Jan 28

iCloud iconThis the the sequel to my post that discussed how to import Google Calendar events into iCloud Calendar without using iCal. Like I said in that post, you have to know how to get your data out of any service into which you put it. So here’s my meager contribution to the world.

  1. Log into iCloud Calendar at icloud.com.
  2. Publicly share the calendar you wish to export. Click the small circle to the right of the calendar’s name. A dialog box will appear. If it is not already shared, then click the radio button next to Public Calendar and click Share.iCloud Calendar Share

    If you’re privately sharing the calendar, you need to stop that first, then share that calendar publicly.

  3. The dialog box will update with a URL that begins with webcal:// followed by a fairly cryptic address.
  4. Select the URL with your mouse cursor and copy it to your clipboard (right-click and select Copy or press Ctrl+C on your keyboard).
  5. Open a new browser tab or window and paste the URL into the address field. DON’T PRESS THE ENTER KEY!
  6. Change “webcal” in the pasted URL to “http“.
  7. Press Enter. Your browser should initiate a file download. That file will have an extension of ICS. These files can be imported into a wide range of calendar applications and online services.
  8. Make sure you return to iCloud Calendar and stop publicly sharing the calendar.
Jan 27

SettingsWhen your iPhone rings, you also have it set to vibrate, right? Wouldn’t it be nice if your significant other had a distinct vibration pattern along with the distinct ringtone? Well, you can with the help of Apple’s built-in accessibility features.

Turn On the Accessibility Feature

  1. Go to Settings/General/Accessibility.
  2. In the Hearing section turn on Custom Vibrations.

Create and Name Your Custom Vibration Pattern

  1. Go to Settings/Sounds.
  2. In the Vibration Patterns section, tap Vibration.
  3. In the Custom section, tap Create New Vibration.
  4. There will be a large area of the screen that says “Tap to create a vibration pattern.” Once you begin pressing on the screen, the iPhone will begin recording the pattern and you will feel the vibration feedback as you record. Press for any length of time. Short. Long. Something in between.
  5. When done, tap the Stop button.
  6. Tap Play to review your pattern.
  7. Tap Save to name and save your pattern.

You’ll note that there are a handful of preset patterns in the Settings app if you don’t want to make your own.

Assign a Vibration Pattern to a Contact

  1. Open either the Contacts app or the Phone app and tap Contacts.
  2. Select the contact to which you want to assign a custom pattern.
  3. Tap Edit.
  4. In the same area you assign a ringtone, you can select a vibration, as well.
    You can also create one here, too. You can do that next time, right?
  5. Tap Done.
  6. Tap Done again.

Now, you’re done!

Jan 22

CydiaIf you get an error that says “Hash Sum Mismatch” when downloading software from Cydia, then just try installing again. It will download properly sooner or later and install properly.

Jan 16

iCloud iconI considered migrating from Google Calendar to iCloud. When using any service, it’s important to know how to import events into the new service and subsequently export events for backup purposes.

This post discusses the first part of that equation. Keep an eye out for a post that goes over the latter issue.

Researching this topic, I found plethora articles on how to import events using Apple’s iCal. Problem was that I don’t have a Mac. So I kept digging and testing. Here’s what I learned:

Export Your Google Calendar

  1. Go to your Google Calendar and log in, if needed.
  2. In the far upper right of the Web page, find and click the gear icon. This is the Optionscontext menu.
    Google Calendar Options
  3. Click Calendar settings from the context menu.
  4. Click Calendars.
    Calendars tab
  5. Click the Export calendars link.
  6. Depending on your browser, this will initiate a file download. The file will be a zip file that contains your calendar events in a single file in ICS format.
  7. Open the zip file using the built-in Windows functionality or another zip file utility like 7 zip (www.7-zip.org).
  8. Copy the file from the inside the zip file to your desktop or another easily accessible folder.

Email Your ICS File to Yourself

  1. Open your email on your computer.
  2. Compose a message and address it to yourself.
  3. Attach the ICS file that you placed on your desktop or an easily accessible folder.
  4. Click Send.

Import the Events into Your iCloud Calendar

  1. On your iPhone, open the email message that you sent to yourself.
  2. Find the attached ICS file in the message and tap it.
  3. You will be shown the entire list of events in chronologic order. Tap the Add All button.
  4. The events should now be copied into your calendar.If you have multiple calendars, your iPhone should prompt you to select which calendar to copy the events. Select the calendar and tap Done.

    You can delete the message with the attachment.

If iCloud calendars are set to synchronize, then the events will be available on your phone and the iCloud Web app.

May 23

Want to use your iDevice like a USB flash drive? Want to explore the folder structure on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod? Then iPhone Explorer is what you need.

And it’s free!

Learn More

 

May 22

TCP Optimizer promises to improve YouTube video performance, but the tweaks it makes should improve overall internet performance. I’ve applied it, rebooted my iPhone 3GS, and then played the YouTube video below.

To use this tweak, you (obviously) need a jailbroken iDevice. And you need to add http://cydia.pushfix.info/to your Cydia Sources.

  1. Open Cydia
  2. Patiently wait for Cydia to do its start-up thing…
  3. Keep waiting.
  4. Tap Manage at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Tap Sources.
  6. Tap Edit in the upper right.
  7. Tap Add in the upper left.
  8. EnterĀ http://cydia.pushfix.info/ in the dialog box.
  9. Tap Add Source.
  10. Wait for its packages to load.
  11. Tap Search at the bottom of the screen.
  12. Tap in the search box near the top of the screen.
  13. Type “TCP Optimizer”.
  14. Tap the entry titled “TCP optimizer
  15. Tap Install.
  16. Tap Confirm.
  17. Reboot by pressing and holding the Power button (top right edge on iPhones) until “slide to power off” appears.
  18. Slide the slider to the right and wait for it to shut down.
  19. Press and hold Power button again until it begins booting up.
  20. Wait.
  21. Enjoy.

Da. Doo. Zippity.

May 09

You can get functionality from Amazon’s CloudPlayer service on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. While you can’t get it in the form of an app, you can get it through Safari. And it supports multitasking, too.

  1. Open Safari
  2. Visit http://amazon.com/cloudpayer
  3. Ignore the warning that your browser is not supported by clicking Continue.
  4. Wait for your music to list to load
  5. Select a song and click Play.

You can then go into other apps if you wish. Note the Play icon in the top status bar. Also, go into the App Switcher (double-press the Home button) and then swipe left. Notice the iPod button tile/icon is replaced by the one for Safari, and the buttons now control what’s playing in Safari.

Very cool. But watch your data if you’re not on an unlimited plan!

Apr 21

According to several reports [including this one], iPhones and 3G iPads are tracking your movements with locations and timestamps. The information is stored on your device and is synced with other data when attached to iTunes.

If you have a jailbroken 3G iDevice, then you can stop this activity with a free app from Cydia. The name of the app is Untrackerd. It runs silently in the background and purportedly stops Apple’s iSnooping.

  1. Open Cydia.
  2. Tap Search.
  3. Enter Untrackerd.
  4. Install the app as per usual.

Now you can take off the foil hat.

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Apr 17

If you like having your bookmarks visible, then Safari in iPad has you covered.

  1. Go into Settings.
  2. Tap Safari.
  3. Tap the On/Off switch for Always Show Bookmarks Bar.

Sorry, this isn’t available on iPod touch or iPhone.

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Apr 16

iPad ConfusedMy iPad was having trouble connecting to my Wi-Fi. It worked just fine a few hours before. So I went investigating on the Web. I got some outlandish advice. One guy suggested turning off wireless security and even said it wasn’t a big deal because his signal didn’t make it to the edge of his property. I also read some advice about changing your wireless network’s name. What the…?

Try this:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In General, tap Network.
  3. Tap the Wi-Fi tile.
  4. Under Choose a Network…, tap the blue chevron (arrow).
  5. At the top, tap the Forget this Network tile.
  6. Back out of the Settings app and try to access something on the Internet.
  7. You should be prompted to enter your network security password and you should be connected once again.

Hope this helps!

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