Table of contents for 18th Edition in iPhone for Beginners

Your iPhone’s operating system is highly configurable, and we don’t just mean that you can change your wallpaper, though of course you can! The default settings when you first fire it up are pretty good for most people, but there will surely be some things that you would like it to do differently, whether it’s waiting a little longer before locking the screen, remembering your passwords in Safari or adding a signature to your outgoing Mail messages. More or less all of the iOS apps like Mail, Messages, Music, Photos and the Phone section of an iPhone can be tweaked and tuned to behave as you like, whether it’s using shake to shuffle tunes in your Music app or automatically checking for mail. You can’t alter every single thing…

Introduced to iOS a while back, iCloud is the perfect wireless solution for keeping all of your content up-to-date and synced between devices. Free to all users, iCloud automatically and securely stores your content (including music, apps, photos and documents) so that it’s always available on your iPhone, iPad, Mac – whatever device you’re using. Since iOS 8, you can upgrade your standard iCloud to become iCloud Drive, which is a lot more versatile than before in allowing you to keep all of your files and documents safely in the cloud and then have them easily available on whatever device you are using. Also, more flexibility has been bestowed on the apps that you use to open documents created in other apps. You can also upload your entire Photo…

These days, people can store a lot of sensitive data on their smartphones – whether it’s log-in details for online accounts, private text messages or documents containing private information. If someone gained access to your phone, there may be a lot on there that you don’t want them to see. On a more basic level, you may also have friends who think it’s funny to send messages from your phone when you leave it unattended for a few minutes. By setting a passcode, you can ensure there is at least some protection in place for the contents of your phone. Working just like a PIN, you can set a passcode that only you know, and every time you turn your phone on or unlock it, you’ll have to enter this…

In today’s digital age in which personal details are moved around at a moment’s notice and critical information is bounced from one server to another at the flick of a switch, it is very important to keep control over your personal data. Think about it. Your iPhone contains a gamut of personal information. Just how many emails and texts do you think you send and receive during a typical week? What addresses do you store on your phone? Do you use your phone for personal banking? First things first, you should always make sure to set up the Find My iPhone app, which is supplied by Apple for free and knows what to do if your iPhone is lost or stolen. But, thanks to features that were introduced by…

When Steve Jobs demonstrated the iPhone for the first time in 2007, the Lock screen was the first thing he showed. As he swiped across the screen to unlock the phone, the crowd “oohed” and “aahed”. With iOS 10, Apple has shaken up what has been a stalwart of iOS ever since – and the result is something far better. The new Lock screen now offers access to all the information you need at a glance, thanks to widgets. Swipe across the screen and you’ll see your widgets displayed below the date and a search bar. Here, you can quickly access useful information, like your latest emails and the current weather. You’ll find third-party apps here, too – you can see your latest Whatsapp chats, check your Amazon orders, or…

Find My iPhone is an app and service that you’ll hopefully rarely use and is one that will likely find its way to a folder hidden on one of your Home screens. However, this does not mean that it is not vitally important, because if you happen to lose your phone you will certainly be glad that you took the time to set it up properly. In this tutorial we are going to show you how you can do this and what to do if you lose your phone or – even worse – have it stolen. It will be worth remembering what to do if you need to take action quickly, but do not put all of your faith in this service. You should still use simple security measures,…

Using your iPhone’s keypad to dial phone numbers and make quick direct calls to people you don’t have listed in your contacts is one of the iPhone’s main features. This is the same for any mobile phone and works in an almost universal way. The feature is easy to use; once you have selected the Phone icon from the Home screen you can enter in a number and even add it into your contacts if you wish. The iPhone’s intuitive Voice Control feature can also be used to dial a call handsfree when on the go. Follow along with these three simple steps to access your iPhone’s keypad and dial out to make a call. The interface looks a little different if you’re running an old OS, but it…

FaceTime is Apple’s answer to Skype and it works in a similar way, but is maybe even easier to use. The feature set is kept to a minimum and video calling is the main feature here, but it is the way it works that makes it so useful in day-to-day use. Whether you want to call home when away on a business trip and speak to the kids, or just catch up with a friend in a more personal way, the process to make and receive video calls is the same as making a voice call and only requires a couple of taps to initiate. Since the introduction of iOS 6, Wi-Fi is no longer required for the calls to connect to a variety of Apple devices – you…

Using email is one of the most essential ways of being able to stay in touch with friends and family, as well as being a pretty vital tool in the business world. The ability to take your messages with you wherever you go on your iPhone makes it even more essential, and means you’re not limited to responding whenever you happen to be able to log in to your main email account. Important business can be taken care of as soon as it arrives, and you never need to worry about what could be waiting for you when you finally get back to your desktop. This step-by-step tutorial will not only show you how to set up a new or existing email account for use on the iPhone and…

Recently redesigned from the ground up, Maps revolutionises the way you view the world. Since the release of iOS 10, all of the navigational items have been moved to the bottom of the screen, which is handy because you can now do all of your navigating using one hand. A new drawer at the bottom of the screen slides up to reveal your recent and favourite locations. All you need to do to start finding your way to them from your current location is the tap on the green ‘Go’ button and the app will immediately generate the directions and present them in turnby turn fashion. Also, if you have parked up at a location and have CarPlay in your vehicle then your iPhone will remember and store the…

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus cameras are extremely impressive and you should have all of the tools you need for any type of photo or video built into the software. We will show you how to use each of the included modes here and how to add some personality to your shots, but as with any camera, patience and a basic understanding of lighting will always help achieve the best photographs. Fortunately, the iPhone is capable of helping you focus with one tap and will understand the lighting for you thanks to HDR and the simplistic exposure control. It’s highly likely that your iPhone is good enough for you to leave your standalone camera at home and for most purposes it will produce shots that are more than clear…

When it was first introduced, Control Center was a popular addition to the operating system as it allowed you to access some of your iPhone’s most common settings and features quickly. In iOS 10 the Control Center app has been tweaked slightly so that the media controls which, when you had music or a movie playing, were automatically added to your Control Center panel now sit in their own panel, which you can access by swiping to the left within Control Center. Also, if you have been using the new iOS 10 Home app to link any compatible appliances in your home, such as cookers, lights and home security systems, to your iPhone, a third panel will allow you to access them and control them from your device. The…

The iPhone Reminders app is one of the simplest solutions offered in all of iOS. Apple has taken great care to make the interface as sparse as possible and the flexibility included has been kept deliberately limited so that you can set your reminders and then forget about them until the time comes when you need to be alerted again. However, there is a hidden feature that is very powerful and which you will likely use many times once you realise just how beneficial it can be. The ability to set reminders based on a specific location opens doors to automating many of the tasks you need to complete. There is no better way to complete a task than having it pop up right in front of you when…

Although still a standalone app, Apple has nevertheless integrated Facebook into iOS, meaning you can share content to it quickly and easily from within other apps. Interacting with the world’s largest social network has never been easier. You can share a photo on Facebook straight from your Camera or Photos app, post your location using Maps, brag about high scores straight from Game Center and, if you have your hands full, you can get Siri to do all the posting on your behalf. You will need to download the free Facebook app from the App Store and log into your account in the Settings app to access the Facebook features in your core apps. But once you’re signed in, you’ll be up and running and won’t have to worry about…

The introduction of Apple Pay marked a huge change in the way we pay for goods. It is exceptionally convenient, highly secure and after a few uses you may find it tiresome to use a traditional card to pay for things. The retailer will not receive any information about you when you make a purchase and a unique code is used for every single transaction for added security. The use of Touch ID is a major security benefit and with the extremely natural Wallet app managing all of your payment cards, there really are no downsides to using Apple Pay. We will show you how to set up a debit or credit card to use with Apple Pay and also demonstrate how to make a payment, which is easier…

Being able to download music and movies on the go is one of the best things about Apple’s devices, and this is especially true of the iPhone. With the enormous selection available on the iTunes Store, you’re unlikely to be lost for something to suit your mood. It’s not just music and movies though, as you can also download TV programmes, audiobooks and ringtones too. Thanks to the intelligent Siri service, you can even hold your phone up to a sound source, ask Siri “What’s the song?” and after listening intently for a few seconds, Siri will not only name the song and artist, but will also allow you to buy the track straight from iTunes – genius! All of your iTunes purchases are automatically backed-up to your iCloud, meaning…

Whereas previously the Music app was merely a way to enjoy listening to your iTunes music collection on the move, it has grown into a much bigger beast. Recent iOS updates has seen the Music app get something of an overhaul. While you can still enjoy your music through your iPhone, the focus of the app has now shifted to Apple Music, the sonic streaming service that lets you discover new music and stream it straight to your device for a monthly subscription fee. You can enjoy this service for free for three months to try it out, but if you don’t fancy continuing with the service you’ll have to turn off automatic renewal to prevent being charged for the service after the trial period. You can also use the…

The iPhone’s video feature alone has the potential to keep you occupied on long plane journeys, while you are bored in a hotel or waiting for an appointment. It adds an invaluable function to the iPhone experience that could almost justify half its cost straight away. It has been designed for ease of use, as most Apple software has been, and takes great care of many of the niggles that are found in competing devices. For example, it will automatically start playing a film or television programme from the same point that you last left it, which is handy, and expanding the screen only requires a simple double tap. In true Apple style, everything is designed to help you get the most from your viewing experience. In the age…

iMovie on an iPhone brings a highly complex task to the mobile space in a way that would have seemed impossible only a few years ago. It has to deal with a set of tools that require lots of processing power, but manages to do so in a way that still makes the process feel natural to the user. You can add photos and videos and choose a soundtrack to play in the background, but you can also then tweak every single piece of media you include to look exactly as you want them to. Audio notes can be added to each clip and the way they transition between each other can also be changed with a couple of taps, so the only thing holding you back will be…

Whether you’re keeping a budget, tracking your workload, keeping a journal or charting your team’s performance on the pitch, spreadsheets can help you organise and plan all aspects of your life. Numbers is the perfect app for creating them. Using a friendly and intuitive interface, Numbers guides you through the process of transferring your data to charts and cells that can be linked together with a single tap to convey your data in easy-to-follow and eye-catching sheets. You can create stacks of sheets in minutes, either by working from one of many pre-installed templates or by creating one from scratch and the accessible and user-friendly toolset makes the whole process significantly quicker and easier than you may be used to with other spreadsheet apps. You can create as many…

The Apple Watch is an exciting piece of kit, especially if it’s your first smartwatch purchase. While many users will want to delve into its suite of features immediately, first you’ll need to use your iPhone to correctly set it up. The two devices work in tandem, but due to the various menus and options on the iPhone, it’s an essential piece of kit to have to hand when you first venture on to your Apple Watch. Although the setting up process is easy enough, the time it takes is a whole different story. Due to the intricate components of the smartwatch, and the technology it takes to both sync and pair with your iPhone, the process takes around 30 minutes. However, this time can vary depending on some of…

Turn on/off How to power-up your device or shut it down completely using the power button Sleep mode Conserve your iPhone’s battery power when the device is not in use Unlock Determine how your iPhone is unlocked ready for use Charging All you need to know about powering-up your iPhone Change volume Discover how to adjust the sound output of your iPhone for all kinds of purposes Rotation lock Learn how to lock your iPhone’s screen orientation to keep it in landscape or portrait mode Brightness Learn how to adjust the brightness of your iPhone screen to suit any conditions Icons How to organise your apps neatly on your Home screen Mute Learn how to cut all sound on your device instantly Syncing iCloud ensures all of your info and…

For all the iPhone’s uses and versatility, it doesn’t really come into its own until you have Wi-Fi access. Sure you can play games, write documents, send emails and even download the latest books, but you can’t do the really big stuff if you don’t have access to the internet. Internet access turns your iPhone from an impressive piece of expensive kit into something that opens up worlds. This is due in part to the magnificence that is the App Store, a virtual store that gives you access to literally thousands of different applications, ranging from popular games like Angry Birds and Real Racing to GPS devices, interactive encyclopaedias, word processing apps and much, much more. Your iPhone is a portal to a host of fantastic services, but first…

Now that you’ve upgraded your standard iCloud account to an iCloud Drive account, you’ll have much more freedom to sync your files and access them in other apps. Essentially, iCloud still works in the same way (you can enable the iCloud function with a range of apps in Settings) in syncing files and making them accessible across all of your iOS and Mac OS devices, but iCloud Drive is a bulkier beast to which you can save your entire Photo Library and make it available anywhere, as such the standalone iPhotos app has now been rendered obsolete. With apps such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote as well as a wide range of third-party apps you can now enable iCloud when starting up the updated app, which means all of…

Touch ID ticks all of the boxes for a fingerprint system and works exactly as you would want it to. It’s quick, easy to use and secure, but you still have many options that you can tweak to make it work in the way you want it to. For the majority of these settings, you should only need to set them up once and you will then enjoy greater unlocking speeds, more secure app purchases and the reassurance that the technology is working exactly as it should. We will show you how to add new fingerprints to your iPhone and also how to choose when Touch ID should be used. Given that it’s more secure than any password, we suggest enabling it in every available area. It takes a…

As well as serving as a phone, personal organiser, work tool and gaming device, let us not forget that your iPhone is also a great portable MP3 player. What’s more, purchasing and downloading new music is a quick and easy process that can be conducted via the iTunes app on your Mac. Any music that you download from the iTunes Store is then stored in your personal iCloud account, meaning you can redownload the tracks to any of your devices at any time, provided you have a network connection. Of course, you can also import your CD collection into your iTunes library and then transfer the tracks to your iPhone. It’s possible to sync tracks, albums or your entire music library. iTunes 12 remembers your settings, so whenever your…

Your iPhone has always been rather good at notifying you about updates, messages, events and so on. In the early days of iOS 4, the way these messages were conveyed was sometimes quite intrusive, depending on what you were doing, with a message box appearing right in the middle of the screen. However, since iOS 5, the iPhone has really embraced the concept of notifications, and the system now features an excellent suite to allow you to tailor all aspects of how your device goes about communicating messages to you. By going to the Notifications section in Settings, you can set certain apps to notifiy you via screen alerts whenever something happens – such as an incoming text message or email. Otherwise you can simply check your notifications by swiping…

Now that you’ve finally got your hands on a shiny new iPhone, one of the first things you’re going to want to do is add a contact in the excellent Contacts app. It has easyto-navigate buttons and a natural feel. If you’re new to the whole touchscreen concept, then this process will be a revelation in simplicity. Not only can you add all the pertinent information you need, but there are cool little extras hidden in your iPhone that make the system very slick, intuitive and easy to use. The Contacts app works when your iPhone is held vertically, and this will give you access to all the options you’ll ever need. You can literally feel your way around all of the apps on your iPhone, and the Contacts app…

We’ve all been there. We’re in a meeting and our iPhone starts buzzing. It’s our spouse/parent/friend but we can’t answer the call. However, we really don’t want to reject the call and face their wrath later. What do we do? Don’t panic, because now you can quickly and easily reassure your caller that you’ve seen their call and you’re not ignoring them. With iOS 6, Apple introduced a nifty little feature, which enables you to reject a call and respond straight away with a text message – with just one tap. Even better, if you have a habit of forgetting to call people back, you can set a reminder to return the call later. You can make this feature work for you by setting up your own custom default…

Messages are a staple diet of any modern day smartphone. They are quick, easy, convenient and almost always shorter than a phone call. The iPhone follows the Apple tradition and adds a little style and panache to the tried-and-tested text messaging experience. The messages are not simply stored in an inbox, they are stored in conversations, exactly as a user would talk to someone face-to-face. Being colour-coded, users can quickly scan a conversation to see the messages received and sent. The integrated copy, paste and replace commands also mean that users can take even further control of a conversation. The recent iOS 10 update has brought a wealth of new features to the Messages app. These include animations, stickers, emojis and effects, and each is designed to help you…

Mail on iOS offers a way to be at your desk even when you’re not physically there. The native Mail app makes it effortless to hook up to your various email accounts, regardless of provider, so you never have to be without your correspondence. Whether its a work account or that of your significant other, you’ll be able to manage all your messages on the go. Of course, there is a level of management that comes with having several email accounts in one place, but fortunately Mail has been designed to offer plenty of that. This tutorial will take you through some of the ways you can customise accounts and manage the different content that comes through, including how it appears. It’s your email after all; it should appear…

app for iPhone users looking to find their way while on the go. But the service is always developing, with great additions made at every update. One of the more recent features is the ability to search routes using public transport. Users are treated to duration approximations, exact route steps and instructions throughout the journey. Despite being an excellent standalone driving and walking navigation solution, the level of assistance always getting a boost. More cities boast a visually stunning Flyover Tour, too, making you feel like you are really there, and the ‘nearby’ function is yet another bonus to be aware of. You no longer need to search for addresses of establishments because you can use descriptive terms such as ‘restaurant’ and Maps will present a variety of options…

The old photography truism that the best camera is the one you have with you applies as much to shooting video as it does to taking snapshots. You might be browsing the web, reading a book or listening to music on your iPhone, but within seconds you can use it to quickly grab priceless footage of that neverto-be-repeated moment. In fact, the iPhone is equipped with two cameras: one front and one rear-facing. And while you’ll probably get a lot of use out of the front-facing camera thanks to the FaceTime app, the better quality of the rear camera makes it more suitable for recording video with. Accessing and using your iPhone’s camera is easier than ever as you can access it from the Control Centre or directly from your…

Your iPhone’s Clock app is incredibly versatile. When you launch it you will see a row of icons along the bottom of the screen that represent the various features of the app. World Clock lets you see what time it is in any location across the world, Stopwatch lets you time events and Timer lets you set a countdown timer, which is especially handy for cooking. The Alarm function is what we will concentrate on in this tutorial, helping you set an alarm for a wide range of purposes, but it is also worth pointing out the brand-new feature of the Clock app that was introduced with iOS 10 – Bedtime. As we all benefit from getting a consistent amount of sleep every night, the purpose of this feature…

There are countless third-party apps designed to help you curate online news for the topics and publications that you prefer, and each uses different methods to remain unique in a crowded market. Apple has now decided to join the party and has offered the obviously titled News app to help us read only the news that is of interest to us or which is of grea importance. It is all too easy to be overwhelmed with online content and being able to manage what you read will not only save time, but ensure that you get to read news that actually matters to you. Apple has built a consistent interface that levels the various design styles of the different publications. The resultant app is exceptionally easy to use. Tap an…

There’s little doubt that Twitter is a social phenomenon. This simple application allows you to share thoughts – or rather ‘tweets’ – with people around the world almost as soon as they enter your head. Likewise, you’ll see what’s on the minds of people that you choose to follow. The advent of smartphones has taken this concept to the next level by allowing you to tweet at any time, wherever you are in the world, making it easier than ever to speak your mind. Now, the tweeting process just got even easier with your iPhone. Twitter is integrated seamlessly into Apple’s operating system; simply sign in, then begin tweeting directly from your favourite apps. You no longer need to open the Twitter app, find a photo to upload or…

Once upon a time the Notes app was capable of simply recording text, but that all changed with the more recent releases of iOS. The app is now capable of offering all the media-related features you could need, and it is more connected to other apps than ever before. Besides typing in a thought or reminder to yourself, you can now make it more visual by inserting images and adding sketches, which can be drawn with a variety of drawing tools. Each object can be moved around freely within the note and all of the data is held in place if/when you want to share your note with others. Also compatible are web links, photos and task lists, so you can save everything you need. The main listing interface…

You could link your iPhone to your desktop computer and transfer your favourite songs onto it via iTunes. However, importing tracks from CDs can be a pretty cumbersome way to get your hands on brand new music. As you are more than likely to carry your precious iPhone around wherever you go, remember you have the freedom to browse and download all your favourite music tracks whenever and wherever you fancy. You no longer need to be chained to a home computer thanks to the iPhone’s own iTunes app. When you take a fancy to a song that you hear in your local Wi-Fi-enabled coffee shop or over 3G, you can fire up iTunes, search for the song on the iTunes Store, and download it there and then. Just…

With all of the bells and whistles that the iPhone has to offer, it can be rather easy to forget that it’s also a very impressive iPod in its own right. The interface is clean, simple, easy to manipulate and great fun to play around with. The new Apple Music feature also means you can stream whatever music you want on a subscription basis, much like Spotify. A great feature of Apple Music is the ease with which you can create personalised playlists – for parties or fitness regimes, for example. The system Apple has devised for this is truly very impressive. So much so, that you will want to sift through an entire library and create one playlist after another. Gone are the days when you had to…

It is rather easy to get lost in a world of crazy apps and social media, but the iPhone is also a fantastic ebook reader. It has a number of advantages over the Kindle in that it can do a great deal more than a dedicated device, but on a purely ebook-reading scale, the iPhone is still one of the most advanced out there, especially considering its size. What’s more is that Apple already has a tried and tested way of delivering ebooks directly to its device: namely through the iTunes Store. Apple hasn’t just bundled the new books into that system, though, because it’s created a separate space for these so that users can be absolutely sure of what they are downloading. iBooks holds all of your ebooks,…

The best thing about GarageBand is that anyone can use it. No prior musical know-how or ability is needed because all the tools that you need to get whatever beats are in your head out are available, right down to the actual instruments. When you create a new song, you can choose from a wide range of built-in ‘smart’ instruments that you can play on screen. You can strum the chords of an acoustic guitar, pound out the rhythm on an on-screen drum kit and even add orchestral strings into the mix. Whatever you choose to play, you can effortlessly record it and then view each track on a mixing desk, trimming excess, looping or adding effects to get the perfect sound. Finished songs are then automatically saved to iCloud…

If you need to present ideas and projects then Keynote is the perfect app for you. Using the slick interface you can create captivating slides from scratch or quickly put them together based on a selection of 44 preinstalled templates. You can add a wide range of attention-grabbing transitional effects for maximum impact. Once you have finished creating, the Presenter Display feature ensures that you deliver your presentation in a professional manner. The app is perfectly suited to remote working because it is integrated with iCloud – so if you start creating a presentation on your Mac, you can tweak it later on your iPhone. You can share a link to others via iCloud so that teammates or colleagues may collaborate on your presentation and you can even use your…

With trembling hands and a giddy sensation in your stomach, you unpack your brand new iPhone from its box and are ready to activate it and start using it to enhance your life. The entire setup can be carried out independently from your computer, which makes it a quick and easy process. All you have to do is connect your new device to a power source and then press the Power button, which is situated on the top of the right-hand edge of your iPhone. It is on the top-right of the device if you have an older generation of iPhone. This will bring up a generic iPhone lock screen with a slider at the bottom. Tap and hold on the slider with your index finger and swipe it…

3G is a network service that allows you to access the internet while you are away from a Wi-Fi signal, for example when travelling. It’s an amazingly useful service, due to the fact that, as communication networks expand, online access is becoming more and more expensive. While public Wi-Fi spots are becoming more numerous – everywhere from pubs to McDonald’s has them, and many are free – there can still be charges, in some hotels for example. 3G access comes with all iPhones and is enabled by default, which means you can access the internet wherever you happen to be, whether there’s a Wi-Fi signal or not. However, if you’re going abroad or looking to save on battery life, it’s a good idea to know how to tweak your settings,…

Your iPhone is like a bank vault where all kinds of data is stored. So what happens if your iPhone gets lost or breaks? Nothing. Thanks to iCloud, all of your data is backed up automatically and kept safely in your cloud storage space. When your iPhone is connected to a power source and a Wi-Fi network, all of your media, settings, app data and messages are backed up. When you set up a new iOS device or need to restore the information on the one you already have, iCloud Backup does all the heavy lifting. All you have to do is ensure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi, enter your Apple ID and all of your important data will appear on your device. The benefits of using…

At first 3D Touch may just sound like a gimmicky feature that may prove useful from time to time, but it is only when you start using it every day that you realise how much it can transform your user experience. Its incorporation was the first major redesign of the iPhone interface since the original phone was released, and it could be described as a right-click mouse button – but it actually goes much deeper than you may expect. It works by sensing the strength with which you press the screen, and can then feed back results depending on the degree of pressure detected. A firm but light touch lets you peek at emails and other content, and an additional, harder touch will fully open the content you are viewing.…

Whether you’re lying in bed or sitting on a train, your iPhone makes for a great portable movie player as the small screen shows off movies with vivid clarity. It gets even better if the movie has been purchased or rented through the iTunes Store, as the iPhone will display detailed information about the film and enable users to skip directly to a particular chapter with just one tap of the finger. For those with an Apple TV, it’s also possible to wirelessly stream any movie to the device from your iPhone, enabling you to watch films on a high-definition TV and control the playback using the iPhone’s touchscreen display. In this tutorial we’ll explain how easy it is to sync movies from your desktop computer to the iPhone…

With the iPhone, Apple has allowed users the ability to change the background of both the Home and the Lock screen. This may seem like a trivial addition to the software set, but it’s actually pretty neat. Apple successfully employs a closed system to prevent users from making the system look bad, so we’re glad that we get to add a little individuality, and we were also pretty pleased when we found that you can also have different images for the screens. Making changes to the system is very simple, and proficiency at this simple task should give you the courage to explore the settings further in order to get even more use from your iPhone and make improvements to the way it works for you. Whether it’s an image…

Calling a contact from your iPhone is simple, and takes advantage of one of the device’s most basic but most essential and commonly used tasks. Once you have added all of your contact details onto your iPhone, it will automatically store them in alphabetical order, making it easy to search and call a specific name and number from your contacts list without having to trawl through endless entries. You can also use your iPhone’s Voice Control feature to locate and call contacts, press and hold the Home button on your iPhone, or request Siri’s assistance for completing the task. Here are some simple, easy-to-follow steps on how to locate your contacts list and then make a call directly by using information. Be careful, when it’s this simple, you may find…

Do you crave even a few minutes away from the hustle and bustle of daily life? Smartphones enable us to be always online, and always connected to the wider world. The boundaries between our digital, work and personal lives are becoming ever increasingly blurred, meaning that we get fewer opportunities to simply ‘switch off’ from the distractions that our phones bring. Apple has come up with a nifty solution to this problem in the form of Do Not Disturb – a feature which, when activated, silences all notifications, alerts, incoming phone calls and messages for a set period of time or until it’s deactivated. Do Not Disturb is a saving grace for anyone who is fed up of being woken in the middle of the night by their phone…

Out of all of your iPhone’s bolt-on apps, it is the Messages app that has enjoyed the most attention with the recent iOS 10 update. Now, rather than just sending bland text messages, you can send animations, brand-new sets of emojis, stickers, screen effects and more. The app has been slightly redesigned to accommodate everything, but once you know where everything is you can really start to have fun with your messages. Here we will guide you through the numerous cool new features and show you where to access them and how to apply them to your messages. Once mastered, you’ll be able to express yourself in new imaginative ways and ensure that the messages that you send to family and friends really capture the imagination. “Express yourself in new…

Browsing the internet on your iPhone is an absolute breeze, and the evolution of iOS over the years has brought even more functionality to the app. With options to block those annoying ads that appear on web pages and save Safari content to your Notes app, browsing the web just got more interesting. Of course, the Safari app also has a whole host of other cool features that make it such a robust browser. With iCloud Tabs, any tabs that you have open on your iPhone will be viewable on any other device that’s running one of the latest operating systems such as your iPad or Mac. All you have to do is tap the tab button at the bottom-right of the screen in Safari, scroll down past the…

If there’s one category on the iOS App Store that’s exploded more than any other over recent years, it’s photography apps. There are hundreds, if not thousands of apps dedicated to improving your iPhone’s camera and enhancing the stock Camera app that remained largely unchanged since the introduction of video recording with the iPhone 3GS. So the Camera app was completely overhauled in recent iOS updates in order to deliver features photography fans had been crying out for. The app we know and love today has a simpler interface, live photo filters, square and panoramic photo modes and more. There is even a Time-Lapse mode for dynamic, animated photos and a shutter delay function. If you love adding filters and effects, and the medium format-style images that Instagram gives…

With the iPhone’s camera just as good as any compact point-and-shoot digital camera and far more convenient to fire up at a moment’s notice, it’s no surprise that our iPhone albums get quickly filled with photos. On the most basic level, your photos are sorted year-by-year with the date and time of an image determining which Collection it’s sorted in. Since the release of iOS 10, things get even more organised too with photos being arranged in categories such as faces and places, so that you can always find a particular image quickly. Once you’ve found that perfect photo, you can edit it using Photos’ built-in tools or share it via a number of different methods including AirDrop. If you wish to make quick edits to your photos on…

The Calendar app on the iPhone is pretty useful and very easy to use. Of course, this digital calendar has a multitude of advantages over a real one. Firstly, you get the beauty of typeface rather than scrawled handwriting; secondly, there’s no need for Tipp-Ex; and thirdly, you can list your appointments in a number of different ways – List, Day or Month views are available – to make everything easy to take in. Like the majority of iPhone apps, the Calendar app is easy to use; so easy, in fact, that you’ll want to document every move you make while using it, from eating breakfast to scheduling tea breaks. Adding an event is simplicity itself, and your events will sync with iCloud to be made accessible on all of…

When it was introduced with the iPhone 4S, Siri seemed almost futuristic. Not only could you talk to your phone, but it would talk back and do things for you. Siri has stuck around but hasn’t always been the most useful feature on our iPhones. This changed significantly when iOS 9 was released, making Siri a lot more versatile and responsive to your commands and the recent iOS 10 update places more responsibility on Siri across numerous aspects of your device. Siri now manages and neatly organises your photos, can be used as a remote control for your Apple TV and works with a host of third-party apps so that you can call on Siri to assist you in your everyday routine. For example, you can ask Siri to…

One of the biggest growth areas within the smartphone and tablet market over the past few years has been all things health. Not only is the App Store awash with healthrelated offerings but there are also many gadgets that work in tandem with your iDevice. All of these generate data to help build up a picture of your overall health, but the problem has always been that they operate in isolation. Until now, that is. With Health, which isn’t on the iPad, you can link your various apps and devices, collecting all of the data about your fitness in one place. It means, for instance, that information from a gadget charting the number of steps you take each day can be combined with the data gathered by an app…

The iPhone is magical, and a major part of the magic is that you can expand its capabilities with cheap or even free apps. The App Store has been a roaring success for Apple, with over 1 million applications to choose from – not to mention the $1 billion that it has made for developers. The number and range of applications on offer is stunning; with apps to help you plan large projects, word processors, web browsers… the list is endless. The software tends to be incredibly good value, too – it’s amazing what your iPhone can do after just a 99p investment. Moreover, the fact that the App Store is right there on your iPhone means that you can buy stuff on the go. Navigating the App Store is…

There are some really excellent television programmes on offer in the iTunes Store, and there are even whole series with up to two dozen episodes available. You can easily watch old favourites again or catch up with programmes and series that you might have missed. The typical price of a television programme is just £1.89, but a series depends on the number of episodes that are contained within it, of course. It is always cheaper to buy a series than buying episodes individually, and sometimes the price per episode can be as little as 50p. The iTunes Store makes it really easy to find entertaining programmes and you can see featured ones, top charts, the latest episodes and so on. There are informative descriptions and useful reviews from others who…

The official Podcasts app from Apple is designed to streamline every part of the process of subscribing, downloading and listening to podcasts. Excellent discovery options are included that will offer more than enough choice to get you started. You should bear in mind the potential costs of downloading episodes, particularly video podcasts, but the actual content is free. We will guide you through the options and also how to build up a library of entertainment that will serve you well over time. Podcasts are excellent value, easy to use and Apple has included everything you need to enjoy them on your iPhone. “Podcasts are excellent value, entertaining and easy to use. Apple has included everything you need” Podcasts Make the Podcasts app work for you…

When you’re reading an ebook on the iPhone it feels natural, and we are certain that we’ll be doing a lot more reading now that it’s so simple to carry books around with us. The beauty of the iPhone interface means that making changes to the way iBooks looks and feels is very simple. Users can opt to make text bigger, change the font, change scrolling options, alter the brightness and change the background theme of the book without having to leave the page they’re reading. Try performing the same operations on a paper book and you’ll see the advantages of reading in a digital format. Follow our quick tutorial on how to get more from the already excellent reading experience. “Try doing these operations on a paper book and…

Seeing is very much believing with Apple’s Pages app. Available for iPhone, iPad and Mac, Pages is a streamlined word processor and an easy-to-use page layout tool that allows you to get creative and produce professional-looking documents. You can get started quickly by choosing one of the many pre-designed templates before simply applying your own text or images to an existing layout. Alternatively you can create something from scratch, which is made easy by an intuitive interface that stokes your imagination and enables you to transfer your ideas to the digital page effortlessly. More than just a text-editor, Pages can more than handle images, graphs and tables as well to suit all your needs. What’s more, Pages is universal across all platforms and compatible with iCloud, so you can start…

Apple’s new competitor to the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive lets you sync files across multiple iOS devices and computers. It goes beyond the regular iCloud service since it not only allows you to create and save documents in Pages on your iPhone and then open them in Pages on a Mac, for instance, it also allows other apps to easily access those files. Files created by one app are no longer restricted to that app alone. This means you could start creating a drawing in one app, finish it in another and then use it in a presentation. Before, you would have to save it to Photos, import it, and save it again as a separate image. Now one file is needed which is automatically updated when…