MarcForrest.com

Category: Apple

  • How to get your Apple Watch Workout Swims to Strava & Garmin Connect (and still get your Discovery Points)

    I’ve been doing quite a bit of swimming over the last couple of months after a back op in July last year. Everyday I do around 1-2km of swimming at the Gym, and am loving it!

    One of the things I battled with in the beginning was recording my swims. I used to have the Apple Watch 1, which wasn’t Waterproof, so I manually updated it. But I recently upgraded to the Apple Watch 3, which is waterproof and logs your swims.

    Once I had that sorted, I wanted to be able to keep track of what I was doing, and one thing that frustrated me with the Apple Health app, where your workouts are recorded to, is that it doesn’t allow you to export your workouts, or share them with other apps. More often than not, the info there is VERY simple, and doesn’t offer you the functionality to delve deeper into the stats, or show you how far you’ve trained over a certain period.

    We all know Strava is the Go-To app for cycling and running, and the stats you get from there are amazing. They also offer the ability to log swims as well, and show you info on your pace & heart rate. Garmin Connect (the official Garmin app for Garmin Watches) also allows you to view a lot more info like speed over distance, number of strokes, average time & heart rate. Combined these apps show loads more info than the standard Apple Health App.

    So I did some digging and came across an app called RunGap. RunGap (iTunes Link) allows you to export and import from various workout platforms and share your workouts. So, as an example when I am finished a workout on my Apple Watch, it can sync over to Garmin, Strava, TrainingPeaks and loads of other services.
    RunGap is a free app to download, but they charge you R49.99 for a 3 month subscription to be able to post to other services. This is well worth it though!!

    To get started once you have logged your workout in your Apple Watch, open Run Gap. You will need to setup the accounts you want to connect to before hand and authenticate with them.

    You will then need to import the workout from Apple Health, and it will show you all the info about the workout in the Details screen.

    You can then select Edit to add notes or rename the workout and then “Share” to share it to the various platforms. You’ll see it’s pretty instant and you can go into the other apps and view the info there.


    This is a really great way to share your workouts to other platforms, and best of all you get your Discovery points for your workout. This is key when doing runs etc, because if you had to log it just in Strava as an eg, you won’t get your points. It has to be logged in Apple Watch

  • Introducing iStore Makers

    Introducing iStore Makers

    As many of you know one of my favorite “passion projects” was a concept called iPhoneograpy I co-founded in 2011 with the team from iStore. The concept was a platform for anyone to enter their iPhone photography into a competition and then have an annual exhibition. iPhoneography grew into something amazing, and soon started gaining a massive following. It has been exciting to see how the concept has grown over the years, and it’s largely thanks to the team at iStore!

    So now, after 5 years of amazing exhibtions we have turned iPhoneography around and enter iStore Makers. iStore Makers is a platform that allows http://www.istoremakers.myistore.co.za/login/anyone to signup and upload photos & illustrations that have been created using a Mac, iPhone or iPad. This opens up a whole new world, and a new channel to showcasing some of the best talent we have in this space.

    Below is an excerpt from the blog post I did on the iStore Makers Blog explaining what it is all about

    So you’ve been part of the iPhoneography family for a while now. For some of you it started way back in 2011 and for others, you submitted your first masterpiece to the competition in 2015. But somehow it feels like you have been part of this forever. What started as a small group of hopefuls in 2011, experimenting with their iPhones and capturing meaningful moments, has now grown to a community of over 4000 iPhoneographers who over the past 5 years have taken  over 18000 epic photo’s and won some even more epic prizes ranging from iPods to iPads to MacBook Airs. Every year we’ve gathered in Johannesburg and Cape Town to proudly show off what you have created at the iPhoneography exhibition. Whether it was a portrait of your dog, something abstract that caught your eye or a proudly South African piece, we’ve loved them all. 

    In fact, we’ve loved them so much that this year we’ve decided to start something bigger and better. It’s obvious that you’re a pretty talented bunch. Not only do you have a knack for taking some spectacular photographs, but some of you are creating beautiful illustrations that are getting us really excited. So we’ve widened the opportunity for you to now submit photographs as well as illustrations on any one of your favourite Apple products. It’s totally up to you. 

    And here’s the kicker. Gone are the days of the annual iPhoneography competition and only catching up with fellow iPhoneographers once or twice a year. We’re taking this thing to a whole new level. You now get to create, be inspired and share all year round. With opportunities to learn more with the latest tips and tricks, get involved in a variety of events and enter tons more competitions, we think you’re going to love it. Because we know you love to make cool stuff. That’s why we’re calling it Makers. And we can’t wait to tell you all about it!

    I’m excited to see where iStore Makers go. Each month a panel of judges will vote on who has the best entry for that month, and there is a R1000 iStore voucher up for grabs each month. Then at the end of the year, there will be an overall judging of all entries throughout the year, with an iPad Pro & Apple Pencil for the winner.

    To check out what iStore Makers is all about, visit the site at https://www.myistore.co.za/istoremakers/

  • How to create a Facebook 360 Pano photo using a DJI Drone

    One of the best things about the DJI Phantom 4 for me is the ability to do some really cool Aerial Panos. I have always been fascinated with aerial photography and Panoramic photos.

    This is one of my most recent Panos we did at Inanda Dam earlier this year
    [pano file=”panoramas/inanda/export.htm”]

    So I decided to put together a few resources on how to get the best Pano

    Apps: Dronepan or Litchi for the DJI Phantom 4
    PSD Template: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtn7inn3jwwkr10/stfoto-facebook-panorama-template.psd?dl=0 – this PSD has the EXIF data needed to upload to Facebook to make it show 100% correctly as a 360 Pano
    Sotware: MS ICE or PTGui
    Site: https://roundme.com
    WordPress Plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/panopress/

    This video by Ricky DuNorth takes you through how to get the perfect Pano ready for Facebook. (Thanks Ricky, this an awesome tutuorial!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjesB3UQtEU&feature=youtu.be

  • How to add GIF Images to your Whatsapp conversation on iOS & Android

    How to add GIF Images to your Whatsapp conversation on iOS & Android

    The team at Whatsapp released an update this week for iOS  & Android which now includes the ability to send GIF images in your messages. This has probably been one of the most requested features for the Whatsapp app for a while now!

    If you don’t know what a GIF is, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen one of those silly looking silent video’s of cats somewhere on the internet, much like the image below…

    Excited Dance GIF from Excited GIFs


    To insert GIF’s into your Whatsapp messages follow the steps below:

    1. Download a GIF enabled keyboard for iOS or Android. My favorite is Tenor GIF keyboard (iOS or Android) or GBoard Keyboard for iOS

    2. Once installed, open the keyboard and select your GIF.

    img_4810

    3. You then need to “paste” the GIF into your conversation, which will then show up on the other person’s phone.

    img_4813

    The process is pretty much like typing out any message or sending a photo or video, so very simple. The one thing to consider is GIF’s are a bit larger in size, so I would recommend turning off your “Save Incoming Media” on Whatsapp. I also suppose Group chats may become annoying with people sending unnecessary GIFs, but hopefully Whatsapp give an option in later editions to turn this option off :)

    Have fun with some cool GIFS :)

     

  • Chipolo – Finding all the lost stuff!! (Giveaway)

    Chipolo – Finding all the lost stuff!! (Giveaway)

    I came across a new little gadget this week called Chipolo. I honestly think this thing is going to save my life.

    As someone who is ALWAYS misplacing their stuff, from wallets to my keys, to my phone and even sometimes my mind, I have always wanted something to tell me where I put my lost items, and this does the trick!

    The Chipolo tag is a small tag (35mm wide & 5mm thick) that can fit in almost anywhere and comes in a variety of 9 different colours. The tag connects via Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device and allows you to “ring” it from the device using a dedicated Chipolo app (iOS App & Android App) . Similarly, you can also shake the Chipolo to find your phone. Because it uses Bluetooth the max distance you can ring the Chipolo from is 60m, which is a pretty fair distance if you trying to find something around the house.

    But the best part about this cool little device is that it also works “inside a community” So what this means is, if you misplace your wallet, which has a Chipolo attached to it, at a shopping centre for example, you can mark it as “Lost” from inside the app. If anyone else who has a Chipolo walks past it, the 2 connect and it can send you a notification and email to tell you exactly where it is. Amazing!!

    I have only had mine for about 24 hours and I have already had to use it once to find my wallet. It is small enough to pop inside the coin pouch and doesn’t add any extra weight.

    The cost of the Chipolo tag is R399 and it comes with an extra battery as well (batteries last about 6 months or so) You can buy it online in SA from the iStore online store and they also available in iStores.

    Because I love this little gadget so much, I have decided to give one away. Follow the steps below in the Gleam giveaway, and we will select a winner on Friday 7th October. Shipping free to anywhere in SA. There are a 6 different ways you can enter including liking my new Facebook iGuy Page or even subscribing to my YouTube channel I recently setup.

    Chipolo Giveaway

    Disclaimer: I was not asked to write about the Chipolo Tag. I was given one as a gift from the good people at Above & Beyond distributors. The Chipolo in the giveaway is not a sponsored prize, it was purchased to give away in this competition :)