Logging into the App Store Frustration

I have been having a problem logging into the App Store on my MacBook Air to perform updates. The problem started after my husband had logged onto my account and downloaded and app that he wanted to use on my machine.

I may have updated some of my apps while still logged into the App Store under his Apple ID. Anyway, I tried logging out of his account and back into my account and that is when the problem started. Basically, when I typed my Apple ID and password into the sign in page, the spinning wheel appeared and remained.

I called Applecare the first time this happened and when the technician suggested I log in and out - it worked fine. Go figure that. So, things went along merrily, until the other day when I decided to check for updates again. My husband's ID came up - I logged out of that account and then tried to log into my account. "Spinning Wheel" again.

Tried various things, nothing seemed to work. Then I tried the following:

I selected the "Quick Links" section under Top Charts and then clicking "Account". I logged into that form without problem. I then returned to the Updates screen and all the updates started loading and installing. Go figure. Vaguely this was the same sequence that the technician suggested. My other attempts (if memory serves me correctly) was to go to "sign in" first.

I will report back here, should I get a spinning wheel again and verify that this works a second time or not.

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How to Fix Sound on iPad after ios 7 Update

After updating to Apple's latest IOS update 7 for my iPad, I noticed that my alert and notification sounds were very scratchy and annoying.   Just figured out that this can be fixed by going to Settings> Accessibility and making sure that the mono audio is set to OFF under the Hearing section.  

Mine was OFF, but I toggled it On and then OFF again.   Now my alert tones and sounds are back to normal.  

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Mailboxes, On My Mac and iCloud Sections of Mac Mail App

A mailbox is like a folder. You create mailboxes to organize emails. For example, a mailbox named "Work" might contain all your emails that you receive that are related to work.

Mailboxes are created in the Mail app program on your computer. When they are created you give them a name and a location. Mailboxes can be located to a section on your computer: On My Mac section or iCloud section.

You can also create sub mailboxes that can be placed inside other mailboxes. For example, you might have a mailbox named "My Stuff" and inside that mailbox, you might want to create sub mailboxes named "Bills", "Orders", "Miscellaneous."

Mailboxes or folders created and stored in the On My Mac section of the computer's Mail app program are only seen from the computer's Mail app. i.e., You cannot see them on your iPad or iPhone.

Mailboxes or folders that are created for location in the iCloud section are saved on Apple's cloud server. If you have also selected (in Systems Preferences>iCloud) the option to sync mail with iCloud, then the email messages are sent to ALL your devices including your laptop, iPads, iPhones, etc. These messages can also be retrieved using a web browser like Safari, Firefox or Chrome. You type iCloud.com in your browser address box (url) and log into your personal iCloud account with your Apple ID name and password. You will be able to see your email on the web page.

If you move an email message inside a mailbox or the entire mailbox from the On My Mac section of the Mail app program on your computer to the iCloud section, it is "moved" to the iCloud, but is no longer located in the On My Mac section. Remember that in moving a mailbox from one section to another - the message or mailbox is deleted from the place it is moved from and added to the section moved to. In addition, the email message(s) or entire mailbox has to be literally sent to the iCloud again - which can use a considerable amount of bandwidth upload/download if there are a lot of messages and attachments. So this is best done when you are connected to wifi where you are not worried about using a lot of bandwidth or upload/download data transfer.

If you move an email message from iCloud section to the On My Mac section, the move is made to your local computer, but also removed from the iCloud.

There is also a copy option. The method for "moving" and "copying" messages from a mailbox the On My Mac section to a mailbox in the iCloud section can be done by holding down the control key and clicking on the email message(s) to be "moved" or "copied" to another mailbox that you have created in the iCloud section. Copying email message(s) rather than moving allows you to keep the messages in each section.

To move an entire mailbox from one to the other, you merely drag the mailbox from the On My Mac section or iCloud section of the Mail app to the other section.

Those who do not want their email messages stored in the cloud can create mailboxes or save messages only in the On My Mac section; however, they will not be able to find that email on their other devices like iPhones or iPads.

Apple allows a certain amount of storage in the iCloud, and one way to alleviate some of the storage in iCloud is to move the email messages (deleting them from iCloud section at the same time) to On My Mac section of your Mail app program on your computer.

If you store all your emails in the iCloud section of the mail app, you will need to be connected to wifi to retrieve those messages on your iPad or iPhone.

You should be able to see the email messages stored in the iCloud section mailboxes from your laptop even if you are not connected to wifi.
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Get Rid of Gmail ALL folder

Without a doubt organizing and keeping emails can be a can of worms. Gmail accounts store all our incoming mail by archiving it in an ALL folder on our Apple devices and in a similar folder in our Mail app on our Mac computers. In essence, the mail we want to keep and the mail we don't want to keep gets stored in this folder whether we want it or not.

Since I'm trying to organize and minimize my mail on all my devices, I have decided to find a way to get rid of some unnecessary folders stored in the mail apps and programs I use on my devices and my laptop.


There is a way to control what folders are visible in Gmail account(s) that are setup as IMAP accounts for use with Apple Mail.


To turn off the visibility of the Gmail All Mail folder in Apple Mail on your computer, perform the following steps:

Step 1: Log into your Gmail account using your Browser (Safari, Firefox, Chrome, ... whatever you use).

Step 2: Click on the "gear icon" located on the far right-handside of the browser window and click on the Settings option from the pop-down choices.

Step 3: Select the Labels tab.

UNCHECK the box to the right - "Show in IMAP" for the ALL MAIL folder.


Not only will this remove the superfluous folder from your Mail app, it will also keep Mail from downloading every single message twice.

I choose to have my Spam folder unchecked as well.

You can also keep Gmail from archiving all your messages on your mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, etc.) and allow you to delete messages from your the devices.


After setting up your Gmail account on your iPhone, select the Settings icon. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Then select (youraccount@gmail.com) and change the Archive Messages setting to OFF.

Now when you delete Gmail messages on your iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, etc) they will be permanently deleted and not archived.

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Distribution lists or Groups for your Mac Mail App

Often we send out emails to all members of our family. It is convenient to use a distribution list or group that is automatically filled in the To, CC or BCC field in the message window of the Mail app.


Creating a group in your "Contacts" or address book on your Mac can be accomplished by several methods:

Method 1:

Step 1: Click on Contacts icon in your tool bar.

Step 2: Select New Group option under the File menu along the menu bar

Step 3: Select the "untitled group" title and type in the name for your group that will be easy to remember when you get ready to do your mass or group mailings.

Step 4: Next click on All Contacts, scroll through your list and select members for your group. You can use Command key to select multiple names.

Step 5: After you have selected those members you want in your group or distribution list, then click on one of the highlighted areas of one of the members and drag all of them into the left-hand side of the window to drop them into their group.


Method 2:

Step 1: Click on Contacts icon in your tool bar.

Step 2: Click on "All Contacts" on the left-hand side of window to view all the names of contacts you have in your address book. Scroll through your list on the right-hand side and select members for your group. You can use Command key to select multiple names.

Step 3: Go up to the File menu and click on "New Group from Selection" opton. All the members names should appear in the list on the right-hand side. Enter a name for your group.


You can now send emails to all members of a group by simply typing the name of the group in the "To:" "CC" or "BCC" field of an email message. The Mail app will then fill in a list of the email addresses of its members.

When Mail does this, by default the primary email address for each contacts in the group will be used. The primary email address for a contact defaults to the first one listed on that member's contact page. If someone in your group has multiple email addresses, then the first one listed will be used. If you wish to use an alternate email address for this member, you can change this by using the Edit Distribution List under the Edit menu.

If a member has multiple email addresses they will appear and you can select the preferred email to assign to that person in your distribution list. If the member just has one email address, no change options are offered.

If you want to use distribution lists on your iPad or iPhone, then refer to an earlier blog that I posted for an app to assist with that problem (see link below):

http://grannyjoans.blogspot.com/2011/05/sending-group-emails-via-iphone-mail.html
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Poppy Plans to Take iPhone Users to a New Dimension - 3D

Very proud and excited for two Seattle entrepreneurs. Check out Poppy!

CrunchBase Information

Poppy

Information provided by CrunchBase

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Deleting an Image or File While Using Quick View

Today while traveling the fjords of Norway and taking in the scenic views, I decided to spend some time ridding my hard drive of some of the out of focus and duplicate photos from my travels over the past year.  It has been time consuming, but just realized a useful way to delete while viewing in the "quick view" mode.

As you may know, you can open a finder window and view all the names of photo files you have stored in a folder.  A quick way to view the images without opening them in Preview or iPhoto or other photo app is to click on the name of an image file to highlight it. 

Next, tap the space bar to view the image.

To continue viewing each image down the list, use your down or up arrow keys to move along viewing each one. 

Note: As you quick view each one you may run into one you wish to delete.  Rather than having to close the image and then drag or control click the file name to move to the trash, you can just use Cmd - Delete and the current image will automatically go to the trash and the next image will be loaded.

This tip should help speed up the elimination of photos quickly.



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Use iPad as Track Pad with Your Laptop

I am using my ipad to write this blog.  You may be wondering how I can do this.

I found an app today called Wifi Mouse HD that connects with my Mac laptop and allows me to use my iPad as a track pad and to also use my iPad keyboard to input text.

The app can be found in the Apple  iTunes store. Available for iPad and iPhone. It was free today so I grabbed it up to test it out. You also need to access the application for your PC and Mac computers and install on your computer

http://wifimouse.necta.us/


It works great. It appears to have some additional features that are available for purchase.  Features include options like controlling web browsing and multimedia via remote control and hot keys.

Interesting concept, not sure yet how it would be more useful to use an iPad or iPhone as a track pad when my laptop already has one built in. But I suppose if you don't have a track pad available with your computer, this could serve as a track pad for a fairly reasonable price. 


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How to Clear the Search History in Firefox on Mac

Quick Tip:  How to Clear the Search History from Firefox Search Field

Place the cursor in the Search box at the top of your Firefox browser window.

Hold down the control key as you click this field.

A popup option window will appear.  Select "Clear Search History"

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