How to add a Google Account to your iPhone

Although you may own an iPhone, that doesn't mean everything you do is Apple. Maybe you have a Yahoo account with all your contacts in it, or a Google account that you use for a calendar. Well, the good news is that you can add these accounts to your iOS device fairly easily, and the better news is... I'm gonna show you how to do it!

Step one:

Go into your device Settings

Step two:

Scroll down until  you find Mail, Contacts, Calendar

Step three:

Select Add Account

Step four:

Choose your client- In this case, let's pick Google

Step five:

Put in the information of the account you are adding and sign in

Step six:

Choose what you want to sync. You may not want all your work contacts cluttering up your Address Book and  you might want to leave your work email at work , so you just unclick the Contacts and Mail switches and it won't sync those. Easy peasy.

Step seven:

Next, you'll go back to your home screen and go into your calendar. Then, select Calendars.

Step Eight:

Last step. Now you want to just make sure you show your new calendar in the Calendar app. You can choose only the calendars you want or just pick Show All Calendars!

Then... You're done! Wow! That was easy! You can edit what each account syncs to your phone anytime by going into Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> and then choose the account :) I can tell you got this already!!

Thanks for taking time to learn!

Be safe. Be courteous.

Ryan

The Pebble Smartwatch: A waste or worth it?

Smartwatches have been on the scene for the last couple years and they're picking up speed fast. Now that Apple has joined the bandwagon it is not just a geeky or nerdy thing to wear a smartwatch, it's fashion. Other big names have been pushing out smart watches like Samsung, Sony, Motorola, and LG. But there's a lesser known name that's been there since the beginning: Pebble. 

Pebble started as a Kickstarter project back in 2012 and were immensely successful with their first smartwatch: The Pebble. 

It was a simple companion for your smart phone that didn't try too hard to do too much. They had so much success with the Pebble that they were able to create a next generation called the Pebble Steel.

 I was able to acquire a Steel at a great value and spent the last 10 days trying it out. Here's my thoughts:

Hardware

The new design of the Pebble Steel allows it to look more refined than the original Pebble without drawing too much attention to itself. With its metal frame and its leather band, the Steel feels both sturdy and premium at the same time. 

The watch does come with two bands; a genuine leather band and a metal link band. The metal band feels a little cheap and tends to pull my arm hairs while wearing it. I prefer the leather band because it is light and very comfortable. I did get another band with my Pebble that is a heavier, more premium feeling band that looks very nice, but I still prefer the leather. 

The Pebble has a total of four buttons. It is not touch screen, so the buttons serve as navigation tools. The button on the left is a Home/Back button, the middle button on the right is the Menu/Select button, and the up and down buttons on the right are... well... up and down buttons. 

The watch is water proof up to 5 meters. Although, if you plan to leave your watch on while you shower, I'd advise to switch out the leather band for a metal one. 

There is also a place on the left side for magnetic charging cable to snap on. Conveniently, the cable uses a USB connection to plug into any charger you already have or a computer or laptop. 

Software

Here's the basics of the Pebble: the watch can store up to 8 "slots". These slots can be filled with extra watch faces or apps. You use the Pebble app on your device to download and install these apps and faces and when your 8 slots are full they are saved to your "locker", which allows the apps or faces to be switched out with ease using the app. 

Because Pebble has been around for a while and it is open source there are tons of watch faces and apps available. Some apps include RunKeeper, Evernote, Foursquare, Yelp and a lot more. There's also games similar to Tetris, Flappy Bird, and Snake and there are endless pages of watch faces; anybody can find one to suit their personality. 

One of the best features of the Pebble is that, unlike many other smart watches, it works with Android and iOS! I was able to test my Pebble on both of these platforms and was happy with each one. 

Overall, the Pebble feels great on iOS or Android. But, typical of Apple, it feels like the Pebble doesn't use its full capabilities when connected to the iPhone. Setting up the connection is simple and using the iOS or Android Pebble app makes it very easy to add or remove watch faces or apps. But the watch feels held back when it comes to notifications on the iPhone. When you receive a text the watch vibrates and you see who sent the text and the message itself. The only option then is to dismiss the message.

When using an android device you are given the option to open the message on the phone, dismiss, or reply.

You can reply with an emoji, or a preselected answer(I.e. Yes, no, ok, thanks, on my way etc.) OR you can create 5 custom responses and reply with a genuine response without even having to use your phone at all.

I found these quick responses very useful. One other neat feature that is only available on the Android app is that ability to choose which apps send notifications to the Pebble. On iPhone, all notifications that would show up in the Notification Center come to the Pebble. Basically, that means that if you want it to be notified on your phone, you're going to be notified on your watch. Whereas with Android, your phone can still create notifications without sending them to your watch. For example... I like to see, on my phone, who all liked my Instagram posts, but I don't want my watch buzzing every 30 seconds letting me know someone liked my picture. 

Battery Life

I don't think people really want one more thing they have to charge all the time. And that's what makes the Pebble great. A lot of smart watches will drain the battery in the course of a single day, but the Pebble can go multiple days without dying. I was able to get 5 full days use out of the watch with my iPhone. I did have a different result when using my LG G2. I don't know if it was because I was responding to texts through the watch a lot or what, but I was only able to get about 2 full days from the watch. But, that is still better than charging every night! And the charging time is very short on the watch because the battery is so small. There's a pretty good reason why the battery last so long, and it leads me to my next topic...

Display

The Pebble uses something called an e-paper display. It is very similar to the screen used on the Kindles called e-ink, just with a faster refresh rate for better animations. The watch face is always on, unlike other smart watches where the screen only turns on when you turn your wrist to look at it (and sometimes not even then). The face does have a back light that is used depending on if it's bright or dark out. I found that it's nice to have the screen on all the time so that you can glance at the watch if you need, and you don't have to perform a certain motion to see the time. Obviously this display does have drawbacks. It's not color, it doesn't make the face look like a "real" watch, and you can't view or take photos with it. And that thought leads me to my conclusion....

Conclusion

What is the purpose of a smartwatch? Is it supposed to replace your phone? Is it any better to look at a screen on your wrist than take the screen out of your pocket? I think the Pebble does a great job at finding the right balance for a smartwatch. It's there to alert you to what is happening on your phone; it's not there to replace your phone. If you want to text, and take pictures, and send emails from your wrist then this watch is not for you. 

So then you may ask... "Ryan, why did you get a smartwatch?" I got it because I couldn't even count the number of times a day I would get my phone out of my pocket for no reason, just in case I missed a text or a facebook notification or a super important tweet from a famous celeb. Now, I don't have an excuse to distract myself with my phone. I actually turned sound and vibration off on my iPhone. So, if I don't have anything come to my Pebble, I have no reason to get my phone out, which means I can focus on what's in front of me rather than what's in my pocket. 

So, I think Pebble absolutely nailed it with this smartwatch. It does exactly what it should, and doesn't try to replace your phone. Is it necessary? No. Not by any means. But, when I'm driving on a back road, in my manual car, drinking a milkshake, and I feel my pocket start to vibrate, it's nice to know whether or not it's a call worth taking, before I wreck my car because I was digging in my pocket for my phone, just so a robot woman could tell me how many break-ins the FBI report every half hour. 

Final thought: The Pebble Steel is a smart, fun, stylish and simple watch that I would highly recommend to any iPhone or Android user wanting to enter the smartwatch space. Also, keep an eye out for the soon-to-be-coming-out Pebble Time with color display and other great features :) 

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you learned something and buy a Pebble :) 

Be safe. Be courteous. 

Ryan

Switching back to iPhone: What I love and what I miss

A lot of people became really concerned for me when I gave up my iPhone 4S for an LG G2 about a year and a half ago. I just wanted something different. I loved my iPhone from the moment I got it, but the small screen size and software started to really strangle my smartphone experience. I had to make a change. And when I made the switch from iOS to Android, people didn't understand. It was like I was abandoning Apple and starting a new life with my mobile mistress. Sometimes I think people act like they are married to whatever smartphone platform they first choose. If I have an iPhone now, when I upgrade I need to get a new iPhone. Or, if your Samsung Galaxy S4 is getting slow, you better get an S5. But, there are so many options out there, and it's okay to try them out. You don't know if what you have is what you like best if you never try anything else. 

So, I tried something else. My LG G2 was, and still is, awesome. I fell in love with the Android experience right away. I started to tweak every single thing I could on the phone; things I couldn't change on my iPhone. My newfound phone freedom was exciting. I ended up rooting the G2 for even more personalization and installing custom Roms like Cyanogenmod and CloudyG3; the possibilities seemed endless. I thought I would never go back to the confining features of an Apple device. Then, the iPhone 6 and iOS 8 came out. 

Finally! The iPhone 6 finally had the features that I wish my first iPhone had. Things like a larger screen, Swiftkey, and better Google integration were just a few of the things that I became quickly excited about. But could I give up my beloved G2 for it? Well, I did. And about 6 months later I've compiled a list of things I love about my iPhone 6 and things I miss about my Android. Here we go...

Things I miss about my G2:

1. Customizability - Obviously this has to be first. With so many different keyboards, cameras, fonts, color layouts, button layouts, etc, there's a lot to miss in this department. 

2. Tap to wake - The G2 has a feature that I used almost every time I picked up my device. You can double tap the screen to turn it on. Quick and simple, no buttons required. 

3. Buttons on Back - The G2 has the volume up/down and power buttons all on the back of the device; right where your pointer finger rests when holding the phone. This allows for a convenient place to turn the screen on/off and for my next point....

4. Screen to phone ratio - the LG G2 doesn't have the best overall body design, but it does sport a 5.2" screen in a slim, small frame. The side bezels are practically nonexistent and the top and bottom bezels are just big enough to house the speakers and camera. This made a large screen feel relatively small. 

5. Software - Last, but not least, just the overall software layout of Android. I like widgets and an app drawer so that I don't just have pages of square app icons on my home screens. 

Now for the iPhone 6: What I love:

1. Design - The best way to describe the iPhone 6 is 'premium'. It feels like what you're holding is actually worth something, not some glassy plastic or rubbery design. It's simple and sleek, and the way the glass screen seamlessly meets the metal chassis gives it an infinity pool look. Very stylish. 

2. Google integration - Because I did use a Google powered android device, I immersed myself into the Google ecosystem, and I love it. But, unlike the first time I had an iPhone, Google has integrated its apps so well into iOS that I can still use most of the Google features I've come to love. 

3. Messaging - This is a two fold point. First, iMessage. iMessage is such a great convenience mainly because you can text over wifi. I have no service at my desk at work and I had to send texts 4-6 times from my android device for my iPhone-using wife to receive them. Problem solved with iMessage. It also just makes sending everything over messaging iPhone-to-iPhone so much easier. Secondly, the keyboard. Although you cannot swipe for texting, there is just something about using the iPhone keyboard that is so satisfying. The predictions are amazing and the spacing is perfect. I feel that you can't really know what I'm talking about until you've tried it. It just feels right. 

4. Simplicity - This is a big one for a lot of people. iPhone gets a bad rep for being an old lady phone because it's simple to use, but isn't simple a good thing? If I want to change something or find something I can, without having to Google it. A two year old can pick one up and literally start using it immediately. Although it does have its restrictions, I've come to appreciate simplicity. 

5. Camera - This one is, by far, the most important for me. I take A LOT of pictures. Especially of my toddling daughter. Toddlers are constantly moving and the last thing I want is to use a camera with shutter lag and an over saturated product. I couldn't ever get the picture when I wanted because the moment passed by in between the time I hit the shutter button and the time the picture was actually taken. I have so many blurry pictures of my daughter on my LG. I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of portraits and still lifes from my G2, but if I wanted to get something in action, well, forget it. And, I found this on other android devices as well. In those type of situations, the iPhone just takes the cake (and the better picture). And, of course, the iPhone has the slow-mo video, which never gets old. 

There are many other things I could add to both of these lists, but these are the top 5. Will I ever switch back to an android powered device? Most likely. And then back to iPhone. Then android. Then iPhone. I don't think I'll ever settle on one or the other. I like so many things about each of them. Android device manufacturers just seem to take more risks on advancement with their devices, and I like that. It's not always something that turns out to be a long-lasting or useful feature, but I like that they're trying something new. iPhone wants to make sure everything is as perfect and well-working as it can be before it lets consumers use it, which is a huge positive and shows in all their devices and software. And, for now, I am loving my iPhone 6 and have absolutely no desire to give it up for an android device... Yet :) 

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Let me know your thoughts and opinions :) 

Be safe. Be courteous. 

Ryan

My Top 5 Favorite Apps:

There are way too many apps in the AppStore and Google Play Store now, and a lot of them are hardly worth the time they take to download. And phones are made for more than just social media consumption. There are some great apps, free apps, that can change how you live your day to day life. I've gone through a lot of apps on all my devices. Download them one day, and just delete them the next. But, there's a few I always come back to and need to have on my devices, iOS or Android. So, here's the list of my top 5 favorite apps:

1. Google Play Music 

There are plenty of music apps out there. Between Pandora, Spotify, SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Rdio, iTunes Radio, etc there are plenty of options for listening to music on your phone or tablet. But sometimes you want to listen to your own artists you've downloaded, for free, with your own playlists, in whatever order you want, and that is where Google Play Music is awesome. Basically, you download the Play Music Manager on your computer and upload ALL your music through it. Then, with the Play Music app you can access it all without it taking any storage on your phone. Now of course you'll need data or wifi to access it, but you would with any of those other apps too. The difference here is that there's no ads, it's your choice music, and it's free. Another cool feature, if you use iTunes, is that the Play Music Manager will automatically upload music that you've added to your iTunes library on your computer. Definitely woth the zero cents per month for this one :) 

2. Evernote

If you have a mobile device and you do not have Evernote, stop reading this right now and go download it (not really, keep reading this). Evernote is all about productivity. It's, at its most basic, a note taking app, but it's designed it to be so much more. It's great for making check lists, or scanning pages, or setting reminders, or creating project ideas for work. One cool feature is that it will look at your calendar, know if you are at an event, and title your notes accordingly. There are several ways to organize and search for your notes. When you create a note it will use Location Services to figure out where you are and you can later search by notes taken in certain locations. You can also tag your notes with certain phrases to easily find later. Or you can organize notes into Notebooks like "Recipes" or "Movies I want to see". Evernote also has something called Work Chat where you can share your notes with someone else that has Evernote and they can add to or edit your note as well, which is great for collaboration on projects. If you are an iOS user, Evernote has a great widget that goes in your notifications shade that makes it super convenient to access.

There are many more parts to Evernote that I haven't even discovered yet, but once you start using it, it becomes integral to your every day life. 

3. IF (formerly known as IFTTT)

IF, or IFTTT (If This Than That) takes productivity to another level. It puts your device to work for you. What it all comes down to is recipes. Basically if this happens, then make this happen. 

Or, for example, if someone tags me in a photo on Facebook, then save it to an album on my phone. 

Then you will see that any time someone tags you in a photo on Facebook it will be saved to your phone. Pretty convenient. But, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many apps that IF works with, and you can tweak the recipes in so many ways to make them work just right for you. There are tons of recipes published by other people you can use, and adapt for you, or you can create your own. A few I use include: if a new post for an item I'm searching for on Craigslist is added, I get an email with the link. Another one is that if I post on Blogger, it will post the Blogger post to Twitter. One last one: if I use Siri (or the iOS reminder app) to make a reminder, it will create a reminder in Evernote; that way I can see it on my iPhone, android tablet, or computer. These are just a few of the seemingly endless recipes that are out there. IF has also recently come out with two new apps, DoNote and DoButton, which takes efficiency to an even higher level. So, put your phone to work for you and get IF!

4. Shazam

*🎶song playing🎶* "Who sings this song? I think it's Beyoncé! Or, wait, maybe it's U2! I just don't know!" <-- classic scenario. That's why Shazam was created. If you don't know what song is playing, or who sings it, just Shazam it! There's not a whole lot of description needed for this app. Two touches of your phone and you know what song is playing, who sings it, when it was released, what album it was on, if it won any awards, and the lyrics; all, usually, within about 10 seconds.

It also conveniently provides links to purchase the song and it keeps a record of your "tags" so you can go back later and check out your newfound music discoveries. Very simple and very convenient. Check it out! 

5. Mailbox

If you hadn't guessed it already, Mailbox is an email application that works with Gmail accounts. The built-in features of this app are what separate it from other email apps. The goal of Mailbox is to get your inbox to zero. You can archive, delete, snooze, or file your emails; and the way you do this is quick and fun. Swiping. 

Swipe right= Archive or Save

Far swipe right= Delete

Swipe left= Snooze

Far swipe left= Add to list 

Now, when it comes to "snoozing" your emails, you have options. You can remind yourself in an hour, later that day, in a few days, in a week, or you can just pick a date, and it will send you the same email again. And as far as lists, you can create however many you want, such as Receipts, Coupons, Church, Finance, Craigslist finds, or whatever else you fancy. The goal is just to be organized with your email, that way you know where to look when you need to find something. It's a very simple layout, it's easy and fun to use, and it keeps at least part of your life organized :) Sorry Apple Mail and Gmail, Mailbox is just the best. 

So, those are the 5 top (non social media) apps that I always have on all my devices. I would recommend everybody at least try them, because I think you will see how much you enjoy using them. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I welcome your feedback.  

Be safe. Be courteous. 

Ryan

Thoughts on the Apple Watch

As some of you might know, this past Monday Apple held a "Spring Forward" event. This event covered a few things, one of which was the Apple Watch. 

This watch has been rumored about for probably the last two years. Smart watches have been on the rise and companies have been coming out with Android compatible watches left and right and other iOS compatible watches here and there. But, the watches that work with iPhone never really allowed to use your watch instead of your phone. It was just more of a timepiece with generic notifications. But now, finally, iOS users will be able to have a full featured smart watch. 

While watching the keynote address I got pretty excited about the Apple watch. I do agree that it could easily become integral to my everyday life. Many times I take my phone out of my pocket to just check the time or check my latest notification. If I don't wanna respond right then, I just put the phone back. It would be nice if I could just see who texted or emailed me on my wrist, without taking my phone out, and then decide if it's worth taking my phone out, or if it can wait. The watch will receive any notification that you would receive on your iPhone. You will be able to send and receive texts, emails, phone calls, and use Siri by pressing a button or just saying "Hey Siri", and even paying with Apple Pay by just holding your wrist close to the scanner. Pretty neat. 

The Apple watch also uses something called "glances" to take a quick look at things you care about. Things like what's trending on Twitter or how your favorite sports team is doing. And you don't even have to have your phone on your person to use the watch. 

One thing they really pushed at the event was how the watch helps you exercise. It has a heart rate monitor, and tells you when you've been sitting too long, and keeps track of your steps and all that good stuff. This is already accomplished by many other fitness bands for far cheaper, but it would be nice to have everything in one device. Except that if I have a metal band (to look professional at work) do I really wanna go running with that band clanging around on my wrist? Something to think about.

There's a few things I think will be great on the Apple watch. The charger is magnetic, which seems like it will be so simple and quick, and the battery should last as long as I'm awake (Apple states 18 hours). Some other smart watches out on the market can go several dayson a  charge, so Apple is a little lacking in that category; just another thing to charge overnight :) Something else that I look forward to is the ability to tweak so many things on the watch face. You can add the date, outside temperature, next meeting, reminders, and there's lots of different watch faces to choose from, including Mickey Mouse!!

One thing I don't look forward to is the pricing. Apple has designed three different types of watches for consumers. Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch, and Apple Watch Edition. 

The Sport comes in an aluminum casing in either space grey or silver and the rubber wrist bands come in 5 different colors (much like the colors of the iPhone 5c). It comes in two sizes and two prices. The 38mm model will cost $350 dollars and for an extra $50 you get another 4mm. 

Sport:

The Apple Watch has many more options. They come in a stainless steel case and have 4 different style bands including Sport, leather, Milanese loop, or  a link bracelet. These are definitely fancier looking but also cost fancier. They start at $550 and go up to $1100 depending on size, finish, and the band you choose. "Wow!" You might say. 

Watch:

But don't say it too soon, because lastly we have the Apple Watch Edition. Sporting an 18 karat gold casing and clasp, this watch will drain you of $10,000!! But they're only available in limited selection so make sure you get your preorder in! 

Edition:

So, with all that to think about here's my overall thought: yes, I do think this would be an awesome addition to my daily life, but is it worth, at the very least, $350? That will depend on how much you feel like you have to stay connected to your phone at all times. One thing to think about is that it is technology, and it won't be long til it could be out of date. As far as usefulness, I think that it has some very gimmicky things that I will never use, but it has many traits that I would easily use on a daily basis. I, personally, do think the price is a little high, but it is Apple, and they can do that because they will still sell millions of them. 

So, check out the keynote and go to your local Apple Store on April 10th to preorder and try on an Apple Watch and decide for yourself. The watch goes for sale on April 24, 2015. 

Keynote Video link: https://youtu.be/_5osYMY5n3Q

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Be safe. Be courteous. 

Ryan