I recently transition from using Downcast to Overcast. Unfortunately, I was pretty far behind listening to some of my podcasts, and Overcast was not able to "see" some old episodes of some podcasts (e.g. Security Now!, since TWiT only keeps the latest 10 episodes in the feed). I create a javascript/php Manual Podcast Feed Generator that allows for the quick creation of non-updateable podcast feeds. All of the information is encoded in the URL, so I don’t need to store data.
Disabling the iOS Cellular Data Plan Popup
Disabling the iOS Cellular Data Plan popup that asks if you would like to sign up for a data plan can be disabled by turning on Airplane Mode. Just remember to turn your Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth back on.
Story
My wife and I both have iPad Mini 3s. Since we are usually connected to Wi-Fi, we share a T-Mobile SIM that we keep in the iPad is traveling and likely to utilize the cellular data. I got fed up with iOS constantly asking about a cellular data plan, so I figured out that Airplane Mode stops this.
Customizing Pebble Time Notifications on iOS
This was tested on Pebble Time HW 8.12 (snowy22), Pebble Time FW v3.2, Pebble Time app v3.1, iOS 8.4, and an iPhone 6.
The latest Pebble guide I could fine for setting up notifications on iOS (May 13, 2015) is not accurate, making it a trial and error exercise to customize notifications that get pushed to the watch.
Notifications are not dependent on the "Show on Lock Screen" setting or the "Alert Style" settings stated in the article. Alerts on the Pebble Time are actually tied to what appears in the Notification Center.
To disable notifications from a particular app, go to Settings → Notifications → <app> → Show in Notification Center → No Recent Items. When this is set to 1, 5, or 10, notifications will show up on your Pebble.
Security Note: If you’ve turned off the "Show Previews" option so text messages an email contents are not displayed on the Lock Screen, the message contents will still be displayed on the Pebble Time since it pulls content directly from the Notification Center.
Pebble Time with iOS Review
7/22/15 Update: Items addressed in FW version 3.2 (released July 22, 2015) have been struck out.
This applies to Pebble Time HW 8.12 (snowy22), Pebble Time FW v3.1, Pebble Time app v3.1, iOS 8.4, and an iPhone 6.
I’ve been using my Pebble Time for about two weeks. It works great as a convenient notification/reminder device. Even though it is marketed as a "smartwatch" it is by no means, a smartphone replacement.
Pros
- Long battery life – I still charge my watch every night, but it has never reported under 90% charge.
- Subtle notifications – I find the small vibrations more noticeable than a phone.
- Convenient Calendar Access – pressing down quickly shows me the next appointment on my calendar.
- Lightweight (1.4 oz. with band, 0.8 oz. without band)
- Good range – I reliably receive notifications when I am at the at or beyond the "typical" Bluetooth range of 10m.
Cons
- Dim Backlight – the backlight provides minimal illumination
- Reflective Glass – glare on the glass makes the screen difficult to read at many angles
- Dependence on the built in iOS Calendar app
Areas for Improvement
These are items that Pebble could improve with a simple Firmware update.
- Customizable Backlight Timer – the backlight only stays on for about 3 seconds.
- On Demand Do Not Disturb Activation – when going into a movie or important meeting, I’d like a simple option to turn off all notifications
- Snooze on calendar notifications
Other Thoughts
I have not had any connectivity problems between my Pebble Time and my phone. I have not had to re-pair it or had any issues due to walking out of range of my phone.
Revisited: Eliminating Mixed Content warnings with Amazon Associates
Links & Banners
I verified that adding internal=1 parameter and removing http: from an iframe banner URL will cause it to load securely. I also verified that the clicks are counted (show up in the link Earnings and Link-Type reports.
Important: This does not work for all banner ads. While reviewing the banner ads, this trick will work on any ad that displays without mixed content warnings on the amazon page.
<iframe src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=tidgubi-20&o=1&p=12&l=ur1&category=mp3&f=ifr&linkID=4ZPJJS7R4IXD5OGO&internal=1" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" border="0" marginwidth="0" style="border:none;" frameborder="0"></iframe>
I have not been able to figure out a way to make the javascript based Banners load all parts securely.
Secure Widgets
Search
Contextual Recommendations
Omakase
This widget can be secured with some work.
Amazon doesn’t sanitize the amazon_ad_tag parameter, so the &internal=1 trick works for this widget.
Remove "http:" from the script src attribute and update the widget script with:
<script type="text/javascript"><!-- amazon_ad_tag = "tidgubi-20&internal=1"; amazon_ad_width = "728"; amazon_ad_height = "90";//--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/s/ads.js"></script>
Partially Secure Widgets
These widgets will load securely; however, they load insecure content if the user hovers over a product and causes a popup to load.
Insecure Widgets
Some quick testing showed the non-mobile friendly widgets use flash. While the flash code is loaded securely, it loads insecure content when executed. Using any of these results in mixed content warnings.