iPhone 101: Basic questions, basic answers

This morning I opened my Mail inbox and was greeted with an email from a man who had read my iPhone articles in the premiere issue of iPhone Life magazine. He had a bunch of questions which, on first glance, appeared to be naive. However, I asked my rocket scientist wife (yes, she really is a rocket scientist!) if she knew the answers since she has had an iPhone for over a year, and she could only answer a few.

That's true not only of iPhone users, but of people who use any technology. For most people, just learning the minimal feature set is enough. It's when you decide that you want to learn more about how to use a particular feature that you can run into questions.

I often point people to Apple's excellent iPhone support Web site to get details on the minutiae of operating their iPhones. For those of you who are iPhone newbies or just afraid to ask, I've written up some answers to some common questions taken from the email and my reply to the reader. Click the Read More link below to see the rest of the story.

Thanks to Fred for the inspiration!

Hello Steve!

I recently purchased the iPhone 3G two weeks ago, and am still trying to get used to it. I am fairly tech savvy, but there's still some things on the phone I haven't been able to figure out or decipher, such as, what does it mean to fetch or push data/e-mail?

Fetch email means that your iPhone goes out to the email server every so often to check and see if there is new email available. Push is a bit different (and not really working with MobileMe...yet). With Push email, if someone sends you an email it is immediately sent to your iPhone.The Blackberry is famous for its push email prowess, which is part of the reason why it's so popular with businesses and politicians.

I've already set up my Gmail account to send and receive e-mail, I'm just not familiar w/ that aspect of it. I also don't have the emoticon or text editing options (such as colored text etc.) on the phone.

So far, I think there are a few apps in the app store that will add emoticons to email. That feature isn't part of the standard mail application on the iPhone. :-( One of those apps is the aptly named Email Emoticons (click opens iTunes). There's also a newly-discovered workaround for adding emoji, Japanese graphical emoticons, to any iPhone email -- see Justine's post for the details (hat tip to Chris Pirillo, Zyber & Akira for the tip).

I also saw an article that mentioned that the iPhone could read PDF, Word, and Excel documents, but I've only been able to read a PDF document that was converted to HTML. Is there any special software I need to read them?

Yep! If someone sends you a PDF, Word or Excel document, you can look at them once they have been downloaded to the iPhone. That feature, which is also found on the Mac, is called Quick Look and it allows you to view documents but not edit them.

If you want to carry those documents with you, get an app that will take the documents and store them on the iPhone, then allow you to look at them. Some of the apps that will do this are File Magic, File Magnet, MobileFiles, Files, Briefcase, AirSharing, Readdle Docs and DocViewer Pro (also lets you edit Excel spreadsheets),

There's also a website you can send/forward your attachments to that will convert them to PDF, but I would like to be able to at least read a Word document on my phone. I would also like to know if it's possible to read/send picture attachments from your phone, especially if the pics are saved on the phone.

Absolutely. When someone sends you a picture attachment, start by tapping on the icon that allows all of the file to download. Once the file is downloaded and viewable in the email, you can tap and hold the picture to save it to your iPhone. You can send any photo in the photo library by viewing it, then tapping on the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. One of the choices is "Email Photo." Great way to send photos to your friends and family!

Ok, I just tried saving a pic from the net, but was unable to do so. What's the secret to doing so, and how do I add a pic/image to my Contacts list for each contact?

If you're trying to save a picture on a web page, for example, simply tap on it and hold your finger on the image for a few seconds. A dialog will appear at the bottom of the screen asking if you want to Save Image or Cancel. Choose Cancel, and it will save the photo into your Photo Albums.

To add a picture or image of friends, coworkers and family to each contact in your contacts list, take a picture of them, go into the Photo Albums app again, and tap on that helpful icon in the lower left corner of the screen. When you see the four choices again (see the picture at the top of this post) tap on Assign to Contact. Your list of contacts appears, and you just need to tap on a particular contact to assign an image to that person.

Finally, I had to register and sync my phone on a friend's PC because my laptop is on the fritz. When I tried installing some FREE apps, I was asked for an App Store user name and password, but I don't ever remember setting one up. Would I have to get back on his PC to set up my account, or would I have to start over when I get a new computer? Is the user name and password the same for the App Store and iTunes Store as well?

Answering your last question first, yes, the iTunes account is the same as the App Store account. You can set up a new App Store account by opening iTunes on any PC or Mac. Next, go to the Store menu and choose "Create Account". They'll ask for credit card info, which is used if you decide to purchase apps or music at a later date. If you're just trying to get some free apps, they still want that account information so they can make sure that you're informed when there are updates to any app you've downloaded.

I hope this helps, Fred! Have fun with that iPhone!

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Ken

> turn on/off Wifi..
Yes, isn't there an app I thought I saw that with one launch/click will turn off all of those 3G high battery usages in one shot (location services, 3G, push, etc.)?
Got a question (just got my 3G a few weeks ago) how come iPhone's built in Calendar alerts only have a very low alert sound/beep? I remember my old Palm the sound was LOUD. Do I need to buy 3rd party calendar app that has customized sound volumes/sounds?

January 25 2009 at 10:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

3 replies to Ken's comment

Lee

I wonder if there is a way to quickly turn on/off Wifi. Digging deep in the settings menu isn't convenient. Isn't there an application or so that does that?

January 25 2009 at 6:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Aaron

I'm using push e-mail from my .Mac account on a cheap old Sony Ericsson W580i. It's working just fine. Don't spread FUD.

January 25 2009 at 4:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

A A

One of the best basic (and I mean basic) books out there for the iPhone is David Pogue's "iPhone The Missing Manual". At $25 it is a little pricey because it is so so basic that I would recommend borrowing it or getting it from the library.

It is worth a quick read and the nice thing is it collects all the information logically in one place.

You can get it at 20% discount at overstock.com

Arvi

January 25 2009 at 2:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to A A's comment

Richard Bright

Or you can get the ebook (app) from iTunes. Not only is it cheaper (AU$12.99 v AU$50+ at Borders) than the 'real thing' but always having it on your iPhone is really handy. I now recommend it to everyone I know who buys an iPhone - it cuts down on the amount of unpaid support I have to provide to my friends :-)

January 25 2009 at 10:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

colouroflight

Q. Why do I have to pay $499 for my iPhone when some shmuck off the street can walk in and get it for $299?

A. Because AT&T are douches.

January 25 2009 at 1:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jim

Good tips. One additional key point to the App userid and password. My phone was also set up on a friends computer, and when I went to the app store for the first time, all they asked for was a password, because HIS email address was already immutably there! Since he wasn't willing to give me his password so I could go on an app shopping spree, I had to find another way.

The solution to that problem--and to yours--was, as was said, to register with iTunes/App Store on YOUR computer, but THEN (and here's the additional important point) to sync your phone on YOUR computer. Next time you go to the App Store on your phone, your email will then show, and all you'll have to enter is your password.

January 25 2009 at 12:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

JKT

Sorry, renegad3, but I have to disagree. Push usually works but it sure is not 100%. In fact, last week I had a couple of days where new e-mail to my phone would not show up until I specifically opened the Mail application so that it would go fetch. Only then would my new messages since I last opened Mail show up--in the intervening hours I'd gotten no "bong" or vibration alert from the phone. Push is working again this morning, but recently (at least for me) I have to agree with Stephen that it still has some bugs to be worked out.

January 25 2009 at 12:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to JKT's comment

renegad3

I don't know of ANY service that works 100%.

Yes, Apple admitted there was a problem, and fixed it. (Which as noted, wasn't actually with push, but rather pushing from a mac to the cloud).

Perhaps your problems were localized to you for some reason. Maybe for some reason it was as simple as rebooting your iPhone. I experienced no problems recently, nor within the last several months. Apple has not reported any problems recently that should have affected the delivery of mail.

Again as it pertains to the article, it is very misleading to me to say that push is "not really working with MobileMe...yet". It's simply not the case, it works, and works well.

January 25 2009 at 6:29 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

"Choose Cancel, and it will save the photo into your Photo Albums. "
Yeah, and if you bang your phone against the wall, it'll set that picture as the wall's wallpaper!

Choose "Save Image" if you actually want to Save the Image.

January 25 2009 at 12:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jobbogamer

January 25 2009 at 12:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to jobbogamer's comment

Brad

I was about to post about the cancel thing too. I also saw this, which I can't figure out what he's trying to say.

"Absolutely. When someone sends you a picture attachment, tap on the icon to all the file to download."

January 25 2009 at 12:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Steven Sande

Sorry. It looks like someone had done a little extra editing that made one of the sentences in that paragraph completely confusing. I've updated it to hopefully clarify it for readers.

TUAWSteve

January 25 2009 at 12:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Yoav

You really shouldn't be the one writing tips on how to use the iPhone when your own knowledge is clearly lacking.

As stated above MobileMe push works and always has on the iPhone. The problems were Mac related and since then fixed.

Also, you don't need to install any third-party software to view PDFs, or Word and Excel files. If they are mailed to you, you just click the attachment in Mail and the phone displays the file. And the feature isn't called Quick Look. That is something on the Mac.

You got 2/4 sort of right.

January 25 2009 at 11:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Yoav's comment

jay

Actually, he got 3/4 right. He didn't say you had to have a 3-party to view he said if you want to take them with you. Whether the thing is called Quicklook, Preview, or what-ever it doesn't really matter it gives you a quick look at the attachment and you can't edit it. A simple search will reveal other have called it QuickLook as well.

And as far as push goes it hasn't always worked-even apple admitted to that.

January 25 2009 at 12:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

William

Yoav did u fully read what he said about the Files???

Please go read it again, he said "If someone sends you a PDF, Word or Excel document, you can look at them once they have been downloaded to the iPhone. That feature, which is also found on the Mac, is called QuickLook and it allows you to view documents but not edit them."

U can view the document in the Email after u click to download it and view it, but u can not store the document on your phone UNLESS u download a third party application to store them, but u can view them all you want inside of the Mail application.

Ohh and Btw it is called Quicklook....

January 25 2009 at 12:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply