Feb 21
I just found this out by accident on my iPod touch. And I haven't seen this as a hint before. It's actually possible to trigger a mouseover event in the Safari browser on an iPhone or iPod touch. You just have to click and hold the link that has the mouseover effect. At first, you get a popup with the link or description. If you then release your finger, however, the mouseover effect is triggered!
It doesn't seem to work in every case, but it can be useful sometimes. For example, on websites that make use of a drop-down menu, or that give extra information in pop-ups on mouseover.
I don't know if this is new in the 1.1.3 firmware, but it's a nice detail.
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Feb 21
I have a laptop and use an external hard drive for my iTunes library. This system works well for me, except sometimes I found myself frustrated that I couldn't update my contacts and calendars on my iPhone while I was on the go. When I'm away from the external hard drive, iTunes complains.
I recently discovered that if my iPhone is charging over USB, using the Sync system menu (chasing arrows in the upper right corner of the screen) on 10.5 syncs my iPhone to iCal and Address Book. This is great! Now I don't have to launch iTunes unless I want to sync media.
This hint might be generic for the iPod Touch or other iPods, but I haven't tested it.
[
robg adds: I'm not sure if this is 10.5 only or not; if someone can test on 10.4, please comment.]
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Feb 20
The iPhone mic is not disabled when headphones that don't have a mic are used (Apple's iPhone earbuds have an additional contact ring on the plug). If you have a favorite pair of earbuds from you old iPod, you can use them with your iPhone and take/make calls without unplugging. Simply take/make the call and place the iPhone a bit lower on your face and talk away.
While not quite as great as a fresh pair of $100 microphone-equipped earbuds, it works. Of course you may also need a $10 adapter to get your phones to work anyway. (Credit goes to my daughter for this one.)
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Feb 15
Since I've had my iPhone, I've found a few things that I wish I could do with it. I wished that I had a fuel-economy tracker app for my car, an expense tracker for work-expenses and others. I knew I could've set-up a custom web-page backed with a database, but it just seemed that there should be an easier way.
It seems Google thought so too, as they've just released a powerful new Forms extension to their Google Docs app, Spreadsheets. Using Forms, you can essentially create a survey or email-based input form for a spreadsheet you've created. This has great implications for those needing to create ad-hoc surveys for your work-mates, friends, family and more. However, there's nothing stopping you from inviting only yourself to the form.
To get started, go to
Google Docs (sign-up if necessary), create a new spreadsheet. If you want, you can add a few columns with a header row to make things a little easier in the next step. The...
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 31
Some times when I take a picture on my iPhone, the force of my finger hitting the snapshot button makes the iPhone move slightly at the last second and cause blur in the picture. To make it much easier to prevent this from happening, just hold your finger down on the camera icon before you steady the iPhone. As long as you keep your finger held down, it won't take the picture. Steady the phone, release your finger from the icon, and the picture will be taken. This also makes it slightly possible to take a self-portrait. Hold your finger down on the snapshot button, turn the phone around and (try to) aim, then release your finger.
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 25
With the new iPhone 1.1.3 update, Everyone likes the ability to have multiplehome pages which will hold more icons. It is a sure sign that new programming will have new places to add icons.
Everyone knows that you simply "flick" the screen to the left or right to move from one home screen to the next. What Apple didn't say was that there is an easier way to do this. As you add additional home pages to the iPhone, multiple dots start appearing just above the icon dock that by default displays the main functions of the iPhone (Phone, Mail, Safari, iPod). You can easily move from one home (or Springboard) screen by simply touching the area to the left or right of those white dots.
That's it, no more flicking the screen right or left to move to the next screen. Just touch the active area to the right or left of the row ofdots, and the screen instantly changes. Of course this won't work if you don't have multiple screens created.
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 15
My employer's Windows domain requires that account passwords must be changed every 45 days. Usually this necessitates booting a Windows machine on the domain (physical or in Parallels).
This morning I decided to VPN into the domain via my iPhone (v1.1.1) at home. I put in my regular password and received a prompt that my password had expired and the option to change it. (On 10.4 the login would fail.)
After submitting a new password, I updated my Mail settings to match the new password, and everything has been working great -- no Windows required.
[
robg adds: I can't confirm this one...if you can, please comment.]
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 14
I found it very annoying to have to go through the whole "this iPhone is synced with another computer..." business every time I plugged in my iPhone to charge at my desktop (it normally is paired with my laptop), or my computer at work. But I discovered -- inadvertently -- how to prevent this from happening: just use set a passcode in your iPhone settings screen. Then, when you plug it in, iTunes will give you a single dialogue letting you know it can't connect until you enter the code. Dismiss the dialogue, and you've got a charge-only setup.
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 10
On an iPod touch or iPhone, here's how to reach a 'better' Google. First bring up Safari and tap the address bar. Leave the Google search box blank and tap search. This automatically brings you to the mobile Google home page, which is quite handy as the mobile version fits the screen much better.
Also for the Canadian user out there (like myself), your Region Format settings under International (all under the Settings button on your Home screen) are most likely set to Canada. This means that when you use the blank Google search tip, it will bring you the .ca version of the mobile Google page. This page is, unfortunately, nowhere near as nice as the US version.
To fix this, change the Region Format to United States. The actual Region Format stays the same, but when you use the blank Google search hint, it will bring you to the US version of mobile Google, which is much nicer then the .ca version.
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
Jan 07
Ever since I started listening to music in my car from my iPhone, I've been dealing with the annoying
electromagnetic interference problem (loud buzz / static / popping / digital noise coming through car speakers). I set out to find a solution today, and to make a long story short, here's what I settled on: taping two small pieces of aluminum foil on the back of the iPhone in a specific location, as seen
in this picture. Here's what I did:
- Cut out a 2" x 3" piece of aluminum foil.
- Fold foil in half horizontally (foil is now 2" x 1.5").
- Tape foil from the bottom right corner (on the back of the iPhone) up to the middle of the text iPhone (Picture #1, Picture #2) using el...
written by macosxhints iPhone Tips
