Little Known Tricks for the iPhone

Using an iPhone 4/4S is a fun experience for nearly anyone, thanks to how easy it is to play with this device. While there are plenty of intuitive experiences on the smartphone, some of the more complex features of the iPhone may require a little bit of knowledge to take advantage of when setting up the device. Use the following tricks to get the most out of your Apple smartphone.

1. Setup Keyboard Shortcuts

Typing out the same phrase again and again can quickly become cumbersome on a small, touchscreen keyboard. Apple has a quick workaround for this common problem, allowing short phrases and words to serve as a trigger for a longer sentence. Typing in the shortcut causes the phone to automatically substitute a longer phrase in its place.

For example, if you frequently find yourself asking friends, “How are you?” via text, you may want to create a shortcut, “HRU.” Whenever the HRU shortcut is typed into your phone, “How are you?” will appear in the text field. This allows users to create their own personal dictionary of words and phrases.

It’s important to remember that if a shortcut has been created, the word will always trigger another phrase. For this reason, shortcuts that are not commonly used should be put in place, rather than common words. For example, “how” would likely be a poor shortcut for the question, “How are you?” as this would prevent “how” from being typed in any other context.

2. Lock the Screen Orientation

If you are accustomed to using your phone while in bed or turning the phone for viewing purposes, you may find it annoying to deal with the changing orientation of the phone’s screen. If you would rather use the screen in portrait mode at all times, you can easily lock the orientation of the phone. This will prevent the screen from turning whenever the phone’s physical position is adjusted.

To put this orientation lock into place, simply double-click the home button of the device. You will then use your finger to swipe the applications in the multi-tasking interface at the bottom of the screen to the right. This should show the orientation lock icon, which you can click on or off.

3. Display Character Count in Text Messages

While iPhone and other smartphone users don’t face the same character limits as other phones, users who still use more traditional cellular devices may be unable to receive long text messages. For this reason, some users choose to display the character count of texts they send. This makes it easy to guarantee that a recipient will be able to receive all of the text sent to them.

To turn this feature on, simply navigate to your phone’s settings and click messages. A small switch appears for character count, which can be flipped on at the user’s whim. Whenever the message typed exceeds the length of two lines, the character count will helpfully appear above the send button.

Using the iPhone is a daily learning experience, as each application has a myriad of different shortcuts and tricks that can be mastered. By learning some of these little known tricks for the iPhone in general, users can take advantage of the underlying operating system, making it easier to utilize all of the great features of their device. This in turn can compute to a more enjoyable overall experience on Apple’s smartphone devices.

Guest article written by: Kevin Moor who writes for virus-protection.us which inter alias are working to find best antivirus.