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3 Ways: Reading Messages in iOS

June 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Shortcuts – we all love them. Particularly when it comes to dealing with personal technology.

Funny thing about iOS (the operating system for the iPhone and iPad) – it’s loaded with shortcuts, and they’re usually in the form of different gestures or “swipes” on the screen.

We all check messages, whether it’s email or text messages (they all blend together anymore). So here are 3 ways to get to a new message (with a bonus item – or two – thrown in for the holiday week):

Way #1: From the Inbox

Read Message From the InboxThis is the one most of us almost always use – it’s second nature to view mail from our inboxes.

New/unread messages are flagged with the blue ball indicator.  With a single tap, we’re reading the entire message.

(Extra bonus tip here – want to see more of the message in your inbox view? Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > and change the number of lines for Preview.)

Way #2: From the Notification Center Banner Banner

This is an iOS 5 feature – so if you haven’t upgraded yet, shame on you, go do it now.

Let’s say you’re using your phone – either already reading messages, or choosing a new playlist in iTunes. A new message arrives – if you’ve enabled Alerts for new messages in your Notifications settings (found under General), you’ll see the notification banner at the top of the screen – and if you tap it, you’ll go directly to the new message.

Way #3: From the Lock Screen

Read Messages from the Lock ScreenMost of us don’t just sit there waiting for messages (I said most – the rest of you know who you are). We may, however, like to be notified when messages arrive.

Conveniently, the same bunch of Alerts settings in Notifications can also be used to display new mail in the Lock Screen, as show here (because we’re all locking our screens, right? Of course we are. Silly me.).

There are two options at work here -  Notification Center is set to ON, and View in Lock Screen is also set to ON.

So when a new message arrives, my screen will light up and display the alert. Notice the slide bar at the bottom of the screen; normally it would read “slide to unlock”, but in this case it reads “slide to read”. Doing so will challenge you for your password/PIN, and will then take you directly to the message.

This is useful if you actually get to the alert when it arrives; most of us don’t because we actually put our phones down every now and then. If more than one message has arrived since the last time the device was unlocked, there will be multiple messages displayed.

So here’s Bonus #1 for message management – let’s say I want to view the first message in my list (shown at left):

Read from Lock ScreenRead from Lock Screen- Tap and hold the envelope icon on the left.

- Drag the icon from left to right (shown at right).

- Enter your password/PIN, and you’ll jump directly to it.

Nifty, huh?

So now that you’ve changed your settings to use the Notification Center (an iOS 5 feature – upgrade if you have not done so already), why not use it when the phone isn’t locked?

Read from Notification CenterWith that said, here’s extra Bonus #2 for this 3 Ways posting – reading mail from the Notification Center.

The Notification Center is much more than just messaging alerts – it’s a summary of all unread items, and can also be configured to display Calendar entries, Reminders and a slew of other things (and probably worthy of a post of its own). In short, a very handy tool.

It’s accessed at any time from any app, using a single finger swipe from the very top of the screen. At right is a sample – showing my current unread items and a few calendar entries. Choose any item from the screen with a single tap, and you’ll jump directly to the selected item.

To close it, swipe from the bottom up.

This is one of my favorite features of the iPhone and iPad; it’s not just “day at a glance”, it’s more like “NOW at a glance”.

I used email messages to demonstrate all of these features; the biggest bonus is that these tricks apply to messaging in general in iOS – so feel free to substitute the term Messages for Mail in any of the demos above. It all works the same.

Now go forth and shortcut.

 
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3 Ways: Using your Music Player

May 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of our readers have some sort of portable music device (even if they don’t know it). I’m talking about iPod, iPhone, Android smartphones, even Blackberry. Particularly in the case of smartphones, if we have to carry one around, the least it can do is play our favorite music.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that these things can do a lot more than music. My iPod and iPhone provide not only musical programming but it also lets me catch up on things that I otherwise miss – news, informational programs and even books. In my case, I’ve got two hours of commuting time a couple of days a week; thanks to my music player, I use that otherwise dead time to catch up on things (or just relax) without having to rely on radio or what CD’s I have in my car.

With that said, here are Three Ways you can make the most of your media player:

Way #1: Make A Playlist

If you’re using iTunes (or something like it, for the non-Apple people), you’re not stuck with listening to a single artist or album. So let’s say you’re getting ready to go work out, and you need about 20 good heart-pounding, “conquer the world” kind of songs. Not a problem.

Create a playlist(iTunes shown here), give it a name  and simply add songs to it. You can drag them from the music listing, or you can do a quick right-mouse-click action to add it to the list. Once the list is populated, you can re-order the songs if needed (or just use the Shuffle option when you play it to keep things mixed up). If you’re pressed for space or just like to keep things mixed up, there’s a Smart Playlist option that offers greater flexibility (and creativity).

Way #2: Podcasts

I’ll go out on another limb and say that most of our readers are familiar with a DVR. The concept of a podcast is very similar – it’s a recording of a show, except the show doesn’t have to originate from mainstream broadcast media. In fact, most of them don’t. Podcasts can originate from anywhere, from anyone who’s got enough technical know-how to record audio (and in some cases, video) and park it on the Internet for consumption. The vast majority of them are free, many offer donation-support options and some are subscription-based. Most seem to be more of a talk show/interview/discussion panel format, which I personally find interesting.

If you’re in iTunes, go to the iTunes Store and you’ll see an option for Podcasts:

Podcasts offer something for everyone – whether you want to listen to an NPR show, a geeky news/chat show that’s of particular interest to you, or simply catch up on a favorite radio show that you might otherwise miss (chances are you’ll find it in the podcast listing).

Way #3: Read When You Can’t Read – with Audiobooks

Audible.comI enjoy reading, but quite often can’t find the time to sit down to do it. I’m lucky to be able to get through a lengthy article, much less a book. A great compromise to this dilemma is listening to them, in audio book form. Thanks to things like Audible, audiobooks can be delivered to my mobile device (or computer) either through iTunes or through one of the Audible apps – available for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

Since I’ve started using Audible, I’ve been able to complete four books that I otherwise would not have started (much less finish). It makes commuting, cooking, cutting grass, cleaning house or just about any other boring task you can think of suddenly very productive  and entertaining. And that’s saying a lot for cutting grass.

And there you have it – three ways to make your music player/smartphone a little more entertaining.

Got a favorite podcast or audiobook you’d like to recommend? Leave it in the comments!

 
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3 Ways: To Delete an Email from iOS

February 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

One of the things I’ve learned about most technology is that there’s usually (at least) three ways to do most things – whether that’s getting a map to a location on my smartphone, updating somebody’s contact information or sending a message of some kind.

With that in mind, I’m starting a periodic series titled “Three Ways:” (stunningly original, I know). I’m certain I won’t be the only one contributing to this series; Abby is very good at finding alternative ways to do things, so expect her to be adding to the Three Ways library.

I’m starting this little journey with something that every iOS (meaning iPhone/iPod/iPad) user does – delete messages from their mail. And believe it or not, there are three ways to do it:

Way #1: From the message itself, using the Trash Can.

This is probably the most obvious method – open the mail message, read it and then throw it away. The Trash Can icon in the bottom menu bar is just that – the trash. Tap on that icon and the message is moved out of the Inbox/folder and marked as deleted.

 

Way #2: In bulk, using the Edit button at the top of the listing.

If you’re looking at the Inbox (or another folder) on your device, there’s an Edit button. Tap it, and it allows for selection of individual items in the listing.

 

Select the items you want to delete – the red check mark will appear as you select items.  When ready, tap the Delete button on the bottom menu bar. Once again, off to the trash they go.

 

Way #3: Individually from the Inbox, using a swipe gesture.

This is the one that most people don’t know about, and it’s the one I probably use the most.  iOS is loaded with swipe gestures, each of which does something different (depending on where you are in iOS).

While in your Inbox (or another folder listing), use one finger and swipe horizontally across the message you want to delete. When you do, a Delete button will appear on the right side of the message listing. Tap Delete, and away it goes.

There you have it – three ways delete mail.

This is the first of what I hope will be many Three Ways postings – so if there’s something you think is more difficult than it should be, let us know what that is and we’ll see if there’s a better way. Or two.

 

 
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