Neil bought a new iPhone and wants to give his old iPhone X to a family member. How can he transfer the phone and number to them? Leo says that since Neil has Verizon, he has to have the phone unlocked, and they will do it with a request. But it's as simple as taking the SIM out: you'll want it with your new phone anyway. Then, you'll also want to erase the phone and restore it back to the factory settings.
Dave has an iPhone X Max Plus and he's been frustrated with dropped calls, missing contacts and photos, and lousy quality video. He talked to Verizon and they don't know what to do. He talked to Apple, and three weeks later, they don't know either. Leo says that the problem is, that you can replicate the issue for the Apple Genius to see it. Apple used to have gold standard quality control. But lately, that's fallen terribly. So it's likely a lemon. If Apple is trying to help you, great. If not, well, it may be time to get a new phone.
Rose is having issues where her iPhone 8 screen just goes dim. Rich says that there is a sensor on her phone that will go dim if it gets obscured. Rose should clean her screen, or check that if her case is interfering with her phone's sensor. It may also be a failing sensor, so bring it to the Apple Store and have them run diagnostics to determine what's going on.
Gloria is getting her first smartphone and she's shopping at Walmart for it. Leo says she has to decide what service she's going to use. Walmart will try and get her to do their service called Straight Talk, which is pay-as-you-go and can work with various carriers. Next, she'll want to think about how much data she needs. 2GB when first starting out is fine and Leo would also recommend getting an iPhone. It's her first smartphone, and it's just plain easier to use.
Jake bought a new phone on eBay, but he can't activate it because it says he owes money to AT&T — but he's never used it with AT&T. Leo says it's probably the carrier that has flagged the IMEI of that phone and locked it out. Leo advises contacting eBay and getting his money back. He should give the seller a bad review as well. Of course, he could pay the bill. But who wants to do that? This is why you don't buy phones on eBay.
Warren wants a new iPhone with a large screen. But he doesn't know what to get. He wants one that will last awhile. Leo says that to future proof, he's going to want to get the iPhone XS Max. It'll have the longest runway as for use. He could get the iPhone XR, as it's got the same internals as the iPhone XS, but it's a smaller liquid retina screen, not OLED. He's also giving up the dual camera on the back, but the iPhone XR camera still has a basic version of portrait mode, which is pretty good. The iPhone XR is also available in several colors!
Mick bought the iPhone XS and wanted to migrate all his text messages to the new phone. Leo says in the iPhone message settings, there is a backup to iCloud feature. But it has to be on beforehand in order to save all messages in the cloud. Otherwise, they are stored locally.
Mick's wife is also having trouble with Face ID, which will unlock for her daughter. Leo says they can train it better using the "setup with alternate appearance" option.
Eric is thinking of updating to the iPhone XR, but he wants to know if using Face ID is going to be a hassle moving over to it from Touch ID. Rich says that once he sets it up on the phone the first time, it's stored locally and his apps will access the login that way. The first time he logs into his other apps, it'll ask him if he wants to use Face ID to log in. After he gives the permission, it will use Face ID every time after that.
Tom wants to know how to share his contact information digitally with his smartphone. Leo says that there's plenty of programs that can scan his business cards (the standard is called VCF or VCard) and convert it to digital data. There's also a "share card" feature in the iPhone to share a VCF Vcard file via Bluetooth. Android has these options as well.
Ed is blind and uses a Plantronics Bluetooth headset with his iPhone. When he gets an incoming call while he's on a call, he can't do anything without cutting off his current call. Leo says that call waiting is an imperfect technology and he doesn't use it. Leo says that if he can tell Siri to put it on hold, and take the other one, that would be great. Ed should talk to an Apple Genius at the Apple Store. They may know something.
