Do you get frustrated when your smart device switches to landscape from portrait mode (or vice versa) when you don’t want it to? There is a way to prevent this behavior through Orientation Lock.
This is for iOS devices iPhone and iPad running iOS 7 and above
Set the Lock
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:
The Orientation Lock screen
Tap the Orientation Lock icon (the one with an open lock and a curved arrow) to set the lock to its current position. A brief message will appear at the top to confirm the lock and the icon will be highlighted. Refer to following image:
Turning on the Orientation Lock
Swipe to close Control Center
Verify the Lock
Launch the Control Center. A small lock icon will be displayed in the Status Bar next to the Battery Level icon. See following image:
Verifying the Orientation Lock is on
Swipe to close Control Center
Turn Off the Lock
Launch the Control Center
Tap the Orientation Lock icon
A brief message will appear at the top to confirm the lock is turned off and the icon will no longer be highlighted. See following image:
Turning off the Orientation Lock
Swipe to close the Control Center
Note!Not all apps support screen rotation. Some apps only work in portrait or landscape mode. This is particularly true of some games and video apps. For those apps, your screen rotation settings don’t matter. The app will only display in the orientation it supports.
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.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong: Events and Aftermath
Yes, you can now hear Podcasts on your Amazon Echo device. Apple Podcasts and others, like Spotify and iHeartRadio, are now options to choose from for your favorite podcasts.
We are going to link your Echo device to one of these podcast services. Our example is linking Apple Podcasts to the Amazon Echo. The ways this is done is somewhat clumsy. The Echo seems to be hard to program; it’s not straightforward. But follow along, it’s not time consuming and is worth it.
This is for iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) and the Amazon Echo
Starting Alexa
Open the Alexa app on your smart device. If you have yet to download the app, head to the Apple Store to download and install.
Tap the hamburger icon, the one with 3 dots in upper right hand corner or tap on the menu icon in upper left hand corner
Select Settings. You will see the following screen:
The Settings image
Select Music & Podcasts. Refer to following image:
The Music & Podcasts screen
Setting up the Link
Select Link New Service.
Select Apple Podcasts. Refer to following image:
Enabling the Apple Podcasts image
Tap ENABLE TO USE.
You will be asked to enter your Apple ID, Password and Passcode depending on your login procedure
Tap SETTINGS. See following screen:
The Apple Podcasts settings screen.
Linking the Service to Echo
On the Skill Settings screen, tap on the Link Account link. See below image:
The link screen for Apple Podcasts
Allowing Access for the Link
Tap Allow on the AccessRequest screen. You may see a different screen depending on what service you are linking. Refer to below image for Apple Podcasts:
Allowing the link to Apple Podcasts image
Linkage for the Podcast Service Completed
You will see that Apple Podcasts has been successfully linked. See following image:
Apple Podcasts now linked to Amazon Echo screen
Click Done
Now you can listen to your favorite Apple Podcasts. Just repeat the above steps to add other podcast service(s).
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.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong: Events and Aftermath
The Coronavirus is in the news in a big way, almost a Pandemic by World Health Organization. The news has you aware of how many times you touch your face, how many times do you touch your device?
What you Will Need
What can we do about this? To get our gadgets gleaming, you will need microfiber cloths, cotton swabs, isopropyl alcohol, compressed air spray and distilled water. Before you apply any cleaning, unplug or turn off your device. We are going to disinfect your device and give everything else a general cleaning.
Cleaning your Phone or Tablet
Phones and tablets have fingerprint resistent coating that could come off. Manufactures generally recommend wiping them down with distilled water on a microfiber cloth, then using cotton swabs to clean around the edges of the screen, buttons and camera lens.
What To Do
Apple recently released its updated guidelines for cleaning. They endorse using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. You may gently wipe the nonporous surfaces such as the screen, keyboard or other exterior surfaces.
You can create a mixure by using 70 percent alcohol and 30 percent water in a spray bottle. Be sure to wash your hands before starting the cleaning. Then remove any case (leave on any protective screen), spritz the cloth with the solution and thoroughly wipe down your device. Let it dry completely. Then be sure to wash your hands again.
What To Avoid
Do not use bleach
Avoid getting moisture in any opening
Do not submerge your Apple device in any cleaning agents
Don’t use the wipes on fabric or leather surfaces
Do not reuse the microfiber cloth
Avoid using Windex
Cleaning Your Desktop or Laptop
First unplug your device and remove the battery for a laptop. Turn your laptop or PC keyboard upside down and (gently) shake out to get rid of dirt and crumbs. Then grab a can of compressed air blaster (available at WalMart and similar places) and blast it. Use cotton swaps to get inside the crevices like the keys.
Lightly spray a microfiber cloth with your solution and wipe down the plastic and metal surfaces to include external devices.
To clean the screen, use a screen cleaning product or your mixture and spray onto a microfiber cloth. For a laptop, a one stop solution is to try 3M Notebook and Tablet Cleaning Wipes. If you have a touch screen, clean it with a microfiber cloth; for smudges, use only water or eyeglass cleaner applied to the cloth to remove them.
Don’t forget the mouse. Using the same mixture, dab it on a cotton swab and run it over the feet of the mouse and any crevices. Then take a microfiber cloth dipped in the mixture and go over the body of the mouse and cord.
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 us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
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:
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:
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)
Enabling Night Vision
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:
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:
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.
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:
Launch of Spotlight
Finding an App
Type a few letters of the app name. In my example, I am searching for “TV App”. See following image:
Finding an app using Spotlight search
Spotlight will suggest a “Top Hit” and other possibilities. Refer to below image:
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”:
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.
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:
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:
My Yale Cleaners app
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:
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:
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.
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:
LinkedIn adding Skills using keywords
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.
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 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 Deletion process
Select the 18 or 3 month option
Tap Next. See below image:
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 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 custom deletion
Choose one of the following options. See below image:
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 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 setting for Incognito Mode
You will see the following screen:
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:
Google Incognito Mode turned off
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.
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
Saving your photo
Tap on Save to save your changes or Save a copy to preserve your original photo. You are now finished.
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.
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 controlOpen 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.
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.
Tech Savvy Life 