What You Missed - August 26, 2020
As is usual these days, Ken Spencer was online before the meeting officially started answering questions and getting everyone set up. Al Trivett posted the links to the Apple news he had in the chat (they are at the end of the article).
Ken greeted us all with “Welcome Everyone” reminding us that he would be posting the recording of the meeting to YouTube. Apple is continuing to break records, as it now has a market cap value of 2 trillion dollars and is on its way to being worth 3 trillion. They are planning a stock split to keep the cost of individual shares reasonable. Shares are worth about $500 now. After the split, they would be about $125. Share of Apple Stock were issued at $22 each in 1980. One share, through stock splits, would now be 224 shares worth $28,197.12 as of August 20th. iPhone sales have remained relatively steady increasing their market share to 13%. It is expected that when the iPhone 12’s come out in October, the market share held by iPhones may increase. Apple is extending the time allowed to purchase Apple Care for a product from 60 days after purchase to 1 year after purchase. There is a rumor that with an Apple hardware purchase you will get a 1 year subscription to Apple TV+. Apple TV+ is offering a bundle of CBS All-Access and Showtime for subscribers for $9.99 a month. Apple TV+ may be adding Augmented Reality content to some of the shows in 2021. Apple has released the 6th beta versions of iOS14, iPadOS14, TVOS 14 and Watch OS 7, so the final versions of each should be close as it is expected to be ready when the new iPhone is ready to be sold in October. Game maker Epic is involved in a lawsuit with Apple over the use of Apple’s developer tools and the 30% cut Apple takes off fees for apps in the App Store.
In Tech Q&A: a member asked about using a Mac Mini as an iTunes and file server. Does the Mac Mini need to be on the same version of the operating system as the rest of the computers that connect to it? As an iTunes server, it would be possible to share the iTunes library without having to have the Mac Mini on the same version of the operating system. If the other computers would be accessing the files directly, the the Mini would need to be running the same version of the operating system. There was a question on Apple TV+ and if it would run on Roku? Several members spoke up saying that it is possible to add the Apple TV+ app on Roku although it may need to be a recent version of the Roku. Another question was about what to do about a iPhone that was overheating causing the Camera app and Messages not to work. Ken suggested powering off the iPhone and restarting it as a possible solution. If that didn’t work you could try restarting the iPhone (links to how to do this are in the links below). You can also go to Settings > Battery, and see what apps are the biggest drain on the battery. One of the meeting attendees asked if it was possible to backup an iPad Pro directly to an external drive similar to what you can do with a Mac. Ken noted that having the iPad backed up to iCloud would give you a backup and if you backed up the iPad to your computer and have a Time Machine backup the iPad would be backed up there also. Ken did not know of any way to do a direct backup to an external disk.
As the break approached, Ken noted that the Board has decided to add another Amazon gift certificate to the raffle which all members are eligible to win. During the break, Ken was asked about Big Sur — the next operating system for Macs. Ken said it looked to be a pretty stable OS. Ken still has been helping people who use Catalina, the current opening system. Bob White noted that there were many members who were using Catalina with few problems.
After the break, Ken was ready with his talk “Go Forward by Getting back to Basics, Outsmarting your Smart Phone” The iPhone was first announced in January, 2007, and released later that year. It was $499 with 4 GB of memory or $599 with 8 GB memory (modern iPhones start with 64 GB). It was only available through a two year contract with AT&T only. Apple currently has an iPhone SE for $399 up to the iPhone 11 Pro Max at $1099 — all with the same processor. Indications are that there will be several versions of the upcoming iPhone 12, due out in October. Ken showed some slides with “Phone tans” and more up to date “Mask tans”, just for fun. Ken had a slide with several links for iPhone help:
Would you like iPhone help at the tap of your finger? Go to help.apple.com/iphone on your iPhone. Then go to the share icon and scroll down to select “Add to Home Screen.” This will put an icon on your home screen that is a direct bookmark to the Apple site. You may want to edit the name to shorten it. When iOS 14 comes out, the site will be updated with the latest information and the site can sense what version of iOS your phone is using and show the correct information. If you go to the Books app on the iPhone or your computer and search for iPhone User Guides, you will find a book you can download. This is handy when you don’t have access to the Internet.
Ken showed a diagram of the iPhone’s features. At the top is the speaker and the FaceTime camera (in the “notch”). On the left side is the Silent/Ring switch. When it is on silent, Alarms and Timers will still sound. Below the switch are the volume control buttons. These buttons only affect the function you are using at the time, e.g., if you turn it up high for a phone call, it will not affect the volume set for music. The iPhone display will sense where your fingers are and how many of them you are using. At the bottom are the microphone, the charging jack, and speaker. The right side of the phone has the SIM tray and the Sleep/Wake button. On the back of the phone are the Camera(s) and a rear microphone. The rear microphone is used for ambient noise cancellation for phone calls and other times when you are using the phone. Ken noted that if you are having problems with your phone charging, you can use a toothpick or other non-metallic item to see if lint has built up in the charging jack and remove it.
Apple Maps give you turn by turn directions and works with the Apple Watch. Apple Maps will mark your car’s location on the map. The location will be right as long as no one else moves the car. You can turn this on by going to Settings > Maps and choosing Show Parked Location. Maps will give you options for driving, walking, transit and cycling. Choosing a destination for driving will usually give three alternative routes. You can tap on each to see the amount of travel time. A new feature is that the air quality and temperature for the area will be displayed at the lower right hand corner of the map.
And some short bits and pieces:
In Safari, if you have a website you go to often, use the share icon to add the website to your home screen for one touch access to the website.
If you are having trouble with Touch ID, add a new fingerprint by using the same finger used originally. Your finger changes and having two versions of it can make Touch ID work better.
Ken recommends a case and screen protector for your iPhone.
He also suggests using Apple Pay whenever you can so that it will spread to more places.
In the calculator app, you can turn your phone sideways to change it to a scientific calculator.
If you have a lot of apps, Siri “Launch _______” (the app’s name) to launch the app without having to search for it.
If traveling internationally, as we used to do, Google Translate is a great app to have on your phone. With it you can translate signs and use it to translate as you talk to natives.
If you are doing driving trips, check out GyPSy Guide, which gives you audio commentary guides and scenic tours for National Parks, with off the road stops. They have individual packages or bundles of parks that are neat each other. There is another app, “Hearhere”, that has interesting information about many locations shown on a map.
“Been” was another app Ken had that seemed to mark all the places he had been on a map of the world and of the United States.
It was now time for the raffle, as usual Ken asked Siri for a random number for each gift certificate, including the new prize that all members are eligible for. Big thanks to all the people who work hard at the meeting to make the raffle possible.
I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting and remember to ask a friend to check our zoom meeting. I can be reached at donob.macnexus@gmail.com.
Some of the links from the meeting: