2011-11-10

How to manage iOS Newsstand subscriptions auto downloads

The screen where you manage automatic download settings for subscriptions in the new iOS  Newsstand is hard to find (at least it was for me!) Here is how to get to it on your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone.

  • Tap on the Settings app to get to the Settings screen
  • Scroll down list of settings until you see the icon for the Store and tap that
  • There will be a section of the Store settings called "Automatically download new content when on Wi-Fi" and all of your Newsstand subscriptions should be listed there with an on/off slider for each one.
Incidentally, the wording of this screen seems to imply that automatic downloads of subscriptions only happen when on Wi-Fi (i.e. not on cellular), which I hope is true because one issue of the New Yorker would blow more than half my cheapskate 250 MB cellular plan.


2011-11-02

Save money using Google Voice plus a prepaid cellphone

A lot of prepaid mobile phone plans charge you only for the minutes you actually use, and if you don't use a lot of minutes each month it can save you a lot of money (I spend on average less than $10 a month on my T-Mobile prepaid service).  If you get a Google Voice account, and set it up to ring not only your prepaid cell phone but also your home and office phones, then you can give everyone your Google Voice number as your mobile phone number, but answer calls to it on your house or work phone when you are not on the road.