Basically it’s a hub for all your magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

In this article I’ll go over how the Newsstand app works, how to download and subscribe to magazine / newspapers and also how to hide the Newsstand app (if you want to). Apple has prevented the Newsstand app from being able to be deleted or even tucked away in a folder. This bugs some people, so at the bottom of this article I’ll also go over some ways of hiding it.

Not everybody likes Newsstand, however, some of the magazines are amazing. For instance, in a real magazine there are only images and words. In the magazines in Newsstand however, it doesn’t have to just be an image. For instance, as I’m typing this I have a magazine on my iPad open. The current image that I’m looking at is of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. Instead of being just a simple image though, it’s actually a full 360 image that I can move around and zoom.

How does the Newsstand app work?

Newsstands folder view

The way that Newsstand works is actually pretty simple. When you tap on it, it expands into a virtual bookshelf. This bookshelf (or folder view) stores all of your downloaded magazines and newspapers, as well as your subscriptions.

The magazines and newspaper act a lot like any of the other apps on your home screen. When you hold one down they start to wiggle around, allowing you to do the usual like move them around and delete them.

Each Newsstand app has its own menu system, means of navigation and its own way of subscribing, so each one could be slight learning curve. It can be a little confusing if you have many different subscriptions and have to remember how each one works.

The Newsstand magazines and newspapers also support push notifications. This means that once they publish something new, you are notified right away and it is downloaded to your device. I have push notifications enabled for my local newspaper, whenever a new publication goes out it is delivered straight onto my iPad and iPhone.

How to Download & Subscribe in Newsstand

Download and Subscribe

On the upper right of the Newsstand bookshelf there is a little button, the “Store” button. It takes you to a special section of the App Store where all the Newsstand content is located. You may be shocked at first to see that pretty much everything is free. It’s a lie though, well not really… I’ll explain.

Newsstand uses In App Purchases as the means of selling you magazine / newspaper issues or subscriptions. So for instance, if I wanted to get the latest issue of Popular Science, I’d download the magazine app for free. Once it finishes downloading I’d open the app and it would present me will the option to buy its issues one by one, or by monthly or even yearly subscriptions.

Not everything costs money though, for instance my local newspaper offers its daily issues for free.

I hate the Newsstand app, how do I remove or hide it?

Some people have no desire to use the Newsstand app and just want to delete it. Apple doesn’t want you to be able to delete it or even tuck it away in a folder. So if you’re one of those people who just want to get rid of it, here are 3 ways to hide the Newsstand app. One method requires your device to be jailbroken, another method requires you have a PC or Mac and the other method requires patience and fast finger agility.

Jailbroken Method

The jailbreak method is pretty simple, first of course your device will have to jailbroken. Open Cydia then search and install a tweak called NoNewsIsGoodNews. Basically what is does is hides the Newsstand app, if you have any newspapers or magazines they will be forced onto the homescreen and be presented as regular apps.

PC or Mac Method

StifleStand

This is by far the easiest method, it doesn’t even require your device to be jailbroken, however the after effects aren’t optimal. Hiding the Newsstand app with this method is stupid easy, all you need to do is download and run StifleStand. It is available for Mac and PC, all you need to do is download it, open it and click the one and only button it has. Conveniently that button is the “Hide Newsstand” button.

After the app has finished hiding the Newsstand app, it is hidden in a folder called Magic. Heres the problem however, if you had any newspaper or magazine subscriptions you can no longer access them without moving the Newsstand app out of the folder. If you do click the Newsstand app while it is the folder then your device will crash / respring (loads right back up). If you never want use the Newsstand app ever again then this will work fine for you.

Fast Finger Agility Method

This method has got to be the most frustrating ways to hide the Newsstand app (for me at least). This method does not require a Mac or PC or even that your device is jailbroken. Basically you want to tap and hold the Newsstand app at the same moment as you press the home button, and then quickly swipe to the second homescreen page, then tap a folder and press the home button again… But first the Newsstand app has to be on the 3rd homescreen page, because when you press the home button it goes to the 1st page, which then you need to quickly swipe to the 2nd page.

What?

Ok, so I tried it multiple times and it was a no go for me. I couldn’t do it and I simply got frustrated trying. Fortunatly Mr. @Iain_Bryce was willing to help out. So without further ado, here’s a video where he shows how easy it is to do. Also I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you’d like the video or follow his twitter account.

This method has the same effect as using the StifleStand app, if you try to open Newsstand while it’s in a folder then your iOS device will crash / respiring. So if you’re like me and don’t have ninja like finger reflexes, just use the PC / Mac method above.

The post Understanding and Using Newsstand on an iOS Device appeared first on AppDucate.

So do I need to use an Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware app on my Mac? Well I suppose it depends on you. Are you the kind of person who wildly installs and runs any program they randomly come across? Or are you the kind of person who comes across an app and first goes and does quick google search about it? Apple has implemented a few ways to protect yourself, and Mac OS X itself is very secure.

In this article I’ll go through some ways to make sure your precious Mac is safe and secure, as well as how to use some of the security features built into your Mac. And finally I’ll quickly go over the Anti-Virus client that I currently use on my Mac.

Built in Security – GateKeeper

Built-in Security

Mac OS X is very capable of protecting itself from viruses and malware, however it also gives you control of some of the security features. For instance all Macs that run Mountain Lion (10.8+) and OS X Lion (10.7.5+) have GateKeeper. Think of it this way, GateKeeper has a list of approved guests (apps), when one of those guests show up they are allowed entrance to the party (Mac). When an uninvited guest comes along and tries to sneak into the party, GateKeeper asks for its ID (Developer ID). After not being able to provide any means of ID, GateKeeper will shut the gate in its face.

As you can see in the screenshot, under “Allow applications downloaded from:” there are a few options from that let you choose how GateKeeper runs.

If you select “Mac App Store and identified developers”, then only applications from the Mac App Store and apps have gone through the process of getting verified with Apple can be installed. It’s very unlikely that Apple would randomly verify and approve a virus or malware, so with this option selected you should be pretty safe.

Unidentified App

You may eventually come across an application for your Mac that is not verified by Apple. The app may be perfectly fine and simply just hasn’t bothered getting verified by Apple (or can’t get verified). For applications like that, I can only suggest that you do a quick google search on the app and make sure you download the app from the apps homepage instead of some random download website.

GateKeeper will warn you if it finds an unidentified app. If you decide that you want to run the app despite Gatekeepers warning, then you can still run or install it, however you’ll have to enter your password.

To get to GateKeepers settings, Open System Preferences ->  Security & Privacy -> General tab -> looked under “Allow applications downloaded from:”.

Built in Security – SandBoxing & Runtime Protections

Sandboxing is another security feature on you Mac. Basically it makes the app that you’ve downloaded play only in its own sandbox by isolating its access to other apps sandboxes. So basically even if the app is malicious and tries to escape its own sandbox and mess with another app, it can’t because it is restricted.

There are also other runtime protections (running all the time) that are built right down to the very core of your Mac and runs on every level of it. It has a strong wall between the data and memory used for executable instruction. Basically this prevents malicious software from tricking your Mac into treating the data the same way as it treats an app, which could have been used to compromise it.

It even randomly changes the memory locations where different parts of the app is stored. This stops an attacker from being able to find and record certain parts of app to make it do something it wasn’t intended to do.

Built in Security – Anti-Phishing

Anti-Phishing

Most browsers have some form of Anti-phishing. There are sites out there that will try to steal sensitive information such as your usernames and passwords. Sometimes these sites will try to trick you into believing that they are a legitimate websites that you can trust. Meanwhile they are simply trying to get ahold of your credit card and other sensitive information. If you use Safari on your Mac then you’ll be warned the moment you come across a suspicious or harmful website.

Anti-Phishing in Safari can be enabled by going to its preferences -> Security tab -> make sure “Warn when visiting a fraudulent website” is checked.

Don’t leave it all in your browsers hands though, if you come across a site asking for personal information and it seems sketchy then do some quick research on it. Google can help here.

So do I need an Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware app?

The above may make you feel safe enough to say that you don’t need an Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware app. And if you do feel safe enough then that’s perfectly sensible, Mac OS X is very secure and has quite a few safeguards against most of these threats and exploits. If you are safe about what you install and what websites you go then it’s unlikely that you will get a virus.

However, before you close this page let me point one thing out. I’m pretty techie, I’ve had a large interest in computers and other technology since I was young and have become somewhat versed in things like instantly spotting out malicious sites and even possible viruses; and still, I currently have an Anti-Virus solution on my Mac.

So if there are viruses and malware out there that can harm a Mac then why doesn’t everyone use one? Well the most common issue with having an Anti-Virus program is that it is constantly running (realtime scanning). Realtime scanning means that as apps (and other “stuff”) are opened they are being scanned by the Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware app. Basically everything is scanned as it is processed. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Since it’s always scanning, it has a really high success rate of stopping any threat the moment it appears, however since it’s always scanning it’s also taking a toll on your computers speed and resources.

ClamXav

The solution (for me anyways) is to use app that doesn’t have realtime protection (or can have it disabled). I use ClamXav because it’s free, simple, smart and does what it says it does. When I close ClamXav, it stops using my Macs resources and when I need it, it’s there right away. My favorite feature is the ability to right-click (control-click) any file and be given the option to immediately scan the file.

There are tons of Anti-Virus / Malware apps and solutions out there to choose from, some are free, some cost money. It’s up to you to decide on what you feel safest with.

For example, if you look up in your browser and see a whole bunch of toolbars and have no idea how they got there then you should probably use a really good realtime solution. If you’re smart about what you do and install on your Mac, then you most likely don’t need a realtime protection solution.

Without realtime scanning your Anti-Virus / Malware app is useless unless you do manual or scheduled scans.

Manual and Scheduled

Most Anti-Virus / Malware clients allow you to set up scheduled scans and do manual scans. For this example I’ll use ClamXav, as it’s the app I currently use and like.

Have you ever downloaded something and been hesitant on opening it? Sometimes I can be hesitant on opening up zipped (.zip / .rar) files. Luckily with ClamXav on your Mac all you have to do is right-click (control click) the item and click “Scan with ClamXav”. It will perform an instant scan on the files and show you the results when done.

Scheduled tasks are pretty important if you plan on using ClamXav because it does not have realtime scanning (Mac App Store version). Setting up a scheduled tasks is really easy, the most difficult part of it is deciding when you’d like to have it run. Personally I have it set to run on the weekends at 9:00 am, this is because it’s the weekend and I know that I’m not going to be up before 9. Try to choose a time when you know you’ll be away from your computer. You can still of course use your computer while a scheduled scan is going on, it just may run a little slower since when scanning, a lot of your Macs resources are being using to complete the scan.

It’s also important to have your virus defections updated regularly, preferably right before a full system scan is done.

There are two versions of ClamXav, the Mac App Store version and the version you can download from the apps homepage. The version that you can download from the apps homepage has more features.

Features not included in the Mac App Store version of ClamXav:

1. It does not have realtime scanning – the version from www.clamxav.com does.
   
2. It does not have the bundled ClamAV engine used to build your own installation.

The best advice I can give you is to be smart about what you do and what you download. Don’t just install anything without knowing what it is. When installing an application don’t blindly click the next button. This is usually where you are asked if you want to install other promoted software. For instance, do you have a bunch of uninvited toolbars in your browser? This is most likely how they got there.

Be safe out there.

The post Should a Mac use an Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware App appeared first on AppDucate.

Well first, I’m hoping you have a general idea of what’s causing the iTunes sync to take so long. Some people have an issue with the backup taking hours, some have issues with iTunes deciding that it needs to sync the entirety of the genius suggestion collection every time it syncs. Even if you aren’t sure what’s causing the issue I’ll try to cover as much as I can in this article, hopefully you’ll find what you are looking for.

Speed Up by – Backing up to iCloud instead of iTunes

Backup to iCloud

I’ll start with the most common culprit. As I’m sure you know, backing up is very important, however backing up to iTunes is not the only way of backing up. To make iTunes sync faster you can have your iOS device backup to iCloud instead. Usually after syncing your new media, iTunes decides that it should also update the backup. This often takes up a bit to much time. I won’t go into detail on how to setup iCloud backup since I’ve already gone through it in another article: 2 ways to backup your iPod, iPhone and iPad

Speed Up by – Syncing Smaller Media Files

Sync SD Videos

Here’s a really cool feature I like about iTunes, that defiantly makes iTunes sync faster! Have you ever purchased a movie or TV show from the iTunes Store and noticed that it downloads an HD and an SD version? If you are transferring that video onto your iOS device then there really isn’t that much of a need to have the large HD version transfer over as you’re most likely not even going to really notice any quality difference because of the screen size on the iPad, iPhone or the iPod Touch.

To decrease the sync time, go into your iOS devices summary page in iTunes on your computer and under “Options” check off the box that says, “Prefer standard definition videos. As an added bonus, you’ll also see a large amount of extra available space saved.

I’ve heard people say that setting the option to “Convert higher bit rate songs to” a lower quality song also speeds up the syncing process. I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion as basically what this means, is that each song will have to go through a conversion process (the songs in your iTunes library on your computer remain untouched). If anything this simply makes iTunes take way to long to sync. I canceled it before ever 2 (out of 852) songs finished converting. It does have the benefit of saving a ton of space on your iOS device though.

Speed Up by – Disabling Genius

Turn off Genius

Genius can be one of the most frustrating syncing steps, mainly because it can take ages to complete especially when you have a large library. I personally never use Genius and actually have it completely turned off and have noticed that iTunes syncs so much faster now. Disabling genius is really easy. Just open iTunes, go to the menu bar -> click “Store” -> Turn off Genius.

But wait, what if that option to turn off Genius isn’t there? Do you have iTunes Match enabled? I hate to be there bearer of bad news, however if you use iTunes Match you can not disable genius. Apple has decided that if you use iTunes Match then you also must want to use Genius and hasn’t given the option to use Match without Genius.

You can disable Genius but you’ll also have to disable Match, here are the instructions:

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC.
2. In the menu bar click “Store”
3. Click “Turn Off iTunes Match”
4. Once Match has finished turning off, click the store menu again and then click “Turn Off Genius”.

Speed Up by – Not Syncing Wirelessly

Disable Sync over Wi-Fi

Syncing wirelessly is a pretty useful feature, however it does take longer to sync over Wi-Fi than by syncing via USB cable. How much faster is USB? Well actually quite a bit faster. To speed up the syncing process by disabling syncing over Wi-Fi:

1. Open iTunes on your computer.
2. Go to your iOS device Summary page.
3. Under “Options” uncheck “Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi”.

Personally I still use Wi-Fi sync just because I much prefer it than syncing over USB cable. However it’s up to you to decide what fits your needs best.

Speed Up by – Not sending Diagnostic Information

Disable Diagnostic Information

I noticed a slight speed increase by disabling the option to send diagnostic and usage information to Apple. When something crashes on your iOS device it creates a log of it; this information is useful to Apple because it tells them what they need to fix when they release a new update to iOS. It also logs some usage information that Apple finds useful because it lets them know how the device is being used. They do have a strict privacy policy so none of your personal information is sent but it can make the iTunes sync take a while longer. To disable it:

1. Open Settings on your iOS device.
2. Go to General -> About.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Diagnostics & Usage.
4. Tap “Don’t Send”.

Nothing Works!

“Nothing works, iTunes is taking forever to sync and I’m going bald from ripping my hair out!” I’ve heard of some people having issues where nothing they do makes iTunes sync faster. If you are one of these people who are unfortunately stuck with an iOS device that is taking hours to sync then there may being an issue that can only be resolved by restoring. Make a backup first. Restoring may seem a bit drastic, so before you do that, try simply restarting your device first. Ask any IT guy or gal and the most common solution to tech issues is a simple restart.

The post How to Speed Up iTunes Sync on an iPhone, iPod and iPad appeared first on AppDucate.

As the name would imply, it’s a center place for all your games.

Game Center brings a social aspect to the way you play games and keep track of achievements as well as the leaderboards.

Game Center on iPad

All you need to do to activate Game Center is to open it and log into it. On a Mac it can be found in Applications/.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be presented with the default “Me” tab. This specific tab gives an overview of your account; showing the number of games you have stored in Game Center as well as the accumulated points and finally how many friends you have. On this tab you can also choose to set a status, as well as change your profile avatar.

The Next tab, “Friends” gives you a view of all your friends, as well as the games you have in common. Game Center add a competitive element by comparing gaming scores against your friends. I have this one friend who constantly has to just have a slightly higher score than me in Street Fighter IV Volt, and this is pleasant reminder of that…

Achievements

My favourite feature about Game Center is the ability to challenge your friends. So say for instance I feel like showing off some of my new skills in Street Fighter to my buddy. I would tap on his profile, select the game, and then tap the play button. This would load up Street Fighter on my iPhone, and send him a notification say that he’s being challenged. If he were to open that notification it would launch the game and start a match between us.

This same thing can be done for specific achievements. For example, there is this one achievement that we both don’t have yet. It is to win 15 matches without SP Move Assist on by playing in the online mode. I could tap this specific achievement and send him a challenge.

Onto the next tab, the Games tab. This tab simply shows your games and stats as well as other game recommendations. Nothing interesting here so lets go to the next tab.

The Challenges tab shows any challenges you may have received. To accept or decline the challenge simply tap on it.

And lastly the Requests tab. This is where you can view and accept or decline any friend requests. Of course you’re also able to send a friend request by tapping the “Add Friend” button. You will need to know their Game Center nickname or their email address in order to send the request. You can also customize a message to be sent along with the friend request, once it’s sent it’s simply a waiting game until your friend accepts.

There is another way to send friend requests, while in Game Center select a game then tap the “Players” tab. This will show people who you’ve previously played against. Simply tap their username and then the “Send Friend Request” button. Game Center can also use your Contacts and even Facebook account to suggest friends that you may like to challenge or add as a friend.

Find Game Center Games

Don’t have any Game Center enabled games? Go to the Games tab in Game Center, scroll to the bottom and select “Find Game Center Games”. This will open the App Store to a special game area with all the games being Game Center enabled. Alternatively, here’s a link: Game Center Games

If you’re new to the Apple devices/Game Center world or looking to get into it, just thought I should mention that Game Center is not required to play games. It does add a couple nice touches and defiantly brings a social effect to the games though. It comes pre-installed on iPhones, iPods, iPads, and since it can’t simply be removed it may be worth checking out, especially if you enjoy playing games.

The post How to Use Game Center on an iOS Device and on a Mac appeared first on AppDucate.

The item you’ve requested is not currently available in the Canadian [your location] Store, but it is available in the U.S. Store [or whichever location].

The reason certain apps, TV shows, music, movies, ect, say that you have to change your iTunes Store location is because of licensing terms and other legalities that I won’t go into. It’s the same why reason you can’t watch Hulu outside of the US. However if you’ve recently moved to the US or simply just want to attain certain US apps then you can just change your iTunes Store location.

A Few Important things to Understand

Before you start though, there are a few things I should be clear about. If you change your current Apple ID accounts location, you’ll only be able to update/download the apps that are available for that new location. So if you already have apps on your device and then change the store location, those apps will have re-downloaded from your new store location. Now if you want to continue using and updating your current apps, and still be able to download apps from outside your country then you need to create another account. This will allow you to log out of your current Apple ID and log into your other Apple ID account located in a different country or region. If you simply want to view the app, you can just log out of your account, choose a temporary location and view that location specific app.

So there are 3 different ways to change your store location and all of these methods work, whether you are using iTunes on a computer or on an iPad, iPhone or iPod.

Permanently Change Store Location

Change Location on a Computer

This method should only really be used if you’ve actually moved to a new location. Lets say you are moving from the UK to Canada. All you really need to do is log into your Apple ID account and change your location. You’ll need to update your address, and payment information.

On a Mac or PC open iTunes and go to the iTunes Store page. Click on the “Account” link under “Quick Links”. Log into your account if it asks you to and click on “Change Country or Region”.

You can also change your location while in the App Store, just like you would in the iTunes Store.

Switch Store Location with a New Apple ID

Create new Apple ID

In order to create a new Apple ID account you need to either have an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch with iOS 5 or later, or a Mac with OS X Lion (10.7.4) or later. Setting up a new Apple ID account (iCloud email address) is super easy. On an iOS device, go to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Add Account -> Tap on the iCloud button. Here you’ll be given the choice to log into your current iCloud or “Get a Free Apple ID” account.

Once you tap the “Get a Free Apple ID” button, you’ll be required to enter the standard profile information to create the account. When you get to the area where you are required to enter in your location, simply choose whichever location you desire. You may be required to enter in a zip code (postal code), if you can’t think of a proper zip code for the location you want to add just go to google and type in something like “US zip codes”.

Now lets say you wanted to download an app with a new location specific Apple ID account. Since it’s an app you’d go to the App Store, log out of your current account, then log into your new location specific account. Once you successfully log in, an alert will pop-up saying, “This Apple ID is only valid for purchases in the U.S. [your desired location] iTunes Store. You will be switched to that Store”.

On a Mac go to Settings -> Mail, Contacts & Contacts -> click iCloud -> Create Apple ID.

Temporarily Change iTunes Store Location

Temporarily switch Store Location

This method is handy when you simply want to view an app or iTunes Store item. You can’t download the item with this method, you can only view it. To download the item, use one of the above methods.

Open up iTunes on your computer and go to the iTunes Store page. At very bottom of the page on the right hand side is an icon. The icon will represent your current Country or Region, click on this little icon to bring into view all the other locations that you can view.

From this window you can choose from quite a few different locations from all over the world. Once you click a location you will be automatically logged out of your currently store location.

The post How to Change your App Store and iTunes Store Location appeared first on AppDucate.

iOS 6 is updatable on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPod Touch 4, iPod Touch 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and the iPad mini, even if they only have 8 GBs or 16 GBs of memory.

Any of these devices, even if they only have 8GB of storage space can be updated to iOS 6, although you may come across an error saying you can’t update to iOS 6 because there is not enough space.

To update to iOS 6, your device has to have at minimum around 2.5 – 3GBs of available storage space. This is space required by the device in order to process the update properly. Updating through your devices software update (Settings -> General -> Software Update) actually takes up more space than updating through iTunes. This is because when iTunes downloads the iOS 6 software it stores the file on your computer. When you update through your device, the iOS 6 software is downloaded to your device taking up some space (it does get removed however when your device successfully updates through).

The amount of space taken up by iOS 5 and iOS 6 isn’t that much different. An iOS device has a system partition with reserved flash memory for the iOS operating system (OS). Around 1 to 1.5 GB is reserved on all devices to store the stock apps and OS. That being as it is, you shouldn’t notice very much, if any extra space being taken up once the update is completed.

In fact if you setup your device as a new device instead of restoring from a backup there is a good chance that you’ll actually see an increased amount of available space. This is mainly because it won’t restore all your old caches and any possible corrupt backup data that may try to migrate over from your backup. If you want to see how much space the old data/caches and native iOS app data are taking up, open iTunes -> Plug in device or connect via Wi-Fi -> go to the devices summary page, and view the orange “Other” category located at the bottom on the iTunes window. This other article explains how to remove some of the “Other” space if interested.

My device doesn’t have enough space to update

Fix “not enough space” issue

If the update button on your device is greyed out or you are receiving a message that there is not enough storage space to upgrade to iOS 6, well, it’s because you don’t have enough available space, yet. Even if your device is only an 8GB model, it still has enough space to be updated to iOS 6.

The first thing you want to do is check to see what is taking up the most space on your device. You can view these items by going to Settings -> General -> Usage. Under “Storage”, are all the items that are taking up space on your device. They are conveniently listed by size, in order of largest to smallest. Most commonly the largest space hogs are the music, videos, podcasts and iTunes U.

If the largest items are your media, then all you have to do is un-sync those items with iTunes, or delete them from your device. Any podcast or song you remove can simply be re-synced with iTunes or if bought from iTunes, re-downloaded once your device is fully updated.

If your device has Photo Stream enabled then your latest 1000 photos in your Camera Roll are already stored online. If you have a lot of photos and they are taking up a lot of space, then you can remove the pictures from Camera Roll and simply copy/download them all back from Photo Stream to Camera Roll after the update. Check Photo Stream first to make sure all your photos are actually stored. Enable Photo Steam by going to Settings -> Mail Contacts, Calendars -> select Apple ID account -> Photo Steam -> Make sure the switch is on the “On” position.

Of course if there’s not enough space because your apps are taking up to much space, then those apps will have to be un-sync with iTunes. You can also just delete the apps then download them again once you’ve successfully updated to iOS 6. The difference between un-syncing and deleting is that un-sync with iTunes will keep the app data so that when you re-sync the app, all the settings and other app information will also be synced back. Whereas all of the app data will be permanently lost if you simply delete the app from your device.

After you’ve made enough space on your iOS device (around 2.5 GB – 3 GB  of available storage space) then your device should have no problem updating to iOS 6.

For full instructions on how to update to iOS 6 read my other article: How to Successfully Update to iOS 6

The post Update to iOS 6 even when there’s not enough space appeared first on AppDucate.

The Reminders app comes pre-installed on Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads.

It utilizes iCloud to backup and sync all your reminders across all your devices, this way there is no excuse for “oops, I must have forgotten”.

Uses of the Reminders app

Reminders app

The Reminders app actually has quite a few cool little features, a lot of them tied directly into Siri. Of course Siri isn’t required to use the Reminders app though. There are a couple different kinds of reminders you can set. There are date/time based reminders as well as location based reminders.

The date/time based reminders are pretty self explanatory, they will send you a notification on a pre-defined time. The location based reminders are a bit more interesting, they will notify you when you reach a certain destination. For instance, if I’m at home and remember that I need to go to a meeting when I get to work, I can simply tell Reminders to remind me when I arrive at work. It does this by constantly checking on the current location and upon arriving at the destination simply shows a reminder notification. A quick tip about using location based reminders; it uses up a lot of battery life. If you’ve read my previous article on prolonging battery life, you’ll notice that location based services take up the most battery life.

Reminders app Options

The Reminders app uses iCloud to backup and sync all your reminders, it can even use iCloud to share your reminders with other people. With the Reminders app you’ll be able to sort all your reminders into categories, view them by list or date view and search for them.

To add a date/time to a reminder tap on the reminder, and turn on “Remind Me on a Day”. This will allow you to enter a day as well as a specific time to be notified of your reminder. You can also set it to remind you on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or even by yearly intervals.

The same goes for adding a location based reminder. Turn the “Remind Me At a Location” on. You’ll be presented with two options. One will be “When I Leave” and other “When I Arrive”. Basically just enter in a location and decide whether you’d like to be notified when you leave or arrive at the location/destination.

You’re also able to give the reminder a priority of importance by tapping the “Show More…” button. You can choose between Low, Medium and High. When you give it a priority, it shows little red exclamation marks over the reminder signifying that it is extra important. Of course if you so choose you can also add extra notes to the reminder under the “Show More” option.

How to Setup Locations for the Reminders app

Location based Reminders

Before you can start to use location based reminders there are a couple of things need to be set up in order for it to work. First, the Reminders app is going to have to know what your home and work location are. To do this go into your contacts, and search for your own contact information. What you need to do is add the locations that you want to use in the Reminders app. As you can see in the picture I have my home and work address (fake of course) added into my contact information.

Now that is done, you need to tell the Reminders app that it needs to use this specific contact card for the home and work locations. Go into Settings -> General -> Siri -> My Info. In the next windows that slides up, choose the contact card that you want to use.

That’s all that’s required to setup location based reminders. Now you can tell Siri, “Remind me to do the dishes when I get home” and it will fetch your home location and remind you when you get home.

This is not limited to just a home and work location however. Lets say you have a friend name Jeff. If the contact card for Jeff has an address, you could set a reminder to remind you to do something when you get to Jeff’s house. This is something even Siri picks up on. For instance I could tell Siri, “Remind me when I get to Jeff’s house to pay him back the $20 I owe him”.

There are two ways to create new reminders based on location. Since the location information is fetched from your contacts, you can either continue to add locations to your existing contact card or create a new contact card for each location. I’ll explain, say you want to be reminded to buy something at Walmart, you can create a new contact called Walmart and then add the address to its contact card. The other method (method I prefer) is to simply add the Walmart location to my contact card. I do it this way because I prefer not to have multiple different contact cards simply for location based reminders. This can be done by going to your contact card, tapping the “Edit” button and then tapping the “add new address” button.

Next, you are given the choice of selecting whether this is your home or work location. What you want to do instead is tap the “Add Custom Label” button. This will allow you to enter a name for the location. If you wanted to add Walmart as a location, you’d type “Walmart” into the “Custom Label” box. Next simply add the address for your local Walmart. Now if you tell Siri to remind you to do something when you reach Walmart it will search your contact card, find the information and remind you at the proper location.

How to Share Reminders

Share Reminders

This is a somewhat hidden feature that not many know about. This is one of those times when I have to wonder what Apple was thinking, since it has a somewhat… well stupid way of enabling it. First off, creating a shared Reminders list can not be done on an iOS device.  To enable shared Reminders it has to be done on a Mac or at icloud.com. Although even while on a Mac or on the iCloud website it is still somewhat hidden.

Login into your iCloud account and go to Reminders. Next hover your cursor over the category you’d like to share, and a small broadcast button will appear. Once you click this you’ll be able to enter in the email address of the person you’d like to share the Reminder category with. They will receive an email asking if they’d like to join your shared Reminders list. The method on a Mac is pretty much the same thing, open the Reminders app, hover over the category and click the little broadcast button.

I’m really hoping Apple makes this possible without have to use the iCloud.com website or a Mac. It should be possible to enable simply on an iOS device. I’m just speculating, however it will probably be one of the “amazingly new and revolutionary” features added in iOS 7.

Once you have successfully created your shared Reminders list it is actually quite useful however. Your wife or husband could create a shopping list for you while you’re at work and have it sync to your iOS device so when you go to pick up the milk, you can be reminded that there are also another 20 things to pick up. Yay…

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