Upgrading to iOS 8 - A How To Lesson

After thoroughly testing Apple's new iOS, the technology department is ready to go ahead with a school wide upgrade process. We want all San Domenico iPad users to implement this update by Wednesday, November 11, 2014.

Please note: We would like users to implement this upgrade on their home network to prevent overloading our school network and so that you will have your device ready to go at school the next day. Also, there is one very significant issue related to your Notability App that we will address at the end of these instructions.

Please follow these instructions:

1.  This upgrade requires a large amount of space on your device. Make sure you have at least 5 GB of available storage on your iPad (preferably more). Here is a Business Insider article that explains why you need all this storage space on your iPad in order to perform this update. In the article you will also find a brief explanation of How to Free Up Space on your device in preparation for this process.

To check your available space open your Settings App. Tap General > About. Halfway down the screen is the Available storage. The amount available is listed on the right. If you do not have 5 GB of available storage you will need to clear space.

2.  Make sure your iPad documents and data are backed up. Check the digital tools presentation for instructions on how to set up iCloud, Google Drive, and Box back ups for your data.

3.  Make sure your iPad is fully charged and plugged in before you begin the update. For good measure we recommend you close all open Apps.

4.  To begin the upgrade open your Settings App. Tap General > Software Update > Download and Install. 

Note: This is a very large file download. Be patient in this process as it may take a long time before you see progress on your screen. Also, your iPad may have already downloaded the installer in which case you will see a button that only says Install. The entire process may take 45 minutes to an hour or more depending on your home network. 

If you do not have enough space to perform the upgrade the Download and Install button will be grayed out and you will not be able to activate the process until you clear enough space on your iPad.

5.  Once the iOS update is complete your iPad will restart. One of the first windows you will see provides you with an opportunity to Upgrade to iCloud Drive. Because of a compatibility problem with the Notability App at this time you should NOT choose this option. 

Tap Not Now instead. Your iPad will ask you a second time "Are you sure you don't want to upgrade to iCloud Drive." Tap Continue.

 

6.  Once you are successful upgrading your iPad to iOS 8 please open your Notability App and check your documents. Open a few of them to make sure your files are correct. After successfully opening your Notability files you may enable iCloud Drive. This new feature allows for sharing your documents across different devices.

7.  To enable iCloud Drive open your Settings App. Tap iCloud. You may turn on iCloud Drive there and configure some of your Apps to iCloud Drive including Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Safari, Notes, and Find My iPad.

To enable iCloud Drive in Notability open the App and tap the Settings gear in the lower left corner of the main window. Tap iCloud and slide over the switch to turn on iCloud Drive. Once again please be patient. Depending on how many documents you are connecting through iCloud Drive, the process may take some time to sync.

You also have the option of turning on Google Drive and Box back ups for Notability. You may use this feature to back up a variety of file types including .PDF and .RTF formats. We recommend you choose the Note option which allows you to open the file on different devices in the native Notability format.

Please note that the San Domenico technology department is happy to assist you with this process. Contact us through the tech support ticket system or stop by the office. We're happy to answer questions.


Brad Lakritz
Director of Technology

Who's Got Your iPad Backup? And Other App News

We want to use this opportunity to remind students about some important settings on your iPad and how we would like you to have them configured. We also want to explain a change to the QuickOffice App and how that affects your use of this tool.

iPad cloud settings

Back up Settings: 

Students should be using iCloud to back up their data. To verify this or make changes, go to the Settings option and tap on iCloud. Please make sure they have these iCloud settings turned on: Contacts, Calendars, Safari, Documents & Data, and Find My iPad. Photo Stream, and Notes are optional. Photo Stream tends to take up a large portion of your iCloud storage so please be aware of the amount of data you are backing up there. If students save information in Notes, then iCloud back up should be turned on for Notes. iCloud back up of Notes does require an iCloud E-mail address. Please know that this account is not part of the San Domenico School domain and would not be controlled by the restrictions we place on our San Domenico School E-mail system.

Notability cloud settings

Notability is another app students can automatically backup to their BOX or GOOGLE DRIVE accounts. To set this backup option open the Notability App. From the main page tap on the gear icon in the lower left corner. Then select "Online Storage." From here students can select either BOX or GOOGLE DRIVE. Notability will automatically create a folder and save all of your Notes in the Portable Document Format (pdf). 

Note: iCloud may be turned on here as well - some students have restrictions and may not have the iCloud option available which is OK since they are now backing up to BOX or GOOGLE DRIVE.

Finally, the Quick Office App is used by some middle school students at San Domenico School to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Recent changes in the Quick Office App require us to make some changes in how we use the software. 

Basically, we will be removing the current version of this App and replace it with the new version. However, those students who are currently using their Quick Office App and have files stored on their iPad will need to move them to Box or Google Drive before removing this App.

Old Quick Office cloud settings 

6th grade students should just delete the app as they have not used it this year.

7th and 8th grade students must move any items saved onto the iPad via the App into either BOX or DRIVE. To save and move these items select your iPad in the left column of the main Quick Office window. Then drag and drop your files to either BOX or DRIVE options on the left. 

New Quick Office cloud settings

Once you have completed the process to move all your files to one of your cloud storage areas please delete the app and install the new version from self-service. Once you have the new App installed you have access to Google Drive, ONLY. However, you can still create docs, spreadsheets and presentations.

If you would like assistance with this process or need help as you walk through it, please contact the Technology Team at techsupport@sandomenico.org.