Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I just downloaded iOS 9 to my iPhone 5c. Wanted to update my user manual and PRINT it. Couldn't do that. I went to iTunes and they wanted me to use iThis and iThat and iAround-the-Barn. I would like to download a PDF (or similar) to my Windows computer so I can print it out.
hi there a workaround is use google chrome and open the web manual http://help.apple.com/iphone/9/ then click on each page and go to settings then print and change the destination to save as pdf. you can then print each document. It is time consuming you end up with about 325 PDFs but its worth it to be able to print them. I just created a folder for user manual and saved them in that. I like to have a physical copy too and would highlight different stuff which is useful.
Hope this helps.
A variant of this approach is to copy and paste each page into Word. You might want to change the heading levels to get Word to generate a well organized table of contents.
Why should this rigmarole be necessary? What have Apple got against supplying a free product as a PDF file (in addition to the other formats)?
Mike JD wrote:
What have Apple got against supplying a free product as a PDF file (in addition to the other formats)?
No one here would be able to answer that. However, you can submit your feedback to Apple here:
http://www.apple.com/feedback
Best of luck.
While this may be considered speculation, my take on this is that given Apple's current environmental policies, including packaging reductions, changing retail bagging, and other recycling initiatives, the removal of printed manuals and providing for printed manuals seems to fit within those policies.
Apple, however, are not the only ones that are eliminating printed User Guides. This seems to be the norm now when it comes to software. Helps files are no longer downloaded with products, but remain on company servers to allow for immediate updates and corrections. Access to help files now allows a user to have the most up to date version at the time of the search. Using the web versions allows for singular page prints if necessary, and the iBooks version provides for bookmarking what the user considers important pieces. Don't get me wrong, I'm a paper person myself, and have struggled some with e-book integration in the courses I teach, however, I seem to be the main proponent at our college for moving forward with more e-book access for students, reducing the reliance on paper textbooks. We just have to move forward with technology and the times.
Apple, however, are not the only ones that are eliminating printed User Guides. This seems to be the norm now when it comes to software. Helps files are no longer downloaded with products, but remain on company servers to allow for immediate updates and corrections. Access to help files now allows a user to have the most up to date version at the time of the search. Using the web versions allows for singular page prints if necessary, and the iBooks version provides for bookmarking what the user considers important pieces.
I seldom produce a printout on paper, but I find the the PDF format easier to read than the currently available iBook and HTML versions.
The 'Contents' of the iBook version has only the main headings, e.g. 'Basics', and it can only be viewed on a separate screen. The main text is continuous, and can be scrolled up and down.
The HTML (Web) version has additional, lower-level, topic headings, e.g. 'Basics: Use Apps, Multitasking, ...', and these are always visible in a navigation pane at the left. The main text can only be viewed one topic at a time.
The PDF version (as was available for iOS 6) has a better combination of features. There's a conventional Table of Contents at the top, a navigation pane with a hierarchy of topics at the left, and the main text can be scrolled continuously.
I suppose companies don't want to produce hard-copy manuals (but why not? - you can buy print-on-demand books). But it wouldn't be too difficult or costly to produce PDF versions of manuals. If it's beyond them, I'd be happy to do it for them (as described above) for a nominal fee. 🙂
Mike JD wrote:
I suppose companies don't want to produce hard-copy manuals (but why not? - you can buy print-on-demand books). But it wouldn't be too difficult or costly to produce PDF versions of manuals. If it's beyond them, I'd be happy to do it for them (as described above) for a nominal fee. 🙂
I don't know why Apple stopped producing PDF manuals. I also recommended them a lot to people. Submit feedback to Apple requesting they bring them back here:
iOS 9 User Manual
