iOS Passbook

Passbook is one of the most useful and, at the same time, underused feature of iOS 7*. From Apple's website...

"Passbook keeps things like airline boarding passes, movie tickets, and gift cards all in one place, letting you scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, redeem a coupon, and more."

Imagine walking into a Starbucks and your loyalty/rewards card automatically appears on your phone's lock screen. Passbook uses your current location to determine the appropriate card to display. You're a simple swipe and scan away from enjoying your favorite beverage. At the airport, suitable boarding pass pops up on your phone's lock screen to scan at security and at the gate.

* Passbook is available in iOS version 6, as well

Taking Screenshots in Mac OS X

Problem: you would like to take a snapshot of all or part of what is being displayed on your Mac.

Solution:

To take a snapshot and save it to a file that will appear on your Mac's desktop...

Cmd+Shift+3...........................................Entire screen
Cmd+Shift+4...........................................Specified region of the screen

Cmd+Shift+4 and then space bar...................Specified window

To take a snapshot and place it in the copy buffer (use Cmd+v to paste it into an app)

Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+3...................................Entire screen

Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+4...................................Specified region of the screen

Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+4 and then space bar...........Specified window

iPhone Shortcuts

Problem: You want an easier way to enter commonly-used phrases into your iPhone.

Solution: Use Shortcuts by going to

  Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts

and

1) Tap on the Add New Shortcut... button
2) Enter a Phrase
3) Enter a Shortcut

For example, enter a phrase such as "I'm driving. Text you later" with the shortcut "drv"

My Favorite iPhone Apps

Here's a short list of my iPhone favorites:

1) United Airlines -- great app if you regularly fly on United. It allows you to check-in to flights, display QR boarding passes, change seats, and more.
2) Clear -- intuitive To Do list manager. Very innovative user interface and syncs via iCloud with the Mac version of the app.
3) Yelp -- very useful app to find great places to eat near home or while traveling.
4) Instagram -- an app that lets you share photos with others. Large community of users.

Enabling Photo Stream on your Apple Devices

With Photo Stream enabled, the pictures you take with your iPhone's camera will be available on all of your devices, including your Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. Photo Stream stores your most recent 1000 pictures on iCloud. It copies new photos to iCloud when your iPhone is connected to the Internet through WI-FI. To turn on Photo Stream on your devices, follow instructions below.

iPhone

On an iPhone running iOS 5 or later, go to

    Settings > Photos > Camera

and turn on My Photo Stream in the Photo Stream settings item. You can optionally turn on Shared Photo Streams as well if you want to share selected photos with family and friends who have Apple devices.

Mac

On a Mac running Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion), go to

    System Preferences > iCloud

Click on the Photo Stream checkbox then click on the Option… button. Check the My Photo Stream and, optionally, the Shared Photo Stream items.

Apple TV

On an Apple TV, follow the steps below…

1. Select the Photo Stream item, which is usually located near the bottom/left of the Home screen.
2. At the Photo Stream Setup page, answer the question, "Would you like to turn on Photo Stream using the account xxxxx?" by selecting "Yes."
3. At the Use Photo Stream as Screen Saver? page, you can optionally show your photos when your Apple TV is idle for a set time. Select "Yes" or "No."

Unable to Switch Apple TV's Network Connection from Wired to Wireless

Problem: Your Apple TV is set up to connect to a wired network, but you want it to connect to a wireless network. When you select Settings > General > Network, you find it's not obvious how to switch to a wireless network.

Solution: Disconnect the ethernet cable from the back of the Apple TV and try again. The wireless option should now be available.

Enabling Text to Speech on an iPhone or iPad

Problem: You have text that you would like to have read to you.

Solution: Enable the text-to-speech capability on your iDevice by performing the following steps...

1) Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speak Selection

2) Turn on the "Speak Selection" option

In any app that allows text selection (e.g. Notes, Safari), highlight a section of text and select Speak from the popup menu.

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