Great Apps for your iPhone and iPad...part 3.

With March in the rear view mirror, it's time to further breakdown the App of the week posts.  So here we go.  Another month gone by, and another handful of great apps for you to check out and start using.

The first March App of the week is one of my new favorites,  its called simply, Documents 5 (by Readdle).

One of the features that I love about Documents 5 is that it's one of the best apps at combining  your files from some of the top cloud services.  If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, Box.com, One drive, Sugar Sync, Office 365 or a few others, Documents 5 let you combine all the files you wish to from those services into one common app!  That is Awesome!

You'll notice on my Documents page here, I've got files from the Documents 5 app, as well as files from Google Drive (the Montages folder), and Box.com (the Presentations folder).

How great to be able to view all those files from disparate cloud services in one place.  Thank you Documents 5!  And not to leave iCloud out in the cold, Documents 5 also will Sync via iCloud across your iOS devices, very nice indeed.  If that wasn't enough for you, Documents 5 also acts as a full features Web browser, letting you create bookmarks, as well as download directly into the Documents 5 app.

So, if you haven't downloaded it yet, get a move on!  Documents 5 should be on everyones must have list.

The next App that I highlighted is the iTunes Festival App.  If you downloaded the app when I posted about it, back on March 9th, you could watch live, full concerts from the SXSW festival in Austin Texas featuring the likes of Coldplay, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Pitbull, just to name a few.  

As of this writing, you can see partial performances from some of the artists, while some artists full performances are still available.  Get the app while you can, those performances won't be available forever, and some of them were fantastic!

The next app to be highlighted in March is one of my all time favorites, Evernote.  Evernote is one of the apps I use regularly.  The ability to write notes on my iPhone or iPad, have those notes sync through Evernote's cloud service and be available on all my devices, is well, priceless!  

Evernote wants to be your "Remember Everything" App.  As stated on their website, Evernote and it's related apps make life more manageable by letting you easily collect and manage everything and anything that matters to you.  I use Evernote to take notes from my client appointments on my iPhone.  When I get back to my Mac, I open up Evernote and can add or change the note(s) I created during the day.  Those changes sync through Evernote's system and are available on all my devices!  

If you are not happy with the simple Notes App that comes with your devices(s), I urge you to try Evernote.  A great new feature, recently added is the ability to take pictures within Evernote of business cards.  Once the picture has been taken, Evernote creates a note, from which you can then save all the information captured from someones card, right into your contacts app!  That rocks!  Another nice feature of Evernote is the ability to create reminders about your notes, or a reminder to buy milk on your way home from work!  Best feature of Evernote is??  That it's free!  There are in-app purchase options, but the basic app, which has all the cool features I've mentioned, is FREE!  So, have you downloaded it yet??  

Next up in March was Camera+.  Camera+ is one of my favorite non-Apple apps.  Those of you looking to get more out of your iPhone or iPad camera, this is a great place to start.

Using Camera + is super easy, and can make a novice photographer look like a seasoned pro!  Some of it's awesome features include:  Touch Exposure and Focus - Simply tapping on the screen allows you to set the exposure separately from the focus (very cool!), allowing you to control how light or dark your picture comes out!  Nice...:).

Shooting Modes - There  are five different modes you can shoot with, Square, which let's you take pictures to better use on various Social sites.  Normal mode.  You can use the Stabilizer feature of the app to steady your iPhone and get the best possible picture.  Theres a Timer feature that will help you get the best selfies possible...Burst mode which will allow you to take pictures is rapid succession.

 Digital Zoom - The Apps zoom gives you up to 6X (notice the bar on the right side of the screen capture below, at 6X) the zoom with advanced digital processing that gives you awesome photos!

Front Flash - How about this cool feature?  Ever wish your iPhone had an available front flash?  Well with Camera + it now does!  Horizon Level - to assist you in taking the most level photo possible.  You'll notice on the screen capture above, the white bar in the middle, that's your Horizon Level.  Clarity - This awesome feature shown below and available through Lightbox, analyzes your photo, makes several intelligent digital adjustments that magically bring out the best in your photos!  That is awesome!

Effects - Camera + comes with some incredible effects to enhance your pictures.  Theres Scenes, which let's you add Flash, Backlit, Darken, Cloudy, to name just a few (have a look again at the above screen cap, it's also in Scene mode).  Then there's Crops, which let's you crop to Square mode, 3x2, 4x3, 4x6 etc etc etc.

The Lab where you can add Clarity, Rotate, Straighten, and Tint and Duotone to name a few.

Filters where can add awesome filters like Retro, Special, I Heart Analog and Hollywood.

Finally Frames, where you can add some killer frames to your already killer photographs...

The next feature I'm going to cover in Camera + is Lightbox  - Lightbox is a unique way to sort through your photos, delete the ones you don't want, and save your fav's to your iPhone's Photo App.  Camera + has some other great features.

You can share your photos to your favorite Social networks, it even syncs with iCloud so you can take pics all day with your iPhone, and edit on your iPad (there's an iPad app as well).

So these are some of the great features that come with Camera +.  There are also 2 in-app purchases available (both at the low, low price of .99 Cents as well).  Not only do I highly recommend Camera+, and I use it very often to take pics with my 5S...:).

Lastly for the month of March was the AiO (short for All in One) print app from HP.  The AiO app gives you document control from almost anywhere!

Regardless of your documents are in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, etc.),   AiO gives you the power to save, share and print those files to an AirPrint or ePrint capable printer.  

Using intelligent mobile scanning technology, the app processes your images as either PDF or JPEG and allows you to instantly save or print.  

Now, if your wondering, why you need this app to print?  The same reason you'd use an app like Camera+, or Evernote.  Yes you can print to effortlessly and easily using your iPhone or iPad, but to enhance your printing capabilities, the AiO app is a must.  

Well I hope you've enjoyed learning about these great apps.  I recommend trying them all.  They truly add and enhance your iPhone and iPads capabilities.

Thanks again for reading, I truly appreciate it and hope my blogs have been useful!

Until next time, best to you and your devices!

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How to find your lost iPhone.

(This story is told through the eyes and words of an iPhone)

The memories are foggy as to how my owner lost me, but that's not really what's important here.  What is important is that she found me, thanks to a really knowledgeable and awesome dude (The MacMentor), and a really smart mom (who kept her Apple ID and Password safe).

So here's what I remember...I was having a blast with my owner, down at the beach.  She was living it up, tanning and having fun with her friends, it was a great day!  A few hours go by, the sun started to set, and the next thing I know, she's gone!  Left without me.  I was so sad!  I didn't know what to do, so I waited, and waited and waited.  Thankfully I had a full battery charge.  My only hope was that my owner (who asked to remain anonymous here) remembered her Apple ID, and password.

So here's what happened next (I know because she told me).  My owner was so nervous that her mom was going to go berserk, but thankfully she has a Mac Guy who could help her, his name is The MacMentor (aka, Geoff Horwitz).  She called The MacMentor and told him of her terrible situation and asked him what to do.  The MacMentor asked her if she knew her Apple ID.  She gave him the ID she thought she used, and The MacMentor went to his trusty Mac, opened up Safari and proceeded to go to http://icloud.com.

Once there, he entered the Apple ID and Password my owner gave him (hidden for obvious reasons).  Sadly, he got a message back from iCloud that the Apple ID and password had not been set up!  The MacMentor shook his head in disbelief.  If iCloud had not been set up, how on earth would I (the iPhone) be found?  The MacMentor was sure that my owner had set up her iCloud, so he had her call her mom.  What happened next was just plain awesome!  Thankfully mom had written down the Apple ID and password my owner used for iCloud.  So, mom opened up Safari, went to iCloud.com and signed in with my owners Apple ID and password.

When mom did that she came to the screen capture above.  Next, mom pressed the Find my iPhone button which took her to a map, similar to the one below, but for security reasons, the map below is simply being used as an example.

It's a little hard to see, but on the top right of the screen capture above, there's a window with me, the iPhone, and underneath three buttons.  Play Sound, Lost Mode and Erase iPhone.  Mom was able to locate the iPhone on the beach where my owner had forgotten me, but it was dark out, and it would be really hard to find me!  So, mom called The MacMentor, and he told her to press the Play Sound button (I tell you, that MacMentor dude is a genius!).  This story keeps getting better!  You see, thankfully my battery still had plenty of charge, and I was still on.  So when mom pressed the Play Sound button on iCloud I started making a loud sonar noise.  And low and behold, a few minutes later, even though it was dark, my owner and her friends heard me calling her and she came and got me!  Yeah!  I love stories with a happy ending, and thanks to the wonderful MacMentor, and a resourceful mom,  I didn't get washed up in the tide and lost at sea!

So the moral of the story is this.  If you own an iPhone, make sure you sign in to iCloud, and make sure you remember your Apple ID and password!  And it would help if you knew The MacMentor as well...:).

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to keep your iPhone and iPad safe, using iCloud!

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Cloud Storage options

Cloud Storage.  Your options have changed...Again...

Happy Sunday!  When I originally created this blog about a year ago, the cloud scene storage scene  was similar, yet very different.  Since then most, if not all the cloud service providers have upped the ante and now offer more free storage and better options.  CX.com, for some reason, has gotten rid of there free option.  Box.com and Google have greatly enhanced their cloud options, so with all the change occurring I thought it would be a good idea to update the blog, yet again with the most current information for all my readers.  So, here we go, again!

Well start this updated blog with the same five cloud options that I reviewed back in October of 2013.    Those sites are Dropbox, Google Drive, CX, Copy and Box.  Dropbox was one of the first players on the cloud scene, so I’ve been using it for a few years now.  I like the ease with which it integrates with Mac OSX (and Windows), though it does have it’s drawbacks.  CX and Copy are newer to the game.  Copy offers  more storage for free, and like Dropbox have a very good App for your iOS devices.   CX no longer has a free option, which right off the bat would lead me no longer recommend it.   Google Drive is one of the many tools to spawn out of Gmail.  One of the great features of Google Drive is that, if you have a Google account, you automatically get access to Google Drive for free!  The final option that I’m going to write about, Box, has also been around for a few years.  Box is geared toward the enterprise, though anyone can sign up.  Box now gives users 50GB of free storage, thats the most free storage offered.  Also, like the other four, has the ability to upgrade to more storage for a monthly fee.

Let’s dig a little further into the options, we’ll start with Dropbox.  Nothing has changed for Dropbox since the previous update in October.  They have been around longer than the four others here (since 2004), that doesn’t however make them the best option.  Dropbox has a very user friendly interface, and new users start with 2gb of free storage.  It entices you to share Dropbox with everyone you know by offering you 500mb of free storage for everyone who joins based on your introduction, giving you up to 18gb of free storage. Dropbox installs on your Mac (or PC) as well as your iPhone or iPad (or android device).  Once you’ve installed in on your Mac, you can easily transfer files using Finder (a very nice option), or you can log into Dropbox.com from your browser of choice and upload files through it’s friendly easy to use interface.  Dropbox’s features are more limited than some of the others here, but it’s very good at what it does, which is provide you with either additional storage, as well as a place to back up and share your important files.  If the 2gb you get for free (or if you can get your friends/family to join you and get up to 18gb free) isn’t enough, you can purchase additional storage, starting at 100gb  for $9.99 a month, 200gb for $19.99 all the way up to 500gb for $49.99 a month.  Dropbox’s iOS app has been updated to work nicely with iOS 7.  It let’s you download or upload files from your iPhone or iPad, a nice addition and a great way to have access to the files you need, wherever and whenever you need them.  Some other nice iOS features include the ability to share files (rather than having to email or message them to someone), create folders, send a file as a Facebook message, or post to Facebook as well as being able to share via Twitter.  All in all, a nice easy to use interface, potential for 18gb of free space, but from a storage perspective, Dropbox is far behind Drive, Box and Copy.

Next up, Google Drive.  Google is continually adding free storage, and they have really upped the ante with their latest offerings.  Google drive has actually been around since 2005, when it started as Google Docs.  What is now Google Drive, is a nice leap forward.  When I last updated the blog, Google Drive had upped their offering to 15gb of free storage, plus the ability to create documents using Google’s web suite of applications, something not offered by Dropbox, CX, or Copy.  Not too mention, there’s even an online store where you can add apps to your Google Drive, a very nice feature indeed, although let me point out this caveat, most apps require Google’s Chrome browser in order to work.  So if you don’t use Chrome, most of those apps are not suitable for your browser!  Similar to Dropbox, Drive has a nice, easy to use interface, as well as an iOS companion app that gives you access to all your files, wherever and whenever you need, also allowing you to upload photos or videos from your iOS device and share them.    If the 15gb of free storage is not enough, Google has recently changed their upgrade options, yet again, and the changes are better!   You can upgrade from 100GB for only $1.99 a month, all the way to  10TB for a measly $99.99 per month.  In between those options, you can get 1TB at $9.99/month.  Easily the best options of any of the cloud service providers.  Drive let’s you share documents with other Google users (and vice versa), and in my opinion has the best integration companion, Google Hangouts.   With an upgraded interface, tremendous storage options, Google drive is definitely a cloud storage option to consider.

Now onto CX.  CX has changed things up, and in my opinion, not for the better.  They have removed their free starter option (you do get to try the service for 30 days for free, but that really doest count!).  CX gives you 10GB of storage for $9.99/year.  Not a bad deal, but when your competitors are giving away storage, it's not a good deal by any stretch!   They have 256 bit encryption for those of you looking to keep your stuff as encrypted as possible, they have redundant backups in case anything happens to their systems, and added firewall protection to keep you data safe, all killer features!  Like Google Drive, CX has a group feature that let’s you collaborate with other people (team members, family, friends etc.), though it does not offer video conferencing as of this blog writing.  It also has a nice feature where you can highlight some files as favorites for offline viewing when necessary.  Like the other cloud offerings, Cx’s iOS app allows you the ability to upload photo’s directly from your iPhone or iPad.  CX seems to like the Dropbox idea where you share with friends, and if they sign up you get additional storage, only where Dropbox offers 500mb of storage per person, CX is offering 300mb with the ability to earn up to 6gb additional free storage, giving you a potential total of 16gb free storage.  Unlike Dropbox, CX’s integration with the Mac is not through Finder, rather it has an App you can download, run and pick which folder(s) you wish to sync (very easy to use).  CX has great plans if you wish to add storage.  I’m just going to cover the Personal Plans here, there are additional plans for businesses.  CX's upgrade options have remained the same.  A user can upgrade to 25GB for $4.99 a month.  If that isn’t enough for you, you can go to 100GB for $9.99 a month, and if you still need more, for $21.99 a month you’ll get 250GB of storage!  Seven months ago those options were very good.  Today, with the options you are getting from both Google Drive and Box.com, they don't look all that good.  Your options are not as numerous as with Google Drive, however if you are looking for a good online back-up of pictures or movies (or both), CX is a good way to go!  All in all I still like CX’s online interface, but wish the Mac access was via Finder instead of having to run an additional app to sync your files.  But sadly, I can no longer recommend CX as a viable cloud storage option.  Sorry guys!

Very little has changed for the next cloud storage option, Copy.com.   Copy was created by Networking security specialists, Barracuda Networks, so you can be sure your content will be as secure as possible!  Similar to Drive, Copy starts you off at 15GB of free storage.  Copy has both personal and business options, for the purpose of this blog, I'm only going to cover the personal options.  Beyond the 15GB free plan, Copy now has only one other plan, 250GB for either $9.99/month or $99/year.  They have gotten rid of their 500GB for $14.99/month or $149/year option, perhaps no one was using that much space?  The two options are good, not great .  Your options are more limited than what Google offers with Drive.  The best part of Copy is still its referral plans.  There literally is no option to how much free storage you can accrue!  I've read review of people earning up to 600gb of free storage by inviting their contacts!  That is absolutely amazing!  Copy works across platforms, including Linux.  Most cloud service providers are limited to Mac OSX and Windows.  Copy is even now available on the Windows mobile platform, for those that have Windows mobile phones.  Both Copy.com and the desktop client are very easy to use.  The desktop client integrates with Finder (for Mac), which I love as it makes syncing files and folders a very easy and intuitive task.  All in all (and certainly in my opinion), Copy is a viable cloud service options, that I would recommend.

The last storage option I’m going to cover here is Box.com.  Box started selling cloud storage into enterprises before it opened up to consumers.  Box perviously had been offering 10GB of free storage, which they recently bumped up to 50GB.  There is a slight catch.  You don't get the extra 40GB of storage until you install Box on your iOS device.  But that's the whole point of these cloud storage sights right?  Having your files in the cloud so you can have access to them on your devices.  Like Dropbox, Box has great integration into Mac OSX, where you can access your files through Finder.  Box’s big differentiator is still their ability to allow you to create a document using the Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) of tools.  If you do not have a copy of Microsoft Word (or Excel or Powerpoint), it opens a cloud version for you, and automatically saves your work to your Box storage, not your computer.  One thing I don't like about Box, is that it will not store your iWork files!  So if you are a Pages/Keynote/Numbers user, you'll have to export your files to PDF format in order to store them on Box.  To me that's a huge detractor.  In Boxes favor, is that it let's you create a document in Google Doc format!  Little by little we are getting away from the need to own copies of Microsoft Office (or any other office products for that matter).  Because of it’s tight Microsoft integration, Box, in my opinion, offers a great alternative for those users confined to Microsoft Office.  Box has, an easy to use online interface.  Box’s iOS app is very similar to the others, with the same features.  You can tap a file and make it a favorite, which will allow offline access.  You can also upload pictures and video from you iPhone or iPad.  If you are looking for additional storage, now a single user can upgrade to 100GB for only $5 a month.  Not as good as Google Drive's offering, but still fairly reasonable.   There are also many other options for businesses that I'm not going to cover here.

So quite a bit has changed.  Most of it for the better, in CX's case, not so much.  When you are trying to figure out which one is best,  there may not be a best, like me, you may end up using multiple cloud storage sites.   If you are looking for the most free storage, Box is now the way to go.  If you are looking for the most mature product, Box is again the way to go.  If you are looking for one with the most options, Google Drive should be your choice.  Since all but CX are free,  I recommend trying them all out and seeing which one suits you the best.   I hope the updated blog helps, if you like it or even if you don’t, leave a comment I love hearing from you…
Until next time, Best to you and your devices.

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Great Apps for your iPhone and iPad

Happy February!  Those of you that have "Liked" The MacMentor on Facebook have had the benefit of viewing my App and Device of the Week posts that I started this past January.  The goal of the weekly postings is to make you all more aware of the great tools available to you for your iPhones and iPads.

The first App of the week, is one that I recently started using.  It's called Scanner Pro.

If you were able to view my posting in early January, and you went to download ScannerPro, it was the AppStore's App of the Week, first week of January, and it was FREE!  If you missed it, it is still 50% off, but that ends Feb 4th, so hurry!  Scanner Pro is a great app that allows you to quickly and easily scan paper documents and save them into PDF format.

Once the device has been scanned, it can be easily uploaded to Evernote, Google Drive.  For those of you that use iCloud, the document can be uploaded there as well!  It can also be emailed.

It's a great tool for those of you looking for a quick efficient way to get your documents onto your iOS device, then either uploaded to your cloud drive(s) or emailed.

Week two of January brought us another great app, this one is however limited to those of you that own Mac's, as it works in conjunction between your iOS device and your Mac computer.  It's called Command-C.  Those of you familiar with Mac shortcuts, know exactly what Command-C does, it copies something into the Mac memory.   

Command-C is downloaded to both your Mac and iOS device, on your Mac, it sits on the Menu bar (see pic below).  When you capture something using Command-C, you can easily copy it to your iOS device!  Very, very cool!  

It's a super quick, and easy way to copy notes or other text between your devices.

Week 3 of January 2014 I decided to name Box (of Box.com), the App of the week.  Why you ask, good question!  Box.com is a great site for cloud storage.  When you sign up on-line, you get 10GB of free space.  What makes the Box app so awesome is that after you download it to your iPhone, iPad or both, your free space goes from a nice 10GB of free space to an incredible 50GB of free space.  That's right people 50GB!  That's something to smile about.  

Box has a super easy to use interface.  You can have your files listed separately, or in folders.  You can easily create new folders, or upload pictures and videos.  

You can download files for offline viewing, easily search your files, or access the other OneCloud apps (see the screen capture below).  

You can also easily e-mail or text a document.  

The easy to use interface, coupled with the incredible 50GB of free space could earn this app the App of the Month!

The last App of the week for January 2014 is an app geared for business/project users.  The app is BaseCamp.  

BaseCamp is an awesome tool for project teams.  If you've ever used Microsoft Project, you know how challenging it can be for the lay person.  BaseCamp is just the opposite, it's easy (not unlike your devices!).  BaseCamp lets you check on your project from virtually anywhere.  You can see the latest project updates, jump in on discussions and post your thoughts, view progress as team members complete to-do lists.  Everything in your project is available, helping you make important decisions where ever you may be!

So there they are, your January 2014 Apps of the week.  I'd love to hear from you, and get your choice for which App should be the App of the Month!  

My goal with the Apps of the week are to broaden your horizons as to what is available to you so you can be more productive with your iPhone and iPad.  I hope you enjoyed the weekly posts, as well as the more in-depth blog write up here.

Until next time (which will be very soon!)...best to you and your devices!

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