iGo With My iPad

Using our iPads – At work, at home and at play

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Free iPad and Desktop file transfer, no cable or cloud required

May 27, 2013 No comments

We move documents and photos between our desktops and iPads via several different methods, depending on the files and where we are. When near a desktop, just plug in the sync cable and drag files to iTunes, then sync. Most often though, we move files up to one of a variety of cloud options, then download with the other device to either edit more or reference in meetings. The effectiveness of the cloud options do of course require an Internet connection.

An option we have been using at both home and the office is Instashare. There is a Mac Desktop solution, and a Universal app for both our iPhones and iPads. There are versions of both that are currently free. No need to wait for a Cloud to update with your files or carry a cable, Instashare is always ready and very quick! The solution works by devices ‘seeing’ each other on a Wifi network to literally drag/drop files between the desktop/notebook and the iPad/iPhone (or iPhone with a iPad!).

01 iPad Instashare

There is a free Beta version of the Mac Desktop app, a free iPad/iPhone app and a ‘Ad Free’ iPad/iPhone version. We assume there should be ads appearing in the big dark box along the bottom of the screen on the Free version, but we have yet to see any. The ‘for pay’ version can be purchased as an in-app update or as a different app in the iTunes store.

02 iPad Instashare

Along the bottom of the left column is Files, to view the files that have been sent from or to the iPad. The Photos tab is access to the photos area of the iPad as well any photos that have been sent to the iPad via Instashare. Settings is shown above. The FAQ is very helpful if you have not set up your desktop or iPad on the wireless network to see each other. There is also instructions on how to create a network just between the two devices if your someplace you don’t want to join a network – like a client’s office, coffee shop or someplace there is no Wifi.

03 iPad Instashare

Once Instashare is installed on your iPhone or iPad, it appears as an app to open and an app to send files to via the Open In button throughout the iPad. With Penultimate below, choosing a book (or page) then the Open In Instashare results in that copy being converted to a PDF so you can view the notes on the desktop computer.

04 iPad Instashare

After Open in Instashare is chosen, the file appears on the left side of the app. All of the devices that the iPad/iPhone has been joined with can have files sent to. Just tap/hold the file on the left, then drag over on top of the device on the right. The right area can have multiple devices to choose from if you move files across multiple iOS and desktop hardware. For the Mac Desktop, there is icon that appears in the upper bar of the Finder screen. The button opens a drop down window that files will appear in when sent to the desktop, or drag/drop files into it to send to the iOS device. continue reading…


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iPad Handwritten notes now sent via US Postal Service

May 5, 2013 No comments

We have notes apps on the iPad that we type out the words, and other apps that keep our scribbles as digital ink… well, scribbles. There is also a variety of options to create cards on the iPad which will be printed for us by a service, who will also mail the cards. Apple themselves has provided the app Cards just for this task. Open the app, add your picture, type some text, choose an address from your contacts, pay a small fee and Apple (or similar provider) does the rest.

An app, Felt Cards, is now offering you the ability to write on your iPad inside of a card which they will print and mail for you. Keeping the handwriting looking like handwriting on the print card, adding a level of personality. The writing tools are a bit limited but several of the team are trying drawing instead of just writing, we are waiting for the cards to see how well the printing shows the creation.

Unlike many other options, Felt Cards doesn’t offer you to add one of your own photos to the card. The app includes a set of card covers to choose from, then a blank inside of the card and envelope. Card covers in the current version of Felt Cards includes 4 versions of Thank You, 6 Mother’s Day, 1 rain cloud and 1 ‘Hi’. Just swipe side to side through the cards, then sweep up to get to the blank inside. There is a ‘Gallery’ button but it just takes you to some images of completed card pictures.

01 Feld Cards iPas

Writing inside of the card is done with buttons for two types of pen tips, three ink colors and an eraser for those handwriting goofs.

02 Feld Cards iPas

Tap the upper right corner of Felt Card’s edit view to zoom out to see how the car will look when printed and sent. We found that most of us forgot to swipe the tools bar back to the left to write on the whole available area. So, we ended up with available white ‘paper’… worth going back and starting over? You may notice that this interface is very much like buying a card at the store and writing inside, but all on the iPad. We wonder how Ive’s ‘flattening’ of the iOS will effect these interfaces going forward.

03 Feld Cards iPas

Done writing… swipe to the side to access the envelope. Again, paper-like, thus needing you to write the From and To addresses. When done, tap the Cart button at the bottom. The printing/mailing service through Felt Cards will set you back $3.99 US.

04 Feld Cards iPas

continue reading…


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Solving the mystery of the disappearing iPad memory

March 17, 2013 No comments

One day, hopefully not when in a meeting, when retrieving a document on the iPad to edit, a message will pop up on the screen saying the device doesn’t have enough available memory. 

What? We just have a couple presentations, a few PDFs and a video or two. Most of the team don’t even have music on their iPad, instead streaming from services (in no particular order) like Pandora, Spotify or Rdio. Where could the memory have gone?

Visiting the iPad’s Setting app, choose the General option then Usage.

01 iPad Memory

Initially, the screen will only show the memory being used on the device and on the iCloud account connected to the iPad. After a bit of working, the system will show a list of app and their memory footprint. The shown amount of memory is for both the app and data the app is using. You may notice that the document apps listed on our screen shots isn’t using a lot of memory, that is because we are heavy users of cloud storage, only downloading the documents we need and returning to the cloud after editing.

02 iPad Memory

Choosing an app shows the break down the app vs app’s data memory. A button to delete both is provided (similar to tap/hold on an app’s icon in the launcher then using the ‘x’ to remove). We found that the team members that are users of social share services like Instagram and Pinterest where in for a surprise. While the Instagram app installs at 20 meg, we had multiple devices she the app/data taking up 1.4 gigs! It would appear a cache of all photos are kept on the iPad. Without a ‘clear cache’ option via iOS or the app, we chose to delete and reinstall the big memory hogs to get the gigs of memory returned.

03 iPad Memory

Now… the scary part. BACK UP YOUR iOS DEVICE PRIOR TO DELETING APPs THAT TAKE A LOT OF MEMORY!! The three individuals that had the 1+ gig Instagram installs noticed slowness using the iPad’s Launcher following the app/data removal. During this slowness time, do not move other app icons around or do a device restart. Both actions resulted in the iPad going into a brick mode of just showing the start up Apple icon. The only way to recover was to plug in the sync cable and hold the ‘Home’ button causing the iPad to restore from backup.

Another place to watch for available memory:

If you read magazines on the iPad, we do a lot, don’t forget you can archive off magazines and redownload later to reference if needed. Newsstand Magazine apps generally have the option easy to find and use, as does Next Issue. Zinio hides the magazine cover from view when archived, to redownload choose the edit button which shows all magazines on the account.

 

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KISS iPad Calculator – The built in app that isn’t

March 3, 2013 No comments

It goes completely unnoticed till you need it. Then, in a meeting where the math is just a touch beyond what you can do in your head, you discover the iPad doesn’t come with a simple built in calculator! The iPhone does, so naturally, you would assume… and as they say that would make you and us wrong.

The missing app isn’t the end of the world, and in fact really opened up the world for developers to fill. A quick search on the iTunes store results in what seems like a never ending list of calculator options. Most of the geniuses around the office have their favorites, for the rest of us, we just need a super simple ‘FREE’ solution that lets us get an answer and move on. The folks in Finance and the Rocket Designers in the crowd all chuckle at us, but only need what we need!

We have played with many of the ‘for pay’ solutions that either go light or toss in cuteness that isn’t needed. Last week, someone discovered Calculator LCD and it spread like wild fire amongst those needing to keep it simple. The free app has the option of changing the display background from retro yellowish to white and back again. And… there is the addition of Tax, not sure where that came from but we are in a Tax charging state so it might be handy. Otherwise, we add, subtract and divide our way to the end of another meeting where we are asked if the quantities add up as our whiteboard quick math showed us. Not once did someone ask for the circumference of the table over the arch of the legs to find the size of a mat to go under it!

01 iPad Calc

02 iPad Calc

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Clone Camera comes to the big screen of the iPad

March 2, 2013 No comments

One way to show motion in a photo is to have the moving subject appear multiple times in the single image. This is fun for a single player action at a sporting event, a skate board jumper, several angles or a person doing multiple things. Not just for family fun but great for marketing too.

The process is simple, snap several photos (2 to 4) using Clone Camera, highlight the part of each image you wish to appear on the final image then let the app stitch the photos together. The app has been fun for us on the iPhone, and now we have the pleasure of being able to do better fine tuning on the larger iPad screen. There are two different versions of the app so you have to pay twice to have the use of Clone Camera on the iPhone and iPad.

01 Clone Camera iPad

From the developer:

1 Guide for shooting with afterimages
2 Self-timer function that can perform multi-shot with 4 times
3 The camera shake correction function
4 27 different high-quality photo filters
5 Support high-resolution image
6 Support Instagrams, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr

The added features on the page when photographing make it easier to get the final result closer to what you desired. Clone Camera offers a quick ‘Retake’ in the upper left corner, across the bottom is the settings, a group of thumbnails to jump between and a ‘next’ option when you have the photos as you like.

02 Clone Camera iPad

On each of the photos, highlight the area you want to appear on the final image. You can be rather sloppy with the line around the bits if you didn’t move at all between each of the photos being taken. If you didn’t have your iPad on a stand when snapping the photos, be more precise in your highlighting as the background around each part may be slightly different than the rest of the image. Zoom in/out is supported in Clone Camera to help with the shading precision.

03 Clone Camera iPad

When the photos are ready, Clone Camera will remove the background of all of the images (not shaded areas) and merge into one. The final result can be saved to the iPad photo library or shared out through social sharing services in a variety of sizes.

04 Clone Camera iPad

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Black and White Photography and the iPad

February 18, 2013 No comments

While we are not big users of the iPad camera, it is still handy to have a camera with us all of the time we have our iPads in hand. Everyone does do a lot of photography sharing with their iPhones though. So, it was nice to see MPro go Universal. The app is one what we use for shooting black and white photos. The results are similar to black and white film, except you can adjust what type of film/effect prior to shooting, just like having a bag of different film brands.

MPro is not a ‘after’ filter to apply to photos you took earlier and saved. Instead, adjust the levels, color gels, ending file type, film ratio and exposure, then shoot.

01 MPro iPad

When framing the shot through the MPro screen viewfinder, drag the square/circles to set the points of focus and exposure for the shot.

02 MPro iPad

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