The iPhone offers a a group of settings called Restrictions that control the type of content and apps that can be accessed on the iPhone. Restrictions can also limit access to some of the iPhone’s default apps and also make sure the iPhone isn’t used to purchase apps or music. The iPhone protects theese restrictions with a passcode so that they can’t be changed when the device is given to another person.
To set the iPhone’s restrictions, just follow these steps:
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If you’ve just bought an iPhone and are dreading manually re-entering in all your contacts, there’s a relatively quick and painless way to transfer them into the iPhone using your old SIM card. Below are instructions on how to do this.
An important thing to note is that only the first phone number for each contact from the old SIM will be transferred to the iPhone. Any secondary numbers will not transfer (eg, cell, work, etc). Also note that some phones, such as Blackberry devices, don’t store contact info on a SIM card. In that case, you’ll need to take your phone to an AT&T Wireless store to transfer the contacts.
AT&T and Apple limit the size of downloads over the 3G/EDGE networks to files less than 10MB. This can prevent you from downloading many podcasts directly to the iPhone. However, there is a workaround to play any podcast listed in the iPhone’s iTunes app regardless of size. But the way to do it is not very obvious. Here’s how:
1. Launch the iTunes app:
2. Tap the Podcasts button at the bottom of the screen (it may not be there by default). If you don’t see one, tap the More tab:
3. Tap Podcasts:
Tip: For quicker access to podcasts in the future, click the Edit button in the top right corner and drag the Podcasts icon to the row at the bottom.
4. Browse through the podcasts and select one. You will see a list of episodes:
5. To stream and listen to the entire podcast, tap the name of the podcast. DO NOT tap the button on the right side:
6. The iPhone’s Quicktime player will launch, and the podcast will be begin to stream (and play):
If you have a poor connection, you may want to pause the podcast and wait for more of the file to buffer so you can listen uninterrupted. Note that this works for video podcasts as well.
Be sure to check out more of our Art of the iPhone tips.
Many people dislike the font used in the iPhone’s Note app so much (the font is called Marker Felt), they refuse to use it. Until Apple gives us an official way to change it, we must rely on workarounds. Here are two ways to change the font in the Notes app without any hacking. The first method limits you to one font, Verdana. The second method takes more time but offers many more fonts to choose from.
1.Tap the iPhone’s Setting’s icon:
2. Tap General
3. Scroll down and tap Keyboard
4. Tap International Keyboards
5. Scroll down all the way to the bottom and tap Chinese (Simplified):
6. Switch the tab labeled Pinyin to On:
You’ll only have to do steps 1-6 once. Steps 8 and 9 will have to be repeated every time you want to change the font.
7. Open the Notes app.
8. Create a new note, and when the keyboard pops up, hit the little globe icon until you see the Chinese keyboard. Most of the keys will be the same as the English version, but the space bar and return button will have Chinese characters on it:
9. Type one letter, then switch back to the English keyboard.
Now, when you continuing typing, the note will be in Verdana font.
This method is for Mac users only, as it involves creating notes in the Mac Mail application. With this method, you can use dozens of fonts.
1. In the Mail program on your Mac, create a new Note:
2. Change the font style to whatever desired font style you want on the iPhone and type a letter or two in that font:
3. Click Done.
4. Connect your iPhone to the computer.
5. In iTunes, select your iPhone in the left sidebar.
6. Under the Info tab, scroll down and make sure the checkbox for “Sync notes” is checked:
7. Hit Apply or Sync
8. On the iPhone, open the Notes app.
9. Find the note you just created on the Mac, open it, and start typing. You’ll see the text is in the same the font you used on the Mac.
You can also use this method to change the font color and size:
Note that the font change will only work in the note that you created in the Mac’s Mail application. If you try to copy and paste the text into a new note, it will revert back to Marker Felt. Now, create a 100 notes with a single character typed in Helvetica, and you’ll never have to use Marker Felt again!
Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Tips.
The iPhone’s keyboard has a few extra characters that only become visible if you press and hold down keys. Two frequently used characters you might find useful to know about are the em dash (–) and the ellipsis (…).
To make an em dash—often used to interrupt a sentence for parenthetical remarks like this one—hold down the hyphen key until you see an em dash appear next to the hyphen. Slide your finger over to highlight the em dash and release your finger.
To make an ellipsis, hold down the period key until the ellipsis appears next to the period. Slide your finger to highlight and release.
Be sure to check out more of our posts on iPhone Basics.
I use Gmail for my email accounts, and one of the best features of its web interface is the ability to search the entire catalog of your emails, content included. This is a powerful tool for finding old emails or looking up an address that someone emailed you a year ago.
Search is missing in the iPhone’s Mail app, but you can access Gmail’s search feature on the iPhone using the Mobile Safari browser. Simply launch Gmail.com in the iPhone’s browser, then scroll to the very bottom of the webapp until you see the search bar. You can then use all the power of Google search to find specific emails.
Gmail iPhone webapp search.
It took me a while to discover the search bar, as it’s not in a very intuitive position–it’s normally at the top of Gmail in a regular browser.
Of course, the Gmail webapp requires an Internet connection while the iPhone’s Mail app can download email to be read offline. But recent changes to HTML could soon mean that emails can, in fact, be downloaded in a browser and read offline. But until then, we’ll have to suffer with Mail and use Gmail’s web interface for searching.
It’s happened to us all, you’re in a rush to leave and you just want to sync a few songs and podcasts to your iPhone. You hit sync, and suddenly you find yourself waiting…and waiting…and waiting.
What’s taking so long is that all the data on iPhone is being backed up by iTunes. There’s a simple temporary fix, and it involves canceling the backup process. Just follow this simple step:
When synching the iPhone, you should see a progress message at the top of iTunes that reads “Backing up [Your Name]’s iPhone.” Simply click the X next to this text.
This will cancel the backup process, but synching will continue. Synching is much quicker than the backup process, even with large files. You should be finished and on your way in anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. You can watch the progress bar at the top of iTunes to gauge the time.
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t cancel backups too often, as having a backup of your iPhone is important in case the data on your iPhone somehow becomes corrupted. If you didn’t have a backup, you wouldn’t be able to fully restore the information on your iPhone.
Check out more of our posts on iPhone Tips.
If you want to activate a used iPhone, you have a few options. You can go the official route and go to an AT&T Wireless store and set up a new account, or you can use software to “unlock” the iPhone for use on another carrier (like T-Mobile). A third option is to “jailbreak” the iPhone and use it as an iPod Touch without any phone functionality.
If a friend or loved one gives you their old iPhone, you can make it your own by taking it to an AT&T store and telling them you have an old iPhone and would like to use it as your own. You’ll have to sign up for AT&T service, and they’ll give you a new sim card. Once you install the SIM card, you can activate the iPhone at home using iTunes. This is by far the easiest way to activate and reuse an old iPhone.
The iPhone works best with AT&T, but it is possible to unlock the iPhone so that it works with other carriers (note that the iPhone only works on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, it does not work on Verizon, which is a CDMA network). We don’t recommend unlocking, but if you want to do it, it is not illegal. An unlocked iPhone can be a hassle, however. For example, you won’t be able to take advantage of iPhone software updates until the people who created the unlocking software tell you it’s ok to update.
If you want to unlock your iPhone, this site is a good starting place.
*Update* There are now several apps that make emailing large groups easier. An example is the free app ABContacts Lite.
One of the missing features of the iPhone’s Mail app is the ability create groups of email addresses and send an email to that group. For example, let’s say you’re at the hospital, your wife just had a baby, and you want to send an email to a large group announcing “It’s a boy!” You’d have to enter each contact in one by one–a tedious process. At the hospital–you’ll want to be enjoying your new baby, not fumbling with the iPhone.
There is a somewhat imperfect workaround that involves a little preparation. The answer lies in creating a draft email. Here’s how:
I get poor signal strength in my apartment, so I experience a lot of dropped calls. But I’ve noted (as have others) that when I place my iPhone in the dock, I get more bars. I now make important phone calls with the iPhone sitting in the dock. To boost your iPhone’s signal, connect it the USB connector or the dock.
Note that the cable and/or dock will need to be plugged into a power source such as your laptop or a wall outlet to see the signal boost. Also, if you’re using the dock, you’ll need to use the iPhone headphones, as the speaker phone does not function properly while the iPhone is docked.
The reason for the signal boost is unclear, but it could be that with the iPhone connected to a power source, the radio can function at full power without battery concerns.
Check out more of our iPhone Tips.