Monday, January 13, 2014



Jan 12, 2014  iPad Users' Group - Peggy Aebersold-Fetzer

Just to show one of the many fun things an iPad can do, Sandy demonstrated how anyone with Dish Cable can look for programs and/or record a show even if away from home by using the Dish anywhere app.

She then introduced the founder of the iPad Users Group, Brent Shirley, who received a round of applause!

Sandy then shared with new attendees how to make a shortcut to the invaluable Palm Creek iPad Users' Blog:
Open the Safari web browser, tap in the address bar to allow you to type in the new address - www.pcipadusersgroup.blogspot.com. Then press GO on the keyboard.
Once you are on the iPad Users' Group site, hit the box with the arrow pointing straight up (in the upper left corner).  From the gray-outlined symbols that appear, choose Add to Home Screen.  At this point, change the name since you'll only be able to read a short bit on your home screen and you want the title to be easy to recognize.  (You will NOT be able to edit the title later).  Tap on the current bold-texted title (Palm Creek iPad Users Group), tap the X in a circle, then type in a better title (ie iPad Users).
Then click Add.  You will now be able to easily go to the PC iPad Users' Group blog directly from your home screen by tapping that shortcut icon.
(Quick note - if you had chosen Add to Reading List instead of Add to Home Screen, you would find this webpage in the future by accessing the web via Safari, choosing the bookmark icon in the upper right (next to the cloud), then clicking on the eyeglasses symbol to see your saved reading lists.)

Organizing Apps/Icons into Folders:
Press and hold one shortcut (icon) until it Wiggles.  While icons are jiggling, hold one with your finger and drag it into a similar icon (you may have to practice until the one you are dragging gets a bit smaller OVER the one you're dragging it into).
When you've moved 2 icons together, a folder will be formed, and the iPad will automatically suggest a name for it.  You can rename it by hitting the X to the right of the title, and typing in what you prefer, then hit DONE on the keyboard.
Touch the home button to stop the jiggling. 
(If an icon/shortcut is on the second or third page, and you want it on the first page: move the jiggling icon across the screen & hold it at the edge of the page (so about 1/2 of the icon shows).  The page(s) will move. Release icon on the new page you desire.)

In iOS7, you can have greater than 12 icons in 1 folder.  Once you've clicked on the folder, look at the little dots at bottom to see how many pages there are.  The brighter dot indicates which page you are on.  Simply swipe left or right to get to the other page(s).

Note, if your fingers are cold, the touching and/or swiping won't work (you may need to use a stylus - one of the better ones is Targus, approx $15 at Office Max).

Reminder, while you are able to delete apps to free up space on your iPad or iPhone, then get them back later from the iCloud, DON'T delete apps you use regularly because you will lose the data you've entered into them.

Go onto the iTunes App store, scroll to the bottom.  Choose Apps made by Apple.  If you have the new iPad Air or iPhone 5, these will be free.  For an older iPad, these apps will cost anywhere from FREE to $9.99.  NOTE: If you have an older iPad, but get the new iPhone 5 and download the Apps Made by Apple onto the new iPhone for FREE, they will then be in the iCloud and you can access them on your older iPad at no cost!

Usually when we create our iTunes account, we enter a credit card to be saved, making any future purchases from the iTunes Store as easy as just entering our password.  But what if someone gives us an apple giftcard, and we want to use that instead of our credit card?  We must disable that saved credit card via:
go to settings.   Scroll down (on the left) to iTunes & App Store.  Touch your Apple ID.  From the box that pops open, touch view Apple ID.  You will have to enter your password to sign in to iTunes Store.  After you have signed in, scroll down to Payment Information.  You will see your current payment type highlighted in blue text (ie Visa, Mastercard, Amex).
To disable your current card, select NONE, then Done at the upper right.
Then to use your gift card:  Go to the App Store on the Featured page (star) scroll to the bottom and click on Redeem.  You can take a photo of your gift card with the iPad's camera, or enter the code manually.

$$ saving suggestion:  Buy an iTunes gift card at Fry's Grocery Store here in Casa Grande to get a minimum of 2x fuel points instantly and use the gift card instead of your Credit Card at the iTunes Store. :-)

FREE Apps you should download:
Find iPad (Find my iPhone) If your iPad or iPhone is misplaced or stolen, you'll be able to locate it on a map.  You can have it play a sound too (good for those forgetful days and you KNOW it's somewhere in the house).
Find my Friends (once your friends accept your invite, you can see the exact spot on a map where your friends are)  Creepy? This is great when you are travelling, especially if you are alone.  

iBooks (will hold PDFs besides just books.  You can go to the websites of your appliances and download their manuals into iBooks.  You can keep the PDF file of Fry's Grocery's weekly flyer in iBooks.  You can save Palm Creek's Newletters there, etc.  Sandy will go into more detail next week, but you can always go to the eHow section in Google to learn how to do these things if you just can't wait.

Have too many apps open, and your iPad slowing down?  Double click the Home button.  All open apps appear (you may have to swipe left or right to see them all).  This is the MultiTasking Mode.  Simply touch an open app to resume working in that one, or swipe up to close it.  You can even close two at a time by swiping up with two fingers!
If your iPad "freezes" up:  Hold the Home button and On/Off button simultaneously for 10 - 15 seconds.  The screen will go blank.  This is referred to as a "Hard Reboot".  (You may have to hit the On button to turn it back on)

When you switch from an old iPad to a new iPad, icloud holds your old back up for 3 days (making your iCloud storage seem full).  After the 3 days, you can delete the old iPad's backup, freeing up the storage space.

Fun practice: Fill in contacts.  You can add notes, birthdays, etc. in the Contacts and search them later via Search light.   To use Search Light:  About 2/3 down on screen (between icons) Swipe finger down.  A Search Bar will appear at the top of the screen and the keyboard at the bottom to type in your search.

Another fun thing to practice - take a photo of the screen to capture a recipe on facebook, a website photo, etc:
for example - go to palmcreekupdate.blogspot.com.  Scroll to a photo you want to capture.  Press and release (NOT HOLD) the On/Off button & Home button at the same time (when you release, you will hear a camera click).  Then go to photos to find your screenshot.  Can email it to self or Evernote, post it on facebook, send it in a message, use it as wallpaper, print it, etc.

Nifty Tip:
When at a website you have reached via Safari, Before taking a screenshot photo: if four lines appear at the beginning of the address bar, you can tap those lines and all of all the garbage (photos, ads, etc) on that webpage will disappear. (Essentially giving you a printer-friendly model of just the text).

Remember to be PATIENT when searching the web.  We now have a spinning circle instead of an hourglass telling us it is working.

Everyone needs to have at least one backup of your iPad and/or your iPhone to protect you from losing your Contacts and Photos especially.  To see if and when your last Backup occurred:

Go to Settings/icloud/Storage & Backup
Under Backup, make sure iCloud Backup button is green. (Automatically backs up your iPad when it is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi).
Below the words Back Up Now shows when your iPad was Last Backed up.  

For those who on don't have Wi-Fi at their site while here at Palm Creek, and need to backup their iPad:

Plan some time to go one of the many WiFi Hotspots in the Park.  Bring your charger and make sure you are connected to Palm Creek's WiFi, plug your iPad in with the power cord.  It should automatically back up to iCloud.
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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

WOW we had over 40 attendees this past Sunday.  25 were new to the iPad Users Group.  Many were starting with their New Year's resolutions of improving themselves with the iPad and others  just got one for Christmas.  In any event, welcome.  Hopefully everyone who attends learns something.  Unfortunately I do not have the resources to do individual group sessions based on ability as I am only one person.  At least until Brent gets back, I will try to focus on assisting those newbies who want to get up and running.  If those who have been in the group in the past can assist, that would be wonderful.  Many hands make light work, and in my case we can progress faster.
 
Below are the minutes taken by Peggy - She is doing a great job and this is a big help to me.
 
Sandy Morin
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Jan 5, 2014  iPad Users' Group - Peggy Aebersold-Fetzer
 
To prevent the screen from rotating when you rotate the iPad:
First, go to Settings/General/Use Side Switch To:
Put the checkmark at lock rotation (if you checkmark mute, the side switch will be used to mute or unmute your iPad).  You have to choose your preference, as the side button can only be used for one or the other.
Then, on the exterior of the iPad, beside the Volume control on horizontal top left, (or top right side when holding the iPad vertically) is a Button.
Sliding that button to the right (or down) exposes an orange dot, and will lock the screen.  Sliding the button to the left (or top) will allow the screen to rotate. (The button will mute or unmute if you chose that option for the side button while in the Settings mode.)

To know if your iPad is updated:
Under Settings/General/Software Update-it will either attempt to update, or show you the iOS version you have. (7.04 is currently the newest version.)
To make a shortcut to the invaluable Palm Creek iPad Users' Blog:
Open the Safari web browser, tap in the address bar to allow you to type in the new address - www.pcipadusersgroup.blogspot.com. Then press GO on the keyboard.
Once you are on the iPad Users' Group site, hit the box with the arrow pointing straight up (in the upper left corner).  From the gray-outlined symbols that appear, choose
Add to Home Screen.  At this point, change the name since you'll only be able to read a short bit on your home screen and you want the title to be easy to recognize.  (You will NOT be able to edit the title later).  Tap on the current bold-texted title (Palm Creek iPad Users Group), tap the X in a circle, then type in a better title (ie iPad Users).  Then click Add.  You will now be able to easily go to the PC iPad Users' Group blog directly from your home screen by tapping that shortcut icon.
(Quick note - if you had chosen Add to Reading List instead of Add to Home Screen, you would find this webpage in the future by accessing the web via Safari, choosing the bookmark icon in the upper right (next to the cloud), then clicking on the eyeglasses symbol to see your saved reading lists.)
 
Settings/Privacy/Location Services Location Services SHOULD be on for iPad apps to work well

Hit Home button twice-goes to Multitasking mode.   All applications that are currently open appear.  You can switch to another application just by tapping on the one you want to use.  If you wish to close one, simply Swipe it up.  Note:  having many open not only uses up the battery faster, but slows down the performance of the iPad.

To get the iPad User Guide for iOS7 free download:
From The IPad Users' blog - click on new iPad resources under Users Guides (on Right side of the blog).  Scroll up and down in this new screen to see various items.  Almost anything in blue text will be a direct link.  Simply click on the link to go there.  It may be a website or an app to download.
Trust Sandy's choices.  She has researched and tested many different ones, and only lists the best (and least ad intrusive).

To download an app from ipad users blog, click on the highlighted new iPad Resources under User Guides on the right of page.  Then choose the blue text link under First Choice to get tips-tricks-secrets-for-iPad.  A new screen appears. Choose FREE, then INSTALL.  After entering your apple password, wait patiently until the dot goes all the way around the circle.  When downloaded, it will say OPEN
(Note -  Allow push notifications on training apps so you will receive the newest update notifications.  Be cautious about allowing push notifications on other apps though, as they can overwhelm your system with ads, etc.)

Highly recommended book  - Teach Yourself Visually iPad (be sure to get the NEW one for the iOS7.)

Great Apps that come free with a new iPad Air or iPhone 5:
iPhoto
Pages
iMovie
Airport Utility
Remote Numbers

To make a shortcut for Next Door.  Via Safari, go to palmcreekgolfresort.nextdoor.com.  Use box with up arrow to Add to Home Screen.
You may make changes within Next Door so you don't receive so many emails (click the dropdown box next to your name in the upper right, then choose settings).
(In the immediate updates column you probably want to keep Crime & Safety and Free Items checked to get the best use of Next Door.) 

If you think of an iPad question later (or EVEN BETTER - have a suggestion for topics to cover at future meetings :-)
use contact info at right on iPad users' blog.  Sandy or Brent will answer.


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