Recently I'd noticed my iPhone was getting full without me adding anything much to it. In iTunes I noticed that it was half full 'Other' stuff - WTF?! I realise with a few hundred apps I was pushing things a bit but not that far. I looked around and found this article on cleaning up the 'Other' stuff on an iPhone - I tried its suggestions to no end. But it led me to exploring my phone further...
I noticed that the 'Voice memos' section was loaded up with duplicated audio files some of which were quite large. There's clearly a bug somewhere leading to this (I'd seen this kind of duplication bug in iTunes for music tracks before but it seems to be fixed now - but not so for Voice memos).
So the way to get rid of them and clear out the 'Other' category is to use the iExplorer (or similar - Ubuntu etc can mount an iPhone so you can see these things) software and navigate to Media/Recordings and delete all the duplicates recordings. The problem is that it seems the bug persists... so to really clear it up you need to make sure you've got copies of the memos you want (they should be in iTunes but make sure before the next step - if they're not then use iExplorer to export them out or failing that obtain them from a backup with a backup explorer - iExplorer crashed when I tried to export them). Now delete ALL the memos from Media/Recordings using iExplorer. Then go to your phone and tap on the Voice Memo's app and then tap on the bottom right button to ensure that they're all gone (if necessary you may need to quit the app and restart it). This should sort out the Voice Memos database for future use, and also seems to put iTunes straight.
Now sync with iTunes and you should see most of that 'Other' space reclaimed (some is legitimately used by certain apps for internal storage) and available once again...
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Thursday, 7 March 2013
O2's TU Go app - NOT Secure
I was impressed by O2's TU Go app - it provides for using of your O2 number (for calls and SMS) on different devices (iOS: iPad, iPhone, Android, and Win7) - over WiFi or GSM. It's nice to be able to use Wifi only devices or Wifi only locations to make and receive calls.
However if one reads the fine print of their terms and conditions (item 13) it says that calls over WiFi are NOT secured. I was a bit concerned so I dug further... I ran TU Go and captured the packet stream and sure enough, whilst the signalling protocol is secured using TLS, the audio stream is just using plain old G.711 on RTP which I could playback quite nicely using Wireshark.
So only use TU Go on your secured home network or over a VPN unless you're not concerned about people listening in.
I should also point out that the average SIP/VoIP phone is actually worse as it not only leaves the audio in the clear but also the signalling.
On the other hand Skype and Facetime encrypt the majority of the traffic.
However if one reads the fine print of their terms and conditions (item 13) it says that calls over WiFi are NOT secured. I was a bit concerned so I dug further... I ran TU Go and captured the packet stream and sure enough, whilst the signalling protocol is secured using TLS, the audio stream is just using plain old G.711 on RTP which I could playback quite nicely using Wireshark.
So only use TU Go on your secured home network or over a VPN unless you're not concerned about people listening in.
I should also point out that the average SIP/VoIP phone is actually worse as it not only leaves the audio in the clear but also the signalling.
On the other hand Skype and Facetime encrypt the majority of the traffic.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Call blocking on iPhone (iOS 6)
[Update 19sept13]: If you're on iOS7 - see my new post on built-in call blocking for iOS7.
It is possible to do reasonable job of blocking/blacklisting calls on your iPhone without any additional apps (or jailbreak) with iOS 6 by using the new 'Do Not Disturb' feature in the iPhone Settings app.
The way it works is to create a list of people you would like to receive calls from, and so anyone not on that list will be sent straight to voicemail - effectively blocked. The simplest way is to add all the people you want to receive calls from to your favourites (Alternatively you can use 'groups' created in your address book but you can only create groups using another app or on your desktop). Then you open the Settings app and go to: 'Settings -> Notifications -> Do Not Disturb -> Allow Calls From'
and then tick 'Favourites'. If you want to make sure you don't receive repeated calls from any blocked person you also need to turn off the 'Repeated Calls' switch in 'Settings -> Notifications -> Do Not Disturb'. Then you go back to the main menu of the Settings app and turn on the 'Do Not Disturb' switch.
Your phone will now ignore all calls that are not from your favourites, the only other issue is that other alerts will get silenced so it's not a perfect solution but it probably works till most problem callers lose interest. It would be handy if Apple would make call blocking easier.
If you've jailbroken (e.g. using evasi0n) your phone then you can pay for an app that does a better job of just blacklisting calls called iBlacklist (which you can get from Cydia).
It is possible to do reasonable job of blocking/blacklisting calls on your iPhone without any additional apps (or jailbreak) with iOS 6 by using the new 'Do Not Disturb' feature in the iPhone Settings app.
The way it works is to create a list of people you would like to receive calls from, and so anyone not on that list will be sent straight to voicemail - effectively blocked. The simplest way is to add all the people you want to receive calls from to your favourites (Alternatively you can use 'groups' created in your address book but you can only create groups using another app or on your desktop). Then you open the Settings app and go to: 'Settings -> Notifications -> Do Not Disturb -> Allow Calls From'
and then tick 'Favourites'. If you want to make sure you don't receive repeated calls from any blocked person you also need to turn off the 'Repeated Calls' switch in 'Settings -> Notifications -> Do Not Disturb'. Then you go back to the main menu of the Settings app and turn on the 'Do Not Disturb' switch.
Your phone will now ignore all calls that are not from your favourites, the only other issue is that other alerts will get silenced so it's not a perfect solution but it probably works till most problem callers lose interest. It would be handy if Apple would make call blocking easier.
If you've jailbroken (e.g. using evasi0n) your phone then you can pay for an app that does a better job of just blacklisting calls called iBlacklist (which you can get from Cydia).
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Lovefilm instant: lost the plot
So I started watching a film on my tablet last night from Lovefilm instant. Tonight I decided to watch more of it... Incredibly it was no longer available for viewing (only for DVD rental)??! I think I'll be unsubscribing. The selection of films/TV is not impressive either. But not being able to watch a film from yesterday is just losing the plot. Netflix maybe the answer…?
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Airport update 7.6.3: IPv6 OK
I just loaded up the Airport/Time capsule update 7.6.3 and everything works fine so far: my IPv6 tunnel is working fine (contrary to some other articles out there..). We'll see if it brings stability enhancements to the Apple networking...lets hope so....
I had some issues with my Hurricane Electric dynDNS setup (Very useful if you have a dynamic address for your ADSL) in conjunction with my IPv6 tunnel, but I fixed the problem by removing the dynDNS entry from the ipv6 tunnel Advanced settings and reinstating it. It may also have been down to making sure Ping (ICMP) was unblocked for the he.net servers.
I had some issues with my Hurricane Electric dynDNS setup (Very useful if you have a dynamic address for your ADSL) in conjunction with my IPv6 tunnel, but I fixed the problem by removing the dynDNS entry from the ipv6 tunnel Advanced settings and reinstating it. It may also have been down to making sure Ping (ICMP) was unblocked for the he.net servers.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Using bluetooth audio in Linux
I just spent a while trying to find out how to get my laptop to play audio to a Bluetooth Headset. It seems a lot of the info out there is out of date. Here are some instructions that work with bluez version 4.9X on Ubuntu 12.04.
Firstly make sure you've got the following packages e.g.:
To do it you need to make sure all the bluetooth kernel modules are loaded - the following command should show the bluetooth modules if they're loaded e.g.:
Then you can check the bluetooth adapter is operational by showing its address info e.g.:
Next you need to switch on your headset and put it into discovery mode (e.g. push and hold the power button or something). Then you get your laptop to scan for it e.g.:
Then you need to pair with this device as follows - It will ask you for the PIN code for your device (e.g. 0000 or 1111 or something) and then it will add it to the list on your machine (you'll need to replace the bluetooth interface 'hci#' with your one in this part e.g. hci0) e.g.:
Now you need to set up the device for use by ALSA sound system - create a file called ~/.asoundrc containing the following (you'll need to replace the bluetooth address with your one in this part) e.g.:
pcm.bluetooth {
type bluetooth
device 00:0B:E4:9A:15:E4
}
Finally you can now play audio to your headset:
Or you can select the bluetooth audio device in other audio apps.
Firstly make sure you've got the following packages e.g.:
% sudo apt-get install bluez alsa-utils
To do it you need to make sure all the bluetooth kernel modules are loaded - the following command should show the bluetooth modules if they're loaded e.g.:
% lsmod | grep blue bluetooth 158479 23 bnep,rfcomm,btusb
Then you can check the bluetooth adapter is operational by showing its address info e.g.:
$ hciconfig hci0: Type: BR/EDR Bus: USB BD Address: 00:02:7e:16:0D:0a ACL MTU: 384:8 SCO MTU: 64:8 UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN RX bytes:58444 acl:314 sco:0 events:6846 errors:0 TX bytes:4821276 acl:17765 sco:0 commands:152 errors:0
Next you need to switch on your headset and put it into discovery mode (e.g. push and hold the power button or something). Then you get your laptop to scan for it e.g.:
% hcitool scan Scanning ... 00:0B:E4:9A:15:E4 Nokia BH-214
Then you need to pair with this device as follows - It will ask you for the PIN code for your device (e.g. 0000 or 1111 or something) and then it will add it to the list on your machine (you'll need to replace the bluetooth interface 'hci#' with your one in this part e.g. hci0) e.g.:
% sudo bluez-simple-agent hci# 00:0B:E4:9A:15:E4 RequestPinCode (/org/bluez/9261/hci0/dev_00_0B_E4_9A_15_E4) Enter PIN Code: 0000 Release New device (/org/bluez/9261/hci0/dev_00_0B_E4_9A_15_E4)
Now you need to set up the device for use by ALSA sound system - create a file called ~/.asoundrc containing the following (you'll need to replace the bluetooth address with your one in this part) e.g.:
pcm.bluetooth {
type bluetooth
device 00:0B:E4:9A:15:E4
}
Finally you can now play audio to your headset:
aplay -D bluetooth myaudio.wav
Or you can select the bluetooth audio device in other audio apps.
Friday, 16 November 2012
Messages beta due for the chop
So it seems Apple have announced that its Messages (beta) app is gonna bite the dust (expire;()on Friday 14th December. You're up the creak if your box won't go to Mountain Lion land (like quite a few older machines).
Darn. I might even have paid for a real app along the same lines as it has been quite handy to be able to use a real keyboard to send iMessages.
Darn. I might even have paid for a real app along the same lines as it has been quite handy to be able to use a real keyboard to send iMessages.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Apple's Messages beta expired....NOT
Final Update: It has now expired - see here.
Update: No it had NOT died yet, but it had just seemed to be dead - but after rebooting my machine it came back to life and worked fine again. I'll update the post if I discover what made it appear to be dead...
Well it seems that Apple's Messages beta app (on Lion) expired today (the app started but most menu items were greyed out) which is a shame as it was quite useful to be able to send messages to pals that had iMessage. I don't know why they don't do a separate app available for download as Mountain Lion is only installable on newer hardware. I guess they want people to upgrade...
Although under the hood it was really iChat and as a matter of fact so was Facetime (aka: Viceroy 1.5.0) with a couple of extra features...
Let me know if you find any tweaks to bring it back to life (I tried the basic ones like changing the date back with no luck).
Update: No it had NOT died yet, but it had just seemed to be dead - but after rebooting my machine it came back to life and worked fine again. I'll update the post if I discover what made it appear to be dead...
Well it seems that Apple's Messages beta app (on Lion) expired today (the app started but most menu items were greyed out) which is a shame as it was quite useful to be able to send messages to pals that had iMessage. I don't know why they don't do a separate app available for download as Mountain Lion is only installable on newer hardware. I guess they want people to upgrade...
Although under the hood it was really iChat and as a matter of fact so was Facetime (aka: Viceroy 1.5.0) with a couple of extra features...
Let me know if you find any tweaks to bring it back to life (I tried the basic ones like changing the date back with no luck).
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