Apps

George uses his iPad to call Uber, but they don't know where to pick him up. Leo says that's because the iPad doesn't have GPS. The app just has to ask for the address of where he is in order to find him. With a mobile phone, they would have his coordinates in the app. Without GPS, the app has to use other means to find his general location, usually it uses "WiFi triangulation," and that's not always very accurate. The app puts a pin where he is, and if it's using WiFi triangulation, the pin just goes close to where he is. The good news is he can move the pin in the app.

John wants to know how he can limit the number of calls on his mobile device to only his contact list. Leo says that's called White Listing and since we're now being bombarded with spam and robo calls, that would be a very good idea. Google Voice can do it, but he'd need to get a new number. He can forward his number through it and Google Voice will then filter out unwanted calls, though.

Polarr is a great Chrome extension for doing photography on a Chromebook, but it's still a challenge. If his Chromebook has access to Android apps, that will give him even more options. But at the end of the day, he's better off using a Mac or Windows machine and something like Adobe Lightroom. If Google Photo's basic tools work for him, then he's all set.

Corey wants to know if Waze can be used on her Hyundai's Android Auto screen. Leo says Waze just got out of beta for Android Auto. But Corey has an iPhone, which uses CarPlay. He knows that Waze is in beta for CarPlay, but it's a bit tricky to install it. Check out Carplaylife.com for tips on how. Currently, it won't display on CarPlay, and Google has no plans to do so.

Lee has an Escort radar detector/GPS device and he can't update the maps. Leo says that many GPS companies are getting out of the business because every smartphone has GPS and a maps app. The phone is constantly up to date, while the GPS device isn't. Escort has also joined the iPhone generation by making their own app that has crowd sourced radar data like GPS. So GPS devices are rapidly becoming obsolete. There may be a software/maps update at the Escort Radar Forums.

Jim is annoyed with Waze because it always redirects him away from his preferred route just to save a few seconds. He only wants a new route if the time savings is substantial. Leo says that it would be great if he could set a preferred route, but most just allow users to choose fastest routes or shortest routes. He can select "don't allow dirt roads or difficult intersections." Leo says he usually just ignores an odd route and Waze will simply recalculate.

James is looking to get a Chromebook, but he's thinking that as a musician, he may need a Windows machine. Are there online ways around it? Leo says that there are online resources to record audio. Leo says that Chromebooks are great for most people, but it may not be for everything he does. Leo says that before he buys, he should try using nothing but the Chrome browser exclusively for a few days and see if there's extensions that can do what he wants. Leo's guessing that for recording music, the Chromebook may be lacking and he would need a full OS like Windows.

Mary wants to make youtube videos and create a cookbook. Leo says there's a great cookbook menu system called Paprika, which not only allows you to create a cookbook, but you can surf recipes and save them to it. It's brilliant.

Richard wants to know if moving apps to the SD card will save space. Leo says it can, if he knows how to do it. It's not really easy. Google does have a workaround, through adopted memory, but Leo says it doesn't work very well, depending on what phone he uses. Even if he can do it to save space, he's not saving that much space. The biggest storage hog is data. So why not move the data to the SD card and then keep the app on the phone's internal memory? It's one of the reasons why Apple and Google don't use SD cards.

Clarence is moving to an iPhone because he just can't get good coverage in his area with an Android phone. Leo says that's not really what's going on here. All phones are pretty much the same when it comes to connectivity. If he's losing his connection, it may be that his carrier doesn't have good coverage in his area.