Control Center in iOS

Control center is one of the most useful features in iOS. Its purpose is to give  you easy access to system settings that you may need to access quickly or easily from anywhere on your iPhone or iPad.

You access control center by swiping up with one finger on the bottom of the screen. You can do this in almost any app and even the lock screen, so long as your settings (settings > control center) has both "access within apps" and access on lock screen" set to on.

The top row in control center are all settings that can either be turned off, or on by tapping on them. When an icon is black on white that setting is turned on, when it is black on gray it is turned off. You have access here to Air Plane mode, Wifi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb, and Lock Screen Rotation.

Down from there you have a brightness slider control. This allows you to quickly adjust the level of the backlight on you device. Just slide right to make it more bright and left to make it less.

The next section contains the standard audio controls: Play/Pause, volume and fifteen second skips backwards and forwards.

Then we get the airplay and air drop controls. However these controls only appear if they are turned on and can be used. For example if you had wifi off they would not show up because they require wifi to function. Similarly if there is no device around to connect to they will not show up.

The final section of control center contains a row of quick access apps. You cannot control which apps appear here unfortunately so hopefully you like the selection that Apple has chosen. You can use the flashlight, the timer, the calculator, and the camera. Personally I think this is a useful collection, and I use control center to access all of them regularly, except for the timer.

Using control center can help you save a lot of time leaving apps or unlocking the phone to go to the settings app when something just needs to be done quickly. I hope you find these tips helpful, and remember, live better.

How to delete apps on an iPad or iPhone

So you downloaded an app that looked cool, but it turned out to be pretty dumb or it crashed all the time, so you want to get rid of it. How do you do it?

The process is actually very simple:

1. Go to the home screen
2. Hold down on an app until they all start to wiggle and an "x" button appears in each corner
3. Tap the "x" button on the app you don't want
4. It will ask if you are sure? Choose yes. 
5. Taadaa! The app is now deleted :)

Be aware that when you delete an app all of its data stored on the device will be deleted as well, so make sure there isn't anything important inside of it before you do. Apps like gmail, Facebook, and Twitter all store their data on cloud servers far away so when you delete the apps you data is actually still there, that is why you can visit those sites in web browsers and see everything you could see from the app. 

Exceptions: the only exceptions are apps that come preinstalled on your iPhone or iPad from Apple (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, iTunes, Weather, Tips, Safari, etc, etc). We call these the stock apps and you cannot delete them because Apple does not make that an option, mostly because many of them have functions necessary to your phone running correctly.

An alternative and more complicated way to do this is to go to Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage. Then click on the app you want to delete, you will then be taken to a summary screen of that app where you will have an "Delete App" option.

The reason you may sometimes want to use this approach is because you might want to see which apps are hogging the most space on your iPhone or iPad. For example when I go I find that there are several graphic intensive games that hog my space I hardly if ever play them. If I were tight up for space I would know I could delete these and quickly get some back.

And there you have it, you can now delete apps from you iPad or iPhone. Hope you have a great weekend, and remember, live better. 

How to create keyboard shortcuts on an iPhone or iPad

Do you have to type the same thing over and over again? Maybe it's your username, maybe it's a question you get asked all the time, maybe it's your birth date, maybe it's a hashtag. Whatever it is, it can be super annoying to have to type out all the letters and words you need every time you need them. It is like having a typewriter all over again! (by the way there is an app for that if you really feel nostalgic about typewriters).

Fortunately there is a way to solve this problem and it is built directly into iOS, no app required. It is called keyboard shortcuts. Now this can be a little confusing because we normally think of keyboard shortcuts on the computer as being things like "cntrl-f" or "cmmd-z" to cause certain actions to occur. On iOS it is different. A keyboard short cut here means that you can type in a few code letters and iOS will ask if you want to replace them with some predetermined text.

Let's say that I have to type my consulting website's url all the time, and I don't want to do that anymore, so I make the shortcut bcom expand to the text bendnielsen.com. I show how to do this in the gif below:

Then every time I am typing and I need to put in my url I can save time by just typing out bcom, my iOS device will then suggest bendnielsen.com in the same way that it does with autocorrect. Isn't that awesome? Notice in the gif below how it follows the capitalization of what you actually type, so you want to watch out for that.

And that is really all their is to it. You can add as many of these as you want, and they can even be quite long, so you could put a whole email template in here if you chose and get it all typed with just a few letters. Be sure to make you shortcuts something that you wouldn't normally type naturally so you don't accidentally trigger them.

There you have it. Go create some keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier, and remember, live better.

How to use iCloud Keychain and find your saved passwords

And now we are going to talk once again about a very useful, but often not understood, function of the iPhone and iPad: iCloud Keychain.

What is it?
iCloud Keychain is Apple's built in password generator and manager. If you create a new account on a website you will often see when you get the password step the option for a long and complex auto generated secure password.

This is iCloud Keychain trying to help you out. Instead of using the same password that you have used for everything since 1998, it wants you to use a secure password that nobody could guess because it is randomly generated. The only problem with a password that nobody can guess is that you cannot remember it either, but that is ok because when ever you get the website Safari will just autofill the password for you.

This way you can have a different password for every website without having to try and remember them.

How to use iCloud Tabs in Safari

Many people are not utilizing one of the best productivity features on their iPhones and iPads simply because they either do not know it exists, or they don't know how to do it.

It is iCloud tabs, which lets you automatically open up tabs that had open on another device. And it is actually very simple to do. Lets say you have productivity pad open on your Mac, but you want to read it on you iPad, here is what that would look like.

You have this webpage open on your Mac...

...and now you do on your iPad too

Here is how you do it on an iPhone:

And a Mac:

As long as you are signed into the same iCloud account on all your devices you shouldn't have an problems.

To check on a Mac just go to: Apple menu> System Preferences > iCloud > account details. Also make sure that the Safari box is checked. As in the video below.

This makes it very easy to switch from one device to another without having to remember and type in complicated URLs. The only problem you will run into is with password protected sites, you will have to put in your login info again on the new device.

Well I hope that helps. It is a simple tip that can save you a lot of time. Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

iPhone and iPad tip: How to add the Smiley Face (Emoji) Keyboard

Have you always wanted to be able to get all those smiley faces and other special characters on your iPhone and iPad? These can help you to express emotions in what are normally plain text situations. Getting them is simple once you know how to do it.

In order to get these characters you will need to install an extra keyboard onto your iPhone or iPad. If you speak a language other than English you are probably already familiar with how to do this, but for English speakers the Emoji keyboard is often the only one they ever add.

1. Go into your settings app.
2. Click "General"
3. Then scroll down to "Keyboard" and tap it
4. Then tap "Keyboards"
5. Then Add New Keyboard
6. You well then see a list of all the international keyboard in alphabetical order (except for English which is on top.
7. Scroll down to "Emoji" and tap it.

You are now done. Now whenever the onscreen keyboard opens up you will see the globe icon in the bottom left. If you click that it will switch to the Emoji keyboard.

Here is a Gif I made that shows you how. You might want to  for later.

Isn't that awesome! Now you can express all that emoji goodness. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. And remember, live better.

iPhone and iPad Tip: How To Close Apps

Here is your iOS tip for the week. Most people don't realize or even think about the fact that when they press the Home button on their iPhone or iPad the app that they leave continues running in the background of the devices operating system.

This is a good thing because it allows you to use multitasking to switch between apps without rebooting each app each time. This can be very useful feature if you need to copy and paste something into an email, or you need to a so quick calculations on the calculator, or any other number of reasons.

But if you use a lot of apps (like I do) you can end up having a lot of apps open in the background and that can slow down you iPhone's or iPad's processor. Every once in a while it is a good idea to close out all the apps, particularly if you are getting a lot of crashes or a lot of spinning wheels.

Here is how:
1. Double tap the Home button (meaning click it twice quickly).
2. The multitasking menu will open, you can swipe through all your open apps by swiping to the left.

3. Close out apps by swiping up on them. You can actually close up to 3 at a time by using three fingers.

And that is it! Your apps are now closed. You will want to do this from time to time just to keep things tidy. I would suggest about once a week or more if needed. Older devices will likely need it more often than newer devices.

Note for old devices: if you are running iOS 6 or earlier your screen will look different. When you double tap you will get a "tray" of app icons at the bottom of the screen. You will have to hold down on one of these until the icons wiggle and little red buttons appear in their corners. Click the buttons to close the apps.

I hope that helps things go a little smoother for you. If you have any iPad or iPhone questions you want answered please put them in the comments below. And remember, live better.

iPhone and iPad Tip: How To Quickly Scroll to the Top of a Page

Here is another quick tip that has been around for a while but many people forget about. When you are in an app and you scroll way down (this often happens in apps like Facebook and Pinterest) how do you get back to the top of the page quickly?

Double tap the status bar

Simple right? Whenever you want to just zip up to the top, tap twice on that status bar (the best place is normally right on the clock) and there you are. The screen shot below is of the Gospel Library app, which is an app I use in church a lot. I often need the double tap option in this case because I will end up way down a chapter of scripture and need to get back to the beginning.

Just double tap on the clock

And you jump straight to the top

And that is it. Another really simple tip that can help make things a little easier for you. Please leave you iPad and iPhone questions in the comments below so I can answer them in a future post. And let's all remember to live better.

iPhone and iPad Tip: Home Page Corner Tap

Here is a quick little tip that many people do not know about iOS.

Most people know that you navigate between home screens by swiping left or right as shown below:

But not everybody realizes that you can an also navigate between the home screens by tapping the corners directly above the dock as shown in yellow below:

It can take a little effort to use this navigation technique, but it can be useful for moving quickly between pages.

Hope you enjoyed that tip. If you have iPad or iPhone questions that you would like answered please comment below. Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

How to take a screenshot on your iPad or iPhone

This tip is very simple, it is a basic iOS skill but I am still often surprised by how many people don't know how to do it. If you already know how to do it please share with others what you use screenshots for on your iOS device.

Here is how to take a screenshot:

I use the iPad mini as an example, but it works the same on all iOS devices. Simply press the home and sleep buttons at the same time. When you hit both buttons you will see the screen flash and hear a shutter noise (if your sound is on) then you will know that the screenshot has been taken.

This trick will capture your entire screen, everything that is on the screen, including the time, battery%, and other status indicators. You can crop it later in the photo app to show only the portion you want. The screen shot is automatically saved to your camera roll in the photo app.

Why would you want to?
There are many reasons you might want to capture what is on your screen at a certain moment.
For example I always use screenshots when I am teaching you how to do something on your iPad or reviewing and app. If you want to explain something to someone it is often easier to show them than to tell them.
You also might use a screenshot to save information from a website or app, particularly if you want to access that information offline.
People also like to use screenshots to show what has happened to their friends on social media, such as victory in a game, or a funny text message.

Essentially screenshots are the fastest way to capture and save anything that happens on an iPad or iPhone. Use the comments to share how you use screenshots, and remember, live better.

How to easily find anything on your iPad using Spotlight Search

Spotlight is one of the most under utilized features of iOS. Many people do not even realize it exists, and those that do often forget about it or don't understand how powerful it is. The truth is that it can save you lot of time you would otherwise waste looking for stuff on you device.

• First make sure it is on for everything that you want to be able to search for. Go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search.
• A check mark (red box) means that it can be searched for. I leave mine on for everything.
• You can use the sorting bars (orange box) on the right to choose which order the categories will display in. Just hold on the bars and drag up or down.

• Next you will need to go to the home screen to access spotlight. Prior to iOS 7 you got to the search screen by swiping to the left most home screen. In iOS 7 that changed to swiping down from near the top of the screen. 
• Once the search bar and keyboard appear simply type the name of whatever it is you are looking for. In this case I wanted to find the BYU app so I simply typed "BY" into the search bar and it appeared.

• You then click on whatever result you desire and you are done :)

Note that because using a single finger to scroll up on the iPad will cause spotlight to close, you must you two fingers to scroll through the results list, for some reason this is not the case on the iPhone.

This feature can save you lots of time looking for an app you only use once in a while, or finding the contact you are trying to call, or the song you want to play, or that txt message you can't remember exactly what it said. There are a lot of situations in which this kind of instant search capability can prove very useful.

A tip for bluetooth keyboard users, many keyboards have a search button (for me it is Fn > 4) that will open up the spotlight search, even from an app. Using that keyboard command can save you even more time.

Well that's it for today. I hope this can help you to remember to live better.

How to make a website shortcut on the iPad homescreen

There is a really simple iPad trick that not everyone knows that can save you a lot of time. It is the ability to turn any webpage into an icon on the home screen of your iPhone or iPad. Why would you want to do this? Let's say there is a website you always visit from you iOS device, but it is particularly hard to remember the url. Now you could make a bookmark in Safari and access it that way, but giving the website its own icon on the home screen lets you eliminate the step of opening safari and going to your bookmarks to find it.
Doing this is simple, but not obvious at first.
1. Go to the website in Safari
Let's say you want to make a shortcut to your favorite blog, Productivity Pad. Its a great blog, but the url is annoying. The first thing you have to do is go to the blog in Safari. This is the last time you will have to remember the url. Type productivitypad.blogspot.com in to the Safari search bar.

2. Tap the share button (red arrow)




3. Tap "Ad to Home screen" (orange arrow)





4. You will see this menu where you can change the title if you wish, then click the "Add" button in the right hand corner (yellow arrow).




And that is it, the web page will now appear on your last home screen and you can treat it just like an app. Hold down on it till it wiggles and you can move it to different home screens, into a folder, and even into the dock, you can also delete it if you no longer want it.

There you go. Nothing too difficult, you just have to know what to do. That's all for now. And remember, live better.

iPad tip: How to Use Hand Gestures on an iPad

My first iOS device was an iPod touch 1st generation. It was a great device even though when I got it they were already several models old. I got a good deal on it and I was very happy with it except for one thing: that year iOS 4 came out and 1st gens could not upgrade. Now this was actually a good thing, as anyone who has used a 2nd gen on iOS 4 could tell you, if it made the 2nd gen that slow and clunky what would it have done to a 1st gen?

And while it was a good thing in hindsight it made me sad at the time because I missed out on one key new feature: multitasking by double clicking the home button. Multitasking on an iOS device gives you the ability to quickly switch between multiple apps without returning to the home screen each time. It is great for people who want to be more productive by shaving seconds off their work flow, because seconds add up over time.

This concept of shaving time of your work is also what is behind hand gestures on the iPad. I am often amazed at how many people don't know how to use hand gestures or don't make use of them. Hand gestures in many ways are the touch screen equivelent to keyboard commands on a computer.

Make sure they are turned on
Go to Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures, make sure the switch is turned to green (on). You may want to turn these off for some apps (like running games or drawing apps).
1 Finger swiped down from the top of the screen
Brings down Notification center. This works on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches running at least iOS 5.

1 Finger swiped up from the bottom of the screen
Brings up Control Center. This works on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches running iOS 7.

1 Finger swiped right from the left side of the screen
Will do different things depending on the app. It may take you back one screen (like in iQtell) or it may pull out a menu (like in Google+). This works on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches running iOS 7. Some apps also have features when you pull from the right of the screen (like FaceBook) but that is less common.

1 Finger swiped down on the home screen
Opens up spotlight in iOS 7.

2 Fingers pinched in or spread out
Usually controls zooming in an app. This works on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches.

4 Fingers swiped up from the bottom of the screen
Opens up multitasking (hurray!) on iPads.

4 Fingers swiped left or right from the edge of the screen
Switchs between open apps without using multitasking on iPads.

5 Fingers pinched together
Takes you to the home screen on iPads.

Well those are the ones I know of, if you know of others please let me know :) I hope these help you. And remember, live better.

Control-Z on an iPad

Control-z (command-z on a Mac) is one of my favorite things about the computer era. As most of you know, it is the computer command for undo last action. It makes it so it's like the last thing you did never happened, so if you make mistake you can just get rid of it. I make a lot of mistakes, probably more than you do, so I have long loved this whole concept; oft times I wish life had a control-z command.

As you know I have mostly gone all iPad, only using my computer at home. So here's the problem: just as it was with control-f, that there is no control or command key on an iPad. Oh the sorrow!

However, before you through your iPad into the dust bin, just yet let me tell you their is a way (albeit not quite as good) to duplicate this functionality on your iPad.

Warning: the iPad does punish you for making mistakes, this solution can make you look like a fool.

You have to shake your iPad

That's right, shake it. You make a mistake and all you have to do is shake your iPad, and it will go away.

Here's what happens; just click the undo typing (red box) and it will go away. This solution works in most apps that use text input. Quite frankly it is easier to do this on an iPhone or an iPod Touch where you may have already shaken your device in frustration anyway.  On the iPad it's a little more difficult and risky. It can be useful however, just not as useful as control-z.

Fortunately for us, many app developers know the value of the undo command and the have built undo functionality into their apps sans the shaking.  This normally comes in the form of a a little arrow looping backwards (orange arrow).

All the Evernote apps (Evernote, Penultimate, Skitch) have this functionality.  The Adobe Reader app, as well as others contain true undo functions. They also have redo arrows (yellow arrow) which mimics the less commonly used control-y command.

So there you have it, it is not perfect, but when you want to undo on your iPad the best option is to look for the undo arrow and if that is not available to you just shake it. I believe the shake command will work in almost every app.

If you find this post helpful you can , Tweet it or use one of the buttons below to share.

Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

Ctrl F on an iPad

Here is one of the most useful tips I have recently learned for the iPad. You know how when your on a computer in most applications and you need to find a particular word you just hit ctrl (control on PC, command on a Mac) + F and it opens up the find box so you can search that screen for any word. I use that all time and keyboard commands have been one of the hardest things for me to give up switching over to an iPad, however I have recently learned a way to duplicate this function on an iOS device, at least in some applications. Just take a look at this Safari page for supporting the SHIELD act (which you should all do by the way).


If I want to search that page for the word "trolls" (the act is aimed at stopping patten trolls) I can type it into the search bar at the top of the page (red box) and after the google suggestions (my favorite is "trolls in the hobbit") it says "On This Page (12 matches)" with the option below "Find 'trolls'" (orange arrow). As soon as I click on this I get this find dialogue tool bar very similar to what I would have on a computer.

I don't know about you but I find this very exciting. Many other apps also have this functionality, such as Evernote where the magnifying glass tool (yellow arrow) will let you search the document you are working on by bringing up the find box on the keyboard (green box).

I find this to be a super useful tip, and I hope you do too. If you think others would like to know this tip Tweet it or

And remember, live better.

Apps used in this post: Safari, Evernote, Skitch, Blogger