11 iPhone tips for total novices

11 iPhone tips for total novices
1. When in doubt, go Home.Want to go back to the main screen, the one with all the icons? That's called the Home screen. It doesn't matter which app you're using or task you're performing--a single press of the Home button (the only physical button on the front of the iPhone) will return you to the Home screen.2. Always turn your iPhone off before you slip it into your pocket.Although your iPhone will switch itself into idle mode (where the screen turns off but the phone stays on) after a designated period of inactivity, you should get in the habit of manually turning off the screen. Otherwise you might accidentally place a call or run a battery-draining app while slipping the phone into your pocket. So remember: when you're done using your iPhone, press the top button (aka, the Sleep/Wake button).3. Send calls straight to voice mail.Don't want to answer the incoming call, but don't want your iPhone to keep ringing and/or vibrating until it finally goes to voice mail? Just quickly double-press the Sleep/Wake button to immediately route the call to voice mail.4. Double-tap the space bar at the end of a sentence.Speaking of double-presses, if you quickly tap the space bar twice at the end of a sentence, the iPhone will insert a period and a space, then enable the Shift key for the start of your next sentence.Tap the Keypad button while on a call to access a numeric keypad.Screenshot by Rick Broida5. Access the keypad while you're on a call.Need to "press 1 to leave a message" or enter a security code while on a call? The iPhone has no keypad, so how are you supposed to do that? Simple: just take the phone away from your ear, then tap the Keypad icon that appears in between the Mute and Speaker icons (which can also come in handy when you're on a call). Now use the onscreen keys to enter the necessary numbers. When you're done, just hold the phone back up to your head.6. Don't forget to sync.Your iPhone is not an island; it needs to connect with your computer, even if it's just once in a while. That means installing iTunes if you don't already have it and plugging that little white sync cable into a USB port (and then into your iPhone, natch). Although you can download apps, music, and the like directly to your device (i.e., no computer required), syncing makes a backup of everything on your handset (contacts, appointments, apps, etc.)--something you might need in the event you have to replace a lost, stolen, or broken phone. It also allows you to install operating-system updates.7. Master autocorrect.Even savvy users sometimes get thrown by the little word-bubbles that sometimes appear as you type. This is the iPhone's autocorrect feature: it's trying to guess which word you're trying to spell. If you want to accept the suggestion (even before you finish typing), just tap the space bar. Don't want the suggested word? Tap the little X in the bubble before you hit the space bar.8. Fix "jittery" icons.Did all your icons start shaking all of sudden? Don't panic! You've inadvertently put the iPhone into "rearrange icons" mode, which allows you to organize the icons to your liking by tapping and dragging them. This happens when you hold your finger down on an icon (any icon) instead of just tapping it. How do you stop the shaking? Easy: just press the Home button.9. Learn to use Airplane Mode.Federal law says your phone needs to be off when you're in the air. But that doesn't mean off, off; you simply have to disable its wireless capabilities. To do so, put it in Airplane Mode: tap the Settings icon, then tap the Airplane Mode on/off switch (which is conveniently located at the very top of the Settings screen). When it's set to On, your iPhone won't be able to make calls or send text messages--but it'll still work as an iPod. In other words, you can still read books, listen to music, watch movies, play games, and so on. After you land, just return to the Settings screen and set Airplane Mode back to off.There's an iPhone User Guide hiding inside the Safari app's bookmarks.Screenshot by Rick Broida10. Access the built-in User Guide.Apple sure didn't provide much in the way of an instruction manual. Fortunately, for anyone who needs help on the go, there's a user guide built into the iPhone--sort of. To access it, tap the Safari icon (which opens the Web browser). Next, tap the Bookmark icon (it looks like a little open book) at the bottom of the screen. You should see an entry for iPhone User Guide. Tap it to gain access to a full roster of subjects, everything from Getting Started to Using the App Store.11. Turn off "Ask to Join Networks"Everywhere you go, your iPhone keeps asking you if you want to join this network or that network. These are Wi-Fi hot spots, and if you're tired of the iPhone bugging you about them, you can turn off these notifications. To do so, tap the Settings icon, then tap Wi-Fi. On the following screen, find Ask to Join Networks and tap the On button (which will switch to Off). The only caveat here is that if you want to view and join an available network, you'll have to return to this screen and select it manually. Find out more in the aforementioned User Guide.OK, those are my tips--now let's hear yours! After all, everyone was an iPhone novice once, so what advice would you offer to the newbie user?

How to get started with iPhone camera app 645 Pro

How to get started with iPhone camera app 645 Pro
The app's layout has you hold your iPhone in landscape mode, with the rear-facing camera in the upper-left corner (645 Pro does not bother with the lower-resolution front-facing camera). Controls are packed in along either side of the live preview pane. A row along the bottom edge mimics the LCD of a SLR and shows your current settings, including exposure and shutter speed, meter mode, flash, development status (JPEG quality and whether you'd also like to save a TIFF file), and a histogram. These are all of your controls, available right on the screen. No complex menu system to drill down and navigate, although each button has a secondary function you can access by tapping and holding.I could go through and touch on what each control does, but I will turn it over to 645 Pro's clear and thorough user guide (accessible by tapping and holding on the play button in the lower-left corner). Here are three screenshots that show what the left and right controls do and the various settings the bottom panel displays:Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNETThe controls mimic the feel of using an SLR. When setting up a shot, you can use the AF-L and AE-L buttons below the shutter-release button to lock the focus or the exposure of a shot. You can also tap and hold the shutter-release button to lock focus or exposure, similar to pressing the shutter-release button halfway down on an SLR. The app features both multizone and spot metering, night mode (shutter speed up to 1 second), and two grid modes to help you compose your shot. There are also five backs (square to a panoramic 6x17) and seven film stocks (five color, three black-and-white) from which to choose. Other than color vs. black-and-white, the differences in the various film stocks is subtle; Instagram filters these are not.Given the audience for this app, it's likely most users will thumb their nose at using a digital zoom, but should you want to zoom in on your subject, you can pinch the screen to engage the digital zoom (up to 2x). Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNETTo select the output options, tap and hold the Grid button. There are four options: high or lossless JPEG, each with or without also saving a TIFF file. The JPEGs are accessible right from your iPhone's camera roll, but you'll need to sync your iPhone and grab the TIFFs via iTunes. In iTunes, click on your iPhone from the left panel, click Apps from the top menu, and then scroll down to the File Sharing section, where you'll see the 645 Pro app listed and your TIFF files to the right. Of the handful of TIFFs I looked at, they ranged in size from 6.8MB to over 13.9MB.You can also view JPEGs from within the app by tapping the play button in the lower-left corner. You can't edit or delete JPEGs from within the app, but you can e-mail them or share them on Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter.

Alpine joins the CarPlay fray with the new iLX-007

Alpine joins the CarPlay fray with the new iLX-007
Users interested in adding Apple CarPlay to their car's dashboard have a new choice outside of Pioneer's NEX lineup with the announcement of Alpine's newest multimedia receiver. The new Alpine iLX-007 (no, not that ILX) is the latest to the market to support and display Apple's infotainment and apps interface when one of the iPhone 5 or 6 variants running the latest version of iOS is connected via a Lightning cable. Once connected, the driver will be able to access, via voice and with limited touch commands, Apple Maps navigation, phone calls and text messaging, and iTunes Music, Radio and podcasts.Alpine's new A/V receiver is built around a 7-inch capacitive touch screen with a WVGA resolution, but you'll mostly be interacting with Siri Eyes-Free and Apple CarPlay via its voice-activated controls. Functionality for the CarPlay portion of the should operate identically to the systems that we've seen previously, with a heavy emphasis on voice entry and input. Incoming text messages, for example, are read aloud by Siri rather than displayed on the screen and can be responded to without taking a hand off of the steering wheel or eyes off of the road.Because CarPlay is, by design, identical on all compatible receivers, I expect this generation of the car stereo wars to come down to a battle or price tags.Alpine ElectronicsThe iLX-007 also features a trio of 2V preamp outputs, a single auxiliary input, and an input for a rear view camera system. Unique software includes Alpine's MediaXpander technology that claims to improve and restore some of the audio quality lost during the compression of digital media filess, and the Alpine TuneIt App which allows the driver to further customize the iLX-007's audio characteristics for their particular vehicle.Alpine's entry into the budding but small field of CarPlay receivers will retail at a suggested price of $800. Without on-board navigation software and (judging the lack of an "eject" button on the lower bezel) likely also lacking an optical disk drive, this receiver finds itself in most direct competition with Pioneer's $700 AVH-4000NEX or the upcoming $600 Pioneer AppRadio 4. Because the CarPlay experience is, by design, identical on every receiver that supports it, the price tag will likely be the only thing that differentiates these receivers for the casual iPhone user only interested in Apple's interface. I expect this generation of the car stereo wars to boil down to a price battle with deep discounts on the horizon.