Get the iOS 14/iPadOS 14 update directly from Take Control Books

I continue to update this book (most recently in 2023 for iOS 17 and iPadOS 17), but it’s now produced and sold by Take Control Books. Buy a copy via this link!

Older edition (iOS 13.1/iPadOS 13.1)

Quickly master and understand how to connect and secure your iPhone with iOS 13.1 and iPad with iPadOS 13.1 with this new book by Glenn Fleishman, a senior contributor for two decades to Macworld, and a regular writer for TidBITS, Fast Company, Increment, and other publications.

Chock full of illustrations and step-by-step instructions, Connect and Secure Your iPhone and iPad walks you through every scenario for setting up a secure Wi-Fi network connection, using hotspots, managing and understand cellular data, sending files with AirDrop, pairing over Bluetooth, running a Personal Hotspot, and much more.

The book offers insight into what information you may unintentionally expose about yourself, and how to prevent Apple and third parties from gaining access to your details. This includes the several techniques Apple has built into Safari for iOS and iPadOS that prevent advertising and tracking companies from following your actions and connecting your browsing behavior on unrelated sites.

It also walks you through security scenarios from securing your data in transit with a virtual private network to blocking jerks and spammers from contacting you to connecting to a secure Wi-Fi network to recovering or erasing a lost phone.

Apple’s latest updates, iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, have substantial changes, large and small, and this book covers all of them.

You can purchase the book for immediate download by following this link.

Price: $20
Length: 184 pages
Includes three DRM-free ebook formats: PDF, EPUB, MOBI (for Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-9994897-9-6 (ebook), 978-1-7334954-0-0 (print)
Version: 1.0.3, September 26, 2018
Purchase includes free updates to this iOS 13/iPadOS 13 edition; link for direct update downloads is on the book’s Welcome page. Download is a standard ZIP archive containing all three ebook formats.

You'll learn how to:

  • Troubleshoot problematic Wi-Fi connections.

  • Create and manage passwords for easy entry, including with third-party passwords tools

  • Use Safari content-blocking extensions to keep sites from tracking you without permission.

  • Master all the options for a Personal Hotspot.

  • Share a Wi-Fi password with nearby contacts and via a QR Code.

  • Stream music and video to other devices with AirPlay 2.

  • Deter brute-force cracking by relying on a USB Accessories timeout.

  • Configure Bluetooth devices.

  • Transfer files between iOS and OS X with AirDrop.

  • Block creeps from iMessage, FaceTime, text messages, and phone calls.

  • Secure your data in transit with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection.

  • Protect your device against access and deal with it going missing.

  • Plan and manage your cellular data usage.

The book covers Wi-Fi, Personal Hotspot and Instant Hotspot, cellular data networking, Low Data Mode, Wi-Fi Assist, Wi-Fi Calling, Airplane Mode, Bluetooth, AirDrop, AirPlay and AirPlay 2, differential privacy, content-blocking Safari extensions, Wi-Fi Calling, two-factor authentication, VPN, WPA2 and WPA3 security, device passcodes and passwords, picking strong passwords, Touch ID, Face ID, USB Accessories blocking, and Find My.

  • Understand the new Low Data Mode for Wi-Fi and cellular connections to reduce background app activity.

  • Apple made it much harder for an app to grab your location when you’re not actively using the app—discover what new messages you’ll see and how to permit apps, like Google Maps, to retrieve your location when you want them to.

  • Get to know the ins and outs of Find Me, an app which replaces Find My iPhone/iPad and Find My Friends.

  • Find out about improvements to AirDrop, including the addition of ultrawideband (UWB) to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro for more exact positioning of recipients.

  • Go through Siri’s updated and reconfigured settings for search to understand what information you’re providing Apple and apps, and tune those privacy and sharing settings to meet your comfort level.

  • Read about Apple’s comprehensive anti-tracking technologies in Safari, designed to disable unwanted tracking across web sites and online purchases.

  • Discover why “5GE” is a marketing term.

  • You can now use the iMessage, SMS, and FaceTime block list to keep people’s unwanted email from showing up in Apple, too!

  • Understand why Apple might ask for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac password when you log in on a new device using two-factor authentication. The answer is surprising, but it’s secure.

  • Learn about changes in macOS 10.15 Catalina related to configuring your Apple ID and connecting with iOS and iPadOS devices.

  • And hundreds of small changes, from icons to settings locations, changed by Apple in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13!


FULL Table of Contents

The book is divided into Networking, Privacy, and Security sections.

Networking

Connect to a Wi-Fi Network
Wi-Fi Troubleshooting
Make a Mobile Hotspot
Choose to Use Cellular Data or Wi-Fi
Manage Cell Data Usage
Place Calls via Wi-Fi
Airplane Mode
Set Up Bluetooth
Pass Files with AirDrop
Stream via AirPlay

Privacy

Privacy Leaks
Apple Blocks Tracking
Keeping Creeps Away

Security

Create, Manage, and Use Strong Passwords
Connect to a Secure Wi-Fi Network
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Connect with a VPN
Protect Your Device
When Your Device Goes Missing

 

Thanks to Jeff Carlson for editing this edition.

(Note: This book was known as “A Practical Guide to Networking, Privacy, and Security” from iOS 8 to iOS 12. Apple’s split of iOS into iOS and iPadOS made the title unwieldy! It’s the same evolution of content from previous editions.)