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Tag: apple

May 21, 2017

What is Apple CarPlay?

If you step into a newer vehicle and suddenly feel like your iPhone has been taken over by the car’s computer system, don’t freak out (like I did). There’s an explanation…

So I was riding as a passenger in a car, minding my own business. Except I wanted to top off the juice in my iPhone. I noticed a USB plug, and I had a Lightning cable with me. So I took the liberty to plug in and power up.

Then my father happened to call me. I put my iPhone up to my ear to talk.

“Hey, Dad! What’s doing?”

To my surprise, I heard my father’s response blare loudly through the car’s speakers!

I wasn’t too keen on publicly sharing our conversation.
(My 84-year-old father can sometimes be a little cranky.)

So I said, “Hold on for a moment, Dad…”

I checked my iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection. Had it somehow paired with the car’s speaker system?
No.

Maybe Bluetooth?
Nope.

Then how the heck was my iPhone connected to this mysterious ‘Car-Net?!’

Plugging into a Strange Car
Of course, I was missing the obvious connection. Remember, I had just jacked in my iPhone with the Lighting cable.

I looked at the cable and yanked it out to sever the connection as if I were taking an ax to a hive of cables powering a massive super computer that had just been hacked.

My iPhone took back its audio, and I had my private chat with my dad.
He needed some ‘tech support’ on how to mute and unmute the ringer on his own iPhone.
(Sigh)

Hello, CarPlay
So what the heck had just happened to me and my trusty iPhone?

Well, if you don’t own a newer model car, you may not know this, but I had simply experienced the iPhone capability called, ‘Apple CarPlay.’

Actually, it’s more about the capability of your car… if it has a built-in touchscreen that can ‘talk’ to your iPhone.
(The presence of a touchscreen does not, in itself, guarantee CarPlay compatibility.)

If your vehicle works with CarPlay, the touchscreen will display certain native iPhone apps like Maps, Phone, Messages, and Music, as well as other apps like Audible, Pandora and Amazon Music.
(It’s an easier and safer way to use your iPhone in the car.)

The apps have been reimagined for your car’s display.
(It’s not a mirror of your iPhone’s screen.)

Your car’s buttons and knobs can also be used, such as when you want to use Siri for voice control.

Newer Cars Only
Again, older wheels can’t play with CarPlay.
I love my older Toyota RAV4, but it only knows how to ‘CarDrive.’

Yes, I’ve got tech envy.
(It was clear there were tech stunts it couldn’t do when I had to MacGyver it to stream music from my iPhone via Bluetooth.)

Most auto manufacturers began integrating CarPlay in 2016 and 2017, and some are still ramping up.
(For example: 2018 for the Subaru Outback and Volvo XC60.)

Plus, CarPlay only works with iPhone 5 or newer models.

Some vehicles support CarPlay via a Lightning USB connection; others can do the trick wirelessly.

Aftermarket Solutions
But all is not lost… There are aftermarket CarPlay systems that you can install in your car’s dashboard. Apple lists Alpine, Carion, Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony for suggested systems.

The price tag ranges from $400 to over $1,000.
Zac Hall from 9to5Mac has this review of his favorites.

Add It to the Shopping List
So if you’re driving, CarPlay is clearly an important upgrade when you want to interface with your iPhone.

But if you’re simply a passenger in someone else’s ride and need to find the nearest USB jack… just remember your iPhone can become something of a more ‘public’ user experience.

Do you see CarPlay in your future…?

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April 30, 2017

My iPhone’s Logic Board Error

What are you supposed to do when you wake, but your smartphone doesn’t? It’s that thin gray line… when good tech goes bad!

It’s 5:15am. My iPhone’s rise-and-shine alarm begins to ring. I reach over to tap the screen. I tap it again. This time I open my eyes and tap three times more.
Nothing.

Huh?

My iPhone 6 Plus’ screen has become positively unresponsive.

Good morning, Barrett…

Clear the Cache
A few minutes later I trick my digital companion into compliance by clicking the home button a couple times and rebooting. (I forget the exact sequence.)
But clearly something is wrong as the ‘issue’ repeats itself twice more over the next couple of hours.

So I jump in my car and whisk my iPhone to the Apple Store for an emergency check up with an Apple Genius. The first thing she asks me is if I’ve done a ‘hard reboot’ by simultaneously clicking the home button and the sleep/wake button.

“That will clear out the cache, which can really build up over time,” she explains.

“Uh… no,” I respond sheepishly.

She proceeds to do that and a few moments later, my iPhone comes back to life as if nothing was ever wrong.

“Let me do some diagnostics, just in case,” she offers.

Another few minutes pass, and everything looks great on the report.
My iPhone is a picture of perfect health.

The Genius hands my iPhone back to me.

The Thin Gray Line
I look at my device.
Huh.

Then I remember something else.

“You know… there was one other thing…
Once, when the screen was frozen, I noticed a thin gray line shimmering on the very top of the screen.”

“A thin gray line?”

“Yes… at the very top.”

“Oh.”
(pause)

“Is that not a good thing.”

“No, it’s not.”

“What does that gray line mean?”

“It’s a documented sign of a logic board error.”

“Logic board error? That’s bad, right?”

“Yes… that’s bad.”

“But it only happened once. Could it happen again?”

The Genius looked at me. I already knew the answer.
When tech begins to malfunction, of course the problem can or will eventually come back. It’s just a matter of when.

Logic Board Blues
So I really can’t have a smartphone with a glitchy logic board.
That’s not going to work.

I’m planning on upgrading to the iPhone 8 when it’s released. But that’s an eternity when you’ve got an unhealthy iPhone. I see no viable option to just ‘wait it out…’

I turn to the Genius. “What are my choices?”

Her eyes squint a bit as she thinks. “What I can do is give you a new iPhone 6 Plus with the same specs as your old one for the same cost as a screen replacement.”

“And how much is that?”

“One hundred and fifty dollars.”

It’s Going to Cost You
What choice did I really have? Sure, it’s a band-aid solution… and you might recall, I replaced the battery on my naughty iPhone a few months back.
And that cost eighty bucks!

You might say the collective $230 would be better spent on a newer iPhone 7. But in a sense, I’d be buying into newer (though not more advanced) tech… The Genius explained that my new iPhone 6 Plus was built out of new and refurbished parts and came with a 90-day warrantee.

“Okay… let’s do it.”

“Good… So have you done a full back up of your old iPhone? You’ll have to re-sync everything to the new one.”

Thousands and Thousands… of Photos
Okay… so this is a little bit of a touchy subject for me…

I’ve been syncing all of my important iPhone data to iCloud like Mail, Contacts and Calendar. But I haven’t been using iCloud for a full back up.

I’ve got thousands of photos on my iPhone, which I’ve collected over the years.
(The basic 5GB of iCloud storage couldn’t handle that.)

And I’ve felt I haven’t needed to pay for more iCloud storage, because I’ve been religious about archiving my iPhone photos to my iMac… originally into Aperture, and now into Lightroom.
(I’ve also been archiving my iPhone’s video files onto my iMac.)

So I’ve been saving all of my phone’s media elsewhere.

There Are No Shortcuts
Separately, I’ve properly backed up my iPhone to my iMac via iTunes.
But… not recently.
(Bad Barrett)

Still, I know I’ve got all my media plus the old back up. I’m thinking I can confidently hand my iPhone over to Apple… never to see it again.

The Genius looks at me. “You don’t seem certain.”

“No, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

So she unboxes the shiny replacement and slips my old iPhone’s SIM card into the new iPhone.

And that was it.

I must have suddenly turned pale, because the Genius says, “Do you want me to help you restore your data from iCloud?”

“Yes, please.”
(I don’t do this every day.)

So I stay in the Apple Store for another fifteen minutes, and she guides my next steps to ensure my new iPhone properly downloads all of my iCloud data.

I thank her and leave behind my old iPhone… and all of its photos forever.
(The device’s memory gets wiped and usable parts recycled.)

Rebuild and Improve
When I return home, I have a little more work to do. Since I’m not doing a full restore from a back up, I have to download my apps again and sign into them.
(A full back up solution of course would be better next time.)

The good news is I take the opportunity to only re-download the apps I’ve actually been using. And then I organize them on the screen in way that makes more sense.
(Like organizing your sock drawer… when do you ever make time to do that?!)

And then I tap on the photos app…
Nothing.

Of course, all of my thousands of photos are not on this iPhone.

Well… not exactly…

iCloud Photo Sharing
Over the years, I’ve been organizing all of my best photos into shared photo albums in iCloud. So all of the pictures that really matter to me… have already popped back into their respective shared albums on my new iPhone.

And then I had my Aha Moment…

These iCloud photo albums are now where I always go when I want to show someone a picture on my iPhone. I haven’t been going back and searching for a pic in my ‘Camera Roll.’

How many times have you waited for friends to show you photos on their smartphones, and then they have to swipe through hundreds (thousands?) of locally-stored pics to find the right ones?

I gave up that embarrassing practice a long time ago…

So really… why would you need to carry around your past decade’s worth of disorganized photos locally on your iPhone?
…As long as you’ve backed them up… you don’t!

Plus, without all of those photos bogging down an iPhone… it suddenly recovers a whole lot more local memory for other uses.
(Nice!)

Make Sure the Sun Still Rises
This all points back to the bottom line that you shouldn’t get too attached to any particular iPhone or the data it houses locally.

It’s always all about backing up and properly organizing your data and files… elsewhere.

Because eventually… all good tech goes bad.
Even your trusty iPhone.

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March 26, 2017

How to Quickly Delete Multiple Photos from Your iPhone

If your iPhone is running out of space, one way to find more room is to delete photos. But that can take a lot of time if you haven’t been regularly doing it. Here are tips to help you speed through this digital chore.

You really don’t need all of those photos in your iPhone’s ‘Camera Roll.’  Especially if you always download them to your computer or up to the cloud where they ‘officially’ live and are safely backed up. But manually deleting one photo at a time using the Photos app on your iPhone is a losing battle when you’ve built up thousands of photos.

And eventually, you start to run out of space on your iPhone, and then it becomes a real problem.
(Sound familiar?)

There needs to be a faster way to thin out your photos in bulk.
Well, of course there is…

Time for some digital spring cleaning!

Bulk Delete Pics on your iPhone
First, go to ‘Camera Roll’ in Photos…

  • You’ll see the ‘Select’ icon in the top right corner that allows you to tap and highlight multiple photos at the same time. Tap that.
  • Then, tap the trash icon on the bottom right.
  • Finally, touch the delete tab that pops up and you’re done!

But for me, that simple process still feels somewhat limited when you’re trying to move through so many photos. Plus, I’d prefer a larger canvas to work with than the surface of an iPhone.

Ideally, I’d like to be able to manage this process on my iMac so I can see more photos all at once.

Well, guess what?
You can do exactly that using the ‘Preview’ app on your Mac.

Bulk Delete those iPhone Photos Using Your Mac
First, you connect your iPhone to you iMac or MacBook….

  • Then, open up Preview.
  • Select ‘Import from’ your iPhone’s name.
  • Then click on the photos to delete.
  • And finally, click on the little red delete circle icon on the bottom left.

BAM!

So the truth is both methods are extremely similar. Again, the big difference is you’re working on a larger screen, which makes me much happier.

And if Preview isn’t right for you, the ‘Image Capture’ app on your Mac pretty much duplicates the same process as Preview.

Simple Isn’t Always Easy
To be perfectly transparent, this topic squarely falls right under the
“How Did I Not Know That?” category.

Apple designers have done perfectly fine in setting this up for us.

But sometimes the obvious solution that’s staring right in your face requires a little more thinking on your part.
(Chalk it up to your brain power focusing on more universally pressing issues.)

I must admit… not so long ago, it wasn’t so ‘obvious’ to me either.
Or I’ve never taken the time to want to delete multiple photos from my iPhone.
(I’m not sure which one I should admit to!)

And the fact that you’re still reading this suggests that you also might need a little ‘refresher’ too.

I won’t tell anyone… as long as you don’t!

#ThingsYouShouldKnow

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