Tag Archives: iOS 12

fixed : how to safely block caller without calling the untrustworthy number

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Question :

Over the past few days I’ve had several incoming phone calls from an unknown phone number. Since my iPhone warned me that these were from Algeria (the actual phone number started with +213…) and I don’t know anyone who currently is in Algeria, I did not answer any of these calls as I was expecting them to be fraudulent scams…

Now, I want to block this phone number from ever calling me again…

How do I do that safely ?

 

Answer :

By ‘safely’, you probably mean ‘without running the risk of accidentally calling this number’ right ?

To safely block a caller, this is the procedure :

  1. switch on Flight Mode
  2. block the caller
  3. delete the call from the recent calls list
  4. switch off Flight Mode

Since it isn’t clear from your question if you want to block a caller from calling you over regular mobile network (a.k.a. cellular) or from Whatsapp or from any other audio-calling app, I will outline the exact procedure for cellular (GSM) and Whatsapp-audio below.

Here’s how to safely bock a caller  from cellular (GSM) calls :

  • put your iPhone in Flight Mode
    • swipe down from the top right corner of the screen
    • in the window that opens, click on the Airplane-icon
    • now the Airplane-icon will turn orange and the icons for cellular (GSM), Bluetooth and WiFi will dim (grey out)
    • now your iPhone is in Flight mode
  • then, open the Phone.app (the green icon with the old-fashioned telephone hand-piece in it)
  • in the next window, click on “Recents” (in the bottom row, with the clock-icon)
  • in the “Recents” list, find the untrustworthy caller and click on the info-icon at the far right of it (the blue circle outline with the letter “i” in it)
  • in the next window, scroll down completely
  • there, click on “Block this Caller”
  • then, click on “< Recents” top right to return to the Recents list
  • in the “Recents” list, click “Edit” (top right)
  • now find the untrustworthy caller and click on the red “No Entry” icon that has appeared in front of it (far left of the phone number)
  • then, click “Done” (top right)
  • then, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get back to the main screen
  • then, switch Flight Mode off
    • swipe down from the top right corner of the screen
    • in the window that opens, click on the orange Airplane-icon
    • now the Airplane-icon will turn gray and the icons for cellular (GSM), Bluetooth and WiFi will switch on (turn blue or green)
    • now Flight Mode is turned off

And here’s how to safely block a caller from Whatsapp calls :

  • put your iPhone in Flight Mode
    • swipe down from the top right corner of the screen
    • in the window that opens, click on the Airplane-icon
    • now the Airplane-icon will turn orange and the icons for cellular (GSM), Bluetooth and WiFi will dim (grey out)
    • now your iPhone is in Flight mode
  • then, open the Whatsapp.app (the green icon with the old-fashioned telephone hand-piece in a cartoon speech balloon)
  • in the next window, click on “Calls” (in the bottom row, with the telephone hand-piece icon)
  • in the “Calls” list, find the untrustworthy caller and click on the info-icon at the far right of it (the blue circle outline with the letter “i” in it)
  • in the next window, scroll down completely
  • there, click on “Block Contact”
  • then, click on “< Calls” top right to return to the Recents list
  • in the “Calls” list, click “Edit” (top left)
  • now find the untrustworthy caller and click on the red “No Entry” icon that has appeared in front of it (far left of the phone number)
  • then, click “Done” (top left)
  • then, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get back to the main screen
  • then, switch Flight Mode off
    • swipe down from the top right corner of the screen
    • in the window that opens, click on the orange Airplane-icon
    • now the Airplane-icon will turn gray and the icons for cellular (GSM), Bluetooth and WiFi will switch on (turn blue or green)
    • now Flight Mode is turned off

As mentioned, the procedure is similar for all voice-audio calling apps.

That’s it !

Now the caller has been blocked from sending new messages, and you can no longer accidentally call back.

enjoy 😉

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fixed : iPad mini 2 screen glass shattered

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Question :

My son slipped on the stairs this weekend and his iPad mini (2nd generation) fell down the stairs… the cover prevented any damage to the iPad itself, but the screen is completely shattered since it hit a staircase pole head-on…

The iPad mini 2 is still working properly, but the screen is no longer use-able…

What solution do you suggest ?

 

Answer :

The first thing to do is cover the broken screen with broad transparent tape, in overlapping lanes, to make sure you will not lose any glass pieces and keep your fingers and face safe when you use it.

Then, go to your local AppleStore or Apple Repair Center and ask them to check your iPad to get a price quote on the repair costs. If your iPad is still okay and only the screen has to be replaced, a repair at the AppleStore will probably cost you ca. €210, for that you will get a “remanufactured” unit of exactly the same specs as your original iPad, so an “Apple refurbished” / “factory refurbished” iPad mini 2 with a 6 month warranty.

Even from Apple’s point of view, that’s not a top deal, as they will try to talk you into buying a new iPad, iPad mini or iPad Pro, since the iPad mini 2 is quite outdated by today’s standards : it can run iOS 12, but not the latest iPadOS 13 (nor iOS 13).

So Apple is somewhat right : if this is your primary iPad, buy a new iPad or get yourself a 2nd-hand iPad that can run iPadOS 13.

And if it’s just a secondary iPad : fix it yourself.

If your screen is not completely shattered and the cracks in the screen are not blocking your view, they’re just hazardous to your fingers : buy a glass screen protector and put that over the original screen (after removing the transparent tape).

You can get glass screen protectors at various (online) shops, be sure to get tempered glass like Gorilla Glass or Panzer Glass.

This is one of the options available on Amazon :

Ailun Tempered Glass H9 Screen Protector for iPad mini 1/2/3 – 2 pack [buy on Amazon US] [buy on Amazon UK] [buy on Amazon DE]

However, if the cracks in your screen are preventing you from joyfully using your iPad mini 2 that is not your primary iPad, go and try to replace the screen yourself :

that’s it !

good luck & enjoy 😉

NOTE : to make sure you will not run into this problem again, you might consider a (semi) military grade protection case for your iPad mini 2 : Supcase Beetle Defence Case with integrated Display Protector for iPad mini 1&2 [buy on Amazon US] [Buy on Amazon UK] [Buy on Amazon DE] …for a relatively old iPad these are quite expensive cases, so it just depends on how, how often and for how long you will use your iPad mini 2 to decide if that’s a good investment…

 

tip : quickly typ numbers and non-alphanumeric signs on iPad

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TIP :

there is a quick way to typ numbers (and other SHIFT-accessable digits) on iPad in iOS12 and iPadOS :

when the on-screen keyboard is visible, just swipe-down (pull-down) on the on-screen key to get it’s SHIFT-version

e.g. : if you swipe down the 3-key, you will typ the #-sign, and if you swipe-down the 7-key, you will typ the &-sign

enjoy 😉

 

fixed : can’t connect new iPhone (iOS 12) to MacBook Air Late 2010

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Question :

I have a new iPhone 8 (running iOS 12) and I want to connect it to iTunes on my MacBook Air (Late 2010), but when I connect them using the Lightning-to-USB-cable I get an error message saying the software on my Mac should be updated.

I found that I had OSX 10.10 Yosemite installed, so I used the Mac AppStore-app to upgrade to macOS 10.13 High_Sierra. That went smoothly, so I also installed all available updates for my apps from the Mac AppStore. Then, I ran into a strange error : I can’t upgrade to the newest version of iMovie because my version of macOS doesn’t meet the minimal system requirements…

I also ran iTunes, but even now my iPhone 8 isn’t recognised when I connect it…

I found that for some reason macOS 10.13.4 is installed, and not 10.13.6, but still : Mac AppStore says “no updates available”…

Is my MacBook Air late2010 not meeting the minimal system requirements for macOS 10.13.6 for some reason ?

I looked up my MacBook Air late 2010 in MacTracker, and found that is should be able to run macOS 10.13.6 so why won’t it install ?

How can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

For reasons unknown, you need to upgrade your MacBook Air to macOS 10.13.5 manually using this download :

download macOS 10.13.5 upgrade

And only after macOS 10.13.5 is installed, you can manually upgrade to macOS 10.13.6 using this download (this is an incremental upgrade, not a combo upgrade) :

download macOS 10.13.6 upgrade

After macOS 10.13.6 is installed, you should be able to update to the latest versions of iMovie and iTunes via the Mac AppStore.

If iTunes won’t update, you need to (re)install it manually, using this download :

download iTunes

After installing the latest version of iTunes, connect your iPhone to your Mac using a Lighting-to-USB-cable. Now, an extra update will be downloaded, which will put an extra Devices-button in the iTunes and your iPhone will be recognised in iTunes.

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : find specific info on a webpage that is already open on your iPhone

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Question :

I am looking for information on the internet, and now Google found some interesting websites for me. I can see most of the info I am searching for in the Google-preview of the website, but when I go to the website using the link Google provides, it opens a page with so much info that I can’t find what I’m looking for…

On my Mac, in Safari, I would typ the [CMD]+[F] key-combo and get a search field in the top right of the webpage where I can typ what I am looking for exactly, and it will highlight all occurrences of this search term on the webpage and guide me to them instantly…

But how can I do something similar on my iPhone ?

 

Answer :

Since you don’t have a keyboard with the option to press the [CMD]+[F] key-combo on your iPhone, Apple has come up with a slightly different solution for searching within a webpage :

  • in Safari, go to the webpage that should have the information you are searching for
  • when the webpage is open in Safari, tap on the bottom of the screen (about 1cm from the bottom)
  • when the top & bottom bars come up, click on the “Share”-button (the square with the arrow pointing upward)
  • in the menu that comes up, click on the “Find On Page”-button (looking glass icon)
  • in the search field that comes up, type your search term
  • then all occurrences of your search term will be highlighted and you can flip through them using the up & down arrows on the left (next to the search field)
  • when you want to go back to your regular website viewing, click on the “Done”-button

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : account info greyed out in iOS 12

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Question :

I have just upgraded my child’s iPhone from iOS 11 to iOS 12, but I can’t access his/her iCloud settings, since his/her account name is greyed out in Settings.app and nothing happens when I click on it…

How can I solve this ?

 

Answer :

The problem is that you have had Restrictions-setting active on iOS 11, and it is still active on iOS 12…

However : the Restrictions-setting is no longer in the “General”-chapter of Settings.app, starting in iOS 12, the Restrictions-setting is in the “Screen Time”-chapter (the purple hourglass icon just above the grey sprocket/gear-wheel icon of the “General”-chapter) and the setting is now called “Content & Privacy Restrictions”

So, do this :

  • open the Settings.app
  • in the window that opens, click on “Screen Time” (the chapter just above “General”)
  • in the next window, click on “Content & Privacy Restrictions”
  • when asked, type the Restrictions-password-code (4 digits) you previously used on iOS 11
  • then scroll down to “ALLOW CHANGES:” and “Account Changes” and adjust the setting to allow changes
  • now, the account-info in Settings will no longer be greyed out and you can also login on additional iCloud services like Messages (a.k.a. iMessage)

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : can’t find Restrictions setting in iOS 12

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Question :

I’ve just upgraded my child’s iPhone from iOS11 to iOS12, which went without any problems. Or so it seemed…

In iOS11 I had set some Restrictions on my child’s iPhone because (s)he is underaged. I used to be able to find the Restrictions setting in Settings.app under General… but now, in iOS12, it’s no longer there…

Where has the Restrictions setting gone ?

 

Answer :

In iOS12, the Restrictions setting can be found in Settings.app under Screen Time. It’s now called “Content & Privacy Restrictions” instead of just “Restrictions”, but your options for setting restrictions are still generally the same.

You even have more options now. You can also set the amount of time your child will be able to use any specific app or service now.

enjoy 😉