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How to Get Notified When a New Podcast Episode is available: Rita’s iDevice Advice for December 2, 2019

How to Get Notified When a New Podcast Episode is available:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for December 2, 2019 

If you have favorite shows in the Podcasts app, but keep forgetting to check for new episodes, you will benefit from turning on notifications so you can keep up to date.

On the other hand; if you are subscribed to several podcasts, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the new episode notifications. Here is how to customize your Podcasts notifications, so you’re informed about the shows you really want to listen to, while silencing notification about the ones you only occasionally tune into.

 

Note:  These instructions were written for sighted persons, who are not using voiceOver.  If you are using VoiceOver:  when the instructions say “Tap on an item”, perform a one finger double tap.

 

A NEW GOLDEN AGE OF AUDIO. There are thousands of podcasts. Who’s making them and how to listen.

Browse free audio episodes and shows about topics that range from comedy and science to news and politics in the Podcasts app on your Apple iOS device.

 

How to Customize Your Podcast Notifications

This applies to the native Apple Podcasts App:

1.  Open the Settings app.

2.  Scroll down and select Podcasts.

3.  Tap Notifications.

4.  Toggle Allow Notifications to on.

5.  Select how you want to be notified.

6.  You can enable sounds as well.

Now, you can select which podcasts are allowed to send you notifications.

1.  Tap Podcast Notification Settings.

2.  If a podcast is toggled to green, then you’ll receive notifications for that podcast.

3.  If a podcast is toggled to gray, then you won’t receive notifications for that podcast.

4.  Tap Done when you’ve finished customizing your Notifications.

 

As you subscribe to more podcasts you can use this method to update your notification preferences.

 

There are thousands of Podcasts available:  here are some Podcasts of my favorites that might be of interest…

“The Retirement Answer Man”

Host: Roger Whitney, a financial adviser with WWK Wealth Advisors in San Antonio

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“Retirement Starts Today”

Host: Benjamin Brandt, founder and president of Capital City Wealth Management, a financial-planning company 

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The Disney Food Blog DFB on the YouTube Channel

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The DIS:  all about Disney World

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Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on NPR

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The Moth Podcast:  live stories available on NPR

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Stur-It-Up at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stur-it-up/id1469962228?uo=4

—

search TTJ Talk from the Search tab on the Apple Podcasts app

How to turn Live Photos into videos:

How to Turn Live Photos into Videos on an iPhone & iPad:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for November 25, 2019

 

For this to work, you need to have iOS 13 software running on your Apple iOS device.

 

Apple’s Live Photos are fun, three-second videos that capture a brief period of movement and sound, rather than a standard, static picture. These moving pictures can be turned into GIFs, used as your Lock screen, still photos can be saved from them, and more. With iOS 13, Live Photos have a new, fun capability. you can now make videos out of two or more Live Photos.

 

An example of how this might work:

I had several Live Photos” of a recent family gathering.  I was able to go in to the “Live Photos” album and Select 5 Live Photos to make in to a short video.

 

When you are running VoiceOver:  Live Photos can be fun to hear a three second recording that goes along with the photo.  When the Live Photo is opened on your iOS device, tap three fingers on the middle of the screen to bring the VoiceOver focus to the picture and it will attempt to give a audible description of the picture.  If you perform a “Long Press” action, which is a one finger double tap and hold gesture, then you will hear the three second of sound that was captured when the Live Photo was taken.

 

Note These below instructions were written for sighted persons, who are not using voiceOver.  If you are using VoiceOver:  when the instructions say “Tap on an item”, perform a one finger double tap

 

 

How to Turn 2 or More Live Photos into a Video:

1.  Open the Photos app.

2.  Navigate to the Albums tab and find your Live Photos under Media Types.

3.  Find the Live Photos that you’d like to use to create your video, tap the first one, then tap the Share icon.

When running VoiceOver, perform a one finger double tap gesture on the “Select” button which is in the upper right hand corner of the list of Live Photos in the Live Photos Album.  You will need to select all the Live Photos you want in the video and then choose the “Share” option, which will be at the bottom left hand corner of the screen.  Then choose “Save as Video”.

 

4.  After you tap the Share icon, you’ll see the next photos in your Live Photo series; tap the other Live Photos you’d like to include in your video.

5.  Scroll down and tap Save as Video.

6.  Your Live Photos are now combined into a video; to view the video, navigate to the Albums tab, then tap Recents.

7.  Tap the video in your Recents tab to watch, edit, and share it.

The Notification Center on a Apple OS Device: Rita’s iDevice Advice for October 28, 2019

The Notification Center on a Apple OS Device: Rita’s iDevice Advice for October 28, 2019

The Notification Center is a feature in iOS and macOS that provides an overview of alerts from applications.  It displays notifications until the user completes

an associated action, rather than requiring instant resolution.  Users may choose what applications appear in Notification Center, and how they are handled.

Customize your notifications Every time a text, call or email comes when we receive a notification on our home screen.  Unless we switch it off, many apps will send us updates as well.  There are other ways to receive these notifications.  Choose your own notification style by going to Settings, then Notifications, and select the app you want to change notifications for.  Select from different Alerts, Banner Style, Sounds and more.  Now, if you want to make receiving an email sound like a horn honking or receiving a text message that sounds like a duck quacking, you can.  You can use these alerts to differentiate the various notifications, so you can decide which ones deserve immediate attention.

To open the Notification Center, when running VoiceOver:

Swipe down to the second vibration to open the Notification Center.

Along with each vibration is an audible blip sound which can be quite helpful. There is also a blip when you first place your finger on the top or bottom edge of the phone.

Note:  You can still use the gesture of swiping down with three fingers to open the Notification Center: after you have brought focus to any item on the Status Bar.

How to access Lock screen notifications on your iPhone and iPad

The Lock screen is the screen you see when you first wake up your iPhone, whether it’s by pressing the Side button or by lifting your iPhone to wake it up.  It’s also where your notifications pop up.  So, even if you’re sitting on the couch and your iPhone is on the coffee table, your screen will wake up just long enough to show you a text message, email notification, weather alert, or other notification.

You have complete control over what apps send you notifications.  You can disable them entirely, select specific apps to receive notifications from, and even set up how much of a text message you want to be viewable on your iPhone.

Stop apps from following your location:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for October 7, 2019

Stop apps from following your location:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for October 7, 2019

There is a new suite of privacy tools in Apple’s latest mobile software, from minimizing location sharing to silencing robo calls. it is wise to keep the software for your devices updated. For iPhones, that’s especially true now. That’s because Apple’s iOS 13, the most recent mobile software for iPhones has arrived.  the features in the iOS software update offer many new tools that help safeguard our digital privacy. There are several new privacy features.

 

Note These instructions were written for sighted persons, who are not using voiceOver.  If you are using VoiceOver:  when the instructions say “Tap on an item”, perform a one finger double tap

 

 

Unknown to many of us, thousands of apps have been collecting our location data and selling the information to advertisers, retailers and hedge funds. New buttons in iOS 13 help address this issue. In the past, when opening a newly downloaded app that wanted access to your location, you had the option of always sharing location data, sharing it only when the app was in use or never sharing location. Now when you open an app that is asking for your location, you can tap ‘Allow Once. If you tap it, you are explicitly giving the app permission to share your location that one time. That eliminates the app’s ability to continue pulling your location data in the background when you are not using it. 

iOS 13 now requires that apps ask for permission to gain access to your Bluetooth sensor, the chip that you typically use to wirelessly connect to accessories like earphones. That can stop many retailers and brands that have deployed Bluetooth-sensing beacons throughout their physical stores from knowing when you have entered their location. For apps that clearly don’t use this sensor for anything other than detecting your location. You may choose to reject access. There’s one more important new feature in iOS 13 related to location sharing that has to do with your camera. When you take photos, the camera records metadata by default, including where the photo was taken. Photo apps use this feature to automatically organize your photo albums by place. But if you share an image containing location metadata on social media or in messages, you could give away sensitive information like where you live or work. With iOS 13, you can strip metadata from a photo before sharing it. In the Photos app, you choose the photo and tap the icon of a square with an arrow pointing upward. Then click Options, and for the option that says Location, switch it to the off position. Then you can share the photo without revealing your whereabouts. 

There are new controls for limiting the location data shared with apps so you can better protect your privacy. You can allow apps to access your location one time only, and Apple will provide more notice when apps are using your location in the background. 

Location Restrictions

In iOS 13, users have more control over how and when apps access their location data. There’s a new option to allow an app to use a person’s location just one time, with a requirement to ask again when the next time it wants to use location data. 

Apple is also now sending notifications when apps are using location data in the background, so you can choose to turn off location tracking for that app if desired. When you receive these notifications, you’ll see just how much location data has been collected, and where it was collected. 

_._,_._,_

Calling for guests

Hello, on the up coming episode of Stur It Up, we are looking for guests who lost there site later in life. Teenage years, 20’s and beyond. We want to talk with you and help you share your story on how you coped with the lost, moved on, and the resources and support system you used. Just email us at

Sturitup@icloud.com

And we will send you more info. We Use the zoom cloud for meeting app, and the anchor app for recording. You can get them here

ZoomCloudMeeting

Anchor

Hope to here from you soon.

Silence unknown callers: new privacy feature in Apple iOS software. Rita’s iDevice Advice for September 30, 2019

            Silence Unknown Callers With This  Privacy Tool:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for September 30, 2019

There is a new suite of privacy tools in Apple’s latest mobile software, from minimizing location sharing to silencing robo calls. it is wise to keep the software for your devices updated. For iPhones, that’s especially true now. That’s because Apple’s iOS 13, the most recent mobile software for iPhones has arrived.  the features in the iOS software update offer many new tools that help safeguard our digital privacy. There are several new privacy features.

 

Note These instructions were written for sighted persons, who are not using voiceOver.  If you are using VoiceOver:  when the instructions say “Tap on an item”, perform a one finger double tap

 

Silence Unknown Callers:  In the Phone section of the Settings app, there’s a new toggle that will let you block all unknown callers, cutting down on spam calls.

A new option in iOS 13 lets you silence calls coming from all unknown numbers. To turn on the feature, you open the Settings app, open the Phone menu and toggle on the switch for Silence Unknown Callers. When an unknown caller then tries to call, you will see a notification on your screen, but the phone won’t vibrate or ring. The caller is sent to voice mail. This is a brute-force approach to shutting out robo callers.

A new setting protects users from unknown and spam callers.  When the setting is turned on, iOS uses Siri intelligence to allow calls to ring your phone from numbers in Contacts, Mail, and Messages.  All other calls are automatically sent to voicemail.  This new option in Settings will automatically silence calls from callers who are not in your Contacts app, Messages app or Mail app.  The call will automatically go to your Voicemail.  You can then go in later and listen to the message to see if it was important.  If you are using Visual Voicemail, you can read the text transcript to judge.

If you head to the Settings app, then tap on Phone, you will see a new toggle for Silence Unknown Callers.  When this is enabled, iOS uses Siri intelligence to allow calls to ring your phone only if the number is found in your Contacts, Mail, or Messages.  Calls from any other number go straight to voicemail.

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Dark mode: rita’s iDevice Advice for September 23, 2019, in addition to Matt’s excellent article on this topic

Dark Mode:  Rita’s iDevice Advice for September 23, 2019

Note:  These instructions were written for sighted persons, who are not using voiceOver.  If you are using VoiceOver:  when the instructions say “Tap on an item”, perform a one finger double tap.

 

One of iOS 13s most highly anticipated change is also one of its simplest.  The latest version of Apples mobile operating system finally introduces a Dark Mode for your iPhone and iPads interface.  Once it’s on, formerly white interface elements of iOS change to black (or a deep slate gray), and the text shifts to a brighter color for better legibility.  That means that many Apple apps (such as Mail and Music) will now put less of a strain on your eyes at night, and Dark Mode may even improve your battery life.

Turn on Dark Mode with Siri:  The absolute easiest way to turn on Dark Mode is to simply tell Siri to turn it on.

To turn it on, say, “Hey, Siri, turn on Dark Mode” or “Hey, Siri, turn on Dark Appearance.  It will immediately switch over.  To turn it off, say, “Hey Siri, turn off Dark Mode” or “Hey, Siri, turn off Dark Appearance.

Turn on Dark Mode through Control Center:  To turn on Dark Mode through your iPhone or iPads Control Center.  Open Control Center by swiping down diagonally from the upper-right corner of your devices display.  Hold down on the Brightness indicator.  It’s the one with the sun icon.  In the full-screen interface that pops up, you will see a toggle for Appearance:  Light in the lower left.  Press it, and your phone will immediately switch to Dark Mode (and the toggle will now read Appearance:  Dark).  Alternatively, you can add a shortcut to Control Center so you can cut out a step.  Go to Settings > Control Center >Customize Controls.  At the bottom, you will see Dark Appearance under the section Heading More Controls.  Press the green plus sign (VoiceOver user’s will double tap on the “add” button) to the left and iOS will add it to your main Control Center interface.  From now on, whenever you want to turn on Dark Mode, just open your Control Center and press that icon.  The icon looks like a half-moon with a circle inside it.

Turn on Dark Mode through the Settings app:  Open the Settings app.  Press Display & Brightness. At the top, you will see two configurations for Light or Dark.  Press Dark. You are in Dark Mode.  You will also see a toggle for Automatic.  Flip that toggle to green if you would like for your iPhone to automatically switch to Dark Mode between sunrise and sunset.

With iOS 13 and iPad OS, you can now enable a system-wide Dark Mode, shifting the overall appearance to a darker color and giving your eyes a break, especially at night. When Dark Mode is enabled, you’ll see a dark background with white letters, instead of the typical white background with dark letters.

When you first update to iOS 13, you’ll be asked to choose the first appearance. Selecting “Light” will allow you to see exactly what you’ve always seen, while the new Dark Appearance is the other choice. TTJ personally recommends setting a schedule for Dark Mode, such as, from sunset to sunrise. You can adjust these settings under Settings>Display and Brightness>Appearance. You can also instantly toggle between light and dark appearances from this Settings screen. You can even toggle Dark Mode from within Control Center. If you do not see the new appearance toggle in Control Center, go to Settings>Control Center>Customize Controls, and add the options you want.

Most built-in Apple apps have been enhanced with a special dark theme that presents itself whenever Dark Mode is enabled, and many third-party app developers will soon take advantage of such capabilities if they have not already done so. The AppleTV also has a Dark Mode option, and actually has for a while now. To enable it, go to Settings>General>Appearance on your AppleTV. Selecting “Automatic” will have a similar effect as setting a schedule on your iOS devices.

 

Intro and other information about my groups

Hello,

Most of you may already know me, but my name is Maria. I’m part of Matt’s instructor team. I came on here to give you some of my resources they’re mainly groups. First you can subscribe to my email list where we talk about anything Apple. like I always say, no question is a dumb question. so come on in and join us! just send a blank email to vip-apple-users+subscribe@groups.io

also, I have a WhatsApp group with the same name. if you would like to join that, please email me your WhatsApp information to techstar136@gmail.com and I will add you.

Thanks everyone and see you in class on Monday.