All posts tagged basic

Macro Photography on your iPhone: How to Lock the Focus

Photo Skitch Document-5Although the iPhone isn’t a replacement for a “real” camera, it can take excellent photos.

In addition to general photography, it can do an amazing job on close-up (macro) photos.

Just hold the iPhone about 4 inches from your subject, and you will be surprised at the detail you can capture.

However, while you are trying to get your subject into focus, you may be frustrated because every time you move a bit to recompose the shot, (even ever so slightly), the iPhone camera adjusts and refocuses. Argh!

There is a way to “lock” the focus in place and solve this problem, but the feature is a little hard to find.

Here is how to lock your macro focus on your iPhone:

Move your iPhone to within about 4 inches from your subject.

Put your finger on the screen on top of the subject of your photo.

You will see a square appear under your finger. Hold your finger in place against the screen and the square will start pulsating. Take your finger off the screen.

As you lift your finger, you will see the words “AE/AF Lock” appear at the bottom of the screen. This means that the focus is now locked and you can make your small adjustments to the photographic composition without the camera shifting out of focus, again.

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The lock is ‘released’ after you take a shot, so if you are going to take more photos, you will have to put your finger on the screen each time to enable the lock.

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Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

25 Comments
by sharechair on April 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in iPhone, Beginners, Photographs, iPhone tips, Camera, How to's
Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Posted by sharechair on April 21, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/macro-photography-on-your-iphone-how-to-lock-the-focus/

How to Let Siri Help You Remember Birthdays

photo credit: freakgirl via photopin cc

photo credit: freakgirl via photopin cc

When you filled out the contact pages on your iPhone, you put in names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

You most likely know that you can add birthdays, too. (Just look way down at the bottom of the contact page (in edit mode), and tap on “+ field”. This will give you a whole list of possibilities, one of which is “Birthday”.)

And so assuming that you have birthdays recorded for your contacts, you can let Siri tell you when they are.

Just ask her.

Here is how to let Siri help you remember birthdays:

Push and hold the home button to activate Siri.

Ask: “When is _____’s birthday?”

That’s all you do. Now just wait for Siri’s answer. :)

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

6 Comments
by sharechair on April 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in iPhone, iPad, Beginners, iPad tips, iPhone tips, How to's, Siri
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Posted by sharechair on April 3, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/how-to-let-siri-help-you-remember-birthdays/

How to Lock the View Mode in your Kindle App on your iPhone

Screen shot 2013-03-11 at 5.06.49 PMIt is so wonderfully handy to be able to pick up my iPhone and read. So many times, I find myself waiting (unexpectedly) and it is less painful when I can whip out the iPhone and read the time away. With the Kindle app, it automatically puts me on the page where I left off the night before on my regular Kindle.

You can view the text of your book in either portrait or in landscape mode, merely by rotating your iPhone.

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The tricky part comes when you recline or find yourself turning in some way. The text bounces back and forth. Landscape, portrait. Portrait, landscape.

It is easy to LOCK the screen so the text does not shift.

Here is how you lock the screen on your iPhone:

Hold the phone in the manner that you would like to read.

Then tap on the lower right corner of the screen. This can be on any page in your book. You won’t SEE a lock, but tap anyway … and….

Poof! A lock appears. Tap on that lock icon to lock or unlock your favorite view mode.

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16 Comments
by sharechair on March 11, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, eBooks, How to's, iPhone, Kindle
Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Posted by sharechair on March 11, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/how-to-lock-the-view-mode-in-your-kindle-app-on-your-iphone/

I Got Stung by the Kindle Bug. Ouch.

Screen shot 2013-02-28 at 6.32.11 PMIt is important to keep your apps updated. Developers keep fine-tuning their apps, adding new things, or improving the old stuff.

If you are new to your iPhone or iPad, or if you need a refresher, you can read “How to Update the Apps on Your iPhone and iPad”.

Since I practice what I preach, I update. I probably push the update button every 3 or 4 days.

Unfortunately, this time my habit led to me being stung by a bug. Ouch. If I had delayed, even by just one day, I’d be fine. But no. I updated at just the wrong moment.

I use my Kindle app ALL the time. It is on both my iPhone and my iPad. If you are not familiar with it, please read more about it, here and here. (Remember, you don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle books. The Kindle app on your device is all that is necessary.)

Here is what happened:

The other day, I pushed the update button on my iPhone. Never gave it another thought.

The next day, when I went to open my Kindle App on my iPhone, I was met with a “register this app” screen. This was odd, because obviously I had registered it a long long time ago. This was my first signal that something was not right.

I registered (again) and it treated me as though I was a new user. In other words, there were no books on my iPhone. My on-phone library had been wiped clean. (I always keep about a half-dozen books on it.)

Now … this really and truly is not a big deal. All of your Kindle books are kept in the Cloud, and it is only a matter of tapping them to have them download back onto the phone. So this was absolutely nothing to be upset about. But it wasn’t right. An error. A mistake. A bug.

As soon as Amazon realized the bug, they quickly corrected it and put out a new update.

And so, I’m sharing this information with you for 2 reasons.

1. Just in case you updated your Kindle app during the “bug hours”, you’ll understand what happened and know there is no need for any hair-pulling.

2. Know that even when ‘stuff’ happens in an app, a responsible company will usually fix it quickly, and so a “wait and see” approach is often all that is needed on your part. No troubleshooting, just wait.

I updated my iPad after this fix was done (not during the bug hours), and I experienced no problems, whatsoever. So all is well, once again, in the world of the Kindle app. If you didn’t update during that short window of time, you’ll never know that something was amiss. :)

20 Comments
by sharechair on February 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, eBooks, iPad, iPhone, Kindle
Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Posted by sharechair on February 28, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/i-got-stung-by-the-kindle-bug-ouch/

How to Find a Buried App on your iPhone and iPad

photo credit: Daniel Y. Go via photopin cc

photo credit: Daniel Y. Go via photopin cc

I have so many apps, that most of my icons are folders. Folders full of apps. (Good thing you can’t put folders inside of folders. :) )

I could stop here and look up the count to share with you, but I won’t, because it’s embarrassing. Just know… there are lots of apps on my iPhone and iPad.

But before I beat myself up too much, I will point out that I know I am NOT alone. I know that there are many other people (not just me!) who have oodles of apps. And folders too.

Oodles of folders full of apps.

If this describes you, you may have discovered that sometimes it is hard to find an app. No matter how you try to organize your screens, no matter how many folders you make, somehow you just can’t find the app you need.

Here is a quick way to find that needed app:

Put your finger on the left side of your home screen and swipe to the right.

This will bring you to this blank screen with a search box on the top.

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Start to type in the app you are looking for. You can see here that as I started to type “Bookworm”, I didn’t get very far until it appeared right at the top of the list. Once the elusive app appears, just tap on it and it will open.

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8 Comments
by sharechair on February 25, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, Gestures, How to's, iOS6, iPad, iPad tips, iPhone, iPhone tips, Organization
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Posted by sharechair on February 25, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/how-to-find-a-buried-app-on-your-iphone-and-ipad/

How to Save a Photo that You Receive in a Text Message: (part of the) Very Beginners Series

* Occasional posts will contain how-tos and/or hints for VERY new users of iPads, iPhones or Kindles. All new users welcome! Non-tech speak, not terribly detailed, just basic device-enhancing goodness. All part of this Very Beginner Series.

Please share with any beginners (Mom? Dad? Grandma?) in your life.*

DSC00005The other evening I was having dinner with a friend, a new iPhone user, and she wanted to show me a few pictures …. but she had to find them first. These photos had been sent to her in text messages, and she was going back through the messages to find the photos.

And so, as I watched her scroll back through her messages, the blogging bell went off in my head. “This should be a beginner post!” So here we go.

Here is how you save a photo that you receive in a text message:

Tap on the photo or the arrow area to make the photo larger.

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Once you see the larger photo, tap the action arrow up at the top of the phone.

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A new screen will pop up with all sorts of choices. Select “save to camera roll”.

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That’s all there is.

Now when you want to look back at the photos that you received, just go to your Photos app (the sunflower) and select “camera roll”. The newly saved photos will be there at the end of the photo page.

9 Comments
by sharechair on February 19, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beginners, Camera, How to's, iPhone, Organization, Very Beginner Series
Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by sharechair on February 19, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/how-to-save-a-photo-that-you-receive-in-a-text-message-part-of-thevery-beginners-series/

Weekend Distraction: Finger Piano for iPad

Screen shot 2013-02-08 at 10.42.40 AMThis app is just plain fun. It turns your iPad into a piano … and a darn good one, at that!

And you don’t have to know how to play the piano (actually, it’s probably really only fun for those who DON’T play the piano in real-life. :) )

It comes with many Classic songs to play, with the option of using your right hand, left hand, and sometimes the option for two hands (if you are very talented).

The screen opens to the piano, and you have a few controls across the top. Tap ‘Songs’ and a large number of choices drop down.

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Select your song and play away … or listen. If you tap the ‘play’ button, you can hear how the song should sound. Of course, your goal is to sound just as good. I’ll confess, I NEVER hit the play button. I just choose songs, and tap merrily on the keys. To my ears, I’m doing fine.

To play, scrolling guides come down from the top of the screen. Your job is to tap the key as the scroll-guide passes by it. A short note will be indicated by a tiny guide, while a longggggg note will have a longgggg guide.

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Quite easy to follow, yet challenging enough to feel great when you get it right.

Truly this app deserves to be tagged a “distraction.” Quite absorbing!

There are a few other tweaks. You can select different instrument sounds, and you can alter the piano key size.

For even more fun, connect your iPad to a speaker, and you will be amazed at the music coming from your efforts on your own little (loud) electric piano.

I’m linking to the preview for Finger Piano for iPad, because this is the one that I have on my iPad and have used for a very long time. There are, however several other similar options available in the iTunes store by the same developer. Some of the other options put the Finger Piano on the iPhone, or allow you to buy other music ‘packs’. But since I have not personally experienced those other versions, I’ll only link to the one I’ve used. If you are interested in the others, just visit iTunes and do a simple search for “Finger Piano” (by the developer Junpei Wada).

Finger Piano is $2.99 in the iTunes store.

15 Comments
by sharechair on February 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, iPad, iPhone, Weekend Distraction
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Posted by sharechair on February 8, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/weekend-distraction-finger-piano-for-ipad/

E-Ink or Backlit Screen? What’s the Difference?

I’ve noticed a bit of confusion lately about e-ink vs backlit screens. So let’s fix that.

Simply explained:

Looking at a backlit screen is like looking into a light bulb. A backlit screen is bright, even in a dark room. Your computer screen is a backlit screen.

An e-ink screen is not lit. Just like a piece of paper, the only way YOU can see it is if you shine light ON it. You can read an e-ink screen in a well lit room, but if you were sitting in the dark you would not be able to see it without some other light source. .

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Backlit = bright. E-ink = not bright.

Now for a few other points about each:

Backlit screens

Backlit screens are found on desktop computers, laptops and tablets (like the iPad and the Kindle Fire).

Backlit screens wash out in bright sunlight.

The use of backlit screens before bed (like with a tablet) makes sleep difficult for many people.

Some people complain of eye strain with extended use of backlit screens.

E-ink screens

E-ink screens are clear and sharp in bright sunlight, making them the #1 choice for outdoor (beach) reading.

To read in a dark room, (bedtime reading), you need a light. A clip on book light works great for most e-readers.

The Paperwhite Kindle has an e-ink screen. It is unique in that it has a built in light that covers the whole screen. The light reflects, it does NOT come from within. If you turn the light up, the screen looks bright, but that is light that is layered on TOP of the e-ink. If you turn the light down, you will see the standard plain old e-ink screen. So the Paperwhite is just an e-ink device with a fancy light.

One more piece of confusion to clear up: Kindles come in both backlit AND e-ink screens. Kindle Fire Tablets have backlit screens. Kindle e-readers have e-ink screens.

34 Comments
by sharechair on February 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beginners, eBooks, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kindle Fire
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Posted by sharechair on February 6, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/e-ink-or-backlit-screen-whats-the-difference/

Find the Free Kindle Books You Want with Free Books Sifter

Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 9.06.00 AMA few days ago I confessed that I had far too many books in my Amazon Cloud. It was crowded with dozens of free books that I grabbed over time. I needed to permanently delete books, and I showed you how to do that, here.

But now that I discovered the BEST free book sorter I have ever seen, well, my Cloud is filling up again!

With Free Book Sifter, you have the ability to dig down through the genres that YOU want.

Along with the title of the book, you are also presented with the number of reviews and the number of stars that the book has acquired on Amazon. (remember .. you don’t have to have a Kindle to read Kindle books. There is a wonderful, free, Kindle App for your iPhone and iPad.)

And the sorting goes deep … once you choose a category, you are presented with sub-categories.

A Browsing Bonanza!

Click on a book and you are taken directly to Amazon where you can learn more about it, read the reviews and make your choice.

Just BEWARE … you will probably loose track of time as you frolic in all the free-ness. :)

Have fun with Free Book Sifter

12 Comments
by sharechair on January 31, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beginners, eBooks, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kindle Fire
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Posted by sharechair on January 31, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/find-the-free-kindle-books-you-want-with-free-books-sifter/

Is your iPhone (iPad) Sluggish? Give it a Clean Sweep.

photo credit: kaiton via photopin cc

photo credit: kaiton via photopin cc

Basically we need to do nothing to maintain our iPhones and iPads. They just chug along and work brilliantly. They entertain us, they remind us, they inform us, and they help us accomplish stuff.

But actually, they DO need a little maintenance sometimes. Some TLC (don’t we all? :) )

You see, when you open an app, and then leave it, it continues to run.

Before very long, you can have dozens of apps running in the background, slowing down your iPhone and/or iPad.

In order to prevent this from happening, you must periodically close all those running apps.

Here is how you do it:

Double click your home button.

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Once you have double-clicked, you will see a line of apps appear across the bottom of your iPhone/iPad. If you swipe to the left, you will see there are LOTS of apps in that row.

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This row of apps are all the ones that are currently running. The ones on the far left are ones you most recently opened. You can see that I last used Google Maps, played Words with Friends, tinkered with my Settings and looked at some photos.

So now…. let’s close them!

Put your finger on any one of those, and hold.

The icons will start to wiggle AND you will see a red minus sign on the upper left hand corner.

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Now start tapping those red minus signs. By doing that, you will CLOSE the running app. Keep going until you have eliminated the entire row.

Then tap your home button one more time to return to your regular screens.

That’s it! Do this regularly to keep your iPhone and/or iPad from getting sluggish.

28 Comments
by sharechair on January 29, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, How to's, iPad, iPad tips, iPhone, iPhone tips, Organization, Tech Tips
Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by sharechair on January 29, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/is-your-iphone-ipad-sluggish-give-it-a-clean-sweep/

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