This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
This week our Genius answers some of the most common questions Geniuses get about how to fix iPhone email problems, as well as what to do when your free iCloud storage becomes too full. Also, if you’ve upgraded to iOS 7 recently you may have noticed your iPhone rebooting at random. Our genius will tell you whether it’s a hardware or software issue and how to troubleshoot it before taking you iPhone to the genius bar.
Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
Q: My iPhone keeps restarting randomly. Is it a hardware issue, or is there anything I can do to fix it?
Most of the time an iPhone restarting randomly is a software issue. App updates that have bugs can cause this to happen, especially new iOS 7 apps that haven’t worked their bugs out. Or it can even be an operating system issue.
The first step to a solution would be to notice when it usually happens. If it happens during the use of a particular app, you might try removing the app and reinstalling it from the App Store. If it is one of the apps included in iOS or you have tried removing apps and your iPhone continues to restart unexpectedly you should restore your iPhone using iTunes. Make sure to do a backup before proceeding with the restore as it will remove all the content and restore the factory settings.
If after restoring the backup you still encounter the restarting issue you may need to set the phone up as a new device, as the issue may be stored in your backup.
Personally, I have found my iPhone performs much better when I have restored it and set it up as new. This is a good way to clean up your iPhone if you want a fresh start. If it is still restarting randomly, it may need to be replaced so make a reservation at the Genius Bar for service.
Q: I keep getting notifications that my iPhone hasn’t been backed up to iCloud because there is not enough storage. What should I do?
This is probably one of the more commonly asked question in the Apple Store. If you have iCloud backups turned on for your iPhone, it will regularly save your camera roll, accounts, documents and settings.
The free iCloud storage space is 5 GB which is pretty small if you’re trying to store all your photos and documents in the cloud. The warning pops up whenever backups require more space than your storage plan size.
If you look in the Settings app on your iPhone you can view your iCloud backup and storage settings in the iCloud settings.
Here you can view your iCloud storage size. Click into the to “Manage Storage” option to display your backups and see the size of each backup. You can select each one to see how much space is required for the next backup. You can also delete an old backup from inside the backup info at the very bottom of the page.
You might also want to consider whether to upgrade your iCloud storage. Apple makes it easy to upgrade storage right from the backup settings by clicking change storage plan and choosing a storage plan up to 55 GB for $100 a year thats charge annually to your iTunes account.
If you don’t want to upgrade, trimming your backups below your allotted storage plan will get you back up and running. If you want to ditch the service altogether, just disable iCloud backups in the iCloud settings and have fun with iTunes — unless you like living life on the edge without a backup.
Q: My Mail.app suddenly stopped being able to send and receive emails. What should I check?
In most cases, at least cases in the store, mail accounts quit working due to incorrect passwords, however there are other possibilities as well.
Here are a couple steps to follow to get your account working again. While trying these steps, first make sure to confirm you have a good Wi-Fi or 3G/4G connection on your iOS device to ensure a connection to your mail servers.
1. Verify you have the correct password. If you have changed the password recently, you will have to update it in your settings. Go to the Mail, Contacts, Calendars page in the Settings App and update your password for the account login. If your account requires SMTP password authentication, you’ll have to also update the password in your outgoing settings. If it still doesn’t work, try logging on the web to make sure you aren’t trying the wrong password.
2. Verify you have the correct settings for you email provider by going to your web mail. Most providers have an easy-to-follow guide on how to setup their email accounts with iOS devices.
3. If that still doesn’t work, sometimes Account Settings data can get corrupted over time. Try removing the account and adding it back on.
These three steps usually get people back up and running.
