All Articles in Tips and How-To

Those of us who rock Mac OS X know all about the “Force Quit”. For Windows users, think killing an application via Task Manager. They’re both ways to shut down non-responsive or otherwise rogue applications from freezing us out or just slowing us down. For iPhone users, well, we don’t have to worry about that, do we? (Remember Apple mocking Windows Mobile for multitask management?)

Well, since MobileSafari, MobileMail, and other Apple apps do multitask and run in the background, it turns out we iPhone owners do still need to worry about it. And with the App Store providing all sorts of new and potentially greedy applications to strain the more limited resources of Mobile OS X, it’s certainly important functionality to have.

So what can we do? Luckily, Apple built in an solution.

Hold down the “Home” button for about 6 seconds. Faster and easier than a full reset, it can get you out of an App jam or generally improve the “snappiness” of your iPhone in general.

Warning: if you have tabs open in MobileSafari, you’ll lose them. That’s the point of freeing up resources, after all…

(Thanks to Antony for the screen shots)

Ahhh, yes. Visual Voicemail — that feature alone was enough to sell me on the iPhone. Voicemail is downloaded directly to your iPhone where you can visually (and with a swipe of your finger) scroll through your messages with leisure. Without your callers knowing, YOU decide which calls are important and need listening to RIGHT NOW. Eh, the others can wait. Now, with great power comes great responsibility, Spidey. If you travel abroad, this wonderful feature can turn on it’s master and vacuum the money right out of your wallet! How? Read on for this week’s Tip!

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You’ve probably heard the joke - “Hey, I’m in shape. ROUND is a shape.” Although we revel in our technology and invent machines to do more so we can do less, there are still opportunities to use technology to help us stay active and fit. Thanks to a heads-up from Kelly Sonora, keep reading for this week’s Tip on how your iPhone can help you get or stay in shape!

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Ahhhh, the good ‘ol Felt Marker font of the iPhone Notes app. If it wasn’t bad enough that you can’t beam a Note or easily transfer Notes from one iPhone to another (to my 3G upgrade horror), to add insult to injury, we’re stuck with the Felt Marker font.  Or are we?

Brett Terpstra of TUAW fame has posted a tip here that offers a step-by-step procedure for… sitting down? … a way to CHANGE the felt marker into something a bit more professional and readable.  Read on for the step-by-step and check out Brett’s article as well!

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Confession: I had to restore my iPhone 3G yesterday. No, I didn’t want to jump on the trend-wagon just to get a build number ending in 7. No, the buggy, sluggy transitions didn’t finally get to me. What happened? A huge chunk — fully 1/4 — of my 16GB storage was eaten up by what iTunes helpfully classified as “Other” files.

I didn’t restore immediately, of course. Since “Other” data doesn’t include music, video, or photos (which are each classified separately in iTunes), and most “other” data, like contacts, OS, settings, etc. is far too small to explain 4.3GB, I considered 3rd party apps (which Apple should really break out in their own color in iTunes as well). Maybe they weren’t being properly uninstalled and removed from the device?

First I removed all 3rd party apps via iTunes 7.7. That got me down to 4.3GB. Then I tried removing them via the home screen’s wiggly jiggly delete, just in case. Same result. Round about that time Apple released iTunes 7.7.1, and just in case this was a known — and hopefully patched — bug, I installed, rinsed, and repeated. And got not a step further.

That’s when I decided the only way to catch this data-hostage taker was to nuke the city. That’s right: full, clean re-install.

I was on the original, out-of-the-box firmware build (5A345) and iTunes restored to an incrementally later version (5A347), but it worked. Storage reclaimed. (And, as some other reports have indicated, this build in general when combined with a clean (not from backup) setup has made the more annoying sluggishness issues disappear).

Anyone else experience any mysterious “other” files taking up all their precious space? Any other/different solutions to my scorched earth approach? (Hey, I was a Windows user in a previous life, and re-install is etched into the final line of my trouble-shooting check list!)

Please let me know!

I’m an apps guy.  Since the App Store in iTunes rolled out, I’ve been downloading like a maniac.  I knew there would be consequences, like slower backup during my iPhone syncing.  Then, I synced for the first time after my iPhone was bloated with apps.  A snail crept across the sidewalk faster than the syncing status bar. Seriously?  Am I resigned to syncing my iPhone overnight so, hopefully, it will be ready to go by morning?  Is there someone (or someones) out there who has wrested the baton from Apple’s clutches and done what Apple should have in the first place by allowing syncing without backing up??  Read on to find out in this week’s Tip!

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Thanks to CoreLocation in the iPhone SDK, Apps can make use of WiFi, Cell, and A-GPS (for the iPhone 3G) information to keep track of where you are. Your Twitter feed can be tagged with your current location, or can show you just those contacts in a certain vicinity. A movie app can automatically fetch show times for all the theaters in a certain radius. A to-do app can pop up location-based (rather than just time-based) alerts, reminding you to help your mom change a lightbulb next time you’re there, or ping you when you pass the electronics store so you remember to pick up that cable you need.

Convenient? You bet. Powerful? A game changer. Invasive? Er… Could certainly be.

What if you don’t always want whereabouts broadcast, if you don’t want everyone to know (or potentially be able to find out) where you are, when you’re out shopping, where that picture of your child was taken?

Read on to find out how apps ask for permission to use your location, how you can change your mind and make them ask you again, or how you can turn off location services completely.

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It took a little while for me to get used to the iPhone’s “soft” keyboard — large hands + tiny keyboard = baby elephant playing piano.  Even though I’ve become rather proficient with the iPhone’s keyboard, I’m always on the prowl for anything that will help with my speed and accuracy.  This week’s Tip is all about some keyboard shortcuts, brought to you by and with special thanks to George by way of Adam Pash’s article at lifehacker.com.  Keep reading for some helpful keyboard Tips (and check out Adam’s article for yourself)!

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My iPhone 3G, 16gb in the white flavor, has hardware issues. As I reported in our forums, it started with the volume-down button not working, and then the issue seemed to spread to volume up, the ringer switch, and the sleep button. A full restore from iTunes didn’t save it — confirmed hardware. Having no Apple Store nearby, I decided to give Apple’s phone support a try. Twenty minutes on hold and a few questions later, they sent me a box. The procedure is very simple, read on for the mini-gallery and return process details.

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With the advent of the App Store where you can download AIM for free, there is now a way to send SMS messages for free.  This method is brought to you by Jeff Carlson of Tidbits.com and will comprise this week’s Tip!  (Important note: the following method is only proven to work in the U.S.)

When I picked up my shiny black iPhone 3G last Friday, I knew I was going to have to pay the inevitable rate increase for data (another $10 smackers a month).  I also knew I would (hissing a curse under my breath) lose my built-in 200 text messages per month.  AT&T’s SMS packages offer a laughable range of offerings:  $5 a month for 200 messages, then an Olympian leap to $15 for 1500 messages and $20 for unlimited.  What, no room for $10 a month for, say, 750 or 1000 messages?  But I digress.

The basic idea goes thusly: AIM (and thus your AIM app on your iPhone) is able to send free text messages by sending them to +13522225555 (or whatever the phone number is).  There’s a bit more to it, of course, so be sure to click on through and read Carlson’s walkthrough.

(Post updated since publication by request)