Tag Archives: icloud

iPads, Student

Notability, iCloud, Docs gone, Google Drive

Friday 2:00 pm update: Waiting on tech support to get back to me.
Friday 2:30: Our issue has reached the front of the line and someone is looking at it.

Monday 7:30: Things seem to be back to normal. See advice below under “What You Need To Do” to prevent this headache from happening again.

The Symptom: ALL of your Notability documents disappeared.

The Cause: Some device policies were mangled by some system somewhere AND you had iCloud backup turned on AND POSSIBLY you didn’t turn your Google Drive backup on.

Additional Notes: Basically your access to iCloud drive got turned off. Because Notability had iCloud sync on, all your documents disappeared when iCloud access was blocked by a policy.

The Current Working Theory is that your iCloud docs are still safe up in iCloud. They should reappear when you get to a wireless network off-campus. [If they do not, please email ipad@……]

**IF** you had Google Drive backup enabled, then your docs should be safely stashed in Drive. To check, fire up the Drive app and look inside the Notability folder.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

  1. Wait until further notice. Tech support knows about the issue. This article will be updated when additional news is available.
  2. In the meantime, go into Notability –> Settings [gear icon, bottom left] –> Autobackup. MAKE SURE YOU ARE BACKING UP TO GOOGLE DRIVE.
  3. CHANGE THE FILE FORMAT – it’s at the bottom of that dialog box – to PDF + RECORDING
  4. If Drive Backup REFUSES to work, then bring it by the ARC, OR you can try going into Settings –> accounts & passwords. DELETE the MDS account from this screen [you lose NO data, just the iPad <-> account connections]. Add a new account, select type Google, and login. Then fire up Notability and setup auto-backup to Drive again.
Apps, iPads, Student

Notability and iCloud

The newest versions of Notability automatically stash your Notes in iCloud – which is nice UNTIL something goes awry.

THE SYMPTOM:

Notability is as slow as Christmas, and you see the “I’m-working-on-it-spinning-icon” more often than not.

We’ve also seen where Notability was trying to bring back notes from LAST YEAR which were not needed [nor appreciated].

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

Notability has offloaded some of your notes in iCloud, and is having trouble fetching them back.

HOW TO FIX IT:

FIRST: Make absolutely sure your notes are backed up to Google Drive. If you haven’t organized them using Subjects and Dividers, now is a REAL good time to set that up. It will save TONS of time later.

SECOND: In Notability, go into Settings –> iCloud. Turn it OFF.

WARNING:

You very well might see some of your notes, dividers, and subjects disappear. If that happens, setup the notes and dividers again manually, and then download the missing material from Google Drive.

iPads, Student

iPads: Turn Two-Factor Authentication OFF

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Some students have turned what is called Two-Factor Authentication on inside their iCloud account.

For most of your digital devices, this is a good idea. HOWEVER, for the MDS iPads, it creates a lot more work for the tech team AND has the potential to keep your iPad from getting prepped for the next school year.

Therefore it is MANDATORY that two factor be turned off on your iCloud account [and thus your iPad] BEFORE you will be allowed to turn your iPad in.

So what happens if you don’t turn in your iPad? You get a substantial bill – enough to make the people in your life who pay the bills VERY unhappy.

So how do you know if it is turned on or off?

  • On your iPad, calling up Settings
  • Top left, click on your name
  • Click Password & Security
  • Two-Factor Authentication should be turned OFF

If it IS, then your will be allowed to turn in your iPad.

If it is ON, then do this BEFORE YOU TRY TO TURN IN YOUR IPAD:

  • On a web browser, surf over to appleid.apple.com
  • Login. Your account and password should be the same as your email – if it is not, check with Tech Support.
  • Call up Account Settings
  • Call up Security
  • Locate the part where the screen says Two-Factor Authentication is ON. Click the link to turn it OFF.
  • You will have to select some security questions. Check with Tech Support to see what we recommend.
  • DO NOT add a rescue email or a trusted phone number – unless you like making your life more complicated and giving yourself headaches.
  • Logout of the site.
  • On your iPad, you will have to type in your AppleID password again. Please do so – that way your backup can happen.