How to Create A Shared Photo Stream in iOS 6

iOS users can now post and share their photos to a shared Photo Stream album thanks to iOS 6. The shared Photo Stream album is hosted by iCloud, but any photos you store there will not count against your iCloud storage allowance and will work over Wi-Fi or your cellular data. The new feature allows you to share photos with fellow iOS users and also provides an option for the non-iOS users in your life. iOS users will be able to access the shared Photo Stream album directly from their iOS device, while non-iOS users will have to access the iCloud.com site to view the shared Photo Stream. Here's how you get started. 

1. To create a Shared Photo Stream, launch the Photos app on your iOS device, and select the Photo Stream option at the bottom of the screen. In the upper-right corner is a + sign; tap on it.

2. Enter the iCloud e-mail address of the person (or people) you'd like to shared your album with into the To section. Create a name for the album and title your album. Select if you want the shared album to have a public website URL by swiping ON or OFF. If you select ON, anyone will be able to view the shared Photo Stream on iCloud.com. If you wish to have non-iOS users to have the ability to view the album via the iCloud website, toggle the Public Website switch to ON. Tap the blue Create button on top-right hand corner once completed.

NOTE*: Either way the album is shared (with iOS users or via the iCloud site), you will be the only person with the ability to upload photos to the album. Everyone else will only be able to view, like and comment on the photos in the shared album.

  

3. Once the album is created you will now see the shared Photo Stream album appear when you access the Photos app.

4. Now it's time to add photos to your shared Photo Stream album. You can send photos to the shared album by viewing photos in the photo app and tapping on the Share button. Select Photo Stream from the list of options. Top right-hand icon titled Photo Stream.

5. Tap on the album you want to add the selected photo to

6. Leave a comment on the photo that will act as a caption for your photo and then tap the blue Post button once completed.

7. As you add photos to your shared album anyone you invite can now comment or like the photo through their iOS devices or by visiting the iCloud website. Each time you get a new comment or like, you will receive and alert notification.

Use Passbook in iOS 6

 

Passbook is a new iOS 6 app that turns your iPhone into a virtual wallet ready to store tickets, loyalty cards, coupons, gift cards and more. While it doesn't handle NFC payments like Google Wallet, it does help iOS 6 users streamline some of the plastic bulk out of their wallet, leaving more room for more important things, like the green stuff.

How to Use Passbook in iOS 6 

1.  Open the Passbook app by tapping on the app icon.
 

2. Tap App Store, this will link you to the App Store and an introductory list of apps that currently support the app.

 

 3. Tap on the app that you want linked to your Passbook and enter in your Apple ID/Password to begin the download process.

Walgreens has been used here for demonstration purposes.

4. After your chosen app is downloaded, tap on the app icon and a notification will appear with the option to add the card to Passbook. After reading the notification, exit and either create a rewards account or log into your existing account.

 

5. Once you've created a new rewards account or logged into an existing one, tap the button at the bottom that says Add To Passbook.

 

6. The Walgreens Press allows its user the option to be notified when a preferred Walgreens store is within proximity to the user, tap Add with Store or Add without Store to continue. 

Note: This step may vary depending on each individual vendor app options.

 

7. Once you've completed selecting your preferred Pass options, tap the blue Add button in the top right hand corner. This will add and activate your rewards card to the Passbook app. You can now exit the vendor app and re-open the Passbook app. Your rewards card will appear ready to be used.

 

8. Tapping the information button (i) in the lower-right corner of the card flips the card over to showcase additional options. Here you can choose to turn Automatic Updates on, which will notify you when your location services detects that you are near a store.

 

9.  To delete a Pass tap on the trash icon found in the upper left corner of the screen. Tap on Delete to proceed with removing the Pass or Cancel to keep the Pass active.

10. After tapping Delete, you will see the pass shredded and it will no longer appear in your Passbook app.

Note*: Passbook is installed on the iPhone and iPod Touch with iOS 6, but the app is currently not available for the iPad. Steps to add/activate a new record or loyalty account will vary depending on each vendor specific app requirements prior to adding to Passbook.

Email Multiple Photos or Videos From iPhone [iOS 6 Tips]

Prior to iOS 6, it was quite a pain to attach photo or video to an email. One had to launch the Photos app, select the photos or videos and then tap on the share button to send them via email.

In iOS 6, Apple has finally made it easier and more intuitive to add a photo or a video to an email in the Mail app. You can use this new direct insert method to email more than 5 photos/videos, which is still one of the weird limitations if you want to send multiple photos via the Camera roll in iOS 6.

Here's how:

• Launch the iOS 6 Mail app
  
• Tap on the Compose button at the bottom right corner
  
• Tap and hold in the body of the mail
  
• This will give you an option to Select, Select All, Paste. Tap on the right arrow button as show below.
  

• Then tap on Insert Photo or Video option

 

 

 

• Tap on the photo or video you want to attach to the email from the Camera roll
  
• Then tap on Choose button

 

 

• This will add the photo or the video to the email.
  
• You can repeat the steps mentioned above to add multiple photos or videos.
  
• Then tap on the Send button to email them.

The direct insert method outlined above is the only way to email more than 5 photos and/or videos from your iPhone. But it's faster and less cumbersome to email less than 5 photos or videos via the Camera roll as you can select multiple photos.

iOS 6's Shared Photo Stream is the most convenient option to share photos/videos (not more than 16 photos/videos at a time) with your family and friends who have an iOS device running iOS 6.

Use a Mouse On iPad & iPhone

The iPad is primarily a media consumption device. However, as users have come to realize, it is also a competent device to work on documents using iPad apps such as Pages and Numbers and is also popular with some bloggers. For users who are not comfortable using the virtual keyboard while working on documents, Apple offers an iPad Keyboard dock accessory.

While this is a useful add-on for business users, a drawback in using this accessory or any other Bluetooth keyboard, is the touch-screen based navigation on the iPad.

If you think that an iPad connected to a Bluetooth keyboard may be better operated using the point-and-click navigation feature offered by a mouse, then we've some good news.

A new jailbreak tweak called BTC Mouse & Trackpad allows you to do just that. You can follow these steps to pair a mouse with your jailbroken iPad:

Install BTC Mouse & Trackpad:

• Launch Cydia on your jailbroken iPad
  
• Tap on the Search tab at the bottom and search for BTC Mouse
  
• Tap on BTC Mouse & Trackpad from the search results
  
• Tap on Purchase button to buy the jailbreak tweak (BTC Mouse & TrackPad currently available for $4.98 on Cydia, and at a 50% discount if you had purchased BTstack Keyboard)
  
• After the jailbreak tweak has been purchased, tap on the Install button at the top right corner
  
• Then tap on the Confirm button
  
• After it successfully installed, tap on the Restart SpringBoard button when prompted

Pair Bluetooth Mouse with your iPad:

• Launch the Settings app
  
• Tap on General, then tap on the Bluetooth option, ensure that the Bluetooth is enabled, if it Bluetooth is OFF, tap on the toggle to turn it ON
  
• You should now see BTC - Bluetooth Companion, tap on Mouse & Trackpad option, this will connect to the server of the developer and thank you for purchasing the jailbreak tweak. Click on Okay and you will notice that the Mouse & Trackpad option is now enabled and it is trying to discover devices
  
• Power on the Apple Magic Mouse or any other Bluetooth mouse
  
• You will see the Apple Magic Mouse under Devices (interestingly, it will briefly say Keyboard)

• Tap on it to pair it with your iPad
  
• The status will change to Connected after the mouse is successfully paired with the iPad

That's it, you will now be able to use the mouse with your iPad. By default, the right click simulates the press of the Home button, left click simulates a tap, so you can left click on an app to launch it and double clicking on the Home screen will open the multitasking tray/app switcher. If you have a Bluetooth mouse with a middle button or the scroll wheel, it is mapped to pinch/zoom. At this point, gestures don't work on your Apple Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.

The jailbreak tweak also offers a feature called presentation mode, that can be enabled for each app. If presentation mode is enabled, left or right click on the mouse will generate a left or right wipe, which can be useful in apps like Keynote. You can configure the jailbreak tweak via the Settings app (Settings -> Mouse).

The cool thing is that most of the touch gestures for things like cut, copy, paste work just fine with the mouse.

 

It also works with Apple's Magic Trackpad. The jailbreak tweak should also work with your iPhone, though using the mouse on the iPhone would be quite weird even with iPhone 5's taller 4-inch display.