iPhone

My iPad Mini as a Phone?

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I have had two mobile phones at the same time for years. One is my work number. The other one is my personal one. It is been that way ever since work stopped letting me expense my own number and required you to have your number on their shared account for at least 10 years or so. In the US I had concerns about moving my personal number to my work account. What if I left and I wanted my number back? Our human resources Department was actually very cool and had said you can absolutely have your number back. Only in rare situations (not a scenario I fell into) would there be a question of not allowing it. In any event I felt more comfortable keeping my personal number separate so I had my work phone and I had my personal phone.

When I got to the UK I could have simply got only a work phone. I didn’t have any history of a number that I have been tied to. In the end I got my own personal one for the same reasons I had one in the States. I wanted one separate from Work. In the UK it is significantly cheaper to do this. My personal phone SIM costs me 13 pounds for more data and minutes than I ever remotely use. In the US that same plan would cost 75-100 dollars.

The phone I use for work has varied greatly. It is generally my second phone. That means it is never a high end one. It has been everything from vanity of Android to an iPhone SE, the original. The SE is what came standard with the contract in the UK. The screen is frankly just too small for me. I find that funny since for years that was the standard size of an iPhone screen. I had many different iPhones of that screen size and didn’t like the size however got by ok. I guess age just catches up to you. Since the phone that came with the contract was virtually useless to me I used the SIM card to experiment with different phones. When are travelled internationally a bit in the summer of 2019 I bought an Android phone and they did dual SIM cards and used the Work SIM with it. I found that the very big sized screen of the android phone I was using specially as a second device made it useful for me. I didn’t always keep in my pocket so even though was bigger than my regular iPhone 11 pro it didn’t matter. I have written about my issues with the Android phone and why I sold it in another post. With that phone gone however I was back to either using the iPhone SE or an iPhone 6 that I had from the states. Neither option had a lot of storage. 32gb on an iPhone is basically unusable in my opinion now a days. To compensate for the poor storage and small screen of the SE I splurged for a used iPhone 7+. The screen size was nice. It was better than the 6 or SE I had. It just wasn’t bigger than my iPhone 11 Pro that I used for personal use. The physical size of the 7+ was bigger than the 11 Pro. That made it an oddity. The screen was smaller yet the size was bigger. The screen was nicer and the storage was better than the other options I had. I still found no value in carrying it around and left it in my bag for when I need it.

Even before the lockdown I had thought about using a tablet as a quasi phone. It was a good idea I never really did anything about it. During the lockdown I obviously did not really leave the house very much. I ended up using my iPad Mini 4 as a sort of phone replacement. In many use cases at least around the house the iPad mini was a pretty good phone replacement. I couldn’t keep it in my pocket all the time yet it was nearby most of the time. One challenge was that the iPad mini 4 was starting to see its age in performance. Before the mini 4 was being used as a sort of phone replacement I had meant to sell it on eBay anyway. My using it and feeling its limitations compelled me to sell the mini 4 on eBay and and upgrade to an ipad mini 5.

Sometime after getting my new iPad mini I moved my work SIM card to it. I have been using the mini basically as my second phone. Even though I can’t put it in my pocket (it is a bit big for that) I can carry around and even put it in my jacket pocket of some jackets. If I am out of the house for more than a brief trip to the market I usually have my backpack or messenger bag with me that I can easily put it in. I am finding the much larger screen size to be great.

Except for WhatsApp I think I can do pretty much everything on the tablet that I do on my phone. All my work apps work perfectly well and I take advantage of the bigger screen. I can make calls using FaceTime audio, Signal or Bria for voip calls using my US number. Let’s face I do not make many regular phone calls these days. Even if I need to I can use FaceTime tethering to my iPhone for that anyway.

I may end up needing to put the work SIM card into a real phone at some point in the future. I am not really sure. I am hoping not. The iPad mini isn’t perfect. I still use my phone more in the house since it in my pocket. I also use my iPad Pro more as a sort of computer replacement around the house. When I need to run out for short periods of time or even just to sit here and dictate this blog entry using the iPad mini is just right.

To Keep or Cancel the Apple Card

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When I moved my Apple ID to the United Kingdom I was prepared for the fact that Apple Cash as well as my Apple Card would stop working, or need to be canceled. I know that the Apple Card was only available to those in the US. I remember when I tried to sign up for it using my US Apple ID and the region on my phone was set to the UK it did not even work. I assumed then that the card would simply either not work or I would get forced to cancel it after switching my entire ID to be associated to the UK.

Knowing that I would likely run into issues I figured I’d be proactive and simply call to cancel the card before it became a sort of challenge. One afternoon right after switching my Apple ID to the UK I called Apple. I spent about 30 minutes on hold. Then I spoke to someone and got bounced around from person to person. Finally got someone that said they could actually help me. It turns out they themselves could not help me since in order to cancel an Apple Card a Goldman Sachs supervisor needs to do it. So I spent some more time on hold. In the end it was their own customer service representatives asking me if I wanted to keep the card. They knew that I had moved to the UK. I was confused however they said as long as I had any address I could use in the US, I can keep the card. They asked me if I had any families address? They said the only real reason I needed a US address is in case I need a replacement card or statements sent to me in an emergency. We still have plenty of friends and family in the states that will be happy to do that for us. I decided to just keep the card if that was the company issue I got its attitude. I decided to continue using the address I previously given Apple/Goldman and make no change.

I was surprised that Apple (Goldman) prodding me to keep the card. It did feel like they were pushing me to avoid canceling. It wasn’t very forceful however under the circumstances I thought it was a no-brainer that they would want me not to have the card. Retrospectively a friend suggested that in the current climate of Covid-19 they probably want to keep as many cards that are in good standing as possible. And I was in good standing.

I then thought maybe there’d be some weird technical issue with using or having the card on my phone. I had already removed it from my iPhone before I called. I then tried to add the card back to my iPhone and I was surprised when there was absolutely no issue in doing so.

I thought the byproduct of moving my Apple ID to the UK would be losing this Apple card however for now it’s business as usual with it. I assumed the same would be apparent for Apple Cash. I am pleased with the outcome even though I’m not sure what systems have interdependencies where they will flag an anomaly with my setup.

Newish Challenges To Moving to a New Phone

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It used to be all I had to do to set up a new phone was say restore from backup. I have many services tied to two factor authentication. I use several apps on my phone for that.

Nowadays that means before I can switch phones I have to remember to install the 2FA applications and configure them prior to wiping out the old phone. The challenge is that most of these apps do not restore when you restore from backup. That’s actually a good thing for security reasons however it is a gotcha I need to remember to pay attention to.

I was reminded of this when I got my iPhone XS Max for a few days last year before I decided to return it and keep my iPhone X.

Now I hope that I remember this critical step when I do eventually replace my iPhone.

Floor vs iPhone

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M had a showdown with the floor of the pool vs her iPhone. Her iPhone lost. It happened on day 2 of our vacation so no phone until we can get it looked at.

I am not sure if it is worth the screen replacement cost to fix an iPhone 6 (or 6s, not even sure) that is at least 3 years old and 3-4 generations old by now.

Dragon Anywhere vs Siri

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For a little over a year I was using Dragon Anywhere on my iPhone to dictate my journal entries and this blog. I found it very useful. It was pretty accurate. It was much better than Siri however not as good as the Dragon Desktop app on my Mac.

The app was great for when I was walking and could dictate things I was thinking about. I found myself doing much more writing when I could reliably use that app. The downside however was the price. It cost around $15 a month. Over the summer I stopped using it for a few weeks and got wondering if I really needed it.

When I started to use dictation again it was right around the time that iOS 11 gold master was available. I was trying that out along with the dictating some texts. I noticed that the dictation function was more persistent than previously. That means I could talk for longer without it dropping off. The user interface also stayed on screen for the dictation icon instead of reverting back to the keyboard all the time. This made it easier to actually dictate more in the native keyboard. On top of that it seemed that Siri had gotten much better at dictation. It is still not better than Dragon however it is much more compelling to drop the $15 a month expense of dragon now.

Interestingly I’m not missing dragon that much. I am however not dictating as much as I did previously. I’m not sure if that was just a psycho I’m going through where I write less and then go back to it. Or if ease of using Dragon really is worth it. Right now my primary objective is to cut costs so in unnecessary $15 charge is gone something else to replace it however I feel that’s much more compelling and on related. That’s for another story.

I find time to write when I’m walking. This blog entry for example is being written, dictated while I’m walking to pick up my kids from school. It’s a great time filler and allows me to clear my head. What I really need to do is set aside time when I’m home and use my computer and the dragon software there. It’s much better at recognizing words however it requires dedicated personal time but I’m not always willing to give up..

From Cellular to Mobile

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One of the first things I need to get in England is a phone. More specifically a UK Sim card for my iPhone. It sounds pretty simple. You can get them pretty much anywhere. Seriously the recommendation was to buy one in a Tesco (a Grocery Store) Surprisingly for an American they’re super cheap compared to US plans. I think we pay around $130 for two iPhones and one iPad with about three or four gigs of data and unlimited minutes between them.In the UK you can get close to unlimited or unlimited minutes and three or four gigs of data per line for about 15 to 20 pounds a month. What I found is not all plans are created equal.

I’m probably a stickler for technical details more than most people however there were a few things that I’m concerned about. For one what is the service look like where we want to live and near my office? When I had AT&T in time square I basically could not use my phone for three years at work. That’s not really acceptable in 2018. Since we own our phones were looking for a pay as you go or a pay monthly without contract.

I’m going to try 3. The reviews have been decent. I’m concerned about coverage but I’ll have to be there to test it. The advantage they have over everyone else is for about the same price they offer complete roaming in Europe and the US for no additional charge. That means calls to the UK and data usage is like I was still in the UK even when traveling. I would need to continue the use of voice over IP solution when calling US phone numbers however that’s not different from when I would be in the UK as well. That set up seems like the most liberal roaming policy of everyone. It’s even better than the T-Mobile options I have in the states now.

One thing I learned that I heard rumors about previously was you by prepay some cards from the grocery store. That’s a little different from the US. While on our house hunting trip I bought a 3 & EE SIM card at a Tesco.  I wasn’t able to use 3 Sim card I bought.  I was able to use the EE card for my phone and i bought another one for my iPad. I didn’t really pay attention to signal strength in the neighborhood we were looking to get a house. I also wasn’t near the office very much. I was hoping to settle on a carrier during the trip and then keep the number when we moved. What I learned when I went top up the prepay card while I was there was to do a top up remotely you need a local address. Even though I had a local debit card it’s still tied to my US address until we move. At the time of this writing we don’t have a house sorted so I will either not use the number I got or once the house is sorted I can top up a card and be ready for when we arrive.

I know I can do most of this when we get there however especially for technology challenges like this I want to be prepared. This particular challenge won’t get resolved until were actually living there. I will likely post an update once I have figured out what we will do and then see how it goes.

My Half Baked Review Of My iPhone X

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I got lucky and my iPhone X arrived on launch day va the original 1-2 weeks late.

Initial feedback I have is good. The size was the main reason I wanted it. For this size screen in this size phone it makes it totally worth it. Notice the size in both photos. The X is the middle phone. Barely noticeable difference to the 6S and super small vs the 7+. Feels really food to hold vs the 7+.

Most apps worked without any issues. Several I use do not have an Z optimized version so things look smaller for now. For launch day I was pleased by how many apps were optimized for the new screen size. My only major app issue is Airwatch that I need for work apps. It would not work and would keep looking me to authenticate. I had to remove the app and reinstall it and everything was fine.

The cheap old Wireless charging pad I had did not work even if it was supposed to. The iPhone saw it but after about 30 minutes I saw no difference in charge. I need to investigate getting a better one. I will likely wait till I am in London for that so I don’t have to deal with her another power plug converter.

For my most expensive iPhone yet I am pleased with the upgrade. Now I have to prepare and ebay my 7+. I will not miss the hearty device.

Better Late Than Not at all: iOS 11 GM

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I am becoming terrible with drafts and the blog. I wrote this in mid September (this year at least) and never published or scheduled this.

It is that time of year. The time after the Apple announcement listing release dates for iOS and when it actually is available for the general public. The thing is if you are in the beta program you can get the General Master version now. I dabble in the beta versions but so not put them on my iPhone. With the GM out it is always a question of do I install it on all my devices. It is always a question yet I usually do install it.

So far in the past 24 hours I have installed it on my iPad Pro and thought it was great. That got me to install it on my work iPhone. Once I knew that was stable in installed on my personal iPhone. Now either everything will stop working together or I am set!

Next up do I play with a late beta of macOS on my laptop?

This isn’t so topical anymore since the final versions of iOS and macOS have been out for a while. I didn’t want my writing to goto waist.

I get up at 3 AM for only a few things…

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There only a few things that will get me up at 3 AM. The two main reasons are A and T. They do that more times than I would like but overall they are great kids.  Other things might include a flight that I really couldn’t get at any other time but first thing in the morning. Even then I would try to avoid it at all costs. Then of course there’s an Apple launch event. I’d be lying if I said I never got up at 3 AM before to order an apple device. In recent years I haven’t. Last year I wasn’t even sure if I wanted an iPhone 7. I opted to get one at the end of November.  I wasn’t motivated enough to get up in the middle of the night then.

In previous instances of me getting up to order a phone (or a tablet) I was exceedingly frustrated. I would get up at 3 AM or one time 6 AM thinking I can still get ahead of the rush. My early morning attempts were semi failures due to technical problems with Apple systems. One time I spent 45 minutes trying to place an order only to go to bed and get up at 6 AM to try again. By then it was a month wait for the product. I might go back and troll my blog history to find out what product it was that i had that happen.  I’m not too crazy, I don’t think. I only attempted this maybe twice before. I have waited out in the freezing cold for two hours for an iPad once. MC was dating at the time and she still decided to marry me. That’s how you know you have a winner.

Flash forward to this week and I had to think about if I wanted to get up early for this launch event. In the end I had sound reasons and motivation to do so. It boils down to my move overseas. We aim to move around the first week in January. That means if the constraints around supply chain for the new phone are anywhere near true, and they likely are I might not get my phone in time for my move. If anyone’s actually reading a technical post like this they might wonder why, or who cares? The answer is an iPhone cost the same in dollars as it would in pounds or close to it. That means to buy it in London it’s 30% more expensive due to conversion rates. Since I knew I wanted to buy the phone my option was to either get it before I go or pay the extra price. This phone is expensive enough so I wasn’t willing to pay more for it when I got there.

I decided that if I was not able to order the phone Friday morning and have it delivered in a reasonable time prior to the end of the year I would not get one. My alternative would be either to get an iPhone 8+ or simply stick with my 7+ until I’m back in the US for a while over the summer. The fact that the iPhone X is as thin as the iPhone 8 with a bigger screen than my current plus is so compelling for me to want it. I love the screen on my current 7+ however that phone is just way too big. Whenever I hold my work iPhone 6S it just feels more natural.

 Thursday evening I told myself I was going to bed early, maybe before 9 PM. That never happened so I went to bed around 10:15 PM. I set my phone alarm. In order not to wake MCI also set my Fitbit silent alarm to go off a minute before my phone alarm. I was aggravated when the Fitbit said it was low on battery life. I took the chance that it would last until the next morning. It did. The silent alarm went off as expected and I was able to get up and turn off the phone alarm. I know I was successful when MC asked me when she woke up if I’d gotten up in the middle of the night to do my order.

I settled into my desk with my iPhone and iPad plus a web browser ready to go hoping to have one of them work quickly. I was ready to go about two minutes ahead of schedule. A few minutes after 3 AM Eastern time my iPad started working with their store app. My initial plan was to use my IPhone upgrade program. Oddly when I tried to do that from the iPad told me I needed to do it from my phone. The challenge was the phone wasn’t loading the app. I had thought about this and the upgrade program is nice however I don’t really need it. Set aside money each month for a tech fund for purchases just like this that I know I will want to make. Whenever I sell gear I put it in the fund also. Instead of using the upgrade program I simply bought the phone out right. I got my confirmation email at 3:08 AM. Within that eight minutes from when it launched I was told a delivery time of November 10 through the 17th. It officially launches on 4 November. I’m really wondering who is actually getting the phone on the fourth?

Since I did not use my upgrade program I will need to buy my iPhone 7+ outright and then sell it on eBay to recoup the costs. It’s a minor inconvenience however I did not want to mess around with switching to my phone and waiting for it to work.

I was back in bed around 3:10 AM. Unfortunately I had trouble sleeping since I was wide awake by that time. It felt like no time passed before 6 AM rolled around and I had to get up for my morning routine.

I think getting up at  a ridiculously early hour to preorder something is for everybody? No course not. For me  I am into technology that just works. This is something that I use constantly that’s always with me so I find it worthwhile to do what I did. I know many of my friends likely don’t understand it or don’t “get it”. And that’s okay. There’s also those friends who messaged me at 330 asking me how I did. Obviously they were also up trying to score one.