iPhone 4s Tips and Tricks

Photography

Camera in Control Center

Access your camera quickly by swiping up from any screen — including the Lock screen — and tapping the Camera icon.

Panorama

You can easily shoot panorama photos from left to right or right to left. Just tap the arrow to switch the direction.

Focus and take a picture quickly

Hold down the volume button to quickly focus the camera and take a picture.

Photo filters

Apply one of eight live photo filters to any picture. Just choose a filter to see the effect before you take the shot, or apply it later.

Mapped pictures

View the locations of your pictures on a map by tapping the location heading under Years, Collections, or Moments.

Working with Text

Format text in Mail

Double-tap any word to bring up the options menu, tap the arrow, and select the B I U option to bold, italicize, or underline your text.

Define a word

In apps like Safari and Mail, you can define a word by double-tapping it to bring up the options menu, and then tap Define.

Swipe Gestures

Delete a message in mail

Simply swipe from right to left on messages in your inbox to quickly delete them.

Go back in Mail

To go back, swipe left to right from the edge of your screen.

Spotlight search

To open Spotlight search, swipe down from anywhere on the Home screen — such as the middle. Then type in what you’re looking for to quickly find it on your device.

Messages

View timestamps of your messages by touching and dragging message bubbles to the left.

Weather

View all your locations by pinching to see a collapsed view. To reorder locations, simply drag them where you want. Swipe from right to left on a location to delete it.

FaceTime

FaceTime audio

Now you can make audio-only FaceTime calls. On your contact’s card, tap the phone icon in the FaceTime section.

Maps

Get there with Quick Route

When Maps drops a pin on a location, you can get turn-by-turn directions to that location almost instantly. Just tap the Quick Route button next to the location’s name.

See up close with Flyover

Tap the 3D icon to switch to Flyover view and explore select cities from the air. You can zoom, pan, and rotate around landmarks.

Tilt and rotate your view

As you’re looking at a map, use two fingers to tilt or rotate the view. Maps keeps the names of the streets and places where they belong. So everything’s easy to read, and you won’t get lost.

Share a pin

In Maps, drop a pin on a location you want to share. Then tap the pin and select Share. Now you can share the location via AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Twitter, or Facebook.

Siri

Tell Siri who’s who

Tell Siri about your relationships, such as “Erin is my wife” or “Rick is my dad.” Then you can say “Text my wife” or “Call Dad” and Siri knows who you mean.

Set your locations

Enter your home and work addresses in Contacts. That way, Siri can remind you to do things when you leave or arrive at either place.

Change the way Siri pronounces a name

If Siri mispronounces a name, simply say “that’s not how you pronounce that.” Siri will ask you for the correct pronunciation, then say the name back to you three different ways so you can choose the one you like.

Calendar

New views in Calendar

View your calendar by list, day, or month. Switch to landscape view to see a full five days.

Swipe gestures

Tap the month name in the left corner to change to Month or Year view. In Day view, you can swipe the week bar at the top to jump to days in the next or previous week.

Search for specific events

Tap the search icon for a list view of every event in your calendar.

Music

Create playlists

In the Music app, tap Playlists, then tap Add Playlist and give it a name. Now tap any song or video to add it to the playlist. You can add individual songs, entire albums, or all songs by an artist.

Create radio stations

To create a station in iTunes Radio, tap the + button under My Stations and search for an artist, genre, or song. Or choose from over 250 genre-focused or DJ-curated stations.

Edit radio stations

Adding and deleting stations is easy. Tap Edit and select the + button to add a new station. To remove a station, swipe left on the station name and tap Delete. Or remove multiple stations at once by tapping Edit and the - button next to each station.

Buy songs from iTunes Radio

Tap Buy on a song that’s currently playing or one in your History or Wish List, and it downloads instantly from iTunes to your library.

Musical landscape

While browsing your music collection, switching to landscape view displays a mosaic of your album covers. Swipe to scroll, pinch to zoom in and out, and tap to play.

Mail

Insert a photo or video

When you’re composing an email, touch and hold in the message to see the “Select, Select All” menu. Tap the arrow and select “Insert Photo or Video.” Now you can choose a photo or video to attach from your Camera Roll, albums, or shared streams.

Keep your inbox clean

You can delete or move messages in batches. From your inbox, tap Edit, select the messages you want to organize, then tap Trash or Move.

Get back to your draft

Touch and hold the Compose button to switch to your list of saved message drafts.

Safari

Single sign-in

Sign in once under Settings, and you can tweet or update your Facebook status directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, and Maps. Or ask Siri to do it for you.

Manage open Safari pages

Drag and drop to rearrange your tabs. To close tabs, tap the X or just swipe them off the screen.

Create web clips

Quickly visit your favorite websites by creating web clips for them on your Home screen. Visit the site and tap the Share button. Then select “Add to Home Screen.”

Airplay and Wireless

Broadcast live with AirPlay

When connected to a Wi‑Fi network, you can use AirPlay Mirroring to share exactly what’s on your iPhone with your HDTV connected to an Apple TV. Just access Control Center by swiping up, tap AirPlay, and select your TV.

Print wirelessly from iPhone

AirPrint makes it easy to print email and web pages from your iPhone to your AirPrint-enabled printer. To print an email, tap the Reply icon and select Print. To print a web page, tap the Share button and select Print. You can also print photos, documents, and more.

Accessibility

 

Have text read back to you

iPhone can read text out loud in apps like Mail, Safari, Messages, and iBooks. Just turn on Speak Selection in Settings > General > Accessibility. Then go to the app, highlight the text you want to hear, and tap Speak.

Control font size

Adjust fonts to your preferred reading size in all apps that support Dynamic Type. Simply turn on Larger Type in Settings > General > Accessibility. Then choose your desired font size.

Get flashing alerts

Your iPhone can give you a visual alert for incoming calls and texts. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility and turn on LED Flash for Alerts.

Let your iPhone do the typing

Dictation lets you talk where you would type. Tap the microphone button on the bottom row of the keyboard, say what you want to write, and your iPhone converts your words into text.

View closed captions

To turn on the captions in closed-captioned movies and TV shows, just go to Settings > General > Accessibility. You can even customize captions by size, font type, and color.

Merge left and right audio

Play left- and right-channel audio in both ears to accommodate hearing loss on either side. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility and turn on Mono Audio.

Settings

Enable emoji characters

Access all sorts of smileys, animals, shapes, and other peculiarities from the emoji-enabled keyboard. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Keyboard and select Emoji. Now when you type, just tap the globe button and choose the emoji that fits the mood.

Keyboard tips

Go to Settings > General > Keyboard to turn on or off features like Auto-Capitalization, Auto-Correction, and more.

Do Not Disturb

In Settings, turn on Do Not Disturb to silence sounds from incoming calls and notifications. You can allow calls from your favorites, specific contacts, or contact groups. Enable Do Not Disturb manually or schedule a recurring time.

Compass

Access a level or an inclinometer by swiping left in Compass.

Find My iPhone

If you’ve lost your iPhone, Find My iPhone can help you locate it. Go to Settings > iCloud and turn on the Find My iPhone feature.