We’ve had several students lately who have lost data because they had not correctly setup their backups – and then their iPads were either damaged or “the mysterious someone” reset their passcode.
Right now, while you are thinking about it, check to make sure your data is being backed up:
Settings –> iCloud –> Backups ON. GO ahead and click the button to do a backup RIGHT NOW, since you’re there…….
Drive –> Settings –> Photos. YES, automatically backup your Pix and Vids to Drive. The other settings involved are your call [ they won’t make much difference since we are a Google school].
Notability –> Gear icon, bottom left –> Autobackups –> Google Drive should have a checkmark. If it doesn’t, select it. You’ll be prompted through the signon process.
ONCE MORE OPTIONAL THING YOU CAN DO:
Settings –> iTunes. Sign in. The iPad Guy suggests using your personal AppleID [that way any music you buy will always be yours]. If you will never be buying music through iTunes, then it’s OK to use your MDS AppleID. [AND you can switch accounts later if things change].
There IS an option to NOT have a credit card on the account – but you have to look for it on the screen where Apple asks for your credit card.
This betters the odds of doing a simple restore-from-iCloud if your machine croaks, as opposed to setting up from scratch and having the download all your backups manually.
The iPad Guy has also been known as the MaconMacGuy for a “good while now” – and sometimes gets asked about running antivirus software for the Mac.
In general, Macs are less susceptible to getting nailed with a true virus. HOWEVER – we have seen a couple of annoyances on Macs laptops, where the laptop owner visited a site that had been infected. The site ran some code that changed the homepage and search engine settings for the affected machine.
There have also been a few instances in the last several months of Mac attacks being seen “in the wild”. They are generally fairly arcane, but they are still “out there”.
So while the Macs are indeed less susceptible to virus attacks than WIndows machine, they are BY NO MEANS invulnerable.
One of them is that allowing your phone to charge all night is a good idea. It isn’t
[The iPad Guy somewhat disagrees with this one!]
Frequently charging your phone is also a bad idea, believe it or not.
Why? Ions traveling from the electrical outlet to the battery cause wear and tear on the battery, which in the long run reduces your smartphone battery’s lifespan. The New York Times published an article reporting that frequently charging Li-Ion batteries “accelerates corrosion”.
Another bad battery-charging charging habit? Using the wrong charger, not meant for that phone model, as it will be delivering electricity in the wrong capacitance or voltage, which, again, is hard on your smartphone’s battery.
The iPad Guy FREQUENTLY sees students using the wrong charger for the iPads. DO NOT use one of those cheapie chargers – they miss significant power circuitry that the iPads need so they’ll charge corrrectly.
Below are some battery-charging tricks that will extend your battery life:
Only charge when your battery gets to 50%. This will cut down on the frequency with which you charge your smartphone battery, and will also keep you from letting it get too low or die, which is equally as bad for it.
Use the correct charger. As already mentioned above, you will want to use the charger that came with your smartphone. Microsoft confirms that using the wrong or faulty hardware for phone charging is a bad idea. [NOTE: Apple says the same thing. No, it’s NOT because they are just trying to make more money. There are excellent engineering reasons behind the statements.]
Turn off unused apps or features to save battery life. A good trick for saving smartphone battery power is to turn off those power-draining apps that aren’t being used. On the iPads/iPhones, you can:
Turn off Background App Refresh
Select a NONdynamic wallpaper.
Swipe out of any apps you aren’t using. [Doublick the home button, and swipe away].
Shutdown your device every once in a while.
Don’t let your phone overheat, i.e. overcharge. Letting your smartphone get overheated due to overcharging it is also a bad idea. One tip on this point is to seek out a less powerful charger for the same model, as that’s a common cause of smartphones overheating. iOS, Android, and Windows devices have lithium ion batteries which can corrode at a rapid rate if they are charged too frequently and/or overheat. For iPads:
ALWAYS use the Apple Charger – do NOT use an el cheapo knockoff.
Restart or reboot your device. Restarting iPhones, in particular, can help to cut down on the battery drain. [Make sure you swipe out of all your running apps first, though.]
