The iPhone makes it a snap to activate call forwarding—there’s no need to call anyone or deal with voice menus. You simply activate it in the iPhone’s Settings. Just follow these instructions (note that all calls forwarded will count against your iPhone’s minutes):

1. Open Settings:

3. Tap Call Forwarding:

4. Swipe Call Forwarding to On:

5. Tap Forward To:

6. Enter a 10-digit phone number:

7. Tap the Call Forward button in the top left of the screen.

8. And that it’s. You’ll have to wait a second for the iPhone to contact and activate AT&T’s call forwarding services for your account (requires that you have a cell signal). When it’s activated, you will see a special call forwarding icon appear in the iPhone’s top task bar:

Note: You’ll only have to enter in the forwarding phone number once, and from then on, just slide call forwarding on or off to activate it for that number. You can, of course, change the number.

Be sure to check out more of our posts on iPhone Basics.

How to Create an iPhone Playlist

1. Tap the iPod app to open it:

Note: If there is is no menu bar at the bottom of the screen, tap the back arrow in the top left corner of the screen. Or, if Playlist doesn’t appear in the menu bar at the bottom of the screen, tap the More button, then select it from the choices.

3. Tap Add Playlist:

4. Enter a name and tap Save:

5. Add songs, podcasts, videos, etc, to the list by tapping the name or the blue circles:

6. Tap Done when you are finished:

And that’s it. You’ve created a playlist. If you made any mistakes or would like to change the order of the songs, you can now edit the playlist. Follow the steps below.

How to Edit iPhone Playlists

1. Select a playlist:

2. Tap Edit:

3. To delete a song, tap the red circle and then tap Delete:

4. To rearrange the order, tap and hold the three lines on the right side, and drag and drop:

5. To add more songs, tap the plus sign in the top left corner:

6. Tap Done when finished:

Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Basics.

How to Change the Default Email Account:

1. Tap Settings:

3. Scroll down and tap Default Address:

4. Tap the account you wish to be the default email address:

Note: When you reply to an email, the original email’s To: field will always be the address in the reply’s From: field, not the iPhone’s default email account’s address. This is true even in the All Inboxes view. So if you’re in your Gmail account’s Inbox, that account’s email address will show up in the From: field when you tap Reply, not the iPhone’s default email account’s address.

If you’re trying to use the FaceTime feature on your new iPhone 4 and find that there are no on-screen buttons to tap or any ways to access it, it’s likely because you restored your new iPhone 4 with a backup of your previous iPhone, which for some bizarre reason disables FaceTime. You’ll need to reactivate it in the iPhone’s Settings (new iPhone 4 owners who don’t restore from a backup have FaceTime accessible by default). To activate FaceTime, you must go into the iPhone’s Settings, scroll down and tap Phone, then slide the FaceTime slider to On, like thus:

After it’s activated, you can make a FaceTime call by making a normal phone call and tapping the on-screen FaceTime option once connected (requires a WiFi connection and the other person to have an iPhone 4), or you can make a direct FaceTime to FaceTime call by selecting an individual contact and tapping the FaceTime button:

Bes sure to check out more of our iPhone Tips.

1. Go to your iPhone’s contacts list:

2. Tap a contact:

4. Scroll through the list of ringtones and tap one to select it (the ringtone will play when you select it):

And that’s it. You’ve changed the ringtone. A checkmark will appear next to the ringtone to let you know it’s the assigned ringtone, and the name of the ringtone will appear underneath the contact’s name.

Notes and questions:

What ringtones can I use?

You can use any of the iPhone’s default ringtones, ringtones you buy through iTunes, or even ringtones that you make yourself.

How do I make my own ringtone?

You can make your own ringtone using your own songs and iTunes. Check out our step-by-step instructions for how to do this.

Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Basics.

1. Tap Settings:

2. Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars:

4. Choose Last, First or First, Last:

And that’s it. You may notice another option labeled Display Order. This determines how the iPhone’s contacts are displayed, but not sorted. For example, if the display order was First, Last, then a name would be displayed Anne Hathaway. If Last, First, then Hathaway, Anne.

Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Basics.

If you’re looking for a little more precision in just how much juice is left in your iPhone battery, the iPhone has a way to display battery life as a percentage next to the battery icon. To turn on this feature, follow these instructions. Note that this works for the iPhone 3GS only.

1. Tap Settings:

2. Tap General:

3. Tap Usage:

4. Slide the Battery Percentage tab to On:

Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Basics and iPhone Tips.

If you’re looking for a free instruction manual that covers all the basics of operating the iPhone, check out Apple’s iPhone User’s Guide. It’s free, and at 130 pages long, it thoroughly covers all basics of operating your iPhone. It’s available as a PDF that you can download from Apple’s site.

The guide may be too large to print out and carry with you, but you can also access the entire guide in your iPhone’s browser. Apple has created a special web version (a webapp) with an iPhone-friendly interface. Check it out here: iPhone User Guide webapp, on your iPhone.

The webapp has a handy search feature to help you quickly find the topic you’re looking for. Or, you can just browse the regular menu to discover new things your iPhone does.

For easy access to the guide, bookmark it to your homescreen. It even has its own special icon. To bookmark, tap the icon that looks like a book at the bottom of the screen, then tap Add to Home Screen.

Links:

iPhone User’s Guide (pdf)

iPhone User’s Guide (webapp)

To set the iPhone’s restrictions, just follow these steps:

1. Open Settings on your home screen.

2. Tap General:

3. Tap Restrictions:

4. Tap Enable Restrictions:

5. You’ll be asked to enter a four digit PIN, which prevents another person from changing the restrictions:

6. Enter the same PIN again to confirm:

7. Two sets of restrictions will appear. The first set allows you to restrict the functionality of a specific app: Safari, YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Camera, and Location. Simply slide the tab to turn off any of these apps. Once you do, the iPhone user won’t be able to use that service.

The second set of restrictions controls what type of content can be accessed on your iPhone. You can control what maturity level for apps, songs, music, movies, etc, can play on the iPhone. iTunes and the App Store require all entries to be rated, for music with explicit content, and all videos and apps on levels similar to what you see at the moves (G, PG, R, etc.)

You can also turn off something called In-App Purchases. What are In-App Purchases? Well, some apps allow you to purchase additional content like new levels or eBooks within the app itself. To prevent being hit by unwanted charges, you can restrict the iPhone’s ability to make in-app purchases.

8. To finish, simply return to the iPhone’s homescreen by pressing the home button.

How to Disable Restrictions

To disable the restrictions, just tap Disable Restrictions and reenter the PIN:

Be sure to check out more of our posts on iPhone Basics.

Setting up your primary email account on the iPhone will make your life that much easier rather than trying to check it on the Web. Trust us. Not only will you not have to launch Safari to check your email, but automatic notifications will keep you up-to-date at all times. Setting up an email account on the iPhone is incredibly easy. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Mail app.

2. Tap the email provider you wish to use. If you want to set up an email account that is not with Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo or AOL, tap ‘other.’ I set up a Hotmail account on my iPhone, which is considered an ‘other’ account.

3. Enter your name, email address, password, and description of your email account. When you’re finished, tap ‘save.’

4. After you tap ‘save,’ your emails will start importing into the Mail app, and your inbox will be the primary display when you open the application.

For POP/IMAP Email Accounts:

Things get a little more complicated if you’re setting up a POP or IMAP email account. For these types of accounts, you need to know your incoming and outgoing mail server details, including your host name. For some POP/IMAP accounts, the Mail app can discover the info automatically after you enter your username and password, but it’s not guaranteed. If the application prompts you to enter your incoming or outgoing mail server details, this means that the app couldn’t find it automatically.

In this scenario, the best place to get this information is from your email provider. Many email providers list these details under their help or settings sections.

More iPhone Email Basics and Hints:

• To check for new email messages, tap the refresh icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. To compose a new message on your iPhone, tap the compose icon on the right-hand side.

• To delete or move multiple emails, tap the edit icon in the top right-hand corner of your inbox.

• To change any of your mailbox settings, go to your iPhone’s main settings tab.

And then tap ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars.’

• It’s always a good idea to enable SSL (Secure Sockets Layers) on your iPhone mail accounts to increase your account’s security. To enable SLL, go back into ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars’ in your main iPhone settings and tap ‘advanced.’

Next, make sure that the display next to ‘Use SSL’ says ‘on.’