iPhone Tips and Tricks (also work on iPod Touch)

I like to figure out the fastest way to do things. I hope the following tips, shortcuts and gestures will help you become the power user that lies within. Have fun unlocking the full potential of your iPhone or iPod! Most of these shortcuts should work on both the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Typing & Working with Text

Task
Action/Gesture
Easily type a period at the end of a sentence
Double-tap the Spacebar (or press the Spacebar with two fingers at the same time).
Turn on Caps Lock
Double-tap the Shift key. The key turns blue to indicate it is locked.
Open Magnifier (Loop)
Tap and Hold on text.
Dismiss suggested word
Tap anywhere on the screen. You do not have to press “x” button.
Type a different domain suffix
Hold down the .com button. A popup will appear with .net, .edu and .org buttons. Slide your finger to one and then release.
Type alternate character (such as é or ñ)
Hold down a letter on the keyboard. A popup will appear with various versions of the character. Slide your finger to one and then release.
Undo Typing - new in OS 3.0
Shake the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Safari (Web Browsing)

Task
Action/Gesture
Quickly get address bar back, or quickly scroll to top of page
Tap the Status bar at the top of the screen. (Works in other apps, not just Safari.)
Zoom In
Double-Tap or Pinch Open
Zoom Out
Double-Tap or Pinch Closed
Save images
Tap and Hold an image until some buttons appear. Tap Save Image. The downloaded image can be found in your Photo / Camera Roll.
Call a phone number from Safari
Tap the phone number and it will dial it.
Get URL Hint
Tap and Hold a link to see the actual URL and the page title of the linked page.
Scrolling webpages
Use one finger to scroll the entire webpage. Use two fingers to scroll a frame on a webpage.

Mail

Task
Action/Gesture
Delete Message
Swipe Across a Message, then Tap Delete.

Phone Controls & Calling

Task
Action/Gesture
Stop an incoming call from ringing.
Press the Sleep/Wake button.
Send an incoming call directly to voice mail.
Press the Sleep/Wake button twice.

iPod Controls (Music)

Task
Action/Gesture
Quickly access pause, volume, skip buttons, etc while in other apps, including the lock screen
Double-click the Home button.

iPhone’s Earbud Clicker Controls

Task
Action/Gesture
Answer an incoming call.
Pinch once. (Then to hang up pinch once.)
Send incoming call to voicemail.
Pinch twice.
Pause/Resume playing music
Pinch once to pause, pinch again to resume.
Go to next song.
Pinch twice.
Go to previous song (or the beginning of a song if more than 3 seconds into it).
Pinch three times.

Taking Screenshots

Task
Action/Gesture
Take Screenshot
Press and release the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. The screen will flash to indicate the screenshot was taken. The screenshot is added to the Camera Roll.

Force Quit, Reset, Etc.

Task
Action/Gesture
Force quit an app. (Use if an app is not responding.)
Press and hold the Home button for 6 seconds.
Reset/Reboot (Use if the Device locks up and becomes unresponsive.)
OS 2: Press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for 8 seconds. The screen will go black. Then the Apple logo appears while it restarts.
OS 3: Hold the Sleep/Wake button until the red slider appears, then hold the Home button.

Miscellaneous

Task
Action/Gesture
Quickly scroll to the top (of a webpage, mail message, etc.)
Tap the status bar at the top of the screen.
Open Spotlight page (to do a global search) - new in OS 3.0
Swipe to reveal the page (to the left of the 1st home screen) or press the Home button while on the 1st home screen.

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