Tip, Tricks and Articles for iPad, iPhone, Mac
iCloud, Windows, Android, Office 365, Dropbox, Apps, and more

With our current program of school sessions for parents (teaching about parental controls on Apple mobile devices), we regularly come across families that suffer a nasty condition called 'iCloud Confusion'.

So, here is a video that discusses this condition and give some quick tips about what to do to cure it.

Please consider your friends when setting up your iCloud and iMessage!  

If you are already using iCloud and iMessage, please, please check the Apple ID that you are using, and whether any other family members are using that same ID.

This article has been prompted by a recent visit to a client who discovered that, due to incorrect setup of devices in the household, her children (and perhaps husband) had been receiving some very private messages that were sent to her by a girlfriend.  It was horrifying to think that the kids were privy to some very personal information shared between close friends. 
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It highlighted once again that we all need to be aware of the fact that Messages we send to others may not just be going to that person!  So be careful what you say!

For the sake of others who Message you, and who would like to think that they are only corresponding with you, please make sure that you are not using a 'shared' Apple ID for Messages.

​Let's look at how you can check this.

Have you been suffering from Photo Syncing problems on your iPhone, iPad and/or computer?

When you plug your iPhone (or iPad) into your computer, are you told that there are no photos to import - even though you know that you just took some new photos! Where are your photos? ​

No sooner does one School Year finish and we’re thinking about the next.
 
For many parents with children heading off to secondary school for the first time, it is perhaps time to consider a first mobile phone for their child. It is also very common these days for even primary school children to carry a smartphone.

It may also be the year that your child starts using an iPad, Mac or Windows laptop at school.

Here are some things to think about before you hand over any of this type of technology to your child.

Avoid iCloud Confusion

Whether it’s the latest iPhone X or a hand-me-down iPhone from Mum or Dad, there are some critically important things to consider when setting up a new smartphone for your child.  The same applies for an iPad or Mac.

If these devices are not correctly set up from the start, iCloud confusion can take hold in the family, resulting in messages, contacts, notes and more ending up where they’re not intended - and, in some cases, the unintended deletion of vital information!  Don’t let it happen to you!

Here is a previous iTandCoffee articles on this topic:

• Please check your iCloud setup - not just for your own sake, but for the sake of your friends!

If you are 'handing down' a mobile device to your child, the best approach is to completely wipe it. On an iPad and iPhone, this means going to Settings -> General -> Reset - Erase All Contents and Settings.
 
Protect your children from inappropriate content

Before any piece of technology is put in the hands of a child, it is essential that appropriate parental controls are established. Even smartphones and tablets are powerful computers that give children access to the sometimes dangerous online world - and may give the dangerous online world access to them!

Failure to establish parental controls on your child's device not only puts your own child at risk of seeing inappropriate and sometimes highly damaging content - it also puts other children at risk.

Here are some previous articles on this topic: 

• Restricting what websites kids can see on i-Devices
• How do I stop all my kids games from appearing on my iPad and iPhone?
• Setting up Parental Controls on an iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone
• How to retrieve a forgotten Restrictions passcode for an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch​
• Hiding purchased apps in your App Store purchases - so that kids can't bypass 'Ask to Buy'

Make sure your child's school work is safe

Whether your child is starting secondary school or entering those final critical high school years, now is the time to make sure that they have their own cloud storage and that all of their devices are being regularly backed up! 

Countless times we’ve seen students who have lost critical work because they have not backed up and do not store their work 'in the cloud'. At VCE and university level, this can be an absolute catastrophe.

No-one need suffer the stress and anxiety arising from the loss of school and homework in addition to the pain of a lost or damaged device. 

A current backup and use of a cloud storage solution is the best way to secure what cannot be replaced.  As the proverb goes, ‘A stitch in time, saves nine’. 

Here are some past iTandCoffee articles on this topic:

• ​A timely warning for students (and the rest of us!)  
• Kids who lose their school or uni work due to computer glitch - and the parents who suffer the consequences!  
• What is it with kids and their resistance to backing up their data?!
• Have you backed up your iPhone or iPad lately?
• How to back up your Mac
• Google introduces a new tool for protecting your precious files and photos     ​

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Don’t know where to start?  iTandCoffee Can help!

We've put together a checklist for setting up your child's iPad or iPhone.  View this checklist here »         

If you need assistance, iTandCoffee can help with back-to-school set-up of Macs, laptops, tablets and phones. 

Why not take advantage of our New Year special - receive a $10 discount off the first hour of all private appointments in January 2018.

Call 1300 885 420 today to book your place.​

​We have a workshop for parents in January

​Why not come along to our 1-hour ‘Getting School Technology Ready’ information session / workshop.  We are running it twice - on Tuesday January 23rd (evening session) and Wednesday January 24th (daytime session).

Bring your devices and stay for some hands-on help to make sure your family is ‘School Technology Ready’ in 2018.

For further information about these sessions, select the session name below.

iCloud Photo Library - and iCloud in general - is one of the areas that iTandCoffee covers multiple times per week in client appointments and classes.

What is iCloud Photo Library?  What does it do?  Should you use it?  What are the advantages and disadvantages? What is the cost? What should you do if you turned it on and now don't want to use it?

We have the answers to these questions!

To address these questions, we have recorded a new video tutorial and added it to the 'Understanding and Using iCloud - Live Class Video' web page.  

This means that those of you who are iTandCoffee Club members with Online and Premium membership, and anyone who has purchased access to the 'Understanding and Using iCloud' class videos, will now be able to gain a better understanding of iCloud Photo Library.  (See below for details of how to purchase access to these videos.)

Non-members, or members with Original, Basic or Plus membership plans, can purchase access to these videos here - for just $10.   
​(Club members can receive a 20% discount by using the applicable coupon code.  Visit your membership home page to obtain this code.)

So many people that we see at iTandCoffee have never considered doing a backup of their iPad or iPhone.  This puts them at great risk of losing their photos, messages, and lots of other information stored on their device.

While using iCloud can ensure that certain information is always protected from device loss or damage (through sync'ing of key information like Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, etc), not everything can be restored if a disaster strikes.  These disasters could come in the form of a dropped or stolen device, a malfunctioning device, a forgotten passcode, or a failed update or upgrade.

It is very easy to back up your iPad or iPhone - in fact, it can happen 'magically' each day, without you even thinking about it. This is done using a feature of iCloud called 'iCloud Backup'.

Do you know how to check if you have an iCloud backup?  

This week's handy hint for iTandCoffee Club members covers how to back up your iPad or iPhone to iCloud, how to check when the backup was last done, and how to ensure your iCloud has enough storage for this backup.  Members can view this hint by selecting the button below.