Finding Space-Wasting Apps

 After a while, it's not unusual for your iPad to start running out of space. Apps, especially those designed for the retina screen, can take a surprising amount of space. Periodically it makes sense to go through and remove those apps that you no longer use.

Space Management on Your iOS Device

Here are the simple steps to rein in bloated apps that are taking up space on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

1. This process all takes place in the Settings app, so tap to open it.

2. Tap on General and then Usage.

3. The Usage area gives you a wealth of information. Up top (highlighted in red) on the left it shows how much space is available in gigabytes (6.5 for me), and on the right how much space is being used (6.8 GB).

Then, what's really handy, is you can see the Top 10 apps in terms of space usage, usage being the size of the app and all data associated with it. For my iPad, the Photos app is #1 with all associated images taking up 1.1 GB.

Now I tap on "Show All Apps" (highlighted in green, at the bottom of the app list)  to see the rest of my apps.

4. The list of apps continues in descending order by space used. I don't use Evernote as much since I discovered how to create folders in the Notes app. Since it's taking up 92.5 MB, I'm going to delete it, so I tap on its name in the list.

5. After tapping on the Evernote, a screen comes up with the option to delete it. Tap on Delete App.

 

6. A useful confirmation window appears, reminding you that you will be deleting the app and its associated data. If you change your mind later, you can always download the app again from the App Store (and if it was a paid app, it knows you are still an "owner" and you will not have to pay again). But once deleted, your data is gone forever, and won't be restored by any subsequent re-downloads of the app. In this case, any notes I created with Evernote will be deleted with the app. Since there's nothing special I needed to save, I tap "Delete App" to delete the app and its data.

Finaly, if you don't need to see the space associated with a given app, there is a quicker way to delete apps.
 

Delete Apps, Quick & Easy

Deleting apps on your iPad is as easy as 1-2-3.  Here are the simple steps, along with screen shots.

 

 

1. From your home screen (or within an app folder as shown here) tap and hold on any icon, letting go when the icons start to "wiggle".

2. Notice your "wiggling icons" now have an X in the upper left-hand corner. By tapping on the X of any app icon you can delete that app. Don't want to delete anything at this point? Tap the Home button to stop the wiggling and return to normal.

 

 

3. Here I have tapped on the X of the Izik app to remove it. You have a chance to change your mind at this point by tapping "Cancel". Tap the "Delete" button to remove the app and all its data.

Need to remove a few more apps? You can continue to tap additional app X buttons to remove other apps. When you're done, tap the Home button to stop delete mode and go back to normal.

 

Oops, I didn't mean to delete that app!

What if you delete an app by mistake, especially one you have paid $ for?No problem – once you buy an app from the App Store, it's yours forever even if you delete it. To restore the app, simply return to the App Store and download it again, and even if it's a fee app, it will be downloaded to your iPad without charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screen capture on your iOS device

You can capture the current screen image on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch - from any app, at any time.  The image of your screen becomes a photo and can be shared like any other photo. 

Screen captured image from The Hunger Games

Why do a screen capture?

I have a Wi-Fi-only iPod Touch and iPad. Many apps don't function well without an Internet connection, so a screen capture gives me the information I need when I'm off-line. I frequently will screen capture street maps of places I'm going and Yelp reviews of possible restaurants, so I can refer to it even though I'm off-line.

Here are some other possible uses for screen capture:

• Capture a temporary web event, e.g. a receipt for a purchase
• Use to illustrate a step-by-step procedure
• Images from streaming video, movies, TV shows, online games

How to screen capture

Capturing the screen on your iOS device is actually quite easy:

1. Press and hold the Home button
2. Then, while continuing to hold the home button, quickly press and release the power button

You'll know right away if you've captured the screen image, because the screen will flash on/off and you'll hear the sound of a photo being taken (if your sounds areturned on). 

Like any picture you've taken, you can find the image in the Photos app in your Camera Roll photo album.

 Screen Capture Common Problems/Solutions

You may run into a few problems at the until you get the hang of coordinating the two actions.

Problem #1: you get sent to your Home screen.

• Reason: You pressed the home button, but did not hold it in long enough. So the iOS device treated it as simply pressing the home button.
• Solution: Hold in the Home button until you have pressed/released the power button.

Problem #2: you turn off your iOS device.

• Reason: you pressed and held the power button too long.
• Solution:  While holding the Home button in, make sure you quickly press and release the power button.

Problem #3: Siri comes up and asks what you want

• Reason: You held the home button too long before tapping the power button, which brings up Siri.
• Solution: Hold in the Home button and then immediately press the power button.

Email Tutorial - Sending Emails

For those new to e-mailing with the iPad, this e-mail tutorial will get you started creating new e-mails, replying to e-mails, and forwarding e-mails you receive to new people.  iPhone and iPod Touch users: this tutorial will work for you also.





1. Creating New E-Mails
We'll start by creating a new e-mail from scratch. We will choose who our e-mail will go to, type in a subject title, compose the e-mail and send it.Start by opening the Mail app, and choosing any e-mail to view, as below.  The e-mail itself is irrelevant, all we are going to use is the "new message" icon.

1.1 In the upper right-hand corner, notice the "New Message" icon (I have highlighted with a red rectangle).  Tap the New Message icon to get the "New Message" window.

1.2 You should see the New Message screen shown. The cursor will be flashing in the "To:". The first step: type the contact name(s) or the e-mail address(es) you will send this e-mail to.

1.3 Start typing the name of the first contact to get this email.  If you have setup your friends and family in the Contacts app, sending emails is easier, because you can pick their names from a list of matching contacts as you start to type.  Otherwise you have to remember and type in their actual email address here. 

1.4 You can send your e-mail to multiple people. We want to send this e-mail to John Smith, Julie Smith and Jack Smith. Like before, I start typing the last name and can then choose Julie's name from my previously set up contacts.

1.5 Unfortunately, I haven't set up Jack as a contact. So I type in his e-mail address here.

1.6 Next step: add a Subject to my e-mail. Tap the Subject box; the blue cursor wil flash on/off there, and the keyboard will pop up. Type in your subject.

1.7 A descriptive subject title will help my friends know what this e-mail is about as they scan their inbox.  ("Hello All!" probably is a subject that could be improved upon!)

1.8 Now to create the text of the message. Tap in the main body of the e-mail, just below the Subject box. Again, the cursor will blink and the keyboard will pop up. Type your message (see our message highlighted in red). To send your message, tap the blue Send button in the upper right-hand corner.

Summary: Creating New E-Mails

1. Type who the e-mail will be sent to in the To: field.
2. Title of the e-mail in the Subject: field.
3. Type your message in the body of the e-mail
4. Tap the blue Send button and your e-mail will be instantly sent to your addressees

2. Forwarding an E-Mail
For those new to e-mail, "forwarding" can be confusing at first. Simply put, this will take an e-mail you have received and "forward" that e-mail to someone else. For example, Sally sent you an e-mail with some cute pictures of her new baby, and you want to forward that e-mail/pictures to Julie.

Let's look at a couple of examples to illustrate forwarding e-mails.  First, we've received an email telling us of a good sale.  We want to forward this on to let another friend know.

2.1 To start, while viewing the e-mail you want to forward tap on the left-facing arrow icon (as highlighted above) and choose "Forward".

2.2 As with the new mail, in the To: space (highlighted), indicate who should get this e-mail. Also, notice the subject defaults to the same subject as the original e-mail had. To indicate you are forwarding this e-mail, a "Fwd:" is prefixed to the Subject (highlighted above).

2.3 Type your message in the email body.  Tap the "Send" button to send it.  Your recipient's email will contain your message and, below it, the original email that you "forwarded".

2.4 Forward E-Mails Example #2:  We are forwarding to David an e-mail received about the event on the 27th. Highlighted in red are the additions we made (who I'm sending the e-mail to, and the message text).

2.5 This is the forwarded e-mail David received. At the top is our message, and immediately below (indented with a vertical blue line to the left) is the original e-mail we received and sent on.

3. Replying to an E-mail
You have received an e-mail, and you want to send an e-mail reply back to the sender. This is perhaps the easiest e-mail scenario.

3.1 To reply to an e-mail, while viewing the e-mail you want to reply to, click on the left-facing arrow icon (as highlighted above) and choose "Reply."  In our example, David wants to reply back to the sender and thank him for forwarding the note about the party on the 27th.

3.2 For a Reply, much info is automatically prefilled. You are replying back to the sender, so their address is filled in for you. Likewise, the Subject is from the original, and prefixed with "Re:" to indicate a "Reply.". We have simply added a short message (highlighted in red). To send it we tap on "Send".

3.3 Here is how the Reply looked that Jack received. The Reply E-Mail we composed is highlighted in red. The original note we received and are replying about is immediately below (indented with a vertical blue line to the left).

This post has covered sending new emails, forwarding on emails and replying to emails.  For those new to email using their iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, hope this has helped!

Also see: Email topic posts