Auto Back Up Your Photos to OneDrive from Any Mobile Device
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It’s rare these days to take photos and videos with anything other than a phone or tablet. As straightforward and convenient as this is, however, backing up photos and making them easy to share is an entirely different matter. That is until I started using Microsoft OneDrive.
Although I wasn’t a huge fan in the past, the latest OneDrive client for iOS (iPad/iPhone), Android, and Windows Phone is great. It allows me to consolidate all my photos and videos to a single place where they are:
- Auto Backed up
- Stored in the same place
- Easy to Share
Sounds great right? Let’s review the simple steps.
Auto Upload Photos and Videos on Android to OneDrive
First, we’ll start with Android. Download and install the OneDrive app for Android. When you initially set it up, it will ask you if you want to back up full-resolution photos and videos to OneDrive automatically. Go ahead and turn it on. By default, they will only upload over Wi-Fi, but you can change that if you want to for some reason.
One thing to keep in mind when enabling this on Android, your Google+ and Photos apps might already be automatically backing up photos to Google Drive too. Be sure to disable this if you’re going to use OneDrive instead.
Auto Upload Photos and Videos on iOS Devices (iPhone/iPad) to OneDrive
Moving along to iOS, you need to download the OneDrive app which works on both the iPhone and iPad. The first time you launch it on your iOS device (iPad in the shot below), it gives you the option to save all of your pictures to OneDrive automatically. By default, it will only upload your photos and video when you connect to Wi-Fi. It’s probably the best choice to leave it that way, so you don’t get overage charges on your data plan.
Note: The iOS OneDrive app allows an extra 3 GB of storage too. However, it looks like this trick only worked after I added it to Android.
If you already have OneDrive App Installed and want to save your photos to OneDrive, launch it and tap Me > Settings > Options > Camera Upload and turn it on.
The Camera Upload feature on iPhone and iPad has several features including:
- Use Mobile Network?
- Include Videos?
- Upload in Background
Photos and Videos are not small these days, so I highly recommend you only enable those photos if you have an unlimited data plan. The last thing you need is a hefty overage fee on your data plan – even worse if the upload takes place while roaming out of the country (insert high pitched scream here!)
One thing I love about uploading your Mobile device photos to OneDrive is they will all be centralized and viewable (and shareable) on the OneDrive website. Microsoft has been doing a fantastic job of updating the site to make it easy to view all your latest photos and even auto-tag your photos and create albums for you.
Storing Photos to OneDrive On Windows Phone
If you’re a Windows Phone 8.1 owner, you’ll be asked to back up photos (and other phone data) to OneDrive during the initial set up. To make sure everything is being backed up to OneDrive, and the quality of your backed up photos, go to Settings > Backup > photos + videos. There you have a few options on what you want the quality to be. I always change mine to Best quality for both; because the file sizes will be larger, Windows Phone will upload them only when you connect to Wi-Fi.
Final Thoughts
The benefit of using OneDrive on your smartphone(s) and tablet(s) versus iCloud or Google Drive is you can view and organize your photos from more locations and devices and as I mentioned earlier, you can easily see and share the photos online.
What are your thoughts? Are you using a trick to backup all your mobile photos and videos?
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How to Use the Microsoft Authenticator App for iOSBy
Andre Da Costa
Last Updated on October 4, 2016
One of the latest iOS apps from Microsoft is Authenticator, which lets you quickly and easily verify your identity for all your online accounts.
One of the latest iOS apps from Microsoft is Authenticator, which lets you quickly and easily verify your identity for all your online accounts. If you want an extra layer of security to protect your accounts from being easily compromised, Microsoft Authenticator is recommended. The latest version, 4.1, is even easier to use, removing the cumbersome QR Code requirement to setup; instead, you can sign in using your Microsoft Account.
Verify Identity Using Microsoft Authenticator
So what exactly is the Microsoft Authenticator app? Authenticator provides what is called multi-factor or two-step verification. We have covered two-factor authentication in the past. Google provides a similar app for iOS and Android. Setup is easy; you can download the app from the App Store for iOS 8 or later. Authenticator works on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Why is this better? I remember a few years ago, I spent a couple of weeks in the states and needed to access files from my Dropbox. The problem was, Dropbox required a verification code, which I thought wasn’t a big deal. What ended up happening was my local number, which I was using in the states at the time was not receiving SMS text message, no matter what I tried. I couldn’t access my Dropbox until I returned home, which was unfortunate. From then on, I started disabling 2FA whenever I traveled outside of the country, and that’s not okay. Microsoft Authenticator eliminates problems like that often associated with verification codes; because the app is handling the verification itself.
Setting Up
After launching the app, choose verify using your Microsoft Account. I initially experienced issues using my phone number to get my verification code; so I used an alternate email address instead. That’s it. You are now setup. When you add a new account, Authenticator will generate new security codes for all your accounts every 30 seconds.
If you want to add a third party account such as Facebook for example, here is how you do it. Sign into Facebook, open Settings, click Security then click Edit next to Code Generator. Click Setup, then enter your Facebook password.
Launch the Microsoft Authenticator app, click the Add button, tap third party accounts, then use your phone to scan the QR code on the screen. Authenticator will then generate a code, which you can enter and verify. You can use this with other services such as Dropbox and Google.
Whenever an app or service request authentication, you will get a notification with a verification code right away. No need to perform any manual request, just enter the code and done.
Googles Authenticator app works similarly; although the benefits of Google’s implementation is with its services. I recommend users have both installed for scenarios where 2FA is enabled; it removes the hassle with receiving SMS text messages.
So that’s a look at Authenticator, an easy way to add an extra layer of security to your online identity. If you want to learn more about two-factor authentication and ways to keep your passwords secure, be sure to check out our other articles.
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How To Password Protect and Encrypt Office 2016 DocumentsBy
Andre Da Costa
Last Updated on November 13, 2016
If you use Microsoft Office 2016 products such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to prepare sensitive information; did you know Office has a built-in encryption feature? Let’s review the details and how to protect your documents.
If you use Microsoft Office products such as Word 2016, Excel 2016 and PowerPoint 2016 to prepare sensitive information; did you know it’s simple to add a layer of encryption to your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations? The feature is built right into the Microsoft Office suite, and it’s quick and easy to use, as I’ll show you below. For those of you who’ve not yet made the investment into the latest Office suite, we’ve covered this information for previous versions of Office so feel free to check out our previous article for those instructions.
When password protecting your documents keep in mind some essential tips:
- Create a strong passphrase or password when protecting your documents. A passphrase is nice as it hopefully will prevent you from forgetting your password.
- Use a unique password, don’t use the same password you use to sign into your Windows PC or another service. This is important just in case your user account is compromised, your files have at least a hope of protection.
- If you’re going to encrypt a lot of office documents, consider using a password manager. Our favorite here at groovyPost is 1Password.
- By default, Office 2016 / O365 uses AES 256 bit encryption which for 99% of us out there is good enough. If you’re looking to change the default in any way, I encourage you to check out this TechNet article which reviews the cryptography options in detail.
Protect Office 365 or Office 2016 Files Using Encrypt with Password
The procedure is standard for most Office applications, so for this article, we will use Microsoft Word 2016 to start. First, open the Office document you would like to protect. Click the File menu, select the Info tab, then select the Protect Document button. Click Encrypt with Password.
Enter your password then click OK.
Enter the password again to confirm it and click OK.
Microsoft Word will now indicate the document is protected. Each time you open the document, you will be prompted to enter your password to access its contents.
Protecting a PowerPoint presentation works the same way.
Password protecting other types of Microsoft Office files
When working with other types of Microsoft Office files such as a Microsoft Access database, there are some minor requirements. Access 2016 requires opening the database exclusively first before you can password protect it. To do so, click File > Open, select your Database file then click the arrow beside the Open button then click Open Exclusive.
Enter and confirm your password then click OK.
Protect all or part of an Excel workbook
For Microsoft Excel Workbooks, you can protect all or parts of a workbook. To do that, use the following instructions. Click File, select the Info tab, click the Protect Workbook button. Click Encrypt with Password then follow the same instructions used when protecting a Word document.
Protect a sheet
If you have a shared workbook, you can protect a particular sheet without locking the entire workbook. Right click the sheet then click Protect Sheet.
If there is part of a sheet you would like to protect from modification, you can do so too. First, highlight the range then click the Review tab. Click Allow Users to Edit Ranges
Click Protect Sheet.
Enter a password then confirm it.
When you try to make changes to that range, you will receive the following message:
To make changes to the range or a particular cell, select it, go to the Review tab then click Unprotect. Enter your password then click OK
That’s it, and your Microsoft Office files are now for your eyes only. Check out our other articles such as enabling Bitlocker Drive Encryption and encrypting portable drives using BitLocker to Go for added security.
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Flowing – Apple’s Free iTunes App of the WeekBy
Dave Greenbaum
Last Updated on October 9, 2016
This week’s free app from Apple is Flowing. Normally $3, it’s free for a week on your iPhone and iPad. Continue reading for our review and recommendation if it’s worth a download.
This week’s free app is the sound and meditation app Flowing. Normally it’s $3, but you can get it free from iTunes until Thursday, October 6th.
What Is It?
Flowing is a little bit white noise, a little bit meditation, and a little bit relaxation app. The white noise has settings for meditation music, raindrops, birds, and running water. The app gives you three music choices and lets you control the amount and mix of other noises. Most white noise apps I’ve used, even free ones, give you more control than Flowing. I found you can only control the intensity of the sound elements, not the variety.
For the meditation, Flowing gives you a deep sleep, a light sleep, and general relaxation option. The narrator has a dreamy voice that borders on the ridiculous. She seems to be trying way too hard to sound like she’s wants to relax you from another world.
The relaxation includes the white noise, meditation, and 3D parallax nature scenes. As you move your iPhone or iPad, the scene moves with you. The art in the app was creepy. It reminded me of stuff I’d see in a rundown hotel or restaurant. In particular, the 3D animals eyes followed you everywhere. I serious! I’m not paranoid! If you want other scenes, Flowing includes ads for some of their other apps like Sunny.
Who Is It Good For?
Someone who likes meditation and white noise apps along with a little variety in what they listen to may enjoy this app. I wouldn’t pay money for it personally, but the meditations give me a little variety. I’d keep this app in the background while I’m working with headphones and can’t stream music. The 3D art… I’d let the kids play with. Kids like creepy stuff and would enjoy seeing the art move as they play with the iOS device.
Should You Download It?
This simple app ran without hesitation on my iPhone 5s. It takes up 100 MB, so it’s not a space hog. I’ll keep it around for a quick meditation break or just to entertain the kids.
