2. Using Your iPhone’s Core Features

In Chapter 1, “Getting Started with Your iPhone,” you learned how to interact with your iPhone, including navigating Home screens, using apps, locking and unlocking the phone, swiping to open and close things, and zooming in or out. In this chapter, you learn to use some of the iPhone’s “core” features, meaning those that apply across multiple apps and functions of your phone.

• Settings app—The iPhone’s Settings app is where you do almost all of your phone’s configuration, and you use it frequently throughout this book.

• The Internet—Your iPhone has many functions that rely on an Internet connection; most of the apps you use either require or can use a connection to the Internet to do what they do for you. For example, to send and receive email, your iPhone has to be connected to the Internet.

• Wi-Fi—Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity and encompasses a whole slew of technical specifications around connecting devices together without using cables or wires. Wi-Fi networks have a relatively short range and are used to create a Local Area Network (LAN). The most important thing to know is that you can use Wi-Fi networks to connect your iPhone to the Internet. This is great because Wi-Fi networks are available in many places you go. You probably have a Wi-Fi network available in your home to which you can connect your iPhone, too. (If you connect your computers to the Internet without a cable from your computer to a modem or network hub, you are using a Wi-Fi network.)

• Cellular data networks—In addition to your voice, your iPhone can transmit and receive data over the cellular network to which it is connected. This enables you to connect your iPhone to the Internet just about anywhere you are. You use the cellular network provided by your cell phone company. There are many different cell phone providers that support iPhones. In the United States, these include AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. You don’t need to configure your iPhone to use the cellular data network, as it is set up from the start to do so.

• Security—Connecting your iPhone to the Internet enables you to do lots of useful, and sometimes amazing, things with it. But that connection does come with some risk because of the sensitive information you store on your iPhone and the tasks you perform with it. The good news is that you can protect your information with a few relatively simple precautions.

• Text—You enter text on your iPhone for many different purposes, including sending messages and emails and writing notes. You can type text using the iPhone’s amazing onscreen keyboards. You can also dictate text wherever you might need to create it. The iPhone has many features to help you make the text you enter “just right.” For example, text is automatically checked for correct spelling and the Predictive Text feature suggests text you might want to enter with just a tap.

• Widgets—Widgets are “mini” versions of apps installed on your iPhone that you can access easily and quickly from the Widget Center (you saw an introduction to this in Chapter 1).

• Search—Your iPhone has a lot of information on it. This includes apps, emails, music, and much more. The iPhone’s Search tool enables you to find what you want to work with quickly and easily.

• Siri Suggestions—You frequently want to “go back” to something you were using recently, such as an app or a search. The Siri Suggestions tool presents these recent items to you so that you can return to them with a single tap. Siri can also learn from what you do and make suggestions about what you might find useful; for example, when you correct a text message that you’ve dictated, Siri can make suggestions about what you might have intended to say.

• Notifications—The iPhone’s notification system keeps you informed about activity in which you may be interested, such as new emails, events, app updates, and so on. There are a number of types of these notifications that you experience. Visual notifications include banners and badges. Alert sounds can also let you know something has happened, and vibrations make you feel the new activity.

• Print—The paperless world has never become a reality—and probably never will. Fortunately, you can print emails, documents, and other content directly from your iPhone.

On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app opens. The app is organized in sections starting at the top with your Apple ID information followed by Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Cellular.

Swipe up or down the screen to get to the settings area you want to use.

Tap the area you want to configure, such as Sounds & Haptics (iPhone 7 or later) or Sounds (earlier models).

Use the resulting controls to configure that area. The changes you make take effect immediately.

When you’re done, you can leave the Settings app where it is (it remains there when you come back to it) or tap the Back icon, which is always located in the upper-left corner of the screen (its name changes based on where you are in the app), until you get back to the main Settings screen to go into other Settings areas.

Move into the Settings app. (If you aren’t on the main Settings screen, tap the Back icon until you get there.)

Tap in the Search bar; if you don’t see the Search bar, swipe down from the top of the Settings screen until it appears.

Type the setting for which you want to search. As you type, potential matches are shown on the list of results. Matches can include a settings area, such as Sounds & Haptics, or specific settings, such as the ringtone and vibrations used when you receive a call.

Tap the setting you want to use.

Configure the setting you selected in the previous step.

Hold the iPhone Plus so it is horizontal.

Tap the Settings app to open it. In the left pane, you see the areas of the Settings app that you can configure. In the right pane, you see tools you can use to configure the selected setting. The two panes are independent, making navigation easier than with other iPhones.

Swipe up or down on the left pane until you see the function, feature, or app you want to configure.

Tap the function, feature, or app you want to configure, such as Sounds. Its controls appear in the right pane.

Swipe up or down on the right pane until you see the specific setting you want to change.

Tap the setting you want to configure, such as Ringtone. Its controls appear in the right pane.

Use the tools in the right pane to configure the setting you selected in step 6. These work just as described in the previous task and throughout this chapter except that you move within the right pane instead of changing the entire screen.

To move back through the screens in the right pane, use the Back icon, which is labeled with the name of the screen you came from.

Tap another area in the left pane to configure it. As you can see, the split screen makes it very easy to quickly switch between areas in the Settings app.

Wi-Fi networks are available just about everywhere you go, including homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, and other locations. Fortunately, it’s very easy to connect your iPhone to the Wi-Fi networks you encounter. (If there isn’t a Wi-Fi network available, your iPhone uses its cellular data network to connect to the Internet, which is covered later in this chapter.)

Almost all Wi-Fi networks broadcast their information so that you can easily see them with your iPhone; these are called open networks because anyone who is in range can attempt to join one because they appear on Wi-Fi devices automatically. The Wi-Fi networks you can see on your iPhone in public places (such as airports and hotels) are all open. Likewise, any Wi-Fi networks in your or other people’s homes are very likely to be open as well. To connect your iPhone to an open network, you tap its name and then enter its password.

Your iPhone remembers Wi-Fi networks you’ve connected to previously and joins one of them automatically when available; these are called known networks. For example, if you have a Wi-Fi network at home and another in a coffee shop you frequent, when you change locations, your iPhone automatically changes Wi-Fi networks.

If your iPhone can’t connect to a known network, it automatically searches for other Wi-Fi networks to join. If one or more are available, a prompt appears showing the networks available to your iPhone. You can select and join one of these networks by tapping its name on the list of networks and entering its password (if one is required, you need to obtain it from the source of the network, such as a hotel or restaurant).

If no Wi-Fi networks are available or you choose not to connect to one, your iPhone automatically switches to its cellular data connection (covered in “Connecting to the Internet Using Cellular Data Networks” later in this chapter).

On the Home screen, tap Settings. Next to Wi-Fi, you see the status of your Wi-Fi connection. It is Off if Wi-Fi is turned off, Not Connected if Wi-Fi is turned on and your phone isn’t currently connected to Wi-Fi, or the name of the Wi-Fi network to which your iPhone is connected.

Tap Wi-Fi.

If Wi-Fi isn’t enabled already, tap the Wi-Fi switch to turn it on (green) and your iPhone searches for available networks. A list of available networks is displayed in the CHOOSE A NETWORK section (it can take a moment for all the networks available in the area to be shown). Along with each network’s name, icons indicating whether it requires a password (the padlock icon) to join and the current signal strength (the radio waves icon) are displayed.

Tap the network you want to join. Of course, when a network requires a password, you must know that password to be able to join it. Another consideration should be signal strength; the more waves in the network’s signal strength icon, the stronger the connection.

At the prompt, enter the password for the network you selected. If you aren’t prompted for a password, skip to step 7. (You’re likely to find networks that don’t require a password in public places; see the next section for information on these types of networks.)

Tap Join. If you provided the correct password, your iPhone connects to the network and gets the information it needs to connect to the Internet. If not, you’re prompted to enter the password again. After you successfully connect to the network, you return to the Wi-Fi screen.

Review the network information. The network to which you are connected appears just below the Wi-Fi switch and is marked with a check mark. You also see the signal strength for that network.

Try to move to a web page, such as www.bradmiser.com, to test your Wi-Fi connection. (See Chapter 12, “Surfing the Web,” for details.) If the web page opens, you are ready to use the Internet on your phone. You can also tell that your iPhone is connected to a Wi-Fi network by the “waves” icon that appears just to the right of your cell phone provider’s name (such as AT&T). If you are taken to a login web page for a Wi-Fi provider rather than the page you were trying to access, see the next task. If you see a message saying the Internet is not available, there is a problem with the network you joined. Go back to step 4 to select a different network.

When you connect to one of these public networks, you’re prompted to provide whatever information is required. This can involve different details for different networks, but the general steps are the same. You’re prompted to provide whatever information required. Then, follow the instructions that appear.

Following are the general steps to connect to many types of public Wi-Fi networks:

Move to the Settings screen.

Tap Wi-Fi.

Tap the network you want to join. You move to that network’s Log In screen. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the process. This often involves selecting a connection option and providing payment or identification information, as this example of connecting to a hotel’s Wi-Fi network shows.

Choose the connection option you want to use.

Provide the information required to join the network, such as a last name and room number. If a fee is required, you have to provide payment information. In many cases, you at least have to indicate that you accept the terms and conditions for using the network, which you typically do by checking a check box.

Tap the icon to join the network. This icon can have different labels depending on the type of access, such as Connect, Authenticate, Done, Free Access, Login, and so on. If you haven’t already accepted terms and conditions, doing so is usually inherent in joining the network.

Tap Done (if required).

Try to move to a web page, such as www.wikipedia.org, to test your Wi-Fi connection (not shown in a figure). (See Chapter 12 for details.) If the web page opens, you are ready to use the Internet on your phone. If you are taken to a login web page for the Wi-Fi network’s provider, you need to provide the required information to be able to use the Internet. For example, when access is free, as it is at most airports, you usually just have to indicate you accept the terms of use for that network.

However, this automatic prompting for networks can be as annoying as it is helpful. It is helpful in that your iPhone prompts you when it comes into range of a network it doesn’t know, which can make it easier to know when a network is available to you. It can be annoying when you are moving around a lot because what you are doing can be frequently interrupted by the prompt, even if you don’t want to connect to one of the available networks. For example, when you walk through an airport, the prompt can appear multiple times as you move between networks.

To disable automatic network prompting, perform the following steps:

Open the Settings app and move to the Wi-Fi screen.

Set the Ask to Join Networks switch to off (white). To connect to unknown networks, you need to use the Settings app as described in the previous tasks because your iPhone no longer automatically prompts you to join unknown networks. (Remember that it still joins known networks, meaning those you have used before, automatically.)

To have your iPhone forget a network so it doesn’t automatically connect to it in the future, do the following:

Tap Wi-Fi in the Settings app to view the Wi-Fi screen.

Tap the Info (i) icon for the network that you want your iPhone to forget. (You can forget a network only if you are or have previously been connected to it.)

Tap Forget This Network.

Tap Forget in the resulting prompt. Your iPhone stops using and forgets the network. You return to the Wi-Fi screen. If another known network is available, your iPhone connects to it automatically. If a network you’ve forgotten is still in range of your iPhone, it continues to appear in the CHOOSE A NETWORK section, but your iPhone no longer automatically connects to it. You can re-join a forgotten network at any time, just as you did the first time you connected to it.

The provider for your iPhone also provides a cellular data connection your iPhone uses to connect to the Internet automatically when you aren’t using a Wi-Fi network (such as when you are in a location that doesn’t have one). (Your iPhone tries to connect to an available Wi-Fi network before connecting to a cellular data connection, because Wi-Fi is typically less expensive and faster to use.) These cellular networks cover large geographic areas and the connection to them is automatic; your iPhone chooses and connects to the best cellular network currently available. Access to these networks is part of your monthly account fee; you choose from among various amounts of data per month for different monthly fees.

Most providers have multiple cellular data networks, such as a low-speed network that is available widely and one or more higher-speed networks that have a more limited coverage area. Your iPhone chooses the best connection available automatically.

The cellular data networks you can use are determined based on your provider, your data plan, the model of iPhone you are using, and your location within your provider’s networks or the roaming networks available, when you are outside of your provider’s coverage area. The iPhone automatically uses the fastest connection available to it at any given time (assuming you haven’t disabled that option, as explained later).

In the United States, the major iPhone providers are AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. There are also other smaller providers, such as Virgin Mobile. All these companies offer high-speed Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks (these are also referred to as true 4G networks) along with the slower 4G and 3G networks. In other locations, the names and speeds of the networks available might be different.

The following information is focused on LTE networks because I happen to live in the United States and use AT&T as my cell phone provider. If you use another provider, you are able to access your provider’s networks similarly, though your details might be different. For example, the icon on the Home screen reflects the name of your provider’s network, which might or might not be LTE.

LTE high-speed wireless networks provide very fast Internet access from many locations. (Note: LTE networks might not be available everywhere, but you can usually access them near populated areas.) To connect to the LTE network, you don’t need to do anything. If you aren’t connected to a Wi-Fi network, you haven’t turned off LTE, and your iPhone isn’t in Airplane mode, the iPhone automatically connects to an LTE network when available. When you are connected to the LTE network, you see the LTE indicator at the top of the iPhone’s screen. If you can’t access the LTE network, such as when you aren’t in its coverage area, the iPhone automatically connects to the next fastest network available, such as 4G. If that isn’t available, it connects to the next fastest and so on until it finds a network to which it can connect if there is one available. If it can’t connect to any network, you see No Service instead of a network’s name; this indicates that you currently can’t connect to any network, and so you aren’t able to access the Internet.

One thing you do need to keep in mind when using a cellular network is that your account might include a limited amount of data per month. When your data use exceeds this limit, you might be charged overage fees, which can be very expensive. Most providers send you warning texts or emails as your data use approaches your plan’s limit, at which point you need to be careful about what you do while using the cellular data network to avoid an overage fee. Some tasks, such as watching YouTube videos or downloading large movie files, can chew up a lot of data very quickly and should be saved for when you are on a Wi-Fi network to avoid exceeding your plan’s monthly data allowance. Other tasks, such as using email, typically don’t use very much.

When you move outside your primary network’s geographic coverage area, you are in roaming territory, which means a different provider might provide cellular phone or data access, or both. The iPhone automatically selects a roaming provider, if there is only one available, or allows you to choose one, if there is more than one available.

When you are outside of your primary provider’s coverage area, roaming charges can be associated with calls or data use. These charges are often very expensive. The roaming charges associated with phone calls are easier to manage, because it’s more obvious when you make or receive a phone call in a roaming area. However, data roaming charges are much more insidious, especially if Push functionality (where emails and other updates are pushed to your iPhone from the server automatically) is active. And when you use some applications, such as Maps to navigate, you don’t really know how much data is involved. Because data roaming charges are harder to notice, the iPhone is configured by default to prevent data roaming. When data roaming is disabled, the iPhone is unable to access the Internet when you are outside of your cellular network, unless you connect to a Wi-Fi network. (You can still use the cellular roaming network for telephone calls.)

You can configure some aspects of how your cellular network is used, as the following task demonstrates. You can also allow individual apps to use, or prevent them from using, your cellular data network. This is especially important when your data plan has a monthly limit.

In some cases, the first time you launch an app, you’re prompted to allow or prevent it from using cellular data. At any time, you can use the Cellular Data options in the Settings app to enable or disable an app’s access to your cellular data network.

The options you have for configuring how your iPhone uses its cellular data connection depend on the provider your iPhone is connected to and the model of iPhone you use. For example, if you live in the United States and use Sprint as your cellular provider, the Cellular screens in the Settings app look a bit different than the figures in this section (which are based on AT&T’s service). Regardless of the specific options you see on your phone, the basic purpose is the same, which is to configure how your iPhone uses its high-speed network and to enable and disable roaming.

Open the Settings app.

Tap Cellular.

To use a cellular Internet connection, set the Cellular Data switch to on (green) and move to step 4; if you don’t want to use a cellular Internet connection, set this switch to off (white) and skip the rest of these steps. To use the Internet when the Cellular Data switch is off, you have to connect to a Wi-Fi network that provides Internet access.

Tap Cellular Data Options.

To configure the high-speed network, tap Enable high-speed network, where high-speed network is the name of the high-speed network your provider has. With some providers, this is a switch that enables or disables the high-speed network; set the switch to be on or off and skip to step 8 (if you set the switch to off, the iPhone can’t use the higher-speed network, but can still use slower networks).

To disable the high-speed network, tap Off; to use it for both voice and data, tap Voice & Data; or to use it only for data, tap Data Only. (When you enable the high-speed network for voice, the quality of the sound of your calls may be better.)

Tap the Back icon.

If you want to allow data roaming, set the Data Roaming switch to the on (green) position. With some providers, Roaming is an option instead of a switch; tap Roaming and use the resulting switches to enable or disable roaming for voice or data and then tap the back icon.

Tap Cellular.

Use the controls in the PROVIDER, where PROVIDER is the name of your provider (AT&T in this example), to configure how the cellular service interacts with other services, such as to enable Wi-Fi calling, calls on other devices, and so on. These settings are explained in Chapter 7, “Communicating with the Phone and FaceTime Apps.”

Swipe up the screen until you see the CELLULAR DATA section. This section enables you to allow or prevent individual apps from accessing a cellular data network. To limit the amount of data you use, it’s a good idea to review this list and allow only those apps that you rely on to use the cellular data network. (Of course, if you are fortunate enough to have an unlimited cellular data plan, you can leave cellular data for all the apps enabled.) This list can be quite long if you have a lot of apps stored on your iPhone.

Set an app’s switch to on (green) if you want it to be able to use a cellular data network to access the Internet.

Set an app’s switch to off (white) if you want it to be able to access the Internet only when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Set the Wi-Fi Assist switch to on (green) if you want your iPhone to automatically switch to its cellular connection when the Wi-Fi connection is weak. If you have a limited cellular data plan, you might want to set this switch to off (white) to minimize cellular data use.

If you want to access files on your iCloud drive when you aren’t using a Wi-Fi network, set the iCloud Drive switch to on (green). If you set this switch to off, files are synced only when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.

The good news is that with some simple precautions, the chances of someone obtaining your information or infiltrating your iPhone are quite small (much less than the chance of someone obtaining your credit card number when you use it in public places, for example). Following are some good ways to protect the information you are using on your iPhone:

• Always have a passcode on your iPhone so it can’t be unlocked without entering the passcode. Configuring a passcode is explained in Chapter 4.

• Use Touch ID (all models except iPhone X) or Face ID (iPhone X) to make entering your passcode and passwords much easier and more secure. Configuring Touch ID is also explained in Chapter 4. To learn how to use Face ID on an iPhone X, download My iPhone X from www.informit.com/myiphoneseniors.

• Never let someone you don’t know or trust use your iPhone, even if he needs it “just for a second to look something up.” If you get a request like that, look up the information for the person and show him rather than letting him touch your iPhone.

• Learn how to use the Find My iPhone feature in case you lose or someone steals your iPhone. This is explained in the online Chapter 16, “Maintaining and Protecting Your iPhone and Solving Problems,” which you’ll find on this book’s website (see the back cover for the information you need to access it).

• Never respond to an email that you aren’t expecting that directs you to click a link to verify your account. If you haven’t requested some kind of change, such as signing up for a new service, virtually all such requests are scams, seeking to get your account information, such as username and password, or your identification, such as full name and Social Security number. And many of these scam attempts look like email from actual organizations. For example, I receive many of these emails that claim, and sometimes even look like, they are from Apple. However, Apple doesn’t request updates to account information using a link in an email unless you have made some kind of change, such as registering a new email address for iMessages. Legitimate organizations never include links in an email to update account information when you haven’t requested or made any changes.

  To reinforce this concept, there are two types of requests for verification you might receive via email. The legitimate type is sent to you after you sign up for a new service, such as creating a new account on a website, to confirm that the email address you provided is correct and that you are really you. If you make changes to an existing account, you might also receive confirmation request emails. You should respond to these requests to finish the configuration of your account.

  If you receive a request for account verification, but you haven’t done anything with the organization from which you received the request, don’t respond to it. For example, if you receive a request that appears to be from Apple, PayPal, or other organizations, but you haven’t made any changes to your account, the email request is bogus and is an attempt to scam you. Likewise, if you have never done anything with the organization apparently sending the email, it is also definitely an attempt to scam you.

  If you have any doubt, contact the organization sending the request before responding to the email.

• If you need to change or update account information, you can go directly to the related website using an address that you type in or have saved as a bookmark using the Safari app. This protects you because it ensures you can move directly to the legitimate website rather than clicking a link that might take you to a fraudulent website.

• Be aware that when you use a Wi-Fi network in a public place, such as a coffee shop, hotel, or airport, there is a chance that the information you send over that network might be intercepted by others. The risk of this is usually quite small, but you need to be aware that there is always some level of risk. To have the lowest risk, don’t use apps that involve sensitive information, such as an online banking app, when you are using a Wi-Fi network in a public place.

• If you don’t know how to do it, have someone who really knows what they are doing set up a wireless network in your home. Wireless networks need to be configured properly, so they are secure. Your home’s Wi-Fi network should require a password to join.

• For the least risk, only use your home’s Wi-Fi network (that has been configured properly) or your cellular data connection (you can turn Wi-Fi off when you aren’t home) for sensitive transactions, such as accessing bank accounts or other financial information.

• Never accept a request to share information from someone you don’t know. In the online Chapter 15, “Working with Other Useful iPhone Apps and Features,” you learn about AirDrop, which enables you to easily share photos and lots of other things with other people using iOS devices. If you receive an AirDrop request from someone you don’t recognize, always decline it. In fact, if you have any doubt, decline such requests. It’s much easier for someone legitimate to confirm with you and resend a request than it is for you to recover from damage that can be done if you inadvertently accept a request from someone you don’t know.

• Only download apps through Apple’s App Store through the App Store app on your iPhone. Fortunately, the way the iPhone is set up, you have to do something very unusual to install apps outside of the App Store. As long as you download apps only as described in this book, you are free of apps that can harm your information because Apple has strict controls over the apps that make it into the App Store. (Downloading apps is explained in Chapter 4, “Customizing How Your iPhone Works.”)

To type, just tap the keys. As you tap each key, you hear audio feedback (you can disable this sound if you want to) and the key you tapped pops up in a magnified view on the screen. The keyboard includes all the standard keys, plus a few for special uses. To change from letters to numbers and special characters, just tap the 123 key. Tap the #+= key to see more special characters. Tap the 123 key to move back to the numbers and special characters or the ABC key to return to letters. The keyboard also has contextual keys that appear when you need them. For example, when you enter a website address, the .com key appears so you can enter these four characters with a single tap.

By default, two keyboards are available for you to use. One is for the primary language configured for your iPhone (for example, mine is U.S. English). The other is the Emoji keyboard (more on this shortly). How you change the keyboard you are using depends on whether you have installed additional keyboards and the orientation of the iPhone.

If you haven’t installed additional keyboards, you can change keyboards by tapping the Emoji key, which has a smiley face on it.

If you have installed other keyboards, you change keyboards by tapping the Globe key.

Each time you tap this key (Globe if available, Emoji if there isn’t a Globe), the keyboard changes to be the next keyboard installed; along with the available keys changing, you briefly see the name of the current keyboard in the space key. When you have cycled through all the keyboards, you return to the one where you started.

You can also select the specific keyboard you want to use and access keyboard and text options by touching and holding on the Globe key (or the Emoji key, if you don’t see the Globe key). The Keyboard menu appears. Tap a keyboard to switch to it. Tap Keyboard Settings to jump to the Keyboards screen in the Settings app where you can configure keyboards and enable or disable text options (these settings are covered in Chapter 4).

Because you often type on your iPhone while you are moving around, it has a one-handed keyboard. This keyboard “squishes” all the keys to the left or right side of the screen to suit typing with a thumb. To use a one-handed keyboard, tap and hold the Globe or Emoji key to open the keyboard menu (this only works when the iPhone is held vertically). Tap the left or right keyboard; the keyboard compresses toward the side you selected and you can more easily tap its keys with one thumb. To return to the full-screen keyboard, tap the right- or left-facing arrow that appears in the “empty” space on the side of the screen not being used for the keyboard or open the Keyboard menu and tap the full-screen keyboard.

Emojis are icons you insert into your text to liven things up, communicate your feelings, or just to have some fun (if you don’t have this keyboard installed, see Chapter 4). You can open the Emoji keyboard by tapping its key (the smiley face) or by selecting it on the Keyboard menu. You see a palette containing many emojis, organized into groups. You can change the groups of emojis you are browsing by tapping the icons at the bottom of the screen. Swipe to the left or right on the emojis to browse the emojis in the current group. Tap an emoji to enter it at the cursor’s location in your message, email, or other type of document. To use an emoji you’ve used often, tap the Clock icon to see emojis you’ve used frequently; you’ll probably find that you use this set of emojis regularly so this can save a lot of time. To return to the mundane world of letters and symbols, tap the ABC key.

The Predictive Text feature also suggests emojis when you type certain words; just tap the emoji to replace the word with it.

If Predictive Text is enabled, potential replacements for suspicious words appear in the Predictive Text bar. When you tap the space key, the suspicious word is replaced with the word in the center of the Predictive Text bar. Tap the word on the far left to keep what you’ve typed (because it isn’t a mistake) or tap the word on the right end of the bar to enter it instead of what you’ve typed.

If Predictive Text isn’t enabled, a suspicious word is highlighted and a suggestion about what it thinks is the correct word appears in a pop-up box. To accept the suggestion, tap the space key; the suspicious word is replaced with the suggested word. To reject the suggestion, tap the Close (x) icon in the pop-up box to close it and keep what you typed. You can also use this feature for shorthand typing. For example, to type “I’ve” you can simply type “Ive” and iPhone suggests “I’ve,” which you can accept by tapping the space key.

By default, the iPhone attempts to correct the capitalization of what you type. It also automatically selects the Shift key when you start a new sentence, start a new paragraph, or in other places where its best guess is that you need a capital letter. If you don’t want to enter a capital character, simply tap the Shift key before you type. You can enable the Caps Lock key by tapping the Shift key twice. When the key is highlighted (the upward-facing arrow is black), everything you type is in uppercase letters.

To edit text you’ve typed, touch and hold on the area containing the text you want to edit. A magnifying glass icon appears on the screen, and within it you see a magnified view of the location of the cursor. Drag the magnifying glass to position the cursor where you want to start making changes, and then lift your finger from the screen. The cursor remains in that location, and you can use the keyboard to make changes to the text or to add text at that location, or you can make a selection on the menu that appears.

You can also select text or images to copy and paste the selected content into a new location or to replace that content. Touch and hold down briefly where you want to start the selection until the magnifying glass icon appears; then lift your finger off the screen. The Select menu appears. Tap Select to select part of the content on the screen, or tap Select All to select everything in the current window.

You see markers indicating where the selection starts and stops. (The iPhone attempts to select something logical, such as the word or sentence.) New commands appear on the menu; these provide actions for the text currently selected.

Drag the two markers so that the content you want to select is between them; the selected portion is highlighted in blue. As you drag, you see a magnified view of where the selection marker is, which helps you place it more accurately. When the selection markers are located correctly, lift your finger from the screen. (If you tapped the Select All command, you don’t need to do this because the content you want is already selected.)

Tap Cut to remove the content from the current window, or tap Copy to just copy it.

Move to where you want to paste the content you selected; for example, use the App Switcher to change to a different app. Tap where you want the content to be pasted. (For a more precise location, tap and hold and then use the magnifying glass icon to move to a specific location.) Lift your finger off the screen and the menu appears. Then tap Paste.

The content you copied or cut appears where you placed the cursor.

The iPhone also has a spell-checking feature that comes into play after you have entered text (as opposed to the Predictive Text and autocorrect/suggests features that change text as you type it). When you’ve entered text the iPhone doesn’t recognize, it is underlined in red.

Tap the underlined word. It is shaded in red to show you what is being checked, and a menu appears with one or more replacements that might be the correct spelling. If one of the options is the one you want, tap it. The incorrect word is replaced with the one you tapped.

To start dictating, tap the Microphone key. The iPhone goes into Dictation mode. A gray bar appears at the bottom of the window. As the iPhone “hears” you, the line oscillates.

Start speaking the text you want the iPhone to type. As you speak, the text is entered starting from the location of the cursor. Speak punctuation when you want to enter it. For example, when you reach the end of a sentence, say “period,” or to enter a colon say “colon.” To start a new paragraph, say “new paragraph.”

When you’ve finished dictating, tap the keyboard icon. The keyboard reappears and you see the text you spoke. This feature is amazingly accurate and can be a much faster and more convenient way to enter text than typing it.

You can edit the text you dictated just like text you typed using the keyboard.

You can use the iOS drawing tool to create and insert drawings that include shapes, text, colors, and other elements into places where you create text, such as emails. Tap in the window where you want the drawing to be. On the menu, tap the right-facing arrow until you see Insert Drawing and then tap that command.

Use the drawing tool to create the drawing. Tap Add (+) to add shapes, lines, or text. Tap text to edit it. Tap Signature to sign your name. You can tap objects to select them to move or change them. You can use the format tools (color and font) to format objects. When you’re done, tap Done. Then tap Insert Drawing to place the drawing where the cursor was located.

When you move back to the text, you see the drawing you created. You can then complete what you were doing, such as finishing and sending an email message.

You can open the Widget Center in a number of ways:

• Wake your iPhone and swipe to the right on the Lock screen.

• Move to a Home page and swipe to the right.

• Swipe down the screen to open the Notification Center and then swipe to the right.

At the top of the Widget Center, you see the Search tool (more on this later). If you open the Widget Center from the Lock screen, you see the current time and date under the Search tool; if you open it from a Home or app’s screen, you don’t see the date or time. Beneath that, you see widgets for apps installed on your iPhone. Swipe up and down the screen to browse your widgets.

Each widget provides information or functions based on its app. For example, you can use the FAVORITES widget to place phone calls using the Phone app or to make FaceTime calls to your contacts you’ve designated as Favorites (you learn how to do this in Chapter 7). You can see your daily calendar in the CALENDAR widget, get news in the NEWS widget, or listen to music in the MUSIC widget.

You can expand a widget to show all of its information or tools by tapping the Show More command or collapse it to a more minimal state by tapping the Show Less command.

You can interact with widgets in several ways. Some widgets provide information that you can view within the widget, such as CALENDAR, STOCKS, or UP NEXT. Some apps provide options you can tap to perform specific actions; these include FAVORITES and MUSIC. When you tap something within a widget, the associated app opens and either performs the task you indicated or shows more information about what you selected.

Some apps even have multiple widgets. For example, the Calendar app has the UP NEXT widget that shows you the next events on your calendar and the CALENDAR widget that shows the events on the current date.

If you don’t move into an app from a widget, you can close the Widget Center by swiping to the left. You move back to the screen you came from, such as a Home screen. If you do move into an app from a widget, you work with that app just as if you moved into it from a Home screen.

There are a couple of ways you can start a search:

• Swipe to the right to open the Widget Center. The Search bar is at the top of the screen.

• On a Home screen, swipe down from the center of the screen. The Search bar appears at the top of the screen.

To perform a search, tap in the Search bar and type the search term using the onscreen keyboard. As you type, recent or suggested searches appear just below the Search bar; tap a search to perform it. Under the search list, you see the current items that match your search. If you don’t tap one of the recent or suggested searches, when you finish typing the search term, tap Search to see the full list of results.

The results are organized into sections, such as CONTACTS, MAIL, MESSAGES, APPLICATIONS, MAPS, MUSIC, and so on. Swipe up and down the screen to browse all of the results. To work with an item you find, such as to view a location you found, tap it; you move to a screen showing more information or into the associated app and see the search result that you tapped.

The results remain in the Search tool as you work with them. To move back to the search results, tap the Back icon in the upper-left corner of the screen or tap Search (which you see depends on the result you tapped on).

The results of the most recent search are still listed. To clear the search term, tap Clear (x). To close the Spotlight tool without going to one of the results, tap Cancel.

To access Siri Suggestions, swipe down from the center of a Home screen. Just under the Search bar, you see the SIRI APP SUGGESTIONS panel. This panel shows you apps you’ve used recently or apps that might be useful to you based on your location. For example, the Starbucks app may be suggested when you are near a Starbucks location. Tap an app to open it.

Siri Suggestions can also appear in other apps. Siri monitors your activity and “learns” from what you do in order to improve the suggestions it makes. These suggestions can appear in many different places, such as when you are entering email addresses in a new email, dealing with new contact information, performing searches, editing a text message, and so on. When you see a list of Siri Suggestions, you can tap the suggestion you want to use. For example, if it is an email address, that address is entered for you. If it is a search, the search is performed.

You can enable or disable the apps and services that Siri can access to make these suggestions; the information to do this is provided in Chapter 11, “Working with Siri.” For example, if you don’t want Siri to be able to make suggestions based on a specific app, you can disable the Search & Siri Suggestions setting for that app.

You can determine which types of notifications are used for specific activity on your iPhone. This might be one of the most important areas to configure because you want to make sure you are aware of activity that is important to you, but too many notifications can be disruptive and annoying. So, you want to strike a good balance between being aware and being annoyed.

Badges appear on an app’s or a folder’s icon to let you know something has changed, such as when you have received new email.

Badges are purely informational, meaning you can’t take any action on these directly as you can with the other visual notifications. They inform you about an event so that you can take action, such as to download and install an update to your iPhone’s iOS software or read new text messages.

Banner notifications provide information for you, and you can take action related to the event that generated the notification. For example, you can respond to a text message directly from its notification.

There are two types of banner notifications. Persistent banner notifications remain on the screen until you take action on them, which can be closing them, responding to them, etc. Temporary banner notifications appear on the screen for a few seconds and if you don’t take action on them, they rotate off the screen to get out of your way.

When your iPhone is unlocked, banner notifications appear at the top of the screen. They provide a summary of the app and the activity that has taken place, such as a new email or text message. When a banner appears, you can view its information; if it is a temporary banner, it rotates off the screen after displaying for a few seconds; if it is a persistent banner, you need to do something to cause it to disappear. You can tap it to move into the app to take some action, such as to read an email. You can swipe up from the bottom of the banner to close it. For some apps, such as Mail, you can press on the notification to open a menu of commands.

Banner notifications can also appear on the Lock screen, which is really convenient because you can read and take action on them directly from that screen. If your phone is asleep, the notifications appear briefly on the screen and then it goes dark again; you can press the Side button or the Touch/ID Home button or raise your phone to see your notifications without unlocking the iPhone. You can swipe up or down the screen to browse the notifications.

To respond to a notification or take other action on it, press it to open it (3D Touch iPhones) or swipe to the right on it (non-3D Touch iPhones) and then take action, such as replying to a message. In some cases, you might need to unlock your phone to complete an action associated with a notification. In those cases, you’re prompted to use Touch ID, Face ID, or your passcode to proceed.

If don’t want the banner notifications to appear, you can disable them.

Vibrations are a physical indicator that something has happened. Like sounds, you can configure general vibrations, and you can also configure an app’s vibration pattern for its notifications.

You learn how to configure sounds and vibrations in Chapter 5.

First, set up and configure your AirPrint printer (see the instructions that came with the printer you use).

When you are in the app from which you want to print, tap the Share icon. Tap Print on the resulting menu. You might need to swipe to the right to expose the Print command. (If you don’t see the Share icon or the Print command, the app you are using doesn’t support printing.)

The first time you print, you need to select the printer you want to use. On the Printer Options screen, tap Select Printer. Then tap the printer you want to use. You move back to the Printer Options screen and see the printer you selected.

Tap the − or + to set the number of copies; the current number of copies is shown to the left of the controls. You can use other controls that appear to configure the print job, such as the Black & White switch to print in black and white on a color printer; the controls you see depend on the capabilities of the printer you selected. Tap Print to print the document.

The next time you print, if you want to use the same printer, you can skip the printer selection process because the iPhone remembers the last printer you used. To change the printer, tap Printer and tap the printer you want to use.