Your Genius Guide to iOS16 February 2012
Master Apple's iPhone and iPad with our definitive guide to iOS
Your Genius Guide to iOS
If you've just bought your first iPhone or iPad, congratulations – here's a quick and simple guide to getting the most out of your shiny new gadget. Long-term Apple fans should take a look too, as we've detailed how to backup your data using iCloud.
Cheat sheet
What is iOS: Apple's software for iPhones and iPads, and the newest iPod touch
Claim to fame: Made touch-screen tech and mobile internet acceptable to non-geeks; capable of inciting fervour bordering on religious
Strength: Streamlined software and hardware design
Weakness: Far fewer customisation options than other OSes
Get your contacts off the phone - Genius rating 3 stars
You have two options here, depending on whether you have a Gmail account.
If you have a Gmail account:
1.Open iTunes and be sure that you have already synched your iPhone
2.Select your iPhone under the Devices tab
3.Click on the Info tab and check the ‘Sync Contacts' box
4.Select Google contacts from the drop-down menu
5.Your contacts are now on Google, and you can add this Gmail address to any other smartphone platform to pull your contacts there
If you don't have a Google account, you should export contacts as a CSV file:
1.Open iTunes and select the iPhone under the devices tab
2.Click on the Info tab and check the Sync Contacts box
3.Select Windows Address book and click Apply. Now your contacts are in your Windows address book
4.Open the Run command window by pressing the Windows button on your keyboard and R
5.This opens the address book, so hit File and Export
6.Save the CSV file on the desktop. You can now import this file to another smartphone
Control your music collection - Genius rating 1 star
Synching your iPhone with iTunes is the only way to move your music collection. Select manual sync to prevent iTunes from wiping your phone of music that isn't on your PC - say if you copy it from a friend's PC.
Get push email on your webmail account - Genius rating 2 stars
Except for Microsoft Exchange accounts, all email set up on the iPhone's native app is only delivered at intervals of minimum five minutes. But what if you desperately need to be notified of email the instant it arrives?
1.Go into Settings, then Mail, Contacts, Calendar
2.Select Add Account and pick Exchange
3.Use the following settings to make your Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo! an Exchange account:
In the Email field, enter your full webmail address
Leave the Domain field blank
Enter your webmail address (including the bit after the ‘@') as the Username
Enter your webmail password as the Password
Tap Next
Choose Accept if the Unable to Verify Certificate dialog appears
A new Server field will appear. Enter m.google.com
Press Next at the top of your screen again
4.You can then choose to sync contacts, email and calendar with this webmail
3 Tips to work the keyboard - Genius rating 1 star
Double-tap spacebar for period
Double tap shift for all-caps
Hold down each letter for different permutations of each letter such as accents
Hard reset - Genius rating 1 star
In the terrible event of everything freezing, hold down the home button and top button for 10 seconds. Your iPhone will reboot and everything will be okay again. We hope.
Setting up iCloud - Genius rating 1 star
If you have iOS 5, you'll have access to iCloud, Apple's online backup service for content on your iPhone. Set up your iCloud account on iPhone, iPad or Mac to sync content as well as remotely find, lock and wipe these devices.
1.Go into Settings and select iCloud. Input your Apple ID and password
2.You can then select the type of content you want to automatically backup
3.If you have an iPad or iPod Touch on iOS 5, or a Mac running on OS X Lion, you can also set up your iCloud account on these devices
4.If you have an iPad or iPod Touch, run through steps 1-2 for them. If you have a Mac on OS X Lion, go to step 5
5.Go into System Preferences and select iCloud. Input your Apple ID and password
6.Select the type of content you want to back up [screenshot - NS to take]
7.If you want content you buy on iPhone or iPad to be downloaded to your Mac, go into iTunes, select Store, and enable Automatic Downloads
8.Be sure to turn Photo Stream on iPhone, iPad or Mac - photos from the Camera are automatically uploaded over Wi-Fi and downloaded to all devices linked to your iCloud account
TIP: Photos uploaded via Photo Stream don't count against your 5GB free iCloud storage.
Protect your phone - Genius rating 1 star
For non-iOS 5 users, download the free Find My iPhone app, which will locate your iPhone if it's on, with options to remotely lock or wipe it.
Apps for that Use your iPhone as a remote - Genius rating 2 stars
Download these remote access apps to control your computer with your iPhone. (All require a companion program to be downloaded to the computer.)
Remoteless
Control Spotify via a full-featured interface when on the same Wi-Fi network
Teamviewer
A full remote access app that lets you do anything you'd do on the computer itself, except on your phone
VLCmote
Control VLC player – a media player that plays virtually all file formats including the dozens that the iPhone doesn't
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