How to turn off ‘Find My iPhone & Anti-theft Activation Lock’ from the phone you’re selling!

If you’re thinking of selling or giving away a stinky old iPhone, you need to understand how to turn off the ‘Find My iPhone’ function. ESPECIALLY if the device has been upgraded to iOS 7, whereby it will also be loaded with Apple’s Anti-theft Activation lock.

That’s not it. The Anti-theft Activation Lock introduced with iOS 7 is however super awesome for preventing theft by rendering the phone basically useless and worth roughly one eighth of its proper resale price. However, it also does this if you forget to turn it off before you sell it or give it away.

For instance, here at iPhone Antidote, we cannot give you the total quoted amount for your iPhone unless the Anti-theft Activation lock is turned off.

So, you guys need to know how to turn it off! And luckily for everyone involved, whilst not being the funnest 3 minutes you ever spend (we hope) it IS super easy! High Five!

There is a couple of different methods depending on the condition and location of your iPhone. If your iPhone works and is with you, you should-

Remove your iPhone from Find My iPhone by turning  it off on the iPhone.

Simple! On your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off ‘Find My device.’ It will ask for your Apple ID password ( The one you use in the App Store), then BAM, both Find my iPhone and the Anti-theft activation lock is turned off.

YAY!

If your iPhone is not with you, already sold or given away OR broken or water damaged so that it won’t turn on, it’s also, really, really easy. HIGH FIVE!

If you can’t use your iPhone because it’s too damaged, or you’ve already sold it or given it away, you can remotely remove it from Find My iPhone and remotely remove the Anti-theft Activation Lock.

Your iPhone must be powered off. Easy to do if it’s broken! Also easy enough to do if you’ve sold it to a company such as ourselves or you can get in contact with the friend that you gave it to.

Then:

Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud & the App Store).

Click ‘All Devices’ at the top of the page. Wait for the website to locate your iPhone, then select it from the drop down menu. It should appear as offline and grey.

A menu of options will appear on the right hand side of the screen. IGNORE THESE ( Unless you want to remotely erase your iPhone)

Click back on the ‘All Devices’ button at the top of the page. There should now be an X next to your iPhone.  Click it. Click it good.

Click “remove” on the next screen to confirm.

Aaaaaand you’re done! Now someone else can now activate the device, making it worth a whole lotta more clams from us/high fives from the friend you gave it to!

If you guys have any problems removing the anti theft activation lock from your iPhone – please contact us and let us know! We’d LOVE to help you out! And we give hugs too!

Images courtesy of  Appleinsider, Doblelol, grandfather.com, bidorbuy.com, iPhonehacks.com, Cheezburger.com & Dashburst.com

iPhone Tip Of The Day! Texting edition.

The world of text can be an intimidating and confusing one.

Tone, intent and, well, the ability to spell can all be lost in translation when considering the great communication tool that is texting.

Hence, welcome to the first part of our  iPhone Tip Of The Day, texting edition. First up – timing!

You know, sometimes you just really need to know what time you sent that text to Billy to tell him that you really like his new Tricycle.

And maybe you weren’t paying attention when you sent it because your heart was racing too hard because what if Billy naturally understood that when you said you liked his Tricycle you really meant you want to hold hands? And now you might have sent him the message at the same time as Stupid Cathy from next door and we all know what Cathy likes.

Life can be hard.

But never fear, we’re here to help! To find out what time you sent a message swipe from right to left in the message stream and a time will appear next to each message. 

Also? We… we really like your Tricycle.

Images courtesy of  Catsmob, funnyjunk & Dailydot.

Top 8 apps we wish existed

We wish we may we wish we might, have the wish we wish tonight.

Tonight, we’re wishing on Apps ( cos we’re super fun and cool like that).  Apps have been around for so few years (5.5 to be exact) and yet we just don’t know how we would live our technocratic lives without a lot of them!

BUT. There’s some blank spots. Here’s our wish-list for Apps of the future.

1. An App that tells you when you’re being stupid.

2. An App that buys the perfect gift for people, and wraps it.

3. An App that tells you exactly how many calories is in a meal or specific food item by scanning it.

4. An App that helps you pick which charity is most in need

5. A Space-Time jumping App, obviously.

6. An app that learns your priorities and then organizes your to-do list accordingly.

7. An App that tells you exactly when you would really be missing out on the best time ever by choosing to stay home and watch Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.

8. An App so you can communicate with animals.

What Apps do you wish existed? Telekinesis would be nice, actually, now we think about it…

Copyright iPhone Antidote. Serious.

Images courtesy of Quickmeme, Lolsheaven & Gigaom.

Battery Saving iPhone Tips Of The Day!

Happy Sunday Guys! Hope you’re having an awesome day filled with endless mimosa’s, friends and laughter!

but…

Whatcha going to do when your iPhone dies? And you’re stuck full of mimosa’s and you can’t figure out how to get where you need to be!? Huh? huh Mr & Mrs Mimosa? Because…

We got you! If you’re worried about the battery on your beloved iPhone running out, there’s a couple of things you can do. Hoorah!

1. Are you in a cave? No? Turn your brightness down!  Settings> Wallpapers & Brightness ( Or Brightness & Wallpapers on pre-iOS 7).

2. At a concert? No? Turn your volume down! (uh… we hope we don’t really need to say this, but it’s the buttons on the side.)

2.  Sometimes you just don’t need to be sending diagnostics to Apple, you know? This eats up your battery life, so turn it off!  Settings -> General -> About -> scroll to the bottom of the screen.Click on Diagnostics & Usage and switch it to ‘Don’t send’.

3. Turn things off. Like Bluetooth. What, are you playing music through a wireless speaker while drinking mimosa’s? Well, that sounds pretty awesome actually. But if you need to save battery, turn it off!

We figure Unless you’re in a foreign country and relying on Wifi – turn that mother off! Settings> Wifi> switch to off.

If you’re down to urgent battery levels you can even turn your phone on Airplane mode until you need to use it, saves a boatload of battery!

4. Close out all of your Apps. in iOS 6 and below, double click the home button, press an App until it wiggles, then touch the red circles until it disapears. On iOS 7, double click the home button then swipe each image of an App that appears upwards until it disappears.

We hope these tips will help you out some, and we’ll be letting you know some more long term battery saving tips and tricks in the next week!

High five!

Images courtesy of Maypalo.com, Quickmeme.com, 8tracks.com, & Grandfather.com

Perfect Valentines Day iPhone Accessories & Apps!

Happy Valentines day! Here we have loads of lovey dovery, sweet fun & funky Apps and iDevice accessories especially for the day that celebrates love and all of it’s weird and small relations.

1. You can’t go past custom made iPhone cases on handicraft E-commerce site Etsy! Just look at these, you’ll either go ‘awwww’ or throw up. Like this one: 

2. Also on Etsy, romantic iPhone case designs that spread across both your and your partners iPhones. Awwwblurhg

3. Be Mine ($0.99) or Be Mine Lite (Free). An App for making Valentines day cards complete with the ability to use your own text, images and photos overlaid into one spectacular card that saved and exported. We made this one, because we’re pretty specially talented.

4. Nordstoms have a bunch of Love themed iPhone cases that are pretty radical.  $14.99

5. Valentine Radio. An App that lets you hear all the sweet dulcet tones of love songs from radio stations streaming live to your iDevice from all over the world. Free!

6. Foodie Recipes. Free App that has awesome recipe’s for two for that romantic valentines meal you’re cooking together/for each other. Homemade Ravioli, Croque Monsiur & Avocado Dark Chocolate Madeleines? Heck Yes I love you!!!

7. Cyclops iPad cover dude! Microfibre Arms! Makes your love one’s iPad cuddly and cute for when you’re not around to be cuddly and cute! Get it for $25 at ilovehandles.com

8. True Love – Cute Snail Cartoon Travelling Speaker from Zazzle – $22.95

9. Pink hearts pattern sleeves for iPads – A little bit expensive at $48.95, but what wouldn’t you pay to make your true love happy? Huh? HUH?

10. For those a little bit web-savvy, why not create a surprise website for the one your heart desires? It’s kind of like naming a star for them, but on the internet and in the future. No stars in the future! Godaddy.com has cheap domains for sale, like the following, which we may or may not own now:

11. For some, Valentines day is commercial and stupid. On Etsy, get something like this to tell them how you really feel:

12. And finally, if things are looking a little craptacious this year and you want a better valentines day date next year- Try out  Ok Cupid and Tinder. Eiffel tower with champagne and pearls / Monaco with poker and steak here you come!

If you’re going all out and getting him or her what they really really want (apart from the above, obviously) – an iDevice – check here to see when you need to order it online from Apple so it makes it to your place before the big V day!

( And then tell them that you know the perfect people to sell their stinky old iDevice to.. uh, Sell your iPhone with iPhone Antidote!  Cos then they can use that money to buy YOU something awesome because of the awesome gift you got them for Valentines Day! And because they love you. Yay!)

Also! VALENTINES DEAL OF THE DAY! The good old melting hearts over at iMore.com are giving everyone 14% off everything in the iMore store! Here’s the link, simply use coupon code VDAY13 at checkout!

Last but not least, Happy Valentines Day Guys. We… well, it’s hard to say this but.. we really, really, um, like you.

Images courtesy of  Petmd.com, Etsy.com, Nordstroms, Wisdomportal.com, Quickmeme, ilovehandles.com, Zazzle, Etsy, Viator & Inotternews.com

Tech Tip Of The Day – This one’s for you Chrome users!

So, if you’re anything like us, you have, like, a bajillion and 8 tabs open in your Chrome browser. Because there’s just so much stuff on the internet that you need to remember to look at and everything is important!

Sometimes you open a bunch at once and everything’s going great. Then suddenly- an ad starts playing. A news story, music clip, or worse (depending on what kind of tabs you’re opening!)

It’s something you DON’T WANT TO HEAR AND YOU CAN’T FIND IT AMONG ALL THE BAJILLIONS OF TABS OPEN!

Oof. It’s like

Well, rejoice. No, seriously, rejoice.  Because now, with version 32 of Chrome, which can be updated or downloaded now, you will see a little, beautiful speaker icon on the tab from which that heinous sound is bellowing!

Chrome 32 also includes a red recording icon for tabs that are using your webcam, and a little TV icon for tabs that are being cast to your TV with Chromecast. It’s pretty sweet.

Download Chrome here if you haven’t got it yet and this has tipped your we browser preference scales, or update by clicking ‘About Google Chrome’ in the Chrome drop down in the main menu.

Images courtesy of Knowyourmeme & Imgur.

iPhone Tip Of The Day! How to lock your screen orientation!

Sometimes, we wanna look at the world like this:

Horizontally! ( Cos it’s like the horizon, see?)

Sometimes, we wanna look at the world like this:

Vertically! (Coz, it’s, like, vertical)

Your iDevice does both! Magic! Your device should switch from vertical to horizontal orientation depending on at what angle you’re holding the device, and it should choose the view based on what is best for you at that point in time.

But.

It does get it wrong, sometimes. Sometimes you’re lying in bed and reading and it decides that BAM NOW YOU SEE THINGS THE OTHER WAY.

Except sometimes looking at life from a different perspective is just realllllly annoying, stupid orientation moving the wrong way.

So here’s what you do! In iOS 7- simply drag the control centre from the bottom of the screen. Three quarters along to the right you’ll see a lock symbol. Like this:

Angle your iDevice so it’s vertical/horizontal- however you want it to be for task you’re doing (playing mushroom wars does SO count as a task). Press the lock and it will say Orientation Lock on. Press it again and it will say Orientation off.

In iOS 6, press the home button twice. This will bring up the dash, which, if you swipe to the right you’ll see the same lock as pictured above. Press it on and off to turn the orientation on and off.

CAKE!

mmmm cake…

Images courtesy of  Gizmodo.com.au, imore, findyourmiddleground.com, osxdaily.com & Solofoods.com

Website Overstock now accepting bitcoin

Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin. What are we to do with you? Not a lot of people know about you, far less understand you or how you work, you’re super unstable and yet you’re growing. You’re the new in thing to talk about in media and that somehow continues to be the new in thing to talk about as if you know what you’re talking about.

Honesty corner: We don’t really know what we’re talking about when it comes to Bitcoin, but this is what we do know: It’s a cybercurrency that is created, distributed and authenticated outside of banks or governments.

People mine for them using their own computers by assisting other people’s Bitcoin transactions. And then they have them, and they can spend them. Right? We’re learning! We feel like it might be a thing we really need to learn, because it’s moving from a thing that you read about on the internet, to a thing that people are using as proper currency on the internet quite quickly.

Case in point: Online discount retailer Overstock.com is now accepting Bitcoin. In fact, more than 800 purchases, equaling $130,000 were made in the first 24 hours the company was accepting the cybercurrency.

Patrick Byrne, the company’s chariman and CEO had this to say:

“Digital currency will be an important part of the future and Overstock is excited to be the first major online shopping retailer to accept it,” said Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com chairman and CEO. ”As one who believes in limited government, this attracts me because it is a form of money that no government mandarin can will it into existence.”

More retailers are saying they will be accepting Bitcoin – most recently the Sacramento Kings, making them the first professional sports franchise to accept them starting on March 1st this year in the team store and in ticket sales.

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive says accepting Bitcoins is the next step in allowing fans to leave their wallets at home. Solving situations like this one, at the very least;

Other companies such as Paypal are considering making the move to accepting the currency in the future. In the meantime they are perhaps waiting for it to stabilize, perhaps they too are unsure of what the consequences are of accepting the currency. On Thursday, one Bitcoin was worth approximately $850.

Meanwhile, Kanye West has sued, and won against similar cybercurrency Coinye for using his image. Silly Fish Sticks. Doesn’t he know it’s the way of the future? We could’ve all been using Coinye!

Images courtesy of Watchdog.org, Fundaminer.com, Quickmeme & Dailymail.co.uk.

iPhone Tip Of The Day!

Wassup kids? IT’S ALMOST THE WEEKEND!!

Want an extra way to see all the phone calls and text messages you’re getting inviting you to awesome parties this weekend?

We got you!

Your iPhone can give you a visual alert for incoming calls and texts. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility and turn on LED Flash for Alerts.

It’s like your phone’s already getting the party started!!

Image courtesy of Quickmeme.

Another Google secret!

Happy Humpday!

Wednesday is almost Thursday. Thuuuuursday is so close to being friday which is pretty much the weekend and the weekend means beers and the beach right? Or, wait, family quality time. That’s what we meant.

To help you guys out with some Wednesday afternoon procrastination for the nation, how about some time with the original ladies man?

No, not that guy! Pacman, duh!

Originally bought out by Google for the 30th anniversary of Pacman on May 22, 2010, the link is essentially an easter egg where instead of searching for stuff you need to find out about, you can play Pacman!

It was so greatly received and proved to be so popular, Google left it there on the internet. Just for you guys!

What heroes. Kinda like this guy!

Here’s the link! http://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man

Also take note: Clicking on the right and left arrows will also take you through a gallery of previous Google ‘Doodles’ celebrating various anniversaries and special dates.

Image courtesy of Simpsons.wikia.com, Fightersgeneration & Cattime.