How to stop the iPhone side button from ending a phone call

If your calls keep dropping suddenly when you hear a click sound, it could mean that your iPhone has a default setting enabled to end calls when the side (right) button is pressed.

To change this setting, navigate to:

Settings > Accessibility > Touch

Enable the “Prevent Lock to End Call” setting. 

This setting will stop the right hand side button on the iPhone from ending a call, which is a terribly enjoying feature and one setting that should be changed as soon as possible. 

The amount of phone calls I had when the call ended abruptly by accidentally touching this button were too many to count. 

Otterbox iPhone case color options

Inkblot (blue)
$30

Royal Blue/Gunmetal Gray
$30
(Actually my second choice after Inkblot, since it has color on the outside.)

Glacier White/Gunmetal Gray
$24

Fire Within ~ Scarlet and Gray
$30
(Tempted to get this!)

Indigo Harbor
$27.4

Price is not really an object because all these cases seem to be $30 or less unless opting for something out of the ordinary.

Would prefer to have an accent color rather than black, white, or plain gray!  Might be fun to have a bright color to find the phone easily, but that could also draw unnecessary attention to it!

Buying an iPhone 6 in Q4 2016

In December 2013 I bought an iPhone 4S for about $250 to use with H2O wireless and it's saved me about $20-25 per month for the last three years ($720-900).  Since updating to iOS 9, the phone has really slowed down and I notice that new apps don't run as quickly as they could on the phone.

It's time to buy an iPhone 6!  They cost about $330-350 to buy a used model in good condition, and the accessories should be included at this price.

Why an iPhone 6?

• Faster processor to run current apps without delays
• Bigger screen - the iPhone 4s screen is hard to use with some apps and tiny for photos and video.
• Massive Panoramas!  I saw a panoramic print that was probably 24 x 36 in a local business that was taken on an iPhone.  Up close you could see the pixels, but at a reasonable viewing distance, it was not apparent that the landscape photo was captured on an iPhone.
• 64GB of storage.  Because I store some music on my 16GB iphone, I'm constantly wrestling with space to take photos and download apps...with the Shutterfly app and this amount of storage, I'll never have to worry about free space to take pictures!
• Store more music.  A 4x increase in storage space means that I could use this like an iPod more often and rely on Spotify less.

Having an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus is like having a miniature tablet.

Another size comparison, just showing iPhones.

Full feature and spec comparison chart for iPhone 6 and smartphones released in 2014.

The iPhone 6 is just a little thinner than a 5s, but much thinner than a 4s model.

Current used prices on Amazon for unlocked iPhone 6 64GB phones.

Buying a Used iPhone 6

It's finally time to upgrade my iPhone 4s to an iPhone 6 (these are two years old now).  Since my existing phone is 16GB, it would be worthwhile to pay a little extra to get the 64GB model for more storage! (I can always move videos to an external hard drive, and I should never have to worry about running out of space for apps.)

Apple iPhone 6 64GB Unlocked (Gold)
$360 like new

Apple iPhone 6 Silver 64GB (AT&T)
$350 like new (phone only)

Apple iPhone 6 Unlocked Cellphone, 64GB, Silver

$350 very good, comes with Apple charger and data cable

eBay items:

Apple iPhone 6 (AT&T) 128GB Gold

$300 buy it now

This device is in great cosmetic condition and is 100% fully functional having passed our industry leading inspection. The device may show signs of use on the screen and light imperfections on the sides and/or back. This item includes an OEM Apple charging head and USB Cable. Sim card and earbuds are NOT included. Model # A1549. This item is Locked to AT&T and will work on the AT&T Network 

Probably the best deal I've found yet, especially considering the 128GB capacity and great cosmetic condition.  I could pay for this by selling various items and using my Amex card credit!!

Apple iPhone 6 - 64GB - Space Gray (AT&T) Smartphone

Current bid is $200.  Ends on Monday, 11/7.
I haven't taken this phone out of my case in 2 years.

Catch: The only known issues are audio jack is sometimes an issue and light scratches on the screen. The audio, depending on the type of headphone jack it will work and sometimes not work. It is $60 to have the audio jack replaced if needed and the phone is priced accordingly. Bluetooth headphones work fine.

I could probably live with the audio jack issue for a bit, or get bluetooth headphones, since things are moving that direction anyway!!

Good Condition Apple iPhone 6 - 64GB - Space Gray (AT&T Unlocked)

Asking $260 for Buy it Now.

Catch: lots of cosmetic wear on the frame.  Touch ID doesn't work.  Screen has been replaced.

iCloud storage upgrade prices compared to Amazon

Country	Currency	10 GB upgrade	20 GB upgrade	50 GB upgrade
United States	USD	$20.00	$40.00	$100.00

iCloud includes 5GB for free, but if you take photos or shoot video, you'll fill this up in less than a year.  Your iPhone will not be backed up when there is not enough storage space to accommodate all items.

$20 for 10GB is not bad to have your photos backed up to the cloud automatically.
If you don't need photos backed up, the 5GB of free storage should be more than sufficient for your texts, calls, notes, reminders, and some other app data.

If you don't need to backup your iPhone contents, then Google Drive offers 15GB of storage for free.  Amazon's Cloud Drive is another good alternative at offering 20GB for $10 per year.

Apple's iCloud pricing, by country:
iCloud: Storage upgrade pricing

Prices via:
Here's what Apple's iCloud Drive will cost you, compared with its competition - CNET

Custom iPhone ringtones and text tones

Skip to 4:55 in the video to see the steps in iTunes after creating ringtones in Ringtone Designer.

With a free iPhone app (Ringtone Designer) [requires iOS 4.3 or later] and a few settings in iTunes you can turn any piece of a song into a ringtone or text tone.  If you want to make your own recording, the $0.99 version of the app add this feature.

How to get the newly made ringtones into the Preferences window on your iPhone:

Sync your iPhone.

Click on the Apps option.

Scroll down to the File Sharing section and select Ringtones.

Choose a ringtone from the list and select Save to.  Save the ringtones to a folder on your computer.

Drag the ringtone files you put on the computer back into iTunes (music section).

Click on your iPhone in iTunes.

Click on the Tones option.

Make sure that "Sync Tones" is checked.  Click on Apply in the lower-right corner to put the ringtones on your iPhone.

After the iPhones finishes syncing, navigate to the following on the iPhone.

Utilities > Settings > Sounds > Ringtone

---

Text Tone ideas for geeks, nerds, and people who grew up in the 90's.

Star Wars theme
Lord of the Rings theme
Banjo Kazooie sound effects
Banjo Kazooie themes
Zelda theme (cover on Guitar), like this cover by Sungha Jung
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Kokiri Forest guitar cover [Youtube]
Mario Kart
-- award ceremony music
Worms Armageddon sounds/theme music
-- (rough piano & guitar cover) or better sound quality, piano-only
Hi-Ya!
"Rocky Loves Emily" - 3 Ninjas
Guitar Strum (Greensleeves on Flamenco Guitar)
"I'm a Believer" - The Monkees (intro)
"I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz (cover by Sungha Jung)
"The Blood of Cu Chulainn" - intro

iPhone 4 vs iPhone 4S

The big improvements with the iPhone 4S are:

• Siri (personal assistant)
• 8MP Front camera and 1080p video (was 5MP camera and 720p video)
• Dual Core Processor
• More talk time (one extra hour of talk time and one extra hour of Wi-fi).

Photos via:
iPhone 5 vs. iPhone 4S vs. iPhone 4