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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and the team discuss IFA 2020 Special Edition, online learning, rumored new Google devices, and more.
Ray in Niagara Falls, New York listens online and asked: “I’m having problems with my iPhone X. I’m losing contacts in my phonebook and also if somebody calls me, the call goes right to voicemail unless the person is in my favorites list. Hope you can help me with that.”
Ray, your second question has an easy answer, your first one not so much.
For your second question, we suspect you must be using the Do Not Disturb functionality. Apple built exceptions into their DND functionality. One of them, and the most relevant one in this case is Allow Calls From Favorites.
There are two easy ways to get around one, the first one is to just turn off Do Not Disturb, you can do that by pulling down from the top right corner to activate Control Center. From there just tap on the half moon button and youll be all set.
If you want to be able to continue to use DND but still allow calls (for example, if you just dont want to be notified of apps trying to get your attention). You can go into the settings and open Do Not Disturb.
From that pane you should be able to turn it off and on, check to see if you have scheduled DND hours, and set who is exempt and can still call you.
Your first question is tougher, there is no reason for your contacts to disappear. Something must be misbehaving somewhere and that something must have access to your contacts.
To try to figure out what app could be causing that behavior, you can go into Settings, then Privacy, and finally Contacts. That will show you which apps youve allowed to access your contacts. Any that dont have to access them should probably lose the privilege since, why allow it? But most importantly, one of those is the likely culprit if your contacts disappearing.
Eddie in Columbus, Mississippi listens on SuperTalk and asked: “I just wanted to know the best Wi-Fi extender. Cost, reliability, that sort of thing.”
Eddie, in terms of cost your least expensive solution will be just any old style repeater. Any normal WiFi extender or repeater will be very cheap, think $20, but they are usually harder to set up and not as seamless to use.
The set up process sometimes requires (or more like strongly encourages) a repeater of the same make as your WiFi router. If they are not compatible, some will force you to either connect it via a wired network, or create a second WiFi network to repeat the signal.
Thats not every repeater, some work better, but its often a far-from-seamless experience.
On the other end of the spectrum you have mesh devices that just talk to each other and for the most part self-manage. The set up in this case will be pretty simple and theyll likely work as set it and forget it devices. Theyll also hand off your device between each other depending on what node youre getting the best signal from without you ever noticing (youll only see one network and the rest is up to them).
The downside of those systems is price. Youll have to replace the router and get at least one repeater, so youre looking at around $200 for a Google WiFi, Eero mesh, or an Netgear Orbi pair.
Sandra in Cleveland, Ohio listens on AM800 CKLW and asked: “I am interested in buying an iPad for home use – for check e-mail, watch programs through YouTube or other sites. What is the best iPad? What would you recommend for an iPad for me to get? Where is the best place to buy the best consumer electronic products like iPads, computers and stuff like that?”
Sandra, if youre asking about strictly iPads, any of them will do.
Theres no iPad that wont let you watch YouTube or other streaming videos, check email or go on websites. What we can give you instead is tips on which not to get.
You probably dont need any of the more powerful Pro models. Those cost more money but have more processing power and are compatible with Apples Pencil. The Pro line is marketed towards professionals in fields in which they need a machine that will allow some more complex work in areas like design but that dont need the full power of bulkier a laptop. They are surprisingly able tablets, but theyre not cheap and theres not much point in spending the extra money to just apply the tablet to the tasks you described.
Speaking of money, there are lots of Android tablets out there that can do what youre looking for, and some cost less than iPads. Like with everything else, you do get what you pay for, dont expect a $50 Amazon Fire tablet to perform the way a $500 Pixel Slate or a or a $650 Galaxy Tab, but Android tablets would probably cover your needs to and that opens you up to more options, if youre interested in them.
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