Tag Archives: iOS

fixed : using the AppleTV on an HD-ready TV without HDMI-input

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update : this solution should also work for the new 4th generation AppleTV (2015)

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Question :

I just bought an AppleTV 3 and I want to connect it to my flatscreen 26″ LCD-TV, a MyCom MC2600LT (it’s actually a rebranded/white-label DT-3003X which has internationally also been sold under the Daewoo and Grundig Xentia brand, and probably more).

Even tough the TV is able to display HD-video up to 1080i and computer-display resolutions up to 1280×768 pixels at 60Hz, it does not have an HDMI input, neither a digital audio input (a.k.a. “Toslink”).

The only input options are :

– DVI digital video + 3.5mm (a.k.a. “jack”) analog audio

– VGA analog video + 3.5mm (a.k.a. “jack”) analog audio

– Component YPbPr analog video + stereo analog audio (5 plugs, a.k.a. “RCA” or “tulip” or “chinch”)

– S-video analog video (S-video plug) + stereo analog audio (a.k.a. “RCA” or “tulip” or “chinch”)

– SCART analog video + audio (SCART plug)

How do I connect my AppleTV 3 to this TV-set ?

 

Answer :

Even though it might seem the most obvious to connect the AppleTV’s HDMI-output to the TV’s DVI-input, since HDMI and DVI are 100% video-compatible, this comes with 2 problems :

– DVI has no audio, so you will have to connect the audio separately ; in this case that would require a DAC (digital-analog-converter) for your audio since your TV has no digital audio input

– DVI does not support HDCP-encryption as HDMI does, so any ‘copyright-protected’ HDMI content will be blocked when connected to DVI…

So… do not try to use the DVI-input, but use the Component YPbPr connection, especially since the digital-to-analog video-conversion gets rid of the HDCP-limitations for you also !

This converter cable is the most elegant option that will do the trick for you :

LogiLink HDMI to YPbPr & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.com]

LogiLink HDMI to YPbPr & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.co.uk]

LogiLink HDMI to YPbPr & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.de]

…it turns out that the HDMI-output of the AppleTV 3 is supplying enough power to  power the built-in converter, so you don’t need to connect the USB-power cable.

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For anyone interested, here’s a link to the Dutch manual of the 26″ MyCom LCD-TV MC2600LT (a.k.a. DT-3003X) :

manual MyCom LCD tv

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If you have an HD-Ready flatscreen TV and you want to connect an AppleTV, your best option is to use the HDMI-to-YPbPr converter-cable mentioned above.

But… in some cases these might also be interesting :

An HDMI-to-VGA&stereo converter-cable :

LogiLink HDMI to VGA & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.com]

LogiLink HDMI to VGA & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.co.uk]

LogiLink HDMI to VGA & Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.de]

An HDMI-to-HDMI&stereo converter-cable : [so this splits the audio from the HDMI-video signal and converts it into a separate analog stereo (2x RCA) signal, but beware that the output video signal is 720p, 1080p and 1080i only, which is problematic for most HD-ready flatscreen TVs, especially when combined with an HDMI-to-DVI converter] :

LogiLink HDMI to HDMI & Analog Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.co.uk]

LogiLink HDMI to HDMI & Analog Audio Converter Cable (2m) [Amazon.de]

fixed : auto-connect to other WiFi-network

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Question :

At one of the locations I often visit there are various WiFi-networks I can use. But whenever I am in the neighborhood my iPhone auto-connects to the network with the worst connection for some reason. Since I need a reliable connection, I always manually switch to the best network, but when I leave and return, my iPhone keeps auto-connecting to the worst WiFi-network.

How can I set my iPhone to auto-connect to the best network ?

Answer :

You can’t set an order in the WiFi-networks your iPhone/iPad remembers. But you can easily fix your main problem by deleting the worst WiFi-network from your iPhone/iPad’s memory like this :

– on your iPhone, go to the Settings-app (the sprocket/gear-icon)

– on the Settings-page, choose “Wi-Fi”

– on the Wi-Fi-page, see if the ‘worst WiFi-network’ is in the list – if not, move/walk over to a location where the ‘worst WiFi-network’ does appear in the list

– if the ‘worst WiFi-network’ is in the list, click on the ‘blue dot with a white arrow’ that is behind it on the same line

– on the page that opens, click on the “Forget this Network” button that is on the top of the page

…that’s it !

enjoy !

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fixed : switch on Notifications for Viber

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Question :

I am trying to set up Viber internet calls on my iPhone. Now the Viber-app asks me to switch on Notifications, else the app won’t run.

How do I do that ? I don’t see any settings option…

Answer :

To turn on Notifications for any app (be it Viber or any other), do this :

– go to the Settings-app (sprocket/gear-icon)

– then select Notifications (the ‘red dot’-icon in the same chapter as Do Not Disturb)

– in the Notifications page that opens, scroll down to the “Not In Notifications Center”  chapter and select Viber

– in the Viber page that opens, put the Notifications Center slider to ON

– if you like, you can also tweak the Viber notifications to your liking :

– Alert Style : where do you want the alert to appear on your screen ?

– Badge App Icon : do you want to have the small red circle on top of the Viber-icon if you have missed calls ?

– Sounds : do you want the Viber-alerts to be accompanied by an alert sound ?

– View In Locked Screen : do you want to get Viber-alerts also when your iPhone is in standby mode ?

…that’s it !

enjoy !

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fixed : stop FaceTime over mobile network

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Question :

Today I got a call on my iPhone when I was in my car, but when I answered, it turned out to be a FaceTime-call. I do not want to answer video-calls in my car because I think it is too distracting and dangerous during driving and because my GSM/3G-provider will charge outrageous rates for mobile data.

Is there any way to prevent my iPhone from connecting through FaceTime when I am out of WiFi reach ?

Answer :

Yes.

…and it’s quite simple to configure :

– on your iPhone go to the Settings-app (sprocket/gear icon)

– select FaceTime (in the chapter that starts with iCloud, in between Messages and Maps)

– in the FaceTime settings page that opens, scroll down to the very bottom

– there, set Use Cellular Data to OFF

…that’s it

enjoy !

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fixed : get rid of “pad lock with circular arrow” icon in iOS

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Question :

Today, I noticed there was a “lock”-icon on the top menu bar of my iPhone. (It looks a little like the TimeMachine-icon in the OSX-menubar) More accurately described, it is a “padlock with a clock-wise rotating circular arrow” icon.

What does it mean ? And how do I get rid of it ?

Answer :

The “padlock with a circular arrow” icon means that you the Screen Rotation is locked on your iPhone or iPad, so your display will not automatically change between “portrait” and “landscape” view when you rotate your iOS device.

To get rid of this icon, you simply need to turn on Screen Rotation back on, like this :

When you have iOS 7, do this :

– ‘slide up’ with your finger from (just outside) the bottom of the screen upward, to reveal the ‘underwater view’

– in the ‘underwater view’, just click on the “padlock with a circular arrow”-icon jou see top right

…that’s it !

When you have iOS 5 or iOS 6, do this :

– double click on the menu button (the only real, round button on the front of your iPhone/iPad, just below the screen ; a.k.a. the “main button”)

– then in ‘underwater view’, you can see all apps that are running ‘in the background’ on your iPhone/iPad (a.k.a. “are invisibly consuming power because you did not really shut them down”)

– then swipe (a.k.a. “slide”) the ‘underwater bar’ to the right, so it will reveal the Music Player buttons …and another “padlock with a circular arrow” icon ; click that and your Screen Rotation will be back on and the icon will be removed from the top menu bar also

…that’s it !

NOTE : Only on iPads (so not on iPhones) there is a physical switch on the top right side that can be used as a screen rotation lock (or unlock) switch. But… this physical switch can also be ‘programmed’ as an audio mute-switch. The function you want to give the physical switch can be set like this :

– click on the Settings-icon on your iPad

– in the window that opens, click General

– in the window that opens, go to “Use Side Switch to:” and select either “Lock Rotation” or “Mute” (the choice you make will be indicated with a check mark)

…that’s it !

enjoy !

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fixed : mysterious March 2013 crash in iPad Calendar

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Question :

Whenever I am using the iOS Calendar-app on my iPad, and I try to progress from February 2013 to March 2013 in Month-view, the Calendar-app crashes.

It’s always the same, and it’s in Month-view only…

What can I do ?

Answer :

This is a bug in the Calendar-app (for iPad) in iOS 6.0.1 (and probably in iOS 6.0 also).

Luckily, the solution is extremely simple : just update to iOS 6.1

To do so, do this :

– put the power plug into your iPad, to make sure it is constantly being powered during the update
– go to the Settings-app (gears icon)
– choose General (also a gears icon) from the menu list
– choose Software Update (the top second one listed) in the window
– …and follow the on-screen instructions
– if the update is installed, restart your iPad (if you have a WiFi+3G iPad, you will have to type in your SIM-card’s PIN-code, so make sure you have it readily available)

…then, during set-up, you will have to re-connect to iCloud (= re-enter your AppleID (= iTunes-login name) and password), so make sure you have that at hand also

😉

Enjoy !

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tip : planning on buying Apple stuff ?

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If you’re planning on buying Apple hardware, be it an iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro or Cinema Display, you should consider checking if now is the right time to buy first.

MacRumors’ Buying Advice doesn’t advice you on what product to buy, just on WHEN to buy and when not to buy (which means : “hold on and wait just a little until the product gets refreshed”) :

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

MacRumors’ Buying Advice is based on the regularity of the product cycles of Apple hardware (not on the rumors, but current rumors on upcoming hardware are listed also …as MacRumors originally is an Apple rumor site…)

The ‘advice’ categories are :

Buy now! Product just updated

Buy only if you need it – Approaching the end of a cycle

Don’t buy – updates soon

[ for your convenience, I also included this “When (not) to buy ?” link as an extra at the (static) top of this website ]