General Apple Megathread

[agulati]

Have you considered refurbished? They tend to have decent discounts from new, but are pretty much the same item (albeit with maybe a couple of scratches).

[nickerjones]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

My kid wants a new device (she's saved up some birthday money) but all she can afford is an iPod touch. Which I think is a waste of money.

She's open to an iPad mini but they are a lot more expensive (we found a refurbished one on Apple's website but it's a 4th generation and only 16 GB which kind of sucks). Her sister has a full-size iPad but she prefers something a little smaller.

Why the heck are mini's so expensive (especially compared to a regular size iPad)? /rant

I asked the same question when I bought a mini yesterday. Basically the answer I was given (at Bestbuy) was entry iPad is 16gb whole the iPad mini is 64gb. That was the answer.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by agulati

Have you considered refurbished? They tend to have decent discounts from new, but are pretty much the same item (albeit with maybe a couple of scratches).

We bought an Apple Certified refurbished iPad last year. Very happy with it.

Unfortunately, the only iPad Mini they have is the 4th generation (16 GB) for $299. If it was a little cheaper, had more memory, or was the 5th generation model we'd jump on it. Alas...

Originally Posted by nickerjones

I asked the same question when I bought a mini yesterday. Basically the answer I was given (at Bestbuy) was entry iPad is 16gb whole the iPad mini is 64gb. That was the answer.

Hmm... that would account for some of the difference. Still think a mini should be cheaper than it is though. I guess I'm just complaining that Apple products are too expensive even though they are the best. Sigh...

[KTrain]

Covid did a number on the supplies for refurbs. They basically kept them all in the States. I was looking for a Mac Mini forever and they would only pop up in refurbs a couple days a month.

[Wormius]

Is there a setting to disable what seems to be the worst aspect of iOS - the backspace acceleration feature. Can it just be set to only delete one character at a time while holding it down or is there a secret backspace button combo?

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is there a setting to disable what seems to be the worst aspect of iOS - the backspace acceleration feature. Can it just be set to only delete one character at a time while holding it down or is there a secret backspace button combo?

Yeah that’s pretty annoying. I don’t know if there’s a way to disable that but if I need to delete some text I just select it and hit backspace or the cut option.

[Galakanokis]

So I got an iPhone 11, this thing is a piece of crap. Holy hell are the keyboards terrible! How is the screen so big but the buttons so small? Why do I hit a search button at the bottom of an app and then have to go to the top to actually enter the search? Why are there back swipes in somethings but not all things? Why did they half ass widgets and the app drawer?

But my main question is, in my messages app I have the round picture and someone's name at the top and I cannot figure out how to get rid of it. How do I get rid of it? When I click on it it takes me to their contact info page. I just want it gone.

[Diemenz]

By your description you are on iOS 14 beta as that's the first release with widgets and an app drawer.

Back swipes are app dependant, if that developer didn't want them you don't get them.
Try a different keyboard app, several like touchpal allow increased keyboard size.
Widgets are half ass because it's a beta and developers need to make widgets for their apps.
If you are in the message thread that picture and name let's you know week you are messaging, this is like any messaging app, you can turn off contact photos in settings under messaging. If you are in the message list is because you have pinned contacts that you are most active on. Clicking on the picture sends you to the message thread. You can unpin contacts by long pressing on the in the message list.
I search by adding Siri so I haven't ran into the search issue but I can see how that could be counter intuitive.

[Galakanokis]

It was pinned? Thank you, that was driving me nuts. I'm pretty sure I even long pressed it before and never saw the unpin option in the pop up menu.

Yes, on beta but the widgets available are all base apple ones and I expected a little more even on a beta. Basic control of size would be nice.

I figured navigation would be at the OS level not app dependent and lack of consistency is a real bummer. It makes the phone far from a one handed device not being able to back out of a screen with a swipe or buttons at the bottom.

I went iphone since I got a free data sim with my plan and could put it in an old se I could give to my daughter. She will be walking to school now so iMessage, FaceTime and location will all work for her. That part is definitely nice.

Does anyone know if there is an app that will turn the phone into a small apple auto screen? Android has Android auto so you're screen will turn into auto mode if you don't have a head unit in your car. Bigger buttons, directions at the top, music control. I loved that for my older car.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

It was pinned? Thank you, that was driving me nuts. I'm pretty sure I even long pressed it before and never saw the unpin option in the pop up menu.

Yes, on beta but the widgets available are all base apple ones and I expected a little more even on a beta. Basic control of size would be nice.

I figured navigation would be at the OS level not app dependent and lack of consistency is a real bummer. It makes the phone far from a one handed device not being able to back out of a screen with a swipe or buttons at the bottom.

I went iphone since I got a free data sim with my plan and could put it in an old se I could give to my daughter. She will be walking to school now so iMessage, FaceTime and location will all work for her. That part is definitely nice.

Does anyone know if there is an app that will turn the phone into a small apple auto screen? Android has Android auto so you're screen will turn into auto mode if you don't have a head unit in your car. Bigger buttons, directions at the top, music control. I loved that for my older car.

You can change the size of the widgets by deleting them and then adding them back. Most widgets have at least 2 sizes and major ones have 3-4.

You can use the app switcher to leave apps by long swiping from the bottom of the screen, this won’t get you back a screen in the app but will let you get to other Apps.

Unfortunately no auto screen on Apple, they do not promote phone use while driving. I suggest getting used to using voice commands.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

It was pinned? Thank you, that was driving me nuts. I'm pretty sure I even long pressed it before and never saw the unpin option in the pop up menu.

Yes, on beta but the widgets available are all base apple ones and I expected a little more even on a beta. Basic control of size would be nice.

I figured navigation would be at the OS level not app dependent and lack of consistency is a real bummer. It makes the phone far from a one handed device not being able to back out of a screen with a swipe or buttons at the bottom.

I went iphone since I got a free data sim with my plan and could put it in an old se I could give to my daughter. She will be walking to school now so iMessage, FaceTime and location will all work for her. That part is definitely nice.

Does anyone know if there is an app that will turn the phone into a small apple auto screen? Android has Android auto so you're screen will turn into auto mode if you don't have a head unit in your car. Bigger buttons, directions at the top, music control. I loved that for my older car.

Probably want something like Waze or CarOS apps for that. Or just put the functions you want on your lockscreen.

For one-handed use, I thought that functionality was enabled by default. I actually disabled it because it was annoying with the screen shifting down.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Probably want something like Waze or CarOS apps for that. Or just put the functions you want on your lockscreen.

For one-handed use, I thought that functionality was enabled by default. I actually disabled it because it was annoying with the screen shifting down.

I know nothing of apps on the lock screen so I will look into that. I use Waze now but will look up this CarOS app. I found a paid one but not digging the reviews all that much. I also cannot get do not disturb to turn on when connecting to my car bluetooth, will need to play with that a little more.

By one handed I mean just using the phone with one hand not the screen shift function. When I am in a page I cannot reach the back button on the top left with the hand I am holding the phone with. I guess I have to get use to the app switcher for this purpose but when I open a link through email I want to read the page and then just go back to email not open up something else to switch to it. Or if I open an email I cannot go back to the main email list I have to go back to the top and hit the arrow. App switcher doesn't work for this.

I guess you get use to things.

[photon]

Updated watch, iPad air, but no iPhone announced today!

[woob]

Originally Posted by photon

Updated watch, iPad air, but no iPhone announced today!

I read that last week, that there'd be no iPhone today. Supposed to be a separate event in October.

[ResAlien]

Apple One seems reasonable enough. Can’t see what the iCloud storage is with the levels though. Worthwhile if one cares about this Apple TV business.

[Galakanokis]

Another quick one I've I haven't found an answer for. Is there anyway to seperate out the alarm volume so it's not tied to my media output or phone ringer? Unless I'm doing something completely wrong if I adjust my volume down my ringer volume will also adjust down.

I found that you can separate it out from media but not ringer. I guess that kind of works.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

Another quick one I've I haven't found an answer for. Is there anyway to seperate out the alarm volume so it's not tied to my media output or phone ringer? Unless I'm doing something completely wrong if I adjust my volume down my ringer volume will also adjust down.

I found that you can separate it out from media but not ringer. I guess that kind of works.

If your alarm is the sleep cycle it has its own volume setting. It is seperate from media and ringer.

Tomorrow with iOS 14 you can set your sleep schedule and that makes setting your wake volume and sounds easier to adjust and find.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Apple One seems reasonable enough. Can’t see what the iCloud storage is with the levels though. Worthwhile if one cares about this Apple TV business.

The Canadian pricing is up and shows the different iCloud levels.

https://www.apple.com/ca/apple-one/

Individual - $15.95 for 50GB
Family - $20.95 for 200GB
Premier - $33.95 for 2TB

I currently have a family iCloud plan for 2TB. So I'd have to get the Premier Apple One plan, which is a bit much since I probably wouldn't use the Fitness nor the TV.

[ResAlien]

Ah I’ve got Apple music family already for 14.99 and the 200 for 2.99 so going with the 19.99 plan to tack on Apple TV and that dumb arcade thing for the kid will work. Two extra bucks, might as well. Maybe eventually Apple TV will be interesting, who knows.

[TorqueDog]

iOS 14.0 final hit the Public Beta yesterday, so if you want to get it early, register for the public beta, install the beta profile, update, then remove the beta profile.

I've been on iOS 14 since beta 4 (the first few had gremlins I wasn't willing to put up with), and the App Drawer has answered my prayers, while the Smart Stack widget is a nice way to get information at a glance.