Tech Talk #96 – Feb 2, 2019

Sync and backup your iPhone to Windows

iPhones used to pretend that Windows didn’t even exist. But since there are more Windows devices than iPhones, Apple has (probably reluctantly) provided tools to access the photos, music, and videos on our iPhones on our Windows computers.

 

By far, the easiest way to get your iPhone talking with your computer is to install iCloud for Windows. iCloud for Windows brings your photos, videos, email, files, and bookmarks to your Windows computer. iCloud is an official Apple app and does a good job of syncing the files on your iPhone to your Windows computer.

 

Download the program here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204283

 

Install iCloud and sign in with the same AppleID you use on your iPhone. Now, choose what you want to sync to your Windows computer; your iCloud Drive, photos, emails, and contacts are the usual choices.

  

Be careful with the Photos and Videos sync options: if you sync all of your Windows computer photos and videos to iCloud, you’ll probably end up using all of your iCloud storage and need to pay for more. Most people don’t sync their computer to iCloud, only iCloud to their computer.

 

But what about music? Well, there is always iTunes. If you’ve invested heavily in music and videos on your phone, then install iTunes on your Windows computer and log in with the same AppleID.

  

It’s sort of odd because on Windows, iTunes is an App, and the Apple iTunes page sends you to Microsoft to download it. You can get iTunes here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/itunes/9pb2mz1zmb1s?cid=appledotcom&rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab

  

Most people stream music from Pandora or Spotify and stream video from Netflix or YouTube, so having a synced up iTunes might not be for you.

 

Of course, iTunes is also useful for making a data backup of your iPhone, so there’s that.

 

Instead of installing iCloud for Windows on your computer, you can access most of the files and data on your iPhone by opening iCloud in the browser of your choice. You can just type in “iCloud” and get it from the search results or go directly to: https://www.icloud.com/

 

Again, sign in with the same AppleID you use on your phone and you should see your iCloud Drive, photos, and the rest of your data. You can even open documents made with Pages or spreadsheets made with Numbers from iCloud.com. Which is good since there isn’t an option for opening those files with Windows.

 

 

YouTube TV

I’m sure you know what YouTube is, but have you heard of YouTubeTV? It’s a  streaming service for live TV: Think live local news without a cable or satellite subscription. They offer 60 channels for $40 a month with got cloud-based DVRs, multiple accounts per subscription, and YouTubeTV works on newer smart TVs, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Android, and Xbox. Not the PS4, though.

 

YouTubeTV has been around for some markets for a few years, but they’ve recently completed the nation-wide rollout and it works here now.

 

 

A few fun or useful websites

My90sTV simulates flipping through TV channels in the 90s. If that’s too recent, they also have the and 70s TV, too: http://www.my90stv.com/

 

Looking to watch a certain movie but don’t know which streaming service it’s on? Try JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us

 

For those times when Google Translate isn’t cutting it for you, try the DeepL Translator over at: https://www.deepl.com/translator

 

Use the Atlas Obscura to find strange and scary places (other than Bakersfield) in the world: https://www.atlasobscura.com/

 

 

Times were tough…

I wonder what today’s kids are going to tell their kids… “We had it so rough when I was a kid. I didn’t get my own phone until I was in the 4th grade and sometimes the WiFi didn’t work upstairs.”

 

 

Do you have a computer or technology question? Greg Cunningham has been providing Tehachapi with on-site PC and network services since 2007. Email Greg at greg@tech-hachapi.com.

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