I am obsessed with my phone storage space

I don't know why but I'm so obsessed with maximising my phone storage. I keep clearing its cache and clearing media in my WhatsApp.

Maybe it's all because of that, my WhatsApp.

I have been receiving so many photos and videos it's really clogging up my phone. 

And since I'm home, there are a few apps I don't use much. So off they go.

So from this...

...I reduced it to this.

I need to stop online shopping and window shopping with Shopee and Lazada. Off they go.

I have my Kindle Paperwhite with me and since I started working from home, I can't find the time to read anything anyway. So Kindle app, off you go.

The Facebook app is huge, second to my Outlook app. It went up to the size of almost 800MB. It had to go. I shouldn't spend too much time there anyway. Without the app I'll be logging in via Chrome. 

And finally my Outlook app. It's crazy huge. It went up to a whopping 1.1G! 

I can't remove it since I need it for work as I can't always be sitting in front of my PC every minute and every second. I did a search online but couldn't find anything that could help reduce the size, until I figured out something. 

It has to do with what I have in my Outlook. It syncs across all my devices and what I have in my PC Outlook is what I will have in my Android Outlook. 

So what I did was to clear my folders, i.e. my Sent, Clutter, and Junk folders. 

 

And voila! it reduced in size. Not by much though. It went down to 756MB but it went up to 897MB and now it's at 767MB. Not by much but I'm so glad that I figured it out at least. 

I'm not sure how long this obsession gonna last. I only have 64G internal memory, with a 128G SD card. But not all apps will automatically store documents externally.

And so probably I will be still obsessed, until I get a new phone with more memory.

pearlie

Apple Music - loving it!

Ever since I subscribed to Apple Music only 2 weeks ago, I am in musical bliss. It's so wonderful to be able to listen to anything I want to listen to. But the funny thing is, I had that when I was with Spotify Premium but I wasn't into it. I suppose I like the Apple Music interface better, and I'm having a better experience searching and listening to music I love. 

Anyway, I found myself suddenly singing this one and only Cantonese song I know how to sing. A very sad song, but very lyrical and melodious. I went and search for it and found it in Apple Music. Now it's nicely sitting in my favourite songs playlist.

Danny Chan - 等 (Wait)

pearlie

In my wishlist: A Kindle Reader

I keep thinking about whether I should get a Kindle Reader for myself. I told myself no, since I am already using my iPhone and iPad to read but I am still tempted to get one. I was trying to read in a very bright place a few days ago and it was difficult and I felt even stronger I should get one. 

But I'm still undecided. I have enough gadgets already and shouldn't get another one. I read most at night anyway and using my iPad with night mode works very well for me. The Kindle Paperwhite with front light is a bit too pricey and I don't read that often in the day time.

You see that I'm trying hard to dissuade myself. Anyway, Amazon does not ship the product to Malaysia...for now.

pearlie 

Plant killing zombies to take my mind off things

Would you believe I've played this game continuously and countless times for 6 years? I don't know how many rounds I've completed. Twenty or thirty maybe? And each time I finished a round, I'd happily start all over again using various strategies I have not tried before. 

Plants vs Zombies for iPhone 

Purchased on 12 Dec 2010 for $2.99

Plants vs Zombies HD for iPad 

Purchased on 17 May 2011 for $6.99

It's not entirely a brainless game but I've played it so many times, it's so easy but it takes my mind off things, which is what I needed today. 

pearlie

iPhone apps by their colours

I have so many iPhone apps that I once sorted them by colours because that was the easiest way to find them. I soon had too many to fit them in and went back to categories. 

But I am back to colours now, except for the first screen. And I'm very happy with it. Isn't pleasing to the eye? 

 

 

Anyway, I read an article somewhere that you can tell a person by the apps they use. Can you tell?

pearlie 

Recipe Managers

Things have certainly changed since I was last active in the kitchen. Anyway, it's not that I've stopped cooking. I've just stopped experimenting and being creative, and as a result I cook only when I have to. But I've definitely stopped baking. 

Now that I'm getting myself back into the kitchen. I'm beginning to update myself both in kitchen gadgets and technological tools as well. 

Back then, I was in love with this app called the PDACookbook Plus. Looking at this screenshot certainly bring back many good memories. I was collecting recipes then by printing them out and filing them. But I soon moved onto a digital manager with this app in my Palm devices and found it really useful. Well, I've moved on from my PDAs a long time ago and this app is no longer being supported. I found out though that they have a new app called the PDACookbook LIVE, but with a high price tag of $11.99. 

I have gotten this app instead, the Paprika Recipe Manager, for $4.99. I have been filling it with recipes in the last couple of hours and here's a screenshot of it. I have not used it in the kitchen yet. I was using the free ChefTap but I was having problems when I want to clip recipes from the web. I must say though that when it works, it actually works better than Paprika. But I'm liking it a lot, what more with the plethora of recipes now available online. It's like having a cookbook with the most gorgeous looking food. 

Looking again at my TNT (tried-and-true) recipes, I am certainly feeling motivated again to make them. I'm off to the kitchen now to roast some chicken wings. 

pearlie 

Chromecast did not work

We got for ourselves a Chromecast adapter on Sunday but it did not work. It started ok but when I wanted to stream a movie it wouldn't connect to my phone and then all it casted onto the TV was alternating green screen and black. We got it changed yesterday but it was the same. It gets connected for about 10 minutes and then it will be disconnected. Nothing we do will reconnect it, even switching it on and off. 

My husband had been at it for hours trying to get it to work till he was just too frustrated. Arrgghh!!!

pearlie

P/S 27/1/2016: my hubby finally managed to get it to work. I don't know what adjustments he did, but it works...so far so good. I just feel that for this branded product, it should work better. 

Reverting to a Previous Version of an iOS app

I usually view through my Apple apps before I update them in my devices but I didn’t do that yesterday and simply proceed to “Update All”. I wouldn’t have known anyway, but Waze’s update was a major one and I was very unhappy with the new version of Waze 4.0.

I am so used to the interface of the previous version, but that is not the reason why I was unhappy. New interfaces just need some getting used to and some rewiring of the brain to relearn where to tap and slide for what I want. The reason why I was mad with it was the fact that with my not-so-great eyesight, with both shortsightedness and longsightedness, I could not really see the extremely thin directional lines in the app.

So I searched the Internet for a solution and found it here.

I managed to revert it back to the previous version, but do take note that when you find the old .ipa file you need in your PC, save a copy of it somewhere. I followed the instructions provided but the file went missing. Thankfully I did save a copy of it.

So much for the reverting but when I viewed my husband updated Waze in his iPhone 6, the directional lines were thick and lush. And why mine in the iPhone 5S is minutely thin I have no idea. Go figure.

But whatever it is, I will settle for the old version for now.

pearlie

The Pebble Time

My son has been bugging me to get him a Pebble smartwatch. To be fair, I've been trying to get him to wear a watch to no avail, and I've left him at it since.

It takes a smartwatch for him to change his mind.

He initially wanted the Original Pebble, with a black and white ePaper screen.



He sent me a link to get it online. He also told me that he has seen a store in Midvalley advertising it the last time he was there with his grandma.

So off we went to Midvalley after church to check it out. We found it in Rhapsody Time, LG floor. But they do not have the Original Pebble. They only have the latest model launched just a few months ago in May - the Pebble Time.

My son then changed his mind and wanted this one with a colour ePaper screen instead.



The Pebble watch was first released in 2013, backed by the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. When it started a Kickstarter fund sourcing for Pebble Time, it hit its $500,000 target in just 17 minutes. It finally achieved a fund of $20 million in total.

My hubby is a watch aficionado himself and he is open to the purchase of a Pebble Time. And I am a gadgety person warming towards it, which is good news for our son.

So it's time we bought one ;)


There are three colours to choose from: black, white and red. But black looks best, always. And he finally gets his binary watch, as below. He has been bugging his father to actually make him one.



We then found out that we actually bought a limited Kickstarter Backer edition. At first, we thought the price was a little higher than what we researched online but decided to still get it anyway so we don't have to wait for its delivery. Knowing now that the premium price we paid is for a limited edition, we are pleased. It's amusing that the shop assistant did not know what Kickstarter Backer means.



I would have gotten one for myself too except that I have just now discovered that with my recent onset of presbyopia, I cannot see anything worn on my wrist, and it will be pointless to get my glasses everytime I need to look at my watch.

So I will remain watchless.

pearlie

iPad Air 2?

The first iPad I bought was an impulse purchase. I didn't plan to buy one but I was at the mall and passed by an Apple store with people lining up for the then newly launched iPad 2. I thought why not, joined the line and end up with a purchase. I know, it's crazy, what I did. But I loved it.

And when Apple launched the New iPad (or iPad 3) with a retina screen, I upgraded my unit. That was in 2012, and I have been using it until now.

I have been having the urge to upgrade my iPad ever since the launch of the iPad Air, but I keep convincing myself I do not need it. My iPad 3 is still doing its job. But ever since I upgraded it to iOS 8, it has been lagging in its performance. And so, should I now upgrade my unit to the iPad Air 2?

It's a fact that I do not really use the iPad much. I am literally stuck to my iPhone but I can leave my iPad at home unless I need it for church, bible study in CG and Grace Notes practice, where it is handy as a score reader (I have scanned all our music scores and have no need to lug them around every week).

But the lagging performance is getting to me, and the temptation to get the cool and slick iPad Air 2 is getting bigger.

Should I?

pearlie