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iCloud configuration for shared Apple Store content

– Brett Barron

14 October 2011

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If you are not the only Apple consumer in the house, READ THIS BEFORE CONFIGURING iCloud.

Apple launched iCloud and the iPhone 4s this week. As we've come to expect, the faithful lined up to get the latest iPhone before they were gone. Millions of people received their new iPhone today and expected it to "just work". For some I suppose it did. But others of us may lead more complicated lives than the folks talking to Siri in the Apple promo videos. I offer some tips here for life with multiples of iDevices and users. 

I am not the only one living in my house that uses Apple gear. For years we've used a single AppleID to purchase music, movies, TV shows, and apps that we've synced with our iPhones, iPods and iPads from our Mac Mini in the media center. This DOES just work and it's awesome. My wife and daughter download new apps to their devices and after the occasional sync with the Mini, the apps are available on every device. Same for music as well, naturally.

iCloud changed everything. Apple doesn't make this quite clear, but when configuring devices for iOS 5, if you use the same AppleID for all services on a device, iCloud (default configuration) will merge the data, including contacts and calendars. If all devices share the same email address for Facetime one device cannot call another. This is likely not the best outcome and is easily avoided. iCloud, Facetime, and (Apple) Store can each be configured with different AppleIDs. Here is my recommendation:

• create a unique AppleID for each user of Apple devices
• configure (settings) each user's device(s) to use this unique Apple ID For iCloud and Facetime
• configure (settings) Store to use the common AppleID you've always used to purchase Apple content

This setup allows you to continue to share downloaded content among devices, keep a unique set of personal content (contacts and calendars) sync'd with iCloud for each user and to have unique identities for Facetime. Apple could have explained this, but it would have complicated their marketing message. Extracting the simple from the complex is Apple's forte. This time they oversimplified leaving many with questions about how to best enjoy the new offerings. To make matters worse, it's not immediately clear when you examine iCloud, Facetime, and Store options in the Settings App that you can make unique selections for each service, so even those looking for the right setup may have missed it. For many users who blindly moved forward with the recommended defaults, the result is a mess to clean up.

Each day, Dialogs Professional Services helps business reach their customers through increasingly complex digital communications channels. We help them understand the options available. We tailor solutions to meet each customer's unique needs. For some it starts with a simple website, for most it eventually becomes a comprehensive marketing effort involving content that feeds websites, mobile apps, multiple social networking services, and organic search. We've been doing this long enough to make it easy to understand even if it is quite complex to execute.  

Let us help you define your digital communication needs with no more complexity than is required. Call us. Oversimplification can lead to a mess.

 

An argument for onshore outsourcing.

– Robert Kruger

16 September 2011

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The opening sentence of a written piece is widely considered to be the most important. Consider this opening sentence:

“Recently passed financially viable slump and a fear of prospective one have put extra lines on the forehead of people globally as such issues do nothing, but stimulate the economies with menace of demand of different things.”

This is the actual opening sentence of a recent blog article from a website and application development firm in India. You can search for this sentence if you want to “read” more – I am intentionally not linking to the article to spare you the pain.

Just for fun, I wrote – in actual English – what the author of that opening sentence might have intended. Keep in mind that this is a wag – the last half of their opening is incomprehensible. Here is my version:

“The recent economic downturn, combined with concerns that more bad economic news may be on the horizon, is cause for concern for business owners around the world. These concerns are a distraction, pulling businesses in the wrong direction.”

I ran my version through a language translator, converting out of English, and then back to English. The result may have different word choices, but it has a similar feel. Here is what came back into English:

“The new recession combines with interests that false economical news on the horizon can be, reason is to the providing for business owners in the whole world. These interests are a diversion and draw business in the false direction.”

Here’s what I think happened. The article – one that speaks to the high quality of outsourced work - was written in a foreign language and then automatically translated to English (without review by an English-speaking person).

If you are considering outsourcing website or app development work, you first need to understand what is at risk.

• What happens if you are into the development cycle and an issue arises that would be best resolved by letting the developer communicate directly with your customer? If your developer’s communication skills are at the level of the opening sentence above, your reputation will take a significant hit.

• Because of time zone differences, a meeting between your customer and your development team will be difficult, if not impossible, to coordinate. If you aren’t transparent about offshore outsourcing from the beginning of your project, you will be outed to your customer, probably at a bad point in the project.

• Even if you don’t allow your outsource contractor to communicate directly with your customers, they are still affecting your product and your image. Development notes, instructions, documentation, data organization, data field names, and countless other bits of written material will pass directly from your contractor to your customer. There is no way to avoid it.

Before you decide that outsourcing to a country on the other side of the world is your only option, consider ONshore outsourcing. Here are the clear advantages of onshore outsourcing:

• It can be a huge advantage if your entire team can communicate easily. You can include developers in the conversation with your customers.

• Work can get done in a timelier manner if everyone working on the project is working the same hours. Large time zone differences slow down progress by delaying communication.

• All parts of the project can be conveyed in an understandable way, including in-app documentation and notes. The final product you deliver to your customer will be better.
• Your customers will notice that you value quality above making the cheapest possible decision.

Onshore outsourcing is on the rise. There are good reasons for this shift. The high-quality and affordable solution you're looking for is available right here.

Dialogs Professional Services provides the highest quality web and mobile app development at truly affordable rates. Best of all, we speak your language. Call us at 800-707-0106 or use our contact form to see for yourself how onshore is a viable solution.

Designers: The giant Google Panda is watching.

– Robert Kruger

29 August 2011

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Creative agencies that design and build websites for clients, take note. Google is paying attention. This is good news – so good, in fact, you need to tell everyone about it.

Specifically, this is what you should tell your clients. Choosing to pay for a custom website is now more necessary than ever if you want your business to succeed. Here are the steps to business success today:

1. To succeed, your business must have a strong presence on the web.

2.  To have a strong presence on the web, Google must like you.

3. For Google to like you, your website must be engaging.

Item 1 is not always understood by businesses. I have heard business owners say things like, “The only reason I have a website is so people can find my phone number.” That is completely wrong. Today, the only reason you have a phone is so someone who is looking at your website can ask you a question. Really. If I were told that my business must choose between a phone and a website, I would no longer have a phone. Attracting attention on the web is synonymous with success. Every other promotional effort is secondary to a dominant presence on the web.

Item 2 is just as carved-in-stone as item 1. Yes, I have heard of Bing and Yahoo! I’ve heard of a lot more than that – stuff like Alta Vista and Metacrawler and Ask. They are all goofy little distractions. They could all vanish tomorrow, and no one would notice or care. Google is it. Google owns the web. The true – and only – test to see if your web presence is strong is to see what Google thinks of your site. (Let me add that I know this could change in the future, particularly with the amount of complaining going on about Panda, but for now, Google is it.)

Item 3 is news. Since Google released Panda, the techniques to get Google to like you have shifted. Quantity of content is less important than quality of content. Relevance to search terms has been tempered with an eye for an enjoyable and engaging user experience. Inbound links are less important than keeping site visitors on your site. Google has actually automated metrics that predict what people like, including design. You can learn more in this interesting video by SEOmoz.

Google’s shift in focus to high-quality, interesting sites is good news for the creative industry. As industry professionals, we know that better copywriting, pleasing page layout, cool design aesthetics, and logical information architecture all improve the user experience. Google has now found a way to reward us for our efforts.

Dialogs has always been the best tool on the market for creating engaging user experiences. Give us a call or contact us to see how we make the web a better place.