Traveling with Technology — iPhone SE, Apple Watch, and iPad Pro 9.7" (and some traveling tech tips)
I recently travelled to Japan for 10 days holiday trip with my iPhone SE and Apple Watch, now both nearly one-month old, and my iPad Pro 9.7 inch. And I’m here to share my experience traveling with technology.
#1 — Itinerary
If you, like most people, plan for your trip in some ways before you travel, then you’ll have an itinerary. My itinerary is always fully digital, crafted within Excel, and stored on my iPhone and iPad.
Every night, I would look at through the itinerary on my iPad Pro and mark the places that I would visit next on either Apple Maps or Google Maps. More often than not, I chose Apple Maps over Google Maps for 2 reasons. Firstly, it supports Split Screen Multitasking on the iPad (while Google Maps does not), so I can have 75% of my screen showing my itinerary on Excel, while 25% of the remaining screen showing the Apple Maps application. It saved me so much time not needing to switch between apps. Secondly, by already having the locations stored on the Apple Maps, I can easily use it for navigation directions on the Apple Watch. I will elaborate on this point on the next section below.
I checked my itinerary on the iPhone SE most of the time when I’m on the go. It was a really frustrating experience because the iPhone SE screen is so tiny. I thought I could adjust back — because hey, guess what, we all came from 4-inch display! — but it proved to be way more difficult than I had imagined.
Speaking of the screen, I would also like to point out that not only does the iPhone SE have a smaller screen, it has a poorer screen too. First of all, the viewing angle is bad. If you look at the screen of the iPhone SE from an angle (say, 40 degrees away from the vertical), colours start to turn inaccurate/off. This problem is most prominent with white colour (it turns greenish-white at an angle).
In addition, colour saturation and contrast are noticeably poorer. Coming from my iPhone 6 Plus, the graphics on the iPhone SE looks so flat and fade it almost feels like there was an instant VSCO (formally known as VSCOcam) fade filter on it. Because of that, I noticed that some photos looked a little different on the iPhone as compared to my iPad Pro. This makes photo-editing on the iPhone SE a little tricky.
#2 — Navigation
Navigation brings one of the greatest surprise of the Apple Watch. Once I have looked up the walking directions from my current position to the destination on my iPhone, I can start the route on my iPhone and directions will automatically appear on my Apple Watch. From that point onwards, I don’t even need my iPhone anymore! A few meters before I am supposed to make a left turn, the Apple Watch will gently nudge me three times slowly on my wrist. When I’m supposed to turn right, Apple Watch will rapidly nudge me a few times on my wrist. And based on my experience it is fairly accurate on most occasions. I did not have to refer to my iPhone most of the time, unless when the road’s a little tricky (such as having multiple alleys or traffic lights).
This little neat trick that the Apple Watch does is not merely about convenience. Because I am free from constantly referring to my iPhone, I get to enjoy my journey. I can pay closer attention to the streets, the scenery, the people, and that enriches my trip. Trust me, it is such a liberating experience.
Sometimes plans change, and you have to look for a nearby destination that you have not planned for (say, for example, a restaurant). Both Apple Maps and Google Maps allow you to easily search for destinations nearby depending on categories. However, it appears that on occasions both mapping services cannot seem to agree on the ratings of some destinations. I have come across some restaurants that are rated nearly 5 stars on Apple Maps but only 3 stars or less on Google Maps. The reverse is sometimes true too. Sometimes you simply have to try your luck. And also, no point going to TripAdvisor or Yelp to double check the ratings because that’s where Apple pulls the data from.
On the topic of TripAdvisor and Yelp, I am finding them less useful overtime. Ratings seem to be suffering from inflation, and destinations are increasingly being dominated by prominent ones that are just not so helpful. I use them mostly to find restaurants and I notice that very often I get famous chain restaurants listed amongst the top few results. The problem is that I am already aware about them and hence no longer something new for me to discover. If you look at the result in Taipei or Singapore, you will see 鼎泰豐 (Ding Tai Fung) from different outlets appearing over and over again. That is not to say that there aren’t other “local” stores/restaurants in the search result. There are. But I would appreciate it way more if I could just filter away all these famous chain restaurants. And keep your expectations low when comes to ratings. Reviewers can give many stars and describe the food as though it came from heaven but honestly most of the time it is just meh. Not useful.
That’s why I have turned to the Michelin guide to plan for my meals when I travel. I have been using the guide for over 2 years now, and most of the Michelin-starred or Michelin-recommended restaurants that I have visited did not disappoint. Take for example, many Michelin one-starred restaurants in Japan have lunch set menus that cost between 1,000 Yen (~U$10) and 2,000 Yen (~U$20) when their dinner menu can easily cost up to 10 times the price and beyond. So it makes lunch really affordable for students like me. And in the Michelin guide, there will be indications on whether such option is available, and if so, the price of the menu. The only “drawback”, though, is that you have to trust their taste. So far I find myself pretty much aligned with them in this area.
I notice that navigation, or Maps to be precise, takes up a lot of my battery life when I travel. And because of that I cannot leave my apartment without a portable battery. I have to charge my iPhone SE with the power bank every day when I am out. I usually leave my apartent around 11am and around 7pm the battery would dive below 20%. But I find that iOS 9’s Low Power Mode is really quite an effective way to extend my battery life. When the battery life drops to 20%, the iOS will prompt you to turn it on. Usually my iPhone can last for another 2 to 3 hours under the mode.
Speaking of battery life, there is an article recently claiming that the iPhone SE has a really good battery life. Judging from my own experience I certainly could not fully agree to it. At least when I compare with my previous iPhone 6 Plus, there is no noticeable difference in battery life. Note that I had another 10 days trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan right before my Japan trip, and I was using the iPhone 6 Plus during that trip. So comparing trip to trip, I do not see any significant difference in battery life.
But there was one battery life that I paid close attention to, and that was the Apple Watch. There seem to be a sense that the Apple Watch has poor battery life, but the reality cannot be further away from the truth. The Apple Watch has an excellent battery life. Take for instance, I will usually be out for 10 hours a day, starting my day with 100% battery life on my Apple Watch. On good days, I will have 70% left, and on bad days (when I have very heavy usage), I will have 30% left. I have never once run out of battery life on my Apple Watch. Yes, you have to charge it every day, but isn’t that the same for the iPhone? To me, charging daily isn’t a big deal, especially since you aren’t using it when you are asleep.
#3 — Snaps & Shots
The iPhone SE supposedly has a near identical rear 12-megapixel camera as the iPhone 6s, which (obviously) is a better camera than my previous iPhone 6 Plus. After taking a couple of shots, I did not notice any difference immediately. However, when I zoomed in to the photos, the difference became clearer. Photos looked much sharper, with more details captured. It is helpful that the camera is 12-megapixel. Very often I find myself needing to crop some photos (because of the lack of optical zoom on iPhone). On the iPhone 6 Plus, cropping a 8-megapixel photo will result in a very low resolution photo, which looks pixelated even on Instagram or Facebook. With the iPhone SE, I can crop a photo now and still look high resolution. This is especially useful since the world is moving towards a high resolution display world (think Retina display iMac and MacBook Pro). 8-megapixel photos no longer make the cut.
The iPhone SE, like the iPhone 6s, takes Live Photos, and this is probably one of the greatest source of enjoyment when using the iPhone SE. Even as some people might think it is gimmicky, it is so much fun for me to take Live Photos. Still pictures come to live when you hold on to the photos. It really helps to bring back memories way better than a normal still photo. And when you browse through Live Photos in the Photos app, they animate for a fraction of a second between each photo. I suspect that Live Photos are best used in taking shots of moving animals and people/crowd, and less suited for landscapes and cityscapes. Currently you cannot edit the Live Photos. If you edit them, the “animation” will be lost and they will be converted to normal still photos. That is a pity and I hope there will be a solution soon.
And just as I thought the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s indeed contain the same camera system, I found a weakness in the iPhone SE. Focusing on an object takes a longer period of time on the iPhone SE than the iPhone 6s. This problem is more obvious when I’m taking close shots. This seems to be a system-wide problem, because when zooming in and out on Snapchat, it also exhibits the same problem too.
Speaking of which, the Apple Watch has a camera app. Opening the app on the Watch automatically launches the Camera app on the iPhone. You get a view finder on the Watch and a timer button as well as a capture button. It is cute but not often useful. I did find a practical use for it though. Whenever I asked someone to take a photo of me with the scenery, I would launch the app on my Watch to see if their framing/angle is correct. This is useful as I can making even the tiniest adjustments on the spot before they even take the shot.
For the sake of entirety, I should also mention that the iPad Pro has the same 12-megapixel rear camera as the iPhone SE, and takes Live Photos too. But I have almost never taken photos with the iPad when I travel because it is too big and inconvenient to take it out of my bag, if I even bring it along.
#4 — Entertainment
Media consumption experience on the iPhone SE feels so dated. When I first used the Instagram app on the iPhone SE, the photos suddenly looked so dead and tiny. This problem is further amplified as more people start to post landscape photos on Instagram. They photos are so tiny that I could hardly see any details. Suddenly I understood why for the longest period of the Instagram insisted on square photos — because they look much better when smartphone screens were tiny. But we have already moved on from that era, and with the small 4-inch display, Instagram doesn’t feel immersive anymore.
On the other end of the spectrum lies the iPad Pro. Media consumption on the iPad Pro is such a joy. The four speakers blast out really nice and loud audio when I watch my shows on it. Together with the larger display, better display quality, the media consumption experience is way more superior on the iPad than on the iPhone SE. And of course it should be.
In the past, I used to bring along a wireless hard disk called the Seagate Wireless Plus. Basically it allows me to store my shows in it (like all other normal hard disk), and it can create its own Wi-Fi that allows my iPad to be connected to it. Using its own Seagate app, I am able to play the videos in the hard disk directly on my iPad.
I use this method for two reasons. Firstly, to sync videos via iTunes to the iPad, the video format needs to be something playable by QuickTime Player, such as .mp4 format. But very often shows come in various formate such as .mov or .mkv, and converting these files to .mp4 takes a loooooooooooong time. Seriously it takes forever. Secondly, the Wireless Plus has 1TB of storage as compared to my 32GB of storage on the iPad Pro. So I am able to store way more videos and have more choices on what to watch when I am overseas.
Unfortunately, somehow my Wireless Plus decided to retire after 2 years of hard labor. I had to find another solution. Fortunately, I found one. I downloaded the VLC app on the iPad. Apparently, I am able to store the videos directly in this app on my iPad through iTunes without worrying about file format (VLC plays videos of almost all formats). Basically here’s how you do it:
- Connect the iPad to your computer.
- Open iTunes and click on the iPad icon.
- Click on Apps under Settings.
- Scroll down to look for the VLC app under File Sharing.
- Drag and drop whatever video files into the right column titled “VLC Documents”.
That’s all! It’s that simple. No file conversion required. I assume this should work for iPhone too. This is super convenient, fast, and easy method to sync media content on iOS devices.
Conclusion
It’s really lucky what a modern world we live in. Technology has made traveling so easy, convenient and safe. In the past, you simply cannot imagine traveling alone to a place where the people speak a different language. Now, nothing is impossible. And my experience traveling with the various Apple devices is largely a positive one. What’s your experience traveling with technology?
