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Top Ten Tips for iPad Email Users

Emma McGrattanPosted on by
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1. Quick Access to your Most Frequently Used Email Addresses

For a list of your most frequently used email addresses enter a period in the “to”, “cc” or “bcc” field.

2. Complete Email Addresses in a Jiffy

When typing an email address press and hold the “.” key for a second and you’ll be presented with the option to choose from .net, .edu, .org, .com and .us without having to type them out.

3. All Thumbs

If, like me, you have remarkably fast thumbs but fingers that aren’t quite as nimble on the touch-screen keyboard you can actually split the keyboard into two smaller thumb-friendly halves that hover mid-screen by pressing the keyboard key and choosing the ‘Split’ menu option.  To restore the original docked keyboard press the keyboard key again and choose the ‘Dock and Merge’ menu option.

4. Insert a Photo into your Email

Press and hold your finger at the place you want to insert the photo and choose “insert photo or video” menu option then select a photo or video from your library.

5. Quick Quotes

To quickly access the apostrophe press and hold the “,” key. To access a double quote press and hold the “.” key.

6. I Love Your Accent

To accent characters in email, press and hold the letter for a selection of its accented cousins.

7. TURNING ON THE CAPS LOCK

To turn on your caps lock, double click the shift key. When the caps lock key is activated the shift key will be colored blue.  Switch it off by pressing it once.

8. That’s Very Bold of You

To bold, italicize or underline text, start by selecting the text and then choose the BIU menu, then pick Bold, Italics or Underline.

9. Fixing Spelling Mistakes

I type so fast that it amazes me that my iPad screen doesn’t have scorch marks all over it. I sacrifice accuracy for speed but can quickly fix mistakes by selecting the word, choosing the Suggestion menu option and then selecting the word I meant to use from the options presented.

10. Money, Money, Money!

If you do business with folks overseas it can often be important to express currency using the right currency symbol.   To avail of a variety of currency symbols including the pound, yen and euro simply press and hold the $ key. Punctuation marks that have close cousins give you access to those characters via the same trick.

If you have any tips that you’d like to share, please use the comments section below.

Five Non-obvious Tips for iPhone Novices

Emma McGrattanPosted on by
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1. Capturing a Photo Before the Moment has Passed

If you find that you’re repeatedly missing photo opportunities because it takes you too long to tap in your passcode and find the camera app, you’ll be happy to learn that you can by-pass that hassle.   Simply slide the camera icon, next to the unlock slider, up the screen and it will automatically invoke the camera.   The really nice thing about this is that it’s secure and locks out access to any other content on your phone including access to your photo library.

 2. Conserving Battery Life by Closing out Apps Not in Use

It may surprise you to learn that some apps, when not in use, suck the life out of your battery.   Closing out unused apps is one way to conserve battery life.  To do this, double click on the Home button (it’s the one with a square on it on the front of your phone) and you’ll be presented with a series of icons across the bottom of the screen.  These are the apps currently running on your phone.  To close them out, click and pause for a second or two on one of the icons and you’ll see they start to quake and a little red circle with a line through it will appear next to the icon.  Click on that red circle to close out the app.  When I showed this to a friend recently she was afraid that it would delete the app, it won’t – it just closes it.

3. Avoid Clutter by Creating Folders

You can avoid clutter on your iPhone home screen by creating folders that group together the apps that you use most frequently.   To do this, click on an App for a second or two until it starts to quake.  Then simply move it on top of an App that you’d like to group it with and your iPhone will “automagically” create a folder for you.   You can have separate folders for your social apps, productivity apps, games etc.

4.Avoid Fat-fingering by Dictating your Texts and Emails

 

If, like me, you’ve been endowed with fat fingers and are in a constant battle with the auto-correct wizard you’ll be delighted to learn that there’s an easier way of sending texts and emails from your phone.   When composing text, emails, etc you’ll notice a button with an old fashioned microphone on it next to the space bar.  Clicking on this button invokes a smart voice recognition system that even recognizes terms like “smiley”, as well as punctuation marks.

5. Quick Access to Your Music Controls

 

When out running, I love to listen to music on my iPhone and usually set it to play songs at random. I find that if a slow song comes on, my pace drops so I like to fast forward to the next track.  To quickly access your iTunes controls, simply double click on the Home button (it’s the one with a square on it on the front of your phone) when the phone is locked.

Those are my top five tips for novice users.  Do you have any to add?  If you do, please use the comments section below…

 

Microsoft Surface Vs iPad

Emma McGrattanPosted on by
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My iPad is my second most favorite toy in the world, but when I travel I still need to bring a laptop with me because the Office compatibility apps available for the iPad just don’t do the trick.

After reviewing the specs for the Microsoft Surface and realizing that Microsoft Office 2013 was built in, well I just had to buy one to try it for myself.  The below review/comparison has been compiled based on my initial reaction to the device, which I’ve now owned for less than 24 hours, and I’ll post subsequent blogs should my opinion of the device change over time.

Packaging: The Apple User Experience begins the moment you get that sleek white box in your grubby little paws.  The only word that can describe it is beautiful.  The Microsoft Surface package has a little more of an industrial design feel to it, which I don’t dislike, but then there are two ugly pieces of 1″x3″ packing tape that must be removed and right away you’re reminded that Microsoft Usability Engineers are behind this device.

First Appearance: When I got my first iPad, with its lovely rounded corners and sleek styling, it was love at first sight; the same can’t be said of the Microsoft Surface.  It looks as though it was designed by two design teams working in competition, who had to compromise on the final device.  The screen looks a lot like an iPad screen with rounded corners, but the back of the device has conflicting angular and rounded edges.  It’s not ugly-sexy, it’s just ugly.

Keyboard: Microsoft offers two different types of cover for the Surface, both have a keyboard built in, one is almost flat, the other has raised keys.  I decided on the Touch Cover as I felt that adding the depth of a Type Cover would have resulted in the device being too lap-top like.  I like how the Touch Cover attaches securely to the device, and the keys are remarkably responsive.  The on-screen keyboard is always available, but for lengthy emails and documents, I like the idea of the external keyboard.

The keyboard color choices appear to have been selected to appeal to a 14 year old girl, so I picked the black one.  It’s not pretty, the back of it is battle-ship grey felt, which is somewhat fitting, but I’m really disappointed to note that it doesn’t fasten to the device in the same way that the magnetic iPad covers do.  I’m going to have to steal a handful of rubber bands from our stationary cupboard to keep in the bottom of my laptop bag so that I can make sure that my car keys don’t get wedged between the cover and the screen when they’re shoved into my bag.  Some Velcro on the cover and the screen would also do it, but I don’t feel like this is an issue that I should have to solve.

Power: The Microsoft Surface power cord is about 18 inches longer than the standard iPad power cord, but unlike the iPad you can’t swap out the cable for a more convenient longer one.   The unit is fused and the end that attaches to the device has one of those magnetic power connectors that I’ve seen on Mac Books, so no doubt I’ll have to shell out some $$$ to get something more usable for my home office configuration.  Given that the cord is 5′ long I was surprised that nobody thought to include some kind of a strap or piece of velcro to secure it when stored.

Kick-Stand: As you can see from the above photo, the Microsoft Surface has a kick-stand built into it which, while convenient, also makes me nervous.   It’s metal and a part of the device case. Were one sitting on a plane and the passenger in front decided to recline their seat, I can imagine this thing snapping right off and destroying the case…or worse.  In terms of sturdiness it’s definitely an improvement on the iPad cover that doubles as a stand but collapses if you breathe too heavily on it.

Getting Started: The iPad user interface is intuitive.  I’ve seen two year olds pick it up and start playing games on it.  Granted there are advanced features that the average user doesn’t know about, but for the most part they don’t need to know about them.

The TV ads for Windows 8 had me mystified and it’s no better in real life.  It all started when I realized that after setting the time zone for the device that it was off by an hour.  I remembered seeing the time displayed on the screen where I’d set the time zone, so I revisited that screen expecting to be able to set it with the swipe of a finger, but that information wasn’t changeable.  I then poked and prodded and exerted multi-finger gestures on the on-screen clock only to find that it’s not configurable either.

Confounded, I looked at every page in the PC Settings app and didn’t find it anywhere.  I’ve been in this industry for 20 years and hung my head in shame as I entered “setting the time on a Micorsoft Surface” into a search engine.  The results suggested that you do it from the Control Panel.  I had to slither through a porthole from Windows 8 to Windows 98 to find the control panel and set the time there.  The usability, like the design and packaging, is schizophrenic; some features are super sleek and some feel like a trip back to the mid-90s.

Apps: As I stated up-front, my main motivation for buying the Microsoft Surface is for the Microsoft Office productivity suite, and that doesn’t disappoint.  My expectations of finding anything fun in the “Store” wasn’t high, so I was shocked to find “Angry Birds Star Wars” in there albeit at a much inflated price (i.e. it’s 99c in the App Store and $4.99 in the Microsoft Store).  It seems that Microsoft is targeting an audience with more money than sense.   There’s quite an array of free and for fee games and apps in the store but I’m unwilling to pay premium prices for the convenience of having it on this device instead of on my iPad.

Screen: The screen resolution of the Microsoft Surface (148ppi) doesn’t come close to the iPad retina (264ppi), but it’s not bad for a tablet of its size.  What’s quite annoying is the default font size and the precision of the touch screen – it strains my old eyes and you have to be far more precise in where you touch the screen on the Microsoft Surface than you do on the iPad.  The other thing that I found odd, and I need to play with this some more, is that when I tried to move the cursor to edit an entry on a form on the Microsoft Surface the box containing the magnified text got in the way of my finger so that I couldn’t move the cursor to the beginning of the word.  I’ll play with that some more – it may be user error.

Camera: The Microsoft Surface comes with front and rear cameras with similar specs to the iPad cameras.  Unlike the iPad, the cameras are positioned mid-way along the long edge of the device.  This makes sense for a device that’s intended to replace a laptop, but for those accustomed to an iPad, the placement feels unnatural and the resultant photos are unflattering.  No doubt this is something that I’ll get used to – the changed angle, not the unflattering photos, I’m well used to those!

Hand feel: I was surprised to learn that the difference in weight between the Microsoft Surface and the iPad is negligible because it feels quite a bit heavier.  For those used to typing on a laptop on the fly e.g. while walking on-stage to deliver a presentation – it’s almost impossible to use the Touch Cover while walking.  The center of gravity of the device is way off but, necessity being the mother of invention, I have no doubt I’ll find a way of resolving that.

USB I’ve long bemoaned the absence of a USB port on the iPad, but the Microsoft Surface has one, and it also has a MicroSD port, both of which I know I’ll use.

Gestures, Pointers and Menus: I’m still getting used to the Microsoft Surface Gestures and Menus but let’s just say that they aren’t intuitive.

In Summary The Microsoft Surface feels like it was built by some Soviet-era engineers who were given the design plans for an iPad and told to implement something similar.   The user interface, and in particular the inclusion of the retro “Desktop”, feels disjointed and results in a schizophrenic user experience. My advice to Microsoft:  Fill a room with money and use it to lure usability and design engineers from Apple or Nest to come work for you.

PS: Nest is my most favorite toy in the world – more on that later.

Mommy McGrattan Needs an Action App

Emma McGrattanPosted on by
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A few years ago I was bestowed the nickname “The Chandler Bing of Ingres”, named for a character in the TV show “Friends” who had a job that was related to data but that none of his friends understood.    I’ve spent countless drunken nights trying to explain the joys of database internals to my friends, but they never seem to get excited about it!  It got to the point where I started lying to strangers on airplanes about what I did  – I’ve been everything from a hand-model to a mortician.   That all changed with the advent of Action Apps. Now I can talk about something that everyone understands: mobile applications that can analyze data from various and multiple sources and let you know when you need to do something – or even better, do it for you auto-magically.

The “aha” moment came with the realization that Mammy McGrattan was able to describe an Action App that she herself would use and could get most of “the girls” from her bridge club excited about!   The idea is simple: populate a repository with every piece of known information about the plant kingdom and then define a set of actions that need to be taken regarding the list of plants the user has subscribed to.

The data repository would include simple stuff like what climates, lighting levels and soil types a given plant is best suited to; what and when pruning is required; what and when to feed it, etc.  The actions would include things like inviting your worst enemy over to prune the roses, a reminder to feed your orchids and so on.    The more she thought about the idea the more sophisticated it became, including adding photos of the leaves, flowers and various stages of the plant’s life-cycle to the repository. This way, one could identify unrecognized species and even do rudimentary diagnostics on sick or infected plants.   I’m almost afraid to raise the topic with her again for fear that she’ll ask why I haven’t implemented it yet, and want to enter a discussion around her royalties.

Have you any Action App ideas you’d like to share?

Action Apps – As easy as 1,2,3!

Emma McGrattanPosted on by
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The buzz and enthusiasm around Action Apps and the Cloud Action Platform are infectious.  We’re getting coverage in the business and technology press, and blogs, and as soon as we start describing it to people they immediately understand how Action Apps could deliver significant incremental value to their organization.   Like all great ideas, the fundamentals of Action Apps and brilliantly simple – probes, triggers and actions.  I want to encourage those of you who are interested in learning more about joining the Action Movement to register for next week’s webinar - “Welcome to the Era of Action Apps – powered by Vectorwise.”   We’ll cover a lot of ground in 30 minutes,  and one lucky attendee will win an iPad!