iPhone Tips and Tricks | MyTriniPhone.com

iPhone Tips and Tricks Part 1

Posted by:Aaron Besson
August 13th, 2008

Here is a collection of useful tips for new and old iPhone owners. Some of these are new for 2.0+ and some of them you may already now. If you have a tip or trick that you would like to share, please head over to the forum and let us know.

Typing Tip

Start by typing with just your index finger. As you get more proficient, you can type more quickly using two thumbs. This is the way that I have been typing recently, I have gotten pretty fast at it.

iPhone Stereo Headset with mic Tips

Pause a song or video:
Click the mic button once. Click again to resume playback.
Skip to the next song:
Click twice quickly.
Answer an incoming call:
Click once.
End the current call:
Click once.
Decline an incoming call:
Press and hold for about two seconds, then let go. When you let go, two low beeps confirm you declined the call.
Switch to an incoming or on-hold call and put the current call on hold:
Click once. Click again to switch back to the first call.
Switch to an incoming or on-hold call and end the current call:
Press and hold for about two seconds, then let go. When you let go, two low beeps confirm you ended the first call.

If you get a call while the headset is plugged in, you can hear the ringtone through both the iPhone speaker and the headset.

Set a sleep timer

From the Home screen choose Clock > Timer, then flick to set the number of hours and minutes. Tap When Timer Ends and choose Sleep iPod, tap Set, then tap Start to start the timer. When the timer ends, iPhone stops playing music or video, closes any other open application, and then locks itself. I have found this great for nights that I stay up too late playing games or reading RSS news on my iPhone, when it goes to sleep, it means time for bed

Block calls and maintain Wi-Fi access to the Internet

In Settings, turn on Airplane Mode, then tap Wi-Fi and turn it on.

Turn off automatic syncing for iPhone

Connect iPhone to your computer.
In iTunes, select iPhone in the sidebar, then click the Summary tab.
Deselect “Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected.”
You can always sync by clicking the Sync button.

Prevent automatic syncing for all iPhones

In iTunes choose iTunes > Preferences (on a Mac) or Edit > Preferences (on a PC), click Syncing, and select “Disable automatic syncing for all iPhones and iPods.” If this checkbox is selected, iPhone won’t sync automatically, even if “Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected” is selected in the Summary pane.

Prevent automatic syncing one time, without changing settings

Open iTunes. Then, as you connect iPhone to your computer, press and hold Command-Option (on a Mac) or Shift-Control (on a PC) until you see iPhone appear in the sidebar.

Cancel a sync

Drag the slider on iPhone. If you get a call during a sync, the sync is canceled automatically and you can unplug iPhone to answer the call. Connect iPhone after the call to finish syncing.

Turn SMS Preview on or off

By default, iPhone displays a preview of new text messages when iPhone is locked or you are using another application. You can turn this preview on or off in Settings.

In Settings, choose General > Passcode Lock and tap Show SMS Preview.

Import contacts from a SIM

In Settings, tap “Mail, Contacts, Calendars,” then tap Import SIM Contacts.

Turn Location Services on or off

Choose General > Location Services and turn location services on or off.

NOTE: To conserve battery life, turn Locations Services off when you’re not using it.

Erase all content and settings

Connect iPhone to your computer or a power adapter.
Choose General > Reset and tap “Erase All Content and Settings.”

This feature resets all settings to their defaults and permanently removes all your information and media on your iPhone by overwriting the data stored on iPhone. IMPORTANT: You can’t use iPhone while data is being overwritten. This can take one to four hours or more, depending on the storage capacity of your iPhone.

Reset the keyboard dictionary

Choose General > Reset and tap Reset Keyboard Dictionary.

You add words to the keyboard dictionary by rejecting words iPhone suggests as you type. Tap a word to reject the correction and add the word to the keyboard dictionary. Resetting the keyboard dictionary erases all words you’ve added.

Viewing Email Attachments

iPhone supports the following email attachment file formats:

.doc: Microsoft Word
.docx: Microsoft Word (XML)
.htm: webpage
.html: webpage
.key: Keynote
.numbers: Numbers
.pages: Pages
.pdf: Preview, Adobe Acrobat
.ppt: Microsoft PowerPoint
.pptx: Microsoft PowerPoint (XML)
.txt: text
.vcf: contact information
.xls:Microsoft Excel
.xlsx: Microsoft Excel (XML)

Remove a backup of your iPhone from iTunes:

In iTunes, open iTunes Preferences.
▪ Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences.
▪ Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences.
Click Syncing (iPhone does not need to be connected).
Select the backup you want to remove and click Remove Backup.
Confirm you wish to remove the selected backup by clicking Remove Backup.
Click OK to close the iTunes Preferences Window

Difference between Updating and Restoring iPhone Software

If you update, the iPhone software is updated but your downloaded applications, settings, and songs are not affected.
If you restore, the latest version of iPhone software is reinstalled, default settings are restored, and data stored on iPhone is deleted, including downloaded applications, songs, videos, contacts, photos, calendar information, and any other data. In iTunes 7.7, you can also restore from a backup without deleting data stored on iPhone.