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iPhone 101: Deleting numbers in the iOS Calculator app
With over 9 million iPhones sold in just three days, and undoubtedly millions more since Apple first announced the impressive sales figure, there are likely many people experiencing iOS for the first time. That being the case, here's a quick Calculator app tip that maybe even seasoned iOS users will find new and useful. It's not readily apparent, but the Calculator app in iOS has a hidden gesture that enables you to delete numbers from an entry if you happen to input a number by accident. As a quick example, let's say I'm trying to input the number 5,964 but accidentally type in 596,487. Is all hope lost? Do I have to start over from scratch? Not at all! To erase a number, digit by digit, simply swipe to the right on the number display and the most recently entered digit will disappear. This handy trick is a lifesaver if you happen to be a few calculations deep and don't want to start over from scratch. So in the example above, I just need to swipe to the right twice and I'm well on my way toward calculator bliss.
TUAW's Don't Panic Guide to iOS 7
TUAW readers of long standing, this post is for your friends and family who are asking you about iOS 7. Feel free to share it with them in person, on your social networks, or randomly in coffee shops and libraries. For more info, scroll to the bottom of the post. Breathe in, breathe out. Namaste! Chances are, you're here because someone you know suggested you look us up regarding iOS 7, the new operating system for the iPhone and iPad. Thanks for reading; we're here to help. Most importantly, don't panic. We're going to run down some of the most commonly asked questions and essential tips for iOS 7, with a minimum of jargon and handwaving. If you have questions about iOS 7 that aren't addressed or linked here, drop a note in the comments, send us an email or a tweet, or hop over to our Facebook page to join the discussion there. You can also review our week one full coverage rundown, or keep an eye on our ongoing posts about iOS 7. Want to vent or inquire in person? Call into our Sunday night talkcast to connect with the TUAW team directly. What is iOS 7? Do I need it? Every so often, Apple delivers a major upgrade to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch operating system (iOS). Each new version offers some additional features, new tricks and twists, and (if everything goes according to plan) more stability, fewer security issues and less misbehavior like crashing or connectivity problems. iOS 7 is the latest big upgrade, and unlike system upgrades for your PC or Mac, it's free to download and install. You may be hearing more conversations about iOS 7 than you did about previous system upgrades; chances are, that's because it delivers a comprehensive design overhaul, turning away from the resemblance to physical objects like leather-bound address books and green felt card tables (a concept called skueomorphism) to a cleaner, more abstract visual language. Apple's legendary design chief Sir Jonathan Ive took over the look-and-feel reins of the operating system for this version, and it's his aesthetic that's at work here. Certainly your first five minutes with iOS 7 may come as a bit of a shock to the system, but that should pass. As to whether or not you need it: if your phone or iPad is working fine, you do not need to install iOS 7 right away. Waiting a few days or a few weeks is not going to cause any harm, and chances are there will be one or two small updates to iOS 7 in the coming days that will clear up some rough edges and bugs. In the longer term, if your device supports iOS 7 (some older units, including most iPod touch models and first-generation iPads, do not), it's a good idea to move up; many iOS applications will start to require the new system. If you live in an area where iPhone thefts are common, iOS 7 also adds Activation Lock, an important anti-loss feature recommended by law enforcement. If you have a new iPhone 5s that shipped with iOS 7 and the Touch ID feature, note that the fingerprint unlock option on that phone is just that: an option. If it gives you an uncomfortable feeling, don't use it. If you're the sort who enjoys reading the manual before installing the software (I know I am), Apple has posted the iOS 7 manuals online in PDF format. You can also download them for free on your device in the iBooks store. Although this should go without saying, we'll say it for the record: No, iOS 7 does not magically render your phone waterproof. I already installed it, and I hate it! Can I go back to iOS 6? Unfortunately, while this was briefly possible after the iOS 7 release, it's not anymore. Unlike a desktop computer OS (Windows or OS X) that can be installed wherever it's compatible and you have a license, iOS versions are digitally "signed" by Apple's servers to permit installation; the signing for iOS 6 was turned off the weekend of 9/21. Without those digital signatures, under virtually all circumstances it's impossible to install iOS 6 over an iOS 7 device. (There may be loopholes for iPhone 4 owners, which are still being investigated.) For the record, if you bought a new iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s, they shipped with iOS 7 preinstalled. There is no way to downgrade those phones to iOS 6, nor is one likely to emerge in the future. If you're miserable with the new visual look (as some who are on the verge of needing bifocals, like yours truly, might be), there are some quick tips to getting a bit more legibility in the main screen. Setting a dark-colored background can help, but first try turning on the Bold Text option -- it makes a huge difference! You can also improve your iOS 7 battery life with these quick tips. OK, I'm ready to install iOS 7; is there anything I should do to prepare? There is! First of all, please backup your device. You can do this either via the iCloud service or by connecting your device to your computer and backing up in iTunes. We've got a full rundown here; Apple even explains how you can choose between the methods, or use both. Although an iOS backup should save the photos on your Camera Roll, you may also want to make sure that your device's photos are backed up to iPhoto, a pictures folder or a cloud service like Dropbox, Google+ or Flickr. You also need a reasonable amount of free space on your phone (about 3.1 GB) before attempting to install iOS 7. If you're short on space, consider removing apps, music or books you don't need right now. You can check which apps are chewing up the most room via the Usage pane inside Settings: General on your device. (You backed up first, right?) All the preamble steps are covered in this post. Once you're ready to go, you can install from the Settings app on your device, or by connecting to iTunes. Don't forget to update iTunes to the latest version available, as well. Once I've updated, how do I do the things I used to do? Although there's an enormous list of new and improved features in iOS 7, here are a few key changes that may be particularly tricky if you don't know how they work in the new world order: Quitting/closing applications. Just as in iOS 6, you can double-press the home button quickly to bring up an application switcher, allowing you to quickly swap your active app without going back to the home screen. (You can also use a four or five-finger swipe on the screen to switch between apps.) Unlike the older system, you aren't presented with a small row of icons across the bottom of the screen; now you've got full views of the app's active state, and an easier swipe back and forth to navigate. But what if you want to close out an app? No more long-press and little red X; now it's a swipe up through the app's miniaturized image. Steve's video walkthrough may help. Notification Center. iOS 7's alerts and reminders now get sorted into three buckets: Today, All and Missed. You can also easily dismiss notifications at the top of the screen by just tapping on the little bar in the center of the notification. Search. To search, just swipe down slightly from the middle of any home screen. The search field has moved from its own homescreen pane to the top of the screen. Folders. They can now contain more than just a few apps -- go nuts! Swipe left and right to see additional icons. Control Center. Frequently tweaked items that previously required a dive into the Settings app? They're now accessible with an upward swipe from the bottom of the screen. Quickly set a timer, turn Bluetooth/WiFi on or off, pull up camera or calculator, adjust brightness and volume -- even turn on a flashlight! Control Center is also the new home for the AirPlay mirroring controls; you don't get to them via a double-press of the home button and a rightward swipe anymore. Legibility and looks. Most of the aggravation and anxiety around iOS 7 involves the visual changes, and whether or not they actually reduce the legibility of the user interface. While the jury may still be out on that question, you don't have to wait to adjust the system to fit your own visual acuity. Simply open the Settings app, scroll down to General, then Accessibility. You can use the aforementioned Bold Text option to emphasize the icon labels, or adjust the text size in applications like Mail to make them easier to read. If the zooming, panning and parallax "wobbles" are giving you uncomfortable feelings, the Accessibility settings are also the place to find the Reduce Motion setting. Siri. In addition to some new commands and data sources, Siri's got a new voice -- and it's a man, baby! Adjust your settings in the Settings app, General, Siri. You can ask "What can I say?" at Siri's prompt to get a rundown on the new capabilities. Where can I go to get help? Apple's support site and user community are certainly good places to start. You can also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store, or check out your nearest carrier outlet for the iPhone. Of course, sites like our own, Macworld, iMore, the Loop and many others are going to be posting scores of iOS 7 tips and recommendations over the next few days and weeks -- we'll link our favorites here, and we'll add suggestions based on your input. To our regular readers: Thanks for sharing this guide with your friends and family who haven't necessarily been following along with every moment of the iOS 7 saga. If you want to give them a handy reminder card, just download our printable version here. Towel image courtesy of ThinkGeek; you can buy your own Don't Panic towel there.
iPhone 101: What is an ESN and how can it go bad?
Getting your older iPhone ready to sell on eBay? You might notice listings that advertise good ESN and bad ones. Just what are those? An ESN is the electronic serial number assigned to your iPhone and is used with CDMA phones instead of SIM cards. There are several good guides through eBay about what an ESN is and how it can go bad. 1. What does it mean if I have a bad ESN? A bad ESN means you can't activate an iPhone on your current carrier. For example, if you purchase an iPhone with a bad ESN from someone who used it on Verizon, then you won't be able to activate that phone on Verizon. 2. How do I get a bad ESN? You can get a bad ESN three ways: reporting your phone as lost or stolen, if the phone is still active on your wireless account or if you have an outstanding balance on your account. 3. How do I make sure I have a clean ESN? According to MaxBack, make sure your phone is completely off your wireless account before delivering it into the hands of a new owner. Settle any outstanding balances as well. You can see if your ESN is clean through a check on Swappa. It'll let you know if the ESN is activated on an account or not. 4. What do I do if I bought a phone with a bad ESN? An ESN can only be cleared by the original owner of the phone, so you would need to contact that person.
iPhone 101: Living dangerously with government alerts turned off
Given the surfeit of wild and life-threatening weather events across the USA over the past few months, it's great that the major iPhone carriers now all support the Federal system for wireless emergency alerts. These location-specific messages are broadcast by cell towers in an affected area, and provide brief messages that may help provide warning or guidance in a crisis. Verizon and Sprint both launched their capability in 2012, T-Mobile has the alerts enabled, and AT&T joined the parade last month approximately one year after the service was originally turned on. Note that emergency alert support is limited to the iPhone 4S and 5 models; neither Verizon or AT&T supports it on older handsets. (Thanks to John F. Braun for the reminder on the model restrictions.) As long as your handset is new enough and is running iOS 6.1 or later, the alerts -- which include both local weather/environmental "imminent threats" and missing-person AMBER Alerts, as well as the hypothetical Presidential announcement of an alien invasion or zombie attack -- are turned on by default. (I believe they also show up on cellular-capable iPads, but I'm not 100% certain about that.) The only problem with alerts that are on by default is that they don't have much awareness of your sleep schedule or other responsibilities, and as they deliberately use an unfamiliar alert tone, they can be quite startling... especially if a roomful of iPhones all pop an alert at once in the middle of a classroom, seminar or worship service. (I experienced this personally: flash flood warning, training class, several minor freakouts.) If, on your own recognizance and at your own risk, you should choose to turn off either the emergency or the AMBER alerts, the NY Times pointed out that it's easy enough to do (as did our own Yoni Heisler when AT&T's support kicked in). Simply go to the Settings app, tap Notifications, and swipe down to the relevant toggles at the bottom of the list. Where's the toggle for the Presidential alerts? Guess what, conspiracy theorists: they cannot be disabled, short of jailbreaking your phone. Clearly, when the time comes for us to be told where to report for our mandatory Google Glass corneal implant/PRISM uplink installation surgery, that's how we'll get the message. Now please kindly observe this brief public awareness video regarding the wireless emergency alert system. Your cooperation is much appreciated. And noted. On your permanent record. Thank you.
iPhone 101: Getting more out of Apple's Stocks app on iOS
Apple's Stocks app on iOS isn't terribly exciting, but in typical Apple fashion, it does have a bit more functionality lurking beneath the surface. Pictured below is what you typically see when you fire up the Stocks app. The information is pretty basic. We see that Apple's current share price is US$456, and to the right of that in green, we see how much Apple's share price has gone up for the day, in this case $3.98. If you tap the green rectangle, however, the display changes to reveal Apple's current market cap. If you tap the green rectangle once more, the information changes yet again, this time displaying Apple's daily gain or loss as a percentage. So with a few taps, one can quickly toggle through Apple's market cap and information as to how the stock is performing percentage-wise or terms of dollars and cents. But wait, there's more! If we take another look at the default Stocks view, you'll note that there are three circles at the bottom of the screen. From here, one can simply swipe to the left (from anywhere on the bottom half of the screen) to reveal more information about the selected stock, in this case Apple. On screen two, we're presented with a chart mapping Apple's stock performance over the last six months. One can also tap on the other durations to see Apple's stock performance over other periods of time. What's more, if you rotate the phone into landscape mode, you'll not only be presented with a wider chart of a stock's performance, but you'll also be able to drag your finger across the chart and see at what price a stock closed on a particular day. If we return the phone into portrait mode and swipe to the left one more time, we're now presented with Apple-related news stories. What may not be so apparent, however, is that one can swipe upwards on the presented news stories to reveal even more Apple-related stories from around the web. Lastly, if you want to add stocks to keep an eye on, simply tap the info button at the bottom-right corner of the screen. You'll then be whisked away to the screen below where you can tap on the "+" sign and add whatever stocks you like. So there you have it. Apple's Stocks app may be seldom used by those who don't follow the market, but it does house a tad more functionality than one might expect from an ostensibly boring and vanilla application.
iPhone 101: Lock / unlock screen rotation
Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. A friend told me his iPhone was broken because the screen no longer rotated in Safari, Mail or any other app. He suspected the accelerometer was broken, but was confused because it still worked in games and apps like Google Maps. He remarked how frustrating it was, and that he'd booked an appointment with a Apple Genius. I must admit, I was flummoxed, too. I know you can lock and unlock the screen rotation in the settings section on iOS for iPad, but I couldn't find any such option in Settings on iOS for iPhone. And then it suddenly hit me, there is a screen rotation lock / unlock button when you double tap the Home button and flick to the right -- where the Music player controls are. Sure enough, my friend's iPhone screen rotation was locked. With a simple tap, his screen rotated once more. After a quick search on Apple's support forums -- and there seem to be a lot of people who struggle with this -- I found a support page which details the steps to lock and unlock screen rotation on iPhone and iPod touch. Double-click the Home button to display recently used apps. Flick from left to right along the bottom of the screen. Tap the Screen Rotation Lock button on the bottom left of the screen. If the button used to show a padlock, the padlock will disappear from the button after tapping it. To lock the screen rotation, simply tap the button again, the padlock will appear to indicate it's locked again.
iPhone 101: Switching sound off (or down)
Today's iPhone 101 is all about audio volume. You may think that the volume toggle and the mute switch on the side of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch are the beginning and end of noise control, but it turns out there's more to the iOS sound story. You can get some volume management by plugging in a pair of headphones; that mutes the main speaker but also redirects your primary output to the headphones. When placed on your desk, you still may hear tiny bits of sound from the ear pieces. Having headphones connected does not affect the sounds from system alarms or incoming phone calls -- those still hit the main speaker. The mute switch on the side of the iPhone will generally cut off all outward ringing, audio alerts and other noisy bits, with one notable and newsworthy exception: alarms that have been set will still be played audibly, regardless of the mute switch position. Most consider this a reasonable and long-standing UX compromise by cellphone makers (if not, the alarms would be critically unreliable; many people would simply forget to unmute their phones at night before bed), but there are plenty of dissenters. Here are other ways you can limit your device's volume. Adjust the Ringer and Alerts volume. In Settings > Sounds, you'll find a separate Ringers and Alerts volume slider, which you can adjust to your liking. If you set this too low, your alarm settings in the Clock app may not wake you up and you may miss incoming calls. An optional Change with Buttons toggle links your alerts/ringer volume to the hardware controls on the side of your device. Two further options offer an alternative to your ringer. Select Settings > Sounds > Vibrate on Ring to transform alerts to vibrations. Enabling General > Accessibility > LED Flash for Alerts lets you "hear" your incoming calls with your eyes. This option adds a visual alert with your phone's camera flash (which could be made more visible with some additional case technology). Adjust the Siri volume. Stray touches on your phone or new iPad Home button may invoke Siri by mistake, and the double-chirp that starts a Siri session. Siri uses its own volume settings, separate from normal speaker output, alerts, and ringers. To mute Siri, press and hold the Home button to launch Siri -- with the Siri microphone icon visible, use the hardware controls to adjust the volume down. Alert Sounds. If you have the patience, you can currently disable notification alert sounds on an app-by-app basis in Settings > Notification > App Name > Sounds. Choose your ringtones, text tones, and other normal alerts in Settings > Sounds. Volume Limit. Although this isn't an outward audio feature, many parents choose to set a cap on the music playback volume for a child's iPhone or iPod touch to prevent hearing damage. The limit setting (and an optional lock password) can be found in Settings > Music > Volume Limit. Do Not Disturb. iOS 6 will introduce a Do Not Disturb feature in Settings that will disable updates arriving in your notification center and incoming phone calls. You'll be able to adjust the settings to allow incoming calls from selected people and/or a repeat-call override for emergencies. TUAW's 101 series (Mac 101, iPhone 101 and iPad 101) all aim to help novice users get the most out of their Apple gear. Got a suggestion for a 101 topic or a question you want answered by Aunt TUAW? Drop us a line. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
iPhone 101: Set up keyboard shortcuts for easier typing
Typing on the iPhone or iPad becomes easier as you get used to it, but some things remain cumbersome to write even after years of use. The keyboard acrobatics required to type something like "Wi-Fi + 3G" or a long email address on a touchscreen keyboard can be somewhat maddening if you have to input that multiple times a day. Fortunately, a new feature in iOS 5 comes to the rescue: custom keyboard shortcuts. In the Settings app, navigating to General > Keyboard > Shortcuts gives you access to a fully customizable list of shortcuts you can edit to your heart's content. If you're familiar with TextExpander on the Mac, this setting in iOS 5 functions much the same way. Only one shortcut is included by default: "omw" = "On my way!" You can edit that shortcut or add completely new ones, and as long as the shortcuts are easy to remember and easy to type, you can vastly speed up your typing on the iPhone for common phrases you use. When you tap the "+" icon on the Shortcuts screen, you'll see a page that gives you input options for "Phrase" and "Shortcut." The "Phrase" setting is what you want your shortcut to expand into, while "Shortcut" is what you'll actually type. As one example, I've set up "Wi-Fi + 3G" as a phrase on my iPhone. All I actually have to type is wifiggg, and my iPhone will automatically expand that into "Wi-Fi + 3G." I also write about Apple on Twitter quite a bit, and in order to squeeze within Twitter's character limits I've set up a shortcut to substitute in the character for the Apple logo () whenever I type the shortcut applogo. Setting up similar shortcuts will allow you to type all sorts of special characters not included on the iPhone's keyboard. Another way the keyboard shortcuts feature comes in handy is circumventing the standard autocorrect for some terms. Many times in the past I'd type the word "hell" and have it autocorrected to "he'll," for example (all those times my mom put soap in my mouth didn't teach me a thing). I still haven't been able to work around what I consider iOS's most irritating autocorrection -- its always corrects to it's even after setting up a keyboard shortcut trying to prevent it -- but I've been able to eliminate most iOS autocorrect oddities via keyboard shortcuts. iOS 5's shortcuts feature is a great way to simplify inputting text you find yourself typing many times throughout the day, and as PC World points out, you can even use it to set up multiple email signatures for different use cases. As far as I can tell there doesn't appear to be a limit to the phrase length -- I put in half the lyrics to "Yellow Submarine" with a "yllwsub" shortcut, and iOS didn't complain -- so you could potentially create shortcuts for several paragraphs of text that you can quickly input with just a few keystrokes.
Tidying up location contacts for Siri and Reminders
My personal address book has no shame. I have contacts for people I haven't spoken to in years, contacts for people who I met at tech conferences, contacts for schools, for local stores, for repairmen, and so forth. It's one big old happy jumbled mess. I'm cool with that. When I want Siri and Reminders to be able to trigger a location-based event, I just throw it into my address book where it joins the hundreds of other often sad and neglected entries. I believe this makes makes me a type "N" on Myers Brigg or something like that. Not everyone will be happy with this kind of unstructured approach and an overflowing address book, or this kind of lack of organization. If you want to be able to to set location reminders without messing up your address book, TUAW reader Will Herbert has a solution. On your Mac, launch the Address Book application and create two new groups. Call one Contacts and the other Locations. Drag all your normal contacts into the Contacts group and create a set of location-only contacts in the other. Add stores, offices, dry cleaners, supermarkets, and so forth. These are all places that you don't necessarily want in your day-to-day contacts list. Each of these is still available in the address book and therefore still available to Siri and Reminders. At the same time, they won't clutter up your standard contacts. Score one for the Felixes of the world. The rest of us Oscars will trudge on as we were.
iPhone 101: Using iOS accessibility to make text larger
Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its making tiny text easier to read using the accessibility features in iOS. Following Stevie Wonder's high praise of the accessibility features found in iOS, we thought we'd take a closer look at some of the features available to make using the iPhone a whole lot easier for those who are visually impaired. One of the first places to start, when wanting to make what's on your iPhone easier to read, is to make the text larger in four of iOS's major apps: Mail, Calender, Contacts and Notes. To access this feature go to Settings > General > Accessibility. From there you want to tap Large Text and select the text size that best suits your needs. The selection is from off to a rather large 56pt. The text size you select will determine the standard text size for all the text found in those apps. Unfortunately, this feature doesn't reach across the entire OS, nor does it affect third-party apps. However, most well developed third-party apps will have a setting to edit the size of the text in the app, this feature is usually found in the settings of the app. You can also apply the Large Text feature to the iPad too by following the same instructions.
iPhone 101: Recovering deleted voicemails
Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its retrieving a deleted voice mail message. One of the great features of the iPhone -- that is, one that is actually related to having phone conversations -- is Visual Voicemail. So long as your carrier (network provider) supports it, Visual Voicemail allows you to see your voicemail messages, similar to a list of text messages or emails. You can decide which messages you want to listen to, when you want to listen to them and scrub through the message to the important part you want to hear. In Apple's own words, "Visual Voicemail on iPhone is still the biggest breakthrough in voicemail since, well, voicemail." It certainly has changed the way I use voicemail. Gone are the days of dialing in to a voicemail box and laboriously listening to all your messages in a row! But there's one unsung, often overlooked feature of Visual Voicemail: recovering deleted voicemails. If you've deleted a voicemail message that you really wish you hadn't (say, the pin code for the alarm system at a guest house you're staying at), simply swipe down your row of messages, all the way to the bottom of the list, and tap on "Deleted Messages." So long as you haven't come here before and tapped "Clear All," all the messages you've ever deleted on your iPhone will be stored here. To recover your deleted voicemail, simply search for it in the list, select it and tap on "undelete." The voicemail will pop into your normal voicemail list ready for you to listen to again.
iPhone 101: How to turn caps lock on
Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its enabling caps lock. It always astounds me how many iPhone users don't know how to enable caps lock while typing, not just newcomers. Just the other day I was chatting with a friend who's had an iPhone for almost a year. I suddenly had to send a quick text message and my friend was bewildered to see me type some of that message in all-capital letters without having to repeatedly hit the shift key for every letter in capital I typed. Well, to relieve your curiosity and sheer frustration, here's how to type in caps lock on the iPhone keyboard. Simply double tap the shift key. That's it! The shift key will turn blue, and everything you type will be in capital letters. To exit this mode, simply tap the shift key again. Actually, his confusion is understandable. A QWERTY keyboard has a shift key and a caps lock key, but the iPhone's keyboard merges the two keys into one. Holding a typical shift key will produce a series of capital letters. Yet, holding many of the iOS keys produces a pop-up menu of special characters, symbols and accents. Except for the iOS shift key; holding that down simply registers a single tap. A long, long, tap. Well, regardless of why, now you know how. And if you already knew how, you might know someone who doesn't. Make their day and share this simple, effective iPhone 101 tip. Bonus: it works the same way on the iPad and the iPod touch.
iPhone 101: Using Voice Control
While we wait for iOS 5 to deliver cool new features, here's a look at Voice Control, a feature introduced with the iPhone 3GS model. There are three types of Voice Control commands: phone, music and other. Here's how to use each. Launching Voice Control Of course, you can't use Voice Control until you get it running. You can either hold the Home Button down for about two seconds, or do the same with the middle button on your supplied Apple earbuds. You'll hear a beep and the iPhone's screen will display "Voice Control" with a blue background. Now, let's issue some commands. Phone commands Your iPhone understands "call" and "dial." To tell your iPhone to call a contact, say "call" (or "dial") plus the contact's name. For example, saying "Call Janie Smith" will launch the phone app and call Janie's number. If a contact has several numbers (work and home, for example), you can specify which one you want. "Call Janie Smith home" will call Janie's home number. Calling a number that's not in your contacts list is just as easy. Simply say, "call" plus the number. Music commands Voice Control supports a nice list of music commands, from starting and stopping a song to asking about the artist. Here's how to get started. You can say "play" or "play music" to get the music going. If you've got a song paused when you issue the play command, it will resume. If the iPod app isn't running, it will start at the very first song in your library. Of course, you can get specific. Voice Control also understands "play playlist [name of playlist]," "play album [name of album]" and "play artist [name of artist]." For example, saying "Play album Dark Side of the Moon" will start the first track of that album, while "Play artist Pink Floyd" will start at the first track of the first album in your Pink Floyd collection (you have one, right?). While you're at it, create a Genius playlist. While a song you dig is playing, tell Voice Control "Genius play more like this" or "Genius play more songs like this" or simply "play more like this" and it'll create a Genius playlist for you on the spot. Simple navigation is also possible. Your iPhone understands "pause," "pause music," "next song," "previous song" and "shuffle." Finally, you can ask your iPhone four questions about the track being played. Specifically, "what's playing," "what song is this," "who sings this song" or "who is this song by." Miscellaneous commands Here are a few other commands that don't fit into the previous categories. "What is the time" or "what time is it." For most people it's quicker to tap the Home Button once and look at the time, but this command will benefit visually impaired users. "Cancel" and "stop" exit Voice Control. You can correct a mistake (and there will be plenty. More on that in a minute) by saying, "no," "not that," "nope," "not that one" or "wrong." Write those down now. Finally, saying "FaceTime" supposedly initiates a FaceTime call. Which brings me to the bad news. Voice Control works in the way that temporary tattoos look like real tattoos. At first it's passable but upon closer inspection, you see that it's not the real thing (my attempts at initiating a FaceTime call launched a Genesis album). Placing calls was the most reliable function, while the phone had trouble understanding some musical artist's names and was downright befuddled at other times. That being said, I have friends who swear by it, so perhaps I've got poor diction. Give it a try yourself using the commands listed above, and dream of the day that Siri purchase actually pays off. Thanks to reader Walt whose email inspired this post!
10 apps you should install FIRST on your iPhone
You've taken the plunge and bought your first iPhone. You've activated your service with your local wireless carrier, connected and synced it with your main computer for the first time, and brought over as much music, photos, and videos as you can squeeze onto it. Maybe you've even played around with Apple's default apps a bit. "Now what?" you may be asking yourself. "I've heard about all the great apps that are available for the iPhone, but where do I start?" That's a very good question, and it's one that gets harder and harder to answer the more apps make their way into Apple's App Store. With hundreds of thousands of apps now available for the iPhone, it may seem overwhelming trying to sift through them all if this is your first few hours with an iPhone. Not to worry, because we've got you covered. We put our heads together and came up with a list of the apps you should install first on your brand-new, factory-fresh iPhone. Keeping in mind that people from all over the world use iPhones and read TUAW, we excluded from consideration any apps that don't have full international functionality. This meant leaving a number of very cool and useful apps out of consideration, but we wanted to make sure this is a list that applies to everyone, not just US or UK readers. We also kept this list pretty simple; if you're familiar with the way iTunes separates music collections into The Basics, Next Steps, and Deep Cuts, you'll see that we very much went for The Basics for this go-around. Click "Read More" to see the full list of recommended apps for first-time iPhone users and our rationale for choosing each one.
iPhone: What is DFU mode, and what's the difference from recovery mode?
In the past couple of days, we've seen reports here and there of iPhones getting stuck in a restart loop. The black screen with the Apple logo shows up, holds for a while, and then disappears again; repeat ad infinitum. While it's not clear yet exactly what's triggering the issue (the complainants suspect that it may be a recent application update to blame), there is a tried and true way to get your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or older iPod back to square one: either use recovery mode or do a DFU restore. As OS X Daily explained, DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode is a means to getting your iPhone to interface with iTunes without iTunes automatically loading the latest version of iOS onto it (it skips the iBoot bootloader, for jailbreak aficionados). Differing from recovery mode -- where iTunes restores your iPhone to its original factory settings but with the latest iOS and firmware -- DFU mode allows you to change and choose the firmware you want to install onto your iPhone. For instance, you would use DFU mode if you want to install a previous version of iOS, jailbreak your iPhone or unlock your SIM. If (for whatever reason) standard recovery isn't working for you to get your device back to working condition, DFU may help you out. Remember, if you restore your phone in any fashion (via the iTunes 'Restore' button, recovery mode or DFU) you will lose any modifications made to unsynced content or in-app data since your last iTunes sync (game states, voice memos, notes etc.). Be cautious. So, here's the basic info on how to enter DFU mode (and it works for your iPod touch, too). Instructions may vary slightly by year or model; if these steps do not work, check YouTube's extensive library of how-to demonstrations). Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB and launch iTunes. Now turn your iPhone off. Hold down the sleep / power button at the top right of your iPhone, then slide your finger across the "slide to power off" button on your iPhone's screen. (If it won't turn off, press Home and Sleep/Power until the screen goes dark, then release.) Once your iPhone is off, hold down both the sleep / power button as well as the home button for 10 seconds. Once 10 seconds has elapsed, release the sleep / power button on your iPhone, but continue to hold the home button until the the above message has appeared in iTunes telling you that your iPhone has been detected in recovery mode. (If you just want to go to recovery mode, skip the 10-second hold on both buttons and simply connect the phone while holding down Home, then wait for 'Connect to iTunes' screen on the phone.) Click OK. You're now in DFU mode. It's pretty straight forward, but if you see the Apple logo or the "connect to iTunes" screen on your iPhone, you're not in DFU mode. DFU leaves the screen of the iPhone completely black turned off. To exit DFU mode, simply hold down the sleep / power button and the home button together until your iPhone disappears from the device list in iTunes, then turn on the iPhone as normal. Again, for most purposes (save jailbreaking) there's no practical difference between DFU and a regular restore, except and unless you're in a situation where your phone won't go into restore mode normally. Restore with care!
iPhone 101: Location data and GPS
Update: Look here for official word on the iPhone location data controversy from Apple. Recently, the Apple community has become interested in location data as gathered by iPhones. Specifically, The Guardian has reported that researcher and former Apple employee Pete Wardensome and data visualization scientist Alasdair Allan believe that your iPhone's travel history is backed up to a file on your Mac, eliciting questions and concerns about iOS location services. With that in mind, TUAW offers this brief primer so that you can better understand what's going on under the hood of your iOS device when it comes to location matters. What are location services and how do they work? Location services allow certain apps to determine your iPhone's approximate location and make use of that information. This is done through a combination of cellular network triangulation, Wi-Fi triangulation and the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Here's how it works. Your iPhone will first attempt to communicate with GPS satellites to determine its approximate location. This is a series of medium Earth orbit satellites deployed by the US Department of Defense several years ago. For a more in-depth explanation, look here. When a solid GPS connection is unavailable (the iPhone is indoors, amid many tall trees outside, etc.), the iPhone tries Wi-Fi triangulation. As our own Auntie TUAW recently explained, this works because Wi-Fi hotspots rarely move. Apple has amassed a database of known hotspots and, when your iPhone is connected to one of those, can use them to determine an iPhone's approximate place on the Earth. Of course, this method is less accurate than GPS. Finally, determining location via cellular towers works in a similar fashion. Nearly every cell tower is built in a known, constant location (except for COWs). These fixed positions allow your iPhone to determine an approximate location by triangulating its distance from the nearest towers. Cell towers are less accurate because there are fewer of them than there are Wi-Fi hot spots. Therefore, you're dealing with larger distances. The first time an app tries to access location data, it asks for permission. A dialog box asks to use your current location. If you're OK with that, tap Allow. Otherwise, tapping Don't Allow prevents the app from accessing your location data until you turn it back on as described below.
Verizon iPhone 101: What new owners need to know to get started
You hung in there. For four long years, you hung in there. And now, finally, you've made it to the promised land. For many of you, an iPhone is even now arriving on a FedEx truck. Soon, you'll be able to set up your new baby and start entering the strange and wonderful world of Verizon iPhone use. TUAW is here to help you. Many of you already own iPods or iPads, and know the ins and outs of iOS use. For others, the Verizon iPhone may represent your first ever iOS device. Let's take a few minutes to go over the basics, point out a few key steps for new users, and recommend some apps to supercharge your new superphone. What's iOS? It's the mobile operating system that Apple developed for its portable devices including the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad (also the current-generation black Apple TV). For your new iPhone, it's a touch-based OS. The screens of iPhones use the small electrical charges in your fingers to detect the position where you have touched; you drive your phone with fingertips instead of four-way buttons, scroll balls or a physical keyboard. To connect your phone to your computer, your music, your videos and your apps, you're going to be using Apple's media and device management tool: iTunes. When Apple releases new versions of iOS, you can install those updates on your phone through iTunes -- unlike Android phones on Verizon, there are no over-the-air OS updates for the iPhone. iTunes is a not just a central hub for managing music libraries, it's the home manager for your new iPhone.
iPhone 101: Where did I put that app?
Once you have a fair number of apps on your iOS device, you might find that you occasionally "lose" an app somewhere in the pages and/or folders of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Handily, there's a trick for locating that app using iTunes. I consider myself a seasoned iTunes/iPhone user, and this simple little tip was a surprise to me. It might be to you, too! Connect your device to your computer and let it show up under "Devices" in iTunes. Select the device and click on the "Apps" tab of the info panel. You'll see a list of all of your apps on the left, and a rendering of your device's screens (pages) on the right. All you need to do is double-click an app on the left to see exactly what page it's on, and in what folder, if you've organized that way. Now, if only Apple hadn't removed the search field on the apps list. I've accumulated a decent app library, and scrolling that list is a pain, but at least I'll be able to find the apps on my device now. As commenters and colleagues have pointed out -- and as we've mentioned before -- the iTunes-wide search field at the top right of the window now serves double duty as a search tool for applications that you've bought/downloaded. Sorry for the misdirection! Hat tip to Mike Tselikman!
iPhone 101: Quitting apps in iOS 4
iOS 4 makes it easy to leave apps without quitting, but what happens when you actually do want to terminate an application? Quitting applications can really help with older apps that have not been updated for iOS 4 "multitasking" and that do not properly return to the state they previously were in when resumed. The most common type of app that fits this profile supplies Bonjour services that might not properly continue after resuming the application. Another app that reportedly has this issue is Gmail. TUAW reader Kefz writes, "Gmail does not work unless you force quit the mail application. If it is sitting in the multitasking task bar, [notifications aren't] automatically pushed to the phone...You'd have to open the mail app and have it check for new mail." There's are two ways you can quit, according to Apple's documentation, although neither one is particularly obvious. Read on to learn what they are.
Five little-known features in iOS 4
Whenever word gets out about a potential software update, as it did for iOS 4 back in January (then called iPhone OS 4), you don't have to look far to find speculation about features or functionality the new version will include. This is especially true for major revisions of the OS, which is ironic when you consider that developers get access to beta versions of the OS for testing purposes -- most smaller updates are kept under wraps right up until they are released. When Apple does officially announce a major update, it usually is quick to list the big changes that the update brings as a way to persuade developers to get in and start updating their apps to make use of the new features. Quite often, everyone focuses their attention on these main features, and discussion moves to whether or not the new OS will support things like dashboards and today screens or whether or not Feature X will live up to expectations. This discussion usually continues well after the OS has been released, and it tends to overshadow many of the smaller changes that have been made throughout the OS. Whether these changes are minor tweaks in how something works or the addition of new functionality that subtly enhances the users' experience, they often go unnoticed for one of two reasons: either they "just work" so well that the user doesn't need to know they exist, or they require the user to do something extra to enable or locate the feature. Since both of these involve the user not being aware of something, we think it's safe to assume that bringing these little-known features to light will help. Read on for a list of five little-known features in iOS 4 that we think deserve more attention.
