3. Setting Up and Using an Apple ID, iCloud, and Other Online Accounts
In this chapter, you learn how to configure an Apple ID on your iPhone and to set up various types of accounts, such as iCloud and Google, so that apps on your iPhone can access data stored on the Internet cloud. Topics include the following:
Connecting your iPhone to the Internet enables you to share and sync a wide variety of content using popular online accounts such as iCloud and Google. Using iCloud, you can put your email, contacts, calendars, photos, and more on the Internet so that multiple devices—most importantly your iPhone—can connect to and use that information. (There’s a lot more you can do with iCloud, too, as you learn throughout this book.) There are other online accounts you might also want to use, such as Google for email, calendars, and contacts as well as email accounts provided by your Internet Service Provider, such as a cable company.
To use iCloud and access other services provided by Apple, such as the App Store, iTunes Store, and iMessage, you need to have an Apple ID configured on your iPhone. The Apple ID connects the services Apple provides to you on all of your devices.
You need to configure these accounts on your iPhone to be able to use them; this chapter includes sections for several different online accounts you might want to use. Of course, you need to refer only to the sections related to the accounts you actually use.
This chapter also explains how to configure how and when your information is updated and demonstrates tasks you might find valuable as you manage the various accounts on your iPhone.
Getting Started
You can configure your iPhone to use various types of online accounts that offer different types of services and information. Here are some of the key terms for this chapter:
Apple ID—An Apple ID enables you to access many Apple services, especially iCloud, and make purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple’s online store. An Apple ID also enables you to use iMessage to send and receive messages via the Messages app. An Apple ID is the “connector” between all your devices; it enables you to start tasks on one device, such as writing an email on your iPhone, and finish them on another, such as an iPad. Similarly, if you subscribe to Apple’s Music Library, your Apple ID provides access to that music on each of your devices (iPhones, iPads, or computers).
iCloud—This is Apple’s online service that offers lots of great features that you can use for free; if you store a lot of information online, you might need to add storage to your account for an additional fee. It includes email, online photo storage and sharing, backup, calendars, Find My iPhone, and much more. This chapter explains how to set up iCloud on your iPhone; you find examples of how to use iCloud services in this chapter and throughout the rest of this book.
Family Sharing—This Apple service allows you to share content with a group of people. (They don’t actually have to be related to you.) For example, you can share music you download from the iTunes Store—when you set people up in your “family” group. This service is free.
Google account—A Google account is similar to an iCloud account except it is provided by Google instead of Apple. It also offers lots of features, such as email, calendars, and contacts. You can use iCloud and a Google account on your iPhone at the same time.
Push, Fetch, or Manual—Information has to get from your online account onto your iPhone. For example, when someone sends an email to you, it actually goes to an email server, which then sends the message to devices that are configured with your email account. You can choose how and when new data is provided to your phone. The three ways data gets moved onto your iPhone (Push, Fetch, Manual) are explained in “Setting How and When Your Accounts Are Updated” later in this chapter.
Configuring an Apple ID
An Apple ID is required to access Apple’s online services, including iCloud, the App Store, iTunes, and the online store. You can access all of these services with one Apple ID.
An Apple ID has two elements. One is the email address associated with your account; this can be one provided by Apple or you can choose to use an address from a different service (such as Google Gmail). The other element is a password.
In addition to your email address and password, your contact information (such as physical address and phone number) and payment information (if you make purchases through your account, such as apps or storage upgrades) is also part of your Apple ID.
If you have used Apple technology or services before, you probably already have an Apple ID. If you don’t already have one, obtaining an Apple ID is simple and free.
If you have any of the following accounts, you already have an Apple ID:
iTunes Store—If you’ve ever shopped at the iTunes Store, you created an Apple ID.
Apple Online Store—As with the iTunes Store, if you made purchases from Apple’s online store, you created an account with an Apple ID.
Find My iPhone—If you obtained a free Find My iPhone account, you also created an Apple ID.
Another way you might have already obtained an Apple ID is during the initial iPhone startup process when you were prompted to sign in to or create an Apple ID.
If you don’t have an Apple ID, read the next section to obtain one. If you already have an Apple ID, move to “Signing into Your Apple ID” to learn how to sign into it on your iPhone. If you both have an Apple ID and have already signed into it on your iPhone, skip to the section “Changing the Personal Information Associated with Your Apple ID” to learn how to configure it.
Obtaining an Apple ID
If you don’t have an Apple ID, you can use your iPhone to create one by performing the following steps:
On the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap Sign in to your iPhone.
Tap Don’t have an Apple ID or forgot it?.
Tap Create Apple ID.
Provide the information required on the following screens; tap Next to move to the next screen after you’ve entered the required information. You start by entering your birthday, providing your name, and so on. You are guided through each step in the process.
During the process, you’re prompted to use an existing email address or to create a free iCloud email account. You can choose either option. The email address you use becomes your Apple ID that you use to sign in to iCloud. If you create a new iCloud email account, you can use that account from any email app on any device, just like other email accounts you have.
You also create a password, enter a phone number and verification method, verify the phone number you entered, and agree to license terms. When your account has been created, you sign into iCloud, which you do by entering your iPhone’s passcode.
You might then be prompted to merge information already stored on your iPhone, such as Safari bookmarks, onto iCloud. Tap Merge to copy the information that currently is stored on your iPhone to the cloud or Don’t Merge to keep it out of the cloud.
When you’ve worked through merging your information, you’re prompted to sign in to the iTunes and App Stores to make sure your new account can work with those services, too. You can choose to review your account information now or skip it and configure it at another time.
When the process is complete, you’re signed into your new Apple ID; skip ahead to “Changing the Personal Information Associated with Your Apple ID” to learn how to change its settings.
Signing In to Your Apple ID
You can sign in to an existing Apple ID on your iPhone by doing the following:
On the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap Sign in to your iPhone.
Enter your Apple ID (email address).
Enter your password.
Tap Sign In. If you are using the same Apple ID on other devices, you’re prompted to enter the verification code sent to those devices. See the sidebar “Two-Factor Authentication” for more information.
Enter your verification code; if you weren’t prompted to enter a code, skip this step.
Enter your iPhone’s passcode. You might be prompted to merge existing information on the iPhone onto your iCloud storage.
Tap Merge to copy information from your iPhone onto the cloud or Don’t Merge if you don’t want that information copied to the cloud. You might be prompted to perform this merge step more than once depending on the kind of information already stored on your iPhone. If you don’t have any information that can be merged, you skip this step entirely.
When you’ve finished these steps, you are signed in to your Apple ID and can configure it further using the information in the next section.
Two-Factor Authentication
Apple uses two-factor authentication for its services. This requires that you have two pieces of information to be able to access your Apple accounts. One is your Apple ID login information (email and password). The other is a verification code that is sent to other devices on which the Apple ID is already configured (called trusted devices). This makes using Apple services more secure because even if someone was able to get your Apple ID and password (which is unlikely), he would still need the verification code to be able to sign in to your account (meaning he would also have to be able to access another device on which your Apple ID is already configured, which is very, very unlikely). In general, you should use two-factor authentication when it is available (it requires you have at least two devices that can use your Apple ID, such as an iPhone and a Mac).
You can configure two-factor authentication for your Apple ID in the Password & Security settings, which are described in the next section.
Changing the Personal Information Associated with Your Apple ID
When you create or sign in to your Apple ID, the personal information associated with your account is used on your iPhone. You can change this information on your phone, for example, if you want to change your contact information or how you pay for purchases from Apple. Following are the steps you can use to change the personal information associated with your Apple ID:
On the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap your Apple ID, which appears immediately under the Search bar at the top of the Settings screen. The Apple ID screen has four sections. The top section shows your Apple ID and photo (if you have one) and provides access to your account’s primary settings, which are contact information, security, and payment information.
To set or change the photo associated with your Apple ID, tap the image shown just above your name.
Tap Take Photo to take a new photo for your Apple ID or Choose Photo to use an existing photo; then use the resulting tools to configure the photo for your Apple ID (detailed information about working with the iPhone’s photo tools is provided in Chapter 13, “Taking Photos and Video with Your iPhone,” and Chapter 14, “Viewing and Editing Photos and Video with the Photos App”). When you’re done configuring the photo, you return to the Apple ID screen and see the new photo at the top of the screen.
To change your contact information, tap Name, Phone Numbers, Email.
To change the name associated with your account, tap the name shown and edit it on the resulting screen; when you’re done, tap Back to move to the previous screen (this step is not shown in the figures).
To change the email addresses with which you can be contacted in various apps, such as FaceTime, tap Edit.
Address Info
If an email address has the Info icon (i) next to it, you can tap that icon to verify the address or see information about it (such as a message for your primary Apple ID address stating that you can’t remove it).
To remove an address, tap its Unlock icon.
Tap Delete. That address is removed from the list and can’t be used for associated apps.
To add more email addresses or phone numbers, tap Add Email or Phone Number.
Tap Add an Email Address to associate a new email or tap Add a Phone Number to add a phone number. Follow the resulting steps to complete the process. For example, enter the new email and then respond to the verification email sent to the address.
Done Is Done
When you make some changes, such as adding a new email address, you exit Edit mode automatically. You have to tap Edit again to make more changes. If a change you make doesn’t automatically move you out of Edit mode, tap Done when you are finished making changes.
If you need to change the birthday for your account, tap it and make the change on the resulting screen.
To receive emails from Apple for various types of information, set the associated switch to On (green) or to prevent such messages from being sent, set the switch to Off (white).
When you’re done making changes to your personal information, tap Back.
Many changes you make to your Apple ID, such as adding a new email address or changing security settings, result in you receiving confirmation emails and notifications from Apple on all of the devices tied to your account. These are helpful because they confirm the actions you are taking. If you ever receive such a notification but you haven’t changed your account, carefully review it. In many cases, especially email notifications, these unexpected notifications are attempts to get your information for nefarious purposes. Don’t respond to emails you don’t expect even if they appear to be from Apple (if you make a change to your account information and then receive an email, that is expected). Instead, log in directly to your account on your iPhone or other device to make sure it hasn’t been changed by someone else.
Changing Your Apple ID’s Password and Security Settings
To access the security settings for your Apple ID, perform the following steps:
Move to the Apple ID screen.
Tap Password & Security.
To change your password, tap Change Password and follow the onscreen instructions to make the change. You need to enter your iPhone’s passcode and then you’ll be able to change the password.
If two-factor authentication isn’t currently enabled, tap Turn on Two-Factor Authentication and then tap Continue to complete the process; if it is already enabled, you see the On status (as shown in the figure).
To change the phone number used for account verification, tap Edit and use the resulting tools to delete or change existing numbers or add new ones.
If you need a verification code for another device with which you are trying to access your Apple ID information, tap Get Verification Code. The code appears on the screen and you can enter that code on the other device to verify it; tap OK to close the code dialog.
When you’re done making changes, tap Apple ID.
Changing Your Apple ID’s Payment and Shipping Information
To change the payment and shipping information for your Apple ID, perform the following steps:
Move to the Apple ID screen.
Tap Payment & Shipping.
To change your payment information, tap the current payment method (which is what will be used for all purchases made under your account, such as from the App Store).
Use the fields on the resulting screen to provide or change your name, credit or debit card information, and the address associated with the payment method.
Tap Save when you have updated the information.
To change your shipping address, tap the current address.
Use the fields on the resulting screen to provide or change the address to which items you purchase from Apple should be delivered.
Tap Done when you have updated the information.
Tap Apple ID to return to the Apple ID screen.
Configuring Services that Use Your Apple ID
In the center part of the Apple ID screen, you see tools you can use to configure iCloud (covered in “Configuring and Using iCloud” later in this chapter) and the iTunes and App Stores (covered in “Customizing How Your iPhone Works with Apps” in Chapter 4, “Customizing How Your iPhone Works”). Family Sharing enables you to configure a group of people with whom you share content related to your Apple ID (such as music you purchase from the iTunes Store and apps you download from the App Store). You can use the Family Sharing option to configure your Family Sharing group and determine the access this group has to your account.
Changing the Devices Using Your Apple ID
You will likely have more than one device that uses your Apple ID. For example, you might have an iPad on which you want to be able to access the same information as you can on your iPhone. You can get information about the devices currently using your Apple ID like so:
Move to the Apple ID screen.
Tap the device about which you want to get information.
Review the information about the device. (If the device is also an iPhone, you can enable or disable some iCloud functions from this screen.)
If you don’t recognize the device, tap Remove from Account and follow the onscreen prompts to disconnect the device from your Apple ID. You should also immediately change your Apple ID password.
To return to the Apple ID screen, tap Apple ID.
If don’t want to continue accessing your Apple ID on your iPhone or you want to sign into a different Apple ID, tap Sign Out at the bottom of the Apple ID screen. If Find My iPhone is enabled, you need to enter your password and tap Turn Off to continue the process. You might be prompted to keep some information on your iPhone; if you choose to keep that information, it remains on your iPhone but is no longer synchronized to the information stored on the cloud. After you have completed the process, you can sign in to the same or a different Apple ID using the information in “Signing In to Your Apple ID” earlier in this chapter.
Configuring and Using iCloud
iCloud is a service provided by Apple that provides you with your own storage space on the Internet. You can store content from your computer or devices in your storage space on the cloud, and because it is on the Internet, all your devices are able to access that information at the same time. This means you can easily share your information on your iPhone, a computer, and iPad, so that the same information and content is available to you no matter which device you are using at any one time.
Although your iPhone can work with many types of online/Internet accounts, iCloud is integrated into the iPhone like no other (not surprising because the iPhone and iCloud are both Apple technology). An iCloud account is part of an Apple ID; if you have an Apple ID, you also have an iCloud account.
An iCloud account is useful in a number of ways, including the following:
Photos—You can store your photos in iCloud to back them up and to make them easy to share.
Email—An iCloud account includes an @icloud.com email address if you chose to create one when you created an Apple ID. You can configure any device to use your iCloud email account, including an iPhone, an iPad, and a computer.
Contacts—You can store your contact information in iCloud.
Calendars—Putting your calendars in iCloud makes it much easier to manage your time.
Reminders—Through iCloud, you can be reminded of things you need to do or anything else you want to make sure you don’t forget.
Notes—With the Notes app, you can create text notes, draw sketches, and capture photos for many purposes; iCloud enables you to use these notes on any iCloud-enabled device.
Messages—This puts all of your text messages on the cloud so you can access the same messages from any device.
Safari—iCloud can store your bookmarks, letting you easily access the same websites from all your devices. And you can easily access websites currently open on other devices, such as a Mac, on your iPhone.
News—iCloud can store information from the News app online, making reading news on multiple devices easier.
Health—This causes the information stored using the Health app to be available to multiple devices. For example, you might track information on your Apple Watch and want to be able to analyze it on your iPhone.
Wallet—The Wallet app stores coupons, tickets, boarding passes, and other documents so you can access them quickly and easily. With iCloud, you can ensure that these documents are available on any iCloud-enabled device.
Game Center—This capability stores information from the Game Center app on the cloud.
Siri—It can be helpful to manage Siri information on multiple devices; this setting puts that information on the cloud.
Keychain—The Keychain securely stores sensitive data, such as passwords, so that you can easily use that data without having to remember it.
Find My iPhone—This service enables you to locate and secure your iPhone and other devices.
iCloud Backup—You can back up your iPhone to the cloud so that you can recover your data and your phone’s configuration should something ever happen to it.
iCloud Drive—iCloud enables you to store your documents and other files on the cloud so that you can seamlessly work with them using different devices.
App Data—When iCloud Drive is enabled, you can allow or prevent apps from storing data there.
You can also manage your iCloud storage space, share your location, and configure some aspects of iCloud mail.
You learn about iCloud’s many useful features throughout this book (such as using iCloud with your photos, which is covered in Chapter 14). The tasks in this chapter show you how to set up and configure the iCloud features you want to use.
One at a Time Please
You can have more than one iCloud account. However, you can be signed in to only one iCloud account on your iPhone at a time.
I’m In
To configure your iCloud account, sign in to your Apple ID as described in “Signing In to Your Apple ID” earlier in this chapter.
Configuring iCloud to Store Photos
Storing your photos on the cloud provides many benefits, not the least of which is that the photos you take with your iPhone are automatically saved on the cloud so that you can access them from computers and other iOS devices (such as iPads), and your photos remain available even if something happens to your iPhone, such as losing it. Using iCloud also makes it easy for you to share your photos with others. To configure your photos to be stored in iCloud, do the following:
Open the Apple ID screen.
Tap iCloud.
On the iCloud screen, tap Photos.
To store your entire photo library on the cloud, set the iCloud Photo Library switch to on (green). This stores all of your photos and video in iCloud, which both protects them by backing them up and makes them accessible on other iOS devices (iPads, iPod touches, iPhones) and computers (Macs and Windows PCs).
If you enable the iCloud Photo Library feature, tap Optimize iPhone Storage to keep lower-resolution versions of photos and videos on your iPhone (this means the file sizes are smaller so that you can store more of them on your phone), or tap Download and Keep Originals if you want to keep the full-resolution photos on your iPhone. In most cases, you should choose the Optimize option so that you don’t use as much of your iPhone’s storage space for photos.
Ensure the Upload to My Photo Stream switch is on (green) (if you aren’t using the iCloud Photo Library, this switch is called My Photo Stream); if you set it to off (white) instead, skip to step 8. Any photos you take with the iPhone’s camera are copied onto iCloud, and from there they’re copied to your other devices on which the Photo Stream is enabled. Note that Photo Stream affects only photos that you take with the iPhone from the time you enable it, whereas the iCloud Photo Library feature uploads all of your photos—those you took in the past and will take in the future.
If you want all of your burst photos (photos taken in sequence, such as for action shots) to be uploaded to iCloud, set the Upload Burst Photos switch to on (green). In most cases, you should leave this off (white) because you typically don’t want to keep all the photos in a burst. When you review and select photos to keep (this is explained in Chapter 14), the ones you keep are uploaded.
To be able to share your photos and to access photos other people share with you, set the iCloud Photo Sharing switch to on (green).
Tap iCloud.
Enabling iCloud to Store Information on the Cloud
One of the best things about iCloud is that it stores email, contacts, calendars, reminders, bookmarks, notes, and other data on the cloud so that all your iCloud-enabled devices can access the same information. You can choose the types of data stored on the cloud by performing the following steps:
Move to the iCloud screen. Just below the Storage information are the iCloud data options. Some of these have a right-facing arrow that you tap to configure options, and others have a two-position switch. The types of data that have switches are Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, Messages, Safari, News, Health, Wallet, Game Center, and Siri. When a switch is green, it means that switch is turned on and the related data is stored to your iCloud account and kept in sync with the information on the iPhone.
To store data on the cloud, set its switch to On (green). You might be prompted to merge that information with that already stored on the cloud. For example, if you have contacts information on your iPhone already and want to merge that with the contacts already on the cloud, tap Merge. If you don’t want the contacts copied to the cloud, tap Don’t Merge.
If you don’t want a specific type of data to be stored on the cloud and synced to your iPhone, tap its switch to turn that data off (the switch becomes white instead of green).
When you turn off a switch because you don’t want that information stored on the cloud any more, you might be prompted to keep the associated information on your iPhone or delete it.
If you choose Keep on My iPhone, the information remains on your iPhone but is no longer connected to the cloud; this means any changes you make exist only on the iPhone. If you choose Delete from My iPhone, the information is erased from your iPhone. Whether you choose to keep or delete the information, any information of that type that was previously stored on the cloud remains available there; the delete action affects only the information stored on the iPhone.
After you’ve configured each data switch on the iCloud screen, you’re ready to configure the rest of the data options, which are explained in the following tasks.
Configuring Your iCloud Keychain
A keychain can be used to store usernames, passwords, and credit cards so you can access this information without retyping it every time you need it. Enabling keychain syncing through iCloud makes this information available on multiple devices. For example, if you’ve configured a website’s password on your keychain on a Mac, that password is available in the Safari app on your iPhone if the keychain is synced via iCloud. Follow these steps to enable keychain syncing through iCloud:
On the iCloud screen, tap Keychain.
If prompted to do so, enter your Apple ID password and tap OK (not shown in the figures).
Set the iCloud Keychain switch to on (green).
Your Experience May Vary
How iCloud Keychain syncing is configured can vary based on the current status of your keychain. These steps assume your keychain is already configured on another device, such as a Mac, and your iPhone is connecting to that keychain. If you don’t have any keychain syncing configured, you might see additional steps when you perform step 3. In that case, just follow the onscreen prompts to complete the process.
Configuring Your iCloud Backup
Like other digital devices, it is important to back up your iPhone’s data so that you can recover should something bad happen to your iPhone. You can back up your iPhone’s data and settings to iCloud, which is really useful because that means you can recover the backed-up data using a different device, such as a replacement iPhone. Configure your iCloud backup with the following steps:
On the iCloud settings screen, tap iCloud Backup.
Set the iCloud Backup switch to on (green). Your iPhone’s data and settings are backed up to the cloud automatically when your iPhone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Tap iCloud.
Back Me Up on This
You can manually back up your iPhone’s data and settings at any time by tapping Back Up Now on the Backup screen. This can be useful to ensure recent data or settings changes are captured in your backup. For example, if you know you are going to be without a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet for a while, back up your phone to ensure that your current data is saved in the backup.
Configuring iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive, which is enabled by default, stores files (such as Keynote presentations) on the cloud so that you can work with those documents on any device. For example, you can create a Keynote presentation on a Mac and then access it on your iPhone to present it. To configure your iCloud Drive, perform the following steps:
On the iCloud settings screen, set the iCloud Drive switch to on (green).
Set the switch to on (green) for those apps that you do want to use the iCloud Drive to store data.
Set the switch to off (white) for any apps that you don’t want to use your iCloud Drive.
Managing Your iCloud Storage
Your iCloud account includes storage space that you can use for your data including photos, documents, and so on. By default, your account includes 5 GB of free storage space. For many people, that is enough, but if you take a lot of photos and video and use the iCloud Photo Library feature, you might find that you need more space. It is easy (and relatively inexpensive) to upgrade the amount of room you have on your iCloud Drive. You can use the STORAGE section on the iCloud settings screen to manage your storage space as follows:
Move to the top of the iCloud settings screen. Here you see a gauge that displays the amount of space you have and how that space is currently being used. The gray portion of the bar indicates how much free space you have; if this portion of the bar is very small, you might want to consider upgrading your storage space.
Tap Manage Storage. At the top of the iCloud Storage screen, you see the same storage information as on the prior screen. Under that, you see the tools you can use to manage your storage.
To change the amount of storage space available to you, tap Change and follow the onscreen prompts to upgrade (or downgrade) your storage.
If you use the Family Sharing feature, tap Share With Family to enable the people in your sharing group to store content on your iCloud drive (not shown on figures).
When the Share With Family feature is enabled, you can tap Family Usage to see how much space each member of the group is using (you can disable this feature through the Family Sharing option on the Apple ID screen).
Swipe up the screen to review all of the apps that are currently using iCloud storage space.
Tap an app to get details about how it is using iCloud space.
If the app works with documents, you see the list of documents and how much space each is using (if it doesn’t use documents, you only see a total).
Delete or Disable?
When you delete documents or data from your iCloud storage, it is removed from the cloud. This also means it is removed from every device using that data on the cloud. If you want the app to stop storing data on the cloud, but keep the data on the devices currently using it, prevent it from using iCloud storage as described in “Configuring iCloud Drive” instead.
To remove documents and data from iCloud, tap Delete Documents & Data, Disable & Delete, or Delete Data. After you confirm the deletion, the app’s data is deleted from your iPhone.
Setting Up Other Types of Online Accounts on Your iPhone
Many types of online accounts provide different services, including email, calendars, contacts, social networking, and so on. To use these accounts, you need to configure them on your iPhone. The process you use for most types of accounts is similar to the steps you used to set up your iCloud account. In this section, you learn how to configure a Google account and an account that you might have through your Internet provider, such as a cable company.
Configuring a Google Account
A Google account provides email, contacts, calendar, and note syncing that are similar to iCloud. To set up a Google account on your iPhone, do the following:
On the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap Accounts & Passwords.
Tap Add Account.
Enter your Google email address.
Tap Next.
Enter your Google account password.
Tap Next.
Enable the features of the account you want to access on the iPhone—which are Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Notes—by setting the switch to on (green) for the types of data you do want to use or to off (white) for the types of data you don’t want to use.
Tap Save. The account is saved, and the data you enabled becomes available on your iPhone.
Advanced Google
Similar to iCloud, a Google account has some settings you aren’t likely to use, but it’s good to know how to get to them in case you need them. To access these settings, move to the Accounts & Passwords screen and tap your Google account. On the Gmail account’s screen, you can change the types of data you are syncing by setting the switches to on or off. Tap Account, and then tap Advanced to see additional settings. Working with these is similar to working with iCloud. For example, you can determine where draft email messages are stored, such as on the Gmail server or on your iPhone.
You can’t change the password for a Google account in the Settings app on your iPhone. You have to change the password elsewhere, such as by accessing your Google account via the Google website. After your Google password has been changed, you’re prompted to enter the new password the first time your iPhone attempts to access your account.
Setting Up an Online Account that Isn’t Built In
You can access many types of online accounts on your iPhone. These include accounts that are “built in,” which include AOL, Exchange, Google, iCloud, Outlook.com, and Yahoo! Setting up an AOL, Exchange, Outlook.com, or Yahoo! account is similar to configuring a Google or iCloud account on your iPhone. Just select the account type you want to use and provide the information for which you are prompted.
There are other types of accounts you might want to use that aren’t “built in.” An email account included with an Internet access account, such as one from a cable Internet provider, is one example. Support for these accounts isn’t built in to the iOS; however, you can usually set up such accounts on your iPhone fairly easily.
When you obtain an account, such as email accounts that are part of your Internet service, you should receive all the information you need to configure those accounts on your iPhone. If you don’t have this information, visit the provider’s website and look for information on configuring the account in an email application. You need to have this information to configure the account on the iPhone.
With the configuration information for the account you want to use on your iPhone in hand, you’re ready to set it up:
On the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap Accounts & Passwords.
Tap Other.
Tap the type of account you want to add. For example, to set up an email account, tap Add Mail Account.
Enter the information by filling in the fields you see; various types of information are required for different kinds of accounts. You just need to enter the information you received from the account’s provider.
Tap Next. If the iPhone can set up the account automatically, its information is verified and it’s ready for you to use (if the account supports multiple types of information, you can enable or disable the types with which you want to work on your iPhone). If the iPhone can’t set up the account automatically, you’re prompted to enter additional information to complete the account configuration. When you’re done, the account appears on the list of accounts and is ready for you to use.
Configure the switches for the data sync options you see. For example, to use the account for email, set the Mail switch to on (green).
Tap Save. The account you configured is available in the related app, such as Mail if you set up an email account.
There is no limit (that I have found so far) on the number of online accounts (even of the same type, such as Gmail) that you can access on your iPhone. (You can only have one iCloud account configured on your iPhone at the same time.)
Configuring Social Media Accounts on Your iPhone
Social media apps are useful for doing things such as keeping in touch with others, sharing your opinions and reading the opinions of others, and exchanging photos. Examples of these types of social media include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Your iPhone is ideally suited to these because you can easily download and configure these apps to work on your phone.
Unlike Google, iCloud, and other accounts that are configured through the Settings app, you configure your social media accounts directly in their apps.
To use a social media app, you perform the following three steps:
- Download and install the app you want to use.
- Configure the app to access your social media account.
- Configure other settings for the social media app.
The steps to find and download apps are provided in Chapter 4. Examples of the second and third steps follow.
Facebook is one of the most popular social media channels you can use to keep informed about other people and inform them about you. Use these steps to download and configure Facebook on your iPhone:
Use the App Store app to download and install the Facebook app on your iPhone (see Chapter 4 for the details of working with the App Store app).
Tap the Facebook icon on a Home screen to open the app.
If you have previously signed into Facebook on the phone, tap the account shown. You’re prompted to enter your password; when you do, you sign in and can jump to step 10. If you haven’t signed into an account before, you won’t have this option and instead immediately go to the login page as described in step 5.
To sign into a different Facebook account than the one shown, tap Log Into Another Account.
Don’t Have a Facebook Account?
If you don’t already have a Facebook account, you can create one by tapping Sign Up for Facebook on the opening screen in the app or on the Log In screen. Follow the onscreen instructions to create a new Facebook account and log into it.
Tap in the Email or phone number field.
Enter the email address, phone number, or Facebook account name associated with your account.
Enter your password. (If you don’t know your password, tap Forgot Password? and follow the onscreen instructions to reset it.)
Tap Log In.
If you want to receive notifications from Facebook, such as when someone posts on your Timeline, tap Allow; if you don’t want these notifications, tap Don’t Allow. (You can always change these notification settings as described in Chapter 4.)
Use the Facebook app to post comments, add photos, and so on. You can use the app with its default settings. Perform steps 11 and 12 when you want to make changes to how the app works.
Further configure the app by tapping Facebook on the Settings screen.
Use the app’s settings to configure how it works for you. For example, you can configure notifications, determine if it uses cellular data, and so on.
More About Social Media
If you’d like to learn more about various social media, check out My Social Media for Seniors, Second Edition by Michael Miller (Que Publishing, 2017).
Setting How and When Your Accounts Are Updated
The great thing about online accounts is that their information can be updated any time your iPhone can connect to the Internet. This means you have access to the latest information, such as new emails, changes to your calendars, and so on. There are three basic ways information gets updated:
Push—When information is updated via Push, the server pushes (thus the name) updated information onto your iPhone whenever that information changes. For example, when you receive a new email, that email is immediately sent (or pushed) to your iPhone. Push provides you with the most current information all the time but uses a lot more battery than the other options.
Fetch—When information is updated via Fetch, your iPhone connects to the account and retrieves the updated information according to a schedule, such as every 15 minutes. Fetch doesn’t keep your information quite as current as Push does, but it uses much less battery than Push does.
Manual—You can cause an app’s information to be updated manually. This happens whenever you open or move into an app or by a manual refresh. For example, you can get new email by moving onto the Inboxes screen in the Mail app and swiping down from the top of the screen.
You can configure the update method that is used globally, and you can set the method for specific accounts. Some account types, such as iCloud, support all three options whereas others might support only Fetch and Manual. The global option for updating is used unless you override it for individual accounts. For example, you might want your work account to be updated via Push so your information there is always current, whereas configuring Fetch on a personal account might be frequent enough.
Configuring How New Data Is Retrieved for Your Accounts
To configure how your information is updated, perform the following steps:
Move to the Accounts & Passwords screen of the Settings app.
Tap Fetch New Data.
To enable data to be pushed to your iPhone, slide the Push switch to on (green). To disable push to extend battery life, set it to off (white). This setting is global, meaning that if you disable Push here, it is disabled for all accounts even though you can still configure Push to be used for individual accounts. For example, if your iCloud account is set to use Push but Push is globally disabled, the iCloud account’s setting is ignored and data is fetched instead.
To change how an account’s information is updated, tap it. The account’s screen displays. The options on this screen depend on the kind of account it is. You always have Fetch and Manual; Push is displayed only for accounts that support it.
Tap the option you want to use for the account: Push, Fetch, or Manual.
If you choose Manual, information is retrieved only when you manually start the process by opening the related app (such as Mail to get your email) or by using the refresh gesture, regardless of the global setting.
If you choose Fetch, information is updated according to the schedule you set in step 9.
If you choose the Push option in step 5 and are working with an email account, choose the mailboxes whose information you want to be pushed by tapping them so they have a check mark; to prevent a mailbox’s information from being pushed, tap it so that it doesn’t have a check mark. (The Inbox is selected by default and can’t be unselected.)
Tap Fetch New Data.
Repeat steps 5−7 until you have set the update option for each account. (The current option is shown to the right of the account’s name.)
Tap the amount of time when you want the iPhone to fetch data when Push is turned off globally or for those accounts for which you have selected Fetch or that don’t support Push; tap Manually if you want to manually check for information for Fetch accounts or when Push is off. Information for your accounts is updated according to your settings.
