iPhone and iPad iOS Tips and Tricks

A quick post! There are loads of tips and tricks for any Apple Device, particular its OSes, but for now, these are the ones that I know of and constantly use.

iPhone and iPad

Tapping the Top Bar will scroll back up to the top of the screen.
Double tapping space bar when typing will give you fullstop.
Double clicking Home button while in lockscreen will pull up the Music play menu.
Double clicking Home button while in home screen will pull up the multitask bar at the bottom.
Pressing the On/Off button together with the Home button for a few seconds will start your iOS device – if it dies on you and pressing the on/off button no longer works. This is a must know if you don’t have access to Internet or anything to google about it. Otherwise if it really dies and this doesn’t work -> Take it to Apple’s Genius Bar.

iPad only

Sliding two fingers from the middle of the keyboard outwards will split your keyboard in two, making it easier to type in landscape mode.
4 or 5 finger pinching the screen will bring it back to Home screen. I prefer this over actually pressing the Home button to avoid breaking it later, those Home buttons are the least durable.
4 finger swipe side ways while in an app will switch between your active apps.
4 finger swipe bottom to top will bring up the multitask bar.
Charging iPad Mini through your PC via USB actually works despite what it says on the screen, haven’t tried with the iPhone.

Do you use any of these? Do you know of any others?

Where I Go for Online Shopping

Tip: This is best viewed on a computer because I decided to put things in tables.

Admit it, we all love online shopping and sticking the middle finger up to our Australian retail stores and their ridiculous prices. I mean, I don’t want to but when a game I buy is $50-60 online compared to the $120, I kinda do get a bit upset sometimes or you know, when almost everything is 150-200% more. But at least for the most part, I am only buying small items. My larger purchases remain here in Aussie land. 🙂 I SUPPORT YOU AUSTRALIA, but you just suck sometimes.

So I’ve compiled a lovely list of websites I tend to throw money at, keeping in mind that shipping fee or free shipping is important to me because we’re so ******* far away and delivery times is based on my own experiences to Sydney.

Beauty Websites!

I have a big thing with skincare so I’ve used most of these websites for skincare rather than makeup, but I do see a lot of them providing a really broad range of stuff too. Most of these sites sell the same brands and products.

Website	Ave Shipping (days) / Fees	What I think
	10 / Free!	This is probably the thing that started it all, I was pretty impressed with the range of brands they have and this is also where I got the ‘Emu Oil Eye Cream’ from. They have pretty good navigation and easy to use site but unfortunately for them, they don’t ship a lot of brands out to Australia so I no longer really shop with them any more. Great site otherwise.Bought: Emu Oil Well, MD Formulations, Caudalie, Weleda, theBalm, Stila, Bareminerals
	12 / Free	I’ve only purchased from here once, buying some Pai muslin cloths and a lip balm. No issues with this site, just not something that has the brands I tend to look out for.Bought: Pai, Dr Hauschka
	8.5/ Free!	They have REN products, like, cleanser at <$20 vs our $40!? :O I find they’re also the cheapest site with sales all the time. I’ve already made 3 purchases with the website since finding out about it a couple of weeks ago. The GBP is better than Euro at the moment so purchase in that currency. Probably my favourite right now.Bought: REN, Caudalie, Keratase, Weleda
	14 / ~$5AUD for up to 2kg	This website offers all the French brands that are focused on sensitive skin! Avene, Nuxe, Vichy and La Roche Posay.Bought: La Roche Posay
	11 / Shipping fee	I bought some real techniques and eco tools brushes from them and that’s probably the last time I buy from them. Not that there’s anything wrong with the purchase, it just doesn’t have the stuff I want! 🙂 And also because the website’s a bit ugly.Bought: Real Techniques Brush, ecotools and Weleda

Games Websites!

Playstation 3 games, nuff’ said. Also visit http://www.gamecafe.com.au to search across the multiple different gaming sites.

Website	Ave Shipping Times / Fees	What I think
OzGameShop	14 / Free	Probably bought most of my games from here, however it isn’t always the cheapest in comparison to Zavvi/The Hut
	14 / $1 to $2	Pre-ordered Ni no Kuni and received it 2 weeks later as expected. These guys are actually the same people as TheHut below. A lot of other people say they’ve had trouble with them, but since I’ve received mine, I’m fairly happy.
	14 / $1 to $2	Ah, the big TheHutGroup. LookFantastic is actually also under this group and I have the same things to say about it as Zavvi. It’s probably worth checking their other websites out.

Other Stuff

Website	Ave Shipping Times / Fees	What I think
	10 / Free!	This is a given. If you don’t know about it then thank me, thank me now! It’s great. It’s a book store and it’s great. They have a .com and .co.uk site; in most cases I find .com cheaper than .co.uk and the easieast way to check is just to replace that bit in the URL when you’re viewing a particular item. Easy.Bought: A shit load of books, including piano books and manga.
ebay		Everyone buys from ebay. Bought from: special_spice (Revlon Lip stuff), accessorieswhole (Skin79) and sgpstore1 (for SGP Spigen products)
catchoftheday.com.au		Yes! I have bought stuff from catch of the bloody day. I recently purchased the L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream from them which I thought was pretty weird but nonetheless they were the only ones selling it. So there you go.

You’re probably wondering where the fashion stores are, you know, there’s a shitload, like asos, net-a-porter etc but I generally don’t buy clothes or shoes online just because I find it incredibly hard to do so and have found I return more than 60% of the time. And also because I am visiting the states soon so I am going to shop myself crazy there instead.

Other tips include searching online for discount codes, you’ll find them, trust me. And also use your 28 degrees card to shop for things that aren’t in AUD!

Enjoy and let me know what other awesome websites there are. 🙂

Geek Tip: Make Your Phone Battery Last Longer!

Time for some random geek tip.

How long does your smartphone battery last?

To keep it simple, rechargeable batteries need to be calibrated (refreshed if you like) for them to work a bit better and last a bit longer.

How to do it?

1. Drain it. Let your phone run until it dies on you.
2. Then charge it until it reaches 100% without unplugging – important.
3. Try to disconnect when it’s finished charging so as to not leave it charging at 100%, it may have the reverse effect.

You’re meant to do this once in a while, but I normally only bother when I notice my iPhone battery depleting very quickly.

Best case scenario were the iPhone 4S phones when they launched. People complained about the battery life and it was true, it really sucked for an Apple phone. Mine while on standby overnight would lose 20%. This just wasn’t right. BUT after calibrating it… 3%!!!

So anyway, experienced the same thing lately so it was time for another refresh and voila, good battery again.

Very interested to see how good the iPhone 5’s battery will be. :]

Oh and of course if you have a phone with crap battery from the very beginning then there’s really very little you can do. *cough* HTC…

p.s this applies to most electronics too and not just smartphones.