WeChat - Sendig Excel file

In the beginning, I use WeChat to communicate with my brother to save the cost of International Direct Dial charges. Later WeChat added Video call feature and I tested calling my friend working in China.

Few days ago, I was trying to send out an Excel file summary of free iPhone camera app to friends, trying Whatsapp, Viber, Line, only WeChat can be used to send file attachments.

Also found that so far only Line and WeChat allow sending multiple photos.

iPhone Contacts Backup

Normally one would backup the Contacts to iTunes, iCloud. However, as I have 3 iPhone sharing the same Apple ID, only Contacts of one user can be maintain on iCloud.

The options available are: iTunes on desktop computer, Gmail account Sync, OliveOffice backup to Excel file, Pogoplug

Edit: As I was studying the free cloud storage, I found that iDrive also provides app on iPhone to have Contacts, Calendar backup ( http://www.idrive.com/?uid=G5C6E9K2V4 )

Thoughts on iPhone Photography

Recently I was crazy with iPhone photography, doing feature comparison of free camera apps, trying them out. Trying some simple editing using Snapseed.

I would like to mention that the battery on my iPhone could only last for less than 3 hours. If you are seriously taking photos with your iPhone, a power bank to recharge your battery is needed.

Today most of us are using smartphone to quickly and conveniently capture photos, edit them if necessary, sharing them on social networking sites. May I conclude that as of today, we use smartphone as a capturing device, upload to cloud storage for storage, sharing and backup. Then the photos can be edited on a different device as soon as the upload is done. After editing, sharing them on social networking sites.

The key point is the ease of use and convenience of the entire process.

I didn't realise the important of these points when Samsung came out with Galaxy camera. I was not interested in any camera with WiFi function, only until today I understand the reason of having WiFi on the camera., just like the ability to see yourself with the front facing LCD on camera for self-portrait.

On iPhone, one can use Blux camera with Blux lens or almost DSLR with WiFi connection between two iPhone for remote capture or self portrait.

Many personal Cloud storage app on iPhone has the option of automatically upload camera roll; e.g. Pogoplug, U1 files from Ubuntu One, Dropbox, Google+, Kuaipan

Using SnapSeed for IOS and Android

After learning the key strength of Snapseed, which is SELECTIVE ADJUST, I decided to test it out.

However, it would be difficult to work on a small screen, so I was thinking should I get a latest iPad. Another point is that if I store all the photos on my iphone, very soon it would run out of space. Then I realise that there are free cloud storage available :

Dropbox 5GB

Google Drive 15GB

SkyDrive 7GB

Box 5GB

Snapcrowd 10GB

Pogoplug 5GB

SugarSync 5GB
Ubuntu One 5GB

Kuaipan 7GB

I can actually store my photos on these free cloud storage to free up my iPhone storage space. I can use iCloud for this as the 5GB is reserved for my common Apple ID used by three iPhones used by my brothers.

Then I remember that I have a 10 inch made in China Android tablet, Cubic U30GT,used mainly to watch video connecting to my TV via HDMI cable.

So I transferred the images to cloud storage: Box. Then on my Android tablet, Cubic U30GT, tap on OPEN PHOTO, chose photo from Box, and tap on Selective Adjust.

Tap on + icon to add a control point, tap on the point of interest on the screen. Pinch with two fingers to change the size of circle where Brightness, Contrast, Saturation are to be adjusted. Multiple control points can be added.

After that tap on Save. Tap on Share to share on any social networking sites or cloud storage sites. 

iPhone Peer to Peer File Transfer

When I tried searching for bluetooth peer to peer file transfer, I did not find any information. Few days ago, I downloaded FileMaster and File Manager and found that both has this function.

However today I search with "bluetooth peer to peer file transfer", I found Blue Me, Bluetooth U, Bluetooth Share Center.

Free Office Apps on iPhone

OliveOffice and WPS Office

OliveOffice is able to open Excel 2013 file, but not WPS Office. WPS Office on Android is able to open Excel 2013 file but not yet for iPhone.

While trying Olive Office, I found ContactsTools in Settings. It has been difficult to maintain my contacts on my iPhone. This ContactsTools is able to import and export Contacts to Excel file with options to select fields. The file can then be transferred to PC via WiFi using a local web server on iPhone with iPhone IP address : port 8080. After editing, it can then be transferred back to iPhone via WiFi transfer.

Similarly, Olive Office can transfer documents via WiFi using the same port.

Olive Office can also transfer to Dropbox or Google Docs only. [Update: there is an option of Open In for the followings: Kuaipan, iDrive, iDriveSync, Bitcasa,CX,Box,SkyDrive, Pogoplug,SugarSync,OpenDrive]

Update:

Found CloudOn which can access the following free cloud storage : Box. DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive.

iPhone 5 Free Camera Apps Comparison

Recently upgraded to iPhone 5, after using iPhone 4S for a few months, I noticed that there were always extra objects after the photo was taken at the top and bottom when in the landscape mode, on the sides when in portrait mode. Searching the Internet found an article with the following:

"When you take a photo on the iPhone 5, it’s saved to the camera roll in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Just like on the iPhone 4S, photos are 3264 pixels by 2448 pixels. However, unlike the iPhone 4S, the preview that’s displayed on the screen while you’re taking photos is in a 3:2 aspect ratio."

Now I know that it is due to the camera app on iPhone. Any other application using iPhone camera will have the same outcome. Unfortunately Blux Pro which I have also having the same issues.

Several free camera apps I installed have that aspect ratio saved as viewed:

Camera Awesome, King camera, almost DSLR, VSCO, Line camera

As I like to take landscape and very often I find the photos are taken slightly slanted, I prefer to have the electronic level on screen to ensure the photos are taken horizontally:

Blux Pro, Camera Awesome.

The next thing I am looking for is white-balance lock or colour temperature control as I always take photos outdoor in the forest in the morning:

Blux Pro, Camera Awesome, King camera, almost DSLR, VSCO, HDR FX

Although iPhone camera has the AE lock function, but you can't have it separated with the focal point. The settings on Blux Pro disappear so fast that for a slow person like me, cannot manage to lock or set, it is very frustrating. Line camera only has the exposure setting slider.  For splitting the exposure and focus lock:

Blux Pro, Camera Awesome, King camera, almost DSLR, VSCO, HDR FX

One of the most important features of iPhone which makes me start using iPhone for photo-taking is using the volume button on the iPhone or on the earphone. Camera Awesome is the only third party free app I tested with this feature.

The closest of this is the sound activated shutter or voice shutter control as you can just tap on the earphone button to make a noise loud enough to actuate the shutter:

Blux Pro, King camera

On two of the apps tested, there is no zoom available on screen, you can only move backward or forward:

alomost DSLR, VSCO

Feature Comparison of free iPhone 5 Camera Apps

The following is my incomplete list of feature comparison of free iPhone camera apps I have downloaded and tested:

	iPhone  Camera	King Camera	Camera Awesome	Almost  DSLR	Blux Pro	VSCO	Line Camera	HDR FX	Camera  360	Instagram
WB Lock	N	Y	Y	Y	Y-	Y	N	Y	N	N
Exposure	AE	Y	Y	Y	Y-	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Focus		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Sound Actuated	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Volume Button	Y	N-	Y	N	N-	N	N	N	N	N
Anti-Shake	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N
Timer	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Time-Lapse	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Zoom	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Leveler	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N
4:3 View	N	Y	Y	Y	?	Y	Y	N	N	Y
Video	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y
Burst	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	Y	N

Hated King camera prompting Skip This Ad? Definite a keyboard shortcut or pay for it.

My Experience Using iPhone Camera

Having iPhone 4 for a year and upgraded to iPhone 4S for almost another year, I did not use the camera much as I preferred to use a camera instead of phone camera, until I read about using the earpiece volume control button as a remote shutter release.

However, as I go to Bukit Timah every weekend in the morning, there is a need to lock the white-balance. However, I did not bother to google for such an application. When I found that the ability to lock the white-balance on VSCO cam which I downloaded without knowing the features of it, I was very happy with it. It can also lock the exposure and focus separately. However, soon after I found that I could not zoom it to have a properly framed photograph.

Before I started to use VSCO cam, I found Blux camera pro which was free at that time has a very nice user interface with a lot of settings like colour temperature, zoom, saturation, brightness etc. I was very happy with it and thought that it was the only application I need to have on my iPhone. Unfortunately, I found that the iPhone heated up after using it and the battery charges depleted very
fast. I also having difficulty in setting the exposure lock touching the screen with two fingers. As there is a setting to have the original saved, I realised that it is actually a pre-filter applying to the image captured. In order to conserve battery, I did not use it most of the time.

Recently I was interested in adding text to photographs on my iPhone. I search and found the applications I need : Hihumi Add Text to Photos. After a few days, I found another using more specific keywords: "Vertical Text".

I then realised that I have to use the right keywords to search for applications I need. So I searched using "white-balance lock" and found and downloaded King camera, Almost DSLR. Although Camera Awesome was downloaded much earlier, I was not aware of the features until I search the keywords. It is the only application other than the built-in iPhone camera to have the volume control shutter button I downloaded. Although King camera and Blux do not have the same feature, both are having the sound shutter activation.

I find that the description on AppStore is very limited. It is important to have tutorials like those on youtube showing the features of the application or user guide available, so that user can find out all the features available. Most important is that I have to find out these information after downloading the application, like the case of having Camera Awesome for such a long time without knowing it is one of the best free camera application. I will definitely start to use King camera and Camera Awesome.

Some Thoughts on iPhone

Before I came across a little book on video editing on iPhone, I had never tried to do video editing on my personal computer, and of course iPhone. I was surprised to find that video editing was so simple on iPhone.

Similarly on post processing of photographs on iPhone.

The key point is the simplification of procedure and process, even though it might not be sophisticated but it could get the job done somehow. It is getting the process started easily that is attractive to me.

I have never realised that movie/video were taken for few seconds and put together until I started playing with apps like Vine, Instagram, Viddy which have 6 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds limitation for each video. The start/stop of capturing by touching the screeen and the interesting videos created by people.

I have also never pay attention to the layout of text on pictures and movie showing the credits until I tried to add text/caption within the photos. Playing with apps on iPhone makes me pay more attention to text layouts.

Having iPhone for more than 2 years, only recently I get to know about WiFi file transfer by having a local Web server on iPhone. Also Bluetooth file transfer is possible between two IOS devices.

Securing files and photos using Apps like Folder+ and Best Secret Folder.

Adding Chinese Text Vertically on Photos on iPhone

Spent a lot of time looking for iPhone app which would be able to add Chinese characters vertically onto photographs taken. Eventually found three apps Hihumi, Vertical text, InstaWord, Phonto.

Although I could not get it to display text vertically, I keep it as it has more than 200 fonts, and it mentioned that "Vertical text for Japanese, Korean and Chinese language. (iOS 6 or later required)
This feature is available only in Japanese-Korean-Chinese environment.". It also allows additional fonts to be install from Computer:

"Using iTunes, you can copy font files between your computer and Phonto on your iOS device.

1. Select your iOS device from the Devices section of iTunes.
2. Click the Apps tab and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
3. Select "Phonto" in the "File Sharing" section.
4. Drag and drop .ttf or .otf font files into "Documents".
5. Restart Phonto.

I deleted InstaWord after testing as I preferred to use Hihumi Add text to photos. I like the Kanji fonts and also additional fonts can be added using the above method.

At the beginning, I felt that there wasn't much choice for the fonts. As I input the characters, some would not appear, and later I realised that the font should be matching for Simplified or Traditional Chinese. So I downloaded as many as possible. Then the limitation of not more than 50 fonts occurred., and I have to be selective in transferring fonts to my iPhone.

On Android, I found Text On! from LogicDream able to have vertical text. Fonts can be added to /mnt/sdcard/fonts/