Today, from MLTI, I received this important email notification that would be good for all in our district, who have the iPad mini and MacBook Air, to review before Apple's updates this Wed, Sept 17th:
iOS 8 will be available on September 17th. The Apple MLTI Project team will start supporting iOS 8 on that date. As such, we highly encourage all users to update to iOS 8 when it becomes available. If you want to learn more about iOS 8 you can learn more at the overview page (http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/).
After upgrading to iOS 8 the setup assistant will ask you if you would like to upgrade to iCloud Drive. iCloud Drive is a new feature of iOS 8 that can replace "Documents and Data." iCloud Drive will allow you to safely store all your presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, and any other kind of document in iCloud and access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.
During the iOS 8 upgrade, it is highly recommended that Primary Solution Teachers DO NOT enable iCloud Drive prior to the release of OS X Yosemite.
Teachers that have received an iPad mini and MacBook Air as part of MLTI should be aware that if they enable iCloud Drive when updating their iPad mini to iOS 8, they WILL NOT be able to access the updated versions of documents stored in iCloud Drive on their MacBook Air until they upgrade to OS X Yosemite. OS X Yosemite will be released this fall.
Once OS X Yosemite is supported by MLTI, users are encouraged to upgrade their MacBook Air devices to OS X Yosemite and then upgrade to iCloud Drive on all of their devices upgraded to OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.
If a teacher does turn on iCloud Drive prior to the release of OS X Yosemite, it is important to note that no data will be lost. The files can be downloaded, edited and uploaded on a device that has not been updated to OS X Yosemite by going to https://www.icloud.com.
If you have questions on this or other MLTI-related issues, please call the MLTI Help Desk at 1-800-919-2775 and use the pin# 4MLTI.
Perhaps I was the last guy to figure this out, but my eyes were opened when I discovered that having to close out all of my recently used apps in the multitasking bar would greatly increase my iPad battery life was completely bogus.
For all of the faculty and staff that I, as well, proclaimed that it was necessary to close the multitasking bar apps, this is my apology and follow up.
In fact, the way iOS uses its multitasking bar is to display your "recently used apps" ONLY. Not a "what is currently running in the background and taking up CPU and battery life" multitasking bar. For most occasions, any of the apps you use get "suspended" when you hit your home button or go to another app. Meaning, iOS will only allow them about 5 seconds to stay running, then shuts them down; still remembering where you left off. iOS does the work for you.
Here are three articles that justly explain this misconception of the multitasking bar:
For those who are new to the iPad scene, Apple will update the operating systems (OS) of their iOS products (iPhone, iPad, iPod) from time to time to either fix some bugs or offer some new helpful features. Currently the latest OS update is iOS 6.1.
If you are not familiar with how to update your iPad, Apple explains this process. This article explains how you can update your device either wirelessly (for iOS 5 or later), or updating through iTunes. Be sure to review the tips at the end. This current update (from 6.0 to 6.1) took about 5min, however if you have not updated your iPad in a while, it may take up to 10 to 30min. So, as suggested, make sure your device is plugged in to a power source, so the battery does not run out during the upgrade.
For those who backup their iOS devices (i.e. iPad, iPhone) to their computer verses iCloud, a word of advice for you. (Side note: there are two ways to backup your device's data (photos, apps, eBooks, etc) - either iCloud or your computer. Since the MLTI MacBooks are not iCloud compatible, we backup with our laptop only) Occasionally, you may come across apps that you want to try out, then decide to delete them from your device for one reason or another. However, just because you have deleted them from your device, does not mean they are deleted entirely. What I mean is, these deleted apps are still stored on your computer as an inactive app. The reason for this is because you purchased it (even if it was FREE) and all purchased apps are stored somewhere. In our case, on your laptop. If you are not careful enough, these inactive, purchased apps can take up room on your computer's hard drive space; which may be critical for those of us who have a lot of content already stored on our computer. An overly stocked hard drive could severely effect the performance and speed of your laptop. This could be very important when trying to use your laptop in class or on your interactive whiteboard. You want as little delay as possible when students are waiting. In my case, I have a lot of video, extra software, images and hefty documents already stored on my MLTI laptop. On top of that, I discovered I have over 20GB of inactive and active apps stored and backed up on my computer; along with the video, podcasts, and eBooks, purchased though the iPad I use. 20GB is enough to reach my hard drive's performance threshold. You can remedy or check this out for yourself simply by launching iTunes, going to your iTunes library and viewing your apps library. Select the apps you no longer want to keep and delete them. You can event sort your iTunes app library by app size. Sometimes you can locate "heavy" unwanted apps.
Appolicious, a product from Yahoo, is a "mobile app discovery service" for iOS and Android devices. If I were to have a "favorite of the month", this would be it.
Basically, Appolicious is a directory/social network. Not only is its app directory extensive with categories and subcategories, but you can connect with other mobile device users and learn what they like. Users can create their own libraries and lists to share with others. So finding the perfect app for the specific job you are looking for is much easier.
Also, along with a written review, there is a video demo for each app so you can see it in action. Appolicious offers recommendations based off categories and even a Price Cuts list of apps that have reduced their prices. As with the iTunes Store you can put your interested apps in a wishlist for later purchasing.
Go to Appolicious, create a free account, explore around, and add me to your following, ratkacher. I will be creating lists based off content areas and share apps that I find or are shared to me. Share this resource with your friends and colleagues. Let's make a community and network of app sharers.
