Tag Archives: Note 3

iPadlock

Apple, iOS, IPAD, , , ,

iPadlockiPad Air Frustrations

My current iPad Air is a frustrating device. It has so much obvious potential, but its functionality is deliberately being hamstrung by Apple itself.

There are certain tasks I’d like to accomplish with the aid of my iPad Air in conjunction with my other devices that seem difficult or impossible because of Apple-imposed restrictions. Most of the time, I would like to be able to easily move my files to and from the iPad for processing.

Apple seems to still be trying to position the iPad primarily as an iTunes storefront complete with DRM, thus hobbling the iPad’s potential as a real-world productivity device.

Unless I want to jailbreak it so I can do what I want to with it, I’m ending up using it mostly as a very expensive streaming video player. Jailbreaking really isn’t a good answer either. Software apps are continually being updated, which ultimately will interfere with the jailbreak.

The restrictive, claustrophobic nature of iOS is becoming ever more apparent, especially since having moved to a Galaxy Note 3. I am finding that I’m doing ever-more real-world work with the phone that I’d like to be able to do on the iPad Air’s larger screen.

Why does Apple have to be so frustrating? My first years with Apple computers and moving away from Windows was a very positive experience. Apple computers seemed worth the premium price because everything just worked with minimal frustrations.

At this point it seems like I’m constantly running into locked doors.

Messy Apple Divorce

Android, Apple, Phone, Samsung, smartphone, , , , , ,

I have a older friend that just upgraded from an iPhone 5 to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The iPhone 5 was his second iPhone and he liked it well enough until the 7.1 update, which made certain interface elements too small. The incoming call screen contact photos were reduced from being large and easily recognizable to a tiny little hard-to-see thumbnail sized bubble. Also the 7.1 update caused a couple of his fitness apps to no longer function properly — opening one of them would make it necessary to reboot the phone every time it was run.

So, after seeing my Note 3, he decided it was time to move up to a bigger screen and the much better battery life offered by the Note 3.

AT&T ported his phone number over to the new device. All seemed well, until his relatives (a son and a couple of grand kids) that still had iPhones using iMessages could not text his new phone. It seems that there is a well-known problem that happens when a phone number is ported away from an iPhone where iMessages has been used for texting with other iPhones.

Doing a Google search for the problem reveals that there are plenty of people experiencing this problem. If you have an iPhone and used iMessages for texting and port the number to a non-iPhone, regardless of whether it’s another smartphone or even a flip phone, iMessages will capture any text messages sent from any other iPhone where iMessages is still in use.

There are a few work-arounds and perhaps a definitive fix. The other people with iPhones with iMessages enabled can go into their settings and disable iMessages and use regular texting, and their texts to the ported number will go through to the non-Apple phone. Another suggestion is for the user that has ported their number to the non-Apple device log in to their Apple account and remove the old device from their list of Apple devices.

The third way, which may be the definitive solution, is to text “help” to 48369. This generates a reply from Apple, to which you reply “stop.” According to someone who spent time on the phone with Apple support this is supposed to take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours to resolve the issue.

As people move away from iPhones that use iMessages to larger-screened smartphones because of diminished ability to read tiny print, this is likely to become a more widespread issue, which is useful to be aware of even if you are a die-hard iPhone fan and have no intention of switching.