iPhone and iPad Tricks

Last weekI had to replace my old iPhone. I had had it for more than 2 years, and the charger port had been somehow damaged, making it impossible to charge, which is not really conducive to effective operation. So I now have a new iPhone 5s, which is a rather nice phone. But I also have to reset all of its preferences and commands, some of which are sort of new to me. In looking for a resource to help me do so, I found an interesting article that provided a series of iPhone (and iPad) tricks that can help make life easier. The link can be found at http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/mind-blowing-tricks-every-iphone-and-ipad-user-should-kno (the author is Peggy Wang, on the Buzzfeed website). Here is a summary of some of the cool things one can do.

1.       You can switch your keyboard from its standard format to what is called thumb mode, where the keyboard is actually split in 2 toward the sides of the device, making it easier for you to use your thumbs alone for typing (I am a single-finger typer for texting, since the keys are so small). All you need to do is swipe 2 fingers across the keyboard, and this works best for an iPad.

2.     If you want to charge your phone faster, put it into airplane mode when you do and it will charge 2 times as fast.

3.     If you ever find yourself using the calculator and you have accidently added a zero to some number, all you need to do to remove it is to swipe the number at the top of the calculator from left to right. You won’t need to highlight, delete and retype the number.

4.     To shoot a picture of yourself, a so-called “selfie,” you can use the +volume button on your earbuds to take the picture. This keeps your arm out of the picture.

5.     Your compass application has a built-in level. Open it and swipe left and it will bring up the level.

6.     You can change your screen view from white background with black letters to the reverse by going into your settings, finding “general, and clicking on “accesability.” Once there you just choose “invert colors.”

7.     If you tap the space bar twice in any writing application, it will generate a period and begin the next word with a capital letter.