[Best of 2023] 14 New iOS 17 Features That Were Built for Real Estate Agents
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in September and is #8 in our countdown. See #9 here. Earlier this month, Apple introduced new products to market, including the iPhone 15. On Monday, the company updated its operating system, iOS, from iOS 16.6.1 to iOS 17. If you're not in the habit of automatically updating your iPhone to the latest and greatest iOS as soon as it's released, you might want to make an exception for this one. The new operating system brings new features, some of them particularly relevant for real estate agents. Here's what's new and how you can get the latest version of iOS onto your iPhone. Check In for safety A new feature in the native Messages app will allow iPhone users to Check In with family members or friends when you've arrived safely at a destination, including your home. The Check In feature will also work for a preset time duration instead of arrival at a location. For example, if you are going to be meeting with a client somewhere and the meeting doesn't involve a location change, you can set up a Check In that will alert your friends and family if you don't confirm that you are safe after a specified time. For agents who are diligent about personal safety and who make a point to check in with people, this could be a good alternative to paid apps that provide the same service. If you don't respond to the Check In prompt (sent after your time duration is up or if you are not making progress toward your destination for more than 15 minutes), the app will share your phone's current location with the specified users, as well as information about your phone's battery and cellular connectivity status. Messages now also supports location sharing right in the app. Users can use the new Location feature within Messages to tell friends, colleagues, and loved ones where they are. NameDrop Agents who don't have a digital business card but who do have a compatible iPhone will definitely want to check out this feature. First, there's been an update to the Contact Posters options on iPhone. This is the contact information that you can share with other people, including different treatments for photos, your Memoji, and your name. You can now include your pronouns on your Contact Poster if you want to do that. These Contact Posters will now show up when you make a phone call or FaceTime someone, and you can now exchange your contact information with someone (your name, Contact Poster, and a phone number or email address of your choice) simply by bringing your iPhone in proximity to their iPhone or Apple Watch. You can also share content or start a SharePlay session via AirDrop by placing two iPhones running iOS 17 near each other. And AirDrop transfers will continue even after you move your Apple device away from the other Apple device. A better keyboard One of the big pieces of news has been around the "smarter" autocorrect in iOS 17 that uses "a new transformer language model," a deep learning neural network architecture that is designed to make your autocorrect more accurate across languages as well as improve typing predictions. Yes, this includes four-letter words and their derivatives. The keyboard will also now underline in a faint blue any autocorrections or suggestions it's made, so you can easily tap on the word and restore it if your phone got it wrong. FaceTime advancements If you like using FaceTime to communicate with your clients, there are some new features you'll almost certainly love. You can now leave a video or audio message if someone doesn't pick up your FaceTime call. And there are new reactions and gestures available in the app: "Layer screen effects like balloons, confetti, stormy rain, fireworks, or laser beams directly into your camera feed," says the Apple iOS release guide. You can trigger them by tapping or using certain gestures on the phone. New dual SIM functions If you're using dual SIM cards in your iPhone to manage personal and business lines (or multiple business lines), you'll be happy to hear that you can now set up different ringtones for each SIM as well as choose either SIM to return a call from unknown callers. You can also now sort text messages by SIM card. More weather info in Weather The updated Weather app promises more detailed precipitation forecasts (by the hour over the next 10 days), wind overlays, historical trends, yesterday's weather, and more granular location names — you can search weather by neighborhood in select cities. Maps with more muscle If you use Apple's native Maps app (and even if you don't), here's something exciting: You can download maps to use when your phone doesn't have a cell signal or access to WiFi, including estimated times of arrival based on historical traffic. You can also get routes for driving, cycling, walking, or public transport on those maps. And if you drive an electric vehicle, Apple Maps now lets you select a preferred charging network, show you the availability for open chargers, and allow you to search for charges based on plug type and other variables. Other improvements There are many other features that the new iOS is offering. Here are some more of the most relevant updates for agents: Live voicemail: You can now see a live transcription of voicemails being left and choose to pick up the call if you decide you want to answer it after all. Verification code cleanup: Messages will automatically delete verification codes after they are used with autofill. Password and passkey sharing: You can create groups to share passwords with, easily share your passwords, and add or edit passwords using Safari. AirPods: A new "conversation awareness" feature allows your AirPods to lower your media volume, reduce background noise, and enhance the voices in front of you so that you can easily hear when someone is speaking to you. Photos: New privacy prompt improvements lets you pick and choose photos to share with an app instead of sharing your entire library. If an app does ask for access to your entire photo library, you can see how many and which photos will be shared before you decide to allow it access. Screenshot saving: You can now decide to save screenshots in Safari, Pages, or Notes not only as images, but also as a PDF. Multiple timers: It's finally available! And you can label timers so you know what each is counting down. Slick. You can see the full rundown on iOS 17 updates in Apple's official iOS 17 Guide. How to download iOS 17 The new iOS is available for iPhones released in October 2018 or later. The two oldest iPhones compatible with iOS 17 are the iPhone XR and the iPhone XS, both released in October 2018. Users of the iPhone SE (second generation) can also download the new iOS. And iPhones 11 through 15 (all versions) are also compatible with the new iOS. To download it, iPhone users should open their Settings app, select General, then tap Software Update. An option to download and install the new iOS should be available for all compatible phones. Make sure you are charging your phone (it will need at least 50% battery available) and that it is connected to WiFi before you take that step. Happy exploring!

12 Clever Ways the Apple Watch Can Improve Agents' Lives
Apple came out with new iPhone and Apple Watch products on September 15, 2023, which were quickly followed by iOS and watchOS updates. The result is a whole new look and feel for the user interface and apps available on iOS and watchOS. We've already discussed some of the ways that iOS 17 can be used to make an agent's life easier, but what about the watchOS? If you already have an Apple Watch, or you're considering investing in this wearable technology, keep reading to learn about ways that real estate agents are using it to be more efficient and effective at their jobs. 1. Password and note repositories Real estate agents have a lot of different accounts that they might need to access on any given day. Without a password manager, getting safely logged into those systems will mean reusing passwords across platforms (not ideal) or creating easy-to-remember passwords for each login (also not ideal). Password and note repositories, such as Cheatsheet and 1Password, allow users to save password and note information. You can save "favorite" passwords on 1Password for display on Apple Watch, and Cheatsheet will allow you to save more than 100 notes with detailed login information, available directly from the Apple Watch. 2. Unlock lockboxes If you've had an Apple Watch for a little while, then you may already know about the ability to add boarding passes and other scannable entry information to your watch. SentriLock users can access lockboxes directly through the Apple Watch if they have the app installed. 3. Translate in real time Agents who work with buyers or sellers who speak a first language other than English might be interested in the Apple Watch translation capabilities. Users can speak directly into the Apple Watch and see a translation unspool on the device's screen. 4. Track your car miles Some mileage trackers offer Apple Watch integrations that will allow you to start or save a trip on your watch instead of having to pull out your phone. 5. Take a remote photo or control your music If you weren't already aware, the Apple Watch can serve as a sort of remote control for the iPhone. Users can control music from the watch instead of picking up the phone to do things like skip tracks, turn the volume up or down, and more. Handy at an open house! Similarly, if you've got your camera set up to take a shot (especially if you're in the shot), using the watch as a camera shutter can help you avoid getting fingers in the frame and other hazards of smartphone photography. 6. Get noise threshold alerts Hearing doesn't last forever, unfortunately, and in this day and age, we are almost certainly all exposing ourselves to noise levels that were not necessarily around in previous generations. If you spend a lot of time walking around construction sites or even in loud parts of the city, your Apple Watch can send you an alert if the noise around you hits or surpasses a certain level — a good reminder to use ear protection if you have it handy. 7. Keep tabs on sunrise and sunset Knowing when it's going to get dark outside can be good information for real estate agents when they're planning on taking listing photos, booking a showing for a buyer, or figuring out their own daily activities. The Apple Watch offers displays that will tell you exactly when the sun will rise or set, and if you use the "solar dial" face, then you can see exactly when daylight-driven events such as the "golden hour" or "nautical twilight" begin and end. 8. Offline Maps The iOS 17 update allows users to download maps on the native Maps app and save them to their phone. These maps will also be available to users with Apple Watches, who will be able to access them on the Apple Watch even if there is no phone service. As an aside, the Apple Maps navigation can help you avoid looking like a tourist if you're walking around an unfamiliar area. You can type in your destination on your phone, and then gentle haptic signals on the Apple Watch will alert you when it's time to turn left or right as you walk. Glancing down at your watch occasionally to see where the next turn is sure beats walking with your phone held in front of your face for guidance! 9. NameDrop on the Apple Watch One of the latest iOS features is a sort of spinoff of a digital business card. Users can adjust their name, photo, and contact information on their phone to display what they want others to see, then share contact information by moving devices in proximity to each other. This works on an Apple Watch, too! If you're wearing an Apple Watch and you want to trade contact information with someone else who has an Apple Watch or another iOS device, you can use your watch to swap details. 10. Answer phone calls and respond to text messages The Apple Watch has had the capacity for a while to answer phone calls (users can hand them off to a different device if desired) and respond to text messages. (Tip: Use voice-to-text – it's much easier than the fingertip keyboard option.) Voicemail transcriptions and playbacks are also features available on the Apple Watch. 11. Take better care of your body The Apple Watch can give you all kinds of information about your current health and how to improve it. It can track your activity levels — from workouts to the amount of time you spend standing instead of sitting every day — as well as more nuanced health details: your sleep (and sleep stages), your stress levels, and more. The biometrics collected by Apple Watch get stored in the Health app on your iPhone and can be pulled up and perused if you have questions or are curious about your health. You can even set alerts on your Health app to send you a push notification if it detects a trend change in your biometric data. 12. Use it as a walkie-talkie If you have the feature enabled, you can use the Apple Watch to talk to other Apple Watch users who also have it enabled. This can be a useful little tool anytime you're working with another agent (at an open house, for example) and would like to coordinate locations or let them know that a client has arrived. The new watchOS 10 requires one of the following Apple Watch models, plus an iPhone XS (or newer) with iOS 17 installed on it. Apple Watch Series 4 Apple Watch Series 5 Apple Watch SE Apple Watch Series 6 Apple Watch Series 7 Apple Watch Series 8 Apple Watch Series 9 Apple Watch Ultra Apple Watch Ultra 2

Do You Need to Upgrade Your iPhone? An Agent's Guide to the Latest Apple Release
Almost every September, Apple unveils a new series of iPhones for the masses. The release on September 12 was no exception to the rule: There are four new versions of the iPhone now available for ordering or purchase. Is it time for you to upgrade your phone? The short answer: If you already have some version of an iPhone 14, the updates to this series are pretty minimal, and you may decide to wait until September 2024 to buy a new phone. But if you have an iPhone 13 or older, then the iPhone 15 may have quite a few different options for you that could help you out in your working life. Let's review what's new. iPhone 15 Pro Max The iPhone 15 Pro Max is now the most powerful (and expensive) mobile device available from Apple. It's available in four different colors. If you were partial to the purple or gold, then you'll want to hang on to your iPhone 14 Pro Max, because those colors have been replaced with dark blue and a slate gray. The new iPhone 15 Pro Max does not have a ring/silent switch on the side of the phone like the previous version did. There is now an "action button" that can be used to access different phone features. There's a new processing chip in this iPhone, the A17 Pro. An upgraded chip usually means faster, more responsive phone performance. Apple didn't change much in terms of the camera on the 15 Pro Max, either. The optical zoom can go up to 5X (compared to 3X with the 14 Pro Max or the 13 Pro Max). Like the 14 Pro Max, the new 15 Pro Max comes with Emergency SOS (also available via satellite), as well as crash detection and roadside assistance via satellite built into the phone. In terms of battery life and charging speed, there have not been any significant improvements since the iPhone 13 Pro Max: The Pro Max phones offer about 29 hours of video playback, 95 hours of audio playback, and can charge up to 50% in 35 minutes with a 20W or higher adapter. There is a new charging port for the 15 Pro Max, so if you do decide to upgrade, you'll need to buy some new cables, too! It's using the standardized USB-C port instead of Apple's proprietary Lightning charger. iPhone 15 Pro Like the Pro Max, the new iPhone 15 Pro has lost the ring/silent switch and added an "action" button. The button defaults to switching the phone between "ring" and "vibrate," but users can customize what the button does in the Settings if they would prefer a different action option. The latest iPhone Pro has also upgraded the processing chip to an A17 Pro, meaning it likely has better performance and responsiveness than previous models. And this version has also swapped out the Lightning port for a USB-C charging port. The cameras on the 15 Pro haven't changed significantly from the 14 Pro, but if you're still using an iPhone 13 Pro, the camera could be a good reason to upgrade: Both the 14 Pro and 15 Pro offer 48 megapixel main cameras, compared to the 13 Pro's 12 megapixel main camera. If you use your phone for listing photos or to create marketing or other types of content for your business, and you're currently using a 13 Pro or older version, then upgrading the camera could be a solid move. The cameras on the 14 Pro and 15 Pro both take better photos in bright outdoor light than the 13 Pro does. iPhone 15 Apple changed up the colors for its basic iPhone again — pink instead of purple, the yellow is more gold-hued, and white and red are sitting out this round to let green have some time on stage. And the new basic iPhone 15 now includes Apple's Dynamic Island technology, a little pill-shaped display at the top of a phone that can offer details from other "important" apps, such as how long is left on your timer, or who's on the other end of that phone call. The main camera on the iPhone 15 is a solid upgrade from the 14 or 13. The main camera is a 48 megapixel shooter, while the 14 and 13 only offer 12 megapixels on their main camera. The 15 also offers a 2X optical zoom option, which is not available for previous models. The iPhone 15 also includes a new charging port (USB-C instead of Lightning). The memory sizes are the same ones offered for the 13 and 14. It still has the same ring/silent switch as the 13 and 14. iPhone 15 Plus Like the iPhone 15, but a bit bigger and heavier, the 15 Plus is for those who have decided they prefer a larger screen. It's kept the ring/silent switch from previous versions but now includes the Dynamic Island on the screen. And it's also swapped out the Lightning charger for a USB-C. If you use your phone a lot for taking photos and you're currently using a 14 Plus or a 13, then upgrading could be a smart move. The iPhone 15 Plus offers a 48-megapixel main camera, compared to 12 megapixels for the 14 Plus. And it also offers a 2X optical zoom instead of just 0.5X or 1X like the 14 Plus. This camera is also more adept at capturing images in the bright outdoors, at up to 2000 nits peak brightness. The more things change … There are a few things that didn't change with the new release. Here's what you should not expect from a new iPhone: Increased memory or capacity: If you're hoping for Apple to release a phone that provides more than 1TB in storage, you'll be waiting at least another year. The latest iteration maxes out at 1TB, as did the 14 and the 13 rollouts. Water resistance: You still should not take your iPhone swimming with you. (You can submerge more recent versions of the Apple Watch if you need something that you can take swimming with you.) Portrait and Night Mode: These features (while some of our favorites on the iPhone) have not changed significantly with recent updates. Face ID: This feature has not changed significantly in its most recent iteration. Charging speed and battery life: The iPhone 15 version of each phone does not provide more battery life or a faster charging speed than its predecessor, the iPhone 14 version.

Unlock Your Real Estate Earnings: Boost Listings with App and AI Technology
Welcome back to our weekly "Tips and Tricks Tuesday" series, which highlights articles around a monthly topic. July's theme is "How can I make more money with my phone?" Read on to learn more about the latest mobile apps and innovations that can help you be productive from anywhere: In today's fast-paced real estate industry, staying ahead of the competition is crucial for success. As technology continues to advance, embracing the latest tools and innovations has become a necessity. Real estate professionals who leverage cutting-edge apps and AI (artificial intelligence) gain a significant advantage — the right tech can streamline workflows, enhance property listings, and ultimately assist in achieving higher levels of success. That's where BoxBrownie.com's photo app, SnapSnapSnap, and cutting-edge AI Copywriting service come in. The proptech company designed these revolutionary tools specifically for real estate professionals looking for convenient marketing solutions. Looking to streamline your marketing and maximize results without compromising on quality? SnapSnapSnap and AI Copywriting can transform the way you work and help you close faster and at a higher price tag. Discover how harnessing the power of this technology can revolutionize your property listings and supercharge your earning potential. Get ready to unlock the full potential of technology and take your real estate marketing to new heights. Transform the Way You Work to Boost Your Bottom Line Time is money in the real estate business — integrate BoxBrownie.com's tech into your every day to streamline your workflow and maximize your earning potential. Designed for real estate professionals who shoot listing photos, SnapSnapSnap enables users to easily capture professional-quality property photos using an iPhone. Simple, fast and cost-effective, the app features point-and-shoot technology, which eliminates the learning curve and accelerates the photo shoot process. Optimized specifically for real estate marketing, AI Copywriting generates free listing descriptions in seconds, saving professionals valuable time and effort in creating captivating online listings. Work Smarter, Not Harder Streamline your photo shoots with SnapSnapSnap's automatic HDR bracketing and effortlessly capture multiple shots at different exposures with a single click. AI Copywriting generates optimized listing descriptions tailored specifically for real estate. With BoxBrownie.com, you can leverage the most powerful AI technology currently available on the market and take the hassle out of creating fresh copy. Simply provide the property details, click submit, and instantly receive compelling descriptions. Cost-Effective Solutions Download SnapSnapSnap and get access to professional photo editing at an affordable price. You can get an elevating Image Enhancement edit for as little as US$1.60 per image or a lead-generating Day to Dusk edit for $4 per image. AI Copywriting is completely free and provides 10 complimentary listing descriptions per month. If you're a regular customer of BoxBrownie.com, you can enjoy even more benefits, maximizing your return on investment. Get Listings Online Lightning Fast With SnapSnapSnap, you can quickly capture property images and receive professionally edited photos within 24 for simple edits, or 48 hours for Virtual Staging. Our AI Copywriting service allows you to submit a job form and receive captivating property descriptions in seconds. With lightning-fast turnaround times, your listings will be online and generating leads in no time. Save Time and Accelerate the Sales Process Reduce your workload while driving conversions with these cutting-edge tools. Shoot properties efficiently and submit photos for editing directly from your iPhone. Get professionally edited images back in record time and listing copy in an instant. Accelerate the sales process by leveraging professional-quality photos and captivating copy. Listings featuring high-quality images have been proven to sell 50% faster and generate up to 118% more online views. Use this tech and create winning listings that captivate potential buyers and drive conversions. Generate an Influx of Leads According to the National Association of Realtors, homebuyers consider listing photos and property descriptions to be the two most critical elements of a real estate listing. Capture buyers' attention and hold it with stunning photos taken with our app and persuasive listing copy crafted by our AI Copywriting service. Win more potential buyers and have more people clicking on your listings, exploring the property online, and scheduling showings. Elevate Your Marketing Efforts with Ease By integrating SnapSnapSnap and AI Copywriting into your real estate workflow, you can revolutionise your efficiency, save time, and increase your income. This cutting-edge technology enables you to capture high-quality property images and create captivating listing descriptions, resulting in more leads and faster sales. Embrace the potential of SnapSnapSnap and AI Copywriting to elevate your real estate marketing in today's competitive market. Get started with SnapSnapSnap today! Create your free account with BoxBrownie.com and unlock a world of benefits. As a new customer, you'll enjoy four complimentary photo edits — plus get 10 free AI Copywriting jobs every month.

Keeping Up with Your Clients: The Magic of Consistent Text Campaigns
In real estate, communication matters. After all, it's the building block of any strong agent–client relationship. Of course, things aren't always so simple. There's a sweet spot between not sending enough messages to your clients and sending too many—and within that, each message should be valuable and keep from wasting the client's time. This is where best practices come into play. What does it look like? How and why should you keep in touch with your clients during the buying and selling process—and afterward? Let's dive deeper into why regular communications with your client sphere matters. Reason #1: It keeps you top of mind When you message your clients regularly, whether it's through text, email, phone call, or even snail mail, you're seizing the opportunity to remind them of your business. Keeping your name around means staying at the top of your past clients' minds, so they'll know who to look for when they're ready to buy or sell. The same goes for potential leads and current clients. With clients at any point in your funnel, it's important to make use of automated tools and platforms that let you stay in touch while also saving time—and support you with delivering high-quality messages that are engaging, memorable, and valuable. Stick around, and they'll find their way back to you when the time is right. Reason #2: It keeps you open and available For any of your leads and clients, staying open and available to any inquiries they may have will help immensely with furthering your credibility and reputation as an agent, as well as pave the way for a potential new deal to happen. When you use a platform that not only sends messages to your clients, but also gives them the option to message you back, you open a direct line that: Makes you feel accessible Makes it easy to contact you. Jumping into—or back into—the real estate game can be difficult and confusing, so clients will often opt for the easiest option. If contacting you isn't as easy as a text or email, they can be quick to move on to an agent or brokerage who is. All in all? Make sure it's easy for your clients to reach you for a conversation. Reason #3: It helps your clients stay updated With today's competitive market, listings are like gold. As a client, entering it can be overwhelming. As an agent, make sure that you're doing what you can to keep your clients updated and informed about their buying or selling journey in real time. And with today's technology, you can do things a lot faster than ever before. This can look like updates about: Listings that have just dropped Listings your clients might be interested in Listings they've already shown interest in And more. Take advantage of platforms that offer text updates for listings as soon as they hit the MLS. You can also customize how often these updates are sent, all based on your clients' preferences. When you make sure to prioritize keeping your clients updated and informed, they'll show their appreciation tenfold in return. To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.

6 New Cutting-edge iPhone Features Are Coming Soon with iOS 17
Apple recently announced a major update coming this fall to iPhones (from the 2nd gen iPhone SE through the iPhone 14s). So Tech Helpline reviewed iOS 17 to find the features that will deliver extraordinary benefits for real estate professionals. Here are six new iPhone features that could help you better connect with prospects and clients. 1. Promote your brand with a Contact Poster: You will be able to send a custom image to identify you on the screen of the person you are calling. This presents a great opportunity to showcase you and your brand. While it will only be seen on other iPhones and third-party VOIP apps that adopt the standard, it will make calls to other iPhone users stand out. After all, there are 1.36 billion iPhone users worldwide and 136 million in the U.S. 2. Send FaceTime videos or audio messages: 125 million people use FaceTime and Messages daily. The new iOS 17 will allow you to send pre-recorded videos and audio-only messages to other FaceTime users, and they will even be displayed on Apple Watch. If you are calling someone via FaceTime and miss them, you will be able to record and leave a video message. According to Apple, you'll also be able to have a bit of fun with these recordings – as appropriate – including adding text balloons, hearts, fireworks, laser beams, and more. Plus, Apple TV will get a FaceTime feature. 3. Screen incoming voicemails – live: Currently, when you get a call from a number you don't recognize, you might send the caller to voicemail. You then wait until the caller finishes recording their message to discover whether they were a red-hot prospect or a robocall. With the new Live Voicemail feature, you will be able to see a transcript of the caller's message in real-time. Yes, as they speak. Best of all, you can pick up the call while they leave their message and talk to the caller you have identified through the live transcript. This could be a huge time saver and dealmaker tool. 4. Enjoy peace of mind with enhanced safety features: The Check In feature is coming to the iPhone, and it will allow you to designate someone to monitor your trip and confirm all is safe while you travel. Most importantly, Apple says that if the person who checked in is not moving toward their planned destination, the designated contact will be notified. The iPhone will then relay the battery percentage (which would show a possible false alarm if the battery went dead) and other safety data to the trusted contact. Plus, Apple is updating its shared location feature to show others where you are or request a friend's location, all inside the Message app, during your conversation. 5. Use NameDrop via AirDrop: No more apps or attachments will be needed to instantly share contact information with another iPhone or Apple Watch user. AirDrop gets an upgrade with NameDrop to transfer contact info, like specific phone numbers and email addresses, by simply bringing the two devices close to each other. Your Contact Poster image will also be associated with your Contact Card and shared with others when you use NameDrop. 6. Switch between work and personal profiles: With this new feature in Safari, you will be able to keep your browsing separate from work and your personal life. Profiles, Apple says, will separate your history, extensions, cookies, and favorites. It also will allow you to switch between profiles while you are browsing. These are just a few of the dozens of new enchantments that Apple will be rolling out this fall with its newest operating system, iOS 17. Other significant improvements include: Apple Maps: The ability to save an area of a map for offline use. AirPods (Gen 2): An upgrade with Adaptive Audio to greatly enhance its noise canceling capabilities, as well as one button mute and unmute when you are on a call. EV station locations: Electric car drivers will appreciate this one, as Apple Maps adds enhanced EV routing. Instant Siri activation: Just like saying "Hey Google," Siri catches up by just needing to say "Siri" to activate. New Mental Health features: Track your emotions or moods, and connect with mental health resources. More robust, more accurate search, autofill, and autocorrect: New filters and improvements to search in Messages and Safari leveraging AI should improve the overall Message experience. Two-step verification will be faster as autofill will offer to complete the code you were just sent to sign in. According to MacWorld, the new iOS 17 will be available to the public "almost certainly in mid-September," noting sales of the new iPhone 15 will also likely launch around the same time. They guesstimate that the first public beta for iOS 17 will be available next month, in July. You can learn more about the new features coming this fall from Apple here. And once they're available, contact your friendly Tech Helpline team if you have any questions about how to use them. Other related stories about smartphones: 8 Essential Settings to Extend the Battery Life of Your Smartphone Text Etiquette: The Do's and Don'ts when Texting 5 Things Every Agent Needs to Know About 5G Is your smartphone running slower? Here are 4 helpful tips Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.

Market Trends and Housing Stats Now Available in RPR Mobile
Last year, RPR (Realtors Property Resource) unveiled a fantastic resource for REALTORS®: the Market Trends charts and graphs. This collection of hyper-local housing stats is designed to help you inform your clients about local real estate market trends, info and indicators. It's also great for positioning yourself as a local market expert. (Check out these articles for details: RPR Unveils New Charts and Graphs in its Neighborhood Pages and Future Proof Your Business by Knowing Your Market and Your Numbers.) And now… (drum roll) the Market Trends charts and graphs are available on the RPR Mobile™ app! Keep clients informed with hyper-local market updates Access to Market Trends and Housing Stats through the RPR Mobile app makes it easier for REALTORS® to stay up-to-date on market trends even when they are on the go. You can quickly access Months of Inventory, List-to-Sold Price Percentage, Median Days in RPR, and Median Sold Price from your mobile device. Best of all, they're conveniently grouped by each status: New Listings, Active Listings, New Pending Listings, Pending Listings, and Sold Listings. This can help your clients make informed decisions and provide better service by being able to respond quickly to changes in the market. Use all these metrics to assess and analyze the current state of the housing market in their area. You can use this information to advise your clients on a pricing strategy, offer strategies, and market conditions. You can also use it to identify trends that may affect future buying or selling decisions. For example, if there is a low inventory of homes for sale and high demand, you may advise a seller to list their home at a higher price point knowing that there are likely to be multiple offers. Alternatively, you may advise a buyer to act quickly when a new property is listed because you know that competition will be fierce. How to find Market Trends on the RPR Mobile™ App To find the charts, open up your RPR app (after updating it, of course) and look towards the bottom of the home screen. There is now a new Market Trends icon! Click the tab to access a variety of market statistics, similar to the Market Trend tools on the RPR website. Be aware that the Market Trends will open to the geography that the user is currently in. To change it, type in a new neighborhood, ZIP or city. Pro Tip: If you're searching a neighborhood or area with little to no recent transactions, there will not be enough data for a chart to be offered. For the transaction-based charts, RPR needs at least three transactions within a calendar month. If no data appears on a chart or the "Updated" date is not what you expected, try searching within a larger area or select a different Property Type. The chart options will include: New Listings Active Listings New Pending Listings Pending Listings Sold Listings Sold Public Records Months Supply of Inventory Median Estimated Property Value You'll also be able to view a variety of metrics for all property statuses and property types. And filters allow you to break down statistics by individual property types as well. Tip: You can also "Save" markets by tapping the heart icon. RPR Market Trends and stats: up-to-date and on the go If you haven't downloaded the RPR Mobile™app, do so now! The previous link will take you to an area within our blog where you can easily get to the App store (for iPhones) or Google Play (for Android devices). Be sure to update and fire up your app or download it to your phone to get easy access to RPR's Market Trends and Housing Stats. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

[Best of 2022] Smartphone Running Slower? Here Are 4 Helpful Tips
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in February and is #9 in our countdown. See #10 here. Few tech challenges are more annoying than having a slow smartphone. After you've owned your phone for a while, chances are it will slow down like any other technology. How can you tell? You may notice that your texts aren't appearing as fast, it takes longer for your apps to open, or there's a delay when you key in information. Whether it happens suddenly or gradually over time, a slow smartphone can be detrimental to your workflow. But don't panic, as there are a few simple fixes that can help speed up your smartphone without resorting to sending it in for a repair or replacement. Here are four ways to speed up a slow smartphone: Restart your smartphone Sometimes, the simplest solution when you have a technology problem is to reboot. Using multiple apps on your smartphone that run in the background takes up Random Access Memory, or RAM, making your phone slower to respond. As available RAM gets used up, you may notice your smartphone lags or has issues with connecting to Wi-Fi, even if it's connected perfectly before. Restarting your smartphone may help you clear out its RAM, and that can increase its speed. How to restart your smartphone depends on the type you have. iPhone users should press and hold the side and volume buttons simultaneously until the "slide to power off" message appears. Then, slide the power switch right as you press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. For Android owners, press and hold the power and volume buttons simultaneously and release them when you see the boot-up animation on the screen. As a last resort, you can do a factory reset on your phone, but make sure you have your data and contacts fully backed up, so you don't lose anything. Manage your smartphone apps If an app on your Android or iPhone is freezing up or not functioning normally, it could mean your app is out-of-date. App updates provide bug fixes that can be directly related to the performance issue. Next, check to see if how much storage your phone has available. Both Androids and iPhones can become problematic when less than 10% of your storage is available. Transferring large data hogs on your phone – like photos and videos – to the cloud or a computer is the fastest way to free up a lot of data. Another way to free up space on your phone is to remove unused apps. And if you are not going to use them again in the future, when you delete an app that also prompts you to delete additional data files associated with that app, go ahead and delete those too. One myth that's important to dispel: Don't worry about having too many apps open in the background. Google and Apple both explain that open apps not in use shouldn't hamper your smartphone's performance. This is because these operating systems on a smartphone are designed differently than your computer's operating system. When an app on your phone is open and not displayed, they are in effect "frozen" and not taking up any RAM. In addition, you will do your battery life a favor by leaving them open because more energy is consumed when reopening an app fresh than opening one that's been in the background. Clear your smartphone cache Did you know your phone has a cache (pronounced "cash")? A cache is stored data that allows future requests for that data to be served faster. But over time, your cache can slow down your phone. This is especially true when you rely on your smartphone to browse the internet more than your computer. Your phone's web browser – Safari, Chrome, Opera – stores data from the websites and web pages you visit. This is done to make browsing on the web faster. However, having too much data stored in your web browser's cache can slow your smartphone's performance. Therefore, you should routinely clear your smartphone's cache to improve your browser's speed. To clear the cache on your iPhone's default browser, go to your settings, then Safari, and click on Clear History and Website data. This will free up your smartphone's storage space while increasing your browser's speed. If you want to eliminate your collected website data from Safari, tap Advanced, then Website Data, and hit Remove all website data. For Android users, go to Open Chrome (its default browser), tap the three vertically aligned dots icon, and then select History and Clear browsing data. Then select the time period of the data you want to clear and check the boxes you wish to remove, or leave them blank if you're going to keep: Cookies, Site Data, and Cached Files and Images. Update your smartphone's operating system Yes, your phone's operating system can also be slowing your phone down. Updating an operating system can take time, and you want to be sure you have everything backed up before you start. Fortunately, operating systems typically remain very similar in basic functionality to prior versions, which isn't always true with a computer. But by keeping your smartphone's operating system up to date, that new and improved software can make your apps – at least the ones that are still compatible – run better. A smartphone update of its operating system often improves its speed and, more importantly, its security. If you notice your smartphone's software is outdated, it's better to update sooner than later, with one caveat: your phone still supports the newest version. If it does, and you don't have automatic updates turned on, make sure you plug in your smartphone. Now go to Settings, then General, and tap Software Update, then Download and Install, walk away until it updates, and you are all set. You can save time by turning on automatic updates. In the future, when your smartphone is charging, it will update between 2 AM to 5 AM, and that can be a real timesaver. If you have issues with your smartphone or need help with any of these steps, you can always reach out to a Tech Helpline expert who is ready to help and only a click, call or chat away. To view the original article, visit the Tech Helpline blog.

5 Things Every Agent Needs to Know About 5G
Do you remember when you got your first mobile phone? If you were an early adopter, it probably was the size of a brick! Or was it a flip phone? On the other hand, if you wanted to text, then you had a Blackberry and were way ahead of the curve in terms of tech adoption. Today, more and more technology has become integrated into the daily workflow of real estate agents. Even the pandemic had a positive impact, if there is one, as it accelerated the adoption of more digital tools by brokers and their agents to empower remote work and remain connected to clients. Now, the next generation of technology is upon us. It's coming from the advent of a new service for your smartphone called 5G. 1. What is 5G? 5G stands for 5th Generation Network. 5G follows all the prior network services in its evolutionary chain: 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE. The biggest difference? Speed. 5G is fast. Not just marginally quicker than 4G – blazingly faster. It's like comparing the speed difference between a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle and a Model S Plaid Tesla: there is no comparison. Mobile tech giant Qualcomm offers this historical comparison: First generation - 1GThe 1980s: 1G delivered analog voice. Second generation - 2GThe early 1990s: 2G introduced digital voice. Third generation - 3GThe early 2000s: 3G brought mobile data. Fourth generation - 4G LTEThe 2010s: 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile broadband. 2. How fast is it? With 5G, speeds are possible up to 20 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) with average data rates running 100+ Megabits-per-second (Mbps). How fast is that? A gigabyte is 1,000 Megabytes per second. That's ten times faster than high-speed home internet systems that offer 100 Megabyte+ speed. For comparison, with 100 Megabytes per second, you can download an entire 4K movie in a few minutes. With Gigabyte speed, the same download takes seconds. The one potential downside is that speeds can slow when more people access the 5G network simultaneously. This is because 5G shares a bandwidth; top speeds suffer when a 5G network is overtaxed. However, 5G can handle significantly more capacity than 4G. As a result, 5G is designed to support a 100x increase in traffic and also offers improved network efficiency over 4G. 3. More 5G benefits In addition to being significantly faster than 4G and having more capacity, 5G features substantially lower latency than 4G. Why is that important? 5G can deliver more instantaneous, real-time access, almost eliminating any lag time when accessing data. When 4G LTE was introduced, its breakthrough provided much faster mobile broadband services than 3G. 5G is different. It does more than boost mobile device speeds. Its infrastructure supports new services such as mission-critical communications – more reliable and stable connections for public safety agencies, railway communications, the power grid, and government agencies. 5G also is designed to work better with all of the IoT – Internet of Things – devices, which is already a massive network and growing. Moreover, 5G can run on different bandwidths, which could allow the connection of device-to-device, enabling mobile devices to communicate with each other without a network. For the real estate agent on the go, 5G has one more benefit: it makes it easier to find hotspots for your mobile device. 4. Where is it available? While 5G service is technically available across most of the US, it isn't everywhere – yet. Access depends on the cell carrier. Even today, 5G hasn't been rolled out everywhere – yet. While it is technically available in thousands of cities, many only offer the 5G's low-band network, which delivers much slower speeds, at least for now. 5. What equipment do I need? To run 5G on your mobile device requires the proper equipment. Unfortunately, none of the older iPhone models—including the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and the iPhone SE— support 5G, and they never will. For 5G Apple phone fans, you will need an iPhone 12 or higher. For Samsung users, the first 5G-capable smartphone was the Galaxy S10 5G, and now includes 5G versions for the Galaxy Note10, Note10+, Fold, S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra. Perhaps the most significant long-term impact for agents will come from new home devices for 5G. If you live in a market where 5G top speeds are available, new mobile internet equipment is available that can replace your current home internet network. In addition, with more agents working from home, 5G is expected over time to provide a massive boost to productivity at home from the ability for more agents to gain access to high-speed internet – at potentially a lower cost. Remember, if you have questions about 5G and have access through your MLS or association to Tech Helpline, our tech experts are only a click, call or text away. And if you haven't already, check out the Tech Helpline app for your smartphone, available for iPhones at the Apple App Store and Android phones at Google Play. You also may be interested in: 4 Questions to Always Ask to Pick the Best Technology for Work On the go? Take us with you 10 New Tech Terms Agents Need to Know Smartphone Running Slower? Here Are 4 Helpful Tips Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.

Smartphone Running Slower? Here Are 4 Helpful Tips
Few tech challenges are more annoying than having a slow smartphone. After you've owned your phone for a while, chances are it will slow down like any other technology. How can you tell? You may notice that your texts aren't appearing as fast, it takes longer for your apps to open, or there's a delay when you key in information. Whether it happens suddenly or gradually over time, a slow smartphone can be detrimental to your workflow. But don't panic, as there are a few simple fixes that can help speed up your smartphone without resorting to sending it in for a repair or replacement. Here are four ways to speed up a slow smartphone: Restart your smartphone Sometimes, the simplest solution when you have a technology problem is to reboot. Using multiple apps on your smartphone that run in the background takes up Random Access Memory, or RAM, making your phone slower to respond. As available RAM gets used up, you may notice your smartphone lags or has issues with connecting to Wi-Fi, even if it's connected perfectly before. Restarting your smartphone may help you clear out its RAM, and that can increase its speed. How to restart your smartphone depends on the type you have. iPhone users should press and hold the side and volume buttons simultaneously until the "slide to power off" message appears. Then, slide the power switch right as you press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. For Android owners, press and hold the power and volume buttons simultaneously and release them when you see the boot-up animation on the screen. As a last resort, you can do a factory reset on your phone, but make sure you have your data and contacts fully backed up, so you don't lose anything. Manage your smartphone apps If an app on your Android or iPhone is freezing up or not functioning normally, it could mean your app is out-of-date. App updates provide bug fixes that can be directly related to the performance issue. Next, check to see if how much storage your phone has available. Both Androids and iPhones can become problematic when less than 10% of your storage is available. Transferring large data hogs on your phone – like photos and videos – to the cloud or a computer is the fastest way to free up a lot of data. Another way to free up space on your phone is to remove unused apps. And if you are not going to use them again in the future, when you delete an app that also prompts you to delete additional data files associated with that app, go ahead and delete those too. One myth that's important to dispel: Don't worry about having too many apps open in the background. Google and Apple both explain that open apps not in use shouldn't hamper your smartphone's performance. This is because these operating systems on a smartphone are designed differently than your computer's operating system. When an app on your phone is open and not displayed, they are in effect "frozen" and not taking up any RAM. In addition, you will do your battery life a favor by leaving them open because more energy is consumed when reopening an app fresh than opening one that's been in the background. Clear your smartphone cache Did you know your phone has a cache (pronounced "cash")? A cache is stored data that allows future requests for that data to be served faster. But over time, your cache can slow down your phone. This is especially true when you rely on your smartphone to browse the internet more than your computer. Your phone's web browser – Safari, Chrome, Opera – stores data from the websites and web pages you visit. This is done to make browsing on the web faster. However, having too much data stored in your web browser's cache can slow your smartphone's performance. Therefore, you should routinely clear your smartphone's cache to improve your browser's speed. To clear the cache on your iPhone's default browser, go to your settings, then Safari, and click on Clear History and Website data. This will free up your smartphone's storage space while increasing your browser's speed. If you want to eliminate your collected website data from Safari, tap Advanced, then Website Data, and hit Remove all website data. For Android users, go to Open Chrome (its default browser), tap the three vertically aligned dots icon, and then select History and Clear browsing data. Then select the time period of the data you want to clear and check the boxes you wish to remove, or leave them blank if you're going to keep: Cookies, Site Data, and Cached Files and Images. Update your smartphone's operating system Yes, your phone's operating system can also be slowing your phone down. Updating an operating system can take time, and you want to be sure you have everything backed up before you start. Fortunately, operating systems typically remain very similar in basic functionality to prior versions, which isn't always true with a computer. But by keeping your smartphone's operating system up to date, that new and improved software can make your apps – at least the ones that are still compatible – run better. A smartphone update of its operating system often improves its speed and, more importantly, its security. If you notice your smartphone's software is outdated, it's better to update sooner than later, with one caveat: your phone still supports the newest version. If it does, and you don't have automatic updates turned on, make sure you plug in your smartphone. Now go to Settings, then General, and tap Software Update, then Download and Install, walk away until it updates, and you are all set. You can save time by turning on automatic updates. In the future, when your smartphone is charging, it will update between 2 AM to 5 AM, and that can be a real timesaver. If you have issues with your smartphone or need help with any of these steps, you can always reach out to a Tech Helpline expert who is ready to help and only a click, call or chat away. To view the original article, visit the Tech Helpline blog.

Make Professional Virtual Tours with iPhone
Learn how to quickly and affordably create high-quality virtual tours with incredible visuals for real estate sales and property management using your iPhone. The VTC 360 set turns your iPhone into a 360° camera for real estate virtual tours, but you must be a Virtual Tours Creator account holder to be able to use the VTC 360 set. If you don't have one, sign up for free here. What Is Virtual Tours Creator Software? VTC is a 360° virtual tour software for real estate agents and property managers. It allows you to create and publish virtual reality tours within 15 minutes on mobile for as little as $5 per property. It includes interactive floorplans, info points, URL links, and a FREE VR tour. On top of that, its 360° photography training is completely FREE with any subscription, and it also offers free custom branding! Agents who use virtual tours get more qualified buyers before the buyers even come to the open house. Every buyer is able to make informed decisions on buying a home from the comfort of their own home where and when they want. You have an open house 24/7 available to anyone and anywhere. VR tour made using iPhone XR What is the VTC 360 set? The VTC 360 set is made of: A device to spin your phone while taking a perfect 360° top-to-bottom HDR panorama. Best quality 190º fisheye lens. The VTC fisheye lens has a special field of view and sharpness. Just clip the lens and make a full turn. A few images will be taken and stitched on your phone, no internet connection needed. The results are mind blowing. Free Virtual Tours Creator app that instantly produces 360º images and uploads them to your online account. The VTC 360 set will not work without the app. If you break the lens, you only need to buy a new lens, not the whole camera. If you upgrade your phone, you automatically upgrade your 360º capture system. Better than an all-in-one 360º camera at a fraction of its price. Delivers 8K 360° panoramas Designed for real estate photography Compatible with any standard tripod Compatible with all iPhone models: 8, 8 Plus, XS, XS Max, XR, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, iPhone X Free Virtual Tours Creator app that instantly produces 360º images Built-in HDR High Dynamic Range for great indoor capture What are the advantages of the VTC 360 set or lens 360° panorama? AEB: optimal exposure and brightness 8k quality 360° panorama Automatic 360° panorama stitching Perfectly assembled 360° panorama (no parallax issues) VR: panorama compatible with all types of 360° camera and virtual reality headsets for immersive tours What is the Virtual Tours Creator App? The first Virtual Tours Creator App will be released on the App Store for iPhones ONLY. Take perfect 360°, 8K, HDR panoramas. It is designed to revolutionize the price and speed of creating VR tours in sales and property management. No more struggle with transferring photos from the 360° camera to your phone and then to the cloud. When using the Virtual Tours Creator app, your photos are automatically uploaded to your VTC account in the cloud. You must have a VTC account to create your virtual tours. You can save time on uploading photos in the office. It all happens on the go while you are taking the property photos. You can reorganize your photos and create the final version of your virtual tour by adding hotspots and info points later when you finish shooting the houss in your VTC web account. Quality Comparison Tour made using iPhone XR VS.Tour made using Insta360 ONER Still Photos in Comparison Photos in order: VTC 360 set Insta360 OneR Zoom in Comparison Photos in order: VTC 360 set Insta360 OneR To view the original article, visit the Virtual Tours Creator blog.

[Best of 2020] How to Prevent Coronavirus by Cleaning Your Smartphone and Computer TODAY!
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in March and is #6 in our countdown. See #7 here. I've been getting questions about a safe way to clean your phone with all the fears surrounding the Coronavirus. Thanks to Apple, we have a new way. In the past, phone manufacturers warned us to NOT use bleach, vinegar, alcohol or disinfectant wipes from companies like Clorox or Lysol on the screen of your phone. The reason was that these chemicals can destroy the oleophobic coating that your phone uses to help fight fingerprint smudge. You could use these products for the back and sides, but not the screen—good luck trying to clean your phone and not getting any of that stuff on the screen.

How to Take Professional Photos on Your iPhone or Android Phone
Want to market your property like a professional but can't find (or get access to) a good photographer? Or maybe you're simply looking for an innovative way to take real estate photos yourself and save a few dollars. Well, get excited because today, we're going to teach you how to shoot real estate like a professional using only your smartphone! In this article, you're going to learn: Why you need to be shooting bracketed photos for real estate How to easily set up bracketing on your iPhone and Android How to have your photos edited professionally (for only $1.60 per photo!) Why You Need to Be Shooting Bracketed Photos for Real Estate Bracketing is essentially where you take multiple photos from the same angle at various exposures. The photos are then blended to create a final shot that looks true to the eye. This is essential when marketing real estate as it's the only way to represent your property correctly. To illustrate this point, let's say you're marketing a property that has a beautiful view outside. If you don't use bracketing, the window detail will be blown out in your photo, which will retract from a major selling point of the property. By using bracketing, you'll essentially capture all of the detail required and, once blended, the result will be a stunning photo true to the eye which showcases the stunning view outside. How to Easily Set Up Bracketing on Your iPhone To set up bracketing on your iPhone, you'll need to download an app called CameraPixels PRO (which costs $10) on the App Store. There is a free version called CameraPixels Lite, but we don't recommend it as it has limited functionality. After downloading CameraPixels PRO, you'll need to enter the settings below: 1) Open up CameraPixels PRO Click on ISO and set to 20 (this is very important) Click on Mode Click on Bracketing Click on Set 2) Under "Image" Resolution: 12.2MP x 4032 x 3024 Crop: 4:3 Quality: 100% Stabilisation: On 3) Under "Bracket" Type: Exposure Image Count: 7 Images EV Step: 1.0 F-Stop Flash: Off 4) Under "Intervalometer" Timer: 1 Sec Image Count: Single Lapse: 1 Sec Click Save As Preset Give the Preset a name Now when you take a photo, it'll shoot seven shots automatically! Just make sure you always use a tripod when bracketing, as all the exposures need to align up perfectly. iPhones Models We Recommend iPhone 11 iPhone X (with Moment wide-angle lens) How to Easily Set Up Bracketing on Your Android You'll need to download an app called "Manual Cam" on Google Play. The free version is fine to use. Below are instructions on how to setup Manual Cam on your Android phone. 1) Open Manual Cam2) At the top left, click On "RAW" or "JPG" symbol. Set it for JPG.3) At the top right, click on the "Clock" symbol. Set for 3 seconds.4) At the bottom left, click on the "AW" symbol. Set White Balance to Auto.5) At the bottom middle, click on the "AF" symbol. Ensure it is set for Auto Focus.6) At the bottom right, click on the "- +" symbol. Set ISO for 40.7) At the bottom right, click on the "mountain" icon. Set to BRK. Set exposure bracketing to 5F and 3.0 8) At bottom right, click on the "Cog" symbol. Image quality is 100% Timer – 1 second Image Count – Single Lapse – OFF Now when you take a photo, the phone will automatically shoot five brackets at various exposures! Just keep in mind when shooting, you must always use a tripod to ensure all the brackets align up perfectly. Android Phones We Recommend Samsung Galaxy S20 Samsung Galaxy S10 Samsung Galaxy S9 (with wide-angle Moment lens) Note: At the time of writing this article, there are no apps available on Android (including Manual Cam) that will allow you to shoot bracketed whilst utilizing the phone's wide-angle lens. How to Have Your Photos Edited Professionally Once you've taken your shots, you'll need to get them edited and blended professionally. To do this, you'll need to use our Image Enhancement (HDR Bracketed Images) edit, which only costs $1.60 per photo edited. After transferring the photos from your phone to your computer, you'll need to: 1) Sign in to BoxBrownie.com2) On the Dashboard, click on Image Enhancement3) Under Image Enhancement: HDR Bracketed Images, click on Add New Job4) Enter in your Job Title, Number Of Outputs and Additional Information5) Select which of the 16 steps you would like applied to your images6) Upload your images then click Next7) Submit your job Within 24 hours, you'll receive an email containing a link to your completed photos. Conclusion Marketing a property professionally is now extremely affordable and accessible. All you need is a late model smartphone and a bracketing app to unlock this insane functionality. Bracketing combined with our Image Enhancement (HDR Bracketed Images) edit is essential to produce a final shot that looks true to the eye. Every real estate professional needs to be using this technique to ensure their listing is represented correctly. BoxBrownie.com is currently offering a free virtual staging edit (valued at $32) to every RE Technology member (new accounts only). This offer expires on October 30. Click here to claim your free virtual staging edit. To view the original article, visit the BoxBrownie blog.

Close More Real Estate Deals with Text Messages
It's no secret as real estate professionals you've had to adapt to our changing times to keep your businesses going strong. From mastering the art of virtual open houses to guiding your clients through the uncertainty of real estate during the coronavirus, you adopted new methods to close more deals. At one time or another, you've also inevitably faced the challenge of dealing with people who don't answer your calls and emails. Often this isn't because they're trying to avoid you, but they're too busy or don't want to feel put "on the spot." So what's the answer? Start text messaging! Texting is one of the most effective ways to cut through the noise and ensure that your message reaches your prospect. There are many different ways that you can use text messaging to close more deals. Here are a few ideas to help you get started. Use Keyword Ads Even if a prospect has your business card with all of your contact information, there's a good chance that they'll forget or just put off reaching out to you. You can get around this barrier by creating ads that prompt leads to text a single keyword to a designated phone number. This makes it easy for people to make the first move while also opting in to receive your messages. Even better, using unique keywords gives you the ability to segment your leads by interest, so you're only sending relevant information. Text Closing and Listing Updates You take pride in helping your clients through every step of the process. However, it's challenging to stay on top of things when they don't see your messages. Nowadays, people get so many emails that it's easy for even important messages to get lost in the shuffle. However, it's much less common to miss a text message. Using text messaging to send important information about new listings or requests for the client to complete paperwork will make you a more effective real estate agent. Not only will this help you close more deals, but when clients see how proactive you are, they'll be happy to send you referrals. Send Scheduled Reminders It's no fun when a prospect forgets to show up for a scheduled appointment or showing. Sending scheduled reminders decreases the chances that this will happen and makes it easier for them to text you back if something has come up, and they're not going to make it. This will save you time and frustration and streamline your closing process. Ask for Reviews Studies show that 91% of people read reviews, and 84% trust the reviews they read online as much as a personal recommendation. One of the best ways to make sure you're a top-rated agent is to ask for reviews shortly after the closing. Increase the chances that your clients will follow through by texting them a link to submit a review. You can send the same message to multiple clients at once, simplifying the process for you and them. It's a win-win! Ready to Get Started with Text Message Marketing in DeltaNET 6? We Can Show You How! If you're ready to get started with text message marketing, contact us. We'll help you set up your system and create a perfect marketing plan for your individual needs. You'll be surprised by how quickly this simple move will improve your closing rates and contribute to your bottom-line. To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.

June 5G Update
We are almost halfway through 2020, and it's time to evaluate where we are with 5G. This is my third article about 5G, and if you want to become the office geek on 5G, there is much you need to know. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of what is happening with 5G, let's take a moment and think about how technology and telecommunications have changed since February. In my last article, I discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work and live. Record numbers of users on Zoom and other videoconferencing services, virtual tours of homes on the market are almost required, and the sheer amount of e-commerce is mind blowing. I am happy to say our communication infrastructure held up during probably the highest demand for service to date. In my article, I discussed the fact many of the changes made due to the virus have now become a normal function in life, as many had their technology skills upgraded—your grandparents on Zoom; who would have thought? What a great lead-in to discuss 5G and how the need is becoming greater for speed, capacity and latency. Not sure what all that means? Here is a review: Speed This is a big one all the phone carriers will be talking about because we consumers can relate to how long it takes to download and use our mobile devices. True 5G is billed as 100 times faster than 4G—let me give you an example. You want to download a full-length movie? 4G would take about 48 minutes, and 5G about seven minutes. As you can see, the time saved would be 41 minutes. Think about how much time you currently spend on your phone using apps, visiting websites and email. A few seconds saved every minute will add up! Capacity This one you might have experienced and will love the change. 5G will give us more capacity, which can be called bandwidth. Here's a visual: take the busy road you drive on and change it from two lanes to 100 lanes. In the real world, you are attending a sporting event, concert and trying to share a Facebook Live or Instagram to brag about where you are. With 4G, you have no service or it's very slow. 5G will be very noticeable when you have thousands of people trying to use the internet. Today even smaller groups can tax the network depending on the bandwidth. Latency The word "latency" you will be hear a lot as being one of the biggest advantages to 5G. With 5G, some of us might notice a slight difference when it comes to latency. If you are a gamer or use virtual reality—oh, your world will change with 5G. To understand latency, it's the time between your request for data to a server and the amount of time the data is returned to you. Before I share facts, you need to understand what a millisecond is—1/1000th of a second. To give you a reference, a blink of an eye is 100-150 milliseconds. Let's start with 3G, which was introduced in 2003. Latency is 100-500 milliseconds. 4G was released in 2010; latency is 50-100 milliseconds. 5G latency is 1-10 milliseconds. To you and I, these improvements will be noticed but really won't change the way we use our mobile devices. When we are away from Wi-Fi, most of the time the difference can hardly be noticed, so when we enter a 5G area, we might see the benefits of speed, capacity and latency if we plan to download a full-length movie in seven minutes. The biggest benefit to 5G is artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and many changes in the way we live and work. It is predicted that by 2035, 5G will be responsible for over $3.5 trillion in economic output and more than 22 million jobs. Remember that since December I have advised to hold off buying anything? Turns out due to a recent merger, some phone users who bought a 5G phone will not work on the new merged system—told you so! I found a complicated rating system done by an independent resource that grades the carriers based on three factors: coverage, speed and devices, all weighted equally with a perfect score of 100%—not naming names, as of May we have 40%, 49% and 60%. What does all the mean? WAIT to buy; your 4G phone is just fine for now! For the geeks in the room and those wanting more details, I will attempt to explain the three bands—low, middle and high—next month. Now there is exciting news! Dick Betts is a REALTOR® in The Villages, Fla. for Touchstone Real Estate in Mount Dora. He's also a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com

A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Homesnap Stories for Virtual Tours
Social distancing is still very much part of daily life. Yet, the need to keep your business running remains ever-present. Here's how Homesnap Stories can help you stay relevant with buyers and sellers. Homesnap Stories are an effective way to replicate the traditional, in-person open house experience. Using Homesnap Stories, agents can add a video tour of themselves walking throughout a property directly to their listing page on Homesnap, highlighting key amenities and allowing prospective buyers to see a property in a way that makes them feel at ease. With Homesnap Stories, you can add unique, engaging marketing content right to your active listings through the Homesnap Pro app. Add text, emojis, and even use augmented reality to create one-of-a-kind marketing content that you can also share on Facebook and Instagram. Homesnap Stories are ideal for getting across selling points about a property that are difficult to convey from photos alone. And because Homesnap Stories sit on your listing page until the property is off the market, accessible to anyone, there's no need to coordinate and record live stories from scratch anytime you have an interested client. Here's how you can add one to your listing: Find the "Add Story" button near the top of any of your active listings. Upload photos from your phone, or take new photos/video in real time, if you are able to. Add text to make your photo or video pop. Make sure to highlight the most important features. As buyers are unlikely to visit the property in person, it's imperative to be comprehensive in your approach. Overdoing it isn't much of a concern as of right now. Err on the side of showing more. Add emojis or real estate stickers to draw attention to important selling points. We have a custom set of real estate-themed stickers — in addition to traditional emojis — so you can easily call out big selling points. New roof? Walk-in closet? Make sure to highlight. Add 3D effects with augmented reality mode. Get creative and stand out by adding personalized 3D effects — like a for-sale or price drop — that become virtual objects in your Story. Add a voice-over or music Voice-over is an excellent tool to explain specific features, showcase your personality, or demonstrate your professionalism and expertise on camera. Music makes for a more inviting listing. Post your Story. When your Story is complete, hit the button to post and it'll appear right on your listing. If you want to share it on your own Facebook or Instagram Stories page, you can easily do that as well. After your Story is published, you can also see when your branded clients and connected agents have viewed your Story. It's a great way to follow up with clients who might be interested in your listing. We know times are difficult right now. We hope Homesnap Stories can make things just a little bit easier. To view the original article, visit the Homesnap blog.

How to Prevent Coronavirus by Cleaning Your Smartphone and Computer TODAY!
I've been getting questions about a safe way to clean your phone with all the fears surrounding the Coronavirus. Thanks to Apple, we have a new way. In the past, phone manufacturers warned us to NOT use bleach, vinegar, alcohol or disinfectant wipes from companies like Clorox or Lysol on the screen of your phone. The reason was that these chemicals can destroy the oleophobic coating that your phone uses to help fight fingerprint smudge. You could use these products for the back and sides, but not the screen—good luck trying to clean your phone and not getting any of that stuff on the screen.

How 5G Mobile Will Benefit Your Real Estate Business
In an earlier article, I committed to a monthly update on 5G, its status and how it directly affects you--or, for most of us, doesn't affect, as of the end of January 2020. We need to outline what 5G means to us and if it changes the way we conduct business. To understand what 5G is compared to 4G, there are three major components we need to consider: speed, capacity and latency. Let me take each area and look at what 5G will do for us:

Run Your Real Estate Business with a Smartphone Using Cameras and Scanners
We all remember cameras from our past: the film, where we dropped the film off to get our pictures, the pictures which we ended up throwing away, and of course the negatives we saved just in case. Around 2000, many of us started using a digital camera. We were so proud to buy a 2.1-megapixel camera for hundreds of dollars! Doing my research for this article, I stumbled across a news article published July 26th, 2001 which said that merging a PDA (personal digital assistant) and a camera was like chocolate and oranges. The article continues with why not have a can opener or a tear gas attachment for your PDA? I guess the author of that article was skeptical about what would become a revolution in the world of photography.

Run Your Real Estate Business with a Smartphone Using Video Conferencing
Years ago, we had a house for sale (YES, I used a REALTOR; if you were thinking I would FSBO--NEVER!). I was the perfect seller--never there for open houses or showings, kept the house clean and a bunch of stuff either boxed up, sold or donated to reduce clutter. I used my own social media and web presence to help get the home noticed. One day after a showing, I came home and a lady was sitting in front of the house in her car on the phone. I gave her a few minutes and walked out and started a conversation. She told me she was telling a friend that lived out of state about the appearance of the house. Her friend requested she check out the house and neighborhood.

Run Your Real Estate Business with an Android Phone using Email, Messenger and Text
I am going to take a different outlook on how we should keep in touch with family, friends, past clients, clients and leads versus the way most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems advocate. When it comes to communicating with people, we use many different platforms to keep in touch. We use phone calls, text, email, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp, and maybe even Snapchat as a means of communication.

Run Your Real Estate Business with a Smartphone using Information Management
From the time humanity started carving in caves through today, storing and finding recorded information has been a challenge. With the sheer amount of information we deal with daily, a system is needed to categorize and locate information quickly from where we are at the time. Most likely, the one thing that will be with us everywhere we go is our smartphone, so let's find a way to store, manage and find that information. Let me introduce the phrase Mobile Information Management (MIM) to our lingo. I consider devices such as smartphones and tablets to be our definition of mobile. Information, which comes to us daily, includes contacts, your calendar, notes, reminders, documents, passwords, social media and even website information needing to be stored. For Realtors, think about all the information you need at your fingertips: MLS, info on clients, leads, maps and directions—the list goes on! Management of all this information is vital for many reasons. Let's compare your brain to a cloud storage service. You have so many gigs of space available and once full, you need to either delete data or purchase more space. Sadly, we can't buy more brain, so we need to utilize what we have. The more data we store in our Mobile Information Management means that much less we need to store in our brain. An example is passwords—whether you use an app or take my suggestion and store it in a password protected note, you only have one password to remember, not twenty (more brain space!). Some of you "old timers" remember the MLS books you had to lug around. Now, we have an app for that. Remember your daily planner? We have several apps for that. These are all examples of MIM, which clears so much clutter from your brain. Need to call Fred? He is in my contacts along with ice-breaker information. What day next week do I have Smith's closing? It's in my calendar. We need to go much deeper with information management beyond our apps, contacts and calendar, and we do this with Apple Notes or Google Keep. The last words that should ever come out of your mouth are, "When I get to the office I will check on that. I believe it's either on my computer or a file folder on my desk." Every time you do that, you waste time in your day and appear to not be as organized as you should. Nothing, I mean nothing, should be any other place than your phone. It's so simple to take seconds and either copy or store the information where you can access it using MIM. Recently, I finished a eight-part series here on RE Technology titled, "Information Management – An Important Part of Being Organized." Start there. Here are the other articles you should read in the series: How to Grab Text From an Image Using Google Keep Collaborating with Others Using Apple Notes and Google Keep How to Set a Location Reminder in Google Keep How to Overcome the Pain of Passwords Want to Use Mobile Scanner Software? Be Very Careful! Dictation, One of the Most Unused Features in Apple Notes and Google Keep! Apple Users: Let's Set Up Notes to the Max! If you want to get the most out of your Mobile Information Management, take the time to read or reread the articles I have listed above! Dick Betts is a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com

Real Estate Smartphone Tricks: Using Your Phone's Contacts as a CRM
I want you to think about something--where do you keep the most up-to-date list of your contacts? Yes, your phone! You meet somebody and the first thing you do is share your contact information. Where is it stored? Yes, your phone! What is easier: moving the new contact to a customer relationship management (CRM) platform or working the contact from your phone? Yes, your phone! During my speaking career, I have met so many agents who have signed up for a CRM with all good intentions, but barely use it. (I wish I had a penny for every Customer Relationship Management program sold to REALTORS over the past 20 years, and a nickel for each one not being used today.) You pay for a CRM program or use your phone's contacts, which is free—which makes the most sense to use? Yes, your phone! Before we move forward, let's clean up the contacts on your phone. Go to your text messaging app and scroll down looking for phone numbers without names. Find any, hit the button and add a new contact if you know who it is. Next go to your phone app and recent calls and do the same thing. If you're not sure about a contact, make a mental note and try to add to either an existing contact or save as new. Next, it's time to visit your email. Great thing about our email programs—if you tap on the email address, you have the choice of creating a new contact or adding to an existing contact. Have any pieces of paper or business cards laying around? Enter them. Now, you need to go to your contacts on your phone and do some housekeeping. Review to see if you have an email and phone number for each contact. Many of your contacts have left your life for many reasons—it doesn't hurt to leave them in your contacts, but I am sure there are some you can delete. Remember, we don't give rewards for the most contacts! After you finish what I listed above, let's convert your contacts app into your free CRM. For years, I have been running around the country and writing about my F.O.R.D contact management system, so let's put it to work. First let me explain the F.O.R.D. system. It's so simple: F – Family, names of spouse, siblings, grandkids, family pet(s) O – Organizations, church, civic groups, social clubs R – Recreation, golf, bowling, going to the gym, sailing, camping D – Dreams, retire to a tropical island, cruise the world Imagine having a few of these facts on contacts you want to advance from lead to prospect to friend to closing to commission. Call them ice breakers or anything you want, but when you drop any of the F.O.R.D. facts, the contact will be impressed you care enough to know that information. It gets better—if you hit the search feature and put in a name of a spouse or anything listed on F.O.R.D., it finds the contact. Following the instructions from article one on Text Replacement, add F.O.R.D. as a phrase with the shortcut ford. Go to any contact, and under Notes, type ford, then click on F.O.R.D. Using the return button on your keyboard, move each letter to a new line. Now you have a place to record and add information about the contact. We have more that comes up later about adding information about a contact. Check out my article posted earlier about the F.O.R.D. system to learn more. We have a long way to go in this series. Each step builds on skills we are covering in detail. Not to worry—I would not tell you that you can run your business with a smartphone without discussing much more. Our next subject is your phone's calendar, for which you will need to have your contacts cleaned up and mastered Text Replacement. I plan on covering email marketing and drip campaigns, social networking, information and document storage, video conferencing, and camera—which will include photos and scanners—and much more. This was the second technique article on running your real estate business business with a smartphone! My first topic was Text Replacement; if you missed it, please go back and read it now. Dick Betts is a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com.

Can You Run Your Real Estate Business with a Smartphone? YES!
Recently, I've been hearing how companies are suggesting that entrepreneurs and startups can completely operate their businesses with only a smartphone. This got me to thinking and reminiscing about how business has changed in my lifetime. For now, let's just focus on the past 20 years and how personal computers, laptops, Palm Pilots, Blackberry, smartphones, iPads and tablets have changed the way we do business.

What Does Your 'Workbench' Look Like?
Over the weekend, I was working on a few DIY projects. Before I started, I realized that recently I have just been piling up my tools on my workbench, leaving small piles of tools in the house and around the garage. I grab the small piles of tools, carry them to my workbench and drop them, making a bigger pile. I got to thinking about professionals like auto mechanics and folks working in a shop—all their tools are neatly organized and they know where every screwdriver, wrench and pair of pliers are located. Me? Not so much—mine are in a big pile. My first weekend project was replacing the charging cable on my golf cart. Items needed: wire cutters, screwdrivers, ½ wrench, black electrical tape and my ratchet set. It took me 15 minutes digging in the pile to find everything I needed. I thought about the mechanic who has everything in place on a peg board and tool cabinet. He would have a 15-minute head start on my unorganized life, and the job only took 15 minutes! How clean is your digital workbench? So where am I going with this? Pull out your smartphone, open it up and look at your apps. Are they neatly in order like a mechanic's tools, or are they in a pile like my tools? This really makes a difference in productivity and is so easy to correct. You have two options, and they are both right—it's whichever one you feel works best for you: Option One - Decide which apps you use the most and move them to the first page of apps. I personally think page one should be all productivity and the apps needed to support your career, but it's your phone. Either way, start organizing the apps so you quickly can find what you are looking for. Put your most frequently used apps where you can find them quickly. Option Two - Build folders by category. For example, put all social media into a folder, another folder with news, maybe a shopping folder. I use a travel folder with all my hotel, airlines, rental cars, Uber, etc. in one folder. I also use a News folder which saves space. I have over 150 apps on my phone, which is seven pages of apps. Recently, we had a new garage door installed—and of course it has wi-fi. When I downloaded the app, it went to page seven of apps. First time I used it, I had to scan seven pages of apps looking for my garage door app. Yes, I moved it to page two! Discharging smartphone battery myths While we are talking apps and using your smartphone smartly, let's discuss the battery. So many myths out there about batteries and charging, so let's clean a few up: Is it hard on your smartphone battery to charge overnight every night?Answer: NO. Today's technology and batteries are just fine charging overnight. Should I discharge my battery until it's under 50% before charging?Answer: NO. Again, it's not hard on the battery. Plus, it's better to have a fully charged battery available. Does completely draining your smartphone battery hurt battery life?Answer: YES. Smartphone batteries come with a chip to prevent total discharge. This still is not good, as deep drains can shorten battery life. Dick Betts is a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com

RU Getting the Most Out of Txting?
Texting has quickly become the favored mode of communication between friends and family, outpacing voice calls and emails. But how do consumers feel about businesses using text to communicate with them? Turns out, they are receptive to it. A nationwide survey found that individuals actually read 82 percent of text messages sent from businesses within five minutes of receiving them.

How to Shoot a House for Under $16
Real estate photography can quickly become expensive, which is less than ideal. However, creating high quality professional images can be achieved at a fraction of the cost. To demonstrate this, BoxBrownie's real estate photography guru and co-founder Brad Filliponi is going to shoot a property with a smartphone. You will learn the key tips on the most important areas in the home so your listing will stand out.

No Internet? Here's How to Set Up Your Own Hotspot
Real estate agents know better than most that sometimes it's just easier to accomplish specific tasks on your laptop than attempt to do the work on your phone. But sometimes those tasks require an internet connection. If you are always on the go, and you don't have a nearby Wi-Fi connection, how can you get instant internet service? Use your smartphone and create your own internet connection for your laptop. Here's how.

[Best of 2018] 6 Unorthodox Ways to Use Airplane Mode on Your Phone
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in March and is #8 in our countdown. See #9 here. What can you accomplish when you cut your smartphone off from the world? No wi-fi, no voice, no data--nothing but literal radio silence? A whole lot, it turns out. Last month, we showed you a neat Instagram trick using Airplane Mode (the fastest way to go "radio silent" on your phone). There are plenty more creative uses for Airplane Mode, so today we're going to show you a sampling of the best.

Friday Freebie: Text Messaging Stickers for Real Estate
From smiley faces to common objects to various fruits and vegetables, emojis today cover just about every situation imaginable. That is, however, except for one--real estate. That's all changed, though, thanks to an Arizona-based brokerage that has released a collection of real estate emojis that integrate right into your smartphone's keyboard. Now real estate agents can use emojis that range from various houses to sales related icons like "Offer Accepted," "Price Drop," and more in their communications with clients. Read on to find out how you can nab this real estate emoji collection for yourself!

8 Accessories that Give Your Smartphone Superpowers (Part 2)
Want to make your smartphone an even more powerful tool? Rather than turning to apps, let's take a look at what accessories can do for your mobile phone. Yesterday, we kicked things off by highlighting four types of mobile accessories that enhance your phone's multimedia capabilities. Today, we're going to look at four more kinds of accessories—two that are purely practical, and two that are high tech.. Let's check 'em out:

Geotagging: How It Can Put You at Risk, and 4 Ways to Stay Safe
Your safety with regards to technology is our concern. And at times we write about potential threats and provide you with resources, so you can stay safe. For this reason, today we write about the unpleasant side of geotagging. While geotagging can be fun and convenient, we believe it's important to be aware of how geotagging works. Because although we may like the benefits and convenience of it, there are also dangers that come with it.

How Mobile Tech Is Changing Real Estate Forever
It really wasn't too long ago that mobile technology for real estate agents was a "nice to have" technology. Visionary agents and teams rolled out their own mobile apps. They converted their websites to a mobile responsive design. The smartest ones set up mobile-centric lead generation systems that took full advantage of all the information a mobile home shopper would automatically provide. These early adopters reaped the rewards that mobile tech offered real estate sales professionals. The major portals, including realtor.com and Zillow, focused development efforts on mobile apps. They rolled out features that better connected agents to their customers. In 2012, one-fifth of all Google related real estate searches were on mobile devices. Today, Google reports over 60 percent of all searches are performed on mobile devices. In the last four years, real estate related searches have grown by a whopping 235 percent. Today, mobile tech is now a "given" for every agent and broker. It is changing the face of the real estate transaction forever. Every tool we now use, from our websites, to all the tech tools that help us manage our business and close real estate transactions, must be mobile friendly. Going forward, all new software must be developed with a mobile-first approach. It's vital to understand why.

Top 10 Considerations for Real Estate Professionals in Choosing a Smartphone
When you're a real estate professional, choosing a smartphone is a big deal. You'll use your smartphone to email the office, text your kids, communicate with clients. You'll search the internet, use apps, store documents. And for most agents, your smartphone is your camera, video camcorder, telephone, GPS, address book, and can even be used to submit deal sheets. Your smartphone is vital to your professional and personal life. That being considered, what do you need to know when choosing a smartphone?

Photos Taking Up Too Much Space? A Few Tips to Compress
When you see a warning that your storage is 90 percent full, you might begin to panic. And you probably know exactly what's causing your problem: your photos. For most real estate professionals, photos and videos have become both a blessing and a curse. They are a blessing because powerful visuals help sell homes. But they are also a curse because they are data hogs. Yet, there are ways you can use less space on your device without losing all the luster of your great photos. Let's take a look at some of the things you can do to reduce the amount of space your images are taking up on your phone and your laptop.

Top Mobile Tech Tips for Real Estate Pros
We've reached a point where consumers are not solely in search of good products and services—they are interested in the entire experience of interacting with a business. When searching for a solution provider, consumers will conduct a Google search, check out websites, view social media profiles, and read online reviews before deciding to do business. It's important to know where your customers are and to cater the experience to each platform. To create a well-rounded experience, real estate professionals must expand beyond desktop capabilities and venture into pure mobile efficiency. In fact, are you reading this from a mobile device? According to the growing mobile trend, there is great chance that you are! It's not enough that 80 percent of internet users own a smartphone—or that, on average, people use their phone for 90 minutes each day. But the fact that 50 percent of searches are happening from a mobile device should persuade you to rethink your mobile marketing strategy. To top it off, Americans collectively check their smartphones 8 billion times per day. The stats are in your favor! There are plenty of mobile opportunities to promote your real estate business. According to the National Association of REALTORS 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 72 percent of buyers used a mobile website or tablet in their home search, and 58 percent of buyers who used mobile search found their home through a mobile application. On the next page are six tips to help you create a robust mobile marketing strategy for incoming leads and current clients.

Six Tips for Maximizing Battery Life in iOS 10
Our devices always seem to run out of battery exactly when we need them most. For that reason, this month we bring users of iOS 10 devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) six tips that can help you get more time between battery charges. 1. Optimize Location Services Settings As a REALTOR on the go, you may use several apps that give you information about a specific location, such as the Weather app, or an MLS app that provides you with available listings in your area. These apps can give you location-based information because they use the Location Services feature of your device. Location Services is very useful, and you can take advantage of it without taxing your battery too much if you run it only when you are actively using the apps. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Next, scroll down and click on the first app on the list. Three options will show: Never, While Using the App or Always. Select While Using the App, and you will see that a blue check mark is added to your selection. (Select 'Never" on those apps that you feel never need to know your location, even when you are using them.) That's it! To exit, click on < Location Services again. Go through each app on your list and set the best setting for each app.

Best of 2016: 5 Basic Tips for Taking Great Photos With Your iPhone
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published back in March and is #5 in our countdown. See #6 here. Every day we see an increase in people replacing their digital cameras with their smartphones to take pictures. This is mainly because manufacturers are adding some incredible lenses to smartphones that make it a very convenient device to capture daily moments and upload them quickly to social media apps. Smartphone cameras do not provide the quality photos that a good digital camera can provide, which are recommended for listings. Nevertheless, here at Tech Helpline, we see a trend of agents using their smartphones to take pictures for their listings. For this reason, today we will show you some quick tips on how to get the best possible image using an iPhone with iOS 9. All features listed below are available on the iPhone 5 or newer. 1. Use Auto Focus (AF) This is the most important feature to use. Without using this option, your image could appear blurry or lose detail. Here is what you do: Tap the area on your screen that you wish to focus on, remove your finger and wait a couple of seconds to allow the camera to focus on the subject before taking the photo. You can also tap and hold the area on your screen, until the yellow "AE/AF LOCK" appears (Auto-Exposure/ Auto-Focus Lock). This will allow you to take photos from different angles without losing focus on the subject.

Texting for the 21st Century Real Estate Agent
No matter where you are or what you are doing, everyone around you is texting—constantly. Texting has become the most widely and commonly used feature on phones and has become a crucial part of business, especially in the real estate industry. In fact, by choosing to text with a prospect, you are 40 percent more likely to convert them into a client. Let's look at the depths of texting for the 21st century real estate agent. It's Quicker and More Efficient Texting is a quick and simple way to communicate with someone because they are brief and to the point. When you are contacting a prospect, texting is a good way to force yourself to keep the message concise. If you are setting up a time to meet to discuss a new property, you can talk about the details in person rather than spilling them out in a lengthy email. Just text where and when you're going to meet and, bam! – you have a meeting planned. Texting saves time and helps you stay focused on the message at hand. Texting guarantees that your prospect will get your message and there is a higher response rate because text messages are generally read within three minutes of receipt.

How Can You Use 'REmojis' to Connect with Your Clients and Leads?
As an agent, you'll perform dozens of tasks for your buyer and seller clients, and communicating every update can get a little stale: If you text or email with the clients, a new set of "REmojis" could help you keep your communications fresh and exciting... while saving you from adding six exclamation points to each message. As reported by Inman, agent Amy Dginguerian created REmojis as a way for real estate professionals to communicate and commiserate with clients, fellow REALTORS® and industry partners. Whether you're breaking news of a bidding war, checking in with your managing broker, communicating with a seller on the verge of closing or sympathizing with an office mate, you'll find there's a REmoji for almost every situation that arises in the average day of a REALTOR:

How the iPhone 7 Can Improve DIY Real Estate Video and Photography
Apple released the first iPhone eight years ago. Now it's 2016 and we're up to iPhone 7. Much has changed since the first version of the phone, but not much has changed since the previous. Basically, the new iPhone is shinier, available in black, and will no longer support your primitive headphone wires. These updates don't really impact real estate—outside of the fact that you'll look cooler without your headphone wires all tangled up. The camera updates, on the other hand, have the potential to significantly improve DIY real estate videos and photography. Let's take a look. iPhone 7 The standard iPhone 7 camera has been enhanced with several features typically seen in DSLRs. Optical image stabilization allows for more stable control of your camera. This stabilization should account for your jitters and enable your photos and videos to stay in focus in spite of these shakes.

5 Real Estate Apps that Used Augmented Reality Way Before Pokemon Go
"Augmented reality" has entered the cultural lexicon in a big way, thanks to Pokemon Go. It's not just teenagers and gamers who are chattering about it, either. Just last week, I saw an article on a business blog that listed four industries that are primed for augmented reality to disrupt. One of the those industries? Real estate! From the post: The potential applications augmented reality could have in real estate is not to be discredited. By holding up a phone to any house and retrieving important details about the property — i.e., home values, bedrooms, and square footage, etc. — would change the landscape of obtaining valuable real estate information. Guess no one told the author that we in the real estate industry have already been leveraging augmented reality like this--and for years! Let's take a look at some of the apps that have been busy blazing the augmented reality trail in our industry. Real Estate's Two Heavy Hitters First, let's clarify what augmented reality is. It's when the real world is supplemented by data, visuals, or sound via a device like a smartphone or tablet. Typically, users can see these "extras" by turning on their device's camera and viewing the surrounding environment through their phone's live camera feed. In the case of Pokemon Go, the game taps into your phone's GPS and camera to show you virtual creatures that you can catch (among other things). In the case of real estate, consumers and agents can use their phone's camera feed to view property information overlaid onto the live video feed. This short video shows you how this process looks in HomeSpotter, an augmented reality property search app:

Fast Phone Hacks: 3 Ways to Respond to Leads and Clients in 30 Seconds or Less
You've heard the stats — responsiveness is the #2 most important skill and quality that clients care about when hiring a real estate agent, and most (over 60%) of buyers won't interview more than one agent before signing a contract. It stands to reason that if you are the first to respond to an inbound lead, you're more likely to win their business! Below are three brand-new phone hacks you can use to ensure that no matter what, you always respond within minutes. 1. Search Google within any app When was the last time you had to leave a text to look up an appointment time, an address or the spelling of a client's name? Moving between apps can take up precious time, but Google has developed technology that can help you respond faster without requiring any app navigation. Apple users can download the GBoard Keyboard, which adds Google search to your keyboard, allowing you to get everything from directions to addresses to GIFs on the fly. Here's how GBoard works:

Didn’t Download the Top 10 Apps of 2016? Maybe You Don’t Need to…
Here you are, stranded on a tropical island: just you, your phone, and dozens of people looking to you to sell them island homes. Despite getting drenched during your swim to shore, your phone is miraculously still working! Tragically, none of those amazing apps you downloaded survived. You're left with what is essentially the factory default model. Despite this, there are still a lot of ways you can use your phone to help you sell real estate to those stranded with you. 1. Communication Another miracle! The island has a cell tower! You can't call for help, but you can call and text your island leads. Contacts: When you add a contact to your smartphone, there are five or six fields to fill in with things like the person's name, email address, and phone number, but there is often an additional button you can select to add new fields. In here, you can add spaces for phonetic name, notes, relationships, events, etc. It won't send out automatic email messages for you, but it will help remind you of who all those names in your phone are. Groups: This sub-category of contacts can be a life-saver. Put your first-time buyers in one group and empty-nest sellers in another so you can easily keep track of who's who. Texts: Send your contacts a birthday or anniversary text to regain a top-of-mind presence and you may be able to get some referrals!

Go Mobile or Go Home: Texting and Mobile Strategies
Setting yourself up with solid strategy for success is likely on your mind. If you're staying ahead of the curve, you've got your lead generation system on autopilot, a robust online presence working on your behalf (including your realtor.com® profile), a strong CRM in place to help capture and nurture your new prospects and a plan for quick and personal follow-up. One of the most important components to this strategy, however, is how all of these plans and processes work on mobile. Now that you've done all the work planning for this year, don't miss the boat by failing to optimize your systems where many of today's homebuyers are starting their search - on mobile! The National Association of Realtors® 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers confirms that using mobile devices is becoming more and more common among all home buyers. In fact, the study reports 72% of buyers found mobile applications very useful during their home search, and 66% of buyers who used mobile searching found their home through a mobile application. With numbers like these, it's imperative that your lead generation and online presence are working together to help you be found by consumers on mobile devices. Using a platform like realtor.com® ConnectionSM for Co-Brokerage to purchase leads or a realtor.com® Digital Ad Package to get your personal brand seen directly in the client's search stream (including on the realtor.com® mobile application) are great places to start. But, don't forget to Google yourself and update your website and online profiles to ensure consumers are finding accurate information!

MightyText Brings Advanced Texting Technology to Android
If we're being honest, Android users often get the shaft when it comes to app availability (and they aren't afraid of telling us so!). Innovative new apps are often developed for iPhones first, long before they're ever offered for Androids. In part, that's because iPhone apps are easier to develop. iPhone developers only have to code for a single operating system (iOS) from a single company, Apple, on mobile devices that are mostly the same, save for versioning differences. Because Android phones run on an open source platform, there are many different 'interpretations' of the Android operating system on smartphones from many different companies--like Samsung, HTC, LG, and Motorola, to name a few. This means that developers have to code for many more platforms on Android than they have to for iOS. As you can imagine, this slows Android development down significantly. Apple offers a lean device ecosystem--iPhone, iPad, and iMac/MacBook computers. For years now, Apple users have been able to send and receive text messages from their iPhones on their other Apple devices, like iPads and MacBooks. MightyText is an app that finally lets Android users accomplish the same task. Read on to learn more! Android Texting on Steroids MightyText lets Android phone users manage their text messages from their computer or tablet. Once the MightyText app is installed on your phone, you can access MightyText's browser based app on your computer to create, reply, delete, and forward text messages. The app works as a bridge that syncs messages between all of your devices.

Five Ways GPS Technology Has Transformed Real Estate
Much of the hype around smartphones is centered on how they empower users to accomplish important tasks on the go. But your mobile phone isn't just a lightweight version of your computer. Smartphones have unique features that do things your computer can't, and that open up a whole new way of working with real estate data. Chief among these features is GPS technology. Mobile apps can use GPS to tap into your geographic location and serve up a wealth of valuable uses that weren't available before smartphones. Real estate, being supremely location-based, is particularly well-positioned to benefit from this technology. Here are five ways mobile GPS has transformed the housing industry: 1. Property search - Ever been on a showing with a client who wants to know if any nearby properties are for sale? GPS to the rescue! Many mobile search apps today can tap into your phone's GPS and instantly pull up a list of active listings near your current location. Some get pretty fancy about it, too. With HomeSpotter, for example, just point your phone's camera at a property to pull up listing information. RPR Mobile lets Realtors search nearby homes, pull up comparables, and even see information on nearby FSBOs. 2. No more stopping for directions - Mobile navigation is a godsend for always-on-the-go agents. Gone are the days of meticulously writing down directions before leaving for a showing. Now, just type the address into your favorite navigation app for instant driving directions--and to see the flow of traffic on your route. Many property search apps today offer driving directions from right within their interface. Others, like MLS-Touch, even let you create multi-property buyer's tours with a detailed itinerary and directions.

A Quick Look at Apple Watch OS2
Apple released Watch OS2 on Monday. The second version of the gadget's operating system was originally scheduled to come out on Sept. 16, the same day as iOS9, but was delayed due to a software bug. OS2 builds on the functionality of the smart watch and adds upgrades like new watch faces and tetherless wi-fi so that wearers no longer have to be connected to their iPhone to access the internet. As with the new iPhone 6s, Apple Watch's upgrade offers users productivity features that are handy for busy agents: Time Travel - Are your days a jumble of appointments and showings? Time Travel makes it easy to view upcoming meetings. Simply turn the digital crown to preview what's coming up on your schedule in the minutes and hours head. You can flip through your calendar or advance the crown to see things like temperature at a certain time or upcoming flights. Transit - If you serve an urban area or are in a large metropolitan area for trade shows or other events, Transit for Apple Maps makes it simple to locate subways, trains, and more right from your wrist. iTranslate - This is a boon for agents who work with a lot of international clients or serve a bilingual area. Just speak into the Watch's mic to read and hear translations in 90 languages.

How to Back Up Your Text Messages, Email, Calendars, and More
Worried that a lost or broken phone means losing all of your text messages and all of the important conversations you've had with clients? You're not alone. An RE Technology reader recently wrote to us in search of an easy way to archive her text messages and prevent disaster from happening. Rather than rattle off the few methods that we're aware of, we turned to Tech Helpline for some expert advice. Since they're a REALTOR®-owned company that offers tech support to hundreds of agents and brokers every day, they're uniquely suited to knowing just what real estate professionals need (read: easy and painless solutions). We spoke with Richard Gordon, Technical Analyst Lead at Tech Helpline. Not only did he walk us through archiving text messages, he showed us how to save contacts, emails, and calendar events from all of your devices! Fortunately, for iPhone users, it's as simple as syncing your phone to iCloud. For Android users, syncing your contacts and emails is a snap, but your calendar and text messages will require third-party apps. Back Up 101 for iPhone Users "Syncing your devices through your iCloud account is as simple as following a few steps," says Gordon. The first step is the simplest: make sure you are signed into the same iCloud account on each device. If you use a Mac computer, go to System Preferences from the black Apple menu in the top left corner. Then, select the iCloud option and make sure you are signed into the correct account. Next, check the boxes next to anything you want backed-up by synching to iCloud.

Best Apps for the Apple Watch and How it Can Help Real Estate Pros Today
I am a proud owner of an Apple Watch and, I must admit, I love it. In addition to the beautiful design of the watch, there are some really cool features to it. Although many have been touting the health and fitness functions of the watch, there are other features that can definitely assist agents in streamlining their schedules and maximizing their time. The Watch Design The Apple Watch comes in three finishes – aluminum, stainless steel and gold. I purchased the lowest-priced aluminum version, since I figured the watch will be replaced in a two-year cycle, similar to the iPhone. They all look great from the casing to the smooth corners to the interface. The watch connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth connection. Once connected, Apple Watch friendly applications on your phone will automatically populate on the watch. Easy enough! The watch comes with a special charger that can charge to full power within half an hour. A full charge can last between 18 to 24 hours, but I was able to get about 28 a few times during my usage. There are about ten different watch face styles that users can switch from, as well as semi-customize by changing the color of the face. Text messaging is great as well. Texts show up on your watch as push notifications and can be easily replied to. There are two ways to do this. Apple has comprised a list of popular words and phrases that you can use to respond to your client or friend with one touch or you can also use Siri to transcribe your voice into text. This is a really cool feature!