Author: Raymond

I am Raymond Oglesby, an Information Technology (IT) specialist with 30 years in the field. I have taught Microsoft Applications and troubleshot computers in 15 countries and many States. My career was focused on mainframes and desktops from application development to implementation. I have written hundreds of programs for various architectures. I decided to start a blog to share my knowledge and experiences with you. I plan on updating this blog at least twice a week about smart phone apps to Windows. Please feel free to leave a Comment or Tweet. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Five Tips for Using Your iPhone at Night

Apple added the Dark Mode feature in iOS 13+. This allows less eye strain, especially at night, and promotes a healthier sleep. You can use Dark Mode all the time or have your iPhone automatically turn it on.

This is for iPhone and iPad

1. Enable Dark Mode

Tap Settings
Tap Display and Brightness
Select Light or Dark
Toggle on Automatic to enable auto switching. You can also setup a schedule under Options. Refer to following image:

Dark Mode 1 — Enable Dark Mode on automatic schedule

Note! Not all apps support Dark Mode, especially Facebook and Messenger.

2. Enable Night Shift

This feature is for iOS 9.3 and above. It limits blue light and makes the iPhone “warmer” for a healthier sleep.

Tap Settings
Tap Display and Brightness
Tap Night Shift
You can enable a “Sunset to Sunrise” automatic schedule or choose a custom schedule. See following image:

Dark Mode 2 — Enabling Night Shift on a schedule

3. Enable Night Vision

Night vision naturally occurs in low light as our pupils adjust to reduced light. By using a red filter, the iPhone simulates night vision. This feature places a red filter across the screen. You can adjust the amount of red color being displayed.

Tap Settings
Tap Accessibility
Tap Display and Text Size
Scroll down and tap Color Filters and toggle it on. Tap Color Tint from the list. Move the Intensity and Hue sliders all the way to the right. The screen will be very red in color. Refer to following image: (Note! The reddish color does not show up in a screenshot)

4. Adjust the Flashlight

To do this, launch the Control Center by one of the following ways:

1. iPhone 10 and above – Swipe down from upper right hand corner

2. iPhone 8 or earlier – Swipe up from bottom of screen

See below image:

Tap and hold the Flashlight icon. You will see a segmented bar in five sections. Tap a section to control the brightness of the Flashlight. It will keep this brightness setting until you change it by following the above steps. Refer to below image:

Dark Mode 5 — Adjusting the Flashlight intensity

5. Enable Led Flash for Alerts

Let’s say you are on silent mode and want to be notified of alerts at night. We can use the camera flash to alert you of a push notification or a phone call.

Tap Settings
Tap Accessibility
Tap Audio/Visual
Toggle on LED Flash for Alerts. Optionally, you can toggle on Flash on Silent. See following image:

Dark Mode 4 — Enabling LED flash on alerts

Personally, I like the auto switching of Dark Mode. This feature reduced my eye strain at night. I wrote this post at night using Dark Mode on my iPhone. It was much easier to write and edit than using Light Mode.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Find an App on iPhone or iPad

If you are like me, you have dozens of apps on your smart device. Instead of swiping screen by screen to locate and launch an app, let’s explore another method using Spotlight Search.

This is for iPhone and iPad

Launch Spotlight Search

Near the middle of any screen, especially the Home screen, tap and swipe down. This will open the Spotlight with a keyboard and a search bar. See below image:

Finding an App

Type a few letters of the app name. In my example, I am searching for “TV App”. See following image:

iPhone Find App 2 — Finding an app using Spotlight search

Spotlight will suggest a “Top Hit” and other possibilities. Refer to below image:

iPhone Find App 3 — Spotlight Top Hit for your search

Launch the App

Once you find your app, tap it’s icon to launch. See following image for launching “TV App”:

iPhone Find App 4 — Launching the Spotlight search app

You can also use Siri to locate and launch an app. Once Siri is activated, just say “Launch” followed by the app name.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to hide an app on your iPhone or iPad

How to Hide an App on Your iPhone or iPad

You have some choices but you can’t completely “hide” an app. You can delete an app by a tap and hold on the icon until the “X” appears, then tap it.

The choices are making the app hard to find via a search or using Siri. To do this we are going to turn off some of an app features.

This is for iPhone and iPad

Hide an App

Launch Settings
Tap Siri and Search. See below image:

iPhone Hide App 1 — The Settings screen for Siri & Search

Find the app you want to “hide” from your list of installed apps. I selected the app “Yale Cleaners”. Refer to below image:

On this screen, disable all items by toggling them off. The Show App toggle will be revealed; disable this toggle as well. This will exclude the app from all search results and and suggestions screens. See below image:

Phone Hide App 3 — Disabling all Yale Cleaners searches

Note! The Settings app does not follow the rules. Any app you try to “hide” will appear in Settings and it’s search field.

Find Your Hidden App

To find the “hidden” app, you have to find its icon somewhere among your installed apps to launch it.

Unhide Your App

Launch Settings
Find the app from your list of installed apps.
Tap Siri & Search and toggle on each feature
Tap Notifications and toggle it on. Refer to below image:

iPhone Hide App 4 — Unhide Yale Cleaners for searches

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to find an app on your iPhone or iPad

How to Sync Across All Devices Using Windows 10

It is quite common that one user owns both a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs. Each device has its merits.

If you have both a laptop and a desktop or two or more computers, you may want to sync the two or more devices for following reasons:

Use the same Windows 10 settings on two or more computers without spending time manually entering theme customizations, browser options, etc.
Keep frequently-used files up to date on two PCs without the repetitive work of copy and paste.

Choose from Settings such as Language preferences, Passwords, and color Theme. If you turn on Other Windows settings, Windows also syncs some device settings (for things like printers and mouse options), File Explorer settings and notification preferences.

Since it’s beneficial to sync a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs, how is this done? First, you’ll need to use the same Microsoft account to log into each Windows 10 device that you wish to sync.

This is for Windows 10 devices

Sync Your Windows 10 Devices

In your Cortana search box, type in Settings
Select Accounts
Select Sync your settings. You will be required to sign into your Microsoft account, especially, if you are syncing your Passwords which requires a verification. Refer to below image:

Win 10 Sync Settings — Sync your Windows 10 Settings screen

Turn off or on your syncing preferences
Repeat the above steps for each Windows 10 device

Once the feature is on, the synchronization will take place across all your devices that are running on Windows 10 and where you’re logged in with the same Microsoft Account.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Five Areas to Update your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn software can be a dauting task to setup and maintain. You should update your LinkedIn profile regularly to attract recruiters, coworkers and friends. Of course, most of us don’t have the time, so we put off this task. If you want to take a little time, you should addrtess fives areas of your profile.

This feature is for your iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android device, Windows 10 or whatever smart device supports LinkedIn

1. Your Heading Statement

This is the short statement that appears below your name. That Heading is what the recruiter’s search for. The Heading needs to say what you do or want to do. It should hit these points using keywords. People who haven’t updated their profile in a while might have their current job title followed by a comma and then their employer or department name. If so, I suggest changing the Heading to some keywords that match what you want to do.

See below image for my Heading as a Blogger: (Note! I used the tips in this post to update my LinkedIn profile for blogging purposes).

LinkedIn Heading statement

2. Updating your Photo

Does the photo reflect who you are today? It would be unwise to visit a recruiter looking completely different from your photo. Of course, you want a headshot photo of you smiling. Put on an appropriate shirt or blouse because it might show up in the photo. You want a photo that will impress recruiters, coworkers or friends.

3. Using Keywords in your Profile

We have discussed using keywords in your Heading. Using keywords in your Skills & Endorsements is also very important. You can use a ton of keywords. Make sure you hit the top words that reflect your experience. Click the “plus” sign in upper right hand corner to add skill(s). Refer to following image:

LinkedIn Skills section

Tap in the Skill search box. Then go thru the aphabet, keying in one letter, ie, key in A, then select your keyword(s); then key in B, etc. through the alphabet to see which LinkedIn keywords to apply. See below image:

4. Using your Geography

If you are looking for work, it helps to provide a location. Its best to use a general location in a greater city areas, like Oklahoma City/Tulsa metro area instead of a just a single city. This will open up more possibilites for recruiters to locate a matching job.

5. How Open are you to Recruiters?

LinkedIn has a setting you can turn on which tells only recruiters that you are open to being contacted. When you turn on this setting, no one else can see it, only people who have recruiter accountgs. This setting is found in several places in your profile. The setting is labeled Only recuriters.

Go to your profile and look just below your Heading (refer to the first image in this post). When you tap Only recruiters, you are taken to the Job preferences screen. See below image:

LinkedIn Job Preferences

Tap the Edit icon (the pencil in upper right hand corner). Here you can add Job titles, Job locations and select Job types. Refer to below image:

LinkedIn adding Job titles, locations and types

Tap the Only recruiters drop down arror to allow your job information to be shown to anyone using LinkedIn or just Recruiters.

Updating these five areas of your profile will open up more job opportunities and attract more recruiters.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Disable Google from Tracking You

Whereever you go, Goggle is tracking you, especially Google Maps, and archives that activity in your Google Timeline. It is both a blessing and a curse. It can take you down memory lane, but as a curse, it leaves the door wide open to your privacy.

With Timeline, Google Maps can show where you are going and where you have been. Even photos taken and uploaded to Google Photos can reveal your location. You can also share your location in realtime on your smartphone.

If you prefer to keep your location private, you can remove your location history and stop Google from following you.

This feature is for your iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android device, Windows 10 or whatever smart device supports Google

Stop Activity and Location Tracking

Open your Google browser
Log into your account at myaccount.google.com
Select Data & personalization
You can disable what Google can tract and collect from you by managing your Activity controls. To stop tracking, click on the Title and toggle the switch to off. See below image:

Google Tracking 1 — Google Activity controls

Warning! Turning off these Activity controls will effect the use of their features.

Delete your Activities

Your activities are kept until you manually delete them (the default). You have the option of deleting all data for the past 18 months or past 3 months.

Navigate to your Google account at myaccount.google.com
Select Data & personalization>Web & App Activity>Manage Activity>Choose to delete automatically. See below image:

Google Tracking 2 — Google Deletion process

Select the 18 or 3 month option
Tap Next. See below image:

Google Tracking 3 — Google selection of how long to keep your activity

Google will show you what is about to be deleted
Tap Confirm at the bottom of your screen. See below image:

Google Tracking 9 — Google confirmation of your activity deletion

Also, you can delete a particular day’s browsing activity by taping the Trash icon next to the day. Refer to second image above.

To select a custom range, an hour or a date:

Tap the Menu icon located next to My Activity
Select Delete activity by. See below image:

Google Tracking 4 — Google custom deletion

Choose one of the following options. See below image:

Goo5le Tracking 6 — Google selecting your custom deletion

There are other privacy settings you can explore such as Location Services under Settings>Privacy and Security>Location>Location. A set of apps that use Location Services can be toggled on or off. See the following screen:

Google Tracking 8 — Google Location Services to turn on or off

Warning! Turning off these Apps Location Services will effect the use of their features.

Go Incognito

The best and easist way to “hide” your browsing is to set the Incognito Mode. This feature allows you to browse without Google compiling history, cookies, site data or form information. Google has extended the feature to Maps and YouTube. Maps will stop tracking your location history; YouTube will no longer track your search and view history.

Launch Google
Tap the More icon in bottom right hand corner (the 3 dots)
Tap Turn on incognito. See below image:

Google Tracking 10 — Google setting for Incognito Mode

You will see the following screen:

Google Tracking 7 — Google Incognito Mode turned on

To turn off Incognito Mode:

Launch Google
Tap the More icon in the bottom right hand corner (the 3 dots)
Tap In incognito mode
Tap Turn off incognito. Refer to following image:

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How to Block Unwanted Apps in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge has a new “crapware” blocker. For some reason, it isn’t enabled by default, and it should be.

The browser can block “potentially unwanted programs (PUP)”, also known as “potentially unwanted apps”. These are obnoxious programs like adware, cryptocurrency miners, malware and browser toolbars, to name a few.

There is a simple toggle to block these “crapware” downloads. Let’s see how this is done.

This is for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 and Mac versions

First, let’s check what version of Edge you are running. The stable release of Edge is 80+.

Check Your Version of Edge

Stable Version

Open Microsoft Edge
Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
Click Help & feedback
Click About Microsoft Edge

If you have the correct version, let’s enable the toggle. If not, go to Windows Update to check for updates or download and install from this link.

Set the Toggle to Block Unwanted Apps

Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
Click Settings
Click Privacy and services option
Under Services, toggle to On for Block potentially unwanted apps option

Close the Settings screen
You may now Close or Exit Edge

Microsoft Edge will now be more active in blocking unwanted software.

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Did you Know you can Show Multiple Time Zones in Windows 10?

This feature is for a Desktop or Laptop running Windows 10 Operating System. Your family, coworkers or friends may be in different time zones. Lets say you have friends residing in Arizona which does not observe Daylight Savings Time. How many hours are they ahead or behind your current time zone? We are going to find an easy way to do this beside searching for “time in <city>”.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

Setup Additional Time Zones

To find these settings:

Right click on the clock in the Windows 10 Taskbar (lower right)
Select Adjust date/time
Select Add clocks for different time zones under Related Settings section

See below screenshot:

Date and Time Settings — Date and Time settings screenshot

Adding Two Time Zones

To add other clock(s):

Check Show this clock box
Chose a time zone
Enter a display name
Repeat above for a second time zone, its up to you

Your can add two times zones besides your current one

Click OK

See below screenshot for adding two time zones:

Now when you hover your mouse over the date and time in the Taskbar you will see your time zone settings.

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Want to Fix Your Crooked iPhone Photos?

Your photos are off center and you want to fix one or more. The Apple iOS 13 photo editor can straighten a photo. But what if you want more control over the photo. I am going to introduce to you to a free third party app called Snapseed from Google.

This is for iOS devices iPhone and iPad

Either take a crooked photo or select one that you want to fix. See my following crooked photo:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 1 — My crooked iPhone photo

Cropping the Photo

Tap the Edit button
Tap the Crop button at the bottom of the screen

The photo will be automatically crop and the perspective will be changed. Sometimes, this is enough. If so, just click Done and your finished. In my case, I had to use the Straighten tool to rotate the photo then I clicked Done. Notice I rotated the photo a -18. Refer to below image for my result:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 3 — Editing with iPhone photo editor

If you are using iOS 13+, head over to the App Store to download and install the free program Snapseed. Once installed:

The Snapseed Tools

Open your crooked photo in Snapseed
Click on Tools at the bottom of the screen. You will see the following image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 5 — Snapseed tool set

As you will notice, there are lots of tools to chose from for your photo.

Click on the Perspective icon. You can tilt up or down, rotate right or left, scale the photo or free hand the perspective. Refer to my below image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 6 — Using the Snapseed Perspective tool

The app is super sensitive to your touch, much more precise than the built in iPhone photo editor. As you move the perspective, the app will automatically fill in the edges. Check out all the other tools you can use for photo editing. Once you are finished, click Done. Notice at the top of the screen the Straighten is precise to the hundreds of a percent. See the below image:

Phone Crocked Photo Cropped 7 — Final image with Snapseed. This photo was cropped showing white edges

Saving Your Photo

Tap on the Checkmark icon in the lower right of your screen
Tap on Export. You will see the following image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 8 — Saving your photo

Tap on Save to save your changes or Save a copy to preserve your original photo. You are now finished.

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Four Tips and Gotchas for a WordPress Blog

I have been blogging using WordPress as my hosting site for a couple of months. I have discovered a few tips and gotchas using WordPress that may be of interest to you.

First, if you noticed some strange highlighted text on your site, don’t panic. They will go away by exiting and relaunching your site. I had some highlighted text (in yellow) in my Categories section that I did not enter. After exiting and relaunching, the highlighted yellow text disappeared.

Second, if you have links in your posts, the linkage may add the words “opens in a new tab” at the end of your URL. This happens if you have the slider control Open in new tab turned off. This control is found in the drop down arrow next to the Return or the Edit (the pencil) icon). Your links will not work. You must remove the words (opens in a new tab) in the link URL. To open the link in a new tab, you must turn the slider control Open in new tab to the On position.

Third, when I am writing a post, I want to return to a previous block to add or change some text. I position the cursor in the text, but nothing happens. I am unable to add or change any text. I have to save whatever changes I have made, exit the post, then relaunch the post. Then I am able to make text changes. This is most frustrating aspect of WordPress.

Fourth, in my version of WordPress, the Dashboard does not automatically load. To get to the Dashboard, enter <your website name>/wp-admin in your browser search field. For my blog, I would enter the following in my browser: techsavvy.life/wp-admin.

1. Enable Dark Mode

2. Enable Night Shift

3. Enable Night Vision

4. Adjust the Flashlight

5. Enable Led Flash for Alerts

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Launch Spotlight Search

Finding an App

Launch the App

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Related

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Hide an App

Find Your Hidden App

Unhide Your App

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Related

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Sync Your Windows 10 Devices

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1. Your Heading Statement

2. Updating your Photo

3. Using Keywords in your Profile

4. Using your Geography

5. How Open are you to Recruiters?

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Stop Activity and Location Tracking

Delete your Activities

Go Incognito

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Check Your Version of Edge

Stable Version

Set the Toggle to Block Unwanted Apps

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Setup Additional Time Zones

Adding Two Time Zones

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Cropping the Photo

The Snapseed Tools

Saving Your Photo

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