Apple / iOS / iPhone / iPod — 1 comment
26
Jun 10
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.
- Double-click the home button beneath your iPhone or iPod’s screen.
- 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.
- Touch the circular arrow to lock the screen. A lock icon will appear in the middle.
Repeat steps 1-3 to disable orientation locking.
iOS / iPhone — No comments
26
Jun 10
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.
iOS / iPhone — No comments
24
Jun 10
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.)
Apple / iOS / iPad / iPhone / iPod — No comments
21
Jun 10
Others report it works with their 3GS. Also works fine with my older 3G and an iPod touch running iOS 4.0.
Uncategorized — 2 comments
19
Apr 10
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.
Uncategorized — No comments
16
Apr 10
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.
Apple / iPad — No comments
10
Apr 10
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.
Apple / iPad / iPhone / iPod — No comments
07
Apr 10
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
Apple / iPad / iPhone / iPod — No comments
05
Apr 10
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?…
Apple / iPad — No comments
05
Apr 10
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.
