Category: iOS

Chuck La Tournous and Chris Breen to speak at NJMUG’s 30th Anniversary

October 20, 2014 /

I was honored to be invited to speak at the New Jersey Macintosh User Group’s (NJMUG) 30th Anniversary on Tuesday, October 21st. Macworld Senior Editor Chris Breen will be the featured speaker for the event.

My presentation will explore digital device security in the “new normal” of the post-Snowden era. Chris will take a look at the “Future of Apple.”

NJMUG has been helping people get the most out of their Apple devices since the age of the Macintosh 128K through the iPhone 6. The group will celebrate its 30th anniversary at a special meeting at the Meadowlands Quality Inn in Lyndhurst, NJ from 7-10 p.m. NJMUG organizers promise a “great night of eating, celebrating and reminiscing.” The group will also be raffling off “some goodies to those in attendance.”

The meeting is free to all NJMUG members; non-members may attend for a $5 admission fee, space permitting. More information is available on the group’s website.

Upgrade to iOS 8, but skip iCloud Drive (for now)

September 16, 2014 /

Apple’s iOS 8 update will be released tomorrow (as I write this) and if history is any indication, millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users will hit that update button en masse.

I think that’s fine; the “Gold Master” (GM) version of iOS 8 seems very stable, and while many of the update’s best features won’t really come into play until the release of iOS’s desktop cousin Yosemite, it’s got enough nice new features to make it worth using.

But it’s that very partnership with Yosemite that makes it an extremely good idea not to upgrade your iOS device to iCloud Drive when prompted. That’s because iCloud Drive isn’t compatible with Mavericks, Apple’s current desktop operating system. Nor is it yet compatible with current versions of the many apps that use iCloud (sans the “Drive”) to do things like store information, sync data and do various other things that you are very likely to miss when they suddenly stop working.

Our friends over at TidBITs have more information, but for the time being suffice it to say you should just hold off on iCloud Drive until Yosemite is released and app developers release iCloud-compatible versions of their wares.

You’re welcome.