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Sent to you by Bill Boulware via Google Reader: 10 Useful iPhone
Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks via Mashable! by Amy-Mae Elliott on 8/31/10


Here at Mashable, we've been putting the iPhone 4 through its paces,
and have come up with some handy tips and tricks that can help you get
more out of your Apple-flavored mobile.

We've covered all kinds of basics, like making search results more
relevant, creating shortcuts for your favorite websites, better
organizing your apps, and making the most of Maps.

And, as ever, if you've got suggestions for more iPhone magic not
covered here or in our previous Keyboard Shortcuts post, you know we
want to hear them in the comments below.
1. Change the Spotlight Search Result Order




The iPhone's Spotlight Search functionality is a great improvement from
early incarnations, but you can make it even more relevant to you just
by tweaking the settings.

In the "Settings" menu, go to "General," then select "Spotlight
Search." You are then presented with a list of categories. By touching
the three bars icon next to each category, you can change the order of
how the phone presents search results.





This feature can be an extremely useful time saver, as it prioritizes
search results based on what you're most likely to look for (e-mails,
apps, contacts, etc.).
2. Lock the Screen Orientation




A great feature for anyone who reads iBooks in bed, you can now lock
the screen on your iPhone to stay in the portrait orientation and avoid
that annoying wobble between portrait and landscape you can get in
certain situations.

To activate the lock, tap the home button twice, then scroll to the
screen on the left, at which point you'll see a square gray icon with a
circular arrow on the far right. Tap this to lock the screen (you'll
see a locked icon in the top right of the display now) and unlock by
tapping again.
3. Change the Display to White on Black




This one falls under the iPhone's Accessibility features as it offers a
high contrast, more easy-to-view display, but it can also be employed
just to make your phone look a little different.

To make the change, head to "Settings," then "General," then
"Accessibility" and then toggle "White on Black" to "On."

The colors on your phone's display are now inverted, however, the Apple
magic that makes this happen must have something to do with the phone's
display, rather than a software change, as you can't export screen
grabs showing this setting. To see the effect in action, you'll have to
make do with our real-life photos.




4. Create a Homescreen Icon for Any Website




This is a really nice option for anyone who regularly visits websites
that don't offer their own app. You can easily add a one-touch shortcut
for any webpage to your homescreen in the iPhone's Safari browser.

Simply load up the site you're interested in and then press the "+" on
the bottom of the screen. Select the "Add to Home Screen" option.





You can then label it something appropriate. Now, as the screenshot
below shows, there will be a shortcut icon to the site on your
homescreen.




5. Use the Front-Facing Camera for More than FaceTime




The iPhone 4's front-facing camera isn't just about FaceTime. You can
also use it to snap quick portrait pics (as above) and even record
video of yourself.





To access the front-facing camera, go to the main camera and then hit
the camera with an arrow icon on the top-right corner. This switches
the view to whatever the front-facing camera sees, meaning you'll be
able to see yourself on the screen to press the shutter at the correct
moment.

To toggle between capturing stills and video, it's the same as the main
camera — slide the toggle from either icon at the bottom of the phone's
screen.




6. Open and Save PDFs in iBooks




The iPhone offers handy "Quick Look" functionality for viewing PDFs,
but what's even cooler is that you can auto-save them into iBooks and
then access and view them from there.

Simply press and hold on the PDF icon and you'll see the option to
"Open in iBooks." Hit this, and the PDF will be ported over, and be
available to view in the app from then on.




7. Turn iBooks Into Audio Books




Another one of the iPhone's Accessibility options for the visually
impaired, the "VoiceOver" feature is a gesture-based screen reader.

Using slightly different controls (double tap to select and three
fingers to scroll), VoiceOver essentially reads aloud what is on the
phone's screen.

Aside from the obvious uses for the visually-impaired, this also means
that iBooks can become audio books. To activate it, go to "Settings,"
then "General," then "Accessibility" and toggle VoiceOver to "On," at
which point you get options to tweak the settings (the speed of
reading) and try out the new controls.

Once activated, if you head over to your iBooks app, VoiceOver will
read your selected texts to you. It might not be something you want to
employ that often, but tired eyes might appreciate having a book read
to them at certain times.
8. Manually Add Pins to Maps to Mark Locations




In the iPhone's Maps app, you can add pins which make navigating to a
point or sharing your location super easy to do.

In Maps, you'll see a blue Post-It-style note icon on the bottom-right
corner. Tapping this will give you the option to drop a pin. Selecting
this drops a purple pin in the map, which you can drag to exactly where
you want it.





Now that you've placed your pin, you'll see a label that hovers over
it. This leads to even more functionality.





Clicking through on the label gives you the options to get directions
to that point, from that point, and also share that location via e-mail
or text message as well as bookmark it. We think this functionality
could be super useful for navigating your way back to your car, or a
camp site, for example.





And while we're on the topic of Maps, here's a bonus tip. Did you know
that hitting the arrow-shaped icon on the bottom-left of your display
will activate the phone's compass and show you on the map exactly which
direction you're facing? Clever, huh?
9. Swipe to Delete




There are some handy features for deleting messages more quickly. The
most common way to delete multiple messages in e-mail is to hit "Edit,"
select the messages you want gone, and then hit the big, red delete
button. Alternatively, you can simply swipe to bring up a delete option.

In your inbox, swipe your finger from right to left across a message
and you'll see a delete button appear. Press it and the message is
toast.

Gmail users, however, may only get the option to "Archive," so if
you're using Gmail you'll have to tweak your settings first. To do
this, go to "Settings," "Mail, Contacts, Calendars," "Google Mail" and
then toggle the "Archive Messages" option to "Off." This will now
reveal that delete option.

This swiping trick can also be used for phone messages, Notes and more.




10. Add Folders to the Dock




The ability to create folders is one huge improvement brought with
iOS4, and is a very popular feature when it comes to organizing and
accessing apps. In using folders, there's a neat trick that will let
you have all your most-used apps on your phone's homescreen.

To create a folder, just press and hold any app until it starts
wiggling. Then, drag the app into another app that you'd like to
include in the same folder. The iPhone will automatically generate a
name for the folder based on its contents. You can edit this name by
pressing and holding the folder icon.





Once you've got your folders made, if you clear something less useful
out of the dock (you can only have four things in at a time) you can
drag and drop your folder into the dock for super-fast access.

With clever folder creation (Work, Play, Phone, Tools, etc) you could
pretty much have everything you need one tap away from the homescreen,
rather than scrolling through endless screens of apps.




More iPhone Resources from Mashable:
- HOW TO: Make Free iPhone Ringtones
- 10 Useful iPhone Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks
- 10 Incredible iPhone Portrait Photographs
- 10 Incredible iPhone Photographs
- 10 Ridiculous iPhone Accessories [PICS]
Reviews: Gmail, Safari
More About: apple, how to, how tos, iBooks, iOS, iOS4, iphone, iphone
4, iphone apps, List, Lists, tips and tricks

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