Poor Design: Apple "New Episode Available For Download" Emails

So this is the first of a new series I'm going to start which is centred on instances of less-than-ideal design. Not always bad, just less than ideal (or poor) design.

This example is just like when someone sends you an email saying they've got a message for you. It would have been just as hard to send you an email giving you the actual message but they want you to do something first ... An unnecessary step.

Here's the example from Apple;

What I find infuriating about this is that it doesn't tell me what the new episode *is*. Is it an actual new episode or is it another "making of" documentary of some description? The only way to know is to take a look in iTunes or on the Apple TV.

There's plenty of space. Why not include it?

What adds to the frustrating is that I've been an Apple customer for quite a while and I could have sworn they used to. A little digging around in Gmail (thanks Google!) unearthed this old emails from 2012;

This just makes it more annoying. Apple "Series Pass Notifications" used to include this information.  I wonder what made them stop?

Either way they've taken a once fairly useful email and turned it, not into something useless, but into something of less use for no discernible reason.

Using iOS 6 Apple Maps "Report A Problem" Feature

As I'm sure you'll be aware Apple are experiencing a few problems with their brand new Apple Maps application for iOS 6 (see here for CEO Tim Cooks' public apology). One of the features of the new Maps application is a "Report A Problem" link, you can use this to report issues to Apple for them to fix - clearly they'll have a lot to do.

Here's how to report an issue;

• First of all go to the location in Apple Maps which shows the problem you'd like to report;

• Then click on the bottom-right "page" bit to see the settings;

• Just above the "Print" button in *very* faint type (makes you wonder if they intended people to spot it doesn't it?!) there is a "Report a Problem" link. Click on this.

• Now you pick the type of issue you want to report. Here's a tip; if you want your issue dealt with quickly (and that's a relative term!) don't select "My problem isn't listed" - I don't know what black hone that vanishes into but don't expect anyone to get back to you soon! For the sake of this example I'm going to pick "Location is missing" (as it is!);

• At the top of the screen it says "Drag the pin to the correct location". Do that and then when you're done click "Next" at the top right;

• Now you can enter as much details as you can for the item you're reporting as being missing. I'm reporting "Bar Hill Tesco" and I've picked the details of their website (I've even included the link so Apple can check it). Then click "Next";

• Now, after you're spent all that time typing stuff in, it tells you that the map information and problem you've entered will be reported to Apple if you click "OK". You could just click "Cancel" if you want to have wasted your time.

Apple Maps Comes To Bar Hill!

As I'm sure you're aware Apple have updated their iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod) with iOS 6 which replaces the existing Google Maps with *new* Apple Maps which includes Turn-By-Turn navigation as well as a 3D view.

Sadly the new Maps application is not quite up to the standard of Google Maps (in much the same way as an ant is not quite up to the height of a giraffe).

Looking at Bar Hill Tesco is a good example of where this has not quite worked ... The map at the right shows Tesco Car Park with access both to Gladeside and Viking Way (neither of which exists), and a surprising loop in the car park.

If nothing else pondering these anomalies with give the people trapped in the one-way system that the Petrol Station has suddenly turned into something to think about!

There are numerous other issues; "Long Stanton Road" as an example of a typo (should be "Longstanton Road"), and half the businesses are missing including Tesco, the Parish Council Officers, the Church, etc.

I have reported several of these, but fixing everything is going to be a *huge* job and is way beyond anything that Apple have planned - Google Maps after all didn't get anywhere near as good as it is now overnight! It's just a shame this half-finished product is being forced onto people in it's current state. 

So what should Apple do? (let's just pretend they are taking advice from random bloggers!) I've mentioned before in various blogs the open-source mapping information provided by www.openstreetmap.org seems to be a viable alternative. For example;

OpenStreetMap.org - Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire

I'd suggest to Apple that rather than trying to build their own mapping database - which will take years - or buying one of the not-as-good-as-Google mapping companies out there to get access to their data why not work with OpenStreetMap and provide some funding for the project and use open source mapping data? Give it all away free and people will help you build it.

Anyway, here's hoping they do something soon!

Using AppleTV (and Airplay) with BT Home Hub 3.0

If you're reading this post then you're probably experiencing one of the following issues;

• Your Apple TV can connect to the internet over Wi-Fi but can't see your iTunes Library (that you're sharing via Home Sharing) on a another machine on your home network
• Airplay Devices you own (such as iPod's, iPhone's, iPad's, etc) cannot see your Apple TV (despite them all being able to access the Internet via the Home Hubs Wi-Fi

You've probably tried;

• Doing a "hard reset" of the Home Hub - always a good place to start when you have an issue!
• Adding in the AppleTV ports to the list of forwarded ports (although this doesn't always work as sometimes you get a conflict)

And still no Airplay on your devices, and no iTunes library on your AppleTV.

Here is the solution (well, what worked for me anyway!);

• Go to Your Home Hub 3.0 login page (see here if you're having problems finding it) and login (if this is the first time you've logged in it will ask you to change the password from the "admin password" on your Hub Settings fob)
• Click "Settings" 
• Click "Wireless" (on the left)
• Change Security from "WPA & WPA2 (Recommended)" to "WPA2 only"
• Re-enter the Wireless Key as specified on your Hub Settings fob (you could pick another, but that just complicates the process and means everything will have to reconnect and login again)
• Scroll to the bottom and click "Apply"

And that's it, assuming everything is connecting properly and this was the only problem (and you've chosen the same Wireless Key so that everything doesn't have to reconnect - always a good idea!) then everything should, as if by magic, start working.

BT Home Hub 3.0 Wireless Security Settings

Switching to Google Public DNS (on an Apple Mac OS X Lion)

If you are interested in learning why you should be using a DNS other than that provided by your Service Provider then you might like to see Google Article on the subject;

http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/intro.html

A couple of things it doesn't mention but are also definite benefits (for me anyway) are;

• Automatically opting out of any Service Provider "search" services (such as those offered by Virgin Media) when you miss-type a URL
• Avoiding any blocks your Service Provider might put on you reaching certain sites by substituting DNS entries. Of course the down side of using a service like Google is that suddenly by using a US-based service you are subject to US law and filtering

Here are the instructions in order to set-up your Mac to use Google DNS.

Go to the top-right of the screen and right-click the Network (Wireless?) network icon;

Apple Network Options

Select "Open Network Preferences";

Network Preferences

Click on the "Advanced" button at the bottom right;

Advanced Network Options

Click on the "DNS" tab (centre-middle at the top);

DNS  Servers

As you can see in the screen shot the Google IP addresses for DNS are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (which are certainly a lot easier to remember than IP addresses generally!).

You need to remove any entries that are already in this box and replace them with the two IP addresses above. 

Configuring GMail Access (with Push Notification) on an iPhone/iPad/iPod

The first thing you're probably thinking is "why not just use the standard Gmail account type?" and it's a perfectly valid question. I recommend using exchange because it gives you Push Email - this means when you get email it "instantly" appears on your device rather than your device checking for email at regular intervals (called Polling Email). Depending on your volume of emails having Push Email could save you considerable amounts of battery power (and time).

To enable Gmail with Push Email on an iPhone follow these steps.

Open the "Settings" application go to "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" and click "Add account...";

iPad: "Add Account" Under Settings

As you can see you have a list of options of which the one you're probably using the most at the moment is Gmail. Click on the top one, "Microsoft Exchange";

iPad: Add An Exchange Account

Enter your details here;

iPad: Add An Exchange Account (completed)

Click on the blue "Next" button at the top right of the entry dialog. The will now be a few seconds pause which an attempt is made to automatically identify the server you're trying to connect to. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work so after a few seconds you are presented with the same information again this time with a "Server" entry box;

iPad: Add an Exchange Account With Server

Enter the server "m.google.com" and then click "Next" again.

Your account will now be verified by Google and providing you have entered everything correctly you will then be presented with the option what to sync with your device;

iPad: Select Items To Sync

You can select any/all of the options (or even none).

When you're done click "Save" at the top right and you'll now have Push Email on your device.

Apple TV (2nd Generation) Buyers FAQ

Q: It says it does HD, is that 1080p?
A: No. It does 720p. There has been a lot of speculation recently about Apple launching "HD+" which would be 1080p content in the iTunes Store. At the moment (December 2011) this is just speculation and nothing has been released yet. It is unlikely that Apple TV will start doing 1080p before Apple has started selling content.

Q: Does it work right out of the box?
A: Yes - and no. You need to have a home network on which there is at least one machine which is running iTunes with home-sharing turned on, the Apple TV needs to then connect to the same network and be able to see this machine. You also need an HDMI cable.

UPDATE (Dec-11): If you have purchased either Music or TV Programmes (*not* Films) from the iTunes Store then these will be available as soon as you start-up your Apple TV and it connects to a network which has access to the internet.

Q: Can I put "x" from my iTunes library on it?
A: No. That's not how it works. The Apple TV streams media from another source (typically your iTunes library, iCloud, or one of the (few) supported internet services like YouTube, Vimeo, etc, or from AirPlay supported devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) it has a very small amount of local storage for buffering but you cannot "put" an item on that storage for viewing later.

Q: Can I use it as an external hard drive for media?
A: No, that's not how it works either - see above.

Q: Does it always have to be connected to the internet?
A: No. But it always has to be able to see it's source. As an example I took it, my wireless router, and my laptop running iTunes and my iPhone on a caravan holiday in South Wales. Despite the wireless router not having an ongoing connection to the internet the Apple TV was able to play streamed media from both the laptop and the iPhone when they were all connected to the router.

Q: Does it have to use Wi-Fi?
A: No, it has an ethernet port (and that's how I use mine). For performance reasons I find it works better with a wired connection (my wireless is provided by a Virgin Media Wireless-N box).

Q: Can I watch BBC iPlayer on it?
A: Directly No, but you could for example use Airplay to mirror iPlayer content  from either an iPad or an iPhone to it.

Q: Can I use my iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad as a remote control?
A: Yes, just install the Apple Remote application from the iTunes store and connect the device to the same network (so it can see the Apple TV) and turn on Home-sharing in the remote app.

Q: Does it play DVD's?
A: No. There is no DVD slot for a start. If you have the time and inclination you could use some software like HandBrake to convert your DVD's, add them into iTunes and then stream them to the AppleTV but the honest answer has to be "No".

Q: So would you recommend one?
A: Yes. Wholeheartedly.


So what other questions would people considering buying an Apple TV want to ask? Leave a comment and I'll try both to answer questions and to keep this FAQ up to date.

Apple TV (V1) unable to play Purchased Video (White Screen)

This blog post attempts to give a way of fixing the problem described above (which is related to account authorisation when using Multiple Apple ID's from iTunes not being correctly passed through to the Apple TV when you do a Sync).

This fix will only be of use to you if you have just factory-resert your Apple TV, performed a new Sync of your videos, you actually use multiple Apple ID's (i.e. you and your partner have separate accounts), and you are seeing the white screen instead of your video.

NOTE: This problem relates to an issue with the FIRST VERSION of the Apple TV. It does not occur on Apple TV 2.


Symptoms
When you select a video (film or TV program) that you have purchased from the Apple Store (i.e. it includes Apple DRM) the screen fills with white and at the bottom you see the "progress" bar which continues to count up but the picture remains just solid white.

There is no audio.

Cause
Your Apple TV has not been authorised to play video's for the specific user account that purchased the video.

Replicating The Problem
I've always though this this should be the most important section when describing any IT-related problem. How do you know you've fixed a problem you can't replicate? Needless to say working out exactly what caused this required quite a lot of time!

First of all you need two Appe ID's both of which have to have purchased a video (of some description) from the iTunes Store. Of course this is fairly easy to setup given the number of "free" videos and email services like GMail out there.

Let's call the accounts [1] and [2]. [1] has the free pilot episode of Stargate: Universe while [2] has the free recap of Lost.

Perform a factory reset of your Apple TV and then perform the initial setup from iTunes when it appears. Use account [1] to register your Apple TV and then sync both videos.

Attempt to play the video from [2] (Lost) on the newly refreshed Apple TV. You will see the white screen as despite iTunes allowing you to Sync the video it does not have the keys to actually play it.

Fixing the Problem
Ah yes, the important bit! Apple provide a potential solution to the problem here - IT veterans will recognize it as our perenial favourite the "turning it off and on again" answer to everything.

Assuming Apple's recommendation hasn't worked try the following:

• Go to the "Settings" and then the "General" menus
• Select "iTunes Store"
• Log in with the Apple ID that purchased the video (following the example above this would be account [2])
• Go back to the main menu and select "Downloads" and then "Check for Downloads"

Now when you try and play the video it will work (as the Apple TV has now been authorised to play videos from this account). You should be able to repeat this with as many additional accounts as necessary.