No matter how much of an iPhone power user (or expert) you are, it ‘s a good bet you also have relatives, friends, or work colleagues who are real beginners with the iPhone. I know I have a lot of people around me who have got onto the iPhone within the last few months.
I never mind helping people out with their questions as they ‘re getting to know the iPhone “ in fact, it ‘s often good fun showing them a neat little trick that ‘s old hat to me, but is full of goodness for them. Direct help and guidance from a friend or family member is great, but not always available “ so, as the saying goes, instead of giving your beginner friends a fish, it ‘d be nice to be able to teach them to fish (with the iPhone) as well. 🙂
I ‘ve been checking out an app that looks to fill just this sort of role “ Tips & Tricks “ The Ultimate Guide to iPhone Secrets “ and I ‘m very impressed.
What Does It Do?
This Tips & Tricks Guide app offers to help you get to know your iPhone and help you get more productive with it in various ways. Here ‘s more on that from its App Store description:
Learn hidden shortcuts, how to fix your phone and maximize your battery life. Learn little-known features to rapidly increase the speed at which you use the keyboard and a heap of little-known secrets to wow other iPhone owners. All in bit-sized tips for people too busy to read an entire manual.
The guide is divided into a number of sections, covering major learning areas. These are: Shortcuts, Troubleshooting, Safari Tips, Typing, Battery Life, Security, and Miscellaneous.
What Does It Do Well?
First and foremost, the app offers a range of content that seems perfectly pitched for iPhone beginners. If you ‘ve been using the iPhone for a long while or just are the type of person who already knew a lot when you first picked it, this is probably not for you “ but if you ‘re new to the iPhone, or have never felt like you know a lot of the basics for using it more effectively, this guide should be at just the right level.
As I ‘ve said, I have a number of friends and family members who are iPhone newbies right now, and I ‘ve read through this guide cover to cover to gauge its usefulness to them and others with that same level of experience. I know that a lot of these tips and tricks are just the sort of thing beginners will find tremendously helpful. These range from the very basic like how to jump quickly to the top of a Safari screen
To how to do a hard reboot as opposed to a normal restart
To the ever-popular how to take a screenshot
Many of the tips feature good arrows and indicators to show exactly where you need to tap or hold to accomplish something
The guide is structured well. The tips are ‘bite-sized ‘ as its App Store description says and easy to take in. The sections also break things up nicely and logically.
Navigation through the guide is simple “ you just swipe to the right to move forward a page and to the left to go back a page. You can also just tap once anywhere on a page to bring up a top slider to move you back or forward in pages more quickly, and a Settings button at the bottom. Settings are pretty sparse “ they just allow you to toggle sound and animation on and off.
One of my favorite things about this app is its look and feel. Its pages are rendered on a clean, white background and include nice splashes of color and graphics where they are helpful. The fonts used, and sizes of them, also help make for a pleasant reading experience. Overall, between the nice looking pages, the easy swiping through pages, and the well-structured sections and bite-sized tips it is just a very comfortable read, a good way to absorb lots of new knowledge.
What ‘s No So Good?
Although the majority of tips are good ones and are well explained, there are some that are not as complete as they could be and some that could do with a little expanding on.
For instance Tip Number 2 talks about double-tapping the Home button to pull up the iPod app instantly from anywhere you are on the iPhone. This should ‘ve included an explanation saying that you can go to Settings and choose from a few options for what happens when you double-tap the Home button “ e.g. pulling up your phone Favorites.
I would also like to have seen the tip on taking a screencap expanded to explain how to zoom in on existing pictures and take a new screencap to create a new image with just an area you want to focus on in it.
I also think the app ‘s title is possibly a bit misleading. It is a very good guide for beginners, but I don ‘t think it reveals too many ‘secrets ‘ or that it is capable of being an ‘Ultimate Guide ‘ for iPhone power users.
Similarly, part of its description claims it will turn you into a ‘black-belt iPhone user ‘. That ‘s a bit much “ I don ‘t think mastering beginners ‘ basics gets you that color of belt.
A Table of Contents and an ability to choose a chapter to go to would be a nice addition.
Overall
Even though the content of this guide is not aimed at me, or the sort of level of user that I am, I enjoyed reading through it “ because it ‘s so well presented and well done overall.
For iPhone beginners, this guide seems a great starting point. A very handy set of tips and tricks right there on the iPhone, and a very nice beginner ‘s learning tool.
I will be recommending this one to all the newer iPhone users around me.
You can find Tips & tricks “ The Ultimate Guide to iPhone Secrets in the App Store, priced at $1.99 (apparently only for a limited time).
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: iPhone how-tos, iPhone tips and tricks, iPhone tips for beginners
