Oh, to be young and using technology!

We had a great two weeks with our granddaughters!  Lots of outdoor time as well as fun indoor activities.  Their parents limit the girls' time with TV and also their iPads so anytime they get to be on is a real treat for them (watching downloaded Netflix shows makes a non-stop 2-hour plane ride to Baltimore a breeze!)  

It was fascinating for me to watch the girls use technology.  The girls and I did some online browsing and shopping since our local venues are limited. Our 5-year-old and I were looking at "school shoes" on my computer on Amazon and I had to step away for just a minute.  I returned to the room to find she had ordered one pair of shoes and was ready to order a second pair (a pop-up on Amazon alerted that it was going to be a duplicate purchase and did I really want to do that).  :-/  No, our 5-year-old does not read but  had put the item in the shopping cart, tapped on all the right buttons, and proceeded to complete the order! Fortunately, Amazon allows orders to be canceled so I, of course, did that, as my granddaughter proudly beamed at me because of her success!

I wish we adults found things to be as intuitive in technology as our granddaughters do!

One last thing - the real tech tip today is for those of you who own an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.  The updates for each of those devices released on Monday do need to be installed as soon as possible.  They mainly contain security patches.  Although I have my devices all set to install updates automatically that had not happened as of this morning so I manually installed the updates.

Have a terrific Tech Tip Tuesday .....on Wednesday! Try to stay in, keep cool, and do those updates on your devices.

Update your browsers!

In the past week I've received two different notifications that the Google Chrome browser on my laptop computer needed to be updated.  The updates installed very quickly.  I thought I had turned on automatic updates but when I checked, this feature had not been enabled.

You want to make sure to always install browser updates when they become available because they usually contain security updates that will help protect your online activity.

How do you know if your browser software is up-to-date and if that is happening automatically?  Normally updates install in the background but if you haven't closed your browser recently there may be updates to install.  How do you do that?
Click this link to view instructions for updating Chrome on desktop/laptop computers as well as mobile devices.
If you are using Safari on a Mac, click this link for instructions.
On an iPhone/iPad the software will automatically update if Automatic Updates is turned on.  You can check in the App Store to see if the app is up-to-date.

Check this out this morning while you are staying inside where it is cozy and warm. If you have to venture out, be safe and dress warmly on his terrifically cold Tuesday morning!  We'll hope for warmer temperatures next week. :-/

Try, try, try again!

I must apologize, but today's tip is once again for iPhone users:

Thirteen days after the release of iOS 13 there is still a lot of conversation online about it and Apple is actively deploying updates.
*If you are still running iOS 12, make sure you do the update that was released last week for it - 12.4.2
*If you installed iOS 13, there was another update released yesterday - 13.1.2.  Be sure you install it soon.

This is unprecedented action taken by Apple:  4 updates in 14 days.  I'm glad to see them releasing updates quickly rather than making us endure that bugs that are popping up.

I have to admit I really haven't had issues since updating my phone (X).  John's (8) has done some strange things which  have been irritating at times, but I keep reassuring him that it isn't anything he's doing wrong.  It is just kind of flaky.  It will eventually improve.

I'm not sorry I installed iOS 13 as I've been enjoying several of the new features. It's been in beta since early this summer; I'm just surprised some of these issues weren't caught earlier.

Stay tuned.  And, keep enjoying your phone; in the end, the new iOS will be worth it.

Wait on iOS 13

I installed iOS 13 yesterday as soon as it was available (the sign of a true nerd, I guess.) :-/  I've enjoyed playing with a couple of the new features (the "swipe" keyboard is awesome!).  However, there has been some "flakiness"; my Apple Watch wasn't communicating with my phone this morning.  Our Pennsylvania son also sent a caution this morning that we may want to hold off on installation.  Too late for me, BUT John's phone did not install overnight for some reason so we turned his "Automatic Update" off this morning.  If your phone updated, no worries.  Just be aware that there may be a few things that may not function correctly. 

The GOOD news is that Apple will release the next update (13.1) next Tuesday -- much sooner than would normally be expected --- which will supposedly take care of some of these problems.  If your update hasn't installed yet, you can just wait and install next week when iOS 13.1 is released.

I used to hold off on updates, but in the last several years that hasn't been needed.  Guess we may be back to waiting again.  

iOS 13 Update; backup your phone now

Some of you  may get two emails from me today if you are a member of our iPhone Users Group in addition to my Tuesday Tech Tip group.  But I think it is important to share the information below with those of you who are iPhone owners:

Today is the day.....supposedly at 12:00 noon iOS 13 will be released for our iPhones here in the U.S.  For most of us that means our phones will probably automatically do the update tonight during the night if you have automatic updates turned on.  If you aren't sure if your phone will automatically install it, check it out - Settings - General - Software Update - Automatic Updates.

BEFORE your phone does the update tonight, there are two things to check:

1)  Make sure all of your apps are updated:  App Store - Updates

2)  Make sure your phone has recently been backed up to iCloud or to your computer. 

A) If you are backing up to iCloud, use this path to check:  Settings - click on your Apple ID (your name) - click on your device name - then you should see the date and time of your latest backup

B) If you are backing up to iTunes on your computer, open iTunes, click on your device and check the latest backup.  (screenshots of this procedure are attached)

If you aren't sure how to backup, then take a look at this "help" page:  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203977

iOS 13 is a major operating system update (just like iOS 10, 11, and 12 were).  Anytime a new operating system is released, it is always a good idea to have your phone backed up prior to that, not mandatory, but strongly suggested.

There will be some things that look and act differently on your phone after the update.  Don't be discouraged; look at it as something to keep your brain sharp!  :-)  I'm sure there will be lots of YouTube videos released after techies take a look at today's update, including Apple;  I'll share if I find one that I think will be helpful to all of us.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Update your Chrome browser now!

I just read a "tip" about the need for us all to update the Chrome browser on our laptops and desktop computers and I didn't want to wait to share it in next week's newsletter.  

There is a security flaw with the present version of Google Chrome that is presently being exploited by hackers. If you use Google Chrome to do your browsing online, please read more about it here and then do the update.

Your phone and tablet do not need the update.

If you have questions about whether you use Google Chrome or about how to do the update, please feel free to email me.

iOS 11 - Apps that won't work any longer

Today's tip is for iPhone and iPad users:

iOS 11 is reported to be ready for release today.  We'll see.  I'm eager to download it on our phones and iPad because of some great new features!  

Once iOS 11 is installed, though, there may be some apps on your phone or iPad that no longer work....unless their developers decide later to do an update.

To check out the apps that will no longer work after iOS 11 is installed, go to Settings - General - About - Applications.  I found 45 apps that will no longer work on my iPhone, but I have to admit that I only use one of those on a regular basis, so it won't be a big loss.  I probably downloaded the others just to take a look at them when they were recommended in an article I was reading.  :-)

Keeping my fingers crossed that my phone will show the update is available later today!  (Our phones have displayed some strange behaviors the past two weeks; I'm hoping it is just because Apple is getting ready to roll out this new app!)