How to Lock Down Your Child's iPad - PART ONE

Yes, a second article in the same week!

I've been asked before "How can I lock down my child's iPad?"  I thought I would share with everyone my suggestions.

There are two ways you can go about doing this.  One is via Restriction settings and the other way is using Apple Configurator.  Please be aware, Apple Configurator is only for Apple Mac computers, it is not (yet?) available for Windows or any other operating system.  The following instructions are set for iOS 8.3, however, they will work for prior versions as well.

Restrictions

• On the iPad, locate and tap on the Settings app.
• Tap on the General section on the left, it should go there automatically though.
• Scroll the right side of the screen down until you see "Restrictions" and tap on it.
• Tap on the "Enable Restrictions" at the top of the screen.
• Enter a 4 digit passcode that you will not forget then re-enter it to confirm.

 You now have several options to toggle and set as shown in the following image!  (The settings shown below are the default settings.)

 Let's just walk through each section, shall we?

The first two sections are the "Allowed" section.  Some of these are self-explanatory but I'll go through them anyway.  Here we can toggle off/on:

• Safari - if you don't want your kids to have access to the Internet.
• Camera - if you don't want lots of selfies, random pictures or worse inappropriate photos.  Turning this off also disables the ability to record video.
• FaceTime - turning this off eliminates the ability of using the iPad to make or receive video calls.
• Siri & Dictations - turning this off eliminates the use of the integrated "personal assistant" Siri.
• Airdrop - by toggling this off, the iPad will be unable to share items with other iOS devices or Mac computers.
• iTunes Store - removes the ability to buy and download music, movies, television shows, audiobooks, etc.
• iBooks Store - removes the ability to buy and download books to the iPad.
• Podcasts - turning this off removes access to podcasts
• Installing Apps - turning this off will prevent apps from being installed and removes the Apple App Store from the device.
• Deleting Apps - toggling this off will prevent apps from being removed once installed. 
• In-App Purchases - turning this off prevents the ability to purchase content from with-in an app.

Allowed Content

• Ratings For - choose the country in which you reside for ratings based on that location
• Music, Podcasts & iTunes U - within this section you toggle off/on whether any material containing explicit content is allowed.  Default is allowed.
• Movies - within this section you can set the movie ratings from not allowing movies through PG-13 to allow everything.
• TV Shows - similar options as the movies section.
• Books - in this section you can toggle off/on if any sexually explicit content is allowed, default is allowed.
• Apps - within this section are age ranges for apps that are allowed. Ranging from not allowing apps, to 9 years old and up to allowing all apps.  Please note that setting any rating beyond the default of Allow All Apps may result in some apps no longer functioning due to the developer not including a content rating.  If a developer does not set a rating the iPad will not open the app and might even remove it.
• Siri - inside this section allows you to turn off the explicit language and the ability to search web content.
• Websites - changing settings here from the default All Websites to Specific Websites Only.  Each setting is customizable.
• Password Settings - set how often you want prompted for your Apple ID password when obtaining apps.

Privacy

• Each of the settings within this section allow whether or not you authorize or want to revoke a previous authorization regarding traceable content, useability, etc.

Allow Changes

• Accounts - disallowing changes prevents adding, removing, or modifying accounts in Mail, Contacts, and Calendars.
• Background App Refresh - disallowing changes this prevents apps from updating their info while they are not being currently used.
• Volume Limit - allows you  set a limit on how loud the headphones can get.

Game Center

• Turning off either or both settings prevents multiplayer games and the ability to add friends to games.

Hopefully this helps you with setting options on your or your child's iPad.  This is one of the easier ways to "lock" down an iPad.


Apple Configurator
I will discuss this in "How to Lock Down Your Child's iPad - PART TWO"

In the market for a... new cellphone

Are you shopping for a new cellphone?  Not sure which way to go with your phone, Android or iPhone?  Here I'll highlight some of the features and compare the two. Because Apple has only one cell phone and Android has several, I'll focus this article on the Nexus.  The Nexus is considered to be the Google flagship.  In case you are wondering, I own the Galaxy S3.

Nexus 6 (left) & iPhone 6 (right)

Size

Size often comes to play and each persons choice is different.  Some people want a small, easy to hold in one hand device, while others want a larger device with a bigger screen.  The choice is completely yours.


When the iPhone 6 was released, in late 2014, it grew up compared to its predecessors.  It is just under five and a half inches tall, little over two and half inches wide and it's thin, just a smidgeon over a quarter inch.  No wonder it bends in peoples back pockets!  The screen size is just under five inches at 4.7 inches.

Android phones come in different sizes, some are the smaller than the iPhone, roughly the same size as the iPhone and some are larger than the iPhone.  However, the Nexus 6, released late 2014 as well, is about six and a quarter inches tall, little over three and a quarter inches wide, and almost a half inch thick.  Screen size is a nice 6 inches.


Features
Both phones are capable of doing pretty much the same things.  

• They can both obviously take and make phone calls, 
• They can both do text messaging
• SMS
• iMessage
• Hangouts
• Voice
• and many others via downloadable apps
• Both have built-in front and rear facing cameras.  Remember the higher the megapixel the better the quality picture it takes.
• Rear facing camera
•  iPhone 6 has an 8 megapixel camera
• Nexus 6 has a 13 megapixel camera
• Front facing camera
•  iPhone 6 has a 1.2 megapixel camera
• Nexus 6 has a 2 megapixel camera
•  Battery life
• The Nexus 6 has a larger battery over the iPhone 6 and therefore has a slightly longer battery life.  Average talk times are greatly different between the two phones BUT what you do with your phone when you are not talking on it will cause the battery to not last long.  If you are into just texting and talking then your battery will last much longer before needing to be recharged compared to a person who is texting, checking social media, checking and sending emails, streaming music or video, etc.
• Nexus 6 has an average talk time of 24 hours
• iPhone 6 has an average talk time of 14 hours

 Apps
Both iOS (Apple) and Android devices have access to a LARGE collection of applications, or apps, some are free and some are paid.  The cost of an app can range from as low as 50 cents (Amazon sometimes has apps on "sale") up to several hundred dollars.  There is an iPad app that my employer uses in some special services classrooms that cost $199 for one copy!   

• The iPhone 6 has access to the Apple App Store with over 1.4 million apps, as of May 2015.
• Nexus 6 and all other Android cell phones have access to multiple app stores.  
• Google Play, the primary app store, has over 1.5 million apps, as of May 2015
• Amazon App Store, has been growing since it popped up in 2011 from 3,800 apps to over 290,000 as of January 2015.
• There are other app stores available to both iOS and Android, but they required rooting/jailbreaking your cell phone.  Rooting or jailbreaking your phone can unlock new features, give you access to apps that aren't available elsewhere (Cydia and XDA Developers are a couple options), allow you to customize the look of your phone beyond just changing a few colors here and there.  I would warn you though, if you go the direction of rooting or jailbreaking your cell phone (or tablet) you can void your warranty or worse if you don't follow the instructions carefully you run the risk of "bricking" your cellphone, in other words turning it into an expensive paper weight.  Yes, I have rooted my Samsung Galaxy S III but it was something I read about for a long period of time and I didn't do it until I felt I was certain what I was doing.

Summary
I know I posted a LOT of information about the two phones and their features.  Each phone is meant for a different "type of " person, in my opinion, and without the hassle of rooting and jailbreaking, my opinion when it comes to cell phones is this.

People who don't want to customize their cell phone and are happy with having a phone that is tightly controlled by its manufacturer would do well with an Apple iPhone.  Having said that, while Apple does make the phone their way or no way, it does hold up well against most abuse and they don't have many issues beyond battery life.  The display glass could be better, in my line of work I see a LOT of cracked/shattered displays and they do tend to crack easily. Overall, the iPhone does what you expect it to and the upcoming iOS 9 will bring the iPhone into recent Android comparability.

People who want to "do what they want" with their cell phones, even without rooting them, have more options with an Android phone.  More app options, features, and sizes.  The Nexus 6 display is made of gorilla glass and can still crack but it will take more of a beating.  It makes for a good direct competitor against the iPhone 6.  

If you were to ask me, which phone you should go with?  Most likely, I'll tell you to go with an Android phone.  I would also base my answer on whether or not you already own a tablet.  Why?  If you own an iPad you would be better with an iPhone because apps you acquire on the iPad you can also download and install on your iPhone (if it is compatible - some apps only work on specific devices).  Even paid apps!  The same is true with any Android tablet, including the Kindle Fire tablets.  The apps you get on the tablet will work fine on an Android cell, again as long as the app wasn't written solely for either the tablet or cellphone. 

Securing Your Computer Password(s)

The importance of having a secure computer password cannot be stressed enough, both for your computer and your online accounts.  Whether it is email, Facebook, or your financial institution a password that isn't easily guessed is a must!  Make note that corporation policies for passwords vary and they might have their own rules that what you read may or may not follow.

A secure password should be 8 characters or more (remember the longer the better), they should contain both letters and numbers, and even some special characters like !, %, #, etc.  Having a password such as "Pa$$word1" follows this guideline pretty well BUT it is too simple.  A password "000ab123" is another example a password you wouldn't want to use.

Now when you do come up with a decent password to use, if you have issues with remembering them you should keep it noted somewhere OTHER than near your computer.  You can often find random password generators online, www.random.org is an example.  On their website you enter some basic criteria and the web site will generate some passwords that you could use if you so choose.

Another option and it is one that I have done a couple times.  You can place your hands above your keyboard and drop your fingers down and without looking just randomly type some keys.  If you choose this route, I would suggest opening a generic word processor (such as Notepad or TextEdit) and doing this in that program.  You could end up with a password that looks like this:  w0cEh;onw.  This is actually a pretty strong password that would be pretty hard to crack.

 Another method is to make a very lengthy password but something simple that you would be able to remember it without too much difficulty.  Using an entire phrase could be more secure than random text, provided of course you mix it up and replace letters with numbers and use capital letters.  The password " R0wR0wR0wYourBoat! " is a good example of a simple but still complex password.  It uses capital letters, numbers and special characters - the explanation mark at the end.  

According to the website How Secure Is My Password the phrase password example is strong and they estimate it would take SEVERAL years to crack.  Actually by the time the password would be cracked, according to the website, it's most likely whatever computer or account is being hacked will have long died out - along with you and me and the hacker.

Now that you have made note of a decent password the next thing you need to remember is not to use the same password for more than one thing.  Someone who gains access to your computer is likely to try that password on any bookmarked websites of importance.  Once they get in, they could easily lock you out just by changing the password AND recovery email addresses are good but once someone has access to your account they can change that as well.  

This brings us to the question, 'How often should I change my password?'  This is often debatable but recent research has shown that frequent password changes doesn't improve security at all.  Once upon a time, back in the days of mainframes, some Department of Defense contractors had calculated how long it would take to crack the passwords used on the mainframe and the result was "several months".  This led to a suggestion to change passwords once a month, this suggestion ended up spreading and became canon for the next several decades.  (Source)  Passwords to your financial accounts you may want to change every now and then however.

Myself personally, I rarely change my passwords but maybe once a year or three.  So next time your significant other says you don't change it as often as you should.  Just remind him or her, you don't work for the DoD. 

Say 'Goodbye Internet Explorer' and 'Hello Microsoft Edge'

After twenty years Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer.  It will still live on in the enterprise versions of Windows 10 mainly for compatibility reasons but for the rest of us we will be introduced to Microsoft Edge, codenamed Project Spartan.

Microsoft Edge, courtesy Microsoft

Microsoft Edge will bring many innovative features to the end users experience.  Some features include:

• Annotating web pages and syncing of the notes created to users OneDrive accounts,
• Reading List, brings features similar to Pocket and Instapaper to all your devices. Something that Apple's Safari browser already does.  Allowing you to save articles you want to read later.
• If you like to browse your favorite web sites with less clutter on the screen Microsoft Edge introduces a 'reading mode'.  Again another feature already seen in Apple Safari.
• The Hub is 'the place' where everything you do is stored together.  With the Hub you can view your bookmarks, access your Reading List, see your browsing history and even what files you have downloaded.
• And of course Microsoft brings Cortana to your browsing.  Looking for a place to have dinner?  Locate your restaurant and Cortana can do your reservations and provide you with directions to your diner. She can even help you learn something new if you don't know what it is just by highlighting it, right clicking and 'Ask Cortana'.

These are just some of the main features coming to Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge.  There is likely to be hiccups and incompaibilities with plug-ins, add-ons, etc. but what web browser doesn't have issues with version 1 basically, right?

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Edge, check out the Project Spartan website!  If you still haven't reserved your copy of Windows 10, see my previous blog entry and then visit Microsoft Windows 10 Upgrade for Free site!

Windows 10 is coming and it could be yours for FREE

Did you know that Windows 10 is coming out very soon?  Did you know if your computer is on a genuine version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8 you could get it for free, for a limited time?  Free, as in not a trial nor a limited functionality version.

There are a few simple steps you need to do in order to get it.

• First, you need to have Windows Updates set to automatic download/install.
• Second, your computer has to be up-to-date.

Once your computer is updated, look in the system tray (next to the clock) and you will see a Windows logo icon, this is the "Windows 10 app".  Click on it and follow the instructions on screen to reserve your copy of Windows 10.  On July 29th, your computer will automatically download this update and notify you to schedule when you want to install it - you have up to upgrade within one year of the availability of the update is the only caveat.  Best of all, you can do this for each eligible device by making a separate reservation.

Courtesy; Microsoft Corporation / Preview of Windows 10

If you decide, before July 29th, that you no longer want to upgrade to Windows 10.  Simply right click on the Windows 10 app in the system tray, select "Check your upgrade status" then select "Cancel reservation."

Now, having said this.  Microsoft has said that the upgrade will be free even if you don't reserve your copy.  The difference between reserving your copy and waiting is time.  Microsoft has said it might be weeks to months before your computer automatically prompts you to upgrade to Windows 10.

For more information on Microsoft Windows 10 features, check out the Windows 10 website.

Introduction to ComputerBytes

Welcome to my first blog!  My name is Jim Parker, I have over 15 years of computer technical support primarily in the K-12 education field in the state of Indiana.  I have multiple certifications between Apple and CompTIA and am always studying for my next certification.

Photo Courtesy: flickr: abdullah.khan2012

ComputerBytes is a technical advice blog for the non-technical person.  I decided to create this blog as part of my continuing education credits for my triennial re-certification of CompTIA's A+ certification.  

I will post weekly, information and how-to articles that reader's can use for helping them with their computers, tablets, cell phones, etc. 

Feel free to contact me with some questions you have or ideas you'd like explained further!