deck.blue

In a recent post I blogged about my experiences of using Bluesky on the iPad. I found that sing busky.app in the browser useful on the iPad instead of using the native iOS app  I was recently recommended using deck.blue to access Bluesky.

This service provides a multi-column layout and support for hashtags when using Bluesky.

Reminded me of Tweetdeck which I have used now and again (in the past) to access the Twitter.

I recently used deck.blue when using Blueksy at a conference and found the user experience much better than just accessing Bluesky on the browser or using the native iOS app.

Bluesky on the iPad

The Bluesky app on the iPhone works well for me, but there is no native Bluesky app for the iPad.

I have found the user experience quite poor as using the iPhone app on the iPad. 

Some iPhone apps work fine on the iPad, Instagram is a good example. The Bluesky app doesn’t, well it doesn’t for me. The main issue is that landscape mode shows only a couple of messages in the stream. In portrait mode, it’s okay, but I generally use my iPad in landscape mode.

As a result I have moved to the web app, using bsky.app in the browser.

This is a much better user experience. Does remind me of the Twitter web experience.

My Photo Stream will be shut down on 26 July

My Photo Stream

I received an email from Apple about My Photo Stream closing down.

My Photo Stream is scheduled to be shut down on 26 July, 2023. The photos in My Photo Stream are already stored on at least one of your devices, so as long as you have the device with your originals, you will not lose any photos as part of this process. If a photo you want is not already in your library on a particular iPhone, iPad or Mac, make sure you save it to your library on that device. For more information on this transition and instructions on how to download photos from My Photo Stream, read Information about the My Photo Stream shutdown.

I really liked My Photo Stream. It made my blogging and writing workflow so much easier. I would take a photo on my phone and then using My Photo Stream I would be able to use the photo on my iPad or my Mac.

Sometimes I would load photographs from my Canon DSLR onto my iMac, then be able to use those photographs on my MacBook.

Now according to Apple the solution is to move to iCloud Photos.

Moving forward, iCloud Photos is the best way to keep the photos and videos you take up to date across all your devices and safely stored in iCloud.

The main reason I’ve not done this before, is partly as My Photo Stream worked, and I would need to upgrade to iCloud+ and with the number of photos in my library, I would probably need the 2TB upgrade.

Well I have until the 26th June.

As part of this transition, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream from your devices will be stopped on 26 June.

It’s alive I tell you, alive!

Apple Pencil
Image by Nana Dua from Pixabay

One of the (now not so) little people got a new 10th generation iPad for Christmas.

He asked if he could borrow my first generation Apple Pencil to do some drawing on his iPad. I realised that the pencil was paired via Bluetooth with the older iPad, so I unpaired them. We then tried to pair the now charged pencil with the new iPad and no joy. 

Reading on the web, it was apparent that the method of pairing was to plug the pencil into the iPad. Now this is where we had a challenge. The 1st generation Apple Pencil has a Lightning connector, the 10th generation iPad had an USB-C connector.

We got one of those and then set about charging and pairing.

It seems to be failing to hold a charge, despite being connected and fast charging from the 10th generation iPad. Reading the web it looks like that as I hadn’t used the pencil in a while, the battery had died.

Though I had given up hope, my son hadn’t. While I was away for work, he tried once more to charge the pencil, and low and behold, it charged up, it paired and is working well with the 10th generation iPad.

It’s alive I tell you, alive!

I think the Apple Pencil might be “dead”

Having purchased an USB-C to Lighting adapter from the Apple Store in Bristol to connect a first generation Apple Pencil to a 10th generation iPad, I think there might be a problem with the pencil.

It seems to be failing to hold a charge, despite being connected and fast charging from the 10th generation iPad.

Reading the web it looks like that as I haven’t used the pencil in a while, the battery has died.

Currently I have it connected to an older iPad with a lightning port, hoping it will charge.

Pairing 1st generation Apple Pencil

iPad with Apple Pencil
Image by Sakura Phutthalong from Pixabay

One of the (now not so) little people got a new 10th generation iPad for Christmas.

He asked if he could borrow my first generation Apple Pencil to do some drawing on his iPad. Now what I wasn’t sure what to do was how to pair this. It needed charging first and I tried using my iPhone which didn’t work. I then got out the old iPad, charged that for a while and then charged the pencil. I realised that the pencil was paired via Bluetooth with the older iPad, so I unpaired them.

We then tried to pair the now charged pencil with the new iPad and no joy. 

Reading on the web, it was apparent that the method of pairing was to plug the pencil into the iPad. Now this is where we had a challenge. The 1st generation Apple Pencil has a Lightning connector, the 10th generation iPad had an USB-C connector.

What I don’t have is a USB-C to Lighting adapter. I do have a USB-C to Lightning cable, which came with my phone, but this has a male Lightning connector and the pencil also has a male Lightning connector. I have mislaid the female-to-female Lightning adapter that came with the pencil a few years ago. 

So it is looking like I will need to go shopping to buy this USB-C to Lighting adapter.

Enabling Touch ID and failing

We were setting up a new iPad that one of the (now not so) little people got for Christmas.

The 10th generation iPad has the Touch ID option for purchases.

As we went through the process of downloading apps, we had to keep entering the Apple ID password. We checked the option to not require the password for 15 minutes.

Require After 15 Minutes – If you’ve entered your password within the last 15 minutes, you won’t be asked to enter your password again.

This didn’t seem to work. So we enabled the Touch ID option for purchases.

Upon purchasing the first item, Touch ID worked fine, however for subsequent items, purchases required the password.

I knew that this was not the way it should work.

We would go back to settings and uncheck and then check the option for Touch ID.

However, despite purchasing a first item, Touch ID working fine, for subsequent items, purchases required the password again,

We seemed to be stuck in a loop without an idea of how to fix it. Google wasn’t much help, with sites only talking about checking and unchecking the option for Touch ID.

In the end we did a full factory reset of the iPad and started the set up process again.

This time we enabled Touch ID in settings first, which asked us for the Apple ID password, then in the App Store, purchasing via Touch ID worked fine and as it should.

But I blocked the Sun….

So I really miss Google Reader and I also miss Flipboard which worked really well with Google Reader. I’ve not really found an alternative that works for me in the same way that combination did.

I do use Apple News, but really don’t see the point of paying £10 a month for access to what appears to me to be The Times and Newsweek!

My main issues with Apple News are:

Over positioning and pushing of Apple News+ stories in an attempt to get you to subscribe to Apple News. So much so that much of the feed appears to be Apple News+ stories that it almost becomes a pointless exercise scrolling through the app.

Another issue is that local news is ignored to the point that news from Weston-super-Mare for example can be weeks or even months old and no new stories. Part of the problem is that Apple News uses mainstream sources for news, which means local news often is sidelined.

My final complaint about Apple News and hence the title of the blog, is that there are buttons you can use to like and unlike stories, and you can block certain news sources as well. However blocking to me, means that you don’t see the news stories at all! Well for Apple News, blocking means still having the news in the feed, but just then placing right there in front of you.

I blocked the source because I didn’t want to see it, so don’t put it in front of me, ever!

I really should be looking at alternatives for Apple News, so what are you using for curating and collating the news?

Using iPad as separate whiteboard in Zoom

So you want to use your iPad a whiteboard in a Zoom meeting? Well this is one way in which you can do this easily. You will need an iPad (obviously), a whiteboard or drawing app and it helps to have another device (main computer) to interact with the meeting as well as using the iPad to draw from.

This post came about after people found my other post Using iPad as separate whiteboard in Teams useful.

That post came about after seeing this tweet on the Twitter from Charles Knight.

It got me thinking about whether this was possible, but also how you would do it. So I quickly tried it out and it worked fine. So I wrote it up as a blog post. 

I have also been using a similar process with Zoom meetings, so have now written this one up as well.

If you are joining a Zoom meeting from the iPad you can can screenshare direct from the iPad, once you are screen sharing on the iPad, you can’t see the chat or other members on the Zoom call.

One solution is to join the meeting from both your main computer and your iPad at the same time.

As well as screen sharing you can also share other content or video from your iPad as well.

So on the main computer start or join a Zoom call.

Note the Meeting ID (and the password).

Start Zoom on the iPad and click Join a meeting.

Then enter  the correct Meeting ID (and the password).

Ensure that the microphone is muted (or don’t join Audio).

In the top right hand corner of the Zoom App select Share Content.

You can use the built in Whiteboard for Zoom however this is quite limited in what it can do.

So select Screen.

The select Start Broadcast.

Others on the Zoom call will be able to see your iPad screen.

On the iPad swipe up to access the main screen. This is the view of that from the Zoom call. All participants in the meeting will be able to see what you are doing on your iPad, so it can be useful to turn on Do Not Disturb model to turn off all notifications.

You can then share content from any app on your device, though some video applications don’t share the video content.

One thing you can do is to use the iPad as a meeting whiteboard. So start your favourite drawing or whiteboard app, I like using Paper by 53.

I can use an Apple Pencil to draw and write and this will be shared with my colleagues in my Team meeting.

To stop broadcasting switch to the Zoom App by either bringing back the iPad home screen and tapping the Zoom App icon or through the app switcher.

You will then see this screen. Tap Stop Share to stop sharing your iPad screen with the Zoom call.

Once you stop sharing you will be faced with this dialogue. Either choice will result in you returning to Zoom.

If someone else in the meeting (say a host) stops you from screen sharing then If you tap OK you will remain in the application you are sharing. If you tap Go to application you will be returned to Zoom.

Using iPad as separate whiteboard in Teams




So you want to use your iPad a whiteboard in a Teams meeting? Well this is one way in which you can do this easily. You will need an iPad (obviously), a whiteboard or drawing app and it helps to have another device (main computer) to interact with the meeting as well as using the iPad to draw from.

This post came about after seeing this tweet on the Twitter from Charles Knight.

It got me thinking about whether this was possible, but also how you would do it. So I quickly tried it out and it worked fine. I did tweet a response, but have now written it up as a blog post so others can refer to it (and I can remind myself how to do it as well).

Though you can screenshare direct from the iPad, once you are screen sharing on the iPad, you can’t see the chat or other members on the Teams call.

One solution is to join the meeting from both your main computer and your iPad at the same time.

As well as screen sharing you can also share other content or video from your iPad as well.

So on the main computer start or join a Teams meeting.

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