Jul 28
For all iOS 4 iPhones
Get the current character count as you type your text message.
- Go into the Settings app.
- Tap Messages
- Turn on Character Count
The character count will become visible once there is more than one line typed into the current message.
A not-so-obvious thing about text messages on the iPhone is that long messages will count as multiple messages. The messaging system truncates messages at 160 characters. Some smartphones will seamlessly send and stitch together messages that exceed that limit. Albeit, most iPhone users have unlimited text, but some people have the messaging plans with limits (like me).
Jul 21
For all iPhones
While typing an email or message, you can access special characters and symbols easily by tapping and holding some characters.
For example, if you want to insert an e with the accent mark above it (é), then tap the E and keep holding it. After a brief moment a larger menu of symbols will appear. The trick is to not lift your finger! Simply slide to the desired symbol and then lift your finger.
This works for A, C, E, I, L, N, O, S, U, Y, Z, – (hyphen), $, &, “ (quotation), ?, !, ‘ (apostrophe), %.
The period (.) offers this functionality differently depending on what you’re doing. In text passages, it offers the ellipse (…). In URL and email fields, it offers .COM, .NET, .ORG, etc.
Try it out!
Jul 21
Apple’s recent iOS update makes just a single modification to your iPhone: It changes the way the signal strength bars are calculated and displayed. It also makes the smallest bar just a bit taller.
In most instances, the new calculation lowers the reported signal strength.
I think we all have opinions on this, but I’ll keep mine to myself.
I was hoping for a fix for the pixelated Photo Library pictures. These are the photos iTunes synchronizes between your PC and your iPhone. Since iOS 4, these have been blurry. But with all the iPhone 4 antenna headlines, this bug is still festering.
Jun 24
You’re not alone. The new iPhone operating system, newly dubbed iOS 4, has caused several apps to crash when starting or when accessing certain features.
Never fear. Most app developers are aware of their now-broken apps and are hard at work updating them.
I suggest that you leave the apps installed and regularly open the App Store app to check for updates. With the app installed the App Store app will know to look for the update so you don’t have to remember to do so.
Jun 13
As of June 13, 2010, Air Photo for Wifi Printing via iPhone and iPod touch was free. Not sure how long the free-ness will last, but get it while you can.
Just install the app on your iPhone and also install the Air Photo Server (OS X and Windows) on your computer. Configure them once, and you’re all set.
Air Photo for Wifi Printing
UPDATE: This app is not really for the faint of heart. If you’re not comfortable configuring apps in your router’s firewall, then you might want to forgo this little app.
Jun 13
If you have an Otterbox Defender for iPhone, then you need to know that Otterbox has designed a new belt clip holder that holds your iPhone much more securely. And you can get it for free.
Otterbox’s phone number is 888.695.8820. Call them during business hours, and they’ll be glad to help you. I called on a Tuesday, and the new clip arrived on Friday. The rep was extremely courteous, and took my word for it that my wife and I had black Otterbox Defenders.
Now that’s customer service! And those clips really hold the phone!
Jun 01
If you’re a bit manic about your iPod or iPhone displaying the appropriate album art for the song you’re playing, then iTunes is probably driving you crazy with its inability to locate all your missing artwork. I’ve resorted to scavenging Amazon’s site for album art for the intensive process of adding and updating my collection.
Just recently, I learned about Albumart.org. On this site, you can search for album art and save it on your computer very easily. It won’t update your iTunes collection, sadly. You still have to update the old-fashioned way. But there are some applications that will do it, but they’re all about $40 from what I’ve been able to find.
May 31
I love the iPhone. I’ll even like it in a week when the iPhone 4G (or HD or whatever Jobs decides to call it) comes out.
What I hate — with a stinking passion — is iTunes. That bloated junkware is a frustrating experience designed and coded by people who hate people. iTunes cannot remove a track entry after it has been moved or deleted on the hard disk. It just puts a maddening exclamation point (!) next to it. It junks up the track list like you would not believe. Zune doesn’t do that. iTunes constantly tweaks a file’s meta data with trivial updates. This means file changes cause my off-site file backup utility to constantly upload several songs in my collection needlessly. I use Amazon S3, and that “feature” nickels and dimes me into rage. iTunes won’t let you drag and drop a song directly to the iPhone. Seriously? Apple’s market cap is a minute from surpassing Microsoft’s, and it can’t do drag and drop to the device? Nope, you gotta use playlists. Seriously? Zune doesn’t do that. Speaking of playlists. How to you create one in iTunes? You click the plus (+) button near the shuffle and repeat buttons. Not intuitive … at all.
iTunes = FAIL!
So I’ve been on the lookout for a way to avoid using iTunes, and I finally found CopyTrans Manager. It allows you to manually manage songs, playlists, and videos with ease. It’s straight-forward and free. Yep, free!
You can drag and drop songs and flicks from Windows Explorer onto the CopyTrans Manager application, then click Update and the media is quickly transferred to your iPhone (or iPod). The application doesn’t require an installer, so it can be run from a USB thumb drive (just be sure to have CopyTransManager.exe and CopyTransManager.ris in the same folder).
CopyTrans Manager = FTW!
Source: iPhone Without iTunes
May 23
I strongly encourage anyone with an iPhone to enable the built-in Passcode feature. This requires the user to enter a 4-digit numeric code to gain access to anything on the device. Also, if the phone is connected to an installation of iTunes it does not recognize, then it requires the passcode to interact with the software.
Essentially, it makes the iPhone nearly worthless for anyone who finds or steals it.
The reason I post this is because a family member recently left his iPhone at a restaurant while on a trip (it did not have the passcode enabled). He returned to the restaurant within 15 minutes, but the phone was gone. We called the phone several times, and it only rang and eventually went to voice mail. After about 20 calls, it simply went to voice mail. That confirmed someone had it and turned off the phone radio. Ugh! The thief has a free iPod touch, or he might hock it on eBay.
What I learned:
- Neither you or AT&T can remotely disable (aka, “brick”) an iPhone. That is only a feature of Apple’s Mobile Me service.
- If you lose an iPhone, call AT&T to report it lost or stolen. This flags the device’s unique ID within the system so that if there’s an attempt to activate it, then the sales rep stalls the transaction until the authorities arrive.
The passcode might be an inconvenience, but the feeling of security after-the-fact is worth it. Believe me!
May 06
Labyrinth and Tilt Maze are great examples of games that use the accelerometer within the iPhone and iPod touch. They sound like they’ll get boring quick, but I find them surprisingly addicting.
Labyrinth is a digital version of the old stand-by game. Carefully tilt your device to deftly move the silver ball bearing around the maze and avoid pitfalls. There is also a paid version of this app. [If you have a Zune HD, there's a free Labyrinth app for device that is very imaginative and fun]
Labyrinth Lite Edition
In Tilt Maze, you move the ball bearing around a complicated maze using your device’s accelerometer. That you’re timed actually makes you strive to improve.
Tilt Maze Lite
