chrishannah

You can search "UK ETA", find the main page: https://www.gov.uk/eta

Then click "Apply for an ETA" and you're brought to this page: https://www.gov.uk/eta/apply

Then there are options for the Apple App Store and also the Google Play Store, with a helpful note: "If you cannot download the app on your phone, you should apply online." Which then has a link to start the online process below.

A mix of technology, photography, and random opinions.

Taken from the Markdown Syntax Documentation (https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax):

It’s important to note that the actual numbers you use to mark the list have no effect on the HTML output Markdown produces. The HTML Markdown produces from the above list is:

    <ol>
    <li>Bird</li>
    <li>McHale</li>
    <li>Parish</li>
    </ol>

    1.  Bird
    1.  McHale
    1.  Parish

you’d get the exact same HTML output. The point is, if you want to, you can use ordinal numbers in your ordered Markdown lists, so that the numbers in your source match the numbers in your published HTML. But if you want to be lazy, you don’t have to.

There's a mini user guide in every iPhone box.

Also, Apple includes the Tips app by default on iPhones, that continuously prompts about features, and guides on how to use them.

I completely agree with this. And if you're not willing to learn how to use a device, why would you buy one anyway?

Also, I think there are many points being made that are either down to people being told incorrect information, or them just being plain wrong.

Regarding using Spotlight to search for apps/files: "Find a spot in Springboard (what’s that?) with no apps or folders." This is wrong, you can swipe down even over apps or folders.

"The simplest task that is functionally impossible to do (also on Macintosh): Play exactly one song." Wrong

"Apple Pay. Inscrutable and scary even in countries that have had chip cards forever, like Canada." This is not Apple's fault. Here in the UK, we've had a very good chip&pin system, which was updated to wireless readers a few years ago. And Apple Pay just works with them automatically. You'll find it hard to find a place that doesn't support it. I've heard that it's completely the opposite in the US, but does that mean the iPhone is hard to use? Also, it prompts you to set this up when you first use the phone.

"Because Apple calls its passwords passcodes, nobody has any clue at all that you can use an alphanumeric password instead of a string of six digits." Oh really.

I could include many other quotes here, but it's getting boring. But there is one point that is just absolutely fundamentally stupid - "If Apple actually cared about accessibility (it does not)". There is no way you can say Apple doesn't care about accessibility.

Another point I'd like to make - Even if there's an "advanced" feature like AirDrop, using Siri to schedule a meeting, or using an Apple Watch to receive directions, on your phone, it doesn't mean you will know how to use it immediately. And that is not by default a bad thing. But anyway, I think a lot of these features are easy to use. For example, when using the share sheet, AirDrop automatically appears at the top of the view. With names and images of nearby devices/contacts. Surely it couldn't be more intuitive?

Maybe when people spend large amounts of money on something, they should put more effort into learning how to use it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And sporadically, I'll write a few myself: http://blog.chrishannah.me/category/swift-tips/