iOS Safety and Security for Families

The holidays are over and if your house is like mine then there are young people who want to spend all of their free time playing with a new electronic device. My children are crazy about their iPads and regularly want to play their games or watch their shows and movies on them. I love that the iPad is a built in babysitter and way to occupy their time in the car but can it also have negative effects? Is there too much screen time or are they at risk from predators online? How can we be sure that our children are safe in digital world? 

The reality is that there is a potential for abuse with any online devices and it takes being involved as a parent. We need to exercise a willingness to oversee our children’s activities to ensure that they are not misusing these wonderful devices. Being involved with your kids and supervising their online activities is the first step. It should be an understood rule that as the person who provides the device, there is no privacy for minors and parents should always be able to monitor their activity.

That being said, all Apple® devices come with built in parental controls which allow us to limit access to many of the components of their devices. These controls, located in settings, allow us approve access to everything from the internet browser to the ability to install apps or make in  app purchases. They also allow us to set up monitors to see what activity the kids have had…from who they text and email to what web sites they visit. Restrictions and Parental Controls are powerful tools.

We can use tools like Family Sharing to share purchases and give adults the power to approve all content being used on the kids devices. That means if you child wants that popular game or that new song, you get to give permission before they can download it. Family Sharing also gives a great way for the family to know where each other is at all times by allowing us to share our location with each other. Family Sharing offers other great features and it’s all free with your Apple products and your iCloud account. 

There are many other safety a security tools available for Mac and iOS devices depending on your level of security needs. Apps like Covenant Eyes provide accountability for older kids and filtering and blocking for everyone. OpenDNS, one of the most popular choices, provides whole home filtering that is customizable to your individual family needs and does it at no cost to you. If you have questions about internet security or safety, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and let us know.

- Jeff Mann

There's an App for that...

Apps define how we interact with our technology. There are more apps than anyone could ever use, so we want to help point you in the direction of some apps that will enhance your experience with your Apple® products.

Let me introduce you to one that I can’t work on my Mac without, Memory Cleanfrom FIPLAB.  This app is essential for anyone who plays games, uses iPhoto regularly, browses the web with Safari (or any other browser for that matter) a lot, or keep iTunes open all of the time. Those apps tend to be memory intensive and can slow the performance of your computer down some. Memory Clean helps you reclaim memory (without restarting your computer) which helps speed up your computer. I love it and I think you will as well. It’s super simple to use and stows away nicely in the menu bar when it finishes cleaning (less than 10 seconds). This is a must have app if you like your Mac running fast and smooth.  Memory Clean has been downloaded over 3 million times and it has also been featured by Apple on the Mac App Store as 2014’s Invaluable Utility.  -Alan Oliver

Note from our Founder, Jeff Mann

It’s a big year for us and there are many great things in the works to bring you an even better service experience. A major part of our DNA is focused on bringing you the best experience available outside of the Apple Store and make getting your Apple® IT needs resolved a pleasure. 

This week I am pleased to announce that we are migrating to a new web address. www.tech-ease.orgis now live and the new home of our website. You will still be able to reach us through the old address and the same is true of our old email addresses. The site itself will be getting updated with new photos, enhanced content and new sections coming very soon. We want to make our website easier to reach and remember while also preparing us for the future. Stay tuned and check back regularly for updates. 

Since we launched it last week, we have enjoyed getting feedback from you through feedback@tech-ease.org. The only way we know if we are doing well is if you let us know when we are and when we are not. If you have a thought, question or comment for us, please let us know. We will also use those questions to help direct future content of this publication so keep those comments coming in! We also want to invite you to share your experiences with others. Visit us at our Facebook page and like it and give us a review. You can also visit our consultants page at https://consultants.apple.com/us/504811 and give us a review there as well.

- Jeff

Apple Inc., Series

As members of the Apple Consultants Network and former Apple employees, we live the Apple culture and want to share that love. Check out this section for interesting Apple history and the latest news. 

Did you know…The Beatles played a big role in how Apple Inc. got its name.

The Beatles’ record company, Apple Corp, has taken Apple Computer to court over trademark infringement repeatedly. The first time was in 1978, two years after Apple Computer was founded. Apple and Apple Corp settled in 1981 with the condition that Apple Computer would never enter the music industry. 

Apple Corp again took Apple to court in 1989 when Apple Computer introduced computers capable of music playback, and then again in 2003 after the iPod and iTunes hit the market in 2001 and 2002, respectively. The companies ultimately reached an agreement concerning the use of the word “Apple” in 2007. This is when Apple Computer, Inc. gained control of the rights to word on the condition that they license it to Apple Corp. This is when Apple Computer, Inc. became the Apple, Inc.  we know today. This agreement in 2007 also paved the way for the Beatles catalog to come to iTunes in 2010 in what has been called the “most lucrative licensing deal in music.”

Next time, we will share the first part of our "Demystifying the Apple Store" series with useful knowledge, tips and tricks for navigating Apple's Retail Store.

- Katie Bee Brantley and Jeff Mann

A Note from Our Founder

As we at Tech-Ease say hello to 2015, I am amazed at what we have accomplished this past year. We have grown wonderful relationships with our clients and laid the foundation to be the best Apple® Consultants in Birmingham. We have worked hard to provide you with superior quality service, and you have rewarded us with extremely positive feedback that lets us know we are doing a good job. The fact that our customers are happy should be enough for us but we are always trying to raise the bar that we set. 

This year is going to be even more amazing. The Tech-Ease team is unified in our goal to make YOUR world a better place through Apple® technology. We have been hard at work innovating new ways to bring you an even better service experience. With that in mind, starting today we are going to be bringing you a  newsletter every two weeks. Each of our team members will be writing pieces to share information that we feel is relevant for you and we hope you like it. 

So as you read this, we want to ask you what you think about it. For us, feedback is essential to good performance and we want you to get involved. This is your experience and we need you to help us understand what you want. Live today is our dedicated feedback channel, feedback@tech-ease.org. Any and all feedback is welcome, anytime, day or night. We want you to send us your questions, your concerns, positive and negative experiences, ideas for new services…we want to hear from you!

This is just the first of many exciting things coming this year and we want to invite you to be our partner. Stay tuned and see what we can accomplish together.
 

- Jeff

Back Ups and Data Transfers: An Easy Guide

Our devices store a great amount of your personal information: documents, passwords, and years of memories in the form of pictures and videos. What would happen if one of your devices fails, breaks, is stolen or gets lost? All is not lost… if you have backed everything up!

This running column will serve as a guide to saving and managing your data. We'll talk about Time Machine BackUps, External Hard Drives, Online Storage on websites like Dropbox, and photo storage like the iCloud photo stream and Flikr. 

Tech-Ease is happy to save you time by performing your backup for you. Services for iMacs and MacBooks include data migration between Macs and computer hard drive removal and recovery. A typical Tech-Ease data recovery costs $160. For iPhones and iPads, our hourly rate stands. If we determine no physical work can be done to your device, only pickup and delivery charges apply.

- Braden Wyatt

What's your New Year ® Resolution?

Resolve to connect with AlabamaTech⌘Ease.  At least once in your life, you have started the New Year with the resolution to get in shape. But have you ever made a resolution to use your Apple® technology better? Get in ® shape? Perhaps you have been afraid to make it because you didn't know where to get the right help. Fear no longer.  Whether you are new to Apple® or you weren't even aware there were other products on the market, there's an opportunity to learn something new or do something more with your ® product. This year let AlabamaTech⌘Ease partner with you to find solutions, get training, and help you feel comfortable with your ® gear. Why wait! Book an appointment now.