On Tuesday I took part in a 'webinar' (a live educational broadcast via the internet) on Driving Instructor TV. I discuss and demonstrate my iPad apps for Driving Instructors and answer some questions from the instructors who tuned in to watch. The recording of the webinar is available to watch (along with various other webinars for ADIs & PDIs) here. It's free to watch these recordings, but you need to register with Driving Instructor TV to gain access to some of them (including the iPad one).

It's simple to add a shortcut to any webpage to the home screen of your iPad or iPhone. I've added some nice little Robosoul icons to my site, so when you bookmark one of my pages it'll look good on your device. Here's how to add a shortcut to the Robosoul home page:

1. Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad and navigate to www.robosoul.co.uk

2. Tap the action button. This is at the top of the screen on an iPad and at the bottom of the screen on an iPhone. You will be presented with a menu that looks something like this:



3. Select "Add to Home Screen". You will be prompted to give the shortcut a name. Type an appropriate name into the box.



4. Tap "Add", then exit Safari and behold the lovely new icon on your home screen. Tapping this icon will open Safari and take you directly to the web page you have just bookmarked.

The DSA have been refining the driving test online booking service lately, and now it's optimised for use on mobile devices.

Go to gov.uk/book-practical-driving-test on your smart phone or tablet to give it a try. I gave it a wee test on my iPhone and it seems fast and easy to use.

The system will now only ask for a theory test pass certificate number if it can’t automatically find one on the system.

There are a few tickets still available for Fresh Start 2013, a king-size helping of CPD which should be an exciting addition to any ADI's calendar. The event is on Monday 25th February at Sixways Stadium, Worcester. Check out the website for more details.

I recently took delivery of a shiny new iPhone 5. Strangely, the iPhone 5 is the sixth iteration of this marvellous device, and it’s the sixth one I’ve had the privilege to own.

I’m pleased to say I’ve never been in the unfortunate situation of having lost or broken my iPhone, nor have I ever had one stolen. I don’t put this down to good luck, I put it down to the fact that from the very beginning, when I got my first one, I laid down a few ground rules for myself which I’ve stuck to pretty rigidly over the years. I’d like to share those rules with you, in case they may be of help.

There are also a few other rules I have which are less concerned with the risk of losing or damaging the thing and more concerned with the risk of turning into some sort of iPhone zombie: somebody who rarely looks up from that tiny screen, and comes to see the virtual world in their hands as more real than the physical one around them.

The Rules: how to avoid breaking or losing your iPhone

• Never leave your iPhone unattended in a public place. Never. If for for some reason you leave it with someone else, tell them not to let it out of their sight.

• As much as possible, keep your iPhone in your pocket when in public. Don't have it clipped onto your belt for all to see. Don't put it on the table. Don't keep it in your hand unless you're using it. It's very pretty and nice to hold, but it's a lot less likely to get dropped or covered in liquid if it's in your pocket. It's also a lot less likely to get swiped if it isn't seen in the first place.

• Never put your iPhone in your breast pocket. It will fall out as soon as you bend over. You've got plenty of other pockets - use them!

• Never place your iPhone on top of your car, not even for a second. The chances of you driving away with it still sitting on top are fairly small, but the extent to which you will feel like a complete twat if you do is extremely great.

• Avoid becoming engrossed looking at your iPhone while walking along the street. Apart from being thoroughly embarrassing when you walk into a lamppost, you need to remember that a shiny new iPhone is a fantastic prize for a mugger. Be aware of who's around you and remember that you're carrying something worth hundreds of pounds. I don't know how many hits of heroin that amounts to, but I suspect it's a lot.

• Avoid leaving your iPhone in your car. If you do, always lock the car and don't be away for more than a minute or so, or let the car out of your sight. If you're leaving the car for more than a minute, just take the phone with you.

• If you're sitting in the car playing with your iPhone, lock the doors. This may be more appropriate in some areas than others, but wherever you are you've got nothing to lose by taking the precaution.

Some suggestions for looking after your iPhone

• Don't put your iPhone in he same pocket as your keys or change if you don't want it to get scratched.

• Get a decent case.

• Get a screen protector.

Suggestions for having a happy life with your iPhone

• Keep it off the dinner table. Insist that your partner/kids do the same.

• Don't jump up and run to it every time it beeps. Learn to ignore it.

• Remember to notice other people. Smile, make eye contact, speak to them occasionally.

• When walking your dog, walk your dog. Play with your dog. Don't just play with your iPhone while holding onto one end of the dog's lead.

• Remember that having a short attention span is not cool!

Most of these rules can and should also be applied to the iPad, although I hope you wouldn’t even consider playing with your iPad while sitting at the dinner table or walking your dog!

If you have an iPad and a child under 5, you might want to have a look at this.



The Bird Stories is an interactive storybook written and illustrated by the excellent Aimee Lockwood. Aimee is responsible for creating Otis the octopus (of Textopus fame) and also for the illustrations in Learn To Drive: Controls. You can read more about The Bird Stories on Aimee's blog.

Hit the button below to get it now:

If you use your iPhone or iPad as much as I do, it probably holds a lot of important data you don't ever want to lose. It's a good idea to ensure you are making regular backups just in case anything bad happens.

You can do this the manual way, or the automatic way. This support document from Apple does a good job of explaining how it works.

I've been very busy the past few weeks writing updates for several of my apps:

Traffic Lights received a much needed bug fix and the addition of a yellow box option for the crossroads.

Mock Test now has the ability to take notes, as well as some user-configurable options which can be tweaked using your iPad's Settings app.

An update to Records has gone live today. It features a number of improvements, including the addition of some new fields, better support for storing pupils details, some user interface tweaks and some user-configurable options which can be tweaked using your iPad's Settings app.

Finally, I've just submitted an update to Road Board, which will take a week or two to go through the review process before it is ready to download. The update incorporates five new backgrounds and a number of new items such as traffic lights. A full list of changes will be available when the update goes live.

I've also updated the FAQ page with more details relating to the updates.

Due to a problem with my website, for the past couple of weeks I have not been able to receive messages sent via the contact form. If you have tried to get in touch and not received a response, it's because I did not receive your message. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please submit your message again via the contact form, which has now been fixed. When I receive your message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

It seems some users are receiving corrupt updates from the iTunes App Store. I've just released an update to my Traffic Lights app. I don't know if this app has been affected by the problems. So far, I haven't heard of anyone having issues with it.

If you do have problems running any apps on your iPhone or iPad after updating them, you should delete the app and then reinstall it. This will fix the problem only if Apple has already put things right at their end. If it doesn't work straight away, try deleting and reinstalling again after a day or two.

I have an update to my Mock Test app currently pending for App Store approval. I might hold off on the final release for a few days while this is all sorted out.

UPDATE 06/07/12: According to Apple, this issue has now been fixed.

The DSA recently released the Highway Code in app form. At £3.99 it's more expensive than the paper version, but includes some extra learning resources such as quizzes and videos.

The main incentive for me to buy this app was the ability to search the Highway Code using keywords and quickly find the section you're looking for. This is a big improvement over both the paper and the PDF versions.

This is an essential app for any driving instructor and, along with the DSA's Theory Test Kit, ideal for learners too.

Both apps are available on the iTunes App Store:
Official Highway Code
The Official DSA Theory Test Kit for Car Drivers

In a perfect world, all software would work perfectly all the time. Unfortunately, bugs are a part of life, and every now and again you can find yourself needing to completely flush an app from memory so the next time you launch it, it starts up in its default state.

This is called "force quitting". Force quitting does not delete the app from your device, nor does it delete any saved data. It simply restarts your session with the app, which is exactly what you need if the app is in an inconsistent state.

One way to force quit a running app is to push and hold the power button (on the top of your device) until you see the "slide to power off" screen. Now release the power button and instead hold down the home button (on the front of your device). Keep holding the home button until the app quits. Now you can relaunch the app and start using it as normal again.

A second way to force quit an app is to use the multitasking bar. First you need to quit the app in the normal way by pressing the home button. To access the multitasking bar, press the home button twice in quick succession. The last app you were using should be at the far left of the multitasking bar. Now touch and hold on any of the icons until they start to wobble and a red circle with a minus sign appears at the top left corner of each icon. Tap the minus sign on the app you want to force quit. The icon should disappear. Now tap the home button again, and relaunch the app in the normal way.

You shouldn't have to do this kind of thing very often, and I hope you never have to do it with one of my apps. But it's a handy trick to know if ever you find yourself stuck with an app that's doing something you don't want. By force quitting, you can take control of the situation and return the app back to a familiar state.

Apple currently has refurbished iPads for sale on their online store for as little as £239 for a 1st generation 16GB Wi-Fi model, or £259 for an iPad 2 with the same spec.

£259 for an iPad 2 is an absolute bargain when you consider that Apple's refurbs are more or less as-new, and come with a one-year warranty.

You can also get a refurbished 16GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G for £359. This is a good option for a driving instructor, although you can get by easily enough without the 3G option.

Between the Wi-Fi only models, I would definitely pay the extra £20 to get the iPad 2. It's noticeably thinner, lighter and faster than the 1st generation iPad. It also has front and back cameras and is likely to support more advanced software upgrades in the future.

I've met plenty of people who would love to have an iPad but are convinced the price is out of their reach. I think many people don't realise just how affordable these things have become.

£259 for an iPad 2! Tell your friends!

The Economist reports on Britain's latest experiment with shared space:

In some ways the British version is half-hearted. To reach the South Kensington museums, visitors must still cross a busy four-lane road using traffic lights. In places, bollards have been erected to stop vehicles straying where the pavement would be. Ranks of bicycles available for hire and parked cars clutter the street. The road surface itself is not completely flat: following a legal challenge mounted by Guide Dogs, a charity for the blind, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was obliged to install ridges where the kerbs used to be. And the kerbs themselves reappear at bus stops, to enable step-free access.

Volvo has unveiled a new safety system involving an airbag which pops up from under the car's bonnet in the event of a collision with a pedestrian:

The car, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, features sensors in the front bumper that register physical contact between the car and the pedestrian. The rear end of the bonnet is released and elevated by the airbag as it inflates to cover the entire area under the raised bonnet as well as around a third of the windscreen. The raised, cushioned bonnet and airbag should help reduce the severity of pedestrian injuries.

This story has provoked the inevitable criticisms that the additional safety feature will encourage some to drive more recklessly on the basis that the consequences of an error would be reduced. This is exactly what was said by similarly pessimistic people about seat belts when they were first invented, and it has been the same for just about every other safety technology invented since.

Driver awareness of the safety of pedestrians is improving all the time. There are still way too many fatal collisions, however. Anything that can reduce the severity of those collisions has to be a good thing.

Once again, the internet is full of reports of Steve Jobs passing away. Unfortunately, this time the reports are true.

If you own an Apple iPhone, iPod, iPad or MacIntosh, Steve Jobs has changed your life. I can't think of a single company that generates so much satisfaction amongst its customers. It's a fact that once someone starts using an Apple device, they rarely ever want to switch to using something else. These products make our lives easier, and they make us smile.

It's also hard to think of a large company that so thoroughly embodies the spirit of its founder. Steve Jobs was passionate about Apple and its products. It's because of his perfectionism, his inexhaustible attention to detail, and his uncompromising pursuit of excellence that we Apple users get to enjoy such wonderful, awe-inspiring technology in our everyday lives.

Let's all keep alive the spirit of Steve Jobs by always doing our best, and striving to be different.

Things must have seemed pretty quiet on the Robosoul front lately. Three months ago I posted updates for Mock Test and Road Pad, and nothing much has happened since then. Actually a lot has been happening and I've been kept busy pretty much non-stop!

First of all, after several years of working with a couple of different driving schools in Edinburgh, I've decided to become an independent instructor. In the past few years I've gained a lot of experience, learned a lot about the business, and established a solid base of satisfied customers. It's now time to go it alone.

The past week or so has been spent preparing this new website for Robosoul and transferring data from my old one. I've also been spending many long hours on a new app for the iPad which I hope to make available in the coming weeks. All I will say for now is that I'm very excited about this project and I look forward to sharing more news soon…