iOS

________________________ 1. March 10. “iOS 7.1: Enabling In-app Button Shapes.” iOS 7 took away visual cues like borders and shapes to easily identify buttons in apps, but that feature is back with the release of iOS 7.1. Jeff Gamet shows how. 2. March 10. “iOS 7.1: Killing the Cartoon Button Colors.” Many Apple customers thought…

The issue manifested for a subset of users as soon as they rebooted after the upgrade, with the passcode screen taking up to several seconds to register taps. The problems can persist once you're into your iPhone or iPad whenever using the keyboard. Key taps don't register for several seconds and then appear in a…

___________________ Previously, when you tapped on a day that had a dot below the date, indicating that it contained events, there would be a dramatic change from the month view to the daily hour-by-hour view. It looked like this:   Tap on, say, 4 (March) and the display radically changes to hour-by-hour view. iOS 7.1…

Here's what each caps button state means: Grey button with a white arrow: Caps off White button with a black arrow: Caps shift for a single character White button with a black arrow and black underline: Caps lock on Caps off (left), Shift on (center), Caps lock on (right) Apple may be a leader in…

iOS 7 in-app controls seem too bright? You can darken them in iOS 7.1 To darken the colors for in-app controls, like buttons, do this: Tap Settings Tap General Choose Accessibility Tap Increase Contrast Tap the toggle for Darken Colors You can make iOS 7's normal button colors (left) darker in iOS 7.1 (right) Some…

iOS 7.1 lets you add shapes to buttons so they're easier to find To enable shapes for in-app buttons, do this: Tap Settings Tap General Choose Accessibility Tap the toggle next to Button Shapes Buttons without shapes (top) are harder to find than buttons with shapes (bottom) Now, instead of seeing just words, or words with…

I'm comfortable with my intelligence (or lack thereof), but whenever I encounter these mental giants, I am at once awed, envious, and humbled. Awed by the absolute wonder that is the human brain and its ability to perform at levels that just don't seem human at all. Envious of the person who possesses what can…

iOS 7.0.6 jailbreak works, but you have to do some hex editing Jailbreaking is the term for hacking your iOS device so you can install apps that aren't available through Apple's own App Store. Apple doesn't support the process, it can introduce stability issues, and in some cases the Genius Bar in Apple's retail stores…

Just the mere mention of the word is enough to send some people scurrying for safer subjects like politics or religion. Least you believe that science is the exclusive realm of geeks, math eggheads, SciFi writers and the men and women who love them, please direct your attention to the device you're reading this on.…

With this method, iTunes’ll go through your entire library looking for missing album covers; if you only need a couple of items done, you could also right- or Control-click on an album and choose Get Album Artwork instead to save yourself some time. In either case, you’ll be required to sign in if you’re not already.…

A friend, who was far more musically mature than I was at the time, loaned me a Ronnie Laws album, Friends and Stranger. I was hooked. The title track was something that I could easily understand and even dance to. It was like a switch flipped in my musical mind. I begun to appreciate the…

So to clear out a password from your Mac, open Safari and pick Safari> Preferences. Choose the Passwords tab, and then select the item you want from the list and click “Remove.”  From this pane, you can also show what the password is for a particular site if you click the “Show passwords for selected…

The latter allows users the freedom to restore and upgrade while preserving their purchased features, but Apple doesn't make it obvious how to accomplish this. Our friends at DigiDNA found that employing free in-app purchases solves this problem. Their strategy, in short, is: Simultaneously release the new app alongside an update to the legacy version. Have…

To make the Wish List view useful, you need to add something to the list if you haven't already. Just go to the iTunes Store in iTunes, select a song or album, and choose Add to Wish List from the price drop-down menu. Your Wish List has been available in the iTunes Store for some…

Think about how many phone numbers and addresses you remember, how often you pull out your phone for directions even if you've been to your destination more than once, and let's not even talk about birthdays or other scheduled events. Our brains, and more to the point, our memory requires exercise in order to stay…

Unlike the skill of cursive writing, reading appears to be an ability we must have even as the technology that supports and present the text we read is changing. In fact, it is because of rapidly evolving technology that being able to read and read quickly has become almost as essential to our social lives…

So as you may be aware, when you pinch and zoom within Apple Maps, you’ll see a graphic scale of distance in the upper-left corner. Unfortunately, though, that scale disappears as soon as you stop zooming in and out, right? Yes, but there’s a way to make it stay there. If you touch the screen…

So, what will you do with your yearly do-over? Travel more? Quit a bad habit? Start some good habits? How about getting that idea or project you've been toying with off the ground finally? Wouldn't it be great to collaborate with friends and get feedback from them about why your idea is so cool, or…

The VIP List Let’s take a look at how to start your own VIP list, add important people to it, and have their messages all appear in the VIP mailbox for easy retrieval. When a mail message arrives, and you wish to add the sender to the VIP list, tap the sender’s name in the…

The problem with art is that, again like love, it's hard to define. What makes a portrait of a woman with a hint of a smile a work of art and the portrait of Aunt Sophie you produced when you were a kid…um, cute? The artist's skill? There is that, but it's more than just…

The app shares your location with people you authorize, and it lets you see where they are on a map, too. It’s obviously an awesome way to track where everyone is for hanging out, and it’s also convenient to know when your friends will be arriving if you’re waiting for them somewhere. (Of course, this…

The new Instagram Direct service, according to the company, is designed for those moments you may want to share with a smaller, select group of people. From the news release: Now you'll see a new icon in the top right corner of your home feed. Tap it to see photos and videos that people have…

Those banners are handy, as you can use them as a way to skip songs you don’t wanna hear (just hover your cursor over one to reveal the “Skip” button). Please don't ever skip this particular song. I will judge you for it. I like this feature a lot—a lot a lot a lot, especially since…

I knew one answer to the first part of her question—how to retrieve a history of purchases—but I was neither positive on the best way to do this, nor on how to print a listing. I did some digging, and am ready to share my findings, just in case you also want to do this.…