IT blogs are ablaze lately about whether the iPhone has graduated from dawdling device to legitimate business tool. One camp says the iPhone is just too pretty and trendy to use for work; the other side says it’s much more conducive to productivity than any buggy smartphone. Even venerated researchers are weighing in. According to a Forrester report released in April, workers who use iPhones are “happier and more productive.”
Who knew a gadget could have such power? Here are seven tips to make you even happier and more productive with your iPhone.
1. Easy punctuation. Period.
Inserting a period from the symbols box can become tedious. You want to send messages with proper punctuation, but deadlines get in the way. Here’s a quicker way: Double-tap the spacebar. Problem solved. Reputation saved.
2. Spring clean your screen.
Like corner offices, iPhone screens sometimes need rearranging. To do so, tap and hold one of the app icons, and when they begin to shake, drag them to rearrange. So quick, so easy.
Like corner offices, iPhone screens sometimes need rearranging.
3. Copy Web images in a snap.
Do you often come across images in your Web travels that you’d like to save for later use? Try this shortcut: Press and hold your finger on the photo and you’ll be prompted to “Save Image.” Now it’s in your Camera Roll.
4. Speed dial, Apple-style.
Nothing wastes time like wading through scads of contacts to find your intended text message recipient. Create favorites, already. Open up your contacts, select the contact you wish to tag, and tap the “Add Favorites” button at the bottom. Fewer steps, increased productivity.
5. Stay productive, even while flying.
Although every airline requires you to turn off your phone while in flight, there’s no restriction on using your iPhone to watch videos and listen to books and music – provided your phone is set to Airplane Mode. To do so, go to Settings and toggle on Airplane Mode. This will disable all incoming wireless calls and data connectivity. Make sure you turn off the device completely, however, during takeoff and landing.
6. Traveling across time zones + calendar appointments ≠ scheduling mayhem.
Sometimes technology’s intuitive functionality can get the better of you, especially when traveling across time zones. Case in point: the Time Zone Support feature, which shows event dates and times in the zone you selected for your calendar. For example, if you scheduled a 10 a.m. conference call while at the home office in Philadelphia, and you are currently visiting Los Angeles, your meeting will still show up as scheduled for 10 a.m. Turning off the Time Zone Support feature can make your schedule a little clearer by automatically adjusting your calendar to the time zone you are in. To do so, go to Settings | Mail | Contacts | Calendar and toggle off Time Zone Support.
7. Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.
Mobile devices are practical, yes, but not when it comes to screen size. Scrolling, in particular, can become tiresome on an iPhone, or any smartphone for that matter. Whichever screen you are on – your contacts, a Web site – you can quickly return to the top by tapping the status bar (at the very top of every iPhone screen). Efficiency is grand.
Got any can’t-live-without iPhone tricks or tips? Send them my way.
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About Jenny Sweeney
More of an addition to one of these tips: When organizing your items, it can get hectic when sliding from one screen to another and they all shift across, changing the whole layout of every screen that follows them. The bottom bar stores apps that stay there no matter what screen you’re looking at. I’ve found that the best way to handle shifting the apps around is to remove 2 of your apps from that section and place them at the very end of your apps collection. Then, grab an app you want to move and drag it to the bottom. Move to the screen you want to shift apps in, and drag the one you want to trade out to the bottom. Drag your new app up to where the old one was, and then shift the old one wherever you want it. It may sound complicated from this description, but once you get the hang of it you’ll find it’s a lot easier than having to shift every screen back into place when all you want to change is a single app on your first screen. Oh yeah, and of course when you’re done, toss the 2 apps you removed from the bottom bar back in there. Personally, my bottom bar is: phone, email, safari, SMS – those are the ones I most consistently have to hit.
A brief aside to this: having all your main apps on the first screen adds an extra layer of convenience due to the fact that with 1 tap of the bottom button from any screen you can slide back to the first screen. Oh, and don’t forget, if it’s set in your phone, double tapping that button will bring up your favorites.