iPhone SE - A Lot To Like

So the 4" screen iPhone SE is here, retailing in the UK for £439 with 64GB storage onboard.

The real kicker? It has the guts of the latest iPhone 6S inside in terms of A9 processor and 12MP iSight camera with focus pixels.

For an airninja like me that is very very tempting. Why? Apart from the fact it is simply light and powerful and strips away a lot of the flimflam.

Over the years my iPhone usage has matured, much like my iPad usage - which has fallen away completely. I'm old, I'm boring, I don't play games (at least, I have played my favourite genres to the point of boredom) - the idea of having an understated - yet powerful - iPhone appeals.

And I've had extensive use of all the public iPhone form factors at this point.

I started using big screen phones with the Dell Streak, believing that I would soon be able to get real meaty work done with the occasional attachment of a keyboard. It's never really happened though - my usage pattern has basically reverted to iPhone for comms/navigation/camcorder and any heavy lifting done on my 2013 13" MacBook Air - if that computer is tied up doing a heavy render I reach for a ChromeBook to do stuff.

I think this is a result of failed mobile UX paradigms as much as my own brain calcification. Which ever way you look at it, editing a video is fiddly on a small screen (I attach my 13" MBA to a 24" display for proper narrative video editing sessions - though I did edit my first feature film on the 12" screen of a PowerBook).

There are a couple, and only a couple, of reasons I will resist pulling the trigger on a 64GB iPhone SE purchase:

1. My current 128GB iPhone 6S Plus has 61GB storage free - this tells me that 64GB max storage just isn't going to cut it for me without additional admin/habits.

2. The size of the iPhone 6(S) Plus means it has a huge battery relative to smaller models. I am just not concerned about shooting video all day whilst powering a microphone on the lightning port. Take that battery away and it becomes a choice of lightning microphone or an external battery pack - and, that's right, potentially a whole bunch of admin.

It's a case of iPhone SE at £439 (still a significant chunk of change) vs my iPhone 6S Plus at £789 though - and the airninja movie method has always been about grasping value propositions early on. For my actual usage, I suspect the iPhone SE with 64GB would do just fine (after all, I have made feature films using iPhone 4S - albeit with onboard mics and an external battery pack).

Remember, zig when they zag. Avoid the mushy middle. It is tempting.

Eating Humble Pie - Apple, Pie

So you may remember I was very disappointed with the direction Apple is taking lately, with its subscription model and general smugness. So I switched to a Sony Xperia Z3+ via a refurb Z2 (still a good value phone I reckon).

It's not that Android is bad. Indeed, I am completely won over by Google services once more and thanks to Google Music I am actively listening and rediscovering my music library once more.

Google Inbox has matured to a point where it just seems normal to me, I've always used my email as a to-do list, so it's perfect(ing). I've been centralising my schedule with (Microsoft's) Sunrise Calendar and not looked back. And Google Keep has since been released for iOS.

So the software that sits on Android is not bad.

It's the ...

Well.

Those that know me know that I have virtually zero tolerance for a product flake out in critical working situation.

You guessed it.

The Xperia video camera let me down. More than once.

I can workaround the native camera not recording 1080P video for more than 30 minutes, but some things I can't comes to term with:

1. Camera lag. From activation delay to a delay after pressing record, it is not acceptable to me when one of my primary uses for bothering with a smartphone is to have a reliable and robust video camera on me at all times. The Xperia hardware may be robust and reliable but the software has proven to me over the last couple of months that it is neither robust nor reliable.

2. Fixing the exposure. I mean, c'mon. I want to set an exposure and keep it there, please. I didn't realise how important that feature had become to me on iPhone.

3. Third party camera apps that are a bit flakey. Likely because of that F word.

I just don't have time for this shit. I need something that "just works", shit here I am on my knees begging for iPhone to take me back because in my experience it "just works".

So I guess I've learned a lesson here. I love recording live stereo sound, I really love it. However, moreso I love a reliable and robust video camera that records mono. And there always the Shure MV88 and my credit rating before I bankrupt myself with another round of Apple gear and Lightning cables.

Like I say though, Google services have won me over. Android hardware flakiness is to Apple network services flakiness in my experience - frustrating and somewhat second-rate; mediocre.

My next iteration airninja mojo core kit looks like being a previous generation Apple phone running current generation Google services. Win win, right?

eBay Sellers: Avoid iPhone iCloud Lock Extortion Scam from Buyers

Yes you may think the sellers are the scammers but I now have first hand experience of buyers using
the same scam to extort sellers!

Read on to find out how you can definitively avoid being extorted. Or if tl;dr scroll down to the end for the bits of proof you'll need and other guidelines.

I apologise in advance for potty-mouth.

Okay, I suppose I should begin at the beginning. As regular readers know I have switched to Android phones for various reasons so put my iPhones up for auction on eBay.

One iPhone sold without friction, just the buyer asking for proof of the extended AppleCare+ which I duly provided. Everything went well, the buyer paid promptly, I gave them positive feedback on eBay. Some days later the buyer gave me positive feedback on eBay. All good. Possibly lulling me into a false sense of eBay feedback nirvana.

Anyway. The other iPhone was a totally different story.

As an aside, the first listing for this other iPhone ended with an international user with zero eBay feedback winning the item. As regular sellers will know this has all the hallmarks of a throw-away eBay account used to inflate the price of your auction out of the market. And surprise, this buyer never paid and never responded to my messages. Naturally I did not ship the iPhone, it just sat boxed and ready to ship, all iCloud unlocked and everything.

You know when your iPhone is iCloud unlocked because Apple send an email to you via your Apple ID details telling you exactly that. Remember this!

Anyway. I re-list the iPhone that didn't sell, but keep the auction within national boundaries to keep it simpler. A few days later the winning bidder pays promptly. Great. All is well and good in eBay land so far.

I explain to the buyer that the warranty status can be confirmed by entering the device serial number at Apple's website. I also suggest they can record it on their Apple support profile once they have it set up with their Apple ID. I also double-check I have removed it from my own support profile (of course I had, ages ago!)

So far so good. Package the iPhone and send it off via Royal Mail Special Delivery, insured up to £600. I am careful to keep proof of posting, natch.

The buyer seems quite excited to receive the iPhone, I am quite happy for them, they've messaged me a couple of times to ask about warranty blah blah blah, nothing out of the ordinary.

The buyer messages me to confirm receipt of the iPhone.

My first mistake: because things seem to be going so well, I give the buyer positive feedback. After all, they seem happy, they've paid, what could possibly go wrong?

Oh.

Later I get a message from the buyer saying that the iPhone is iCloud activation locked, displaying "This iPhone is currently linked to an Apple ID (e**@address.com). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPhone."

Oh dear. Did I really forget to deactivate my iCloud account on the iPhone? After all, the buyer says it's reporting a Yahoo email address and I do have a Yahoo account that I use for Flickr. Could I possibly have screwed up so badly and not used the same Apple ID I've been using for over 10 years when I was previous owner of this iPhone?

I smelled something fishy. The pungent aroma of an eBay asshole.

Sure that I had shipped the iPhone iCloud unlocked, I double-checked my iCloud account Find My iPhone and my Apple Support profile - nada. It aint there, so surely it must be unlocked and this person is just being a cock.

In case my Flickr Yahoo ID has somehow become associated with an Apple ID, I use iForgot to
attempt to reset the password - however Apple systems report no record. Phew.

That asshole buyer got smellier.

I googled to see if there was a way to check iCloud activation status - after all, if I could prove the iPhone was currently iCloud unlocked, this eBay asshole could get fucked.

I typed the iPhone serial number in at Apple's Activation Lock check website. Guess what? The iPhone is iCloud Activation Locked. FUUUUUUUUUUUU - how did that even

Breathe.

The buyer offers their mobile number. You know, for a quick chat to smooth things over - all I'd need to do is give over my Apple ID username and password so they can unlock the iPhone. WAIT WHAT.

So not only is the iCloud account the iPhone is locked to not match my actual Apple ID, the buyer assures me a quick old-fashioned chat over the phone will solve everything.

This now stinks to me. It is obvious that the iPhone has been tampered with but I stop short of any accusations. I guess Royal Mail must've done it, right?

The buyer thinks there's no way Royal Mail tampered with the device (and I tend to agree). They are pointing the finger at themselves as far as I'm concerned. (I say 'they' because there are three different names associated with this particular transactions' accounts at their end).

I remain polite.

They accuse me of being an iPhone dealer, a scammer, untrustworthy - the implication being the iPhone is stolen and I am not the previous owner - booga booga. They say I know damned well that an iCloud locked iPhone can be had on eBay for hundreds of pounds less than what the buyer paid hint hint.

They assure me they are a 100% genuine eBayer. And their account does have double the amount of positive feedback than mine.

I'm not budging. I know I sent the iPhone with iCloud deactivated and as I mentioned the account it was locked to their end was not my account. The only explanation is that the iPhone has been tampered with after dispatch. Unfortunately I can't definitively prove this and the asshole knows it.

I check out eBay policy on name-calling accusations. I report the asshole for being an asshole, being sure to mention that he was asking for my Apple ID username and password outside of the eBay messaging system.

The next morning I get a much cooler, polite, message from the buyer. Let's sort this out amicably shall we?

Well as far as I'm concerned there's nothing to sort out, they've locked the iPhone themselves and are trying to guide me into offering a refund. I can prove I am the previous owner of the iPhone and I can prove ownership has transferred to them.

I remain polite. Send proofs of purchase and warranty. They give me a sob story about an interrupted social life and then taking half a day off work to visit an Apple store to get the iPhone unlocked. Diddums.

They tell me the iPhone is now iCloud unlocked (I double check, and it is) and that because it was sold in the iCloud locked state (it wasn't and I have emails from Apple to prove it) and because they had the inconvenience of visiting an Apple store (I only have the assholes word for this, no proof) that I should agree to a partial refund to ensure positive feedback from them. WAIT WHAT.

Now of course there's a small chance this buyer is not an asshole, but demanding a partial refund or else they will give me negative feedback? Well fuck 'em, I'll suck down the negative feedback and I'll further report the asshole to eBay for attempted extortion.

And that dear reader is why I must offer you this advice when using eBay to sell your iPhone: you must keep a record proving that the iPhone is iCloud unlocked whilst in transit to the buyer, that way you will have zero self-doubt. You can do this by sending it Royal Mail Special Delivery (other courier services are available) and keep the proof of posting - this includes the tracking number and the date/time you dropped it off with the Post Office. Now go to Apple's iCloud Activation Lock checker website and enter the iPhone serial number, take a screenshot. Even if some asshole accuses you of doctoring the screenshot, at least you will be sure of yourself and know 100% you are dealing with an asshole buyer.


TL;DR

When selling iPhones on eBay adhere to these guidelines to avoid being extorted by an asshole buyer:

1. Only communicate within the eBay messaging system. This makes typing email addresses a pain and attachments are woefully low resolution but it means if it goes to eBay arbitration the entire thread is there.

2. Keep proof of dispatch and proof of iCloud Activation status whilst the iPhone is in transit to the buyer. Whilst a real total asshole might also accuse you of doctoring the image, you could counter with a statement along the lines of "proof is the burden of the prosecution" (in English law).

3. Don't give the buyer feedback until a couple of weeks later. This means you are on equal footing until the transaction is long forgotten. Any asshole buyer is unlikely to attempt eBay extortion after that length of time.

4. Stay cool, calm, collected, polite. The customer is always right but assholes will be assholes.

5. Don't be afraid to report the buyer to eBay if you have a legitimate reason to do so. I suspect a lot of assholes get away with extortion because more genuine sellers don't complain to eBay about the asshole buyer.

6. Some buyers are assholes because they always want to get a deal. You are not obligated to satisfy their addiction for 'winning'.

This all helps avoid the situation where you ship an iCloud unlocked iPhone to the buyer but the buyer then iCloud locks it themselves and accuses you of shipping stolen goods.



I hope you have found this anecdote informative, if not entertaining.

How To Use Apple iCloud Easily On Google Android (Part 3: Contacts)

For as long as I remember I've used my Mac to hold my master address book (ok since late 2002 when I switched to OS X). Over the years it's been synced ad-hoc to Google Contacts (remember Address Book used to offer an easy sync when Apple and Google were in bed together) but the google side has always been a bit messy.

Part 3: Contacts

Since I want to maintain iCloud as my master address book for now, it's handy that Apple implement their service as CardDAV.

Fortunately Android Play Store has a plethora of CardDAV sync apps, and I chose to use one called CardDAV-sync and it seems to work fine so far (after giving it a few minutes to pull down all the details from iCloud).

The app offers two-way sync by default which should mean any new contacts entered on my phone find their way into my address book.

When configuring the app all you need to know is your personal iCloud credentials and Apple's contact server - sensibly enough named 'contacts.icloud.com'

Type all that into CardDAV account setup and you should be good.

How To Use Apple iCloud Easily On Google Android (Part 2: Email)

I'm using a refurbished Sony Xperia Z2 with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. I'm also firmly entrenched in Apple's iCloud eco-system and am a multi-platform user (Android, iOS, OS X).

Part 2: Email

If you don't use any iCloud aliases then just use the stock email app on the Android device. Stop reading now. It's that simple.

I use an iCloud alias to shield my true Apple ID. Whilst not particularly any more safe or secure, it helps me feel clever.

However most Android email clients do not give you the option of using iCloud email aliases. There are ways and means though (and over time I expect more and more Android email clients to support iCloud aliases).

This was actually particularly easy for me. I've been using Gmail as my back-end email for almost 10 years (Google remembers so I don't have to - I just have to be good with search keywords, which I am).

With Gmail I'd already setup my default sender address as one of my iCloud aliases. So on Android I can just use Gmail and my outgoing reply-to address defaults to that alias.

More recently though I believe Gmail have made it more convoluted to add additional email addresses (aliases with differing domains) to your Gmail account. So I don't particularly recommend it unless you want to use Gmail as your backend.

A simpler method for people who keep their email on iCloud and don't forward it anywhere is an app Aqua Mail.

The free version doesn't support iCloud aliases (identities) but reportedly the paid version does (I say reportedly since reviewers say it does, I have not tried it myself - go and read the reviews for yourself).
called

How To Use Apple iCloud Easily On Google Android (Part 1: Calendar)

After committing to my new/old/refurb Sony Xperia Z2 by putting in my day-to-day SIM the question of how to access my iCloud services crops up quickly.

Part 1: Calendar

I've done the hard work for you - just install Sunrise Calendar from the Play Store then configure it for iCloud. Easy!

Slightly longer explanation:

Install Sunrise Calendar and launch it.

In Sunrise:
Connect with Google.
Add your iCloud account.
Disconnect your Google account (unless you have Google calendars you want to use too).*
Done!

Told you, Easy!

Now you can add stuff on your Android phone and it will push to your Mac desktop iCal app, and vice versa.

And this is all thanks to the new good guy Microsoft (can't believe I just typed that but there you go - once bitten twice shy and all that).


*EDIT: after disconnecting from Google, Sunrise gave me an authentication error. So you need to Sunrise to remain authenticated with either Google or Facebook (second time around I chose Facebook since it has event calendars I actually refer to occasionally).

fugly? Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite Beta)

Functionally improved, visually a little retarded?

Looks like preparation for resolution independence through scalable vector graphics to me. Though we've been here before a few years ago, it didn't quite unify and mature in the way I expected - probably because of that pesky iPhone showing up in 2007.

One thing's for sure - Apple has a plethora of screen resolutions to deal with and a whole bunch of forking fragmentation creeping up on them. I'd be surprised if Apple are not self-aware and already on it in some manner. Their scaling solution is not as 'clean' as I'd expect from Apple. SvG, is.

And circular application icons? Where did I see those recently? (Okay so circular icon bias is not new).

I'm mulling over subscribing to the 79p 20GB iCloud Drive but mentally I have a hard time becoming dependent on anything that requires I regularly pay money for something I could get by without. Though I suppose, if I can't find 79p every month I must have bigger problems than fretting over cloud storage options. The mindset of the soon-to-be self-employment revenue stream!