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AppTalk April 24, 2013

AppTalk reappeared at the GCMUG today. We reviewed the following apps:

1. HDRPro. (Ron)
2. BurstMode (Jim)
3. Snapseed (Ron)
4. Facebook upgrades--choose newsfeed, chatheads (Jim)
5. Photoshop Express (Ron)
6. Feedly (Jim). Generally thought to be the heir apparent to Google Reader.

iPhone battery drain

I've been suffering from iPhone battery drain lately. Hopefully iOS 5.1 will improve things, but until and unless that happens, here are some tried and true ways to extend your battery charge from the excellent idownload blog:

Note: Keep in mind that these tips are a bit extreme, and you shouldn’t have to turn off every setting in your iPhone to get reasonable battery life.

1. Turn off Location Services

It seems like almost every app nowadays uses your location in some fashion, and all of that GPS work can drain your battery. Just open up the Settings app, and select Location Services. Keep in mind that if you turn off all location services, you’ll lose the ability to use Find My iPhone. So you may want to shut apps off individually and leave that one running.

2. Turn off Wi-Fi

This is kind of a no brainer. Enabled Wi-Fi means another radio is running, and using battery. It’s even worse if your Wi-Fi is on when you’re not connected to a specific network and your phone is constantly searching. Turn it off by opening the Settings app, and selecting Wi-Fi.

3. Make sure Bluetooth is off

This is another no-brainer. Even though the iPhone 4S uses low-powered Bluetooth 4.0, leaving it on still means another radio is running. Turn it off by launching the Settings app, selecting General, and then Bluetooth.

4. Shut off Push data

Having your new emails automatically pushed to you is pretty convenient, but once again it will cost you battery life. Turn it off by opening Settings, selecting Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then Fetch New Data.

5. Turn off Vibration

If you receive a lot of phone calls, messages or alerts, your phone’s vibrator is working overtime. If you don’t absolutely need it, you can save precious battery life by turning it off. Open up the Settings app, and select Sounds.

6. Make sure Auto-Brightness is on

This feature adjusts your display’s brightness according to the lighting of your current environment. This keeps the display from being constantly at its brightest. To check it out, open the Settings app, and select Brightness.

7. Make sure Auto-Lock is on 1 Minute

By default, Auto-Lock is set to one minute. That’s because the longer the iPhone’s display is left on, the more battery it uses. If it’s set to longer than one minute, you’ll notice a major difference in battery life by lowering it. Adjust this in the Settings app by selecting General, and then Auto-Lock.

8. Turn off Cellular Data

If you get poor cell reception at your home or place of business, you might try turning off Cellular Data if you don’t need it. Searching for service weighs heavily on your battery. Turn it off in Settings by selecting General, and then Network.

9. Turn the Equalizer off

The iPhone’s Music app has an EQ feature that alters its sound output according to your music preference. Because these adjustments happen on the fly, your battery suffers. Switch this off by going to Settings, tapping on Music and then EQ.

10. If all else fails, try a Restore

Restoring your iPhone as a new device (not from a backup) can work wonders, and in this case it can erase any problematic data or settings that may be causing your battery to drain. Do this by hooking up your iPhone to your computer, and clicking Restore. Make sure you set it up as a new device.
Another thing to keep in mind is how much power Siri uses. Not only is information being processed on the iPhone, but there is also data transferring back and forth with Apple’s servers. Using this feature frequently can certainly affect battery life.

Please help me help the kids at St. Jude.
On April 1, I'll be competing in the Nautica South Beach Triathlon for the benefit of St. Jude Children's Hospital.
Won't you please support me? Just click here.
Want to know more about St. Jude and what your contribution will mean? Click here.

Better Gmail on your iPhone

From Lifehacker: The iPhone is a fantastic phone, but if you're a heavy user of Google services, it can be a little confusing to set up your Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts to sync with iOS. If you follow the directions on iPhone and set up your Gmail the way they say, you'll get your mail, but your gmail contacts won't be synchronized with your phone. But if you choose Microsoft Exchange at the prompt instead of Gmail, this will give you access not only to your Gmail, but your calendars and contacts, and they will all sync directly to your phone—when you add a contact in Gmail or edit an event on Google Calendar, you'll see it show up on your phone without having to sync anything. Here's how to set it up.

Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard for iPhone, iPad 2

Wow--I can think of a lot worse things to spend $53 on!

Review: Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard for iPhone, iPad 2

MLB.com At Bat Lite

We've previously reviewed MLB.com's At Bat, the somewhat pricey ($14.99 for the 20011 season) app that gives you full radio and a lot of TV access for the entire baseball season.

MLB.com At Bat Lite gives you a chance to try it out during spring training. Watch out--it's addicting!