If you haven't moved away from your native calendar app, now is the time.

Sunrise Calendar (free, Sunrise Atelier) is, in my opinion, the best native calendar app replacement out there. The design boasts beautiful, simple and modern design as well as a monthly view and daily view like the native iOS app. It also allows users to add Google, Facebook, and iCloud calendars with ease. Reminders can also be seen in the calendar view, if you wish. The latest update lets users add "interesting calendars," like sports schedules, moon phases, and holidays.

One of the great things about using an iPhone or iPad is that you can look up the definition of any word you encounter in Notes, Safari, Mail, and more with the Define feature. (See the tip on how to do that HERE.) But what if you are traveling or you speak more than one language and you want to be able to look up words in those languages as well?

Apple does not limit the character count for iMessages; but if you are sending a message to a non iUser it will be sent as an SMS and will therefore be limited to 160 characters. This means characters over 160 will be sent in a second text or possibly even deleted, depending on your recipient's carrier. To avoid this situation, turn on Character Count so you can always know when you've reached the SMS character limit.

One of my favorite things about my iPhone is the way even a decidedly untalented photographer like me can easily take and share decent photos and videos using the built-in Camera, and I'm always on the lookout for iphoneography tips to help me improve my skills. Here's one on how to take easy silhouette shots with your iPhone, generously shared with me by iPhone Life magazine's newest editor Rheanne Schlee. This really easy trick can result in amazing photos:

As promised, here is my first installment on learning to program in the new Swift language!

Defining Classes in Swift

The following code shows an example of a Swift class definition:

To declare a class in Swift, you use the class keyword followed by the name of the class. If it has a superclass, you add a colon and the name of the superclass. The beginning and end of the class are indicated by the opening and closing curly braces.

Over the years I have literally taught tens of thousands of people how to write code in Objective-C through training classes, conferences, online forums, and my book series. Based on the mountain of feedback I have received, I can tell you some key points that make Swift much easier to learn than Objective-C.

If Objective-C is the only language you have ever coded in, I have one thing to say about moving to Swift. Welcome to the 21st century.

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