Useful tips for your Apple devices

There are over 8.6 million iOS (Apple touch) users in Australia and given this number I am sure we all have varying levels of competence using our device/s. Some of us may own multiple iOS devices, (iPhone, iPad and iPod) but aren’t using them to their full potential. 

Here a just a few tips to help you with everyday tasks with your iOS devices. 

1. We all have Apps; how do you display them all on your device? Do you have them individually saved on your screen? Do you know you can create a folder and group your Apps to reduce clutter on your screen? To do this just hold your finger down on the App until it goes into edit mode. Once in edit mode (wobbling on screen) drag it over to another like App and it will appear in a folder. You can now name this folder for quick reference. 

2. How do you close your Apps? Do you just click the home button and it goes off your screen? Do you know that the App is still running on your device, it is just hidden in the background? To check to see what you still have open you can just double click on your home button. To close the App still open just swipe it up on your screen. To flip through them so you can check or skip open Apps swipe to your left. 

3. If you swipe from the bottom of your device, you will open a Control Centre. This gives you easy access to key features such as Airplane mode, Bluetooth, brightness, torch, music, etc. If you have iOS 11 you will be able to customise what quick access you have in this Control Centre. 

4. You can also customise your keyboard, so it becomes “one-handed keyboard” making it easier to type your responses. Just go into setting/general/keyboard. You can also create shortcuts for replacement text to streamline your responses. 

5. Everyone has seen or heard of “emoji”. Do you use them or are you unsure of how to? When typing a message, you can click on the smiley face on your keyboard. You can scroll through ALL the different ones and just need to tap on the one you want to insert to your message. To go back to text, you just click on the ABC. 

6. Have you ever wanted to take a pic of what was on your screen? Well do you know you can, it is quite easy. All you need to do is hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time, then let go and you will hear a click and the image will be sitting in your photos library.  

7. It is also easy for you to share your data from your iOS device. When in your photos library you can click on the share icon (looks like a page with an up arrow) and it will give you options of where you can send or save it to. You can also do this when in your web browser too. 

8. A quick simple trick for punctuation when typing, if you double tap the space bar it will put a full stop. If you hold down on the keyboard it will enable you to move the cursor so you can go backwards or forwards within your text.  

9. For security purposes you can also restrict access should someone else use your device. Go into settings/general/restrictions – select to turn it on and put in a pin code (one you will remember). On your iPad you will be able to put in an age for the restriction as well. 

10. Do you have trouble taking clear photo’s? Does your cameral on your iOS device focus on the wrong object. To overcome this just tap the screen on the object that should be the focus. Your camera will refocus and re-meter to give you a clearer photo. 

So why not try and simplify your tasks on your iOS device. Remember that you can also utilise Siri, speech commands. Sometimes this can be quicker than you finding your App then typing.