The iPhone 3 running iOS 5 was a revolutionary device, with a user-friendly interface and a sleek minimalist design. This doesn’t mean that using it has a small learning curve. Many of the advanced or lesser-used features of the iPhone 3 are hidden away, and Apple doesn't always do the greatest job of filling users in.

This version of the Advanced guide is intended for iOS5 users. If your phone is up-to-date, read our iOS6 version instead.

Book 3: Advanced

Table of Contents

§1–Siri

§2–Camera III

§3–Maps II

§4–Typing III

§5–Mail III

§6–Safari III

§7–Twitter

§8–Personal Hotspot

§9–Wi-Fi Syncing

§10–iCloud

§11–Find my iPhone

§12–Troubleshooting & Updating

§13–A Quick Word About Jailbreaking

Lesson 1: Siri

The iPhone 4S can also use Siri, a personal digital assistant that responds to voice commands. Unfortunately Siri isn't available to iPhone 4 or 3GS users, who will have to make do with basic voice commands instead. Siri works remotely via the Internet, so a Wi-Fi or 3G network connection is required if you want to make use of the assistant.

Accessing Siri

To activate Siri on your iPhone 4S, press and hold the home button on the front of your device. It is also possible to use Siri by raising your phone to your ear when it is awake (i.e. not in sleep mode), provided that Raise To Speak is set to "on" under Settings > General > Siri.

The first thing the digital assistant will ask you is: "What can I help you with?"

Here you are free to speak a range of commands and questions which Siri will attempt to act on or answer. While you're pretty much free to ask anything, there are a few basic pointers to remember to get the most out of Siri.

Note: At present Siri only supports finding businesses within the US, and will often remind you of this fact. While this can seem a little restricting to begin with, there are actually a lot of other commands that can be used wherever you are in the world.

Commands & Pointers

Here are a few of the most useful requests you can make Siri perform:

  • Messages & Email

"Message Serena saying I will be late home tonight"

"Send email to Mark" - Siri will at this point ask you what the message should contain.

  • Weather & Time

"What is the weather going to be like today?" or "Will it be cold tonight?"

"What time is it in New York City?" or "What time will sunrise be in Cairo?"

  • Maps, Directions & Discovery - US only

"How do I get home?"

"Where is the nearest cinema?"

"Are there any restaurants nearby?"

  • Calendar, Notes & Personal Schedule

"What does my day look like?"

"Reschedule Sunday's meeting with Steve for 2pm on Tuesday"

"Add Prometheus to my Films note"

"Remind me to call Serena at 5pm"

There are a lot of commands that Siri will interpret and act upon for you, and you'll find that with a few extra tips you won't have any problems being understood.

Advanced Siri Tips

When using Siri there are a few other things you can do to make sure the assistant understands what you mean. The first is by using cue words to separate your sentence into clear sections.

For example if you tell Siri to "message Serena I'm coming home soon" it will probably reply asking what message you would like to send to Serena. If you use the cue word "that" however, e.g. "message Serena that I'm coming home soon" Siri will know to put "I'm coming home soon" into a message to your contact named "Serena".

 

When dictating messages or email it is important to remember that Siri will attempt to transcribe your message verbatim, so if you want to "message Serena that she is awesome" you would have to phrase it "message Serena that you are awesome". If Siri gets it wrong, you don't have to type out the message by hand and can instead change the message when Siri asks if you would like to send it. At this point say "change the message to I am awesome" and Siri will change the message to your replacement before asking if you'd like to send again.

If you're having trouble with punctuation and capital letters, try spelling them out. You can say the name of punctuation marks and symbols e.g. "asterisk, ampersand, exclamation mark" and use "cap" to capitalise the first letter of the next word, "all caps" to completely capitalise the next word and "all caps on" or "all caps off" to toggle caps lock.

Here's an example email, dictated using phonetic punctuation and caps with commands highlighted in bold:

"Send email to Michael … Michael comma new paragraph cap Thanks for coming round last night we had a all caps great night and hope you can do it again sometime full stop new paragraph cap Regards comma Tim"

Siri would then put the following into a new email to a contact called Michael:

"Michael,

Thanks for coming round last night we had a GREAT night and hope you can do it again sometime.

Regards, Tim"

Siri has the potential to learn about you, your relationships and the people you converse with. If you have a lot of contacts and would like to speed up contacting those you speak with the most, Siri allows you to name your friends for more natural dialogue.

The first time you name someone who is not obvious to Siri, it will ask you to define that person's role. So, for example if you say "Message my wife saying don't worry I will be there in 30 minutes", Siri will ask you to define "wife" for all future tasks. There are a lot of different short forms, from basics like "sister" to "brother-in-law" and even "nemesis". This is especially handy if your brother is Michael, but you have 5 other entries for his name in the phone book that you rarely use.

Test Yourself

  • Send a text message using Siri
  • Ask Siri to remind you about something
  • Teach Siri about the people in your life, and send a message to a contact this way
  • Search the web with Siri

Lesson 2: Camera III

While the iPhone breezes through photo editing basics, video editing is rather limited without additional software. At certain times, however, you may need to make slight edits and this lesson will show you what that entails. If you are interested in more advanced video editing on your iPhone then check out iMovie, Apple's easy-to-use iOS video editor ($4.99, £2.99, €3,99).

Trimming & Video Size

You can trim any video down to size using the iPhone's video viewer. Simply launch Photos, select Camera Roll and then a video. Notice the video timeline at the top - on both the left and right edges are sliders that you can drag with your finger.

Once you start dragging a slider the video will switch into Trim mode. Pressing the Play button in this mode will preview the video at its current trim points.

Hold your finger on a trim point to zoom in so you can see more frames and choose a cut point with greater clarity. When you're finished tap Trim in the top-right corner.

 

You will be asked whether or not you would like to trim the original clip (i.e. your "master" copy of the video) or save your trim as a new clip. Bare in mind if you decide to trim the original you will lose the video outside of the trim points forever.

After a brief wait the iPhone will trim your video as per your directions in the previous step.

Note: You may be required to trim a video down to length if you choose to email or send the video to a friend in an iMessage. Also be aware that iMessage in particular will apply some pretty heavy compression to videos you send in order to save bandwidth.

Sharing via Email, iMessage & YouTube

To send a video via email or message, find the video in your Camera Roll then tap the "share" button in the bottom left of the screen. You will see three options - Email Video, Message and Send to YouTube.

Both the Email and Message options will require that the video be compressed and possibly trimmed in order to send, whereas Send to YouTube will upload the video in its entirety with noticeably better compression.

If you decide to send the video to your YouTube account then you will first be prompted for your YouTube username and password. Once signed in, you'll see a screen like this one:

Here you're able to specify video quality - in the screenshot above the video is 1 minute 29 seconds long so the HD upload is 26.2MB and SD comes in at 8.2MB. The iPhone 4 shoots video in 720p quality (resolution of 1280x720) and the iPhone 4S can shoot full 1080p video (resolution of 1920x1080) so if your internet connection permits, try to take advantage of that HD output.

 

Add a title, description and as many tags as you want before choosing whether you want the video public, unlisted or private. When you're finished, tap Publish and the upload screen will disappear. You'll be dumped back into the Camera Roll, and the only thing that will notify you that your phone is busy is the iOS "spinning wheel" Internet activity symbol in the status bar.

Your video is being compressed and uploaded at this point, so you're free to continue whatever you were doing before. When it's finished you'll receive a pop-up notifying you with options to View on YouTube, Tell a Friend or to dismiss the dialogue entirely.

Test Yourself

  • Trim a video down to size
  • Send a video to a friend, either via iMessage or Email
  • Your iPhone shoots HD video - if you haven't already, get a YouTube account and share some video!

Lesson 3: Maps II

Google Maps is a powerful app that is built in to your phone. In the last set of lessons we looked at finding locations, orienting yourself and location sharing. Google Maps also supports directions with traffic info and another popular Google Maps feature - Streetview. This is great for finding out what your destination looks like before you get there, and taking virtual tours all over the world from the palm of your hand.

Using Maps for Directions

Open Maps from the home screen and tap on the Directions tab near the bottom of the screen. A menu will appear like in the screenshot below:

There are two text input boxes - the first is where you wish to travel from and the second is the destination you wish to travel to. Along the top there are buttons denoting the type of travel you wish to take with options for travelling by foot, by car and by public transport. On the left of the box is a button that looks similar to an audio player "shuffle" button which reverses the start point and destination boxes quickly.

To map a route enter start and end points for your trip and tap the Route button in the top right hand corner. To use your current location, begin typing "current location", a blue result will appear beneath the box which you can tap, like the screenshot below.

 

Enter the full address of your desired destination, and maps will suggest a route. You can also use the map to drop a pin and route to/from that point. To drop a pin, tap and hold anywhere on the map then release.

Then tap the blue arrow next to the dropped pin to bring up information about the location you have suggested.

From this screen you can choose Directions To Here or Directions From Here to complete your request or remove the pin altogether by tapping Remove Pin.

At times Maps might suggest multiple routes, and you can choose the one you'd rather take by tapping on "Route 1" or "Route 2" etc. when presented with the screen below:

When you're happy with your route, tap Start to receive instructions. You can navigate between instructions using the arrows in the top right hand side of the screen, and Maps will detect your location and update accordingly.

Note: Public transport information is not available in all areas, and might not return any directions.

Traffic Information

Maps has the built in ability to gather and display traffic info, something than can help you better plan your trip home. To set this as visible, tap the "folded corner" icon in the bottom right to reveal the menu, below.

Here you can change between display modes:

  • Standard - an atlas-style non-satellite view
  • Satellite - a photographic, satellite image (no labels)
  • Hybrid - a photographic, satellite image with atlas-style labels for roads, buildings and places
  • List - view a list of directions to follow

Enable Show Traffic to display traffic info, which highlights roads with green, orange or red colouring. As you'd expect, green is good and red is bad.

 

Streetview

The iPhone supports Google Streetview. To enable Streetview you must first drop a pin (tap and hold over the area you would like to view) and then tap the red icon on the left hand side, as signalled below.

Your view will zoom in and Streetview will launch.

Tap the arrows on the road/path to navigate, swipe around to move the view and pinch to zoom. When you are done, you can tap the small map icon in the lower corner to return to standard view.

Test Yourself

  • Map a route from your current location to a friend's house
  • Check out how the traffic is outside
  • Find your house or workplace on with Streetview

Lesson 4: Typing III

In the last lesson we took a look at Siri, the iPhone 4S' personal digital assistant that responds to voice commands. iPhone 4S owners can also use Siri to their advantage when typing, using Siri's powerful speech-to-text voice recognition engine. Much like Siri, this operates by recording your request, sending it to Siri's main server which works out what you're trying to say and sends the appropriate response back to the phone. This means it requires an active Internet connection over 3G or Wi-Fi to work.

Speech To Text

The iPhone 4S' keyboard is ever-so-slightly different to the iPhone 4 and 3G in that it has one extra button that looks like a microphone in the bottom left corner, highlighted in the screenshot below:

Pressing this button will activate dictation mode, and this is where you can speak at length to your phone and it will convert your words to text. This is possible pretty much anywhere you would use a keyboard on the phone, but as with Siri there are a few things to remember.

In addition to the fact that this feature requires the Internet, punctuation will be missing from your text unless you specifically speak it out loud. The following list is a selection of common punctuation marks and commands that can be spoken aloud and automatically converted to the correct symbol or action:

  • Comma - ,
  • Period or Full Stop - .
  • Question mark - ?
  • Exclamation mark/point - !
  • Dash or hyphen - -
  • Quote "some words" end quote - "some words"
  • "Six hundred dollars and fifty cents" - $600.50
  • "New paragraph"
  • "Cap world wide web" - World wide web
  • "All caps world wide web" - WORLD wide web
  • "All caps on world wide web" - WORLD WIDE WEB

Siri is a very intelligent assistant to have at your disposal, and so there's a good chance it will know exactly what you mean provided you speak clearly at a moderate pace. While it might not be as convenient as a full-sized keyboard, it's certainly faster than giving your thumbs the usual workout.

When you're finished talking, tap Done and Siri will convert your speech to text. Any words it is unsure about (i.e. synonyms) will be highlighted in blue, and a simple tap reveals other words you might have meant.

External Keyboards & Other Bluetooth Devices

If you're contemplating doing a lot of typing on your iPhone (email, notes and even word processing - iOS can handle all quite comfortably) then it might be worth considering an external keyboard. These connect via Bluetooth to your phone and allow you to type as fast as you normally would on a PC. If you're a Mac user there is even an app on the Mac App Store called Type2Phone that allows you to control your iPhone's keyboard using your Mac's keyboard.

The iPhone is compatible with a wide range of Bluetooth accessories, including third party keyboards and the official Apple Wireless Keyboard (pictured above). To set up your keyboard to work with your iPhone first follow the instructions given to you by the keyboard manufacturer for making the device discoverable. This may involve a passkey, usually of 4 digits.

Once you have powered on and made the keyboard discoverable, go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and turn it "On" if it isn't already enabled. Beneath the option for toggling Bluetooth is a list of devices that are in-range (you may need to wait a minute for all to show up). When the device you wish to pair appears, select it and (again, depending on the device) check your iPhone's screen for a passcode. If your phone provides you with a passcode, type it in on the Bluetooth keyboard and the two devices will be paired.

This process should never need to be performed again, though if you are having trouble connecting to your device remember that once your iPhone has paired with the keyboard it will remember that keyboard. If you're having trouble connecting to your keyboard, try removing the device and pairing again. You cannot pair the same device more than once, so forcing your iPhone to forget the keyboard is the best method of action.

You can remove any Bluetooth device by visiting Settings > General > Bluetooth and tapping the device then selecting Unpair. You can then pair the device again as per the method above.

Test Yourself

  • Dictate a personal note to Siri
  • Dictate the following, complete with punctuation:

"I would love to be able to speak to Siri all the time, but unfortunately I find it WAY too embarrassing to do so when waiting in line at the supermarket.

Instead I'll have to get used to having "sore thumbs" instead!"

  • Pair a Bluetooth device of your choosing.

Lesson 5: Mail III

The first smartphones were attractive for their email capabilities, something standard "dumbphones" (as they are now affectionately known) didn't do too well. Times have changed since the original Symbian and BlackBerry units of days gone by, and your iPhone has a healthy array of features and settings for getting the most out of email. This lesson assumes you've already set up an IMAP, POP3 or Exchange ActiveSync email account as per the instructions in the previous tiers.

Mass Actions

Much like Photos, Contacts, Messages and other apps; Mail can perform batch actions on a large number of email messages and threads in order to save you taps and time. Regardless of which email account or folder you are viewing, this option is always available. Simply tap Edit in the top-right corner of your Inbox to enter mass-edit mode.

From here you choose more than one threaded conversation or email message (depending on whether you're viewing a folder or a thread) before choosing from the options at the bottom of the screen:

  • Delete - this may read Archive if you're set up with an IMAP Gmail or Google Apps account.
  • Move - allows you to move a message into a folder/label. Gmail users that aren't set up using the Google Sync method (intermediate, lesson 4) may find that these actions don't have an effect on webmail, though if you're a Mac Mail user your changes will work locally.
  • Mark - for marking threads/messages as unread or flagged.

If you're marking messages in your inbox or other folder (i.e. not a thread) you'll see a tally of the total number of individual email messages you have selected at the bottom of the screen next to each action. The screenshot below shows this, with 3 threads selected for a total of 12 email messages:

If you decide you'd no longer like to mass-edit your email, tap Cancel in the top-right to return to standard Mail view.

Formatting Email

iOS 5 added formatting to email, meaning your phone can now add Bold, Underlined and Italic text to email messages. First select the word or paragraph you wish to change and you will see an option for Cut, Copy and Paste as well as an arrow on the right hand side.

Either tap the arrow or swipe right-to-left to advance the options and reveal the formatting option, signified by a "B I U" label:

Finally make your selection from the options that appear. It is possible to use all text formatting options concurrently.

Advanced Settings for Mail

There are a few other options and settings for further customising Mail. You can find these options in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars just below Accounts in the section titled Mail.

The following options may be of interest:

  • Show - The default number of messages to be downloaded, with the default setting being 50. If you get a lot of email, consider increasing this amount to make sure you don't miss anything.
  • Preview - How much of the email you will see before opening it. More lines will display more of the message from your inbox.
  • Ask Before Deleting - When set to "On" this will prompt you for deletion when you hit the bin icon when viewing email. Does not affect mass edit mode, which requires confirmation.
  • Load Remote Images - When set to "On" this will auto-download images embedded into email messages. If you have a limited 3G plan consider turning this off to save bandwidth.
  • Organise By Thread - Turns threading on or off. Threads are email conversations, collated for ease.
  • Always Bcc Myself - Will ensure that for every email you send your email address is placed in the Bcc field.
  • Increase Quote Level - Automatically increases the quote level when replying to email. A quote is signified by a vertical line that runs down the course of past messages.
  • Signature - Automatically added to the end of every email message (in the body text, rather than after pressing send). Change this to anything you like, by default it reads "Sent from my iPhone".
  • Default Account - The account that all new email will come from unless otherwise specified in the "From" field.

Test Yourself

  • Mark an email thread as unread.
  • Compose an email with bold and italic formatting.
  • Change your signature if "Sent from my iPhone" doesn't do it for you.

Lesson 6: Safari III

Safari is a very capable browser that comes with a number of features and security options you'd expect from a modern browser on a PC. This includes the ability to save form information for quick entry, a pop-up blocker and controls for removing history, cookies and cached content.

AutoFill for Forms

AutoFill is a feature that attempts to fill in as much relevant information into a form as possible, so you don't have to. Typing on a small touchscreen keyboard isn't the most pleasant experience, and AutoFill should save you some time.

You can find AutoFill settings in Settings > Safari under the General heading.

Tap AutoFill to bring up the following options:

The first option on the list - titled Use Contact Info will be off by default, and when enabled will scrape your personal entry in the phonebook for AutoFill purposes. For example, if you personal address book entry is complete with address, name, email and so on; Safari will be able to use this information to quickly fill out forms. The option beneath it, titled My Info allows you to choose a specific contact to use for this information.

Names and Passwords will remember login credentials for oft-used websites. When you enter your details into a login form and submit, Safari will ask you if you would like to save this information. You can clear all saved form usernames and passwords using the Clear All option beneath this setting.

To use AutoFill on a page, look out for the AutoFill button that appears above the keyboard on compatible forms, highlighted in the screenshot of Twitter's login screen below:

After tapping the AutoFill button saved username and password info is inserted into the form, saving a good 30 seconds of thumb-taps. You can also navigate different fields within a form using the Previous and Next buttons to the left of this option, and Done will end text entry without submitting the form. Conversely, Go will close the keyboard and submit the form.

Privacy & Security

Being able to control privacy settings is important for any web-browsing device, and the iPhone is no different. Under Settings > Safari there is a heading titled Privacy where these settings reside:

  • Private Browsing - When set to "On" Safari will not save visited websites, cached data, searches or login information to your history.
  • Accept Cookies - Choose between "Never" to reject all cookies, "Always" to accept all cookies and "Visited" to accept cookies only from sites you actively visit. Some websites require cookies to function or display correctly, so "Visited" should suffice for most users.
  • Clear History/Clear Cookies and Data - For clearing browsing data.
  • Fraud Warning - Displays a warning when a website appears to be a phishing scam or similar - best left "On".
  • JavaScript - When set to "On" this enables the running of scripts on a webpage, often required for websites to display and function correctly.
  • Block Pop-ups - Much like a desktop browser, when set to "On" this will prevent pop-up pages opening a new tab and disturbing your browsing.

There is one final option at the bottom of the screen titled Advanced which gives you control over deleting specific data from websites you have visited. Tap it and choose Website Data to view a list of sites that have saved data locally on your iPhone.

From here, tap Edit to enter edit mode, where you can touch the red badge next to an entry, then Delete to remove it.

  • Login to Twitter or Facebook and save your login details to use with AutoFill
  • Use AutoFill to enter data from your personal entry in your Contacts into a form
  • Check which websites have saved data to your phone and remove any you don't visit or want.

Lesson 7: Twitter

With the introduction of iOS 5, Apple have baked Twitter integration into iOS. This means that once you've signed in with your Twitter credentials, you will only need to grant access to applications wishing to send Tweets as opposed to logging in each time. It also allows you to Tweet from a multitude of core iOS apps including Safari and YouTube. In order to browse Twitter and get the most functionality, you will still need to download the free Twitter app from the App Store.

Setting Up Twitter

Twitter has its own dedicated settings menu which can be found in Settings > Twitter. If you do not have the Twitter app already then the top field will include a button titled "Install". Tap it and you will be taken to the App Store where you will need to input your Apple ID password in order to install the app.

Below this section will be an option to add an account, or multiple accounts if you require it. Tap Add Account to reveal the following screen:

Input your credentials, or if you do not have a Twitter account tap Create New Account in order to make one. Once you've created your account or logged in to an existing account Twitter is set up and ready to go.

If you return to Twitter settings you will notice an option to Update Contacts. Tapping this will cross-reference your iPhone's address book with your Twitter followers and add relevant contact information and pictures for entries it finds. Unfortunately there's no feedback to let you know what was added to your contacts, so you'll have to check manually to see the changes.

Occasionally apps will request permission to use Twitter, an in these instances you need only confirm with a tap in order to grant access. The apps you have granted access will appear on the Settings > Twitter screen below the option to add an account:

To revoke access, set the desired app to "Off" and it will no longer be able to access Twitter.

Tweeting From iOS

Many of Apple's core apps support Twitter usage using what Apple has coined the "tweet sheet", a window that appears above whatever you're doing to facilitate the sharing of content.

This window supports @username auto-completion and will display the currently shared picture, link or location as an attachment to the right of the box. Links will be automatically shortened using Twitter's link shortening service t.co, and remaining characters will be displayed in the bottom right corner.

Note: There is currently no system-wide shortcut to just send a standard tweet, for this you'll need to use the Twitter app or another Twitter client.

The "Tweet" link is generally found in the share menu (the icon that looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it). Here are app-specific instructions for accessing the tweet sheet in various applications:

  • Safari - Tap the share button in the centre of the navigation bar and choose Tweet.

 

  • Maps - Tap the blue "current location" marker or drop a pin and then tap the blue arrow to bring up more information. From here tap Share Location followed by Tweet.

 

  • YouTube - Once a video has ended choose Share Video then tap Tweet.

 

  • Photos & Camera

If using camera, first access your Camera Roll by swiping or tapping the icon to bring up your pictures. Find the picture you would like to tweet then tap the share button in the bottom left corner and choose Tweet.

Don't forget any app you download can make use of Twitter integration once permitted, and once you've granted access to a few apps you'll probably see a lot more of the tweet sheet.

Test Yourself

  • Add your Twitter account to your iPhone and if necessary download the free Twitter app.
  • Share your current location via Twitter.
  • Take a picture, then tweet it.

Lesson 8: Personal Hotspot

The iPhone 4 and 4S can both operate as a personal Internet hotspot, allowing you to share your iPhone's 3G network connection with up to five other devices over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This means you can browse the web on your laptop or iPad using your iPhone's wirelessly shared Internet connection. Be aware that use of the Personal Hotspot may require a tethering plan from your service provider and don't forget your monthly bandwidth quota!

Configuring Your Hotspot & Wi-Fi

To enable your iPhone's personal hotspot open Settings > Personal Hotspot and set it to "On". A new field should appear beneath the setting with a password for connecting via Wi-Fi.

Once the hotspot is active, you can scan for nearby wireless networks and choose your phone's name from the list of devices.

If you're not sure what your phone is called then visit Settings > About > Name where you can change the name to something you will recognise.

Once you've found the hotspot, enter the wireless password (which is easily changed, tap the field and input your own if necessary) and connect. Your phone will display a blue notice to let you know how many active connections are currently connected.

Connecting via Bluetooth

It is also possible to connect to a personal hotspot using Bluetooth as opposed to Wi-Fi. To do so, your iPhone must first be paired with the computer you wish to tether. To do this, enable Bluetooth on both devices (on the iPhone visit Settings > General > Bluetooth and set it to "On") and attempt to pair the devices using your PC.

You will need to enter a passcode (once on your PC then again on your iPhone to confirm) but once the two devices are paired return to Settings > Personal Hotspot to enable connection sharing. Provided the Bluetooth connection is active, your PC will be able to use your iPhone's 3G Internet connection.

Note: Personal hotspot will not work on the iPhone 3G, or any model of iPad with 3G connectivity. This feature is exclusive to the iPhone 4 and 4S. The feature might also not appear or work on locked phones that use certain carriers, so if you do not have an option at all contact your network.

Test Yourself

  • If available, enable your personal hotspot and connect to it.
  • Mind your data allowance!

Lesson 9: Wi-Fi Syncing

iOS 5 brought with it another long-awaited feature by iPhone users everywhere - cable-free, wireless syncing. The iPhone can now sync with your iTunes library using Wi-Fi instead of a cable, though be aware this will be a slower method of keeping your iPhone up to date. In order to sync using this method your iPhone will need to be paired with a PC or Mac, and on the same wireless network as the machine.

Pairing & iTunes

When you first buy a new iPhone you should pair it with your PC or Mac. Once paired, the phone is tied to the computer you used and cannot be easily paired with another device. There are a few complicated workarounds, but nothing that is ideal.

Pair your iPhone to your computer by downloading iTunes (here) if you're running Windows. Mac users will find iTunes comes with OS X already. Once you've paired your device it will be tied to that particular iTunes library and is able to sync via Wi-Fi.

With your device paired and connected (via cable) to your Mac or PC, open iTunes and click your device in the left-hand menu.

Next, click the Summary tab and scroll down until you see the option to "Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi" and click the checkbox next to it.

iTunes now knows that you wish to use Wi-Fi to sync your iPhone with your PC. Eject and disconnect your iPhone - you no longer need the cable for transfers.

Syncing

To sync manually on your iPhone first ensure that both devices are connected to the same network, then navigate to Settings > General > Wi-Fi Sync and choose the PC or Mac you previously paired with. From here you can tap Sync and your iPhone will begin syncing with your PC.

Once you have set-up your iPhone to perform wireless sync, it will automatically do so every time it is connected to Wi-Fi and a power source. This includes syncing photos and other personal data, as well as making a backup of your phone that you can restore if anything goes wrong.

You can also manually initialise a sync from your Mac or PC using the iTunes sync button when your iPhone is detected as being in range.

Note: If iCloud backup is enabled, iTunes will not make automatic backups of your phone. Instead you will need to make them manually if you would like local backups. To do this, right-click (control-click on mac) your device in iTunes and select Back Up.

Test Yourself

  • Pair your phone with iTunes and enable Wi-Fi sync
  • Manually sync your phone with iTunes over Wi-Fi
  • Never worry about cables again!

Lesson 10: iCloud

iCloud is Apple's free cloud backup and syncing service that keeps all your devices - iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac or PC - up-to-date. Every iCloud user is given a free @me.com email address and 5GB of storage space. In addition to this there are a few handy web apps that allow you to access your data, find your device and make changes from a web browser.

Setting Up iCloud

In order to use iCloud there are a few requirements:

  • iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch running iOS 5.0 or later
  • iTunes 10.5 or later
  • An Apple ID (used for all purchases, App Store downloads)
  • For Mac users: Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later
  • For Windows users: iCloud Control Panel for Windows

First ensure your device is running iOS 5 by pairing it with a PC and performing any software updates necessary. You can check what version of iOS your device is running by navigating to Settings > General > About and looking under Version - if it reads 5.0 or greater then you're set for iCloud.

Navigate to Settings > iCloud. If you have already set-up iCloud then you will see a field titled Account and your Apple ID next to it. If you have yet to set it up, choose Sign in with an Apple ID then enter your registered email and password. This will be the email and password you use to access iTunes or the App Store, if you have forgotten your Apple ID email you can find it under Settings > Store at the bottom of the page.

When prompted choose Use iCloud then choose which services you would like to sync with iCloud.

Now that you have an iCloud account it's time to set up the other side - on your Mac or Windows PC.

Setting Up iCloud on a Mac

Mac users will need Mac OS X 10.7.2 or greater, which can be downloaded via software update or from the Mac App store. Once installed click on System Preferences in the dock and under Internet and Wireless will be an option for iCloud.

From here you will need to click Sign In and enter your Apple ID and password. Wait for iCloud to check your credentials and then select the services you would like to sync by checking each box.

iCloud will then download the requested data and it will appear in respective apps. Changes you make will be pushed to all devices, so for example if you edit a contact on your iPhone your Mac will automatically receive the changes.

Setting Up iCloud on a Windows PC

Windows integration isn't quite as rich as the Mac OS X experience, but iCloud can still be used here too. With iCloud already set-up from your iPhone as per the instructions above, download the iCloud Control Panel from Apple's website here. The software is currently compatible with Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7.

Run the installer as you would any normal installer, and once complete you'll see a window similar to the Mac iCloud screenshot above. Click Sign In, enter your Apple ID credentials then check the boxes next to each service you would like to sync.

Note: iCloud will only sync Mail, Contacts and Calendars with Outlook 2007 or later.

iCloud.com

Now that you've set-up an iCloud account you will have an @me.com email which you can access along with your contacts, calendar, iWork documents via the website iCloud.com.

Login with your Apple ID credentials to see the five options available to you.

Reminders are available under Calendar, and you can even send email from the Mail app. We'll be taking a look at Find my iPhone in detail in the next lesson.

Test Yourself

  • Set-up and sync your phone with iCloud
  • Access your contacts from iCloud.com and add an entry
  • Configure your Mac or PC to sync with iCloud

Lesson 11: Find my iPhone

Losing your phone can be devastating, but it could also be more damaging than you think. Your phone should have a passcode lock on it at the very least to prevent access to your personal data, but Apple have now gone one better with the introduction of Find my iPhone. The service also works for various other Apple devices, and takes some of the sting out of losing or having your phone stolen.

Find my iPhone Service

This service requires iCloud to work If you have not yet done so, set yourself up an iCloud account according to the instructions in the previous lesson. Now it's time to check that the service is enabled on your phone.

Navigate to Settings > Location Services where you will see all apps that have requested permission to use location services. You can easily grant and revoke access from this menu, but for now scroll down to the very bottom where you will see Find My iPhone.

If the service is on, it will be indicated next to it. If not, tap it to reveal two options:

Enable Find My iPhone if it is not already on and, for stealth purposes, disable the status bar icon so that tracking from iCloud.com is undetectable to any intruders.

Next navigate to Settings > iCloud and enable Find My iPhone at the bottom of the list. Your iPhone is now ready to be lost or stolen!

 

Tracking Your iPhone

If the very worst happens (or you'd just like to test the service) log on to iCloud.com using your Apple ID credentials and click Find My iPhone. You may need to re-enter your password at this point, do so and wait for iCloud to locate your device.

Provided your iPhone has 3G or Wi-Fi access it will locate and display the current location on a map.

If you click the blue "i" on your device's label you will receive a number of options:

  • Play Sound or Send Message - playing a sound is ideal if your phone has fallen down the side of the sofa. Sending a message results in a screen that interrupts whatever is happening and wakes the phone up if it is on stand-by mode:

 

If the message is successfully displayed you will receive an email to confirm. Perfect for scaring thieves into returning your device, especially when you can pass location info directly to the police.

  • Remote Lock - this option will remotely lock your iPhone so that it requires the passcode to be entered. If the thief has no idea what your passcode is, this will help prevent access to your apps and data.
  • Remote Wipe - a last resort for many, this option will remotely wipe all data from your iPhone. Once complete you will no longer be able to track the phone, but can sleep safe knowing your data has been erased.

 

Find My iDevice Apps

If you have an iPad or iPod Touch as well as an iPhone, Apple have an app which you can download to keep track of each. The Find My iPhone app (available here) works on any iOS device running iOS 5 or later.

Bare in mind you will need to configure the Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod service on each device and link them to your Apple ID. This app is not required to use the Find My iPhone service from iCloud.com, the functionality is included with iOS.

Test Yourself

  • Ensure that Find My iPhone is enabled for your device
  • Login to iCloud and locate your iPhone
  • Send a message, play a sound and remotely lock your device. Do not remotely wipe your device!

Lesson 12: Troubleshooting & Updating

Occasionally something might go wrong with your iPhone. Apps and even the operating system can crash, and in rare instances your phone may become unresponsive or refuse to boot. Setting up Wi-Fi sync (as described in lesson 9, advanced) or iCloud backup will ensure that you have a fairly recent failsafe and is the best way to prepare for a software restore. Not every problem requires wiping your data though, and often the fix is relatively quick.

Updates

If you are finding that your phone is not behaving as well as it should be, the first thing to do is ensure you're running the latest version of iOS. If your phone is already running iOS 5 (i.e. you can access iCloud and Notification Center) then you can update without any need to plug your phone in to a Mac or PC.

To update, navigate to Settings > General > Software Update and wait for it to check whether you're running the latest software. If you aren't you'll be invited to update your device. For this to work wirelessly the iPhone must be plugged in to a power source and connected to a wireless network.

Once the update has completed your phone will restart. You should not lose any data when updating via this method unless the update is interrupted or something unexpectedly fails.

Note: If you're running an earlier version of iOS then you'll need to update by connecting your phone to iTunes then choosing Software Update. Make sure you perform a local backup first, else you will lose all your data and have no way of restoring it!

App Crashes

If an app crashes - i.e. it refuses to start or load past the splash screen, press the home button to return to the home screen, double-tap the home button and then tap and hold the app icon in the multitasking tray. Once the icons start to jiggle, tap the red badge in the corner of the affected app to kill it entirely.

 

iOS Crashes

If your operating system becomes entirely unresponsive, i.e. it freezes or begins behaving erratically (flashing screen, app instability), then you can force your phone to restart by holding the sleep/wake button (top of the device) and the home button for at least 10 seconds.

The phone should restart and return to normal.

 

Advanced Troubleshooting & Restoring a Backup

There's a chance your iPhone might refuse to boot altogether, and in this instance it's handy to have a recent backup available. If your iPhone requires a software restore then all data will be removed, iOS will be repaired and if available, a backup of your personal data will be restored to the phone.

If everything else has failed and you would like to restore, follow the instructions below:

  • Connect your iPhone to your computer, so that it appears in iTunes under Devices
  • Back up your data by right-clicking (control-clicking on Mac) and choosing Back Up
  • Once backed up, select your phone in the left column, click the Summary tab then click Restore. You will be warned that all data will be lost, provided you've got a backup this won't be a problem.
  • Once your device has been restored, right-click (control-click on Mac) it in the left column and choose Restore From Backup.

Note: This is the iTunes method of doing it. If you have an iCloud backup, once your phone has been restored you will be invited to set the phone up as a new phone or restore from an iCloud backup. Once your phone has been recovered disconnect it from your computer, do not set up iCloud then perform a master reset in the Settings > General > Reset menu. Once the phone restarts, choose Restore From iCloud Backup then input your Apple ID and password and patiently wait while iCloud restores your phone.

An iCloud backup can take hours and hours to fully restore, have patience and if possible perform the procedure overnight.

 

Recovery Mode

If you cannot get your device to appear under Devices in iTunes (i.e. it's stuck in a restart loop or frozen on the Apple logo) then recovery mode might be the cure. To connect your phone in recovery mode, perform the following:

  • Connect your iPhone USB connector cable to your Mac or PC but not your iPhone
  • Turn off your iPhone. If you cannot get it to turn off, hold the sleep/wake button (top) and home button together until the screen goes dark.
  • While holding down the home button connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC. Keep the button held down until you see the iTunes logo then release.
  • iTunes on your Mac or PC should now report that an iPhone is connected in recovery mode and that the device must be restored to factory settings. You will not be able to backup your data in this mode so restoring from iCloud or an older backup will be your only option.
  • Follow iTunes instructions to restore your iPhone then if possible restore a backup using the instructions above.

If you have tried everything including restoring your iPhone to factory settings and nothing has worked, your best bet is to contact Apple directly or ask your question on their support website.

Test Yourself

  • Manually backup your iPhone using iTunes
  • Enable iCloud backup

Lesson 13: A Quick Word About Jailbreaking

Jailbreaking is, by definition, the removal of Apple's restrictions from iOS through the use of custom software. By jailbreaking you can gain access to the root file system, download and install applications from sources other than the App Store and customise much of the way iOS runs. There is no definitive guide or lesson plan for jailbreaking, and due to the nature of the technique there never will be.

Cat and Mouse

Jailbreaking is a cat and mouse game played between Apple's iOS engineers and the jailbreaking community, who look for expoits and vulnerabilities in Apple's code in order to inject their own in a bid to install custom iPhone software. Once an exploit is discovered, it will be patched by Apple in the next update and the hackers start all over again.

Jailbreaking is not illegal, in fact a court ruling in the US in July 2010 declared that jailbreakers are not in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) as Apple was contesting. "Legal" and "safe" are two completely different things, however, and in addition to voiding your warranty (or Apple Care) a jailbroken device is more susceptible to potential attacks due to the availability of root access to the file system.

Benefits

There are of course benefits to jailbreaking, here are a couple of them:

  • Unlock - Users with locked phones can often unlock using the current unlocking solution. These generally only work for a short amount of time before Apple decides to patch or disable.
  • Software & Cydia - The unofficial, jailbroken app store with plenty of non-Apple approved apps waiting to be bought and downloaded. Cydia is installed when the device is jailbroken.
  • FaceTime over 3G - Apple doesn't allow you to make or receive FaceTime calls over 3G, but by jailbreaking you can remove the restriction.
  • Customisation - Themes, the addition of extra icons in the status bar and Notification Center tweaks.

Disadvantages

Every cloud has a silver lining, every jailbreak has its considerations:

  • Warranty - If your device is still under warranty, jailbreaking will void it. Apple will not replace or repair your phone if they discover it has been jailbroken.
  • Software Problems - While it is highly unlikely that you will "brick" your device by jailbreaking, you may encounter problems that require restoring and re-jailbreaking should things go wrong.
  • Software Vulnerabilities - Due to the fact that jailbroken devices can install software from any sources, jailbroken phones are at risk from malware or other malicious code. Users who jailbreak should be extra careful about the software they decide to install.
  • The Game - If you would like to keep your jailbreak you will often have to wait months after an iPhone software update has been released in order to safely upgrade and keep your jailbreak/unlock. Jailbreakers recommend never installing Apple's own firmware via iTunes, and use software to save SHSH blobs in order to preserve unlocks.

If you are aware of the risks and would still like to jailbreak then you will find up to date tools and information at the following resources:

  • Jailbreaking @ MakeUseOf - Our own guides on jailbreaking and the tools required
  • redsn0w (no longer available) - A jailbreak solution for Windows and Mac.
  • sn0wbreeze - A Windows-only jailbreak solution.
  • greenpois0n - A cross-platform jailbreak solution for Windows, Mac and Linux.
  • iPhone @ ModMyi - A news source specialising in jailbreaking tips, apps and news.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide very much support for users wishing to jailbreak, mainly due to the range of software, techniques and problems that can arise from doing so. If you have any jailbreaking questions then the MakeUseOf Answers community is far more likely to be able to help!