iPhone 101
Latest
iPhone 101: Saving images in Safari
Have you ever been using Safari on your iPhone or iPod touch and wanted to save an image? Well, the 2.0 firmware makes this easy!Just tap and hold on any picture in Safari. When you do, a menu will pop up allowing you to save the image to your camera roll or follow the image link. Apple even places a subtle outline around the selected image (nice touch, Apple). The great thing about this tip: it also works in Mail. Now you'll never be without your images. Now for that copy/paste (ahem, looking at you, Apple). Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
iPhone 101: Batch mail deletion
Here's a very handy feature of the iPhone 2.0 software. Previously, deleting many email messages at once was a real pain. You could either swipe across your messages one at a time (invariably selecting a few by accident), or enter edit mode and select a message, touch the Delete button and then touch the Confirmation button. Not exactly speedy.The 2.0 software makes this much easier. First, touch the Edit button. Next, touch every message you want to delete. When you're through, touch the Delete button at the bottom of the screen.Alternatively, you can use this method to bulk move messages.
iPhone 101: Taking screenshots
With the advent of the new iPhone firmware 2.0, users who have installed it report that you are now able to easily take and share screenshots of your iPhone -- all without downloading any additional software. To take a screenshot, just hold down the home button while quickly pressing the sleep/wake button at the top of the phone. The screen will flash and an image will be saved in your Camera Roll. You can easily share your screenshot by e-mailing it using the share option in the Photos app. For more iPhone tips and tricks like this, check out the iPhone 101 section here on TUAW.
iPhone 101: Headphone issues
Recently, my iPhone was having issues. Specifically, it thought headphones were inserted when they weren't. I first noticed the problem as I was typing and didn't hear that familiar "click" that normally accompanies a key press.I thought I had accidentally toggled the ringer mute button (which I seem to do often), but no, it was set to ring. I inserted some headphones and heard everything - the clicks, music, etc.I placed a call and tried turning the speaker on and off to no avail. Next, I rebooted the phone. No dice. I connected it to my Mac and performed a sync with iTunes and still, there was no sound.I reset the phone by holding down the power button and the home button. Still, there was no sound without headphones. At last, I got a can of compressed air and gave a couple of short blasts into the headphone port. That did it! The phone must have been interpreting the junk that had collected in there over the past year as headphones.A simple solution that, hopefully, will save you some time.
iPhone 101: typing accented characters
Over at MacTips they have a nice tip which I figured would make for a good iPhone 101. If you find yourself needing to type an accented character (acutes, graves, umlauts, etc.), all you have to do is hold down the relevant key for a couple of seconds and voilà a nice pop-up menu will appear with the available choices. The trick works for a number of different characters besides the vowels (e.g. 'z' and '?') and seems to function as well on the iPod touch.
iPhone 101: Two-fingered Scrolling
Everyone knows that you can use a single finger to scroll web pages in Mobile Safari but it's less well known that you can use two fingers to scroll frames and other subpage elements. Normally, on personal computers, you use a separate scroll bar for webpage frames. On the iPhone and iPod touch, these scroll bars do not appear and the content expands to fill the frame set area. By using two fingers at once, you tell Mobile Safari to scroll the element rather than then entire page. I find this especially useful when filling out forms with scrolling selections such as when I do blog posts and need to add categories.
iPhone 101: Bookmark travel destinations
I did some traveling this summer (with two toddlers, so don't be envious). Certain that I'd need to conduct a search or two, I bookmarked my destinations on my iPhone, and you can do the same. Just follow the steps: Launch Google Maps. Enter the zip code of your destination city. Once it has been found, create a bookmark. Repeat for each stop you'll make. Now, when you're jonesing for a venti iced green tea latte in a strange place, simply launch Maps, click Bookmarks and then your location. You'll be sippin' in no time.
iPhone 101: End a call quickly
When you simultaneously press the sleep/wake button and the volume button during a call on the iPhone, you'll immediately end that call and lock the screen.Now, at the end of a conversation, you may give your iPhone a gentle squeeze and slip it right into your pocket. Thanks, Will!
iPhone 101: Take decent photos
There's one aspect of the iPhone that's counter-intuitive - the camera. Unlike nearly every camera ever made, the iPhone takes a picture when the "shutter button" is released, not pressed.*I've gotten some nice snapshots, but only after I figured out my current process: Press and hold the shutter button Compose the shot Release the button Now, isn't that better?*Yes, many digital cameras feature a "two-stage" process (half a press to focus, full to capture the image), but most take the photo upon a full press, not release, of the shutter button.
iPhone 101: Locate your callers
Here's a neat feature that almost works beautifully. If you've received a call from a number you don't recognize, go to "Recents" and touch its blue arrow. A window appears that lists the number as well as the geographic origin, based on area code. Pretty cool.Of course, if a person purchased her phone in New York and them moved to Colorado, this information would be incorrect. Still, it could help you identify that "mystery caller."
iPhone 101: Updating your "Sent from my iPhone" email signature
Is that "Sent from my iPhone" message starting to get on your nerves? By default, every email sent from your iPhone gets appended by a signature specified in Settings > Mail > Signature. To clear out this signature entirely, delete all the text from the Signature text field. Your emails will lose that "Sent from my iPhone" tag. Of course, if signatures don't particularly bother you, you might want to add a more personalized quote or even some contact information (although preferably not using unnecessary ASCII art). Or, you can put on your antipersonnel hat and start messing with people's minds, e.g. "Sent from my Blueberry." How do you intend to sign your emails?
