Category: Uncategorized

How To Search For Specific Pictures In The Photos App, on your Apple iOS Device:  Rita’s iDevice for June 29, 2020

This search feature is handy when you’ve taken a photo a while ago and can’t find it manually.

Open the Photos app and search for a key term in the app, and all the photos that match should appear.

That’s because Apple has designed the Photos app to recognize scenes and objects using machine learning.

You can even search for events, like a concert you went to: “Photos for iOS can use the time and location of your photos along with online event listings to find matching photos.”

It is also possible to search by location, so you can enter a place name  such as Pensacola, to track down photos of your trip to this beach destination.

First, open the Photos app on your iPhone.

Next, tap on the Search tab in the bottom right-hand corner:  which has a magnifying glass as its icon.

Then simply type in the name of a place, a search term, or even a person’s name (if they’re assigned in your Photos app) to find matches.

Search for a key term in the app, and all the photos that match should appear.

When you are running VoiceOver: you can add a text label to the photos in your Photos App.

There are a few Ways you can get a photo described to you right in the Apple photos app. For one thing, as you are swiping through your photos, you can perform a three finger single tap on the photo to hear a description, also often read automatically, of what is in the photo. You might hear things like, table, chair, two people. This is just an example. When doing this, make sure that your screen curtain is off, and that the brightness is not set to zero. next, while you can of course listen to videos that you may have taken, you can also do this with Live Photos. If you have the live photo setting turned on in the camera, Open a live photo, then double tap and hold where it says live photo. You will hear a couple seconds of audio. This, combined with the description voiceover gives you, can often be enough to determine much about the photo. Beyond this, if you have some cited help, you can name the people in your various photos, so that going forward, voiceover will tell you who is in every photo you have. You can also search for photos based upon topics, events, people, dates, and locations. Finally, if you are certain of what a particular photo is, you can use the two finger double tap and hold on any photo, to open the voiceover label element feature. Then you can provide a descriptive label for each of your photos.

—

to assign a VoiceOver label to pictures in the Photos app, do the following:

Open the Photos app and go to the four tabs that are at the bottom of the screen. locate  the picture by Selecting the “Albums” tab and select  “Recents” view.

Each picture  will already be labeled with a date and time.

Open the picture that you want to assign a text label to, with a one finger double tap.  Flick right until you hear the date and time that the photo was taken: for example “November 26, 10:15AM.

Perform a two finger double tap and hold on the second tap.

You will hear a three long beep sound.  This brings up the on screen keyboard and places the VoiceOver cursor in the first element of a editable text field.

Type the name of the photo: such as “picture of  our cats under the Christmas tree”.

Then locate the “Save” button which is located near the upper right hand side of the screen, or you can keep flicking left with one finger until you locate the Save button and Perform a one finger double tap.

Your photo will now have a text label when you are in the Recents album of your photos app.

How to Use the Vertical Scroll Bar on an Apple iOS Device:  Rita’s iDevice for June 22, 2020

Scrolling the iPhone can be tedious.  You can quickly master the art of iPhone scrolling by using the Vertical Scroll Bar.

1.  Open any app that uses the scroll bar, such as Safari or Photos

2.  Locate the scroll bar on the right hand side of the screen.

3.  Long press and hold the scroll bar.

4.  Holding down with your finger, you can now drag the scroll bar up and down the screen.

When running VoiceOver:  You will hear percentages related to scrolling.  Such as 10%, 40%, 80%, etc.

When running voiceOver:  you can also flick up with three fingers to scroll one page at a time.

More Explanation About The Vertical Scroll Bar:

This is a useful tool to quickly get where you want to be in places where there are many pages.  Instead of flicking up with three fingers to go one page at a time, you can use the Vertical Scroll Bar.  For example:  if you are in the News app and there are many pages of stories…  Touch with one finger

on the top right-hand side of the screen, just below the status line.  This is like the “Table Index Scroll Bar when you are in the main route of the Contacts app.  You can now flick up or down to go quickly at percentage rates.  You can also touch the Vertical Scroll Bar at the far bottom right of the screen,

once you have performed a four-finger single tap gesture at the bottom of your screen, and this takes you to the last page at 100%.

To quickly get to the top of a large document or place where there are multiple pages, you can jump to the top by bringing focus to the status bar and double tap. This jumps you to the top.

The Tech Juggernaut is thrilled to announce that we now have our very own YouTube Channel. Here you will find video demos and tutorials, product reviews, TTJ Instructor Team live events, and so much more. Be sure to check back often to enjoy new TTJ videos.

This YouTube channel is one more way for you to become part of the TTJ family, and it complements our growing portfolio of social and media options, including our TTJ Talk Podcast, the TTJ Blog, and more. We couldn’t be happier about how YouTube reaches a worldwide audience with great content, and we can assure you that r TTJ content will not disappoint!:)

Visit Our YouTube Channel

Accessing a List of Events On an iPad, Using VoiceOver:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for June 15, 2020

This information was composed through collaboration with those of us who are with the TTJTECH.NET Team, who are teaching  VoiceOver Classes.

With the Calendar app on iPad, you can view your calendar by day, week, month, or by the entire year. The Voiceover Rotor makes it possible to quickly jump from one event to the next. The effect of this is to provide Voiceover users with a list of all your events within a given time. We suggest trying this in Week View. First, double-tap the Week View icon at the top of the screen to make sure it is selected. Next, tap once anywhere in the middle of the screen to bring focus to the main part of the Calendar. Now, set the Rotor to Events. Begin swiping up and down with one finger to move from event to event within the specified week. Swiping up moves you to, and selects, the previous event, while swiping down moves to, and selects, the next event. Individual events appear first, followed by all-day events, such as holidays, birthdays, and so on. To move to the next week, swipe left with three fingers. To go to the previous week, swipe right with three fingers. If you wish to jump to the current week, double-tap the Today button near the bottom of the screen.

Remember that you can also search for specific dates or events. Additionally, you can ask Siri for information about specific events or dates. Try summoning using Siri, then saying something like:

“What’s on my Calendar for tomorrow?

Do I have any events scheduled for June 15th?

When is my Mom’s birthday?

Or: When is my Dentist Appointment?

You can also use Spotlight Search to find events in the Calendar. From the Home Screen, with focus on the main part of the Home Screen, swipe down with three fingers to open Spotlight, then enter your search term.

Note that iPad users can also add the Up Next or Calendar Widgets as Favorite Widgets on the Home Screen, thus displaying the next event along side Home Screen apps.

ACB Technology zoom conference call. Whether you want to jot down a simple note, create a Christmas list, or write more complex text notes, join Matt Vollbrecht, Certified Apple Teacher, for this session. Learn about the features and functions of the Notes app for iOS
Meeting ID: 886 5335 9722
Password: 334817

To receive up-to-date info on all of our events, including new ones added and which are being streamed live on ACB Radio, subscribe to our ACB Community Events email list for your daily schedule sent each morning: http://acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-community-events.

How to view your daily events in the Calendar App month view:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for June 8, 2020

How to Switch to the List View in the Calendar App on Your iPhone or iPad

The Apple Calendar app for your iPhone and iPad is one of the best free calendar apps available, and it has many features you might not be fully utilizing. Did you know that the Calendar app has a hidden list view that allows you to see your daily events while in the month view.

here is a way to view your calendar on your Apple iOS device in a list view menu type configuration. Thus all the calendar text entries that have been made can be listed and you can use voice over to flick right to each date that has delineated text for an event.  You can use a three finger scroll up to navigate continuously through Pages. Days on the calendar that do not have any events will not show up in this list view.

While it might appear that you can only select the today, month, or year view, you can actually see the overall daily events for any day within a selected month.

How to view your daily events in the Calendar App month view:

1.  Open the Calendar app on your iPhone.

2.  If you see all the months of the year, tap on the month you want to view to open the month view.

3.  At the top of the screen, find the icon that looks like a rectangle with two lines below it.

When running Voiceover:   The rectangle graphic will say “List”.  Perform a one finger double tap gesture to unselect the list option.

Then navigate to a date and perform a “Long Press Action” (a one finger double tap and hold gesture) and the list of your calendar entries will magically appear.

To exit the list of the calendar entries, perform a “Z scrub” gesture.

4.  Tap that icon; it will reveal the events scheduled for the first day of that month.

5. Tap any day in the month to see the scheduled events for that day.

Visual description of the icons on an Apple iOS device:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for June 1, 2020

Master list of the icons on an Apple iOS Device

Apple’s iOS software is an extremely visual environment, with icons that VoiceOver has been programmed to describe. An icon is a picture or symbol on the screen, used to represent an application, action, or a status message. This article will attempt to describe what a sighted person sees when looking at his/her iOS and iPad OS device. Having a basic understanding of these visual concepts can help non sighted users explain and teach iOS to those who can see, as well as providing an easier means by which Voiceover users and sighted users can relate to each other with regard to the iOS interface.

Please keep in mind that the descriptions presented in this document are based on initial layout, which you might see if you purchase a new iPhone or iPad and set it up as new, rather than restoring from a back-up. As you, or other people, use your device, changes may be made, additional apps may be installed, thus adding new icons, and much more. Additionally, the layout and descriptions presented here represent the current configuration as of iOS 13 and iPad OS. Much can change as new software updates are released. That said, the information in this document is subject to change or to be inaccurate.

General Overview:

When your Apple device is asleep, you can wake it up in one of several ways as described in the user guides, such as pressing the Home or Sleep/Wake button, or tapping/lifting your device. You are then immediately presented with the Lock Screen. This screen displays a padlock icon in the center of the screen, with the padlock either open or closed, depending on the current lock state of your device. Directly below that are the current time and date, one above the other. This Lock Screen also displays any notifications you may have received while your device was asleep. Select models also display a flash light icon in the bottom left, and a Camera icon in the bottom right. By default, devices with Face ID hide notification preview text until the device is unlocked.

From here, you can place your finger on the Home Button (devices with Touch ID), or glance at your device (Face ID devices) to unlock your iPhone or iPad. If necessary, you can slide up with one finger, using the bar at the very bottom center of the screen, to go Home. This places you on the Home Screen.

The Home Screen is divided into four distinct elements. These include:

– App Icons

– Page Selector

– Dock

– Status Bar

Giving special locations on the screen for the fixed elements can help sighted people find them.  For example, the Status Bar is at the top of the screen and the Dock is the bar with app icons across the bottom of the screen. It displays the same app icons, no matter which Home Screen page you are on. The Page Selector is just above the Dock, and the App Icon area, located between the Status Bar and the Page Selector, is a grid of icons, representing all the apps installed on your device.

The Status Bar (Top left and right of screen; not a physical bar):

Many different icons can show up on the Status Bar, depending on what services you have, etc. For example, an airplane icon will replace the WiFi icon if your device is in airplane mode.  LTE, 3G, 4G, 5GE, or others may show up depending on your current cellular service. There are indicators for personal hotspot, a call indicator when a call is in progress, location services icon, etc. 

Normally on the top left side of the Status Bar, the time is in numbers, like a Digital readout.

Further to the right, the Cellular signal strength is represented by vertical bars. The stronger the signal, the more bars are represented (a maximum of 4 bars can show up).

To the right of that is the Wi-Fi indicator which is two downward curved lines pointing with a dot under the two curved lines (some people call this graphic for WI-FI a Rainbow). The stronger the Wi-Fi signal, the more parts of this graphic appear filled in.

At the far right is the Battery indicator which is like a double A battery lying on its side and the center is filled with the level of charge which changes as the charge is used up or replenished.

Note that the Status Bar also appears at the top of the Lock Screen.

App Icon Area:

The majority of the Home Screen is comprised of the app icon area. This is a grid of apps, which is laid out with usually six rows (vertically) of apps with four apps (horizontally) in each row. Apps can be rearranged on the Home Screen, so that they appear in the order you prefer. You can even make folders which can store numerous apps. As new apps are installed, they most commonly appear last on the Home Screen. When you set up a new device, all Apple apps appear on the Home Screen first, followed by any third-party apps you may choose to install. Additional Home Screen pages are automatically created as needed, so that as new apps are installed, and the current Home Screen page is filled up, more pages will automatically appear. You can quickly swipe left and right between Home Screen pages (Voiceover users must swipe with three fingers), or you can use the Page Selector, to be discussed shortly.

App icons on the Home Screen appear as squares with rounded corners. Every app icon is the same size – about the size of a thumbnail. Each app has a background color, an actual picture symbolizing the app, and the text name of the app which appears just below the icon itself.

Page Selector:

The Page Selector is a series of gray dots, just above the Dock.  If you have six pages of apps, then there will be six dots in a row (side by side) to show how many pages there are  VoiceOver will say “Page 2 of 6”.  So if you are on Page 2, that page is represented by a white dot. Note that on iPhone devices, the first page of apps is actually considered page 2, because the Today View and Widgets Panel occupy Page 1. Users never automatically land on Page 1. They must use the Page Selector, or the swipe gesture, to get there.

The Dock:

The Dock is represented as a gray, round-cornered rectangle across the bottom of the Home Screen. On an iPhone, the Dock can support four app icons. These four icons remain the same, no matter what Home Screen page the Slider takes you to. You can change which apps appear on the Dock. The current default apps on the Dock for iPhone devices are Phone, Safari, Messages, and Music.  You can move the apps on the Dock around just like other apps.

The Phone app is green with a white handset of an old telephone; the Messages icon is green with a solid white speaking bubble; the Safari app is white with a compass graphic; and the Music App is a white app with a two musical eighth note graphic.

General App Icon Descriptions:

Please note that the following app descriptions are based solely on the native Apple apps that ship with every iPhone, as of iOS 13.5. Note also, that apps requiring special attention will contain an app badge, a red circle with a white number, at the upper right hand corner of the app icon. For example, if you have three unread messages, the Messages app will have an app badge with the number three. Some of the below apps may be in a folder called Utilities.

APP Name

App Color

APP Description

Apple Store

White

Blue shopping bag with white apple that has a bite taken out

Apps Store

Blue

White capital letter A

Books

Orange

White open book 

Calculator

White

Black calculator image

Calendar

White

Current day of week (in red), date in numbers (in black)

Camera

Gray

Black old fashioned Polaroid camera

Clips

White

Blue circle with white movie camera

Clock

Black

White face of click with current time in black analog

Compass

Black

White compass image with cardinal directions: W, E, N, S

Contacts

White

Circle with person image and colored tabs like an address book

FaceTime

Green

White movie camera

Files

White

Blue file folder

Files

White

Blue file folder

Find My 

Gray

Green and blue circular radar

Garage Band

Orange

White guitar image

Health

White

Red heart symbol 

Home

White

Orange house

iMovie

Purple

White 5 pointed with purple movie camera

ITunes Store

Dark pink 

White 5 Point Star

iTunes U

Orange

White mortar board

Keynote

Blue

White podium

Mail

Blue

White envelope

Maps

Multicolored

Interstate graphic, white directional arrowhead, in blue circle

Measure

Black

White ruler markings with yellow horizontal dotted line

Messages 

Green

Solid white speaking bubble (like in cartoons)

Music

White

2 multi-colored eighth notes tied with bar

News

White

Red striped capital letter N

Notes

Yellow heading

White below

Gray lines across

Numbers

Green

4 white vertical bars

Pages

Orange

Whites slanted pencil with straight horizontal line

Phone

Green

White old fashioned handset phone

Photos

White

Pinwheel of primary colors

Podcasts

Purple

Two white circles with a microphone symbol in middle

Reminders

White

Three colored bullet points each with a gray horizontal line after them

Safari

White

Blue compass with die final needle in white and red

Settings

Gray

Dark gray gear wheel 

Shortcuts

Black

Red and blue squares on top of each with space in between

Stocks

Black

White horizontal graphic line with blue vertical line with blue dot

TV

Black

White apple with word TV in white

Voice Memos

Black

Red and white vertical sound wave lines

Wallet

Black

Multi-colored rectangle with rows representing credit card slots

Watch

Black

White watch – side view

Weather

Blue

White cloud with partial sunshine behind it

Notification Center: white header style letters “Notification Center”. In the Settings app, the Notification icon is red and within it is a white rounded corner square outline with a white ball at the right top corner. However, in the Notification Center, each notification will be a gray rectangle with rounded corners, and the icon within at the top left of the rectangle will look like whatever app is sending the notification.

Control Center: You can add other app icons to this area, so you may run across someone’s phone that is setup a little differently. By default, there are two black round- cornered squares side by side, near the top, with icons in them.  The one on the left has four icons, two on top and two below.  In the top left is the Airplane mode icon.  It is a gray circle with a white small airplane. In the top right is the Cellular data icon. It is a green circle with a graphic that resembles a small radio tower. In the bottom left of the square is the WiFi icon. In the bottom right is the Bluetooth icon.  It is based on the shape of the Viking Rune letters, H&B, which stands for Harald Bluetooth, a Viking King. It resembles somewhat a small butterfly paperclip lying on its side or a small bow on its side.

The square on the right is the Music App and has a white Play button arrow in the middle and gray left rewind and gray right fast forward buttons on the right. In that top right corner of that app is the airplay icon which looks like a target of white circles with a gray tiny triangle at the bottom and within the circles.

Below the large square on the left are two small icons. On the left is the Screen Orientation Lock. It is black with a white small padlock symbol and a white partial arrow circling around it. To the right of that is the Do Not Disturb icon. It is white with a gray quarter moon symbol.

Below that is a small black round-cornered rectangle, Screen Mirroring app. It has two small white outlined rectangles overlapping each other and the words, Screen Mirroring.

To the right of those apps are two long black narrow vertical slider apps. The one on the left controls the screen brightness. The slider is white and has a small gray sun symbol on it. To the right of that is the black volume control. The slider is white and has a small speaker symbol on it.

Below that, from left to right on most iPhones, are four apps. All are black with white graphics representing each app: but the flashlight app, a timer app (has a partial circle outline with a needle point to the 10 o’clock position), a calculator app (image resembles a calculator), and a camera app (image looks like a camera).

Below that at the bottom, left to right are three additional apps.  All are black with white graphics representing each app: The Home app (looks like a house nested within a house), low power mode icon (looks like a AA battery on its side), and the QR Code app (looks like four corner brackets with 4 small squares inside).

Other Common Icons Within iOS Apps:

Many Apple apps, and even a variety of third-party apps, conform to standard implementations of common icons, such as Back, Share, and Cancel, just to name a few. Learning what these icons look like can help you to recognize them, thus enhancing the ability to learn and use new apps.

Back button: a left pointing arrow.

Share option: a rectangle with an up-pointing arrow, or three dots.

Attachments: a paper clip

More option: a circle with 3 dots in the middle

Edit: the word Edit in a square

Add: the plus sign

Cancel: the word Cancel

Search: gray long round cornered rectangle with gray outline of magnifying glass, the gray word Search, and a gray microphone 

—

Description of the imbedded text, using the Poster options in the Clips App:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for May 25, 2020

The Clips App is designed primarily to let you make short video projects.

Please see the previous iDevice Advice article  (sent out on May 18th) on how to create a Clips project.

The entire basis of the Clips app, as its name suggests, is the clip. A clip can be any photo or video from your Photo Library, any poster, or even a live video recording, that you use in your project. Exactly how long the clip appears in your project is determined by how long you hold down the red button in the app, often called, “Record” or “Insert”. With Clips, you do not need to work with complex story boards and timelines. Rather, if you want viewers of your video to see a photo or poster for 10 seconds, you simply need to hold down the red Insert button for ten seconds. Want Spoken audio to play along with the poster? Simply speak as you hold down the button.

This list is a description of the imbedded text that is associated with the Posters that you can add in your Clips project.

Tap Posters to choose from a variety of animated greeting cards, themed seasonal greetings, and more. Voiceover users may wish to use Heading navigation to move quickly between the headings of Basic, Photographic, Occasions, and Vintage. Tap a poster to select it. Once you select the desired poster, tap and hold the red button, now called “Hold to Add the Selected Poster” for VoiceOver users. Note that many posters do feature animations, so it’s a good idea to hold down the Insert button for at least ten to 15 seconds to give the entire animation a chance to play.

— 

The Clips App: list of text imbedded in to each Poster 

Basic Heading Posters:

A poster with Pink text on a yellow background = Congrats

A poster with light green text on a pink background = Finally

A poster with light green text on a purple background = Look!

A poster with yellow text on a Red background = Love

Condensed blue text on white = Check this out

Simple white text on black = To be continued…

Serif white text on black = Good Morning

Colorful flowing gradient = Hello.

Bold white text on red = THIS IS HAPPENING

Photographic Heading:

A chalk board background with type that animates on like chalk = How does it work?

Lined paper background with a font that draws on = Once Upon A Time

The type is painted on to the grass of a sports field = Game DAY

A poster where the type is in the center of a set of vibrating working pneumatic tubes = Look what I made

Monotone red office desk from above = At the office

Topographic map unrolling on a table = ADVENTURE

Red Country bandana = Howdy

Kitchen cutting board = In the kitchen

Rising red dust in smoke = THIS IS HOT

Occasion Heading:

Blooming Cherry blossoms on a white background = Springtime

Falling snow against pine trees and dark clouds = LET IT SNOW

White envelope that opens to reveal Holiday embossed snow flake holiday card = HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Red paper that slides and folds to reveal gold-foiled text = HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR

Seasonal candles on black background with warm candle lit type = PEACE

Red paper heart unfolding to reveal note = TRUE LOVE

Colorful confetti on white = Happy Birthday

Blue reflective Summer pool water = SUMMER

A poster where the type is revealed by falling leaves on a background of Autumn themed artwork = Sweater weather

Gold art deco invitation card = YOUR INVITED

Dramatic warm on black bubbly drink = CHEERS

Vintage Heading:

Pixilated type displayed on an arcade cabinet = GAME OVER

A poster with white text on a blue background looking like 1980’s style home video camera menu = Movie Night

The type is treated and animated to emulate a title card from old silent film = “Gasp!”

A poster with colorful Animated text that reads “The Year 3000” on a 1980’s style star field background = “The Year 3000”

A poster with White text and animated retro colored lines on a black background = FEATURE PRESENTATION

Fun retro 80’s = awesome

Classic black and white cinema and title = THE END

Cinematic Heading:

Marquee sign = Now showing

City night skyline = On the Town

Rain and lightening at night through a window = STORMY NIGHT

Fire and Embers on black = Let’s Celebrate

Blue sparkling = Bedazzling

Abstract Heading:

Abstract paint blending on canvas = BEST DAY EVER

3 dimensional geometric = News Flash

3D topic graphic shapes = LETS’S DO THIS

Kaleidoscope of 3D green and blue ribbons = Relax

Lines animating in the background = Tonight

Flowing 3D strings of blue, purple, red, = The Journey Begins

Reflective gold triangle pattern = Starring

A wavy animated pattern of 3D shapes = THANKS!

Graphic Heading:

A poster with a Stylized 3D rendering of Earth and animated text that reads “Our Friend the Earth= OUR FRIEND THE EARTH

3d flat paper city = IN THE CITY

A poster that uses a repeating tile pattern of playful animated education themed icons = Science Facts

Fun illustrated symbols = Did You Know?

Retro Painterly swirls = Imagine

Pink Flamingos on a teal background framed on wall = Miami

2 Dimensional cascading shapes = MY STORY

Orange Airport Arrival Sign = Arrivals and Departures

Star Wars Heading:

Punch It = Punch It

R2 D2 projecting “Your My Only Hope” on to the sky = YOUR MY ONLY HOPE

X-wing targeting system showing “Stay On Target” = STAY ON TARGET

“May the Force be with you” with 2 light-sabers crossing = MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

“All too easy” text over Darth Vader with a light -saber = ALL TOO EASY

A long time ago in a galaxy Far Far away = A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far Far Away

Mickey and friends Heading:

Mickey with a guitar = Rock It

Angry Donald Duck = just a picture of angry Donald Duck

Mickey hand with text = hang LOOSE

Classic Mickey on a steamboat = HERE WE GO

Sorcerers hat = Magical

Minnie Mouse with text on the go = On the Go!

Pixar Heading:

Stitch = Mom to the rescue

Mr. incredible punching the sky = ONE STRONG DAD

Cocoa = REMEMBER ME

Buzz light year = TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Inside Out all the cast = MIXED EMOTIONS

Up movie = ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE

Finding Dory = JUST KEEP SWIMMING

Inside Out = ALL THE FEELS

Cars 3 = FOR THE WIN

Listen to this short, 15 minute overview to learn about the Voiceover Rotor.rotor.m4a