26
Jun 10

How To: Lock screen orientation in iOS 4

While the new iPhone doesn’t have a screen orientation lock button (like iPad), iOS 4 does allow you to prevent auto-rotation of the screen using a software switch. This is handy in case you want to read a web page or iBook publication while laying sideways on your couch.

  1. Double-click the home button beneath your iPhone or iPod’s screen.
  2. In the task manager strip at the bottom of the screen, swipe your finger to the right until you see audio controls and circular arrow pointing clockwise.
  3. Touch the circular arrow to lock the screen. A lock icon will appear in the middle.

Repeat steps 1-3 to disable orientation locking.

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26
Jun 10

iOS 4 integrates with third-party music apps

I discovered a nice surprise by playing with multitasking when Pandora was running. Not only does it keep streaming music in the background, it actually hooks into some of the same system services that control the iPod app.

For example, double-click the home button while Pandora is running in the background. (If the device is unlocked, it will bring up the task manager which includes audio controls. If it’s locked, it will bring up the audio HUD on top of the lock screen.) In both cases the audio controls connect to Pandora rather than the built-in iPod app. Similarly play/pause and other buttons on external keyboards will now control Pandora if it’s running.

Out of curiosity I hooked the iPhone up to my car stereo’s iPod integration cable. In this case the steering wheel buttons did not control Pandora.

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24
Jun 10

iPhone 4 display

The double-resolution display on my iPhone 4 is beautiful! You can really see the difference between apps that have updated their icons and graphics and those that haven’t. For example, Twitterriffic (yes) vs. Facebook, Reeder and Beejive (no.)

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21
Jun 10

iPad dock works with iPhone, iPod under iOS 4

Others report it works with their 3GS. Also works fine with my older 3G and an iPod touch running iOS 4.0.

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19
Apr 10

Instant Messaging on iPad

IM on the iPad is in a rather sorry state right now. Ironically the free AIM client, which I normally avoid like the plague, is the most usable option for me.

Current Options

AIM works reliably and is free, but it only connects to AIM and Facebook chat. It occasionally jumps to a past point in the conversation and has to be manually scrolled to the end. This is annoying but forgivable.

IM+ is not free, but it supports multiple IM services (AIM, MSN, Jabber, etc.) However, it occasionally forgets it’s already logged in and warns about multiple sing-ins. Again, annoying but forgivable. The real problem I have is that it doesn’t seem to be usable at all with a keyboard attached. It seems that the message entry field is directly connected to the on-screen keyboard, so when the keyboard his hidden you don’t have a field to type in. And apparently when the device is sitting in my iPad keyboard dock, the on-screen keyboard is not only hidden, but can’t even be activated! The button to restore the keyboard does nothing at all. Hopefully this quirk will be fixed in an upcoming update.

Future Options

Beejive is hopefully coming soon. This is my favorite IM client on iPhone and iPod touch. It has been dead reliable and is very polished. But so far it has not been enhanced to take advantage of the iPad’s larger display.

iChat is probably coming as an avenue for video chat, but it won’t appear until iPhone OS 4.0 hits the virtual shelves.

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16
Apr 10

iPad keyboard dock

My iPad keyboard dock arrived today. As expected it’s almost identical to the standard Apple keyboard. It’s great so far!

The “f” function keys have been replaced by a set of shortcuts for common iPad functions. From left to right:
• Shows home screen (exits current application)
• Search (exits current application)
• Brightness down
• Brightness up
• Photos slideshow
• Show/hide on-screen keyboard
• (blank)
• Previous track
• Play/pause
• Next track
• Mute
• Decrease volume
• Increase volume
• Lock/unlock screen

The “fn” key has been removed, and the control key is wide again like a traditional keyboard.

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10
Apr 10

iPad Tip: Multiple undos and redos

In a past iPhone OS update, Apple added the ability to shake the device to get an undo prompt while editing text. This still works on the iPad, but you can also access multiple undos and redos via the onscreen keyboard.

While typing text in any application, click the “.?123″ button to activate the number and punctuation keyboard. Note the new “undo” button. You can click this as many times as you want to step through multiple undos.

What if you go too far? Click the “#+=” key to activate the third level keyboard with additional symbols. The “undo” key will be replaced with “redo” when you switch to this keyboard.

Don’t forget that you can also use Command Z and Command Shift Z to undo and redo if you have an external keyboard connected.

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07
Apr 10

iPhone OS 4.0 wishes and predictions

Apple’s special event is coming tomorrow, where we’ll learn some details of the iPhone OS 4.0 update.

Recent rumors:
• Printing – probably, at least on iPad
• Multitasking for all apps – possible; maybe only on iPad and newer iPhones/iPods

Personal wishes:
• Home Sharing for wireless sync to computers
• Ability to stream music to AirPort Express
• iTunes sharing (DAAP support)
• Improved keyboard access – more key combos in apps; arrows scroll web pages; etc.
• Save/sync to file servers and MobileMe in iWork apps
• iChat
• Multiple signatures assigned to different email accounts
• Rich text editing in Safari form fields, Mail messages, etc.

Hey, I can dream:
• Screen Sharing / Apple Remote Desktop support in iPad
• Imaging solution for easy deployment of class sets of iPads and iPod touch
• Administration tools for Mac OS X Server
• Support for screen mirroring in all apps via VGA connector

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05
Apr 10

“iPod” vs. “Videos” vs. “Music” apps

The iPhone has one media player app: “iPod.” This makes sense because it plays music and videos – which is what all modern iPods do, excepting the screenless iPod shuffle.

The iPod touch has two media player apps: “Music” and “Videos.” This also makes sense because the two primary functions of a traditional iPod are to play music and videos.

The iPad has two media player apps: “iPod” and “Videos.” This makes sense because?…

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05
Apr 10

Etch A Sketch Mode

Want to undo a mistake while typing on your iPad? A good shake works, just like on the iPhone and iPod. Just be careful not to toss it across the room.

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