iOS | EIT Networks, LLC

06 Aug

Get More Life From Your iPhone Battery

You’re on the go today – out of the office, out of the house, and attending a business event. Everything is going fine and dandy until you look down at your phone to see your worst nightmare come true. Your iPhone is at 25 percent battery life. Before you panic, know that the answer to your dilemma may just be in the palm of your hand: in the Settings of your phone. So when a battery emergency strikes, try these five tips first before screaming into a pillow.

Activate Low Power Mode

Perhaps the easiest way to save iPhone battery life, Low Power Mode can be activated with a single tap. When switched on, it automatically adjusts several settings to extend the life of your battery: it reduces the brightness of your screen and the amount of battery power your apps are using, disables the automatic fetching of new email, and it powers off the display more quickly.

To activate Low Power Mode, press Settings > Battery and then tap Low Power Mode so that the green light is on.

Lower the screen brightness

The brighter your iPhone screen, the more battery it drains. And really, there isn’t much of a need to have an excessively bright screen because in most instances (being outside in the sunshine excluded) you can easily see everything on the screen at a lower brightness level.

To adjust the brightness of your iPhone, there are two simple ways to go about it. First, flick the Control Center tab upward from the bottom of your screen. There you’ll find a brightness adjuster that looks like a vertical bar with a sun icon on it. Simply slide the adjuster up or down to increase or decrease your display’s brightness level.

Alternatively, you can adjust your iPhone’s brightness in Settings > Display & Brightness (it’s called Brightness & Wallpaper in iOS 7). You can also turn on Auto-Brightness to automatically adjust the brightness of your phone by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations. When you turn this setting on, you’ll save energy because your screen will need to use less power in dark places.

Switch off Wi-Fi

As much as you love using the Wi-Fi on your phone, it is a proven battery life killer. The funny thing is, the degree it drains battery life varies by location. For instance, if you’re at home (where iPhone battery life is less of a problem to begin with), Wi-Fi will use less battery. But when you’re out and about, your phone is often searching for a Wi-Fi signal to connect to, and this drains battery. So if you can hold off on your mobile browsing and email till you get home, your phone will stay powered on quite a bit longer.

Switch off cellular data

Like Wi-Fi, cellular data can also eat up battery quickly – especially if you’re in an area where there’s no cellular coverage. When this happens, your phone begins to search non-stop for a signal, which is a huge battery drainer. So if you’re short on juice and don’t need to browse the internet, turn off your cellular data function. Doing this can easily provide an extra hour or two of additional battery life.

Activate Airplane mode

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this is exactly when you need Airplane mode. If you’re down to 20ish percent battery life and need your phone to last for a few hours longer, Airplane mode may just be your savior. By switching it on, your phone will shut down all wireless activity, including cellular, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Doing this is obviously not ideal, but if you have little battery life and want your phone available in case of emergencies, this is your best option (next to switching it off). Once in Airplane mode, you can individually turn on certain wireless functions, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, while staying in Airplane mode.

To switch on Airplane mode, you can do so from the Control Center screen or by going to Settings and then clicking on Airplane mode.

Any other options?

If you must have your cake and eat it too, there’s an alternative choice that provides an extra battery bump with the ability to use Wi-Fi, keep your screen bright, and use your iPhone without adjusting any settings. The answer is to buy a power supply, also known as a power bank, which you’ve likely seen for sale at your local Best Buy or on Amazon. These delightful portable chargers are continually shrinking in size, with some even as small as lipstick, so it’s no longer a hassle to carry them around. You can simply slide it into your pocket and plug it in when needed.

If you’re looking for more ways to get the most out of your iPhone or are looking to service your Apple technology, feel free to shoot us a message. We also manage Windows devices as well, and we’re happy to help in any way possible. Contact us at 1-866-BIT-WISE or sales@eitnetworks.net

07 Nov

Download iOS 10.1 ASAP

Daniel Hendrix
Apple, iOS, Mobile Devices, Security, Smartphones

If you want to make sure that your iPhone reliably works the way it should and that all the information in it is secure, you should always pay special attention to updates as soon as they become available. Although you may be hesitant to immediately download the latest iOS 10.1 update, you should get to know more about why you should download this update right away.

The latest update for iPhone and iOS users, referred to as the iOS 10.1 update, was launched on October 24, 2016. Its primary purpose is to address a serious security issue with the previous version of iOS. This security vulnerability should be of major concern to any iOS or iPhone user.

The security vulnerability addressed by the iOS 10.1 update was originally discovered by Tencent’s Keen Lab, specifically by a researcher named Marco Grassi. This vulnerability left a hole in the iOS programming that would allow a hacker or attacker to seize control of the phone, changing the code and performing commands after the iOS user opens a JPEG file (image file) that has been “maliciously crafted.”

Essentially, what this boils down to is that without the iOS 10.1 update, a corrupted image file could allow another person to control your device (iPad or iPhone). Even without downloading the file, this security hole could be taken advantage of by a hacker. If this is not enough reason to download the iOS 10.1 update, it also addresses other security issues and concerns that involve specific apps, the ability to see login password lengths through workaround hacks, and the like. Because of these specific issues and more, the iOS 10.1 update is a must-have for users of iPhones or iPads.

If keeping your phone and personal information secure are two of your biggest concerns, the iOS 10.1 update is a no-brainer. The sooner you update your device, the sooner you can feel safer using your iOS devices.

Installing security updates may be inconvenient, but they’re a necessity. If you need help managing software updates and keeping your business safe, contact us today at 1-866-BIT-WISE or sales@eitnetworks.net.

21 Oct

How to increase battery life In iOS7

In mid-September Apple launched the newest version of their mobile operating system, iOS 7. This update was pushed to almost all newer iPads and iPhones and brought with it some pretty big changes. Now that it has been out for a while, there are reports that users are seeing reduced battery life, with some devices not even lasting a day.

If you have noticed that the recent update to iOS 7 has caused a drop in how long your iPad’s battery lasts, here are five things you can try to improve the time between charges.

Turn off AirDrop
AirDrop for mobile devices was introduced with the iOS 7 update and allows users to share files with others without using an Internet connection. Like other file sharing systems, when AirDrop is activated it is actively searching for other devices and therefore draining your battery.

If you don’t use this feature, or only use it occasionally turn it off to increase battery life. You can do this by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center and tapping on AirDrop. The text will be white to indicate AirDrop is on, and should turn to black when it is off.

Bonus tip: Tapping the Bluetooth button (middle button in the top row of Control Center) will automatically turn off AirDrop and all Bluetooth connections which will further increase battery life.

Check your Wi-Fi settings
Many users connect to trusted Wi-Fi connections at work or at home in order to save data or simply go online. When they are out of range of these devices however, they leave their iPad’s Wi-Fi radio on. When you do this, the device constantly searches for open connections to connect to.

This constant searching is actually a huge drain on the battery, so it is best to turn it off when you are not near a trusted network. This can be done by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center and tapping on the Wi-Fi button (second button from the left on the top row). The Wi-Fi symbol should turn black to indicate it is off.

Bonus tip: To really conserve battery life, try turning Airplane Mode on. This will turn all communication – Wi-Fi, Data, Bluetooth, notifications, etc. off and will drastically increase battery life. On the downside, you won’t be able to connect to the Internet or receive notifications.

Change your Location Services settings
Many apps request that your device provide them with location information on a regular basis. Some, like Maps actually require your location, but many more don’t. If you have multiple apps open that constantly require location updates, you will likely see an increased drain on your battery.

The solution is to change what apps are allowed to receive location information. This can be done by tapping on the Settings app, selecting Privacy, followed by Location Services. From there you can select which apps can use your device’s GPS, Wi-Fi or mobile connection to detect location. Chances are high, you can turn off at least half of the apps.

Bonus tip: Turning off Location Services completely (slide the tab beside Location Services to Off) will also conserve battery life.

Check what’s running in the background
Multitasking received a big overhaul in iOS 7. Sure, it can still be accessed by double tapping the home button, but now the open apps are presented in cards with a screenshot of their last state. Tapping on the screenshot opens the app. The thing is, it takes battery power to keep all of these apps open and updated.

What’s more, some of these apps will actually refresh in the background which could further increase battery drain. If you aren’t too worried about having constantly open apps, why not close those you aren’t using. Simply open the multitasking menu and swipe up to close apps.

Bonus tip: You can completely turn off background app refreshing (the service which keeps the information shown in the multitasking screenshots current) by opening the Settings app and selecting General, followed by Background App Refresh and sliding the button from On to Off.

Turn off parallax
Parallax is a new effect introduced in iOS 7 where the apps on your homescreen appear to float above the wallpaper and look almost 3-D. They will also move a bit when you tilt the tablet. While this is a cool effect, it isn’t overly useful for many business owners. Powering this movement and near 3-D rendering does put more strain on the battery, causing a drop in how long it will last.

You can turn this effect off by going to Settings, tapping on General, followed by Accessibility and Parallax. Slide the button from On to Off.

Bonus tip: Almost all modern mobile devices, the iPad included, use lithium-ion batteries. These batteries work their best when they are constantly topped off, or charged. In order to get the most out of your iPad’s battery, you should be charging it on a regular basis and not letting it get below 50%.

If you are looking to get more out of your iPad, or to learn about iOS 7, please contact us today to see how we can help.

07 Feb

iPhone tip: Add an extension to contacts

These days we use our smartphones for pretty much everything but calling. When you do have to make a call, especially to a business, you will likely have to go through the automated switchboard and enter extension numbers just to get the person you want. This can be a pain, especially if you call the same person and have to go through the same process on a regular basis. If you have an iPhone, there is a way around this however.

Here’s how you can add number extensions to your iPhone contacts:

Open Contacts and either press the ‘+’ for a new contact, or select the contact’s number you would like to add the extension to and press Edit.
Enter the new contact’s normal number without the extension under the Mobile, Work or Home field. If you are editing a contact’s number, press on the number you would like to edit and tap on the end of the number.

Press the ‘+*#‘ button located at the bottom-left of the dial pad.
Select Wait. You’ll notice a ‘;’ at the end of the number.
Add the contact’s extension. It should look something like this: 123-123-4567;321 (if the contact has a three digit extension).
Press Done and the contact’s number will be saved or updated.
If the number was entered correctly, you should see a secondary button under the contact information when you call that person. It will say something like Dial-321. Pressing this after the line has engaged will dial the extension and connect you to that person. This is useful if you don’t know how long you will have to wait to be able to dial the extension, but you will have to hit the Dial button on your phone to enter the extension.

You can automate this further by replacing the semicolon (;) with a comma (,). The comma tells the switchboard to pause, and then enter the number after the comma. This will often connect you directly to the person without having to press an extra button. The number should look something like this: 123-123-4567,321

If you use an iPhone for your business communication and call clients who are behind switchboards this is a nifty time-saving feature. For more information on how the iPhone can help power your business, please contact us today.

16 May

Keep your smartphone secure

Dennis Cockrell
Android, Apple, iOS, Mobile Devices

The smartphone has become one of our most beloved devices. Like a favorite pet, we take it everywhere with us, show it off every chance we get and even use it as a way to conform or stand out. No matter which brand you have, you probably have important information stored on your phone, and should be taking steps to ensure that it’s secure from prying eyes.

Whether you have an Android, iPhone or Windows Phone 7, here are two tips to keep your smartphone secure:

Lock your screen
If you have data or information on your phone you would like to keep secure, the first thing you should do is lock your screen. Most smartphone users lock their phone with a 4 digit number combination, but it’s recommended you use a password for higher security.

On Android. To establish a password on your device go to Settings and select Security. Press Screen lock. On Ice Cream Sandwich, you have six options for security, with the least secure at the top and most secure at the bottom. Many users select Pattern or Password. Enter the password twice and press Confirm.
read more

19 Mar

New iPad, Same Name but Slightly Different

When people hear the word “Apple”, most don’t think of a round red or green fruit, they think of the company. Apple and its products have become well known, with not only a loyal fan base, but products that look good and work well. One of the most successful products is the Apple iPad, and in early March, Apple introduced the New iPad. Is it the next step forward in Tablets? Will it be useful for you in your business?

The answer: yes, and no. The New iPad (that’s the actual name) takes the good parts of the iPad 2, and adds a few improvements including a new 5 mega pixel camera. The biggest change is the New iPad has the Retina Display, with a screen resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels, making it one of the best Tablet displays on the market. Unfortunately, due to this enhance display, reports of overheating are beginning to come in. Other changes include a new, slightly faster processor, and a slightly heavier (by 10 grams) body. Changes aside, the New iPad looks exactly the same as the iPad 2. read more

04 Nov

iPads in the Office

Citing numbers released by Apple recently, it has been reported that nearly 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the US report deploying or testing the iPad. Many large companies are clearly looking at the iPad as something not just for leisure or entertainment but also for business. Are you considering doing the same? Read on to find out how you can put the iPad to work for your business.

The iPad for many is a revolutionary device in that it brings the full power and experience of computing into a form that is easy to hold, easy to transport, and easy to use. Manufactured by Apple, the device uses the same operating system as its earlier iPod Touch and iPhone devices. And just like its smaller brethren it does away with conventional input devices like the mouse or keyboard, instead requiring just the user’s fingers to touch, navigate, and interact with the operating system and installed applications.

Archives: iOS