THE iPhone is a bit like the human brain. Only a small part
of it is used at any one time. So wouldn't it be great if there was a way to
unlock all the secret hidden uses without having to scour the whole internet?
You’re in luck. News.com.au has put together 13 features of
the iPhone that can enhance your digital experience and make your busy day a
little easier.
Yes, you’re welcome.
Yes, you’re welcome.
Top uses for the iPhone you probably didn’t know about:
1. Damn you autocorrect
We’ve all had those embarrassing text messages where we accidentally send a dirty word to our in-laws, or co-workers.
We’ve all had those embarrassing text messages where we accidentally send a dirty word to our in-laws, or co-workers.
Thankfully there is a solution. If you know there are words
you frequently destroy with your fat fingers, you can create a shortcut so that
next time you get it wrong, the iPhone will automatically correct it with the
right word. Go to your settings and click on “general”, then “keyboard” and
type in the intended word, along with the bastardised/abbreviated one.
Pro: Means you can abbreviate long words or phrases you
couldn’t be bothered spelling correctly/writing in full and the iPhone will
replace them for you.
Con: Requires you to know the words you frequently get wrong. Can be a little time consuming putting together a list.
Con: Requires you to know the words you frequently get wrong. Can be a little time consuming putting together a list.
2. Cover your digital tracks
How many times have you let a friend borrow your phone for a minute or two to check their email? Do you really want them to know what you’ve been looking at? Many people will know to clear their cookies off their computer or install “do not track” software, but this is often overlooked on your smartphone. The option is there – even though Apple isn’t exactly making a big deal about it.
How many times have you let a friend borrow your phone for a minute or two to check their email? Do you really want them to know what you’ve been looking at? Many people will know to clear their cookies off their computer or install “do not track” software, but this is often overlooked on your smartphone. The option is there – even though Apple isn’t exactly making a big deal about it.
Here’s what you do: Go to “settings”, “Safari” and then
switch “private browsing” to “on”. While you’re at it, clear your history,
cookies and data by hitting “clear history”, and “clear cookies and data”.
Pro: No more pesky third party applications or websites
tracking your every move. And that “personal” website you like to visit will
remain your little secret.
Con: You’d better remember all the URLs you like to visit, because Safari will no longer do it for you.
Con: You’d better remember all the URLs you like to visit, because Safari will no longer do it for you.
Set up private browsing and never be tracked again. Too lazy
to scroll? Create your own gestures. Picture: iPhone hacks.com
3. Delete individual calls from your call history
Paranoid? Don’t want your spouse to know you still keep in touch with your high-school ex? Fear not. We’re here to help.
Hit the “phone” app, tap the “recent” calls icon and simply
swipe over the number you want to delete. A red “delete” button will appear.
Tap it once and watch the call disappear.
Pro: Keep your call history to yourself.
Con: Abusing the power and forgetting the call will still show up on your phone bill. Use responsibly.
Con: Abusing the power and forgetting the call will still show up on your phone bill. Use responsibly.
Delete suspicious calls from the prying eyes of
know-it-alls. Picture: Mac Rumours
4. Get a more detailed view of your calendar with the flip
of the wrist
If you’re a true member of the digital age, you’ll have your entire life planned out on your phone. Or is that just me? In any case, if the monthly calendar wasn’t enough, you can see a full colour coded weekly view of your appointments by simply turning the phone on its side. Scroll left to view past events. Scroll right to view upcoming events.
If you’re a true member of the digital age, you’ll have your entire life planned out on your phone. Or is that just me? In any case, if the monthly calendar wasn’t enough, you can see a full colour coded weekly view of your appointments by simply turning the phone on its side. Scroll left to view past events. Scroll right to view upcoming events.
Pro: You can stay on top of your appointments and get a
colour coded layout of your week.
Con: The landscape view does not actually say which month you’re in, so you’ll need to keep track of the weeks and months as you scroll across.
Con: The landscape view does not actually say which month you’re in, so you’ll need to keep track of the weeks and months as you scroll across.
For the control freak in all of us. Turn your camera to the
side and get a fully colour coded view. Picture: Ustilitap.com
5. Ringtones are gaudy and vibrate is still too loud. Use
the camera flash instead
Ringtones and message alerts are a very personal decision. If you’re a busy minimalist who wants to keep a low profile, this option is for you. Go into “settings” > “accessibility” and then turn “LED flash for alerts” to “on”. This will prompt your phone to turn on the camera flash whenever you receive a message or email when the phone is set to silent.
Ringtones and message alerts are a very personal decision. If you’re a busy minimalist who wants to keep a low profile, this option is for you. Go into “settings” > “accessibility” and then turn “LED flash for alerts” to “on”. This will prompt your phone to turn on the camera flash whenever you receive a message or email when the phone is set to silent.
Pro: You will have a nice visual alert for calls and
texts without drawing too much attention to yourself, especially in office
environments that use luminous lighting.
Con: You’ll be the most hated person in the movie theatre if you keep your phone out of your pocket or handbag.
Con: You’ll be the most hated person in the movie theatre if you keep your phone out of your pocket or handbag.
6. New vibration is the new sensation
Because just standard vibrate alerts are like SO 2010. The new iPhone operating system lets users create customised vibration patterns. To do so, hit settings, general, accessibility and then switch the “custom vibrations” option to “on”. Return to setting and select “sound” and then “vibrations” to choose from five new vibration patterns, or hit “create new vibration” to create your own. Tap the screen to create a new pattern. Preview the new pattern by hitting play. Once you’re satisfied with it, hit “record”, give it a name and save it.
It will even allow you to assign a different custom vibration
to different contacts in your address book. Simply navigate to the contact you
want to assign it to, click “edit”, select “vibration” and then select the name
of your new vibration, or create a brand new one.
Pro: You’ll know who is calling or messaging based
purely on the vibrate alerts.
Con: It would be really annoying if your phone vibrates in a bunch of different ways. It can be time consuming inputting custom vibrate tones for all of your friends.
Con: It would be really annoying if your phone vibrates in a bunch of different ways. It can be time consuming inputting custom vibrate tones for all of your friends.
Create your own custom vibrations and assign them to
contacts. Tap the top of the screen when you're done scrolling. Picture: iPhone
hacks.com
7. Can’t be bothered to scroll up? Tap the status bar
It’s that simple. If you’ve been immersed in a long read or got stuck in a Twitter spiral, don’t risk RSI by scrolling all the way up. Just tap the status bar at the top of your screen and it’ll take you back to the top of the page.
Pro: No more incessant scrolling
Con: Make sure you keep your place on the page. Tap it accidentally and it’s all over.
Con: Make sure you keep your place on the page. Tap it accidentally and it’s all over.
8. Double tap the shift key for all CAPS
This is an easy but little known feature of the iPhone. But before you can do it, you need to enable it in “settings”. Simply click on “settings”, then “general”, “keyboard” and hit “Enable Caps Lock”.
This is an easy but little known feature of the iPhone. But before you can do it, you need to enable it in “settings”. Simply click on “settings”, then “general”, “keyboard” and hit “Enable Caps Lock”.
Pro: No more hitting shift whenever you want to abbreviate
a word.
Con: Make sure you tap the shift button again to return to lowercase or risk flaming your friends with all CAPS messages.
Con: Make sure you tap the shift button again to return to lowercase or risk flaming your friends with all CAPS messages.
Here's how to locate the capslock and find extra characters.
Picture: MacRumours
9. Need an umlaut? Tap and hold
What if you need to text the name of that IKEA furniture you simply have to have. The umlaut is essential! Never fear, simply hold down the letter you require and wait for an entire world of new characters to open up to you. Choose the extra character you need and Bob’s your uncle.
What if you need to text the name of that IKEA furniture you simply have to have. The umlaut is essential! Never fear, simply hold down the letter you require and wait for an entire world of new characters to open up to you. Choose the extra character you need and Bob’s your uncle.
Pro: Never again will national dialects go ignored.
Con: Your friends may worry you’ve been studying the dictionary too hard. Pedantry for the win!
Con: Your friends may worry you’ve been studying the dictionary too hard. Pedantry for the win!
10. Need faster web browsing? Leave off the www
Your time is precious. We get it. According to iPhone Appstorm.com leaving off the prefix saves about five seconds every time you browse.
Your time is precious. We get it. According to iPhone Appstorm.com leaving off the prefix saves about five seconds every time you browse.
Pro: You’ll become a multi-tasking smartphone web
browsing pro
Con: You’ll become one of those insufferable people who think they can’t spare five seconds for anything, let alone web browsing. With great power comes great responsibility.
Con: You’ll become one of those insufferable people who think they can’t spare five seconds for anything, let alone web browsing. With great power comes great responsibility.
Save yourself five seconds, leave off "www" when
you browse the web. Picture: Makeuseof.com
11. Siri knows the meaning of life. And the answer is 42
Unfortunately this one is restricted to iPhone 4S users, but Apple’s new voice activated personal assistant has some pretty witty things to say if you know which questions to ask. So much so that there is already a website dedicated to it called “S..t Siri Says”.
Unfortunately this one is restricted to iPhone 4S users, but Apple’s new voice activated personal assistant has some pretty witty things to say if you know which questions to ask. So much so that there is already a website dedicated to it called “S..t Siri Says”.
Ask Siri the meaning of life and it will answer “42”. Recite
the classic quote from 2001: A Space Odyssey “open the pod bay doors”
and she will reply: “I’m sorry [insert name], I can’t do that.” Just like the
crazed computer HAL.
Pro: Siri can make you laugh as well as look up phone
numbers or directions to the nearest location.
Con: You’ll waste your day away looking for what other cheeky “easter eggs” Apple has hidden within Siri’s mainframe.
12. Send as many pictures as you want by email
Previously, Apple only let users attach five photos per email. This is still kind of true but according to Mac Rumours if you use the copy and paste functions, you can include as many pictures as you like. You can also send pictures to emails using the text message app. Simply type in the email address, include a message, attach a picture and hit send.
Con: You’ll waste your day away looking for what other cheeky “easter eggs” Apple has hidden within Siri’s mainframe.
12. Send as many pictures as you want by email
Previously, Apple only let users attach five photos per email. This is still kind of true but according to Mac Rumours if you use the copy and paste functions, you can include as many pictures as you like. You can also send pictures to emails using the text message app. Simply type in the email address, include a message, attach a picture and hit send.
Pro: No more email spam.
Con: Your tendency to get carried away is a good way to lose friends and irritate people by not knowing when to call it a day. Also watch your email size. The larger the email, the more data it will chew from your mobile plan.
Con: Your tendency to get carried away is a good way to lose friends and irritate people by not knowing when to call it a day. Also watch your email size. The larger the email, the more data it will chew from your mobile plan.
13. Forget navigating. You don’t play by iPhone’s rules. Create your own custom gestures
Why should you have to swipe and select to get to where you need to go on your phone? By creating custom gestures iPhone will soon be replicating your favourite moves – like scrolling down - with just a tap on the screen.
Navigate to “settings”, “general”, “accessibility” and switch
“assistive touch” to “on”.
Select “create new gesture” to record what swipe you want to
replicate. Hit “save” and give it a name. Your gesture will now be stored in
“favourites”.
So next time you’re about to read a huge essay, instead of
all that scrolling you simply retrieve your gesture from “favourites” and tap
the screen each time you want to move down.
You can do this for all your favourite moves.
Pro: Your phone will be more intuitive to your needs.
Angry Birds fans can create a gesture to play the game for you, simply by
creating the same kind of gesture you would to use the sling shot.
Con: It seems like an awful lot of steps to go through just to get your phone to scroll for you, for example.
Con: It seems like an awful lot of steps to go through just to get your phone to scroll for you, for example.
source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/things-your-iphone-can-do-you-dont-know-about/story-e6freuy9-1226386268175
by Claire Connelly
http://www.buyetail.com
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