<p>My ipad drops to the home screen too, usually when on a google search of some sort… Annoying.</p>
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<p>Well, you must have been very lucky or not tried to access many websites. This problem existed on the first version and only got worse over time. The lack of support for newer IOS had really little to do. One could have 20-30 “dropped” home in a row by merely hitting a site after googling it. Perhaps we are talking about different things. The blue screen is equivalent to sending you back to the home screen (IMHO) and not necessarily after to do a full reset and power down. </p>
<p>That was the main reason why our first iPad moved around family members without anyone “adopting” it on a long term basis. It became a glorified recipe book on the kitchen island, The following versions were not much better in that regard, but the Airpad does not seem to be as prone, and especially after the 7.1 IOS. </p>
<p>There are still related issues as it often takes TWO clicks to connect to certain sites. The first one simply hangs at 50 percent. For all we know, this might be a Safari issue, but one could expect Apple to have that POS perfectly integrated. </p>
<p>I believe that we have different expectations for the mobile tools. </p>
<p>The dropping to home screen could be a RAM issue.
I have less trouble if I close all apps and do a soft restart/ or use one of the apps that helps to manage memory & battery life, if I have been using memory heavy apps for a while.</p>
<p>My iPhone does what xiggi describes with Google maps app, and it also kicks me out of websites - randomly. I have not seen the blue screen of death since the XP, and that was long time ago (using 7 now). PG, are you having these issues with Win 8? Possibly I have not used my Surface Pro long enough for it to come up. </p>
<p>Some years ago ('09 iirc) I thought I’d try a Mac for a book I was writing. Since I didn’t need a lot of horsepower and prefer an ergonomic keyboard, I bought a Mac mini. I tried to get Pages to create an index and could not find a way. I called support, and to this day the response and the sweet, naive, and oblivious way it was delivered stays in my brain: “oh yeah, people have been asking for that for a while, but Pages doesn’t do indexes.” </p>
<p>If I had that attitude with my clients, I would have been fired. </p>
<p>Afaik, Pages still does not do indexes. </p>
<p>While we’re on the subject, I can’t imagine that I’m the only one who wishes there were a swipe or other shortcut that would get you to the bottom of a large scrolling region (long email, large web page, etc.). I have the thought that if I were to ask a Genius, he/she would tell me: " oh yeah, people have been asking …"</p>
<p>I used to use ClarisWorks, Pages is not that great.
Happily lots of other software, even if it isn"t all free.
<a href=“The Best Apps for Any Kind of Writing”>http://lifehacker.com/the-best-apps-for-any-kind-of-writing-1563998071</a>
You can adjust your controls for finer or larger movements.
<a href=“30 iPhone and iPad tips and tricks to make you faster and more efficient | ZDNET”>http://www.zdnet.com/30-iphone-and-ipad-tips-and-tricks-to-make-you-faster-and-more-efficient-7000026210/</a></p>
<p>Apple sells Pages for not much money. There are many word processing programs and apps for the Mac and iOS. I use Pages a lot but for basic writing. There are, for example, programs for screenwriting, for technical writing, etc. The point of Pages, after all, was to respond to 2 things: the needs of basic Apple users for a word processing program more advanced than a simple text editor but not nearly as complicated as the absurdly bloated but feature-rich Word. That said, Apple took out some important features when they kicked Pages to the current iteration. Turns out that was part of the strategy to make Pages work in iCloud - which it does now. They’ve added some of the removed features back but not nearly all. I can see why - the difficulty of making something more complex work across devices - but it’s annoying.</p>
<p>Similar thing with Numbers. It doesn’t do what Excel can do but it makes simple spreadsheets and design of materials using spreadsheets almost pleasurable. As in, it’s easy to make a handful of separate small spreadsheets all stuck on one page, each calculating its little bit and then summing up in one. Not a handful of separate sheets. Not cells that don’t retain their formatting. Simple stuff that covers what most users need. (It’s plain annoying to help my wife deal with the simple spreadsheets she gets from school that are all messed up because so few people can use Excel well.)</p>
<p>Those are decisions Apple makes. If you don’t agree, you buy another program - like Excel if you want. It cost more but does more. It’s harder to use but does more. Etc. </p>
<p>I don’t understand problems with youtube. There’s a youtube app for iOS. Google owns youtube and Google is no friend of flash. </p>
<p>Some things that were annoying change. When the iPad first came out, there was almost no way to get stuff on and off it. You could jigger a way using Dropbox but the functionality lagged for about 2 years, first moving to increased sharing potential, which was annoying in its own way. Much of this problem also turns out to be tied to iCloud, which was for a while a difficult, at best, thing for app developers because Apple couldn’t handle sync issues well until fairly recently. Data sync was a problem for app developers and users - one reason I still use Dropbox for certain syncs like my encrypted password file. I’m not talking security but sync issues where a change might not get picked up and then would be wiped out, meaning a form of data integrity issue. Those problems are going away. It isn’t perfect but it’s much, much better. </p>
<p>As to what’s coming, I’m really interested in some of the work I’m seeing using extensions. These allow developers to hook programs into the OS in much neater, cleaner and empowering ways. And I’m interested in Apple Pay, though I won’t get an iPhone 6 for a while (because my kids needed the available upgrades). I’m interested because it’s secured in a few different ways, notably you have to use it with TouchID - which is a marvelous thing on its own - and you can select which card and type of card you want to use by shifting the order around in Passbook and Apple won’t see your data. The first and last are different, the last because Google watches your data so it can target ads and anonymize your purchase information to price ads, etc. Given that terminals will be upgraded to European standards, they should be much harder to hack than the card readers we now have - except when data is breached at the corporate level of course - it may be more secure to use the iPhone. </p>
<p>Well, I got my fedex tracking number from AT&T but its not in Fedex’s system yet…</p>
<p>I hate how easily the screens break on iPhones. I’ve had 3 screens break on 'em.</p>
<p>Just plain break? As in the age-old bike store saying, “I was just riding along and …” </p>
<p>If you drop your phone a lot, get a tough case like an Otterbox. One of my kids has been known to drop her phone down concrete steps so she has an Otterbox that makes the thing look a bit like gear from WWII. </p>
<p>If you ordered through Apple (or your carrier uses UPS), go here and type in your ten digit phone number as the reference number. If it doesn’t work you may need to try another phone number on your account.</p>
<p>The Apple store has been known to be slow in updating the status. Mine showed preparing for shipment but the UPS had the details. Out for delivery will be a joke on Friday for the Brown guys. </p>
<p><a href=“Tracking | UPS - United States”>http://www.ups.com/WebTracking/reference?loc=en_US</a></p>
<p>I but a lot of stuff online. If the package has been picked up recently, there could be no tracking data in the carrier’s system for a few hours (until the driver brings it to a hub and uploads the data). Sometimes, it will say that a label was created. It could take up to 24 hrs. I would not worry just yet. :)</p>
<p>I rechecked the tracking by going through AT&T’s site and its says its headed out form Ft. Worth, Tx, due here Fri. I hope they’'ll accept my leaving a note with signature saying to leave it at the door if I am not here.</p>
<p>Oh, and our doorbell works when it feels like it :(</p>
<p>And just got the text from AT&T that it shipped.</p>
<p>Jym, I once bought a $2,000 item which was overnighted to my house. I got the package on my porch before the tracking appeared in the FedEx system! :)</p>
<p>Haha, Jym, you must live in a safe hood. I think that more than a few entrepreneurs might be following the brown trucks on Friday and hope to discover small packages on a American porches. </p>
<p>Mine is on its way to a UPS store. Not that this helps in early deliveries. My dad will pick it up on Saturday or Monday. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I find the tracking of the iPads from China more interesting than the domestic one. A lesson in geography! </p>
<p>I once sent a package to my kid in Xian, China on Friday at about 4:30PM and it was at school by 9AM Monday morning. </p>
<p>Apple pioneered quick shipping from China when they bought a lot of air cargo capacity for Christmas season for the early iPhone. I find that interesting because they found a hole in the supply chain - which was then relying more on containers for electronics - and decided they could fit a lot of little stuff like phones in a plane. As Xiggi notes, you can essentially see online the thing coming out of a factory in Guangdong and showing up at your house less than 2 days later. Put aside Apple: that’s amazing. </p>
<p>Better not jump on that IOS8 without prepping your phone or pad. The OTA install requires close to SEVEN gigs of space. Time for a Fall wardrobe cleanup in the Apple walled ShangriLa. Fwiw, an AirPad with 16 GIG is showing its limitations, and this despite using an external storage/charging device. It is probably a matter of time for Apple to unveil its own iClick with full integration. Of course, it will cost just as much as the iPad. ;)</p>
<p>I just checked the camera on the six, not really that different from the five.
Disappointing. I think I will wait.
I have never even cracked my iphone screen and I am a klutz. Seriously.
( I have gotten it wet however)
Its currently in a knock off bookbook case that a friend gave me when he realized it was a knock off.
My H still uses his first gen ipod touch, without a case, in the factory every day. It has a cracked screen cause he shoves it in his pocket along with tools, but it still is usable.</p>
<p>In other news- it seems like it wasnt that long ago when a 512 MB storage card was a big deal.
<a href=“SanDisk unveils world's first 512 GB SD memory card”>SanDisk unveils world's first 512 GB SD memory card;
<p>Also, if you sync in the cloud with your Mac computer, dont upgrade to icloud drive when you install ios 8, or you wont be able to sync your info, until the OSX update is released.
<a href=“http://www.cnet.com/how-to/a-word-of-icloud-drive-advice-before-updating-to-ios-8/”>http://www.cnet.com/how-to/a-word-of-icloud-drive-advice-before-updating-to-ios-8/</a></p>
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<p>You must be pretty tough on your phone. I have the original 4 – yeah, old school – which I carry in my back pocket and sit on it pretty much all day at work. Only one small scratch on the glass after this time.</p>