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Author "emily"

wrote in 1082: HomePod On My Desk, Farewell Trusty Notebooks .

Some Apple products I am immediately drawn to and honestly, I don’t even need a valid reason to buy it. For me, being cool is sometimes all I need! Who doesn’t want to pull out the latest Apple product and all of a sudden you’re the center of attention, and everyone wants to get their hands on what you have. When the iPad Pro came out, this was one of those products that I did not immediately put in an order for. Afterall, I have minimal artistic talent and I don’t need to design the next skyscraper. When it was time for me to upgrade my original iPad mini, I upgraded to the 2017 iPad last year. I just didn’t see how I would ever utilize the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro.

My view has completely changed in the last several weeks. It all started when I went to a conference and realized I was one of the only folks writing notes in a notebook. Yep, a notebook and a pen. In fact, I love my notebooks so much I even had a favorite brand. Despite sitting in front a computer all day and taking extensive notes via Pages or just Notes, I was still an avid writer of notes. It’s my iPhone and my trusty notebooks that attend every meeting with me, until now. When Apple released the 2018 iPad I realized it was time to stop being so narrow-minded about the benefits of the Apple pencil and iPad.

I’ve only been using the Apple Pencil and iPad for a few days now, but I already wonder why it took me so long to realize how much harder I was working to keep myself organized. Before I get into how I’m using the Apple Pencil with the new iPad, let us talk for a moment about the difference between the 2017 and 2018 9.7in iPad. At first glance, you won’t notice much. It is the same size and weight and fits perfectly into my existing case. I did notice that the fingerprint recognition is improved on this model, the response at least is faster in my testing. There is also improved response time when accessing apps, it’s not dramatic but there is a noticeable difference. In my first 24 hours with the iPad I noticed a decline in battery performance, however, I’m using the 2018 iPad constantly during the day. It seems I’ll need to make it a habit to charge my iPad at the conclusion of the workday just like I often need to do with my iPhone. I don’t really see this as a fault.

I upgraded my iPad so that I could leave my notebooks behind, and, after some research, decided on GoodNotes as my notetaking app. This is a paid app, but so far I have not been disappointed. GoodNotes has been around for a while and while you don’t need specifically an iPad that works with Apple Pencil to use it, a few minutes into using it you can see pretty quickly how natural the process feels. I would occasionally handwrite notes in Notes, but often ran into issues with my hand resting on the iPad and poor recognition from the stylus. Commonly styluses have a hard time with fine point response. I now have a copy of all my notes not only on my iPad, but they also sync to my iPhone and backup to the cloud. This means I’ll no longer have to worry about leaving my notes behind!

Pages with Apple Pencil has also been an unexpected advantage. It’s extremely convenient to receive a file and make quick edits and suggestions. The retail managers utilize Pages to create signage in their retail stores and before it goes out I always check things over for compliance. It’s nice to be able to draw right on the file for corrections and suggestions to layout, it eliminates extra back and forth in e-mail when collaboration is not an option.

I have only been using the iPad with Apple Pencil for a few days, but it’s shown me that the benefits of the two go far beyond the narrow thinking I’d had about who is the ideal user. Whether you’re someone doing graphics work or someone like myself who’s just looking to be more organized and professional, you will likely be surprised with how versatile these two products are. I’ll have a more in-depth review in the coming weeks, including feedback on what it’s like to go from pen and paper to digital.

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wrote in 1080: HomePod Tips, The Rise of eSports .

While the snowpack is still fairly significant, the evidence of snowmelt can be seen every day when I get home from work. This weekend I hope to take my girls out for one last day on the slopes. Spring was always one of my favorite times of year on the slopes as a kid and this weekend looks amazing for spring skiing.

The arrival of spring also means more work around my house. In addition to just dealing with muddy pathways and roads, it’s also dealing with all the surprises that the melting snow reveals.

Thank you for reading this edition of Kibbles & Bytes

Emily & Mike

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wrote in 1080: HomePod Tips, The Rise of eSports .

HomePod has finally arrived in our retail stores! While it has been shipping for a little over a month now, its taken a little while for Apple to open up availability to resellers such as ourselves. Our staff have eagerly set up speakers in all of our stores, everyone has been impressed with the sound quality and reporting that Siri is working better than ever!

Single user. Anyone in the room can give Siri commands, but when it comes to account-based connections, the HomePod is a single-user device. So if you set it up, which is astonishingly easy, it will connect to your Apple Music account, your iMessage account, your iCloud account for Reminders, and so on. That’s fine for you, but, for instance, your family members won’t be able to access their Apple Music playlists.

Speakerphone. The HomePod may be the best speakerphone you’ve ever used. Alas, you can’t initiate a call on it, but once you start one on your iPhone, you can transfer the call by tapping the new Audio button that replaced the Speaker button in iOS 11.2.5 and selecting the HomePod.

Apple Music. The HomePod can act as an AirPlay speaker, allowing it to play audio from your other Apple devices. But when you control it via Siri, the music must come from Apple Music, your iTunes Store purchases, or be matched in your iCloud Music Library. To send Mac audio from apps other than iTunes to the HomePod, get Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil.

Audio power. It may be small, but the HomePod has plenty of power. At 6 feet, we measured the sound output at 100% volume at 80 decibels, which is louder than is comfortable.

Volume control. Speaking of volume, you control it by percentages, as in “Hey Siri, set the volume to 15 percent.” You can also tap the + and – buttons on the top of the HomePod to adjust the volume in 5% increments.

It listens. The HomePod hears your commands remarkably well, even when it’s playing music at a high volume. You shouldn’t have to shout at it.

Hey Siri. If you’re within earshot of a HomePod and want to give Siri a command on your iPhone or Apple Watch, don’t say “Hey Siri” right away. Instead, to use your iPhone, unlock it first. Or, to use your Apple Watch, raise your wrist. Apple has an explanation of how Hey Siri works with multiple devices.

Apple TV. You can play audio from your Apple TV through your HomePod. On the main screen of the Apple TV, press and hold the Play/Pause button on the Siri Remote, and then select the HomePod before playing a show. Or, while playing video, swipe down on the Siri Remote, swipe right to select Audio, and then select your HomePod in the Speaker li

Once you’ve transferred audio to the HomePod, you can use Hey Siri commands to pause and play the Apple TV content, change volume, and even rewind and fast-forward by a certain amount of time (“Hey Siri, rewind 10 seconds”). However, other things that Siri on the Apple TV can do, like tell you who stars in a movie, work only when you press and hold the Siri button on the Siri Remote.

Apple plans to release software updates that will enable two HomePods in the same room to provide true stereo sound, and that will let you control multiple HomePods simultaneously for multi-room audio. So far I’ve held out on setting up HomePod in my home. Something tells me though, that once this next update comes out I won’t be able to fight the urge any longer.

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