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sarea
My poor dog has been itching like crazy the past few days. I've given him two medicated baths and have seen no signs of fleas, so I think it's allergies, which he has suffered from before, just not to this degree. :/ I'm going to try and give him Benadryl tonight (yes, it's safe! I would never have thought of doing this on my own! You just have to make sure that you follow the dosage guidelines for the weight of your pet).
More iPhone observations:
- I like the dictation function in the iPhone more than Windows Phone. They are both pleasingly accurate, but the iPhone gives me time formulate what I'm going to say next. With Windows Phone, if you're not talking continuously, it thinks you're done with your sentence and cuts the mic. With the iPhone, I can pause to gather my thoughts before continuing. I also like that you can punctuate verbally on the iPhone. (A little ironic that they make it so hard with the keyboard.) I never figured out how to do that on WP (if, in fact, you even could). The iPhone's dictation function helps alleviate some of the pain associated with its terrible keyboard function/lack of native swipe, but only if I'm alone. I'm not the sort of person who likes to talk out loud to myself in front of other people, and especially not an email I'm composing!
- It took me awhile to figure out the "Do Not Disturb" thing. I was wondering why I wasn't getting mail notifications when the phone was locked... thought maybe this was just a function of the iPhone and would miss being able to get auditory alerts as I did with WP. Then I did a search about it and figured out the issue. WP has a similar feature, but imho is slightly better. It's called "Quiet Hours," and you can set a window of time in which no sounds will come through unless it's a call from a person or group you specify. With the iPhone's DND function, I have to manually go in to turn it on/off.
Now let's talk about apps, because so far I've been really happy with this new world that's opened up to me. :P
- Township: Free app. It's a farming game, and I love it. This was available on WP too, and I'm pleased that it was mostly the same. My username is "Furryosa" in case anyone else plays it or wants to play it. I would be happy to be your friend and help your farm! :D
- Waze: Still one of my fave apps, even though it makes my phone run reallllllly hot. The way I've mitigated this is that, since I mainly use it for routing me through bad rush-hour traffic, I generally know which way it's going to direct me. So I check the turn list before I set out, and leave Waze on, but lock the phone so that the screen isn't used. If it changes the route halfway through, I can still hear it. (Though when the screen is on, the sound goes through my speakers; I wish I could make it do that even when the screen is locked, to make sure I don't miss any verbal directions.) Doing this, turning Waze "off" when I'm not using it, and using the trickheinous_bitca shared about closing apps has really helped me control the heat.
- Pandemic: Seriously... such a well-done app.
- Casting: Here's where I'm not sure I've got the best system down and would love advice. I've downloaded like 20 apps to help me, but I'm such a noob. I don't feel like I have a good grasp of what I should be using to do what.
I have both an Amazon Fire Stick and Chromecast. After having used both, I think the Chromecast is a better option for me. Because I'm not a primary Amazon Prime subscriber (I'm an addition on someone else's account), I don't get all the free Prime streaming and Kindle books. If I were, the Fire Stick would be great. However, its limitation seems to be that you have to do everything through an app on the Fire Stick, whereas with Chromecast you can essentially cast anything from just about anywhere, without having to navigate a unique UI. A third-party Fire Stick app that I found seems to help with this, but Chromecast does it natively, so that's nice.
That said, for some reason, the YouTube app and the Chromecast apps both have dismal reviews on iTunes. That leads me to believe that there have to be better options out there -- but what? Because I was doing it for the first time, I did exactly what the official instructions told me to do. On my iPhone, I downloaded these apps: Chromecast, the Chromecast extension, YouTube. From what I can tell, the Chromecast app is useless after you set it up, as is YouTube, because you can get to YouTube through other means (such as a browser). The most important one is the Chromecast extension, as it's what lets you cast things. I also set it up on my laptop. They forced me to download Chrome. -.- What is with every company wanting to own every single piece of us? Just make cool shit and let us decide what we want! I feel like everything should be non-proprietary, and work interchangeably with everything else. Anyway, the PC way of doing it is actually a lot easier and has more functionality -- go figure. I was surprised by that.
Basically, here are the steps I take when using Chromecast on my iPhone:
- If it's a YouTube video, I go to the YouTube app, find the video I want, and cast.
- If it's not a YouTube video, I... give up and do nothing, because I haven't quite figured out how to cast non-YouTube stuff yet. :/
It's possible that I tried the one site that wouldn't work -- DramaFever (which is part of Hulu). Basically, DramaFever has a highly rated iPhone app. But to cast its videos, you have to be a premium DramaFever subscriber, which is irritating. You do NOT have to be one to cast their videos if you're on a PC (so I can do it from my laptop with no issues). So I downloaded a popular casting app, Video & TV Cast for Chromecast (they have a version for the Fire Stick too, and I really liked it for that). It serves as a casting tool but also will, for a small fee, "cloak" your phone as a desktop device, to trick sites into thinking it's a desktop. Perfect! I thought, and purchased the upgrade. Only it turns out that DramaFever is smarter than me. :( On a desktop machine, watching a video there requires Flash. And guess what iOS does not support? That's right, Flash. Sigh. So basically, if I want to cast DramaFever videos, I have to do it from my laptop. I DO NOT APPRECIATE THEIR CIRCUMVENTING MY ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT THEM. I just don't understand why they have to treat these two platforms differently. O.o Just to be a pain my ass, I guess. (I'd be interested to know if Android phones can trick it, though. Does Android support Flash? If it does, SCORE. Just get the desktop cloaking thing and you're golden.)
So right now, I seem to only know how to cast videos from YouTube. But I know it's capable of more... I just have to figure it out. Or if someone who's way more in the know than me about this stuff can tell me, that'd be awesome. Other things I'd like to do (whether on the iPhone or from my laptop):
- Cast from a non-YouTube site that isn't tricky like DramaFever (both phone and desktop)
- Cast from a remote desktop that's on my same network (basically, a hard drive full of video that's connected to my PC in the other room)
- Cast directly from a connected hard drive (just on my laptop)
Also, could someone explain the purpose of having the Chromecast app now that I have everything set up? It doesn't seem to actually operate anything. I did try another YouTube app, Tubex, that has far more positive reviews than the official YouTube app itself. However, I can't seem to actually cast from it, so I'm forced to keep the YouTube app for now.
More iPhone observations:
- I like the dictation function in the iPhone more than Windows Phone. They are both pleasingly accurate, but the iPhone gives me time formulate what I'm going to say next. With Windows Phone, if you're not talking continuously, it thinks you're done with your sentence and cuts the mic. With the iPhone, I can pause to gather my thoughts before continuing. I also like that you can punctuate verbally on the iPhone. (A little ironic that they make it so hard with the keyboard.) I never figured out how to do that on WP (if, in fact, you even could). The iPhone's dictation function helps alleviate some of the pain associated with its terrible keyboard function/lack of native swipe, but only if I'm alone. I'm not the sort of person who likes to talk out loud to myself in front of other people, and especially not an email I'm composing!
- It took me awhile to figure out the "Do Not Disturb" thing. I was wondering why I wasn't getting mail notifications when the phone was locked... thought maybe this was just a function of the iPhone and would miss being able to get auditory alerts as I did with WP. Then I did a search about it and figured out the issue. WP has a similar feature, but imho is slightly better. It's called "Quiet Hours," and you can set a window of time in which no sounds will come through unless it's a call from a person or group you specify. With the iPhone's DND function, I have to manually go in to turn it on/off.
Now let's talk about apps, because so far I've been really happy with this new world that's opened up to me. :P
- Township: Free app. It's a farming game, and I love it. This was available on WP too, and I'm pleased that it was mostly the same. My username is "Furryosa" in case anyone else plays it or wants to play it. I would be happy to be your friend and help your farm! :D
- Waze: Still one of my fave apps, even though it makes my phone run reallllllly hot. The way I've mitigated this is that, since I mainly use it for routing me through bad rush-hour traffic, I generally know which way it's going to direct me. So I check the turn list before I set out, and leave Waze on, but lock the phone so that the screen isn't used. If it changes the route halfway through, I can still hear it. (Though when the screen is on, the sound goes through my speakers; I wish I could make it do that even when the screen is locked, to make sure I don't miss any verbal directions.) Doing this, turning Waze "off" when I'm not using it, and using the trick
heinous_bitca shared about closing apps has really helped me control the heat.- Pandemic: Seriously... such a well-done app.
- Casting: Here's where I'm not sure I've got the best system down and would love advice. I've downloaded like 20 apps to help me, but I'm such a noob. I don't feel like I have a good grasp of what I should be using to do what.
I have both an Amazon Fire Stick and Chromecast. After having used both, I think the Chromecast is a better option for me. Because I'm not a primary Amazon Prime subscriber (I'm an addition on someone else's account), I don't get all the free Prime streaming and Kindle books. If I were, the Fire Stick would be great. However, its limitation seems to be that you have to do everything through an app on the Fire Stick, whereas with Chromecast you can essentially cast anything from just about anywhere, without having to navigate a unique UI. A third-party Fire Stick app that I found seems to help with this, but Chromecast does it natively, so that's nice.
That said, for some reason, the YouTube app and the Chromecast apps both have dismal reviews on iTunes. That leads me to believe that there have to be better options out there -- but what? Because I was doing it for the first time, I did exactly what the official instructions told me to do. On my iPhone, I downloaded these apps: Chromecast, the Chromecast extension, YouTube. From what I can tell, the Chromecast app is useless after you set it up, as is YouTube, because you can get to YouTube through other means (such as a browser). The most important one is the Chromecast extension, as it's what lets you cast things. I also set it up on my laptop. They forced me to download Chrome. -.- What is with every company wanting to own every single piece of us? Just make cool shit and let us decide what we want! I feel like everything should be non-proprietary, and work interchangeably with everything else. Anyway, the PC way of doing it is actually a lot easier and has more functionality -- go figure. I was surprised by that.
Basically, here are the steps I take when using Chromecast on my iPhone:
- If it's a YouTube video, I go to the YouTube app, find the video I want, and cast.
- If it's not a YouTube video, I... give up and do nothing, because I haven't quite figured out how to cast non-YouTube stuff yet. :/
It's possible that I tried the one site that wouldn't work -- DramaFever (which is part of Hulu). Basically, DramaFever has a highly rated iPhone app. But to cast its videos, you have to be a premium DramaFever subscriber, which is irritating. You do NOT have to be one to cast their videos if you're on a PC (so I can do it from my laptop with no issues). So I downloaded a popular casting app, Video & TV Cast for Chromecast (they have a version for the Fire Stick too, and I really liked it for that). It serves as a casting tool but also will, for a small fee, "cloak" your phone as a desktop device, to trick sites into thinking it's a desktop. Perfect! I thought, and purchased the upgrade. Only it turns out that DramaFever is smarter than me. :( On a desktop machine, watching a video there requires Flash. And guess what iOS does not support? That's right, Flash. Sigh. So basically, if I want to cast DramaFever videos, I have to do it from my laptop. I DO NOT APPRECIATE THEIR CIRCUMVENTING MY ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT THEM. I just don't understand why they have to treat these two platforms differently. O.o Just to be a pain my ass, I guess. (I'd be interested to know if Android phones can trick it, though. Does Android support Flash? If it does, SCORE. Just get the desktop cloaking thing and you're golden.)
So right now, I seem to only know how to cast videos from YouTube. But I know it's capable of more... I just have to figure it out. Or if someone who's way more in the know than me about this stuff can tell me, that'd be awesome. Other things I'd like to do (whether on the iPhone or from my laptop):
- Cast from a non-YouTube site that isn't tricky like DramaFever (both phone and desktop)
- Cast from a remote desktop that's on my same network (basically, a hard drive full of video that's connected to my PC in the other room)
- Cast directly from a connected hard drive (just on my laptop)
Also, could someone explain the purpose of having the Chromecast app now that I have everything set up? It doesn't seem to actually operate anything. I did try another YouTube app, Tubex, that has far more positive reviews than the official YouTube app itself. However, I can't seem to actually cast from it, so I'm forced to keep the YouTube app for now.
