iOS Tip 116 - Remind Me Later Siri

Get Siri to Remind You About What You’re Looking At Right Now

1 Load a web page, article, email, or something similar onto the iOS screen that you wish to be reminded about
2 Summon Siri as usual by holding down the Home button (or using Hey Siri if you have the hands-free feature enabled)
3 Tell Siri “Remind me about this (when) at (time)”
4 Siri will confirm to remind you about the item or event, if the reminder is about a webpage, the webpage will be saved as the article, if it’s about an email, the email will be saved as the reminder, etc

That’s it, the reminder will be set as usual.

iOS Tip 115 - Mute Siri

Enable Siri Muting & Unmuting with the Hardware Switch on iPhone & iPad

Open Settings and go to “General” then to “Siri”. Choose “Voice Feedback” and select “Control with Ring Switch” (yes, the Mute switch on the side of the iPhone and iPad is referred to as the ‘Ring Switch’ here, but it’s the mute button you know and love)
Allow mute switch to silence Siri voice feedback

Leave Settings and activate Siri with the mute switch enabled, Siri will respond in text and on screen only, without blabbing the answer to the world
Siri works exactly the same as it did before, but you won’t hear any voice feedback if the mute switch is toggled on, even if you use the Hey Siri command handsfree from afar.

iOS Tip 114 - Add Websites to you Home Screen

With the new iOS one of the nicest features of the iPad and iPhone is the ability to bookmark frequently used websites directly to the Home Screen. FaceBook, LinkedIn and the mobile versions of Windows Live, Yahoo and the various Google sites are all useful to have as instant access shortcuts. These are just a few of the many sites you can add to your home screen. Sites without this feature you won't have the option to "Add To Home Screen".

Open Safari, navigate to the web site you're interested in adding, Tap on the Share icon, and in the 2nd row of icons (if available) will be the Add To Home Screen button.

iOS Tip 113 - Sign Documents Quickly

Sign Documents on iPhone & iPad from eMail Quickly

Have a contract, agreement, or service form emailed to your iPhone or iPad that you need to sign quickly? Perfect, because now you can digitally sign and return a document directly from the Mail app of iOS. The Mail signature feature lets you quickly sign a document attached to an email and send it back on it’s way without ever having to leave the mail app, the entire signing and returning process is very fast and easy thanks to the Markup feature set.

The Markup (see iOS Tip 112) feature requires iOS 9.0 or a later version installed on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The rest is easy and handled in the email client. If you want to try it out email yourself a PDF file, an image, or some document that could be signed – we’re just testing so it doesn’t actually need to be an official contract or anything, the Markup feature works with nearly all mail attachments. And yes, this works not only with attachments sent to you, but also to attachments you want to send out.

1. Open the email containing the document to sign, tap on the document attachment as usual to preview it within the Mail app then tap the toolbox icon, lower right corner
2. Tap on the Signature button in the lower right corner of the Markup preview

3. Use a finger on the touch screen to sign the document as usual, then tap on “Done”

4. Place the digital signature into the appropriate location on the document to sign, you can resize the signature if necessary by using the blue buttons to grow or shrink the signature, then tap on “Done” when finished to insert the signed document back into the same email as a reply

5. Write the email reply as appropriate and tap the “Send” button to send the freshly signed document back on it’s way to the original sender

Is that easy or what? No need to print anything, no need to scan anything, and there’s no need to use the signature feature on the Mac either, the entire process can be handled in iOS. The document can be signed and returned in just a few seconds.

You can also attach a document to a fresh email, sign that, and send it on it’s way too, so you don’t have to just sign and return documents attached to existing emails. This means that if you have a PDF document attachment you saved to iCloud you could attach and sign that using the same markup feature as well.

Of course if you don’t have the latest versions of iOS, you can rely on the Mac to use a very similar feature and digitally sign documents using the Mac Trackpad in OS X. The Mac approach is just as effective, and much earlier versions of the Mac Preview app even support scanning a signature with the Mac camera, meaning no matter what era of Apple hardware you’re using, you should find a solution for signing documents electronically and then returning them quickly, without ever having to use a printer, fax machine, or scanner.

iOS Tip 112 - Mark Up Attachments

With iOS 9, a new tool lets you easily mark up a document from within Mail, re-attach it to the email, and send it back in the same message thread.
To begin marking up an email attachment, perform the following steps.

1 Open the Mail app and select a message containing an image or PDF document.
2 Tap and hold the attachment you wish to mark up.
3 Select Markup And Reply from the action sheet that appears.
4 Tap and hold the attachment you wish to mark up, and select the Markup button to open the editor.

With the Markup editor open, you can change color of the drawing, alter the thickness of the lines, add callouts by drawing with your finger, add text by tapping the text box button, or add your signature by tapping the Signature button.
When you are done marking up the document, you can tap Done to attach the marked up item back to the email reply or, you can tap Cancel to quit without saving the edited changes.

Another "not Apple" Scam

Watch out for the latest “not Apple” scam: “Your Apple ID was used to sign in to iCloud via a web browser”. Of course a link is provided to enter your Apple ID and password. I see “not Apple” scams several times every day as they try to phish access to my personal Apple account and our Apple business accounts. What clued me in on this one was that I hadn’t logged in to iCloud that day. Of course if I’d of read the body of the essage I would have noticed the “Windows” operating system. Further examination showed the message coming from “noreply@Licloud.com” The real address is "noreply@insideicloud.icloud.com". Here's what it looked like:

Without much examination it looks to be legitimate. When clicking on the provided link you're taken to this site:

Again it looks good, but this is not an Apple site. As always be very circumspect on any link you click that are sent via email or that pop up in web browsers. If you do want what’s being purveyed, open your web browser and type the address you want to go to.

iOS Tip 111 - Change 3D Touch Sensitivity

This obviously requires an iPhone with a 3D Touch display, whether that’s an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, other models will not have this setting available:

1 Open the Settings app in iOS and go to “General” then to “Accessibility”
2 Go to “3D Touch” and locate the “3D Touch Sensitivity” portion of the settings, the slider below this is what you’ll want to change to fit your preferences, pick one of the following:
•Light – a soft amount of screen pressure activates 3D Touch peak, and a slightly more firm amount of pressure activates 3D Touch pop
•Medium – the default level of pressure sensitivity for 3D Touch displays
•Firm – a notably harder amount of screen pressure is required to activate 3D Touch peak and pop

If you find yourself activating 3D Touch when you don’t always want to, you’ll probably want to use the “Firm” option, whereas if you find the required pressure is too great, using the “Light” feature is ideal.
This is really largely a matter of personal preference, but it also depends on what you’re using to activate the touch screen, if you use a case on the iPhone, and your general usage patterns, and whether or not you use a finger, toe, stylus, or other pointing device.
My personal preference is for the “Light” setting but when demonstrating the feature to a friend they found it way too easy to activate, so they strongly preferred the Firm setting. Try it out yourself and see what works for you, you can always make another change again by returning to 3D Touch settings

iOS Tip 110 - Free Up Space on your iPad/iPhone

Quickly delete multiple images in Messages to free up space without losing yourconversations:

When you send pictures, videos, audio messages and other attachmentsin Messages on iPhone and iPad, it stays on the device by default taking up memory. For a lot of people, Messages is the second biggest app on their device in terms of storage, with Photos often being the biggest, because of the fact that the photos they share from Photos actually gets stored twice on the device: withinPhotos and withinMessages. In thisarticle, I’m going to discuss how to delete multiple images in Messages very quickly. Before you do this make sure any content you want is backed up!

First open up the Message app, and select the conversation that has the pictures that you want to delete and get rid of.

Then you are going to press on Details in blue in the upper right hand corner. Scroll down until you see the Attachments.

Then you are going to tap and hold on one of the images until you see Copy, Delete and More appear.

Tap on More and select all of the images you want to delete.

Then you are going to press on the blue trashcan in the lower right hand corner to delete them. To confirm you want to delete them, you are going to press the red words Delete Attachments.

This is how you delete multiple images very quickly and easily in iOS 9, allowing you to get storage space back on your device and without losing the rest of your conversation. If you don't care about the conversation you can delete it which will erase all the attached photos, videos, etc.

iOS Tip 109 - Limit Ad Tracking

Limit advertisers tracking your location, data
Safari had a mini-makeover in recent versions of iOS, and now offers even more privacy-related tweaks. One of the more recent settings is blocking ad cookies and trackers.
This one is a little tricky to find (as it's not in the Safari settings). Head to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and enable the Limit Ad Tracking option. From here, make sure you hit the Reset Advertising Identifier option, and then accept any prompts.

iOS Tip 108 - Share Voicemail

Saving and sharing voicemails on iPhone is remarkably simple, but since it’s a fairly new feature many users are not aware it exists. You’ll need iOS 9 or newer to have this feature available in the Voicemail section of your iPhone Phone app.

Open the Phone app on the iPhone and tap on the “Voicemail” button

Tap on the voicemail message you wish to share or forward to, then tap on the share button, which looks like a little square icon with an arrow pointing out of it

•Choose “Message” to send the voicemail as text message or iMessage to a recipient
•Choose “Mail” to email the voicemail to a recipient (or yourself)

Fill in the recipients contact name, phone number, or email address and send the message or email as usual

A shared voicemail delivered through messages or email will arrive as a .m4a file labeled as “voicemail-#.m4a”, this is the same type of m4a audio file that many audio players can recognize, including iTunes, which makes the shared voicemails universally available to just about any recipient, whether they’re on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac OS X, Windows, or Blackberry.

iOS Tip 107 - Enable 4K Video

The iPhone 4K video recording feature is turned off by default because of the significant storage requirements that are necessary to capture and record 4K video. To turn it on:

You’ll need a new iPhone with 4K video support to have this feature available, which is the 6S or better:
1 Open the Settings app and go to “Photos & Camera”
2 Scroll down to “Camera” and tap on “Record Video”
3 Select “4K at 30 fps” to enable 4K video recording with the iPhone camera
4 Exit out of Settings

iOS Tip 106 - Get Your Device up to Speed

Sometimes we can be a bit too ‘app happy’ and download every application that takes our interest. This can slow the device down so do take the time to review the apps and delete those ones you don’t use anymore. Copy any pictures or videos onto your computer and back it up!. A periodic review can improve the overall performance of your iPad or iPhone. Also, occasionally shut your device down - not sleep: off.

iOS Tip 105 - Prevent Apps from Uploading your Data

Your contacts, email, calendar, and your photos are some of your most personal data. When an app wants your data, either for processing or uploading, it will tell you the first time.
You can change each app's access by going to Settings > Privacy and select each app, like Contacts, and swipe on or off which third-party apps you want to grant access to.
If you have already granted an app access to your data, switching off the service on your device does not mean that service will delete your data. You will have to contact that company or app maker for this.

iOS Tip 104 - Harness the power of Notes

How to Use the Drawing Tools in Notes for iOS 9

The Notes app in iOS 9 now allows you to draw, sketch, and color, using your finger or a stylus on the touchscreen. This is a really fun feature that is quite well done, and you’ll find the Notes drawing ability is particularly great on the larger screened iPhone and iPad models, but it works well on the smaller screen iPod touch and iPhones as well.

To have access to the Notes drawing tools, you’ll need iOS 9 or later installed on the device, and beyond that it’s just a matter of knowing where to look and how to use the feature.

You can either start drawing immediately, or add a sketch after you’ve already entered text, and it doesn’t matter if there are images or styling inserted into the notes either, the drawing feature will always be available in Notes.

How to Draw & Sketch in Notes App for iOS
You can draw on new or existing notes, and insert drawings just about anywhere. For creating a new drawing, here’s what to do:
1 Open the Notes app and create a new note
2 Tap on the (+) plus button in the corner of the active note
3 Tap on the little squiggly line icon to access the drawing tools
4 Select your pen, pencil, or highlighter, change the color if you’d like, and start sketching

If you don’t see the drawing tools available, it’s possible that you’re using iCloud Notes rather than on-device Notes. You can quickly switch from the primary Notes app screen by tapping on the < Back button in the upper left corner, and choose 'On my iPhone' or 'On my iPad', then create a new note from there. I'm able to create drawings and sketches on both iCloud and on-device notes, but some users appear to have a limitation to on-device notes only for an uncertain reason.

You can also save a sketch or drawing you created in Notes app if you want to by tapping the little sharing arrow icon and choose “Saving Image” – and no, even though Notes app has a skeumorphic textured background, that texture is not saved with the drawing, the sketch will save against a white background into your camera roll.

iOS Tip 104 - Watch Out for WiFi Assist

Way, way at the bottom of the Cellular Data settings on your iPhone or cellular iPad is a check box for wifi-assist. If this box is active, your iPhone will use cellular data whenever you have a spotty wifi signal. While this could be handy and not cost you much if you have an unlimited data plan with your cell carrier, if you do not have unlimited data you could suddenly find yourself eating through your data plan.

If you are not on an unlimited data plan consider de-activate wifi-assist unless you really need it and then only turn it on temporarily. Go to Settings > Cellular and scroll to the very bottom of the screen to toggle On or Off.

iOS Tip 102 - Search Settings

Use this to quickly find and access settings in iOS:
1 Open the Settings app on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
2 At the primary Settings app screen, tap and pull down on the settings screen to reveal the “Search” box at the top of the Settings screen
3 Type your search parameters to find the matching options in Settings app, then tap on any of the results to jump immediately to that portion of the Settings app.

Fast and easy!

iOS Tip 101 - Siri Find Photo

Siri, gains two new superpowers in iOS 9: it can understand requests to display photosand videos based on time and location: "Siri find September 19th photos" and it can set contextual reminders. For instance, if you come across one of our #iOS tips while you’re supposed to be working, you can say, “Remind me about this tonight.” You can also ask Siri to remind you of something once you get in the car.

Just Say NO to "idoctorapp

Despite the class action suit #Mackeepernow offers "idoctorapp". No, No, NO! A thousand times NO! Stay away from it!

#iOS Tip 100 - Prep Your Device for iOS 9

Don't rush to upgrade on Wednesday without backing up.

iOS 9 officially launches Wednesday, bringing huge changes to iPhones, iPads, and iPods. But before you rush to upgrade, take some time to get your device ready. That way, if anything goes wrong during the install process—or if you decide you hate iOS 9—you can reverse your decision without losing any important files.
The good news: You won’t have to delete a whole bunch of apps to get ready to upgrade. Why? The new OS will do the deleting for you. Apple said at June’s Worldwide Developers Conference that iOS 9 will take up 1.3GB of storage—way less than iOS 8’s space-hogging 4.58GB. If you’re using a 16GB phone and don’t have any room to spare, iOS 9 will delete apps and then reinstall them after the update is done.
Read up on all of iOS 9’s big features and then get ready to install on Wednesday with these tips.

Back up your stuff
First thing’s first: Make sure your data is backed up. No one has ever regretted backing up their data. Ever. You can use two methods, the cloud or iTunes on your computer, or for extra security, you can use both.

Using a cloud service such as Backblaze, the least expensive on the market and unlimited storage, just download, install and you're good to go. As long as you pay their monthly fee you'll be fine. You can also back up to iCloud however if you've a lot of data it could get expensive. You do this by going to Settings > iCloud > Backup and in the resulting screen enabling the iCloud Backup option. An alert appears informing you that your data will now be backed up to the cloud. Tap OK to allow that to happen.

To do things the old-fashioned (and more complete) way, launch iTunes on your Mac and plug your syncing cable into both your device and your Mac. Select your device in iTunes, choose the Summary tab, and in the Backups area of the resulting window click on Back Up Now. If there are apps on your device that aren’t in your iTunes library a window will appear asking if you’d like to back them up. The choice is yours as you can always wirelessly re-download any apps you’re missing from the iTunes Store, but restoring them to your device will happen more quickly if they’re being copied from your computer rather than being downloaded over a slowish broadband connection.
iTunes will now back up any apps on the device that aren’t in your iTunes library, plus the rest of your data.

Either way you choose to back up, once you’ve installed iOS 9, you’ll have all of your photos, apps, and other data stored safe and sound.

Leave a way back
Don’t get stuck using an OS you can’t stand—be sure to have a copy of the latest version of iOS 8 compatible with your device. There are invariably cases where people wish they hadn’t upgraded—perhaps because an app they rely on hasn’t yet been updated for iOS 9 or, as it turns out, they hate change (or their older device runs more slowly with the new OS). If you act quickly, you can put things back the way they were.
Here’s the deal: Apple “signs” versions of iOS. This tells the device that the version you wish to use is OK to use with that device. While that version is signed, you can install it on your iOS device—even if it’s a version of the operating system that’s earlier than the one you just installed.
However—and this is very important—Apple traditionally stops signing old versions of iOS just a day or two after releasing major updates (such as iOS 9). If you were to update to iOS 9 say, a week after it ships, you might find that you can’t go back to iOS 8.
If you have a copy on your hard drive you will find it, by default, by following this path: youruserfolder/Library/iTunes and then select the Software Updates folder for the relevant device. (You access the Library folder in your user folder by holding down the Option key in the Finder and choosing Go > Library.)
The Mac will delete this files under certain circumstances so you may not have a copy of the latest one. If not, launch your favorite web browser and search for “download ipsw.” You’ll find a number of sites that offer links to the file you need. Just be sure to choose the correct one based on the device you’re using.
Remember, this window stays open for a very limited amount of time, so you’ll have to act quickly if you want to get back to iOS 8. Stay tuned for our complete guide to downgrading from iOS 9 to iOS 8.

iOS Tip 99 - Photos Editing

Access Specific Editing Tools in Photos

Though not an official iOS tip, so many of us use iPad or iPhone for photo taking and then import and edit on a Mac I thought this "tip" would be very helpful.

The editing view in Photos (on your Mac) presents several tools: Enhance, Rotate, Crop, Filters, Adjust, and Retouch. Of these, the Adjust tool gives you the most specific controls for changing lighting and color. Initially, though, the Adjust tools include just single sliders for Light, Color, and Black & White. You can Bring up editing tools that are normally hidden.

To access controls that are more specific, click the down-pointing arrow that appears when you move the mouse pointer over the top-right edge of a slider. That action exposes the components of each adjustment, such as Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, and more.

Even more adjustments are available if you know where to find them. Click the Add button to reveal a pop-up menu of other controls, such as Vignette, White Balance, Histogram, and Levels.

iOS Tip 98 - Make Reading in the Dark Easier

Instead of turning down the brightness on your handset, which still leaves a white glare searing into your retinas, try inverting the colors when you need to do some reading in the dark. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > then toggle on Invert Colors. This flips your screen's whites to blacks, and so on. Or, you can also try switching on grayscale (located in the same settings menu) to help alleviate eye strain.

#iOS Tip 97 - Blink When Messaged

Get your iPhone's flash to blink when you get a message
If you find that the vibration or sound that your phone makes when you get a message is not always enough to attract your attention, there's another element that you can add to the alert – light. By going to Settings > General > Accessibility and scrolling down to the 'Hearing Aids' section you can turn on 'LED Flash for Alerts'. Now every time you get a notification, the flash next to your iPhone's rear-facing camera will blink.

iOS TIP 96 - Block Callers

Recently, I began receiving annoying texts from a "mystery shopping" company asking me to do some work for them. I smelled something fishy, so when they kept texting me, I decided it was time to block their number on my iPhone. You may have a number you'd like to block, as well. If so, here's how.
To block someone you've added to Contacts list,:
• Go to Settings > Phone > Blocked > Add New.
• The All Contacts window will appear.
• Scroll until you find the name/number you wish to block and tap it.
• You'll find yourself back at the Blocked window with the offending name/number added to the list of blocked contacts.

From Settings, contacts can also be blocked selecting either Messages or Facetime, and then following the instructions above.

If you want to a block a number that isn't stored in your Contacts list:
• Open the Phone app and select Recents.
• Find the name/number you want to block.
• Tap the blue "i" with a circle around it to the right of the number.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the contact card that appears and select "Block This Caller."
• The message "You will not receive phone calls, messages, or FaceTime from people on the block list" will pop up with two options: Block Contact or Cancel.
• Tap Block Contact to add the number to the blocked list.

You can Block from Messages by selecting the message thread with the contact and tapping Contact in the upper right corner. Select the information icon, and proceed with the same instructions as in the Recents tab in Phone.

iOS Tip 95 - Setting up your Medical ID

Yes, setting up your Medical ID on the iPhone is extremely simple, but have you done it? It only takes a couple of minutes and could be life saving. To do it, you'll need a device with iOS 8 or higher, and then perform the following steps:
1 Open the Health app
2 Tap the Medical ID tab in the tab bar
3 Tap the Edit button to begin editing your Medical ID card
4 List any pertinent information about yourself, including medical conditions, allergies and reactions, and medications
5 Ensure that "Show When Locked" is enabled (Figure A)
6 Tap Done

Follow these steps to view your Medical ID from the lock screen:

1 Press the Sleep/Wake button
2 Swipe left to right to view the lock screen keypad
3 Tap "Emergency" and then "Medical ID"
This will show your Medical ID just as it's viewed in iOS 8's Health app, complete with one-tap access to emergency contacts, all without having to unlock your device.

iOS Tip 94 - Favorites Bar

Looking for your Bookmarks and/or Favorites in Safari? Go to Settings, Safari and toggle on Show Favorites Bar and Show Tab Bar. If you want a little more screen real estate toggle these features off.

iOS Tip 93 - What is "Other"

When connecting your iPad/iPhone to your computer you’ll see on the bottom of the Summary page, in iTunes, just what’s taking up space: Audio, Apps, Photos Other. The dreaded "Other" the mysterious "Other."

This storage section has puzzled many a tech writer and developer (even Apple Support). “Other”, which may take up considerable space on your device, consists of things like cached iTunes content (streamed movies, for example), Mail data, and Safari website data.

You can try to delete some of this, but unfortunately it’s not always possible. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a way to delete cached iTunes content.

The only way to effectively delete "Other" data is to back up and restore your device with iTunes. Backing up is a good habit to get in to not matter what. This process will retain all of your apps in the cloud while deleting any extra junk files that may exist. You'll lose some data like game save files, but it's the only way to reclaim storage claimed by “Other”.

iOS Tip 92 - Find My iPad/phone Important Additon

We've run this tip before but a very important addition is needed: add your phone number when you "message" your device. We've had iPad and iPhone here that obviously were stolen - "return my device and no questions" pops up on the display - but return it to where? A disabled device becomes useless to whoever has it but you can send a message to the screen alerting whoever has it to contact the owner.
If you misplaced your iPad, how would you find it easily? Simply open Settings, then iCloud. Type in you personal Apple ID code and make sure the "Find My iPad" function is turned on. When you activate this feature, you only need to visit iCloud.com to locate a lost iPad or disable it if stolen.

MacKeeper customers can file claims for refund

MacKeeper customers can file claims for refund from class action suit

Purchasers of MacKeeper are now able to file a claim to be reimbursed for the software, it has been revealed. Lawyers representing parties in a class action lawsuit against ZeoBit over the software have launched a site allowing customers to claim their share of a proposed $2 million settlement, with respondents potentially receiving the entire $40 cost in full, depending on how many of the 513,000 eligible customers successfully apply.

The proposed settlement involves ZeoBit, the original developer of the questionable toolkit, paying $2 million into a fund, but with the company not admitting fault. Out of that $2 million, Macworld reports one third will be going towards attorney fees, with the rest going towards the refunds and administration costs. As well as sending emails out to affected customers, settlement administrators Rust Consulting apparently plans to buy millions of ad impressions on Facebook and other platforms to try and get the word of the refund out to as many people as possible.

The suit itself was originally filed in May 2014, with ZeoBit accused of a "common deceptive scheme to trick consumers into purchasing and continuing to use its MacKeeper software, which ultimately fails to deliver the utility that ZeoBit promises." It was also alleged MacKeeper was "intentionally designed" to "ominously report that a user's Mac needs repair, and is at-risk due to harmful (but fabricated) errors." Current software owner Kromtech Alliance was not included in the suit, but it is possible it could be sued at a later date.

Customers who acquired the software before July 8 are eligible for the refund under the proposed settlement, and have until November 30 to apply. Interested parties can also file an objection to the settlement with the court by September 21, ahead of a final approval hearing on October 16.

iOS Tip 91 - Where's the Darn Manual

Right here: https://support.apple.com/manuals

iOS Tip 90 - Avoid Data Overages When Travelling

How to Avoid Data Overage Charges When Traveling outside the US

Disable any apps that you don’t plan to use in Settings > Cellular. It’s tempting to disable only those that have used data in the past period, but it can be hard to predict when an app willdecide to retrieve a large amount of data. Be especially cautious about apps like Music, Photos, Podcasts, Dropbox, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Spotify that might want to stream media, sync data, or provide real-time high-bandwidth communication.

* To prevent email and calendar data from outside arriving on youriPhone unbidden, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > FetchNew Data, turn off Push, and select Manually in the Fetch section. The data will update when you launch the associated app.

* Also, in Settings > iTunes & App Store, turn off Use Cellular Data. To be safe, I’d also recommend disabling automatic downloads. Thatway your iPhone won’t automatically get downloads for purchases made by someone else in your Family Sharing circle, or those made on a device you left at home while you’re travelling.

Fake Safari update installs MacKeeper, ZipCloud

Last week a new version of the InstallCore installer was discovered that displays an unpleasant new trick: it pretends to be a Safari update!

Clicking the Update Now button downloaded a disk image file named “Apple Safari Setup.dmg”.
The installer on that disk image did not look like an Apple installer at all. Continuing with the installation resulted in being asked to accept the “Search-Assist” extension for Safari, with a big “Yahoo!” logo at the top of the window.

Next was acceptance of the installation of MacKeeper (BAD), though the text was relatively small and uniform, and the familiar MacKeeper logo was nowhere to be seen. Finally, I had to accept the installation of ZipCloud.

As a result, both MacKeeper and ZipCloud were installed and opened automatically. Although no browser extensions were successfully installed, both Chrome and Firefox had their preferences modified. Both browsers had their home pages and search engines set to a Yahoo “Search BOSS” page it also had the effect of completely breaking Safari on my 10.9.5 system.

Victims of this malicious installer should immediately remove both MacKeeper and ZipCloud, of course, but should also reinstall OS X. This will overwrite Safari and its support files with fresh copies.

Adware

Adware is a rapidly-growing menace on the Mac. Adware programs are multiplying like the proverbial rabbits. Worse, most of them aren’t detected in any way by any anti-virus software, including Apple’s built-in anti-malware protection. Even when one is detected by anti-virus software, allowing that software to remove the detected files often won’t fully remove the adware.

The best way to avoid adware is to pay close attention to what you’re downloading. Adware typically comes attached to (or in place of) junk software offered by bad sites, or sometimes a bad site will wrap legitimate software in an adware installer. Obviously, you need to avoid such untrustworthy downloads.

However, there is one thing that adware almost always does that will help you identify it: present a license agreement! License agreements are often displayed by installers, requiring the user to click an “Agree” button or something similar, and people typically just click whatever button they need to to make this go away and get on with the installation. Don’t do that! Get in the habit of at least skimming those license agreements, and if you’re being asked for permission to install something other than the software you intended to download, quit the installer and trash it.

If you think you might be infected with some kind of adware bring your computer in and we’ll thoroughly check it out.

iOS Tip 89 - Shut it Down

Today's tip was inspired by an acquaintance who asked for help in buying a new iPad. Knowing that they had a fourth-generation iPad -- not far removed from the current iPad Air 2, I asked why. "Doesn't work anymore," they grumbled resentfully. "Lots of crashes, some apps don't even launch now." I asked if it had ever been turned off. "Every night," they said. I said, "no, not put to sleep -- turned off." "You can do that?!" they exclaimed.

You may laugh but you’d be shocked how often I run across people who have never, ever, years since they got their iOS device, restarted it or powered it down. Ever. It's a real testament to how solid iOS is, but no OS is impervious to faults, particularly with a long uptime and limited RAM as the iPad has.

If you haven't done it in a while yourself, do it now: turn off your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. You just press and hold the sleep/wake button for a few seconds, and a red slider bar will appear which you can then slide. Depending on how full your device is and how long ago you last did this, you may get a faint "busy circle" symbol for a few moments on a black screen before the unit goes entirely black, indicating that it is finally off.

Once that's happened, you can turn it back on in the same way: you'll see an Apple logo to assure you that you've turned it on, and shortly the familiar login screen will appear. For those in a big hurry, there is a faster method: press and hold both the home and sleep/wake button for a few seconds. This will trigger an immediate reboot.

How often should you do this? As preventative maintenance, I'll say once every few months, let's say quarterly. On the equinoxes, if you like. It's up to you, but don't wait too long. If your iOS apps start crashing, a restart is the first and primary step you as a user can take, and the good news is it works 90-plus percent of the time.

If this doesn’t help the next “fix” is to restore the device to factory settings - so BACK IT UP to iTunes on your computer. Restore sets the device back to factory settings and DELETES all your stuff: video, pictures, game scores ….

iOS Tip 88 - Reset Siri

Did you know that the longer you use Siri, the better Apple’s voice assistant will work? It’s true. Here’s how Apple puts it on their “About Siri” support page:

"The more you use Siri, the better it will understand you. It does this by learning about your accent and other characteristics of your voice. Siri uses voice recognition algorithms to categorize your voice into one of the dialects or accents it understands."

Neat! This means, though, that if someone else has used Siri on your device a lot, the service may not function as well as it could. So if you’re noticing that your commands aren’t being recognized or Siri’s making a bunch of errors, you could try resetting its training altogether and starting fresh. This is easy to do, but note that you can’t undo it—so don’t walk through these steps if your version of Siri is working well!

Anyhow, you’ll need to turn two options within Settings off. The first is under Settings> General> Siri—it’s the choice at the top. When you attempt to turn that off, it’ll warn you, but you’ll also see some important information.

As that warning suggests, you’ll need to then go to Settings> General> Keyboards and toggle off “Enable Dictation” to make sure that Siri’s data is well and truly gone.

Once both of those options are off, go ahead and turn them back on, and you should have a clean slate with Siri. Want the Siri command "bible"? email Dave and he'll send a copy to you.

Apple issues driver update for Windows 7, 8 on Macs

Improves FaceTime compatibility with Boot Camp-based installs.

In a seeming coincidence to being the day Microsoft has launched its latest version of Windows, on Wednesday Apple released a driver update for those running Windows 7 and Windows 8 on their 2015 series MacBook computers, including the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and the latest Retina MacBook. The update is a FaceTime Camera driver update that improves compatibility with Windows when using Boot Camp-based installations.
The update applies only to those MacBook models released or updated in 2015, and comes on the heels of a 2015-specific firmware update for the latest MacBook Pro. The new driver is recommended for all Boot Camp users whose machines meet the qualifications. The update is currently available only through Apple's support site, but will eventually be available through Software Update in the Mac App Store for affected owners.

Make Your Own Mix Tape!

If you'd like to send your friends and family your custom Apple Music playlists, it's really easy to do. It's sort of like creating a mixtape for them! Now that a ton of people have signed up for the service's free trial, it's also the perfect time to share playlists—everyone using Apple Music can listen to the music you choose. We're all about sending digital mixtapes to each other in today's
On the iPad you can just pick the“Playlists” tab without going to“My Music” first.

See that small “New” button I’ve indicated in my screenshot above? That’s where you’ll start a fresh playlist for your recipient if you’d like to. You can give it a custom title and image, add a description, and so on. Personalize the heck out of it!

After you add all of the songs you want, touch “Done.” Then you can share that playlist (or any of your other existing ones) by tapping on the ellipsis icon next to it.

Your recipient will get a link through whatever service you chose.

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iOS Tip 87 - Camera Connection Kit

Apple's proprietary Camera Connection Kit allows you to transfer full-resolution photos and videos from your digital camera to your iPad without the need for a computer. When connected iPhoto will open and allow you to import all or selected photos. You can stop in our store and pick one up or order it from the Apple Store.

iOS Tip 86 - Show Photos on Maps

Being able to see where you've taken photos can be very helpful if you want an overview of which photos you've taken near certain locations. Previous iOS versions highlighted this feature very prominently, but with the advent of iOS 7 and iOS 8, this feature is a little more hidden. To see your photos on a map, try these steps:
1 Open the Photos app
2 Select the Photos tab
3 Locate a header above the photos for a particular date and location, and then tap the location
When you do this, it will show that collection of photos on a map. However, if you wish to see all of your photos for a particular year on a map, navigate back to the Years section, and tap a year header. When you do this, all the photos taken that year will be displayed on a map.

No, No, NO Don't Call!

Please help your fellow Mac users and forward this message to anyone you know who has an Apple computer. Every day, a computer comes in that's allegedly has been infected with all kinds of "bad" stuff.

Though your warning may look different than the above image, the modus operandi is exactly the same:
• stubborn pop-ups that make it almost impossible to close the browser

• urgent warning to call a toll-free number

• a screen “showing” all types of “infections” on your computer

Do NOT call the number provided! The very people you're calling (unless you’ve requested help Apple will NEVER call you), and want your money, are the people who caused the problem to begin with.

We’ve written about this issue several times, posted on Facebook, Tweeted, but folks come in every day that did call the number and did pay an exorbitant fee to have the “problem” fixed.

If you see the pop-up message (it takes many different forms) don’t worry your computer has not been infected; your data has NOT been breached. In some cases, you can close the pages normally but other times you can’t. That’s because these crooks use JavaScript code to push a new alert window so quickly after you’ve clicked ‘OK’ that you cannot normally exit by closing the window or tab.

For the people who do give remote control of their computer, the “technician” will run a scan in the Terminal or perhaps show the Console logs and flag anything in there as a virus or severe infection. Typically they also install malware programs causing you further pain. Yes the people you’re calling AND paying money - we’ve heard from $200 to $1000 - are the very crooks causing the problem. Get your money back!

If you need help getting rid of the installed malware - bring the computer to us. It’ll cost less than what the crooks want.

One more thing: many of the program that claim to prevent malware and other issues actually cause them. Currently your Apple does NOT need any third party help. We'll let you know when you should worry.

iOS Tip 85 - My Stupid Fault: iCloud vs local iPhone backups

Back up your iPhone properly.

I switched on iCloud backup rather than local backup for the old iPhone. Most apps I use have their own iCloud, Dropbox or other backup service so I didn’t bother with them. I was not going to lose any data, I knew it. I just didn't appreciate how much else gets backed up when you backup your phone directly to your computer through iTunes.

By connecting my phone to my iMac I would've got all my apps back, plus all their settings. In an effort to save space (because iCloud is limited in its free incarnation to 5GB), the iCloud-only backup of an iPhone doesn't remember all that minutia, it just puts your purchased apps back on in the order they are restored.

The bottom line here: back up your iPhone and iPad to your Mac through iTunes, rather than an iCloud backup, and do it regularly -- if you want to be able to restore the your iOS device exactly as it was when you replace it. The iCloud backup is good in its way, particularly for people who don't tie their device to a Mac or Windows PC, but it is not as complete. High scores in games not using Game Center, for example, aren't saved -- you can pretend it won't bother you, but you know it will.

iOS Tip 84 - Stop The Music!

Stop The Music With A Timer

Do you like to listen to music when getting into bed for the night but often doze off without switching the iPhone off? You can use a timer to help you shut down the music. To do this, tap on Clock > Timer > When Timer Ends. Scroll down and tap Stop Playing. Then, set a timer (say 30 mins) and tap Start. Now you may play any music and it will be turned off after 30 minutes.

iOS Tip 83 - iOS Crash Warning Scam

Have you seen a popup on your iPhone or iPad claiming that iOS has crashed and that you need to phone a helpline for a fix? It's a scam, do NOT call the provided phone number.

Here's the Fix:

Put your iPhone or iPad into Airplane Mode (go into Settings and toggle the Airplane Mode switch into the off position).
Go to Settings > Safari and tap Clear History and Website Data.
Close Safari (double-press the Home button and swipe Safari up to close).
Exit Airplane Mode.
Restart Safari.

To reduce the risk of this sort of issue from happening in the future you can block popups: go to Settings > Safari and toggle the Block Pop-ups switch.

iOS Tip 82 - Prioritize your Facebook Friends

Here's how to set who you 'See First' in your Facebook feed:
Launch the Facebook app on your iOS device, then tap on the More button in the bottom-right corner. Scroll to the bottom of the menu, where you'll find News Feed Preferences; tap on it, then tap on Prioritize who to see first.

Note you must be running the current version of Facebook on your device.

iOS Tip 81 - Stop Following Me

Apple used to be friends with Google and used its search engine by default. That's not the case anymore—now Apple is "friends" with Microsoft and uses Bing. Both of those search engines like to track your every move - which is why you get those “tailored” ads. If you're into some extra privacy, try the latest option for search in the Safari browser: DuckDuckGo, "the search engine that doesn't track you." Go to Settings > Safari > Search Engine and toggle the browser you prefer.

iOS Tip 80 - Photo Searching

iOS 8 gives you the ability to search for photos based on locations or dates. For example, you can search for “November” or “Sparty.” You use this feature by opening your Photos app then tap on All Photos, then tap on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the screen.

Use the keyboard to type in what you’re looking for.

iOS Tip 79 - Perfect Pictures

Turn on Auto HDR. It takes three photos taken at different exposures, and combines the best parts of each one. You can make sure your iPhone does this every time you take a photo by launching the camera, tapping HDR, and selecting Auto.

iOS Tip 78 - What Week Is It?

Many people and professions rely on week numbers to plan events and schedule their time, particularly on a longer term yearly basis. By default, the iOS Calendar app does not show week numbers, but a simple settings change can make it so week numbers appear in the Calendar app of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

This is a really welcome change if you use week numbers for planning, and it’s quite easy to switch on or off to suit user preferences:

1 Open the Settings app and go to “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”
2 Scroll down to the “Calendars” section of the preferences
3 Toggle “Week Numbers” to the ON position
4 Open the Calendar app into Month view to see the change

iOS Tip 77: Name Group Messages

When you create a group of iMessage users, you can name the group by tapping on Details. In the Details menu of the iMessage group, it says “Group Name.” After you enter a group name and hit Done, the conversation in the Messages app will show “You named the conversation [group name].” Bringing this feature to iMessage makes sense for keeping your group messages organized.

iMac Hard Drive Replacement Program

Apple has established a replacement program for some 3 TB hard drives in 27-inch iMacs sold between December 2012 and September 2013. These drives may fail under certain conditions. The program covers affected iMacs until 19 December 2015 or until the third anniversary of the original sales date, whichever period is longer.

You can enter your iMac’s serial number to see if it qualifies. If it does, you can get a free replacement at Capitol Macintosh. Apple also says it will reimburse anyone who has already paid for repair or replacement.

Before you have your iMac repaired, be sure to back up your data, preferably twice!

iOS Tip 76: Hide Your Photos

iOS 8 lets you hide photos from your camera roll. You can hide photos by opening a photo in the camera roll and pushing your finger down on it.
You will notice pop-up options that says “Copy” or “Hide.” When you tap on Hide, a message appears that says:”This photo will be hidden from Moments, Collections and Years but still visible in Albums.” Those photos will be hiddenunless you go to the “Camera Roll” or “My Photo Stream” folder under “Albums” in the Photos app.
If you want to unhide the photo from your camera roll, open it from the album that it is in and push your finger down on it until an “Unhide” option appears. Tap on “Unhide” and it will appear in the “Photos” streamagain.

iOS Tip 75: Filter out Unknown Contacts

A recently introduced feature in iMessage lets you filter out people who are actually in your contacts list from people who’ve just got hold of your iMessage email address and decided to ping you through it. From theMessagesentry in the Settings app you can activateFilter Unknown Sendersto keep these individuals in a separate column in iMessage (appropriately enough labelled Unknown Senders).

iOS Tip 74: Reduce Motion

Reduce screen motion on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

One of the coolest features of iOS is the use of a semi 3D-effect across almost the entire interface, including backgrounds, folders, icons, alerts and such. However, while nice to watch, this feature is really not that necessary and it can also consume quite a bit of battery life. Thankfully you can disable it completely: go to Setting>General>Accessiblity>Reduce Motion.

Where's My iPhoto

BEFORE you upgrade your computer operating system to 10.10.3 - update your iPhoto to 9.6.1. iPhoto 9.6 or earlier is not compatible with the current version of Yosemite (10.10.3). After updating to the current version of Yosemite you’ll see Photos (not iPhoto) on your dock. Photos is Apples new photo applications and is replacing iPhoto; when you launch Photos you’ll be prompted to migrate your iPhoto library to the new Photos.

The migration might take a while, depending on the number of pictures you have. Photos will migrate all your pictures, albums, slideshows etc. The only concern you might have is available space on your hard drive as after the migration you’ll have both an iPhoto and Photo library. Once the migration is complete you can delete the iPhoto library - freeing up the space.

Buy Photos for Mac: A Take Control Crash Course

This course will help you decide whether to transition to Photos right away, walks you through importing photo libraries from iPhoto and Aperture, explains the Photos interface and how you can organize your images, gets you going with the editing tools, and assists you with copying photos to iOS devices and Apple TVs. It also shows you how to create books, cards, calendars, and slideshows.

Particularly helpful is the explanation of how Photos works with iCloud, including using iCloud Photo Library to create a centralized photo library for all your devices and sharing photos with friends and family via iCloud Photo Sharing. While we now think it’s safe to turn on iCloud Photo Library, beware that it may overwhelm your Internet connection.

iPhone Tip 73: Camera Button

You can also use the volume buttons on the side of the phone as a shutter, making it feel like you’re using an actual point-and-shoot.

iOS Tip 72 - Last Location

Last location
iOS 8 will automatically send the last known location of a device to Apple when your battery is low. You can turn this feature off if you think it erodes your privacy, though it's meant to help you find lost devices and is not enabled by default. You’ll find it in Settings>iCloud>Find My iPhone (must be on)> Send Last Location in the Advanced section at the bottom of the list. This means if you drop your device in a local park, you’ve got a chance of finding it - even if it does run out of power.

iOS Tip 71 - Undelete eMail

Just deleted an email by mistake? Shake your iPhone, then tap Undo.

iOS Tip 70 - Siri speakerphone calls

You can now make speakerphone calls using Siri in iOS 8.3. Use Siri as you normally would to call a contact, but add "using speakerphone" after the comment. For example, you can easily call a contact by saying the following phrase to Siri:
"Call Capitol Macintosh using speakerphone"

When you do this, Siri will initiate a call per normal; however, the call will be placed on speakerphone, allowing you to be completely hands-free with the conversation. Pair this with the "Hello Siri" command to wake Siri when your iPhone is plugged in, and you can start a phone call on speaker without ever needing to touch your phone.

iOS Tip 69 - The Full Siri Command List

Define relationships for Siri
• “Call me Roy”
• “My wife is ‘Kerry Washington'”
• “My brother is ‘Justin Bieber'”
• “‘Alicia Keys’ is my mom”
• “My boss name is ‘Sean Combs'”
• “My dad is ‘Andrew Bachelor'”

Ask Siri to search Contacts
• “When is my wife’s birthday?”
• “What’s Justin’s address?”
• “What is my father’s phone number?”
• “Who is Sean Combs?”
• “Show Alicia ‘s home email address”
• “Show Justin Bieber”
• “Find people named Kardashian”

Ask Siri to make a Phone Call or FaceTime
• “Call Justin”
• “Call my wife on mobile”
• “Call home”
• “Call my mother on her work phone”
• “Call 703 555 1212”
• “Redial last number”
• “Return missed call”
• “FaceTime Andrew “
• “FaceTime audio Andrew “
• “FaceTime video Andrew “
• “Check my recent calls”
• “Check my voice mail”

Ask Siri to Send Text Messages (SMS)
• “Send a message to my Justin”
• “Send a message to Sean saying ‘Let’s sign the new record deal tonight'”
• “Send a message to Kerry on her mobile saying ‘I am running late'”
• “Text my mom and dad saying ‘Let’s have dinner tomorrow evening'”
• “Text Sharon and Becky saying ‘Where are you?'”
• “Send a message to 301 555 1212”
Ask Siri to Read Text Messages (SMS)
• “Read my new messages”
• “Read it again”

Ask Siri to Reply to Text Messages
• “Reply ‘I love you too'”
• “Reply ‘I will arrive in 10 minutes'”
• “Call him on mobile”

Ask Siri about Voice Mail
• “Do I have new voice mail?”
• “Play my last voice mail”
• “Play voice mail from Kerry”

Ask Siri to make a FaceTime Call
• “FaceTime Andrew “
• “FaceTime audio Andrew “
• “FaceTime video Andrew “
• “Make a FaceTime call to Andrew “

Siri Email Commands
Ask Siri to Send Email Messages
• “New email to Sean Combs”
• “Email Kerry and Lisa and say ‘I am going out of town this weekend'”
• “Email mom about the trip”
• “Mail Justin about the concert tickets”

Ask Siri to Check Email Messages
• “Check email”
• “Read my last email”
• “Do I have any new messages?”
• “Any new email from my boss today?”
• “Show the email from Kerry yesterday”
• “Show new mail about the football game”

Ask Siri to Respond to Email Messages
• “Reply ‘Hey Kerry, let’s watch Scandal tonight”
• “Call him at work”

Ask Siri About Messages
“Read my notifications”
Ask Siri to Locate Friends and Family
• “Where is my wife?”
• “Is my wife at home?”
• “Where is my Justin?”
• “Where are all my friends?”
• “Who is near me?”

Siri Commands for Calendar
• “Schedule a meeting with Sean tomorrow at 1 PM”
• “Schedule a conference call with Justin today at 7 PM”
• “Schedule a meeting about the new acquisition at 1 PM”
• “schedule meeting about renovations at 2PM tomorrow in the conference room
• “Set up a meeting at 10 AM”
• “Set up a meeting with Brian at 11 AM”
• “New appointment with Andrew Tuesday at noon”
• “Meet with Kerry at 6”

Ask Siri to change events
• “Reschedule 7 PM meeting to 9 PM”
• “Reschedule my 10 AM meeting today”
• “Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Manning to next Monday at 9am”
• “Move my 2pm meeting to 3:30 PM”
• “Add Andrew to 3:30 meeting”
• “Add Alicia to meeting with Andrew”
• “Cancel the new acquisition meeting”

Ask Siri about your events
• “What’s on my calendar today?
• “What’s on my calendar tomorrow?
• “What’s on my calendar for Friday?”
• “When is my next meeting”
• “Where is my next meeting?”
• “When is my next appointment?”
• “When am I meeting with Justin?”

Ask Siri to set a Reminder
• “Remind me to check the mailbox”
• “Remember to stop by the bank”

Time based reminders
• “Remind me to call mom at 7 PM”
• “Remind me to walk the dogs at 7am tomorrow”
• “Remind me to leave work at 4 PM”

Location based reminders
• “Remind me to water the flowers when I get home”
• “Remind me to stop by the dry cleaners when I leave work”
• “Remind me to call Kerry when I leave”

Ask Siri to Create and Find Notes
• “Create note: Door pass code is one two three two”
• “Note that I spent $25 on dinner”
• “Create song list note
• “Find my song list note”
• “Add Alicia Keys to my song list note”

Time and Alarm Functions
Ask Siri to set or change Alarms
• “Set an alarm for 7 AM”
• “Wake me up tomorrow at 5 AM”
• “Wake me up on weekdays at 6 AM”
• “Wake me up on weekends at 10 AM”
• “Wake me up in 3 hours”
• “Change my 7 AM alarm to 6:30 AM”
• “Show all alarms”
• “Turn off my 6:30 alarm”
• “Delete my 6:30 alarm”
• “Turn off all alarms”
Ask Siri to check the time
• “What time is it?”
• “What is today’s date?”
• “What time is it in New York?”
• “What time is it in Belgium?”
• “What’s the date this Friday?”
Ask Siri to use a Timer
• “Set the timer for 10 minutes”
• “Show the timer”
• “Reset the timer”
• “Stop the timer”
• “Resume the timer”
• “Change timer”

Ask Siri for Maps and Directions
• “How do I get home?”
• “Directions to home”
• “Directions to my Sean’s home”
• “Take me to my wife”
• “Show my current location”
• “Show me Union Station”
• “Show me directions from Washington DC to Philadelphia Pennsylvania”
Ask Siri about Local Businesses
• “Find pizza near me”
• “Find Starbucks near me”
• “Good Mexican restaurants near me”
• “Find a gas station near me”
• “Show me the closest hospital”
• “Show ATMs near me”
• “Show me the nearest WiFi hotspots”

Siri Commands: How to play Music using Siri
• “Play Jazz music”
• “Play exercise playlist”
• “Play work playlist”
• “Play the album ‘The New Classic'”
• “Play the album ‘The New Classic’ shuffled”
• “Play Alicia Keys”
• “Play ‘Love Never Felt So Good'”
• “Pause music”
• “Stop music”
• “Resume music
• “Skip track”
• “Play previous track”
• “What music is playing?”
• “Play Alicia Keys on iTunes radio”
Ask Siri about the Weather
• “What’s the weather like today?”
• “What’s the temperature outside?”
• “What’s the weather for tomorrow?”
• “What’s the forecast for this weekend?”
• “How’s the weather in Paris right now?”
• “Will it rain in Miami this week?”
• “Check next week’s forecast for New York”
• “What’s the high for Miami on Friday?”
• “When is sunrise in London?”
• “When is sunset in Portland?”
Ask Siri to check Stocks
• “How is the stock market doing today?”
• “What is the Dow at?”
• “Where is the Nasdaq at today?”
• “Show me the stock information for Microsoft”
• “What is Apple’s stock price?”
• “What did Microsoft close at today?”
• “What is Sony’s PE ratio?”
Ask Siri to search the Web
• “Search the web for best Windows tablets”
• “Search for baked chicken recipes”
• “Search the web for best smartphones”
• “Search for news about the November Elections”
• “Search Google for Siri commands”
• “Search Google for top jazz albums”
• “Google upcoming tablets”
• “Search Wikipedia for Steve Jobs”
• “Search Bing for upcoming movies”
• “Bing upcoming smartphones”
• “Search Twitter for “Capitol Macintosh”
• “Search Yahoo for what’s happening in China”
Ask Siri to search the Web for Images
• “Search for images of dogs”
• “Search for images of Washington DC”
• “Search for images of Microsoft Surface”
Ask Siri to Launch an App
• “Play Angry Birds”
• “Open Music”
• “Launch Spotify”
Ask Siri to Change Phone Settings
• “Turn on airplane mode”
• “Turn on Wi-Fi”
• “Turn on Bluetooth”
• “Turn on ‘do not disturb'”
• “Turn on flashlight”
• “Turn up brightness of display”
• “Display privacy settings”
• “Is Bluetooth on?”
• “Open Phone Settings”
Ask Siri to Change App Settings
• “Open music settings”
• “Open mail settings”
• “Open Twitter settings”
Ask Siri to Post to Facebook
• “Post on Facebook ‘On my way to the beach'”
• “Write on my wall ‘Having a great time in Florida’
Ask Siri to Post to Twitter
• “Tweet I love my iPhone 6 plus hashtag iPhonee”
• “Tweet visit “Capitol Macintosh”
• “Post to Twitter ‘Chip Kelly is awesome!'”
• “Tweet ‘Who are you voting for this election’ hashtag politics”
• “Tweet my location ‘Having fun in Miami!'”
• “Search Twitter for best WordPress tips”
• “What’s trending on Twitter”
Ask Siri about Movie Theaters
• “What movies are coming out this weekend?”
• “What movies are playing near me?”
• “Find movie theaters in McLean, VA”
• “Find movie theaters near my office”
• “What are the best movies playing right now?”
• “What R-Rated movies are playing?”
• “What action movies are playing”
Ask Siri about Movies
• “Show me reviews of the movie ‘Edge of Tomorrow'”
• “Show me ratings for ‘Edge of Tomorrow'”
• “Play the trailer for ‘Edge of Tomorrow'”
• “Who directed “Captain America Winter Soldier?”
• “When was the movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’ released?”
• “Who starred in the movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’?”
• “What movie won best picture in 1998?”
• “How many movies has Samuel Jackson been in?”

Ask Siri about Restaurants
• “Show me restaurant information for Cheesecake Factory in Arlington”
• “Show me reviews for Cheesecake Factory in Arlington”
• “I need a reservation tonight at Cheesecake Factory tonight”
• “Show me good seafood restaurants near me”
• “Table for four in Washington DC Friday Night”

Ask Siri about Sports
• “Show me football scores from Sunday”
• “Show me NFL standings”
• “When do the Philadelphia Eagles play next?”
• “Show me the Philadelphia Eagles season schedule”
• “Which NFL team has the most yards?”
• “Show me the roster of the Denver Nuggets”
• “Show me career statistics for Nick Foles”

Math Commands
• “What is 71 x 2?”
• “What is 2 to the 8th power?”
• “What is the square root of 144?”
• “How many ounces in a cup?”
• “How much is $100 in Canadian dollars?”
• “What is the tip on $220?”
Ask a question using Wolfram Alpha
• “What’s the price of gasoline in Washington, DC?”
• “How tall is Justin Beiber?”
• “How many calories in a soda?”
• “How far away is the Moon?”
• “What’s the population of India?”
• “How many days until Thanksgiving?”
• “What are the properties of chartreuse?”
• “What is the nutritional information for a bowl of Cheerios?”
• “Earthquakes, Hawaii, 1985”
• “cumulonimbus cloud”
• “How many degrees are in 3 radians?”
• “What is the wavelength of 500MHz?”
• “What is the molecular structure of corundum?”
• “What notes are in a B minor chord?”
• “What is “No school tomorrow” in Morse Code?”
• “What is the molecular weight of caffeine?”
• Define <insert word>

Accessibility
• Show Accessibility Settings
• Turn on Voice Over
• Turn Off Voice Over

For Fun

• Tell me a joke
• What Flights are above me?

iPad Tip 68 - Tell Me Who Siri

Siri will read your incoming notifications for you as they come in, tell you who is calling, read you new texts or let you know if an important email is received. Useful in private, you access this in Settings>General>Accessiblity>Voice Over (but don’t toggle Voice Over to on) and then toggle “Always Speak Notifications” to on. Be sure to turn it off when in public.

Up Periscope

A while back I wrote about Meerkat a broadcast App for Twitter feeds. Well now there’s a new game in town: Periscope. Online video broadcasting is undergoing a renaissance. Unfortunately for Meerkat’s developers, Twitter has purchased Periscope and quickly cut Meerkat off from its social graph.

Both apps do the same basic thing: stream live video over theInternet and post a link to the stream through your Twitter account. Both apps let you watch live streams as they happen. The biggest difference between the two is video storage. Meerkat saves videos only to your device, not to the cloud, whereas Periscope can do both, offering an option to save locally and automatically saving to the cloud a replay of any video you broadcast for 24 hours. You can save your own broadcasts, but not the broadcasts of others. Happily, you can cancel replay uploads at the end of a stream, and you can delete replays at any time.

Unlike Meerkat, you have a chance to set up your broadcast beforegoing live. Unfortunately, you can’t switch cameras until you’re actually broadcasting, which is incredibly frustrating. But you can decide beforehand whether you wish to share you location with viewers or post a tweet announcing the stream. Also, unlike Meerkat, you can choose to share your stream with only certain viewers by tapping the lock icon on the broadcast screen.

While watching a stream, you can post comments, but unlike Meerkat, which uses Twitter @replies for comments, Periscope’s comments stay confined within the app. You can also tap the screen to send “hearts.” You can see not only the hearts you send, but the hearts that all viewers are sending. It’s sort of disconcerting how many can appear at once, but if you’re broadcasting, it’s as if your audience is cheering you on. Also, the more hearts you receive, the higher you’ll get in the “Most Loved” list of recommended people to follow.

Periscope’s video quality, reliability, and smoothness is superior to Meerkat. Also, there’s less latency, so what you’re actually seeing is closer to live than Meerkat, which is helpful when you’re interacting with your viewers. Periscope doesn’t let you search for videos, nor does it keep a list of recently viewed videos. So if you stop watching a video stream, you may never find it again. Even pulling up a user’s profile doesn’t show current streams or replays.

If anything, both Periscope and Meerkat suffer from boring content. Then again, this seems to be how all social networks start. Remember when Twitter and Instagram were all about what people were having for lunch? It takes users time to figure out good ways to use new services, and food is always a safe, yet attractive topic of conversation. Read more here from the NY Times.

iOS Tip 67 - Lock Camera Focus

Lock focus and exposure

When the camera is active, tapping the screen sets the focus and exposure for that object. But, the moment the camera moves, these settings are lost.
To lock the focus and exposure, tap and hold until you see a yellow bar appear at the top of the screen, Even if you change your composition, the focus and exposure will be unaffected.

iOS Tip 66 - Share Where You Are

Sometimes it’s important for loved ones and friends to know where you are. Whether it’s for safety reasons or maybe you’re lost in a crowd - iOS 8 and your iPhone make it super simple.

Simply launch the Messages app on your iDevice and tap into a conversation or create a new one. Once there, tap on the Details button in the upper right.

• Send my Current Location:
Tapping “send my current location” will immediately send a map image with your location pinpointed by a red pin. The location will show up on your friend’s iPhone right away, just like any other photo message.

• Share My Location:

You’ll be prompted to select from the following options: Share…
1.) for One Hour
2.) Until End of Day
3.) Indefinitely
Once chosen, your friend will have permission to see where you are for that period of time. Now you’ll be able to “bump” into your best friend while out and about. I use this feature when traveling long distances so my hosts know when to expect me without having to send a text saying “be there in 5 min”. Super-easy and no more effort than using your Messages app.

iOS Tip 65 - Travel Scheduling

Traveling to an event? When adding the event to your schedule toggle the “Travel Time” switch and Calendar will figure out your travel time, scheduling this around your event so you don’t double book. Tap on the Event, Tap Edit, Scroll down to Travel Time, slide it On, then select the time.

iPhone Tip 64 - Quick Voice Message

If you press on the new mic button on the right of the text box you can start recording a verbal message. Lift your finger to stop to reveal a playback button. Once happy either swipe up or tap the arrow to send it or swipe left or tap the x button to cancel.

Meerkat

Meerkat the free app for iOS 8 makes it easy to stream live video from your iPhone or iPad to your Twitter followers. Just install the app, link it to your Twitter account, and tap Stream. Video from your device’s camera is instantly broadcast to the Internet, and Meerkat sends a tweet from your account with a link to the stream.

What makes Meerkat so appealing is that it’s not just a platform for streaming video, but also for promoting it. But that has the potential to backfire, especially in these early days when many users are just giving it a spin. Many Meerkat users will launch a stream for only a few seconds, so that by the time you click on it, it’s already over. Promote something worthless and no one will give you a second chance.

If you do want to dip your toe into Meerkat , here are a few suggestions for broadcasting successfully:

* Schedule all videos, with a brief description of the planned topic and estimated length.

* Have a plan for what you intend to do. Don’t just fire up a stream so we can stare at your nose hair for 30 seconds. Be interesting.

* Announce on Twitter when the video has ended.

* Delete the dead Meerkat links from your Twitter timeline after the video has ended.

iPhone Tip 63 - Text Searching

To find a specific text message, use the search bar at the top of the message interface. Don't see it? Pull down to reveal it, or tap the top bar.

iPhone Tip 62 - Hide Unused Apps

Over time we all download and install lots of Apps, and of course Apple pre-loaded some. You can delete ones you've downloaded but what about those pre-installed Apple Apps you NEVER use. Well you can't delete them, but you can put them in a folder and move it to your last page. To create a folder hold down on an App you don't want to see and wait until they all start to jiggle, then drag it on top of another useless App. Tap on the "X" Cancel and rename the folder. While every App is still jiggling, hold the newly created folder and slide it to the page you want. All done? Tap the home button.

Get the tips as they're posted by following @capmaclansing.

iPhone Tip 61 - Faster Phone Charging

Sometimes you need to charge your phone fast. The fastest way to do that? Turn on Airplane mode. With all sending and receiving of data cut off, your phone will charge much faster. Just be sure to leave the backlight off, too.

iPhone Tip 60 - Custom Vibrations Alerts

Want to know if your best friend is calling without ever looking at the phone? Buried in the contact settings, a fun option lets you create custom vibration patterns for your contacts.
To do it, go to Contacts, choose a contact, and tap Edit in the upper-right corner.
Then, scroll down and navigate to Vibration > Create New Vibration. In the interactive screen, tap and hold to create a pattern, using long presses for long vibration notes, and so on.

iPhone Tip 59: Undelete Photos

Didn't mean to delete that photo from your phone (or iPad)? Open photos, select All Photos, then tap on Albums (at the bottom), scroll down to Recently Deleted and select the photo(s) you want to recover. You'll also see the number of days until the photos are permanently deleted from your device. To make sure you never lose your photos back your device up to iTunes (see Tip #40) or use an online service like Backblaze.

iPhone Tip 58: Who's Following Me?

For additional protection, having the location status-bar enabled in the notification area tells you when an app or service is using your location — even without you authorizing it, or knowing about it.

To enable this, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services >System Services (scroll to the end) and then select the Status Bar Icon buried down the page.

MacBook Pro Video Repair Program

Apple has instituted a MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues. The program applies to 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models manufactured in 2011 and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina models manufactured from Mid 2012 to Early 2013.

Apple has determined that a small percentage of MacBook Pro systems may exhibit distorted video, no video, or unexpected system restarts. These MacBook Pro systems were sold between February 2011 and December 2013.

We can repair affected MacBook Pro systems, FREE of charge. Click here to: check your coverage or bring your computer in and we’ll run a test to determine if it qualifies.

You can read the entire article here.

iPad Tip 57 - Talk to Me iOS

Activate Text-to-Speech

With this Text-to-Speech option, you can sit back and listen to any content on your iOS device, without having to read out. It is great help for when you want to go through a long article but don’t want to strain your eyes to do so. It will also be a great substitute for reading to kids, and for when you want to find the correct pronunciation of any word you find on the Internet.

From your iOS device, go to the Settings page, select General > Accessibility. Tap on Speech Selection. Slide the option to ON and made an adjustment to the Speaking Rate. The speaking rate will determine how fast the text is read. Now open any website, text message, or document; touch and hold the text area until an option appears. Adjust the highlighted area to highlight the text you want your iOS to read out. Once selected, tap on the Speak button.

iPad Tip 56 - Type Emoji with Shortcuts

If you like to use Emoji in messaging but don’t like to switch the virtual keyboards repeatedly, try this trick to type Emoji with alphabets shortcuts.

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Emoji.
2. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut…
3. Insert a frequently used Emoji in Phrase.
4. Insert a text in Shortcut which will be used to convert to Emoji.

iPad Tip 55 - Shake it to Delete

Undo Typing To Delete Typed Message

Hate getting carpal tunnel on your fingers from clearing your written SMS? Try this trick. Shake your iPhone and tap Undo Typing to delete your message. Changed your mind? Shake your iPhone again and tap on Redo Typing to retrieve your original message.

iPad Tip 54 - What's That Song

Siri now integrates with the music-recognition service Shazam. It can listen to music playing around you and tell you what the song is - great when a good song plays during a commercial or TV show, or in the car. To find out what the song is, ask Siri, “What’s playing?” The phone will listen for a bit and then, in most cases, say and display the name of the song and artist, including a link to buy it from iTunes.

iPad Tip 53 - Hey Siri

Talk To Siri Hands-Free
Holding down the home button to reach Apple’s built-in voice assistant, Siri, is so last version. In the Siri menu under general settings, there’s an option to turn on “Hey Siri.” Then, instead of holding down the home button, you can just say “Hey Siri” and ask your question, set your reminder or start a text message or phone call. Note: this feature works only when the phone is plugged in.