iPhone Extra Credit
Even though I consider myself an A+ student in ‘iPhone 101’, the folks at Apple continue to surprise me with new features, settings, and time-saving hacks. Here are some of my favorites I recently learned:
- Quickly take a video: With the Camera app open, press and hold Volume Down to instantly start recording a video. The recording will end when you release the volume button. This is called QuickTake Video, and it works on most iPhones released in the past few years. (It may not work on some older models.)
- Use Face ID while wearing a mask: Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and enter your iPhone’s passcode. You can scroll down to the Unlock With Apple Watch section and enable Apple Watch to get this feature. Once you’ve done so, Face ID will work as normal when you’re wearing a mask, provided you’re wearing your watch on your wrist and your watch is unlocked.
- Tap the back of your iPhone to perform quick actions: In iOS 14 and newer versions of the iPhone OS, Apple has added the ability to tap the back of your phone a few times to execute certain actions of your choosing. This cool feature can be configured by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. You can assign one action to a Double Tap and another to a Triple Tap.
Want more tips? Check out all of the 10 time-saving features and settings you should be using on your iPhone.
Free For All (While Supplies Last)
For my Microsoft friends, we are big fans of virtualization in the cloud using Amazon Web Services, and now Microsoft seems to be coming back into the cloud picture. Windows 365 will offer a subscription-based cloud PC service, primarily is meant for businesses, and it’s not a cheap one. Prices start at $20/user/month and that’s for a PC with a single CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Naturally, for businesses that might be interested in it, that’s quite a big ask.
Microsoft offered free trials for a few of the tiers so users could get a feel for the experience. It seems that interest was very high, seeing as it took just over 24 hours for Microsoft to pause the free trials for Windows 365. Microsoft’s corporate account cited “significant demand”, but Scott Manchester, Director of Program Management for Windows 365, said the service got “unbelievable response”. With that being said, Microsoft says it’s working to provide additional capacity. Trials should resume sometime soon, and if you want to be first in line to try them out, you can sign up here. Microsoft will notify you once spots are available again.
Now Downloading: Your Vaccination Records
Before you leave the house, don’t forget to take your phone, keys, wallet, mask—and some form of Covid-19 vaccine record. With places like New York City requiring proof of vaccination for many indoor activities, such as dining, gyms and events, it’s more imperative than ever that you have (and don’t lose) your golden ticket.
I don’t want to get into a political conversation about vaccines, but if you have been vaccinated (like me!) you want to make sure you always have your proof of vaccination ready. If you live in New York State you can download the Excelsior Pass, or for everyone else, simply take a photo of it and save it to the Cloud on your iPhone. I figure since Bill Gates microchipped me with the vaccine, I might as well go the extra mile and give my info to Tim Cook at apple. Ha!
The Last Word
Thank you for reading another edition of Brad’s Blog! I’ll be back next week with more tech talk and geeky goodness. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions. Have a great rest of your week!