If you’re reading this, you will probably agree that the iPhone is one of the most useful devices currently on the market. But there’s a lot more functionality than initially meets the eye. The iPhone is simple on the surface, but packed with hidden features.
Here are iPhone tips and tricks that aren’t widely publicised – I’m sure you’ll have encountered a few before, but some are bound to be brand new to you. Read on to join the ranks of an iPhone ninja!
Tap the Status Bar to Scroll to the Top
Maybe you haven’t checked your tweets for a few hours or you’ve just read a lengthy article. In many cases, you’ll want to scroll back to the top of the page. By tapping the status bar at the top of your screen, you’ll by whisked straight back up to the top. This nice tip can turn annoying quite easily, though. Be careful not to hit the status bar accidentally.
Press the Home and Sleep Buttons Simultaneously to Take a Screenshot
Take this quick quiz: Where can you go when you double-press the home button?
Search
iPod, to the currently playing track
First Home screen, if you aren’t there.
The correct answer is: d. Any of the above. Within Settings > General > Home, you can choose which of these three behaviours you want to use.
Press Home Once to Go to First Home Screen or Search
But what happens if you only press Home once? If you’re at your first home screen, you’ll be taken to Search. If you’re in Search or at another home screen, you’ll be taken to your first home screen. No customization here.
Hold Home and Sleep to Reboot
It doesn’t happen often, but it is possible that your iPhone will freeze up. When that happens, hold the Home and Sleep buttons until the screen goes black, and subsequently shows the Apple logo. This will probably take about eight seconds.
Hold Home for Five Seconds to Quit the Current App
What happens to an app when you close it? It might look like it’s sucked down a black hole, but that’s certainly not the case. When you close an app, much of it remains in memory, so it can be opened again quickly.
To “force quit” an application in iPhone OS 3.0, press and hold the sleep/wake button until the slide to power off screen appears. Then proceed to press and hold the home button until the application quits (usually takes around six seconds).
If you’re on iPhone OS 1 or 2, it’s just a case of holding the home button for about five seconds. Process exterminated!
Double Tap Shift for Caps Lock
Many people don’t like caps lock, but it’s still available on your iPhone if you so wish. You will have to enable it, though. “Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Caps Lock” should do the trick. Then, just double-tap the shift key to type away in capitals.
Tap Shift and Drag
It’s hard to explain, but once your learn this trick, it’s pretty fun to use. Instead of simply tapping Shift and then tapping your letter when you want the capital format, do this: tap Shift, drag your finger to the letter you want to capitalize, and release. It’s a bit odd at first, but I think it’s probably slightly faster.
This trick is even better when you’re going for punctuation: just substitute Shift with the keyboard switcher key (123/ABC). The beautiful thing here is that after inserting your punctuation, you’re back at the alphabet keyboard: definitely a time-saver.
Tap and Hold for Extra Characters
How would you type the British Pound symbol on your iPhone? Or an inverted question mark? And what about letters with cedillas? To get these, and other special characters, tap and hold on the letter or symbol that closest represents the one you want.
You’ll get a hidden menu that offers the extra characters. This also works with the .com button, offering a few other top-level domains.
Double Tap Space for a Period and Space
Without a doubt, a period is the most often used piece of punctuation. But the period is on the alternative keyboard, and it’s a bit of a pain to switch back and forth between keyboards continually.
The shift-swipe trick is nice, but there’s an even faster move to master: double tap the space bar to get a period and space. This is an optional trick, turned on by default. You can get to it via Settings > General > Keyboard.
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