Tag Archives: Apple

Embracing Change, Part 2

9 Nov

These days I am wondering if my decision to update to iOS12 was a good one. While I have gotten used to the new iOS now, I think my iPhone5S has not and cannot handle the change or something is not right with the phone. The battery drain problem has gotten worse.

It may last a day if I don’t use it but such a scenario is highly unlikely in this age of constant connectivity. And with minimal usage, it can’t even last half a day. Note half a day!

There was once the battery was down to 54% and I was at the grocery store. One quick snap of a picture and a phone call, the battery power plunged drastically to one percent!!! One percent, how is that even possible with a conversation less than a minute with M2 just to confirm the choice of cereal?

And that wasn’t the first time it happened. Then two weeks ago, the phone had 54% (again) and I was updating some apps. It was fine, the next minute, it dropped to 16%. Something is obviously very wrong.

I was hoping not to jump the gun to wish an early death for my beloved iPhone5S but it looks like now, this decision has been taken out of my hands. Sigh.

I am contemplating whether to just change the battery to resuscitate and save the phone. Hmm… Something to really think about. Otherwise, I may have to upgrade to a newer model sooner than later, something I am not keen to do yet. We shall see. For now, the powerbank is a must have.

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Creepy iPad

1 Oct

After the creepy Siri episode, my iPad Mini was next! Unbelievable. It was a typical evening at home and I sat at my usual spot in the living room. Then, as always, I reach out for my iPad for a dose of evening games on it.

Upon trying to turn on the device, my iPad Mini of six years – never once required any password to unlock suddenly asked for my ID and password to unlock and activate! Huh? Since when did I needed to do this? Is this creepy? Brr…

Seriously I’m not quite sure what is going on with my devices. Are they trying to tell me something? Hmm…

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Creepy Siri

28 Sep

Over the year, my iPhone5S has been acting weird when it comes to Siri. While this assistant may be a useful feature for most, Siri’s helpfulness for me is bordering on creepy.

First of all, I must say I never use it because Siri doesn’t quite understand my Asian accent. I left it as is because I was not aware or may have forgotten that I can disable this feature! How silly of me.

So every now and then in the office, in the quiet of the moment and out of the blue, Siri would trigger, asking me a question or telling me an answer! Creepy. How is this possible when I did not even interact with it, much less touch the phone?!

It’s even creepier in the past when I am in bed at night, there’s no sound or loud noises, Siri suddenly activated itself, a couple of times no less! Gulp.

I brushed those several creepy occurrences aside, but recently I mentioned to M2 and she told me I can disable the feature and proceeded to show me how to do it. Phew.

On top of this and with the phone recently updated to iOS12, I don’t foresee Siri behaving creepily ever again. Unless of course I reactivate it…

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Embracing Change

24 Sep

Recently Apple launched their new range of iPhones for 2018/2019. Cool babies I must say but pricey. As for me, I am still with my trusty iPhone5S, adamant not to upgrade or update.

It took me a long time to update from iOS7 in the past. And when I finally did, a whole new world opened for me as far as my phone’s usage was concerned and got me thinking that I should have done it earlier. Oh well.

Currently, my phone’s still on iOS10.3.3 as I held off updating to iOS11 because I didn’t like the new features then when M2 showed them to me on her iPad. Being a dinosaur, I must admit I don’t like change because it’s cumbersome to learn new things.

But now with iOS12 being available and somehow it’s pretty cool especially compared to iOS10.3.3, I don’t mind updating. With the iPhone5S included in the list for the update, I am convinced and decided to take the plunge.

One reason for making this decision is that my phone’s battery has been acting wonky of late. Maybe with the update, the battery drain problem can be stabilized? Nonetheless, the situation is making me wonder if the phone is showing signs that it may not last as long as I would like it to. Shudder…

So if I ever come to the point where I need to change my phone, obviously I’d like an upgrade to one of the new models that were launched. And it’d be good that the dinosaur in me is also prepared to deal with the new iOS12. But until then, let’s not jump the gun to wish for an early death for my faithful phone and just enjoy the new iOS on my current iPhone5S.

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HK Day 4: Tsim Sha Tsui 

16 Dec

Time flies when you are having fun. It is our fourth day already and I feel like we’ve done so much yet not enough. Today we will go across to Kowloon to do some serious eating and shopping. After yesterday’s 6.7km effort, look out Tsim Sha Tsui!

The last two days, out of the blue, my iPhone5S acted up. Frozed several times whilst I was taking pictures. Aargh. Why? Why now? I noticed the camera app has been a wee bit slower than normal. Maybe it can’t take the holiday stress with so many pictures? Hmm… I hope nothing serious. I don’t need to change to a new phone although the huge Apple stores here have been very enticing.

Multi levelled and so brightly lit, the Apple stores were also packed with customers. Yesterday at IFC, a lady stood outside the store offering to sell an iPhoneX that she just bought. And of course one would pay for it at a much higher price. No, I don’t need this. So my phone better behave so that I can take more memorable pictures for today’s outing.

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Should I Update?

29 Sep

Not too long ago, I finally updated the OS on my iPhone5S to iOS10. I held out for the longest time because of one bad update moment that crashed my iPad Mini and it left me in fear. I had this silly notion that the same fate would happen to my phone, so I remained at 7.1.2 like a dinosaur.

Thankfully nothing tragic happened and I must say I am happy with the performance of my phone with the new OS. There was more space and apps that I couldn’t download before because of OS incompatibility are no longer an issue.

There is a new OS now, the iOS11. And I am just wondering should I update? M2 updated her iPad Mini 4 without problems and gushed that it’s awesome. My iPad Mini, being such an old device has maxed out already for its OS but my phone can still be updated.

Should I? Hmm…

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The X-acto Knife

29 Jun

One of my favorite design tool is not the Mac computer but the X-acto knife. I could be called old school but tools like the T-square and triangle rulers are still used by me, more so now because of the carving.

Recently I bought a new blade, an X-acto #16 to replace the #11 and to supplement my other carving tools and I must say, I love it!

The angle and its size is just perfect to etch the tight spots of the balsa wood. Carving just got more fun! Whee….

Carving-1

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Am I Missing Out?

20 Sep

Over the weekend, M2 upgraded her iPhone5C and iPad Mini4 to iOS10 and loved it. When the OS was first released last week, there were a lot of update problems reported with people’s phones becoming bricks. I told her to hold off the update last week until a patch came out which I think did to fix the problem. She’s happy.

As for me? Err… I am still on iOS7.1.2, dinosaur that I am. When iOS8 came out sometime back, I refused to update because I had read somewhere that it wasn’t stable. So I left my phone as is. Then iOS9 came out, I took the plunge and updated my iPad Mini first only to be traumatized by the act because it wiped out my iPad. I know, there is this thing called ‘backup’ but it’s complicated.

Fearing the worst for my iPhone5S, I held back any further updates for it. And when my iPad went on to iOS9.3.5, I found it to be unstable. This reaffirmed my stance not to update the OS for my phone.

But am I missing out on the new OS’s goodies if I held back? Or am I being paranoid for nothing? She’s been gushing about the new stuff and thinks I should. Hmm…

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Times Have Changed

9 Jun

I look at M2 now having her school holidays and can’t help but reminisce what I did during my school holidays when I was 15 dinosaur years ago. 

Frankly, I don’t recall doing what she is doing now – sleeping in every morning (Mom would have my hide!), having late brunches, staying indoors as much as possible and surrounded by all the Apple devices: the iPhone to talk to friends on WhatsApp, the iPad for some playtime in between the studying at the dining table in the afternoon, the iPod and MacBook Air for goodness knows what else.

I do remember watching a fair bit of TV, playing with my dog in the garden, climbing my favorite tree, whacking a few tennis balls against the wall of the car porch, talking to imaginary friends and occasionally talking to a real friend on the house telephone. Half the time I was outdoors and never once I sat at the dining table to study!

Yep, times have changed. Gone are the days when one simply enjoys the outdoors, breathe in the fresh air and not worry about keeping up. It was always a happy-go-lucky situation. Nowadays, it’s a constant worry to keep up, staying connected and being indoors!

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Stuck Again

6 Oct

I am at the tail end of my book project so there has been time to use my iPad. But I find the iPad so slow after the update to OS9! Even with the patch 9.02, it doesn’t help. Sigh…

On the game front, things are slow figuratively and literally. I am on a tag team mode to play because rescuing honey bears over bottle caps is not as easy as I thought. So upon finishing the five lives on the laptop, I move on to work on the farm and the other candy game before almost reluctantly reaching over for the iPad when all lives are used up.

For the record, I am stuck at Level 495 for Soda, stuck at Level 800 for Farm Heroes and stuck at Level 1198 for Saga. On a brighter note, I was crowned Miso Master for Snack Shack, the previous episode in Candy Crush.

A consolation, Miso Master

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