Category: iphone

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iTunes failed to sync…

Sometimes after synching my iPhone (and occassionally my iPad) with iTunes I find that the sync has failed and various apps have not been updated.

As a result various apps can not be opened in the usual way.

iPhone Home Screen

The usual solution is to resync with iTunes. Sometimes though this isn’t possible, you may not have noticed the error message on the front of the phone.

The various apps that failed to update, will then fail to start, either by tapping it on the home screen, or through the multitasking bar.

iPhone Home Screen

You can tell which apps have failed to update as they will be in shadow and have an empty installation bar. In the above screenshot you can see that Podcasts and Flipboard did not update correctly.

In the past I have had to delete the app and reinstall it. Fine for some apps, but if you are on 3G or have configured the app then this may not be an option. With really large apps, it might not be possible to redownload it on a 3G connection.

As a result you probably think you can’t use the app. I have found a workaround that will work until you get a chance to resync with iTunes.

Search for the app in Spotlight. Swipe right from your first Home screen. Enter text in the search field. In this example I have typed Flip for Flipboard.

I have typed Flip for Flipboard.

This will allow you to run the app, even though you can’t access it through the home screen.

Should point out that if you do a hard reboot of the device, you won’t be able to do this.

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Cat Physics – Game Choice #08

If you like using your iPhone for games (in the main casual gaming) then you may be interested in the following games that I have enjoyed playing on my iPhone over the last few years.

What are cats up to at dawn, when nobody’s around?



Sneaking around the back alleys?

Probably!


Going through garbage cans?

Not likely!


Playing Donut Games? Most certainly!



Join the cats in their favorite midnight ball game: CAT PHYSICS!



The objective is simple — Pass the ball from one cat to another!

Sounds too simple?


Oh, wait… did we mention flip boards, glass windows, trap doors and other obstacles?

Cat Physics – £0.69

This is a nice fun game that combines physics (in a way), puzzles, logic and cats!

As with lots of these games on the iPhone where it works well is as a casual game that can be played for a few minutes at a time. Some of the puzzles are relatively simple to complete, others take a fair few attempts to get right. Even if you manage to complete a level, you can go back and try and fine tune your attempt to get a better result.

I have enjoyed this game, as have my children, lots of fun for all ages. My original review of Cat Physics on e-Learning Stuff.

Get Cat Physics in the iTunes App Store.

 

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Cover Orange – Game Choice #07

If you like using your iPhone for games (in the main casual gaming) then you may be interested in the following games that I have enjoyed playing on my iPhone over the last few years.

Cover Orange

Cover Orange is an exciting puzzle game suitable for all ages. It combines realistic game physics, enduring levels, vibrant colours and laugh out loud animations.

It’s time to pump up the juice in a game made from pure orange concentrate!

Cover Orange

Cover Orange is one of those puzzle games that fits well into the category of casual gaming, something you pick up, play for five or ten minutes and then put down again.

The premise of the game is rather silly, you need to protect the oranges from the rain, or to quote the game:

A deadly genetically modified rain cloud of fruit dissolving vapour is heading for the orange capital of the world!

You do this by using a combination of logic, physics and various objects from wheels to barrels.

Once you have used everything, the rain appears and if it hits the oranges they shrivel and go black. Most of the levels can be completed in a few minutes, which is why it is such a good casual game, however with 340 levels, the game will take a fair amount of time to complete.

Overall a fun game that is simple to play, but can be challenging too.

Get Cover Orange in the iTunes App Store

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What? No visual voicemail!

no visual voicemail

My work iPhone was recently switched from O2 to Vodafone. Initially I didn’t notice too much difference, true tethering has been useful now and again. However one big difference has come up that is slightly annoying. It would appear on Vodafone you don’t get visual voicemail as you do with O2. As a result if you get voicemail you need to dial 121 to see who has left you a message and how many messages you have.

I believe that the only way that this can be fixed is at carrier level and if the “complaints” on the Vodafone forums are anything to go by then Vodafone aren’t in any hurry to add this feature.

Is this a critical flaw? No but it an annoying one!

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Halftone is free

I reviewed this app on my e-Learning blog, it was good value then at 69p, however for this weekend Halftone is free, so well worth checking out.

What it does is take a photograph and convert it into a comic style image that can then be used on a blog, in a presentation, or on a print document.

Tthis is a nice simple app that allows you to create a vintage comic panel from one of your photographs in a particular style. You can remove the captions and I quite like the built in photo editing tools.

Get Halftone in the iTunes Store.

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Even more Lego Harry Potter

Harry Potter is back, well in Lego form, on the iPad. The first Lego Harry Potter game for the iPad (and iPhone) was a great success in our house. Enjoyed by all and still played a lot today. However we have been looking forward to the next instalment, our anticipation getting hyped even more when Harry Potter: Years 5-7 was released for all the other gaming platforms.

However the wait is over…

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is now available for the iPad and is only £2.99

So far I’ve only downloaded the 466MB App and no one has had a chance to really play the game… so no idea if it’s better or worse than the original and no idea if it’s any good.

First glance is that the graphics are better than the first one, the app appears to be snappier (but that may be because my first glance was using the new iPad rather the original iPad, however the game is (allegedly) compatible with the original iPad, which is nice as some new games are only compatible with iPad 2 or better).

Gameplay is pretty standard Lego gaming style, combination of puzzles and processes to progress through.

My only real concern is that the latter part of Harry Potter is certainly darker than the first four films. However this is Lego and when you “die” in a Lego game, you basically fall to pieces and you can always build the Lego pieces back together!

Overall I think this is going to be a fun game and at £2.99 is very good value. I don’t know what (if anything) is missing from the game compared to the console version, but at first glance it does look more like the PSP version than the PS3 version.

What this game also does is ask the question, what is the future of mobile gaming systems, when you can buy the iPod touch (which supports this game) for about the same price as the Nintendo 3DS or PS Vita and not only does it so much more than those two systems, but also the games which are of a similar quality are so much cheaper. The same game for PlayStation Vita is currently £24.99 at Amazon and the PSP version is £15.49. Of course those versions were released back in November 2011, though were more expensive then too. Is the £2.99 price point on the iTunes App Store sustainable? No idea.

Get Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 in the iTunes App store.

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Tethering

I noticed on the O2 website that tethering on your iPhone or Android phone is now “free”, well free on the assumption you stay within your data limits.

Whilst my work iPhone is now on Vodafone, I still have my home iPhone, a 3GS model on an O2 simplicity contract. However in order to get “tethering” I would need to sign up to a new contract and they are more expensive than my current rather cheap monthly contract I have now.

I usually use tethering on my “other” home phone an Android device which I now use instead of a 3G dongle or MiFi. The 3G dongle was limiting as I could only really use it with my laptop and not with other devices (read iPad). Also my MiFi has stopped working properly, but I think that’s because the battery has died. So as I have tethering on my Android phone, I am probably not going to change the contract so I can have it on the iPhone. However it is nice to see that if you got a new iPhone or changed contract, tethering is now seen as “normal” and it’s up to the user to decide how they use their data allowances and tethering is not seen now by O2 as something special they can charge more for.

What I would warn though, is though 500MB is enough for most people for internet on the iPhone, you will go through that data very quickly if you use your allowance through tethering using the web on your laptop.

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Making the Switch

Due to some changes at work I have switched my work iPhone from O2 to Vodafone.

It was a relatively painless process. The phone needed to be “unlocked” by O2 and my number ported to Vodafone. I think I was without service for about an hour, but no more than that.

Using Vodafone now means I get coverage at the Forest of Dean campus at Gloucestershire College, which had minimal to zero coverage for O2 and T-Mobile. Working in the forest has made me realise how difficult it can be for rural communities to utilise mobile devices as the connectivity can be very poor or non-existent.

One of the advantages of having the iPhone unlocked is that if I ever take it abroad I should be able to now use a local SIM.

Another advantage is I can now use my iPhone for tethering, however due to the additional cost, I won’t be using that, that often, but it’s useful to have it “just in case”.

So far a week into the new service, I’ve not noticed too much of a difference. I have had a few connectivity issues, but nothing that much different when I had O2.

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Thundering Clouds

Athlone

HDR images often seem to have a real emphasis on the clouds, raising the contrast to really emphasise the colour and shadows that you see in real clouds.

Simply HDR is an iPhone app for applying filters to photographs and adjusting those filters to create different effects.

Though this app is called SimplyHDR, it doesn’t do HDR (high dynamic range) images. True HDR uses multiple pictures at different exposure levels, to compensate for overly dark and light areas that are then stitched together to create a single image. What the Simply HDR app does is create an HDR effect. I see this app much more of a way of applying filters than creating HDR images.

At the end of the day if you like the HDR effect and want to create images that reflect how HDR images could look like, then this app isn’t half bad. Some of the effects are quite interesting and the app can be used to edit images and apply these effects. Personally I much prefer Snapseed for editing my photographs on the iPhone, but then that’s me.

The app is very simple to use, either take a photograph or select one from your camera roll and decide on an effect, or choose one randomly.

Within the filter choices there are various presets.

You can adjust the filter settings to suit your needs.

After editing you can post to Facebook or save to your camera roll.

Overall this is quite a nice app for creating images with a range of filters that can give a photograph an HDR style. It doesn’t create true HDR images, but if you like the effect that the filters give then you may find this app useful.

Get Simply HDR in the iTunes App Store.