Hello, due to poor eyesight, iPhone is too small for me. However, iPad has no phone function. My Galaxy Pro 12.2 is both a phone and a tablet that suits my need but at least in the past, it is not possible to back up the phone without breaking Android. Any suggestions on what to do? As I also carry a 17” MBP most of the time, I don’t want to carry both my iPhone and a tablet.
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Can we turn iPad to a phone?
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If you have an iPad with cell data service on it, you could use Google Voice and/or Hangouts to make it into a phone. Downside is that it doesn't integrate into the Apple ecosystem and all calls/texts use cell data.
The iPhone 5.5 Plus is too small of a display for you? Also, the iPhone has accessibly features which allows you to increase the text size to become larger and bold the font as well.
HobeSoundDarryl
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I second post #2. That will work.
If you don't have cell service hardware on your tablet, it will still work when you are in a wifi zone. Get yourself earbuds with a microphone (probably came with your iPad) and it will work surprisingly well.
I use an iPad mini cellular with earbuds + microphone to cover both bases (tablet and phone). I have Google Voice/Hangouts and can use that but I also have Comcast Voice at home and their app does a pretty good job of ringing the iPad with calls + voicemail and covering basic texting too. If you are using cable for broadband, you might check out their app to see if it has Comcast-like voice features too.
While your benefit appears to be larger screen size, another big benefit is much cheaper monthly tolls. An iPad cellular using AT&T 2GB for 3 months for $25 tends to cover my cell service for a whole year for about $100. I'm around wifi most of the time, so I use surprisingly little cellular data. Works very well for me.
Another option is VOIP software for your laptop or even pay Skype about (I think) $60 or so dollars to give you the ability to make calls through Skype for a year. If I recall correctly that was about $60 to be able to call anywhere in North America for a year. Just looked it up $71.30 for North America for a year. I used that several years ago and it worked really well. Effectively, that would make your laptop your phone, but probably limited to wifi unless you have a cellular modem for it.
If you don't have cell service hardware on your tablet, it will still work when you are in a wifi zone. Get yourself earbuds with a microphone (probably came with your iPad) and it will work surprisingly well.
I use an iPad mini cellular with earbuds + microphone to cover both bases (tablet and phone). I have Google Voice/Hangouts and can use that but I also have Comcast Voice at home and their app does a pretty good job of ringing the iPad with calls + voicemail and covering basic texting too. If you are using cable for broadband, you might check out their app to see if it has Comcast-like voice features too.
While your benefit appears to be larger screen size, another big benefit is much cheaper monthly tolls. An iPad cellular using AT&T 2GB for 3 months for $25 tends to cover my cell service for a whole year for about $100. I'm around wifi most of the time, so I use surprisingly little cellular data. Works very well for me.
Another option is VOIP software for your laptop or even pay Skype about (I think) $60 or so dollars to give you the ability to make calls through Skype for a year. If I recall correctly that was about $60 to be able to call anywhere in North America for a year. Just looked it up $71.30 for North America for a year. I used that several years ago and it worked really well. Effectively, that would make your laptop your phone, but probably limited to wifi unless you have a cellular modem for it.
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I agree with lparsons2, Google Voice/Hangouts is a viable option, a service I've been using for over ten years (before Google acquired GrandCentral). Nothing new here.
Today, it is easy to make calls via Google Hangouts. While I have used other devices like an iPod touch and iPad (combined with a dumb phone), today I have an iPhone and iPad.
I can make calls on my iPad and the person on the other side has no idea that I'm not calling on a phone nor do they know I'm using a Google service. It's completely transparent to them, they just see it as another mobile number.
Today, it is easy to make calls via Google Hangouts. While I have used other devices like an iPod touch and iPad (combined with a dumb phone), today I have an iPhone and iPad.
I can make calls on my iPad and the person on the other side has no idea that I'm not calling on a phone nor do they know I'm using a Google service. It's completely transparent to them, they just see it as another mobile number.
Apple Continuity allows you to take iPhone calls and texts on your iPad. Apparently both devices need to be on the same network. I don’t know if tethering the iPad to the iPhone is sufficient.
Thanks for the interesting ideas. If I use 4G connection and Google Voice and/or Hangouts, do I have to turn on data connection all the time? If I do turn off data connection to save money, I probably will not know right away if somebody call me urgently. As for using wifi, one bad thing in my city is that there is no wifi connection when the subway is moving.
Increasing the font size of my iPhone 6s+ to read pdf documents is out of the options as I need to read the whole page at once.
Increasing the font size of my iPhone 6s+ to read pdf documents is out of the options as I need to read the whole page at once.
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If you turn on Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone and your iPad mini has a data connection or is connected to Wi-Fi and you have headphones your iPad mini could be a giant iPhone.
Through FaceTime you can make and receive phone calls just like you could with your iPhone.
You can also iMessage/text through a data connected, Wi-Fi calling enabled iPad mini.
Through FaceTime you can make and receive phone calls just like you could with your iPhone.
You can also iMessage/text through a data connected, Wi-Fi calling enabled iPad mini.
I've been using Skype on the iPad as my only phone since the ipad 2 came out. When the iPad mini came out, I tried that and found it to be perfect, in being the largest device that still fits in a pocket, a back pants pocket, or jacket pocket, and can be operated with one hand. A full size or large iPad Pro is prohibitively large to carry around when you're working out between the shop & the office, or constantly going between the garden & the garage or the car or the boat & the hardware store, whereas, the mini tucks in your back pocket, freeing you to carry things that require both hands, can be pulled out and operated with one hand reaching all the keyboard keys, but is still big enough that going back to anything smaller seems ridiculously squinty. The mini's speakers are loud enough to hear clearly at an audible volume from your pocket, so you can actually listen to podcasts and audiobooks uninterrupted while working around the house, without headphones. And of course with a pogo stylus you can take notes and sketch ideas about as well as a pro with an Apple Pencil, only you never have batteries and syncing to worry about.
Bonus, is that a dedicated phone number through skype, and service, runs you about $3/mo. Data is whatever cell plan you use, though it's been months since Ive even used more than T-mobiles free 200mb of cellular allotment, due to the prevalence of wifi. The result is an extra hundred dollars a month I'm not throwing away, while receiving the same functional service. Do you want a hundred dollar a month raise for doing the same work? Same thing.
Only note of caution, I'd snatch up an old stock iPad mini running ios10, as ios11 runs like absolute crap on the mini, and 11 kills multitasking on the smaller display. 10 allows you fast access to calc & notability, etc
Yes it's entirely possible. It's most convenient, functional, productive configuration of a device I've found after trying everything. Given Apples track record with products on the extreme end of usefulness, they'll probably kill it in order to sell you two devices that each do half as much.
Bonus, is that a dedicated phone number through skype, and service, runs you about $3/mo. Data is whatever cell plan you use, though it's been months since Ive even used more than T-mobiles free 200mb of cellular allotment, due to the prevalence of wifi. The result is an extra hundred dollars a month I'm not throwing away, while receiving the same functional service. Do you want a hundred dollar a month raise for doing the same work? Same thing.
Only note of caution, I'd snatch up an old stock iPad mini running ios10, as ios11 runs like absolute crap on the mini, and 11 kills multitasking on the smaller display. 10 allows you fast access to calc & notability, etc
Yes it's entirely possible. It's most convenient, functional, productive configuration of a device I've found after trying everything. Given Apples track record with products on the extreme end of usefulness, they'll probably kill it in order to sell you two devices that each do half as much.
You know that you can use the settings in apple to make the text size bigger for those with bad eyesight... It is in display settings.