All iOS All The Time
Posts by Tricia
TechMom Tuesday: How To Keep Kids Out of Your Data
01 week ago
“Mommy? Can I play Jake on the iPad?”
I prefer the iPad to the television. There really are some very nice learning apps for TechTots, such as Wheels on the Bus and Jake’s Neverland Pirate School, based off the Disney Jr. show (YOHO!). The games are interactive and less likely to drive TechMom nutty.
But even as much excitement as the apps provide, the allure of pushing buttons is often much greater.
The majority of our iDevice time is usually spent saying, “Good job matey! You found the monkey and earned a gold dubloon. No, don’t push that button. No! <sigh> Would you like me to start the game over? Absolutely not. That’s Mommy’s app. Stop pushing that button or I’m taking the iPad away.”
With iOS 6, Apple introduced Kid Mode – ability to lock a device into an app. And the angels sang.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday: What the heck is my password? [Review]
1 month ago
You’re lucky this post exists. Because of what I’m reviewing, I was able to actually log into WordPress to post.
**********
It was déjà vu all over again when the blinky red indicator lit up my email inbox declaring that my password was about to expire.
(They leave out the part about how no matter what you do, you’re going to manage to lock yourself out of the system anyway. Also, you can’t repeat passwords. And the system knows!)
We’ve all heard the stories. A giant database gets hacked so your account (and thereby your identity) is at risk.
We’ve all heard the warnings. Don’t use 12345 or Password. And even if you have a super stealth security code comprising letters, numbers, symbols, wizarding runes and a strand of your DNA, for all that is holy don’t use it for multiple sites.
I’ll be honest with you. My brain is now full. I no longer remember my own phone number, much less continuous strings of essentially random typos. What’s that? You also want me to remember what account all those nonsensical numeric are associated with?
Not happening. Alas, there’s only so many times you can click the “Forgot my password” link on a site before it completely shuts down on you.
mSecure of Mac
And then I was introduced to mSecure Password Manager.
I was initially skeptical. Write down all my passwords in one place? DANGER WILL ROBINSON!
But then I realized that I have over 101 accounts and web logins that I use regularly enough to need to actually know how to decode the html cipher and retrieve my info. Let’s face it – it’s far easier for a hacker to access thousands of accounts than for me to remember if I’m TechMom, Tech Mom or techmummy with a password of 1f-U#ack_M3,Ple@$e.S#are!nfo
mSecure is available across all my Apple devices. But to calm the paranoid conspiracy theorist within, your account can only be synched across devices when you are simultaneously logged in on a single Wi-Fi network and, more importantly, only when you explicitly tell it to do so.
Organize your passwords into categories in mSecure
Adding a new item in mSecure for iPhone
With a single master password, you can store a plethora of tricky data – I use it mostly to record Web login information. It is also a great digital wallet that allows categorization for grouping personal, work and family account information. For example when one of our four medical record login credentials is inevitably forgotten by a family member (namely, me).
The layout is simple and easy to read. It’s not meant to be fancy, it’s meant to restore sanity when you really need to reschedule a doctor follow up visit but cannot for the life of you remember what your toddler’s login information is for Kaiser.
For each entry, input a description, username, password, URL and applicable notes. You are in complete control of the data though, so if you’re uncomfortable having the actual password stored, simply enter a reminder in the Password field – it’s a lot easier than trusting a site’s ability to remember you’re the school your mother’s maiden name went to with their favorite pet in the first car owned.
However if you’re fresh out of ideas, mSecure also enables you to auto-generate a secure password.
Creating a password in mSecure
It’s not free. You can download it for your iPhone, iPad in the App Store for $9.99. It is $19.99 for the Mac version, also in the Mac App store. But it’s totally paid for itself in time saved and meltdowns avoided. BTW, synchronization happens between the platforms when the devices are on the same WiFi network.
mSecure (Universal App) – $9.99 – Download Now
mSecure for Mac – $19.99 – Download Now
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday – Remind Me to Review Something…
2 months ago
Did you miss me in February? (In my defense you did get two TechMom Tuesday posts in January.)
Nevertheless, it is with a heartfelt apology that I shall now regale you with my thoughts on Apple Reminders. (Because I totally could have used a reminder for the last TechMom post. And since we’re airing confessions – I’m writing this right now because a reminder just buzzed at me from my shiny iPhone 5 toy.)
I’ve been trying to go paperless for a while now. Between the terrific toddling twosome creating confetti out of receipts and other important papers and my giant dogs who seem to believe pulped paper products are a culinary delicacy, the precariously placed post-its weren’t cutting it any longer.
Also, I was forgetting things.
Managing my tasks as work (SHOCKINGLY, I am not a professional full-time blogger), tracking family commitments, remembering doctors appointments, calendaring my blogging exploits, random to-dos, a shared honey-do list, the grocery store checklist indicating whether or not we’re out of Cheerios, and of course noting the movies that my friends seem to be so incredulous that I haven’t yet seen. (Who am I? Where are we?)
I needed something that would ideally encompass all of the above in one fabulous app.
And Apple Reminders is a standard app on all my iDevices (and my MacBook, but I couldn’t figure out a clever iPhrase for that one).
The Good:
- It reminded me of stuff to do.
- Integrates with Outlook tasks for work purposes. (I couldn’t test Apple Mail notes, because, well – that died.
- I can share lists. And everyone with an iPhone already has the app. (Honey…I’ve got a great idea! Also, Clinton can cull my crazy ideas long before they’re threatening to go live on the AlliOSNews site.)
- I am restricted to one folder (“Tasks”) for my work tasks.
- If you aren’t a complete Apple shop, you miss out on desktop access – which could be a pretty big pain for work items.
- There is very little space for in-depth notes about the task.
The Ugly:
- Can you see my shopping list? We’re out of toddler snacks AND wine! (APOCOLYPSE NOW!)
Overall, Reminders is okay. It’s not great; I don’t think it sucks.
It served its purpose – blinking up reminders of the items I entered in. However, Reminders very much works best as a straight series of lists, not a comprehensive life organizer.
Now, because I know “meh” isn’t really a review you can do much with, I’ve gone a step further to look at some of the other productivity apps available.
It’s a free (highly rated) app that syncs across all your devices – including a Web portal and PC desktop plan – and also sharable provided your desired share-ee also has the app.
With a more comprehensive notes section as well as sub-tasks you can enter, WunderList is a much cleaner option for paperless life task organization.
If only one of the apps could now remind me what direction my iPhone toddled off… (FYI – Find iPhone app does not share which toy bin your shiny toy has been stashed in.)
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Goes to Las Vegas – TechMomTuesday
3 months ago
by Tricia
in TechMomTuesday
What? Another TechMom post so soon? Well, TechDad and I went to Vegas for a mid-January vacation to Las Vegas. So how could I not come back and share?
I know, I know – what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But while this desert playground for adults was once a middle-of-nowhere haven for gamblers ruled by the West Coat mob boss, what happens in Vegas now ends up on Facebook.
Seriously, Vegas is blinged out with shiny tech toys. And we were there the week after CES.
On Monday morning we checked into the Aria – the “new kid” on the block – a slanted silver resort dead-center strip (with rather poor voice reception despite the appearance of full iPhone bars).
View of Vegas from the Aria
We rose to the 29th floor. And walked approximately 26.2 miles to the end of the hallway to our room. (Vegas casino resorts may appear smaller than they really are – they’re more like Harry Potter Quidditch Cup tents.) A simple swipe of the casino credit card and we heard the welcoming click. The door opened as the blinds swooshed open in accordance with the trained hotel processor, revealing our gorgeous view of not the strip from on high.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday: Constant Connectivity
4 months ago
by Tricia
in TechMomTuesday
Happy New (technology) Year! I know. I’m a week late in sharing the wit and wisdom of my TechMom Tuesday musings. But I’m sure y’all were off celebrating the arrival of 2013 (or cowering in a corner because 2013 has completely set off your triskaidekaphobia of being faced with 365 days of haunting calendar dates – but hey, I won’t judge).
I, on the other hand, have spent the past week cleaning up from the chaos that was Christmas in the Stream household. The TechToddlers are the only grandchildren from either side of our family. (Translation – spoiled rotten.) And even though not everyone lives locally, we are all constantly connected.
- Watch the grandkids play from 400 miles away? FaceTime (app already on your iToy)
- Toddlers being, well, toddlers? Camera/Instagram.
- Funny photos with witty captions? Facebook.
- Toddler commentary commiseration? Twitter (I use TweetBot).
- Personal statement to share about a relative? iMessage (text app on phone or chat button on Mac).
- OMG we totally forgot to order diapers – PANIC AT THE DISCO!!!? Diapers.com.
- Meeting up with friends for a playdate and looking for age appropriate tips? Foursquare.
- Being a TechMom anywhere in the world? Starbucks.
- Sharing all these tech tips and having TechToddlers raised with their entire lives being blogged for the multitudes to follow? WordPress.
All the social apps makes us feel like we’re around, even if we’re off in search of a moment of solitude. (Or in the grandparental case – gleefully handing a melty-downy tot back to parents with a smug “Being a grandparent is so much better” smirk.)
The first time I ever left my kiddos overnight was for a work gig. That week was also the first time my son Destroy ever said “mommy.” -.- Yeah, there was some serious sulking there. Especially because it wasn’t just hearsay. I got a grainy iPhone 3 video proving the toddling verbosity. (And I had some serious processing time while viewing that one. Because getting the iPhone 3 to load an app was not entirely dissimilar to an attempt at defeating a toddler’s determination not to take a bath or get in his car seat. Masters of the stall, people. But I digress…)
Now that the boys are older, if I’m off being anti-social for my company’s social media program or if TechDad has to hang back to protect the homestead while the rest of our family visits the non-local family it’s all about FaceTime.
“Hi Mommy/Daddy <toddler wave> I play trucks. <Scream> No! Brother hit me! Miiiiiinnnnne”
Most. Brilliant. App. Ever. Because, you know, it’s just like being there.
Search and Destroy are relatively certain that extended family are stored in Mommy’s iPad.
Every night after bath Destroy streaks into the living room (in a futile attempt to escape the evening diapering) and declares, “I wanna talk Papa on the iPad!” Over the holidays, GrammaJ and Papa came to visit. After recovering from the energy burst of PRESENTS, Destroy settled himself down in Papa’s lap and announced, “My Papa not in the iPad…Uncle Paul in the iPad?!”
I joke that my living room now looks like Toys R Us threw up. But that is obviously not true. Because not a single toy was purchased from the iconic giraffe toy giant.
Amazon. (Another app that I think is fantabulously easy to navigate and use. Bonus recommendation – Amazon owns Diapers.com.)
In accordance with my twins’ 2-year-old developmental stage, one of their holiday gifts was a small dry erase board – to express their budding imaginations via artistic creativity. (Or, as I see it, markers to color on the wall with.)
Search eyed it. “Where are buttons?” he asked suspiciously.
The adults responded with the traditional grown-up communication stylings of a very blank look.
Search sighed with a hint of annoyance. “My iPad is missing its home button.”
Constant connectivity. Even in the imaginations of the new generation.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMomTuesday: The Day the Email Died
5 months ago
Sing with me, won’t you, to the tune of Don McClean’s American Pie.
A long long time ago
I can still remember how
The email used to sail on through
And I knew if I said my piece
That I could get those projects done
And maybe there’d be me-time to accrue
But last week made me shiver
With every email non-deliver
Bad news the sever smote
I couldn’t send one more note
I can’t remember if I cried
When my productivity ceased to thrive
But no technical taps could revive
**The day my email died**
I was clicking away at my keyboard, making impressive progress on my ever-expanding to-do list. I finished a fabulously professional missive and hit “Send.” Just a typical day in Corporate America. Do your thing Apple Mail!
Nope.
After over a year on my trusty Air, suddenly Microsoft Exchange had decided it was no longer going to play nice. “Cannot send message using the server.” So, I followed technical protocol – I hit refresh in rapid succession about 78 times.
Nothing.
It was time to escalate matters.
- Click “Try With Selected Server” one more time. Just in case.
- Quit out of Apple Mail completely. Make Finder “Force Quit.” Just in case.
- Reboot computer.
- Relaunch Mail. Click “Try Again” another 24 times.
Still nothing. Now it’s personal. I have notes to send!
I eyed the delete key. I was not afraid to use it. That entire corporate account was getting eliminated, swimming with the screensaver fishies. (Shiny object tangent: Any time you are struck with the thought, “It seems like a good idea…” it is decidedly not.)
With a decidedly sullen expression, I stalked over to our IT department. Our company now supports the BYOD trend, so I had high hopes my communication lifeline could be fixed.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday: The Lifesaving Impact of Technology
6 months ago
by Tricia
in TechMomTuesday
Did you miss me? (Oh, who am I kidding, of COURSE you missed me.) I missed you too. (Oh, who am I kidding, I’ve been dealing with travel, tantrums and the newfound ability of my toddler to proclaim, “Mommy, phone AWAY.” You can go ahead and drop off my Mother of the Year award at any time.)
Don’t worry, there are plenty of TechMom stories to share. Because here’s the thing – today’s chitlins have grown up surrounded by technology. My sons – literally from the second they were born.
I am a mom. Because of technology.
November is prematurity awareness month. (Stay with me here. We’re coming back around to the TechMom tie-in.)
Search and Destroy (the TechMom toddlers) were born 13 weeks too soon (because who needs a third trimester when you have technology). I did not get to meet my sons the day they were born. A team of doctors immediately surrounded them, gently placing them in computerized incubators. A team of nurses hooked them up to sensors – the critical results to be displayed on the monitors above their isolettes.
It was technology keeping them alive from their first breath of air.
The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was expecting their arrival. Because all of my medical records as well as the developing status of the new tiny babies was stored on the hospital computer system. My and their results monitored from afar.
Their nurses – a surrogate family during the months I had to return home every night alone – tracked even the tiniest of details on the computer next to each patient bed. Grams of weight gain, milligrams of nutritional ingestion. Every doctor and specialist knew the plan of attack. We were all on the same page.
My children were swaddled in wires, not their mother’s arms. Their first lullabies were the beeping alarms of computerized monitors. But it was the data delivered from those wires that reassured me that their hearts continued to beat and they remembered to breathe. In. Out. Repeatedly. Forever. (Granted, this did not occur without the occasional reminder.
Premature babies can’t take stimulation. The NICU is a quiet environment – not necessarily always somber, but quiet. No parent wants to be annoyed by the phone conversation of another. Nor do they likely want to broadcast the day’s medical update to fellow preemie parents – whose own children may be doing better or worse.
I spent approximately six hours a day in the NICU while my twins took their leisurely time developing. (My first parental “I told you so”: In such a hurry to enter the big wide world – didn’t work out for you so well now did it? Didn’t think so.) I took pictures, I texted, and abused my Internet access for potential medical complications until the doctors revoked my Google privilege. My iOS devices allowed me to maintain a seriously skewed sense of “normalcy” during this adventure. And they connected to the blogs and stories of so many others who’d been unceremoniously thrust into the secret society of prematurity.
Clearly, you’re all well aware I’m a Mac girl. SHINY TOY! Obviously, this is an Apple focused site. And I am more than happy to share our adventures with the multitude of iOS devices my family continues to accumulate.
Some of the computers (such as my iPhone) from our journey through prematurity were certainly powered by innovations out of One Infinite Loop. Plenty others were Microsoft or Linux. Some were likely medically proprietary. That’s not my point.
You see, neonatology is a relatively recent field. It is the marriage of recent technology and medical research. The technology is what assisted my children’s fight for life. Remember that next time someone calls you a tech nerd.
Embrace those geekery stripes! They’re a lifesaver. Literally.
November is prematurity awareness month. And it’s my own iOS system that allows me to share this with you. With photos and video taken from my Little iPhone that Could, statistics pulled from research off my iPad, and created via iMovie on my Macbook Air – this is prematurity.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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Goldilocks and the Three Cases – A Review of Three Cygnett Cases
7 months ago
Once upon a time, there was a TechMom named Tricia (who’s never had even remotely golden locks). One day, she went for a walk through the Silicon Valley; pretty soon, she came upon a house filled with technology from One Infinite Loop.
She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in.
(Please note: Even though TechMom went traipsing through someone else’s house for the purposes of this story, there were no laws broken if local law enforcement is reading, nor mail fraud should the FBI be perusing tech blogs. Cygnett voluntarily sent the three iPhone 5 cases and all opinions expressed herein are those of my…er TechMom’s…own.)
At the desk in the office there were three Apple products. TechMom was bored; she hadn’t played with technology all morning.
She picked up the device from the first charger. “This iPod shuffle is too small!” she exclaimed.
So, she picked up the device on the second charger. “This iPad is too big,” she said.
So, she picked up the last device from a much smaller charger. “Ahh, this new iPhone is just right,” she said happily and she began testing all the LTE speeds.
After she’d used up the residents’ data allotments, she decided she was feeling a little adventurous. So, she walked into the living room where she could play with device protection. She applied one of the screen protectors that came with each case. It didn’t seem necessary to change that part out for each different case.
TechMom snapped on the Cygnett Polygon iPhone 5 case. “This crystal clear feather-light, ultra-slim (with snap-on shield) is very easy to use! The fun diamond prism texture makes it feel fancy, but it still easily fits in my pocket,” she exclaimed.
But for her own purposes, TechMom felt like the case (and encased phone) wouldn’t survive a direct hit if dropped (or rather hurled across the room by a tiny person).
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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Goodnight Steve
7 months ago
by Tricia
in Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs: 1955-2011
Goodnight Steve. You are the Walt Disney of my generation; your magic will live on.
On the great Infinite Loop
there was a computer
And a black turtleneck
And the vision of–
The innovator reaching for the moon
and there were three little iPhones, on their smartphone thrones
and two little iPods having become the music gods
and a little Macbook Air and a young cloud to share
and an idea and a dream and a risk to fail
and a simple young man who was thinking “stay foolish
Goodnight Apple
goodnight Steve
goodnight visionary reaching for the moon
goodnight Macbook and the iPad 2
goodnight iPhones
goodnight nano
goodnight Apple IIGs
goodnight iMac
goodnight sleek and simple sophistication
goodnight idea and goodnight dream
goodnight devices that make the fanboys scream
goodnight nerds
goodnight technology
and goodnight to the man who taught us to Think Different
goodnight garage, goodnight Air
goodnight Silicon Valley, and everywhere.
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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TechMom Tuesday: Is the Shiny Toy Worth It?
7 months ago
It came! It’s here! And today really is Tuesday! Also in my excitement to get my new toy into my hot little hands – I did NOT fall off the roof. So that was a huge win. And I spent the weekend playing with my new SHINY TOY!
On Sunday, I made a little field trip over to The Mall so I could get my toddlers some new shoes. (Tangent: Good grief their tiny feet grow fast!) This just so happened to be right next to the Apple Store. I couldn’t resist. We stopped by. (New shiny toy tucked firmly(ish) in my pocket.)
It was eerily quiet.
Apple Genius: Yeah, that’s because we don’t have any products left. What model were you looking for? Because we don’t have it.
Me: Oh I already have my phone! <Pulling it out proudly> I was looking for an adaptor.
But I know what you’re thinking – ok fine, we’re all Mac geeks here, so is it REALLY worth the upgrade? (Well, the answer to that is, of course, that if you’re a *true* fanboy, you don’t care what I have to say because you were camping out all last week as part of the annual Apple worship ritual.)
That being said, I was upgrading from the Little iPhone That Could (aka – the 3G). So the iPhone 5 is an enhanced experienced worthy of a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Mary Poppins musical number.
Processor
The most obvious improvement is speed. I tap an app and stuff happens! Like immediately! This is a far cry from last week’s conversation in my household:
Husband: You are always on your phone. You’ve been playing with that for 5 minutes now – what exactly are you doing?”
Me: Waiting for Twitter to load.
Husband: You haven’t done anything yet?
Me: Nope. But it thinks it can. IT THINKS IT CAN!
Form Factor
This little gem is slightly taller than the older versions. And although it’s nice to have extra screen space, it’s a bit wonkier to carry in my pocket. Women’s pockets, as it turns out, aren’t typically that deep. So it’s a little awkward to carry around.
Camera
While this is a lateral move or slight upgrade from iPhone 4 models, my new 8 megapixel portable Kodak moment maker is amazing. I won’t lie. My children are adorable. And it’s totally worth it to have crisp clear (flash-if-needed) photos to show off should I ever capture that mystical moment where one of them stops moving 
momentarily.
Passbook
Apparently there is a bit of an issue for some users (me being one of them). I was not familiar with this new addition. So I clicked (and it instantly opened). “Cannot connect to the iTunes Store.” And that was pretty much the extent of my experience. So I asked the interwebs what to do.
The fix involved changing the Date/Time from automatic to a year in the future. This did not work. Several reboots later and a journey five years into the future (I’ll be in the Delorian if you need me) and I was able to open the app store. If you follow this fix, remember to go turn iMessage back on – futzing with the date turns it off.
I’m still not entirely sure I understand the point of Passbook. So rather than employ my usual technique of pushing buttons until something works or it blows up – the little icon is sitting ignored on my screen. Clinton, on the other hand, claims to have used it quite successfully (or at least got the confounded thing to work) on a recent flight.
In my search to figure out the fix, I stumbled upon a rumor that Starbucks is updating their app for Passbook support this week. Now we’re talking! Come find me when my phone delivers caffeine. I will be a happy camper. (I’ll probably even take photos of my coffee with my new camera for you.)
I shall discuss this point with the caveat that this may be a figment of my imagination (mom-brain) rather than a user issue. Thus far, it doesn’t seem like Push and Grab are really pushing or grabbing my mail. Every time I’d click on Mail and navigate into an inbox, the mail would come through. But it did not seem to be waiting for me with red balloon number alerts that I’ve grown so accustomed too. It does seem to be getting better (which is why this may have been an ID-10-T error I have yet to realize).
As such, I haven’t yet gotten a chance to fiddle with the new VIP feature. As Clinton noted in his iOS6 review, you can now designate contacts as VIPs. Their emails will then appear in the new VIP mailbox in Mail (when the messages decide to come through for you), so you can easily see messages from your favorite peeps.
Future email from my husband: I know you’re seeing this because I’m a very important person. Stop playing on the Twitter and pay attention to me.
Connector
You don’t think I’d let this go, did you? The new proprietary connector. It’s kind of a pain.
Here’s the thing – I have no problem with the smaller pin. It’s actually easier to plug and unplug – especially if you have tiny people prone to trying to rip it out of the wall. However, I burn through battery life. This is no statement on the device itself, I am ALWAYS on my phone – coordinating schedules, sharing adorable anecdotes and reading email. I take work conference calls on my phone as I race across town for Mom-duties. There is no electronic media that could stand up to my power-sucking skills.
But the new iPhone comes with only one Lightening connector. And, as the adaptors are sold out, this means lugging another cord around with me. So really, what I guess I’m saying is, I want my adaptors and then I’ll be a happy camper. Because then I’ll also have access to the 30-pin charger so key to revitalizing my iPad.
Is the iPhone 5 worth it? Absolutely. Is it a must upgrade? Depends.
If you’re a 4s owner, upgrade to the new OS6; maybe wait a bit and then see if you really want the LTE speeds. (I’m still skeptical – that whole less bars in more places AT&T thing. I live in the heart of Silicon Valley and I have to have an M-Cell to get coverage in my house. Yeah – you heard that right – in suburban Silicon Valley and I can’t get coverage. But I digress…)
If you’re still rocking a 3 model, drop everything. Stop reading this blog. Go directly to the nearest Apple store. Do not pass go. (On second thought, they’re probably sold out. Go directly to Apple.com and order.)
I’ll wait…
View fun iPhone 5 experiences here! (And please share your own in the comments.)
Tricia
Corporate writer by day, mommy blogger by night, Tricia is raising twin toddlers – Search and Destroy. Instead of having one baby after 9 months, she had two after 6; she’s efficient like that. Tricia is a hybrid – running on coffee and chocolate. Tricia also rambles on her personal blog: Stream Of The Conscious.
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