Month: April 2018

How to check how good the battery is on an iPhone

CompuScoop Staff April 26, 2018 0

Now a days, we're relying more and more on our iPhones. Because of this, its battery has become an important part of the hardware.

Up until iOS 11, their wasn't a way to check the health of the battery to see if you needed to take it to an authorized Apple repair place to have it replaced.

Here's how to check it:

1. Go to SETTINGS > BATTERY.

2. Tap BATTERY HEATH (BETA).

If the section says that the battery is at "Maximum Capacity" and "Peak Performance Capability" then it is at peak performance. But as the device gets older, this information may change.

Note: If you don’t see the “Battery Health” section in iOS Settings, it means you either do not have iOS 11.3 or newer on the iPhone, or it’s not an iPhone. As mentioned before, iPad does not currently support the Battery Health feature.

How to speed up Apple Watch updates

CompuScoop Staff April 25, 2018 0

If you're an Apple Watch power user (like I am) you dread every time when there's an update.

An average update can take anywhere from 20 - 30 (or more) minutes depending on the size of the update, and the speed of the Internet connection.

After searching high and low for a way to speed the process, I think I've found it - thanks to a website called idownloadblog.com.

There suggestion? During the actual updating process on the watch, turn bluetooth OFF. Why? According to the web site:

Because Apple Watch defaults to prioritizing Bluetooth over Wi-Fi whenever possible in order to conserve as much power as possible. While Bluetooth does require less power than Wi-Fi, the protocol is significantly slower in terms of data transfer than most Wi-Fi networking standards.

Disabling Bluetooth on your paired iPhone at the right time will force your Apple Watch to connect to your iPhone via the faster Wi-Fi protocol.

Unlike other Apple devices, your Apple Watch does not download watchOS updates itself.

We didn't try it yet - but if you have, please post a comment below with your experiences.

New Verizon subscribers activate more Apple Watches then iPhones

Dan Uff April 24, 2018 0

“Verizon Communications Inc.’s wireless subscriber rolls surged last quarter, but it was thanks to smartwatches and other wearables — not the phones and tablets that were once its mainstay,” Scott Moritz reports for Bloomberg. “Monthly subscribers climbed by 260,000 in the first quarter, the carrier said on Tuesday, marking its fourth straight period of growth.”

“The results renewed optimism that the largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier can cope with a maturing industry,” Moritz reports. “Even as the company lost phone and tablet subscribers, new customers using mobile service for Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. watches, vehicles and other applications offset the shortfall.”

“The latest wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch Series 3, have their own network connections. That means they don’t need to link up with smartphones to communicate and — good news for carriers — require a separate wireless subscription,” Moritz reports. “Verizon added about 359,000 subscribers last quarter who are using watches, wearables and other devices. That helped make up for the loss of 24,000 phone customers and 75,000 tablet customers in the period. But watch customers pay $10 a month, compared with the $40 or more that phone customers typically shell out.”

Read more in the full article here.

How to set a Home Page in Safari

CompuScoop Staff April 24, 2018 0

On Monday, I showed how to add a Home icon on to the Safari browser bar. That fine, but what if the home page that it goes to isn't of use? This tip will show you how to make it useful.

Here's how:

1. When in Safari, select SAFARI > PREFERENCES.

2. Select the GENERAL button (see included screen shot).

3. Find the area that says HOMEPAGE (see included screen shot).

4. Type in the web site's full URL that you wish to make your Homepage.

5. Click OK.

6. That's it.

Bonus Tip:
Just go to the web site that you wish to make your home page, do steps 2 and 3, and click on the SET TO CURRENT PAGE button (see below).