PC Doctor June 9, 2011

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Dear PC Doctor,

Can I send texts to my friends' phone from my iPad?

            Jesse

Dear Jessie,

Yes, you can send texts from your iPad to a cellphone. Search for the app “TextNow” in the Apple Appstore. It's free but there are ads that pop up every so often. It's a pretty nice app that lets you have unlimited texts. It also has a calling feature that claims to be also free, however I wasn't able to see how that worked, so be cautious to avoid being roped into fees. The app looks really nice, with plenty of customization options. It's also compatible with most of the iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Depending on the carrier of the phone that the person has that you're texting, you may or may not be able to send and receive picture texts. The app does require a data connection, either through 3G or Wifi, so if you're not connected by either way, you won't be able to send or receive texts. However, it's a great free app that's worthy of its 3.5 star rating!

            PC Doctor


Dear PC Doctor,

I have a quite a few email addresses, one for work, one for my personal use and one for professional applications. Is there a way I can get all the emails to forward to one email address so I don't have to check all the email addresses every day?

            James

Dear James,

You've been looking for Gmail! Gmail has many great features, including the ability to get email from other email addresses forwarded to your one Gmail address. I strongly urge you to get a free Gmail account if you haven't already.

This one Gmail account will become the central point where all your emails will end up. You can still log into your other email accounts to check the mail, but all the emails will be marked as read when forwarded to your Gmail account. Click on the little gear button in the top-right corner of your Gmail inbox. Select Mail Settings. Click on the Accounts tab at the top of the Settings window. Under “Send mail as:” click “Add another email address you own”. Nearly any kind of email account will work in this case; just follow the on-screen directions. Before it is completely set up, you'll need to log into the forwarding email address one more time before you're able to receive the forwarded emails and respond under the alias of that email address. (That's right! You can reply to an email that was forwarded using the email address it was originally sent— all from Gmail!)

If you have more than one address that you want to start forwarding to your Gmail account, you'll have to add each one individually. When a forwarded email arrives in your inbox, it will be labeled with the original email address. If you choose to reply to the email, be sure to change the sending email address!

            PC Doctor

Until next time... happy computing!

Posted: to Athol Library News on Thu, Jun 9, 2011
Updated: Thu, Jun 9, 2011