Just wanted to mention this presentation I gave at Bethel in May talking about iPad as a device and about the experiences we’ve seen in its first year here at UST.

iPad @ UST

Here are a collection of iPhone tips you may not be aware of…

Welcome to the iOS Tips & Tricks blog for UST iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users! Through this blog we hope to bring to you application suggestions, troubleshooting & workflow tips, interesting usage examples, answers to your questions, and other useful information for the iOS user community. (We’re combining the former iPhone and iPad blogs into one destination.)  Please Feel free to comment on any posts you find interesting! iOS is new to us all, and we are learning right along with you.

Our goal is to keep this site as active as possible.  Therefore you will find in the navigation to the right an App Recommendation and a Tip & Trick submission form.  Fill out the appropriate form if you have an interesting tip to share or if you have an App you believe others might be interested in.

There was a recent survey from Apple noting that of iOS users (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) only 50% had connected their machine to iTunes to backup and update their phone.  Until iOS 5 and iCloud arrive this fall (more on those updates in a future post) is it very important that you regularly backup your phone.  When doing so you ensure you won’t lose any data.  You will also ensure the latest updates and patches are applied to your phone.  So if you haven’t done so recently, plug in your phone to Backup & Update!

If you weren’t aware, UST recently launched a mobile version of our website.  It targets smartphone-type devices and, if you visit http://www.stthomas.edu from your iPhone you will be automatically redirected to the new site.  There are a number of really nice features:

• news from the Bulletin, Athletics, and TommieMedia
• directory search
• the shuttle bus schedule
• the bookstore
• and the Libraries mobile site

Kudos go out to WMS for their great work on the new site!

See this post on our sister iPad blog regarding multitasking and quitting apps.

http://blogs.stthomas.edu/ipad/2011/05/17/ios-multitasking-and-quitting-apps/

Our friend over on the Android blog have a recent post regarding adding a prefix to a call.
http://blogs.stthomas.edu/android/2011/04/27/ust-extension-dialing-as-easy-as-bb/

At St. Thomas, the global directory generally includes only the extension. And as such, you cannot simply call a number after searching the directory with the Contacts app on your iPhone. Luckily, there’s an app for that (a few actually) and they are free!

The one that appears best for our use is called PrefixACall.

As the name suggests, PrefixACall adds the prefix you defined when you call a number selected from your iphone address book. It also has a Favorites tab which enables you to easily add prefix to frequently called numbers.

When you first launch the app, you’ll ned to setup the prefix to use.  (65196)  Then, you can search for contacts by tapping on the Contacts tab.  If your phone is connected to Exchange (if it isn’t, it really should be!) you can tap the Groups button in the top left of the screen and then choose St/ Thomas Global Address List from the bottom of the view.  Then, just search for your contact and, if they have a phone number listed in the directory, tap that number.  The prefix will be applied and the call will be made with the standard Phone app.

Click here to download PrefixACall from iTunes

iOS 4 introduced multitasking.  Now you can run your favorite third-party apps — and switch between them instantly — without slowing down the performance of the foreground app or draining the battery unnecessarily.

Switch between apps quickly.

The multitasking user interface allows you to quickly switch between apps. Just double-click the Home button to reveal your recently used apps. Scroll right to see more apps, then tap one to reopen it. No need to wait for the app to reload.

And pick up right where you left off.

Apps can remember where you left off. So when you return to the app, you can jump right back into playing your game, reading the news, finding a restaurant, or whatever you were doing.

Listen to audio in the background.

Now you can listen to audio from compatible third-party apps while checking email, surfing the web, playing games, and performing other tasks. So when you want to follow a ball game or listen to music from Pandora, your productivity never skips a beat.

Get VoIP calls while using other apps.

Third-party apps such as Skype let you make voice calls over the Internet. Multitasking in iPhone 4 makes it possible to receive these Skype or VoIP calls while other apps are running, even when your iPhone is locked. And during a call, you can keep the conversation going while you switch to another task, such as checking a movie listing or reading an email.

Keep GPS apps running.

Apps that use GPS can continue to run in the background. Not only do they constantly update your position, they can also give you spoken turn-by-turn directions even as you listen to music (the music volume lowers while the directions are spoken). It’s perfect for social networking apps, too. Now you and your friends can find each other even when you’re not actively using the app.

Receive push and local notifications.

Third-party apps and services can send alerts and messages directly to your phone. So you can get sports scores, news updates, game requests, reminders, alarms, and more, without having to open the app that’s providing the notification.

Quitting Apps

iOS 4 makes it easy to leave apps without quitting, but what happens when you actually do want to terminate an application? Quitting applications can really help with older apps that have not been updated for iOS 4 “multitasking” and that do not properly return to the state they previously were in when resumed.

Removing the Application from the Recents List
The simplest approach for quitting apps is to use your recent app list. Double-click the home button to display the recently accessed applications. Press and hold any of the icons shown (taking you into “wiggly-mode”,) then navigate to the application you want to quit and tap the red circled minus button. This sends a signal to the application in question that allows it to quit. The application will be re-added to the recents list the next time you launch it.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, check out this post from our iPad blog discussion maximizing your iPhone battery life.

I’m happy to announce two new features to the blog!

The first is App Recommendations.  This is an opportunity for you to recommend apps to your fellow readers.

The second is Tips & Tricks submissions, an opportunity for you to share your own tips and tricks.

Both of these tools are always available from the Pages section in the right hand navigation.  Once submitted we will post them to the blog in short order.  I hope you’ll take advantage of these tools and lend your voice in making this site as informative and useful as possible!