text spoken in any document, and there is a limitation in iBooks, where you can't select all the text and have it spoken. Since selecting is annoying - having to drag the handle a very long way - you may find this troublesome, but if you really want to have a text spoken, this lets you ...

Use Siri to search Notes on iOS

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:30:00 -0700

I have to admit, I neither use Notes on iOS, nor Siri, which, to me, is extremely unreliable. But I came across this bent on 52 Tiger which will be useful to those who do use them.

You may know that you can create notes with Siri, but you can also list your notes and search them. If you want to see all your notes, tell Siri, "Show me notes." You'll get a list of all your notes.

You can search notes, telling Siri, "Search notes for <search term>." Again, you'll get a list of your notes containing that term. Tap on the note in the list to open it.

Replicate Roku 3's "Private Listening" feature on AppleTV

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:30:00 -0700

If you are jealous of the Roku 3's new, very cool "private listening" feature (headphone jack is on the remote) and would like to achieve the same on your AppleTV, here's a way to do so:

Ingredients needed:
� AppleTV 2 or 3, running AppleTV software 5.2 or newer (need not be jailbroken)
� iOS device (iPhone, iPod touch or iPad)
� Any one of the following apps to make the above device act as an "AirPlay Speaker"
- AirView, AirFloat, or something similar (previously downloaded from App Store, as these routinely get pulled from the App Store)
- Airfoil Speakers Touch, with in-app upgrade for direct AirPlay feature already pu ...

Keep iPhone silent except for selected callers

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:30:00 -0800

The iPhone's Do Not Disturb setting (in Settings > Notifications) is a way to turn off rings, alerts and other sounds on your iPhone; it's great when you're in meetings, or in the movies.

However, you may want to not be disturbed and still want to be notified when you get calls from specific people. There's a way to do this, but it's a bit complex; a Stack Exchange member explained how to do it.

It involves creating a group for the person or people you want to "disturb" you in Contacts (either on your Mac or on iCloud.com; you can't do this on the iPhone), and selecting that group in Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb. You can choose to allow calls from Everyone, No One, Favorites, or specific groups. So you might have a few people set as Favorites, so you can call them quickly from the Phone app, but if you want to lim ...

Set iPhone to flash LED for alerts

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:30:00 -0800

A recent post on The Mac Observer pointed out a useful way to set alerts on an iPhone. If you dig deep into the ACcessibility settings (Settings > General > Accessibility), in the Hearing section, you'll find an option called LED Flash for Alerts. If you turn this on, you'll get a flash whenever you get an alert, such as for phone calls, text messages, etc. This is most useful if you're in a situation where you need to turn the sound off on your iPhone, or if you're in a noisy environment, and may not hear any alert sounds.

[kirkmc adds: This only works if the iPhone is asleep; in other words, if the screen has gone dark. It would be helpful if it flashed in all cases. Also, if you have the iPhone on a table with the LED on the bottom, you may not see the flash.]

Added features when using Stocks app in landscape mode

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:30:00 -0800

In iOS 3.0, Apple introduced landscape view for the Stocks app. At that time, it still only allowed date ranges of 1d, 1w, 1m, 3m, 6m, 1y, and 2y.
At some point since iOS 3.0, Apple enabled two extra time-spans when using the Stocks app in landscape mode. In this view, you can also see share prices going back 5 or 10 years.

Landscape mode also lets you tap and hold the stock price graph and reveal a line that can be dragged to the left or right to reveal the stock price on specific dates. Furthermore, if you tap and hold with two fingers, you can select a pair of time points and see the change in share price between those dates.

Bookmarklet to send webpage URL to iOS Gmail app

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:30:00 -0800

If you want to send an email via the Gmail iOS app containing the URL and title of a web page, you can't simply use the Share button. But you can use a bookmarklet, as posted by Federico Viticci on MacStories. Save the following bookmarklet in your browser:

javascript:window.location='googlegmail:///co?subject='+encodeURIComponent(document.title)+'&body='+encodeURIComponent(location.href);

Select it from your browser, and it will open the Gmail app, and create a new email with the title of the web page as the subject, and the URL in the body of the message. Note that this may not work if the Gmail app is not paused in the background.

Skype and iPhone battery life

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 07:30:00 -0800

I was on the road for a bit the other day, and when I left home at noon, my iPhone's battery was about 95% full. About 4 hours later, I saw it was down to about 25%, and I wondered what it could have been doing to deplete the battery so much. I thought of the usual culprits, like brightness (it's not at the maximum), Bluetooth (it seems well behaved with iOS 6, going in standby mode when not in use), or push email. Then I looked at which apps were open. I quit them all, including Skype. An hour later, my battery had only dropped another 5%.

When I came home, I did some googling, thinking it could be Skype, or it could be another app. I came across a Skype forum post where someone said they lost 70% in four hours, just like me. There were no other apps running that would have been keeping a connection open, so it's safe to say - given the vast number of people who have commented on the relationship between Skype and poor battery life - that there is a link.

So, if you use Sky ...

Press the + key on the Phone app number pad

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:30:00 -0800

Sometimes when calling other countries, I have trouble getting through. For some reason, my phone provider seems to not like numbers with the 00 prefix (the international access code from France), though I never have problems with numbers beginning with + saved in my Contacts.

Rob Griffiths, during a chat the other day, found that if you press and hold the 0 button on the number pad, it types a + character. So to make an international call, all I need to do is press that button, then enter the country code and the number. This will make my international calls a bit easier, at least for people who are not contacts, and who I don't want to make contact cards for.

It's worth noting that pressing any of the other keys, the ones that show letters, such as ABC, only types the number. I guess the fact that the + is on the 0 button makes one think there's a way to get it to display; I had tried in the past, but didn't hold it long enough.

Easily add photo or video to email message in iOS Mail

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:30:00 -0800

You can add a photo or a video to an email message in iOS Mail without gong to the Photos app, though it's not very obvious how to do this.

While composing your email:

1. Tap on your email and hold until the "Select, Select All, Paste" menu displays.
2. Tap the arrow button at the right of this menu.
3. Tap Insert Photo or Video.
4. Select the photo or video you want to embed.

[kirkmc adds: I'm sure plenty of you know this, but I certainly didn't. A little curiosity would have found it, but I never tapped on that arrow button.]

Quickly access saved drafts in iOS Mail

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 07:30:00 -0800

Accessing your saved email drafts can be challenging when you have multiple email accounts on your iOS device. Here's a shortcut though to help save you some time.

1. Launch the Mail app.
2. Tap and hold the compose icon at the bottom right of the screen.
3. You will see a Drafts screen, where you can either compose a new message or continue editing saved drafts.

Find which folder contains an app on iOS

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 07:30:00 -0800

I keep all the apps I use regularly on my iOS devices in the Dock or on the home screens, but I have dozens of less-commonly used apps in folders. I often forget which folder some apps are in, even though my folders are labeled clearly. To find which folder an app is in, swipe right to display the Spotlight search screen, then type a few letters of the app's name. The app will display in the list, and to the right of its name will be the folder it's in. Next time, maybe you'll remember which folder to look in, which, for me at least, is quicker than typing in the search field.

Note: this is iOS 6 only.

Remove recent e-mail recipients on iOS

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:30:00 -0800

Up until iOS 6, there was no way to remove e-mails from the "recently contacted" list when you start typing new e-mails, even if that person wasn't in your Contacts. Now, you can remove them one at a time, provided they are not in your Contacts.

All you do is start typing the e-mail address, and then when the list of addresses starts to populate the screen, scroll down to the address you wish to delete. It will have a blue arrow pointing to the right. When you tap on that arrow, you'll see a Remove From Recents button; tap that to remove that e-mail address from the recent e-mail list.

[kirkmc adds: I don't know if this is new in iOS 6, because I never really paid attention to it. What I notice is most of the addresses I see are addresses I've used on my Mac, not on my iOS devices. So, I went into Mail > Window > Previous Recipients, and deleted all those who weren't in my Contacts, and the next time I synced my iPhone, those extra addresses were gone. ...

Prevent undesired in-app purchases

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:30:00 -0800

If you, like me, have suffered an undesired in-app purchase there is a solution. Apple used to require the password to be entered every time there was a purchase involved. On the iOS 6, however, if you happen to have entered the password, such as to download a free App, watch out. During the next 15 minutes, if your kid happens to play one of those nasty games that keeps prompting for a in-app purchase they can do it without entering a password!

The solution is easy although a little inconvenient. You can turn on restrictions and make sure that the password is always asked for instead of lasting for 15 minutes.

To do this, go to Settings > Restrictions > Require Password and set it to Immediately. (There are only two choices: the default 15 minutes and immediately.) The drawback is that if you want to download a few apps in a row that are free you must always enter the password.

Use HTML signatures with Mail on iOS 6

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 07:30:00 -0700

With iOS 6, you can now add different signatures for different e-mail accounts, but you can also add logos, links and styled text.

If you have an HTML or styled signature in Mail on OS X, do the following:

1. Send an e-mail to your account with the signature from OS X.
2. Open the e-mail on your iOS device, then tap and hold the signature text.
3. Select all the text and images of your signature, and then copy it.
4. Go to Settings > Mail, contacts and Calendars > Signature. In the text field, tap and hold again to display the Paste menu and paste your signature.

Only styled text (bold, italic or underlined), plus images and links will be copied. Text colors or font sizes will not.

[kirkmc adds: We had a hint giving a much more complex way of doing this back in April. This is very easy to do, requires no third-party software or futzing around with bac ...