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iOS

iCloud Family Sharing for storage is available now with iOS 11

by Philip Sellers September 22, 2017

written by Philip Sellers

A few months back, I wrote about my decision to upgrade iCloud storage, upload my entire photo library and the newly announced family sharing feature for iCloud storage. With the launch of iOS 11 this week, the family sharing for storage is now available. Setup is simple – Apple has a great document that walks you through enrolling and setting up all Family Sharing, including storage.

One great thing is that your family members can opt-in to use shared iCloud Storage or keep their own storage plan. This means for your young children, it may make sense for them to share, but your selfie-obsessed wife might need to keep her own plan, depending on how much storage you use. The great thing is it is not an all-or-nothing situation.

iOS 11 also introduced new options to turn on & off individual family sharing features and control them in this area of Settings – Purchases in the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud Storage and Location Sharing.

Check out all of the Family Sharing features over at apple.com.

September 22, 2017 0 comments

Apple Home Tech

Apple shows off preview of new Education features, Enterprise can hope…

by Philip Sellers January 12, 2016

written by Philip Sellers

Apple posted a new preview page for Education on its website yesterday showing off several features to help IT administrators configure and deploy iPads for education more easily. The features included a special Classroom app, a special School Manager portal, managed Apple ID accounts and shared iPad features. The School Manager portal and the shared iPad features are interesting for possible applications with the enterprise just as much as with education customers.

School Manager will be a one-stop shop for schools to create Apple IDs, purchase apps and prepare iPads for Mobile Device Management (MDM) control. A similar portal for enterprise users would greatly assist with iPad adoption for businesses, too.

In addition to the portal, the managed Apple ID feature would allow IT to setup and control the Apple ID used to configure and setup the iPad. From early trials with iPads in my corporate environment, the Apple ID configuration is one that is cumbersome to configure. The only good option is to allow each employee to setup their own Apple ID under a corporate email address. The IT department has no control over that address, either. It makes it difficult to manage from the IT perspective.

Lastly, the shared iPads is a new feature that has never been available. iPads have always been a single user device and I can imagine the joy for enterprise if a similar feature becomes available to them. Retail applications would be eased greatly if there was some way to do user account control and portability of user settings between devices at different sites. Not only in enterprise, but families could finally setup different accounts for children to share a device and have different parental controls or features enabled.

So, Apple’s announcement is clearly focused on education market. But, I think enterprise users can hope some of these changes make their way over for enterprise programs in the future.

January 12, 2016 0 comments

Apple Home Tech

How my iPhone has ruined me

by Philip Sellers September 10, 2013

written by Philip Sellers

Wrote this musing a little while ago – thought today was an appropriate day to post it… to celebrate the launch of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c.

My iPhone has ruined me. There, I said it. Yes, that hurts coming from a fan-boy, but its true. The iPhone has made me a creature incapable of waiting. It answers my every question and lets me do what I want no matter where I am – in the car, waiting room or water-closet. If we’re in a heated lunch discussion of which actor played who in what, I can’t keep myself from IMDB’ing the answer.

redesign_ios7_big

You see, the iPhone is too good at its job. But by being so good, it has made me more impatient about everything. I make fun of my wife and her habits – Twitter, Facebook and Vine – but incessantly checking those for updates is no match for my inability to wait. I want things now… I SAID NOW… {queue the 2 year old temper tantrum}.

We’ve become an incredibly connected world – at least superficially. Social networks let us communicate in ways previously unknown. It allows average Joes like myself to suddenly have a voice where others listen. But because of our always-on, instant gratification electronic slabs, we’re less patient and capable of waiting for life to unfold around us.

Seeing things through a father’s eyes, I’m struck by how my six year old is mimicking my own behaviors since she got an iPod last Christmas. It’s humbling. #1 – must have iDevice attached or melt-down, #2 must get what I want on it when I want or melt-down. And sadly, we’re both that way at times. But there is nothing better than children to illustrate why I, myself, must change.

Sadly, I know that a new iPhone will be announced today and I’ll no longer have their newest and sleekest device yet once its released. But, at the same time, I’m under contract and I’m going to have to delay a purchase. My iPad will be 3 generations old if new ones come out this month or next, too. No contract there, but I think as a personal goal, I’m going to have to delay a purchase – at least for a while.

For all of its amazing qualities, sadly, I do think my iPhone has made me less patient. It certainly helps and I can’t imagine giving it up, but with all it provides, I have to wonder if I’m a better person for it. Surely all this can’t be blamed on the iPhone, but I definitely feel like its been one of the biggest factors in this change over the past 6 years… I’d love to hear your thoughts too…

September 10, 2013 0 comments

Apple Home Tech

Put your iPhone into motion with Galileo, possibilites are endless

by Philip Sellers June 11, 2012

written by Philip Sellers

I recently stumbled across a device that I want – like “must go out and buy this today” want it. It’s called Galileo and its a hardware accessory for Apple iOS devices which allows you to remote control an iPod Touch or iPhone from another place, with pan and tilt capabilities. It is the perfect solution for attending a virtual meeting and puts the remote user in the driver’s seat, allowing them to rotate the iPhone or iPod Touch around to see who is speaking just like if they were in the room. Not only that, but it could have lots of unimagined uses for cinematography, photography, shooting video or photos at live concerts, even stop motion with movement.

Talk about a Kickstarter success story… The company behind this idea, Motrr, started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding to make the devices. It goes to show if you present a great idea to the masses, that they will reach into their wallet and support the idea. Take a look at this video which explains the device and the many ways they think it could be used. I expect developers will come up with more applications.

It’s funny to find this too, since I had just had a similar idea pitched to me by my chiropractor during a recent visit. He had joined a regional meeting remotely and said it worked great except that he wished he could have moved the iPhone at the meeting around to see who was talking and so that they could see him. Sure, that sort of tech has existed for a long time — I saw a solution in action with a manufacturing plant between their South Carolina and Japanese offices in the 90’s. But to take and use a device that many people already own and carry with them is a pretty amazing feat.

Kickstarter Campaign (now closed and I hate I missed contributing!)
Motrr Product Page
Vimeo HD Video

June 11, 2012 0 comments

Apple Home Tech

Decyphering Apple chat and messaging choices for Mac and iOS.

by Philip Sellers December 6, 2011

written by Philip Sellers

Apple has made a name for itself by inventing solutions with slick and well thought out interfaces that are easy to understand and use. It has also made a name for itself as an innovator, creating new technology after new technology. Most times, Apple has had a very focused strategy when it comes to solving a particular problem, but with several introductions in the past two years, its fragmented its strategy when it comes to video and text chat and messaging. As I was talking with a friend, I realized there are lots of Apple solutions in this area and each has limitations or restrictions depending on device or connectivity. So, for anyone new to the Apple ecosystem, I hope to go over all the current Apple (and a couple of non-Apple) solutions for chat and messaging.

iChat

I’ll start with iChat, the grand-daddy of the messaging apps. It debuted in 2002 and was primarily Apple’s own instant messaging client for AOL Instant Messenger. At first, it was a text only chat, but later versions added video features, screen sharing between other iChat users and even presentation sharing and video conferencing. compatibility with other messaging networks has also expanded over time. iChat now supports Jabber-based networks like Google’s Talk, Windows Messenger and Facebook, MobileMe/iCloud accounts via the AIM network, and Yahoo Messenger, and even ICQ.

Great for: Mac to Mac communication and Mac to PC communication. Since it supports third-party networks, anyone logged into one of these networks is accessible to you as long as you also have an account on that network. If a mobile phone user has a client and is logged-in, you can communicate with them too.

Downsides: Advanced features, such as video chat, conferencing, and screen sharing, are iChat to iChat only features and requires an AOL Instant Messaging account to make these features work. There isn’t an iChat for iOS, which is odd considering all that it could do. It would be nice to have a video conference with Mac users while on the go.

FaceTime

: Photo by Flickr user thms.nl

With the iPhone 4, Apple introduced a proprietary video chat called FaceTime. It was first released as an iPhone to iPhone video chat, but Apple quickly released a version of FaceTime for Mac which allowed Mac to iPhone video chat. For phone to phone, it uses the customer’s mobile phone number to be able to FaceTime and for Mac users, it uses an iTunes account and email address to identify the user. The Mac app resembles the iPhone address book with Favorites and Contacts listed like the iPhone call screen. In the past year, FaceTime has been added as a feature to the iPad 2 and iPod Touch, as well, using iTunes accounts and email addresses to identify users.

Great for: Dead simple video chat between users of Apple products. It does not require a third party network (AIM, Yahoo, Google) or an account, but relies instead on an iTunes account which every iPhone and Mac user likely already has.

Downsides: FaceTime came with one big limitation – it is Wifi only. It does not work over cellular networks. There is no Windows client. Although certainly simpler to use, FaceTime does not seem like a full Mac app and seems it could be integrated with iChat (or vice-versus) since there is feature overlap. The primary difference is third party chat network versus Apple proprietary FaceTime.

iMessage

Similiar to FaceTime, iMessage was introduced as a text messaging or SMS alternative. It relies on open internet and it an Apple proprietary network. It auto identifies other iMessage users and prefers that network to the carrier’s text messaging network when it finds two iMessage users (with iMessage enabled). The message changes from the normal green colored talk bubble to a light blue talk bubble when using iMessage. The best thing is that it isn’t a switch the user must think about – it just happens automatically. The closest product on market to this is probably Blackberry’s Messenger product that allows Blackberry to Blackberry free messages.

Great for: Text and image messages between iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users running iOS5. It also lessens customer’s dependency on the carrier’s expensive text messaging plans.

Disadvantages: There isn’t a Mac client for iMessage. It doesn’t work with other mobile devices – only iOS devices. Wouldn’t this be handy to have in iChat somehow? When the internet is clogged (like Disney World during Thanksgiving), messages can get stuck going out, but you can turn off iMessage and switch back to the cell network in settings.

Skype

And then there is Skype. It is not an Apple technology, but its worth including given the fact that it runs on Mac and iOS devices, plus it adds the text message, video calling and voice calling features in a single app. Skype is also written for almost every other device in the world and it is capable of calling anyone with a phone number anywhere in the world.

Great for: Calling PC users, users without a computer but with a phone number and strong video chat technology over both 3G and WiFi (technically, even 2G networks, though data speeds are too slow for video to work effectively). It allows very inexpensive international voice calls (computer or mobile phone to phone number). Video chat and computer to computer voice calls are free.

Downsides: Requires another third party account. Another billing source (if you make voice calls to phone numbers). Many users complain of dropped calls and non-existent customer support, but what can you expect for a free service.

Disclaimer: This isn’t an exhaustive list of chat client, nor is it intended to be. As you’ll see on my Mac App Discovery page, I have been a longtime user of Adium, however in recent years, my primary iChat use is remote screen sharing to help my friends when they run into problems. Adium doesn’t do that, iChat does. I use iChat. There are lots of options – Trillium, Adium, etc. Point is, I’ve got confused friends when it comes to the stock Apple solutions and which one to use for what. Just trying to clear that up…

December 6, 2011 0 comments

Apple Datacenter Home Tech Storage

LogMeIn Ignition surprises, impresses and it’s on sale

by Philip Sellers December 1, 2011

written by Philip Sellers

I broke down. I bought LogMeIn Ignition, the remote control software for iOS. I resisted the purchase since the launch of the software in the App Store. I simply couldn’t see spending $30 for a piece of software that I could not see translating into a touch interface. But, this week, I found LogMeIn Ignition on sale, 50% off – for the price of $14.99. I decided to take the plunge.

I was pleasantly surprised and impressed how the developers chose to translate a mouse and keyboard based remote device onto a touchscreen device. The mouse simply stays stationary and the screen moves with touch behind the interface. It may sound counter-intuitive, but its quite elegant and easy to use. You can make use of all of the normal iOS controls such as pinch to zoom to increase the size of the remote screen. The keyboard is shown and hidden by a key on the menu bar at the bottom of the remote screen. The bar also has keys to switch between right and left clicks for the mouse, which are executed by taping or double-tapping. There is a magnifying glass key to zoom in and out and a complete list of settings behind a settings key.

In addition to remote control, the file management and transfer capabilities that exist in the desktop version of the LogMeIn products is also baked into the iOS version. You can pull copies of files from local disks on the remote computer and open them in iOS programs, using Quick Look or other features to play common media types. In addition to the ability to download, since iOS has no native file manager, LogMeIn Ignition includes file storage as a feature within the application. But file management doesn’t end there, it also includes cloud file storage

To switch between tasks, Ignition uses a multi-window concept, like in Safari, to open windows for Remote Control, the list of available computers, and file transfer. You can easily switch between your open tasks. All in all, its a well rounded and complete remote management solution for your desktop from your iOS device. I am very impressed.

December 1, 2011 1 comment