1. Discover iOS 11 and the Newest iPads and iPhones

As of late 2017, Apple’s lineup of iOS mobile devices included a handful of new iPhone and iPad models, all of which run iOS 11. The operating system includes many useful new features, built-in functions, and preinstalled apps that allow the mobile devices to work more seamlessly with cloud-based services, including iCloud.

iPad Pro users will see the biggest advancements when upgrading from iOS 10 (or an older version) to iOS 11. Thanks to the improved Multitasking mode, App Switcher, and Dock, working with two apps simultaneously on the same screen and dragging and dropping content between apps is easier than ever.

In a nutshell, the latest iPad Pro models (with a 10.5-inch or 12.9-inch Retina display) have taken a giant step closer to functioning like a full-featured notebook computer, especially when you use them with the optional Apple Pencil and Apple Smart Keyboard.

Meanwhile, the current lineup of iPhone models includes the iPhone 8 (which has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display), the iPhone 8 Plus (which has a 5.5-inch Retina HD display), and the completely redesigned iPhone X (which has a 5.8-inch Retina HD display). These new iPhones feature wireless charging, along with other new built-in technologies that broaden the capabilities of these smartphones, making them more powerful and convenient to use.

Older iPhone models, including the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, and iPhone SE continue to be available, and all run iOS 11.

Discovering What’s New with the iPhone X

For the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, Apple’s iPhone X offers a complete redesign of the smartphone. It includes the fastest processors and most advanced technologies included within an iPhone to date.

As you can see from Figure 1.1, the Home button (with its Touch ID sensor) has been removed, and the front-facing camera has been improved, allowing for secure and accurate face recognition as a way to unlock the phone and confirm online and Apple Pay purchases.

FIGURE 1.1

The redesigned iPhone X is the most technologically advanced iPhone ever released. It’s available in a silver or black casing, with either 64GB or 256GB of internal storage.

On most iPhones, a user can swipe up from the bottom of the screen, or swipe down from the top of the screen, to access certain features, such as Notification Center or Command Center, and use the Home button to handle a variety of tasks.

On an iPhone X, however, when placing your finger near the top or bottom of the screen, it now matters where on the screen you start the motion when you initiate a swipe.

Getting Ready to use Your New iPhone or iPad

If you’re upgrading your iPhone or iPad from an older model to a newer one, the initial setup and activation process for the new device has been streamlined, thanks to iOS 11. You can take advantage of the Automatic Setup option, which combines retrieving your content from your iCloud account and wirelessly transferring information (including your personal settings and preferences, along with your iCloud Keychain data) between your older iPhone or iPad and your new one. Be prepared to place your old device next to the new one during the Automatic Setup process.

Charging Up and Getting Ready to go

Your iPhone or iPad comes with a built-in battery that has up 12 hours of battery life; battery life depends on the iPhone or iPad model, and how you use it throughout the day. To ensure your smartphone or tablet will be ready to use whenever you need it, get into the habit of keeping its battery charged.

On older iPhone or iPad models, you have several options for charging the iPhone or iPad’s battery:

Use the white USB cable that came with your iOS mobile device to connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer.

Connect a power adapter to the USB end of the white cable that came with your device, and then plug in the power adapter to an electrical outlet. Plug in the Lightning connector end of the cable to the bottom of your iPhone or iPad.

Connect an optional external battery pack to your iPhone or iPad, either directly to its Lightning port or with the white USB cable that came with the device.

Invest in an optional car charger that’s compatible with your iPhone or iPad, so you can recharge the battery and use the mobile device while you’re driving, without consuming battery power.

The battery-life indicator is displayed in the top-right corner of the screen. When this icon is solid green, the battery is fully charged. As the battery depletes, the battery icon becomes white.

If the battery drains before you plug it into an external power source, your iPhone or iPad automatically shuts down (powers off) and will not be functional again until it’s plugged in to charge. However, no information or content is lost if the device turns off due to a dead battery.

FIGURE 1.2

Adjust the battery percentage display and the device’s Low Power mode from this Battery submenu within Settings.

Turning Off or Putting to Sleep the iPhone or iPad

Your iOS mobile device can be turned on, turned off, placed into Sleep mode, or placed into Airplane mode.

Turned on—When your phone or tablet is turned on, it can run apps and perform all the tasks it was designed to do. The touchscreen is active, as is its capability to communicate. To turn on the iPhone or iPad when it is powered off, press and hold the Side button for about 5 seconds, until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Release the Side button, and then wait about 15 seconds while the device boots up. When the Lock screen appears, you’re ready to begin using the iPhone or iPad.

Turned off—When your iPhone or iPad is turned off and powered down, it is not capable of any form of communication, and all apps that were running are shut down. The device is dormant. To turn off your phone or tablet, press and hold the Side button for about 5 seconds, until the Slide to Power Off banner appears on the screen. Swipe your finger along this red-and-white banner from left to right. The device shuts down.

Sleep mode—To place your iPhone or iPad into Sleep mode, press and release the Side button once. To wake up the device, press the Side button (or the Home button on all devices but the iPhone X). In Sleep mode, your device’s screen is turned off, but the phone or tablet can still connect to the Internet, receive incoming calls (iPhone) or text messages, retrieve emails, and run apps in the background. Notification Center also remains fully operational, so you can be alerted of preset alarms. Sleep mode offers a way to conserve battery life when you’re not actively using your phone or tablet.

Airplane mode—This mode enables your device to remain fully functional, except it can’t communicate in any way using a cellular (3G/4G/LTE) connection. The iPhone cannot make or receive calls, and neither the iPhone nor iPad can send or receive text/instant messages via a cellular network. Apps that do not require Internet access to function normally. So, if you’re aboard an airplane, you can switch to Airplane mode and continue reading an eBook, playing a game, word processing, watching a movie that you’ve downloaded from the iTunes Store, or working with a wide range of other apps. After switching into Airplane mode, you can turn Wi-Fi Internet access and Bluetooth functionality back on yet keep the cellular connection turned off. This is useful if you’re traveling abroad and don’t want to incur international cellular roaming charges, or if you’re aboard an airplane or a cruise ship that offers Wi-Fi service.

You can also place an iPhone or iPad into Do Not Disturb mode. This mode automatically routes incoming calls directly to voicemail. You can customize the Do Not Disturb feature to allow certain people to reach you when you otherwise want to be left alone.

FIGURE 1.3

Turn on/off Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth from the redesigned Control Center by tapping on the appropriate icon.

When your iPhone is turned off, all incoming calls are forwarded directly to voicemail, and it is not possible to initiate an outgoing call. Likewise, incoming text messages, FaceTime calls, and other communications from the outside world cannot be accepted when an iPhone or iPad is turned off. Instead, when you later turn on the device, notifications for these missed messages are displayed in the Notification Center, in their respective apps, and potentially on the Lock screen, depending on how you set up Notification Center.

Upgrading from iOS 10 to iOS 11

Anyone who purchased an iPhone or iPad before September 19, 2017 needs to upgrade to iOS 11. The easiest way to do this is to use your mobile device to access any Wi-Fi hotspot, or your wireless home network, to establish a high-speed Internet connection. Then, from the device’s Home screen, launch Settings.

Next, tap the General option from the main Settings menu, and then tap the Software Update option. If your device is running any version of iOS 10 (or earlier), a message indicates that an operating system upgrade is available. Follow the onscreen prompts to download and install the latest version of iOS 11 for free.

The upgrade takes between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on which iPhone or iPad model you’re using, its internal storage capacity, the Internet connection speed, and how much information is currently stored on your device.

Interacting with Your iPhone or iPad

If you’re a veteran iPhone or iPad user, you already know that Apple’s iOS mobile operating system enables you to interact with your mobile device using its touchscreen. Data entry, for example, is typically done using the virtual keyboard displayed on screen when it’s needed. Based on the type of information you’re entering and the app you’re using, the keyboard’s layout adapts automatically.

When you’re not using the virtual keyboard, much of your interaction with the iPhone or iPad is done through a series of taps, swipes, and other finger gestures on the Multi-Touch display.

Using the Touchscreen

To navigate your way around iOS 11 on your iPhone or iPad, you need to learn a series of basic taps and finger gestures.

As you learn more about iOS 11’s features throughout this book, you’ll discover how to use them by executing the necessary taps, swipes, pinches, and other finger gestures.

When you turn on the device or wake it from Sleep mode, virtually all of your interaction with the smartphone or tablet is though the following finger movements and taps on the device’s highly sensitive Multi-Touch display:

Double-Tap—Used to zoom in/out in certain apps, or center the content you’re viewing on the screen in some apps.

Drag—Press and hold your finger over an icon or object, and then drag it along the screen to an different location. When using a Move button, for example, you’d use the drag gesture. On an iPad Pro, the Drag gesture is used to move selected content from one app into another app.

Flick—Press gently on the screen and then move it left, right, up, or down, to scroll or pan.

Five-finger pinch (iPads only)—To exit any app and return to the Home screen, place all five fingers of one hand on the screen so that they’re spread out, and then draw your fingers together, as if you’re grabbing something. Be sure, however, that the Multitasking Gestures are turned on in the Settings app (found under the General heading).

Hold—Instead of a quick tap, in some cases it is necessary to press and hold your finger on an icon or onscreen command option. When a hold action is required, place your finger on the appropriate icon or command option, and hold it there with a slight pressure. There’s never a need to press down hard on the smartphone or tablet’s screen. (Hold works with all iOS mobile devices running iOS 11, and is different from the Peek and Pop gestures that are exclusive to the newer iPhone models).

Pinch—Using your thumb and index finger, perform a pinch motion on the touchscreen to zoom out when using certain apps. Or “unpinch” (by moving your fingers apart quickly) to zoom in on what you’re viewing on screen when using many apps.

Pull-down—On all iPhone and iPad models, except the iPhone X, quickly swipe your finger down from the very top of the iPhone or iPad’s screen. This causes the Notification Center to appear. You can hold the device in portrait or landscape mode for this to work.

Swipe—A swipe refers to quickly moving your finger along the screen from right to left, left to right, top to bottom, or bottom to top, in order to scroll left, right, up, or down, depending on which app you’re using.

Swipe Up—At any time, you can swipe your finger in an upward direction on most iPhone models (starting at the bottom of the screen) to make the redesigned Control Center appear. From here, you can access a handful of functions. On any iPad, use the swipe up gesture from the bottom of the screen to access the redesigned Dock.

Tap—Tapping an icon, button, or link that’s displayed on your device’s screen serves the same purpose as clicking the mouse when you use your main computer.

Touch and Hold—When working with text created using the virtual keyboard, press and hold your finger on the screen over a letter or word to see a magnified view and be able to manually move (reposition) the onscreen cursor.

Working with the Home Button

Here’s how to use some of the Home button’s main functions when using iOS 11 on any iPhone or iPad model (except the iPhone X):

Activate Siri—Press down and hold the Home button for two seconds from the Home screen or when using any app.

Access the App Switcher—From any app (or from the Home screen), quickly press the Home button twice. Press the Home button again (or select an app) to exit the App Switcher.

Exit an app and return to the Home screen—When using any app, press the Home button once to exit it and return to the Home screen. Keep in mind that in most cases this does not shut down the app; it continues running in the background.

Reboot the device (without deleting any of your apps or data)—On older iPhone models and on all iPads, press and hold the Home button simultaneously with the Side button for about five seconds until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Return to the main Home screen—When viewing any of the Home screens on your mobile device, press the Home button once to return to the main Home screen.

Wake up the device from Sleep mode—Press the Home button once when your iPhone or iPad is in Sleep mode. If the device is powered down, press and hold the Side button for several seconds instead.

Use the Touch ID that’s built in to the Home button of compatible devices to unlock it, confirm a payment using Apple Pay, or when making a content purchase from the App Store, iTunes Store, iBook Store, or within a participating app. Touch ID can also be used to grant you access to certain apps that otherwise require a password, such as a banking or credit card app.

Interacting with the iPhone X

Following are some of the new iPhone X finger gestures and uses of the Side button that have replaced the uses of the Home button:

To access the Home screen using an iPhone X, place your finger near the bottom of the screen and swipe up.

To utilize Multitasking mode and access the App Switcher, place your finger near the bottom of the screen and swipe up. However, instead of removing your finger from the screen at the end of the swipe, hold it in place for about a second.

To access Control Center while using the iPhone X, place your finger near the top-right side of the screen and swipe down.

To access Siri, either use the “Hey Siri” command, or press and hold the Side button for about two seconds.

To quickly launch the Wallet app and access Apple Pay (to make a payment in a retail store, for example), quickly press the Side button twice, and then look at the iPhone X’s screen (to utilize Face ID) and authorize the purchase.

Using the Virtual Keyboard

Whenever you need to enter data into your iPhone or iPad, you almost always use the virtual keyboard that pops up on the bottom portion of the screen when it’s needed. The virtual keyboard resembles a typewriter or computer keyboard; however, certain onscreen keys have different purposes, depending on which app you’re using.

When you’re using an app that involves numeric data entry, such as Numbers or Excel, the layout and design of the virtual keyboard can change dramatically.

Use these tips to more easily work with the virtual keyboard:

Divide the virtual keyboard in half (iPad)—Make it easier to type on the virtual keyboard with your two thumbs while holding the device. To split the keyboard (see Figure 1.4), hold down the Hide Keyboard key that’s located in the lower-right corner of the virtual keyboard, and select the Split option. Alternatively, use the index fingers on your right and left hand simultaneously, place them in the center of the virtual keyboard when it’s visible, and then move them apart.

FIGURE 1.4

Especially when holding an iPad in portrait mode with two hands, using the split keyboard makes it easier to type with just your two thumbs.

Undock and move the virtual keyboard (iPad only)—Hold down the Hide Keyboard key (displayed in the lower-right corner of the keyboard) to be given the opportunity to undock or split the keyboard. Select Undock, and then while holding down the Hide Keyboard key, drag the keyboard up or down to reposition it.

Turn on or off the keyboard’s key click sound—Launch Settings, tap the Sounds option, and then turn on or off the virtual switch associated with Keyboard Clicks.

Adjust auto-capitalization, autocorrection, check spelling, enable caps lock, predictive, split keyboard (iPad only), and the keyboard shortcuts options—Launch Settings, tap the General option, and then tap the Keyboard option to access the Keyboard menu. Turn on or off the virtual switch associated with each option.

Make the virtual keyboard disappear—You can often tap anywhere on the screen except on the virtual keyboard itself, or you can tap the Hide Keyboard key (iPad only), which is always located in the lower-right corner of the keyboard.

Make the virtual keyboard appear—If you need to enter data into your iPhone or iPad but the virtual keyboard doesn’t appear automatically, simply tap an empty data field. An appropriately formatted virtual keyboard displays.

Make the keys on the virtual keyboard larger—For some people, a larger keyboard makes it easier to type. Simply rotate the iPhone or iPad from portrait to landscape mode. Keep in mind that not all apps enable you to rotate the screen.

Access emoji/symbols keyboards—Tap the Emoji (smiley face) key, located between the .?123 and microphone keys, to access alternative virtual keyboards that enable you to incorporate hundreds of different graphical emojis into your messages and documents.

Use the keyboard with one hand on an iPhone—Adjust the virtual keyboard to make it more accessible when you want to hold and use the iPhone with one hand. Press and hold the Emoji key and from the Keyboard Settings pop-up menu, tap the keyboard icon displayed on the right or left, based on which hand you’re holding your iPhone in.

Creating Keyboard Shortcuts

If there’s a sentence, paragraph, or phrase you need to enter repeatedly when using an app, you can enter that text just once and save it as a keyboard shortcut. Then, instead of typing a whole sentence, you can simply type a three-letter code that you assign to that shortcut, and the virtual keyboard inserts the complete sentence.

To create your own keyboard shortcuts, follow these steps:

1. Launch Settings and tap the General option, followed by the Keyboard option.

2. From the Keyboards menu, tap the Text Replacement option.

3. When the Text Replacement window appears, press the + icon to add a new shortcut.

4. Fill in the Phrase field with the complete sentence (or any text) you want to include, such as, “I am in a meeting and will call you back later.”

5. In the Shortcut field, enter a three-letter combination to use as the keyboard shortcut, such as “IAM” (representing “I am in a meeting and will call you back later”).

6. Now, anytime the virtual keyboard is displayed (when using any app), simply type IAM to input the full sentence.

Using an Optional External Keyboard

If you expect to do a lot of data entry or word processing on your iOS mobile device, instead of using the virtual keyboard, purchase an optional external keyboard that connects to the smartphone or tablet using a wireless Bluetooth connection or the device’s Lightning port.

The Apple Smart Keyboards ($159 or $169, depending on the model, www.apple.com/shop/ipad/ipad-accessories), are available specifically for the various iPad Pro models. These keyboards use a proprietary Smart Connector to attach the keyboard to the tablet using magnets. No pairing is required, and the keyboard is powered by the iPad Pro.

Using Headphones with the Newest iPhones

Starting with the iPhone 7 series, Apple removed the headphone jack from its smartphones. To compensate for this, you have five options:

Use the iPhone’s built-in speakers to play all audio.

Invest in wireless (Bluetooth) headphones (or a Bluetooth phone headset), such as the AirPods or PowerBeats3 Wireless Earphones.

Use the supplied Lighting to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter to plug your existing headphones (with a 3.5mm jack) into the Lighting port on the bottom of your phone.

Acquire wired headphones with a Lightning Connector. The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X come with wired EarPods with a Lightning Connector.

Link your iPhone with external, wireless (Bluetooth or AirPlay-compatible) speakers, such as a HomePod.

Keeping it Covered

Apple, along with many independent companies, offers a vast selection of optional, custom-fitted cases and covers for each of the iPhone and iPad models. Some cases include an external keyboard, and others double as a stand for the smartphone or tablet.

Using a case or cover protects your mobile device against damage (especially while you’re on the go), and also enables you to further personalize your device when you choose a case or cover design and color scheme that matches your personality and taste.

Apple’s own cases and covers are available from all Apple Stores, Apple.com, and authorized Apple resellers. Third-party cases and covers can be purchased wherever smartphones and tablets are sold, as well as from Amazon.com and other online-only sellers.

Understanding Applecare+ Coverage

AppleCare+ extends the warranty of your iPhone or iPad from 90 days (which is included with each device purchase) to two years, and includes unlimited telephone and in-person technical support.

Coverage against most types of accidental damage is also included (although a deductible will apply). Loss or theft coverage is not, however, included. Repair prices for a broken iPhone or iPad can be extremely costly without AppleCare+, which can make this a good investment, particularly if you also use the free tech support option.

The cost of AppleCare+ varies according to which model iPhone or iPad you own. If you’re part of the Apple Upgrade Program (www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program), AppleCare+ is included for free each time you upgrade to a new iPhone.