Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, iPhone
iPhone Tip: Tap and hold on a link for a description popup

Safari on the iPhone might be slightly limited in some areas (for example: you can't double-tap contacts in Meebo to begin a chat), but we're discovering all sorts of useful goodies that I don't remember Jobs or the Apple videos ever highlighting. In this screenshot of my iPhone (sorry I couldn't snap a better quality pic), I've tapped and held my finger on a link in Safari, which invoked this handy popup with the name of the linked page, as well as the actual URL. This is a very useful way of translating the typical status bar UI in desktop browsers so it is still accessible on the iPhone for the times you need it, and yet it doesn't take up any valuable real estate during most of the times you don't.


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
KeynoteKen said 7:33PM on 7-01-2007
Great for knowing where you're going before you click. ;)
Reply
Johnny Dangerously said 7:37PM on 7-01-2007
Nice pube there on your screen... ;-)
Reply
lgc90 said 7:59PM on 7-01-2007
Can anybody PLEASE tell me how to open a link in a new "page" (tab) with the iPhone?
Reply
Dave Chartier said 8:22PM on 7-01-2007
#3: As far as we can tell, there's no way to do this. Sorry.
On the bright side, iSafari seems to open new tabs for any links that actually specify opening in a new tab; so you can't do it manually yourself, but iSafari will do it when instructed.
Reply
Leonard Nimrod said 8:26PM on 7-01-2007
LOL @ Johnny Dangerously
Reply
CeriumCV said 2:36AM on 7-02-2007
Using the iPhone is the real world is so strange because it makes life so much easier. I'm being honest too. Can no longer really live without it.
Also when you hit a drop own menu on a website, a very clear and intuitive selection menu pops up. Its the little things.
Reply
CeriumCV said 2:39AM on 7-02-2007
Not exactly used to the keyboard yet if you can tell. Heh.
Reply
kyle said 3:55AM on 7-02-2007
The same feature is in OS X if you click on the link and drag a little, the same look and everything
Reply
mal said 2:36PM on 8-29-2007
while we are on tips, I haven't seen a tip on easy deletes yet - I only discovered it myself recently.
If you are in mail (inbox) or ipod video view all you need to do is slide your finger from right to left and the delete button shows up!
No more having to hit edit in mail inbox or skip to the end of a video to delete!
Might be worth mentioning on the tips
Reply
jsapero said 2:24AM on 9-19-2007
Another tip: When filling in text fields in Safari, and you misspell a word (such as an email address), tap and hold your finger on the field - a small magnifying glass will pop up and allow you to move the cursor to where you need to edit the text. This works best in portrait view
Reply