Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • Four Handy Tips for Apple Maps

    Since my Chevy Volt has Apple CarPlay I usually use my iPhone and the Apple Maps App for navigation. Lately I have noticed that every time I launch Maps it wants to take me to the location “Key West Personal Chef” which happened to be the first entry in my destinations and a random pin that I had dropped on the map. This was frustrating to me and, try as I might, I was not able to delete that pin. Grace said that might be an interesting Kibbles article so here we go.

    Tip 1 – Removing a Pin from Apple Maps

    This has changed when Apple improved and updated the iOS. It is not as easy as I thought it would be, swiping on it didn’t work, hitting the info button didn’t work and 3D touch was not effective. I did some research, and found to remove a pin or previous destination simply swipe up to see the list of destinations and swipe left to remove. This is different if it is a previous destination or a pin that came from a search. Previous destinations can just be swiped away but those from a search have another step. You must first click into the search box and then you can swipe to remove the pin.

    Tip 2 – How to Find Where you Parked

    I actually have several parking applications. Some pay for meters and some remember where the car is parked (if you’ve remembered to mark the location). But, to make things easier, if you have paired your iPhone with your car via Bluetooth or through CarPlay it will remember where you parked. You will have to make sure some things are enabled for this to work. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services to make sure it is turned on. While in Location Services, go to System Services, and turn on Significant Locations. When your phone disconnects from your car, you will receive a notification and now Parked Car will show up on your map.

    Tip 3- Turn on Compass Mode

    It has taken me some time to get used to looking at maps where north is not up. I used to participate in these really tricky map rallies called the St. Valentines Day Massacre and that set my compass with north up! But with Apple Maps, because you may not know which way is up, you can activate “compass mode” easily. Simply tap the blue location arrow to find your current location and then tap it again and you will see a little compass showing your orientation. If you don’t want to see the compass, simply tap on it and it will go away.

    Tip 4 – Clear your Location History

    Let’s just say you search for directions to some places you don’t want anyone to know about, like the gift shop for your wife or you are a secret agent and want to cover your tracks. Apple Maps will keep track of where you have been, but you can clear that history easily if you want to. Go to Settings, select Privacy, and then Location Services. Tap on System Services, which can be found at the bottom of the list, and then tap on Significant Locations to see your travel history. You can clear your location history by tapping on Clear History at the bottom or selectively edit your locations by selecting that location and swiping left.

  • Stay warm, safe and happy as you celebrate this new year! I have great hopes for 2018 because I am by nature a half-full kinda guy. Ring in the new year with hope and happiness and with any luck it will last!

    I want to personally thank you for being the loyal customers that make Small Dog Electronics a success. While we stress customer service to our employees we know that customer loyalty is more important and we work hard to earn that loyalty from you!

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    Don & Emily

  • Bundle Up!

    I woke up this morning to negative temperatures and the forecast isn’t changing in the next few days. I’ve written about keeping your phone safe in the heat of summer, but what about in frigid weather?

    iPhones and other electronic devices are not meant to be kept in extreme temperatures. As frigid winter temperatures are upon many of us, it’s important to remember that our iPhones can’t perform well at extreme temperatures. iPhones have ideal operating temperatures and work best between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Leaving your iPhone in the cold can have unpleasant side effects, similar to when you accidentally leave your phone too long in a hot car in the summer.

    Many of us take our phones everywhere we go, we want to have them with us be it to keep in touch or perhaps you just want to listen to your new playlist while hitting the slopes. Personally, I think there’s nothing more peaceful than a good song and a cruise down the ski slope until your music stops! When our phones are out in the cold performance issues can arise. You can experience rapid loss of charge on your battery, your phone could begin to perform erratically and it can even stop working. Over the years I’ve had countless customers come into the store during the winter months concerned they have a failing battery due to poor performance. In most cases, this is just temporary and your battery is just fine. However, continuing to expose your phone to the cold weather can have long-term effects. I recommend keeping your phone close to your body if you have it outside and avoid leaving it behind in your car in the cold. If it’s really cold out and you have to be outside, you might want to just leave your phone where it’s warm!

    Batteries in phones have a long history of troubles, it seems. There has been some press lately about battery issues in iPhones in general. When the iPhone X first came out reports buzzed about the performance of phones in the cold, Apple was quick to release a software update. I have not had any troubles with my iPhone X in the cold, but naturally, I’m not using it out in this cold weather. I’m sure many of our readers have heard and read the reports on Apple slowing down older phones running iOS 11, Apple has released an updated battery replacement program for customers.

    Battery issues will always arise with our devices, be it heat, cold, operating systems upgrades, location services and more. No matter what generation phone you have, extreme temperatures will always have a negative effect, so do your best to keep your phone safe.

  • Backwards Binoculars Traded for Magic 8 Ball

    It is traditional for me to review my 2017 predictions this time of the year. It has been a tough year in many respects with political turmoil, scandals, really awful hurricanes and wildfires and senseless acts of violence. I have to say I am not sad to see 2017 in the rearview mirror.

    So, how did I do?

    Cubs will repeat as the start of a dynasty!
    The Cubbies got the World Series hangover and didn’t make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

    Warriors will win the NBA but Celtics make it to Eastern Conference Finals.
    The Warriors did win and the Celtics did make it to the Eastern Conference Finals (and then traded off the almost the whole team)so I get the win here!

    Lots ‘o snow for Vermont and a bad mud season.
    Well, not too much snow although there is some on the ground now. Mud season came in stages and well, I wasn’t there so it wasn’t so bad. So, no win here.

    Large demonstrations in major cities protesting Trump-led changes.
    Yes, many of those but not nearly enough to make a change. We live in interesting times.

    Apple will definitely hit an all-time high stock price.
    Apple just keeps on rolling – yes, an all-time high.

    Something completely bizarre and chaotic will happen in the US political system.
    Let me count the ways. A democrat wins in Alabama? Republicans shoot themselves in the foot with a misguided tax bill? #metoo means women get some respect?
    We live in interesting times.

    There will be confirmed existence of extra-terrestrial life.
    Well now…There was confirmation of a secret government investigation of UFOs and it had some interesting reports but nope – I do not call it confirmation. I DO wonder what that long cigar-like object was that passed through our solar system.

    Apple will make a surprising acquisition.
    I was not surprised.

    Tesla will not ship the model 3.
    This one is a push. Tesla did deliver some hand-made Model 3s, mainly to employees so I guess I lose not his one, too.

    Apple will ship an Amazon Echo competitor that will make Alexa seem as lame as Google Home.
    Apple messed with me on this one by pushing the HomePod into 2018. They are going to have to do some heavy lifting to overcome Amazon’s Echo.

    And one softball… 2017 will be a much better year than 2016!
    I am giving myself a loss on this one, too, 2017 was not a nice year. 4 right 6 wrong, hence my change in predicting tools! Check back next week for the 2018 predictions.