Apple's new iPhones and iOS 7 operating system for mobile
devices are packed with new features, although not of all them are readily
apparent. I've had a chance to learn a few tricks in the week I spent with both
the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S, which come with iOS 7 installed.
Here are five things to know if you download the software on
one of Apple's older mobile devices starting Wednesday or buy a new iPhone
starting Friday. The update is available for free for the iPhone 4, 4S and 5
models, the iPad 2 and later, the iPad Mini and the iPod Touch released last
year. You'll need about 3 gigabytes of free storage.
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TIP ONE: CONTROL CENTER AND SWIPES
Many of the improvements added to iOS 7 are delivered after
swiping from various edges of the screen. This redesign is meant to make it
easier to navigate, but there is no guide for knowing when and how to swipe.
Fortunately, you can still use an iPhone the traditional way, by tapping on an
icon or button, even if you don't learn all the new ways to swipe.
As a general rule of thumb, keep swiping from various edges
to see what happens. If you discover something neat, remember it for next time.
Swiping may produce different results if you're in the lock screen, the home
screen or an app.
Here's a guide to the basic swipes:
— From the lock screen, swipe up from the bottom right
corner to access the camera. This is a holdover from iOS 6.
— Whether locked or unlocked, swipe up from anywhere else
along the bottom edge to get the Control Center. It gives you easy access to
frequently accessed settings such as Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi. It also gets you
to key apps such as the flashlight feature and the clock, for timing how long
the turkey needs to be in the oven. There's a volume control, but only for
audio and video playback. You need the volume buttons for the ringer and
alerts.
— Swipe down from the top edge to get the Notification
Center. You'll see the day's highlights, including the weather, appointments
and stock quotes. Tap on "All" or "Missed" near the top to
get recent notifications from Gmail, Facebook and other services.
— Swipe down from anywhere else on the screen to get a
search box.
— From various Apple apps, try swiping from the left or the
right. Not every app will respond, but many will. With the Safari browser, for
instance, you can use the left and right swipes in place of the back and
forward buttons.
TIP TWO: ORGANIZING AND SHARING PHOTOS
The new Photos app organizes your photos into moments, based
on when and where you took the photos. Several moments will be grouped into a
collection, such as a vacation to Europe. Collections will then be grouped by
year. It's all automated, so you can't reorganize shots if you would rather
break a collection into two. But it's better than having hundreds of unorganized
photos.
From any moment, collection or year, click on the header on
top of the photos to pull out a map showing all the places you've been, with
the number of shots taken at each. You can share entire moments, by hitting
"Share" on the right side of that header. A menu should pop out from
the bottom. It's tricky because it's easy to miss and hit "Select"
above it instead.
Once you have the moment or set of photos chosen, another
menu will pop out from the bottom, giving you such choices as sharing by email,
Facebook, Flickr or text messaging.
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TIP THREE: ASK SIRI
Frustrated with Siri's inability to hear what you're trying
to say? Instead of repeating yourself over and over, you can click "tap to
edit" to make the change manually. You shouldn't have to with voice
search, but fixing one letter is still easier than having to type in the entire
phrase.
Just for fun, you can give Siri a sex change by going to the
settings, choosing "General," then "Siri," then "Voice
Gender." You can now use Siri to change phone settings and return recent
calls. And Siri will speak out turn-by-turn directions when walking. Before,
the vocal instructions were limited to driving directions in Maps.
___
TIP FOUR: FREEBIES
Apple's new streaming music service, iTunes Radio, is easy
to find. Click on the Music icon at the bottom of each home screen, then choose
"Radio" at the bottom. Create music stations by choosing some genres
you like. Then fine-tune your picks by hitting the star when a tune is playing.
You can ask the service to play more songs like it or remove that song from
future playlists entirely. You can also create new stations based on specific
songs or artists. The service will try to find other songs like them.
Best of all, it's free. Just prepare to put up with some
ads, unless you subscribe to Apple's iTunes Match for $25 a year.
Meanwhile, you might qualify for some free apps — Pages for
word processing, Numbers for spreadsheets, Keynote for presentations, iPhoto
for photo editing and iMovie for movie editing. They usually cost $5 or $10
each. To qualify, you need to buy a new iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The offer
is retroactive to Sept. 1. Once a new device is activated, the app can be
downloaded for free to other devices on the same account, as long as the device
is upgraded to iOS 7.
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TIP FIVE: FINGERPRINTING
With the new fingerprint ID system on the iPhone 5S, there's
no longer a reason to avoid protecting your phone with a passcode. I know
passcodes can be very disruptive. I've often lost my train of thought before I
could get to an app to jot something down. But your fingerprint now bypasses
the need to type in a four-digit code in many situations.
It's easy to set up. The iPhone will walk you through
scanning one finger when you set up the phone. You can scan four more fingers —
yours or someone else's — by going to the settings. Go to "General,"
then "Passcode & Fingerprint."
I'm still confronted with passcode screens, especially when
I need to authenticate an app purchase. It took me a few days to realize that
even though you're asked for a passcode, the fingerprint usually works unless
the phone specifically tells you otherwise.
One more thing: The screen needs to be on for the
fingerprint sensor to work. To save a step, just press on the home button
firmly and let the button pop back up. But keep your finger lightly touching
the button's surface. The hard press will activate the screen, and the light
touch will unlock the phone.
source: http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/09/20/1232501/tech-tips-some-tricks-new-ios-7-iphones
By Anick Jesdanun
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