Tech Tip Tuesday is a weekly series that shares short tips and tricks for iNaturalist users. These little tricks will make your iNaturalist workflows just a bit easier to manage.
If you have a tip to add to the list, please submit it via email and Emily will add it.
1. Turn on Do Not Disturb mode
Keeping your phone off is a great way to get things done. It can help you sleep better, give you a break from your busy schedule, and let you enjoy real-life conversations without constantly getting a call or alert. But if you have people in your life who really need to be in touch, there’s a way to turn on Do Not Disturb mode so they can still reach you even when you’re using it.
In iOS, you can set Do Not Disturb to automatically turn on based on certain events or times. You can even create rules based on your current location, Wi-Fi connectivity, or calendar events. You can also schedule it to run for a specific period or until you manually turn it off yourself.
You can use this feature when you’re driving, too, to make sure no one interrupts your trip or makes you miss a call or message. Apple also introduced a Share across devices feature in iOS 15 that lets you turn on Do Not Disturb on one iPhone and have it turn on on any other device logged in with the same iCloud account.
However, some users are concerned about the fact that they might miss an important call or message from someone when Do Not Disturb is on. To overcome this, you can enable exceptions for contacts or Starred conversations, which are messages you’ve starred.
To do this, open Contacts and tap on a person you want to be able to get in touch with when Do Not Disturb is turned on. Once you’ve done this, the app will display the option to allow notifications from them.
After you’ve made this choice, tap Done to save the change. This is a quick and easy way to get things set up.
Once you’re done, return to the main screen and check the Duration setting to see how long Do Not Disturb will be active. You can schedule it to run for an hour, a day, or until you turn it off yourself.
There are other ways to customize your Do Not Disturb settings as well, including adding restrictions and exceptions. The latter can be especially useful for anyone who’s trying to tame their iPhone’s distractions, but it can be a little tricky.
2. Tap the call button
A mobile phone is a powerful tool for business and social interaction. However, many users still prefer to speak to a human being when it comes to their business needs and concerns. This is especially true for customers who are prone to having frequent questions or are looking for a little more guidance than a simple chat or email.
Luckily, there are a number of ways to make the most out of your device. From the iPhone to Android, there is a multitude of apps that will help you accomplish your business goals and get the job done. Using the right app is vital to maximizing the potential of your mobile device.
One of the most impressive phone apps is the Google Assistant, a voice-enabled virtual assistant that helps you with everything from shopping to paying bills. The best part about this technology is that it’s free, a win for all involved. It may also be the best mobile phone app for small businesses to take advantage of. The best part is that it works on any smartphone.
3. Tap the full stop key
It might not seem like a big deal, but on a mobile device full stops (periods) can be an unnecessary drag. That’s why Apple has built a little shortcut to help you end sentences.
You might not be aware, but if you tap the space bar twice after finishing typing a word on your iPhone or iPad, it’ll automatically convert that first space into a period. This may not be perfect, but it should at least be enough to let you finish your sentence without worrying about tapping the space bar again.
On the numbers and symbols pad, you can also tap a small button to access another keyboard layout that contains all of the frequently used punctuation symbols. This is where you’ll find your question mark and exclamation marks, as well as the brackets and # and % signs that make up some of the most common punctuations in English.
Once on that keyboard, you can also long press a key to show you all the variations of the letter with corresponding accent marks, for example. This is a great way to save time when you’re capitalizing words on your phone, or just need to quickly check the results of your typing without pausing to press the Tab key or Enter key.
The most efficient way to type on your iPhone is to keep it in the QWERTY mode as much as possible. This means you should try to use the alphabet keys whenever possible instead of trying to switch to the number and symbols pad each time you need to add a punctuation mark.
A number and symbol pad is a nice feature to have, but it can get a bit cluttered when you start using it all the time. To avoid the mess, you can set a delay on the number and symbol pad so that it only shows up once every two or three times you tap the keyboard.
In fact, you can even use it as a kind of virtual Caps Lock. Just double-tap the word you want to change, and you’ll see an up-facing arrow on the right side of the “z” key — the same thing that appears on a real keyboard when you type the word “zoo.” Then tap the Shift button once to go into Sentence Case, or double-tap it again to return to lowercase letters.
4. Turn on chat bubbles
Chat bubbles are a feature that Google introduced in Android 11 to improve notifications on mobile devices. They are similar to Facebook Messenger’s pop-up notifications, and they work with a number of apps. They’re a handy way to keep track of messages from various apps and services.
One of the best things about chat bubbles is that they’re easy to dismiss if you don’t need them. Simply tap the bubble, and it’ll disappear until you need it again. Then, you can drag the bubble to a different location on the screen or flick it away by tapping the small “X” that appears at the bottom of the screen.
You can also change which apps and conversations can have bubbles. To do this, head to Settings > Apps & notifications and select Bubbles. If you want to enable chat bubbles for all apps, select “Allow apps to show bubbles.”
Once you’ve enabled this feature, you can start using it to keep track of messages from your favorite apps and services. It’s a great way to get important notifications on your screen whenever you need them, and it works for everything from texting platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to more universal ones like Slack.
When you have bubbles on, new messages from a particular conversation will appear as a bubble icon in the notification shade on your device. Those bubbles will stack on top of each other, so you can easily see which ones you have open at any given time.
If you’re having trouble with a chat bubble that won’t work, it’s worth restarting your device to reset any bugs that may be preventing it from working. It’s also a good idea to review your phone’s permissions to make sure they’re all set up properly.
Alternatively, you can try turning on the Bubble This Conversation option for any ongoing conversations you have in Slack. It’s a quick and simple process that will enable chat bubbles to display on your home screen, which is a great way to make it easier for you to keep tabs on incoming messages from different apps.
