Using a cell phone on an airplane is a no-no. But there's nothing verboten about using an iPod on a plane to listen to music, watch videos, and peek at pictures — at least, after the craft has reached cruising altitude.

So how do you take advantage of the iPhone's built-in iPod (among other capabilities) while temporarily turning off its phone, e-mail, and Internet functions? The answer is, by turning on airplane mode.

To do so, merely tap Airplane Mode on the Settings screen to display On (rather than Off).

That act disables each of the iPhone's wireless radios: Wi-Fi, Edge, 3G (if applicable), and Bluetooth. While your iPhone is in airplane mode, you can't make or receive calls, surf the Web, watch YouTube, or do anything else that requires an Internet connection. The good news is that airplane mode keeps your battery running longer — particularly useful if the flight you're on is taking you halfway around the world.

As we mention in Chapter 10, Wi-Fi is typically the fastest wireless network you can use to surf the Web, send e-mail, and perform other Internet tricks on the iPhone. You use the Wi-Fi setting to determine which Wi-Fi networks are available to you and which one to exploit based on its signal.

Tap Wi-Fi and all Wi-Fi networks in range are displayed, as shown in Figure 13-3. (Alternatively, you can reach this screen by tapping the General setting, tapping Network, and then tapping Wi-Fi.)

A signal-strength indicator can help you choose the network to connect to if more than one is listed; tap the appropriate Wi-Fi network when you reach a decision. If a network is password-protected, you see a lock icon.

You can also turn the Ask to Join Networks setting on or off. Networks that the iPhone is already familiar with are joined automatically, regardless of which one you choose. If the Ask feature is on, you're asked before joining a new network. If it's off, you have to select a network manually.

Figure 13-2. Saying yes to this message may eliminate the static.

Figure 13-3. Checking out your Wi-Fi options.

Sometimes, you may want to connect to a network that's closed and not shown on the Wi-Fi list. If that's the case, tap Other and use the keyboard to enter the network name. Then tap to choose the type of security setting the network is using (if any). Your choices are WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA Enterprise, and WPA2 Enterprise. Again, it's not exactly the friendliest terminology, but we figure that someone nearby can provide assistance.

Consider the Sounds settings area, the iPhone's soundstage. There, you can turn audio alerts on or off for a variety of functions: new voicemail messages, new text messages, new mail, sent mail, and calendar alerts. You also set ringtones here (as described in Chapter 4).

Other options: You can decide whether you want to hear lock sounds and keyboard clicks. You can determine whether the iPhone should vibrate when you receive a call. And, you can drag the volume slider to determine the loudness of your ringer and alerts.

Here's an alternative: You can use the physical Volume buttons on the side of the iPhone for this purpose, as long as you're not already on a call or using the iPod to listen to music or watch video.

Who doesn't want a bright, vibrant screen? Alas, the brightest screens exact a trade-off: Before you drag the brightness slider shown in Figure 13-4 to the max, remember that brighter screens sap the life from your battery more quickly.

Figure 13-4. Sliding this control adjusts screen brightness.

Choosing wallpaper is a neat way to dress up the iPhone according to your taste. You can sample the pretty patterns and designs that the iPhone has already chosen for you by tapping the thumbnails shown in Figure 13-5. Of course, although the Mona Lisa is one of your choices, DaVinci may not quite compete with the masterpieces in your own photo albums (more about those in Chapter 9). After making a selection, tap the image and then tap Set.

Figure 13-5. Choosing a masterpiece background.

You aren't seeing double. This section is all about the setting known as About. And About is full of trivial (and not-so-trivial) information about the device. What you find here is straightforward:

Think of the Usage setting as one of the places to go on the iPhone for statistics on how you employ the device. You find other information in the About setting (under General on the Settings screen), described a little earlier in this chapter.

You can scroll up or down the Usage list to discover this information:

Four major controls appear under Network Settings, one of which, Wi-Fi, we addressed earlier in this chapter and in Chapter 10. The others are Enable 3G, Data Roaming, and VPN. In this section, we tackle them one by one.

Of all the peculiar terms you may encounter in techdom, Bluetooth is one of our favorites. The name is derived from a tenth century Danish king named Harald Blåtand, who, the story goes, helped unite warring factions. And, we're told, Blåtand translates to Bluetooth in English. (Bluetooth is all about collaboration between different types of devices — get it?)

Blåtand was obviously ahead of his time. Although we can't imagine that he ever dialed a cell phone, he now has an entire short-range wireless technology named in his honor. On the iPhone, you can use Bluetooth to communicate wirelessly with a compatible Bluetooth headset or hands-free car kit. These optional headsets and kits are made by Apple and many others. They've become more of a big deal as a number of states and municipalities around the United States make it illegal to hold a phone to your mouth and ear to gab while you're driving.

To ensure that the iPhone works with one of these devices, it has to be wirelessly paired, or coupled, with the chosen device. With the optional iPhone Bluetooth headset that Apple sells, you can automatically pair the devices by placing the iPhone and headset in a dual dock (supplied with the headset), which you connect to your computer.

If you're using a third-party accessory, follow the instructions that came with that headset or car kit so that it becomes discoverable, or ready to be paired with your iPhone. Then turn on Bluetooth (under General on the Settings screen) so that the iPhone can find such nearby devices and the device can find the iPhone. Bluetooth works up to a range of about 30 feet.

To unpair a device, select it from the device list, shown in Figure 13-6 and tap Unpair.

Apple added support for stereo Bluetooth headphones, car kits, and other accessories along with the OS 3.0 software upgrade. So you can now stream stereo audio from the iPhone to those devices.

Figure 13-6. Falling out of love — unpairing devices.

Eventually, you'll be able to exploit Bluetooth (or a USB cable) to share an Internet connection with your laptop. But tethering, as this procedure is known, requires support from your wireless carrier. AT&T plans to offer tethering to U.S. customers, but hadn't announced when (or pricing) at the time we were writing this book. The feature already works in some foreign countries.

To turn on tethering (when available), tap Settings, General, Network, Internet Tethering and make sure the switch is turned to on.

The iPhone can tap into Bluetooth in other ways. One is through peer-to-peer connectivity, in which you can engage in multiplayer games with other nearby iPhone users. You can also do such things as exchange business cards, share pictures, and send short notes. Even as we write this book, third-party developers have to be licking their chops over what they can do with Bluetooth on the iPhone. And, you don't even have to pair the devices, as you do with a headset or car kit.

Location, location, location. By using Maps, through (several) apps, and by geotagging photos taken with its camera, the iPhone makes good use of knowing where you are. The iPhone 3G and 3GS exploit built-in GPS, but even the older-generation iPhone can find your general whereabouts (by triangulating signals from Wi-Fi base stations and cellular towers).

If that statement creeps you out a little, don't fret. To protect your right to privacy, individual apps pop up quick messages (similar to the one shown in Figure 13-7) asking whether you want them to use your current location. But you can also turn off Location Services right there in Settings. Not only is your privacy shielded but you also keep your iPhone battery juiced a little longer.

Figure 13-7. The Where app wants to know where you are.

You can set the amount of time that elapses before the phone automatically locks or turns off the display. Your choices are Five Minutes Before, Four Minutes Before, and so on, all the way down to One Minute. Or, you can set it so that the iPhone never locks automatically.

Don't worry if the iPhone is locked. You can still receive calls and text messages and adjust the volume.

You can choose a passcode to prevent people from unlocking the iPhone. Tap Passcode Lock. Then use the virtual keypad to enter a 4-digit code. During this setup, you have to enter the code a second time before it's accepted.

You can also determine whether a passcode is required immediately, After 1 Minute, After 5 Minutes, After 15 Minutes, or After 1 Hour. Shorter times are more secure, of course. On the topic of security, the iPhone can be set to automatically erase your data if you've made ten failed passcode attempts.

You can also change the passcode or turn it off later (unless your employer dictates otherwise), but you need to know the present passcode to apply any changes. If you forget the passcode, you have to restore the iPhone software, as described in Chapter 15.

Under Passcode Lock settings on the 3GS, you have the option to turn voice dialing on or off.

Parents and bosses may love the Restrictions tools, but kids and employees usually think otherwise. You can clamp down, um, provide proper parental guidance to your children, by preventing them at least some of the time from using the Safari browser, YouTube, location services, the camera, or iTunes. Or, you might not let them install new apps or make purchases inside the apps you do allow. When restrictions are in place, icons for off-limit functions can no longer be seen.

Indeed, Apple gave parents more controls to work with when it unleashed the OS 3.0 software. For instance, you can allow Junior to watch a movie on the iPhone but prevent him from watching a flick that carries an R or NC-17 rating. You can also restrict access to certain TV shows and apps, based on age-appropriate ratings. Stop feeling guilty: You have your users' best interests at heart.

You can assign shortcuts to the Home button. You can arrange it so that double-clicking Home transports you to the new Spotlight Search feature, described in Chapter 2. Double-clicking Home can launch the Phone Favorites screen (see Chapter 4). Another double-clicking option summons the Camera, and one more opens the iPod.

The default setting for double-clicking Home shares something in common with Dorothy of Kansas: If you don't change this setting, double-clicking the Home button brings you back to the Home screen. Why? Because there's no place like Home. (Groan.)

You can do two more things under the Home settings:

In our neck of the woods, the time is reported as 11:32 PM (or whatever time it happens to be). But in some circles, it's reported as 23:32. If you prefer the latter format on the iPhone's status bar, tap the 24-Hour Time setting (under Date & Time) so that it's on.

This setting is just one that you can adjust under Date & Time. You can also have the iPhone set the time automatically, using the time reported by the cellular network (and adjusted for the time zone you're in).

If automatic time-setting is turned off, you're asked to choose the time zone and then set the date and time manually. Here's how:

Under Keyboard settings, you can turn autocapitalization on or off and turn Enable Caps Lock on or off.

Autocapitalization, which the iPhone turns on by default, means that the first letter of the first word you type after ending the preceding sentence with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point is capitalized.

If Cap Locks is enabled, all letters are uppercased LIKE THIS if you double-tap the Shift key. (The Shift key is the one with the arrow pointing north.)

You can also turn on a keyboard setting that inserts a period followed by a space when you double-tap the spacebar. Additionally, you can choose to use an international keyboard (as discussed in Chapter 2), which you choose from the International setting — the next setting after Keyboard in the General settings area.

The iPhone is an international sensation. It's sold and used around the world by people of all nationalities. In the International section, you can set the language you type on (by using a custom virtual keyboard), the language in which the iPhone displays text, and the language in which it speaks through Voice Controls.

The Accessibility tools (these are available on the 3GS only) are targeted at people with certain disabilities:

As little kids playing sports, we ended an argument by agreeing to a "do-over." Well, the Reset settings on the iPhone are one big do-over. Now that we're (presumably) grown up, we're wise enough to think long and hard about the consequences before implementing do-over settings. Regardless, you may encounter good reasons for starting over; some of these are addressed in Chapter 15.

Here are your reset options:

Do you think of us as Ed and Bob or Baig and LeVitus? The answer to that question will probably determine whether you choose to sort your Contacts list alphabetically by last name or first.

Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars; scroll down to the Contacts section; and peek at Sort Order. Then tap Last, First or First, Last.

You can also determine whether you want to display a first name or last name first. Tap Display Order and then choose First, Last or Last, First.

Over in Chapter 4, we tip our hand and indicate that we save a few more phone tricks — those found in Phone settings — for this chapter.

Tap Phone now to review some of the choices we don't get to in that chapter. Be aware that you have to scroll down the screen to find Phone settings.

You're passionate about fitness. You're equally passionate about music. In the summer of 2006, Apple teamed with the folks at Nike on a $29 wireless sports kit that lets runners place a sensor inside a Nike sneaker that can wirelessly communicate with a receiver connected to an iPod Nano. As runners dash off, they can track time, distance, and calories burned on the Nano, receive vocal feedback, and upload results to a Nike Web site. Runners can even play a select "power song" on the iPod for that last push when they're feeling exhausted.

Apple added the Nike + app to the iPhone 3GS (but not to earlier models). When you turn on the app inside Settings, your iPhone can record every step you make. You don't have to connect a separate receiver, as you do on the Nano. By using Nike + on your iPhone, you can choose one of the workout routines shown in Figure 13-8.

Figure 13-8. Born to run with your iPhone.

We hope you never have to use the Find My iPhone feature — though we have to say that it's pretty darn cool. If you inadvertently leave your iPhone in a taxi or restaurant, Find My iPhone may just help you retrieve it. The feature requires a MobileMe subscription.

To turn on Find My iPhone, tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars and then tap the me.com e-mail account you added to the iPhone. You get a me.com e-mail account when you join MobileMe. If necessary, refer to Chapter 11 to see how to add an e-mail account to the iPhone.

Now suppose that you lost your phone — and we can only assume that you're beside yourself. Log in to your MobileMe me.com account from any browser on your computer. Click Find My iPhone.

Assuming that your phone is turned on and in the coverage area, its general whereabouts should turn up on a map, as shown in Figure 13-9. In our tests, Find My iPhone found our iPhones quickly.

Figure 13-9. Locating a lost iPhone.

The truth is that even seeing your iPhone on a map may not help you much, especially if the phone is lost somewhere in midtown Manhattan. Take heart. At the MobileMe site, click Display a Message and then bang out a plea to the Good Samaritan that you hope picked up your phone. The message appears on the lost iPhone's screen. Don't forget to include in the message a way for the person to reach you, such as the message displayed on the iPhone in Figure 13-10.

Figure 13-10. An appeal to return the phone.

To get someone's attention, you can also sound an alarm that plays for two minutes, even if the phone was in silent mode. Hey, that alarm may come in handy if the phone turns up under a couch in your house.

After all this labor, if the phone is seemingly gone for good, click Remote Wipe at the MobileMe site to delete your personal data from afar and return the iPhone to its factory settings. And, if you ever get your phone back afterward, you can always restore the information from an iTunes backup on your Windows PC or Mac.

We trust that you control freaks are satisfied with all the stuff you can manage inside Settings. Still, the iPhone may not always behave as you want. For the times when things get out of control, we highly recommend Chapter 15.