ANSWERS TO THE TOP NEWBIE (and not-so-newbie) iPHONE QUESTIONS--PLEASE READ

[jaydoc1]

I've made this thread in the hopes that it will cut down on some of the repetition of the top Newbie questions for STOCK new-out-of-the-box iphones. Hopefully this helps those new to the iPhone find these answers quickly. If I leave any out please add to the thread. And, yes, I'm posting it in multiple forums because these questions pop up in multiple forums. Hopefully this becomes a sticky. No discussion please, just answers to those obvious questions cluttering the board.

1) There is only one speaker on the bottom of the iPhone. The other side is the microphone.

2) There is no MMS. (Yes you can send and receive pictures via e-mail but that's really not the same thing.)

3) There is no option to SMS multiple recipients.

4) There is no Cut and Paste

5) You cannot save attachments from e-mails.

6) For now, you cannot sync notes with Outlook (or any other program I believe)

7) You can conserve battery life by turning e-mail Auto-Check to manual, by adjusting the brightness lower, by turning Auto-Brightness off (not on), by turning off Bluetooth and WiFi when not in use, and by turning off the Equalizer on the iPod. (Oh and not turning the iPhone on ever will reaallly conserve battery life :laugh2:)

8) Most headphones other than those that come with your iPhone will not fit far enough down in the headphone jack so you will still hear your sound coming from your iPhone speaker. There are some companies making aftermarket headphones now that are designed to work with the iPhone jack. Alternatively you can cut off about the last 1/8" of the soft plastic on your aftermarket headset jack to allow it to fit down far enough into the iPhone.

9) No, Safari cannot view Flash content on the internet.

10) It is not necessary to fully discharge the iPhone's lithium-ion battery to prevent battery memory from developing. This will do nothing to lengthen battery life, and may actually decrease it. A full discharge as outlined below will help with the battery calibration, however.

Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.

11) There is no video taking capability.

12) Safari will occasionally crash for no reason when also listening to the iPod at the same time.

13) If your iPhone speaker stops working try inserting and removing your headset jack several times. This frequently fixes the issue.

14) Ringer/Alerts/Sound not working? Check the mute sound switch on the left side of the iPhone above the volume rocker. Make sure an orange dot isn't showing (indicates the phone is muted).

15) Are emails you read on your iPhone still showing up as new/unread on your computer? If so, then your email account is most likely a POP account. Two of the most common email account protocols are POP and IMAP - see these IMAP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imap) and POP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol) Wikipedia articles for detailed descriptions of each. In short, IMAP accounts record the status of each email message as they are accessed and/or modified. So, if you read a new message on your iPhone, the read status of that message will be recorded on the server and it will show up as read if you look at your email on your computer. POP accounts simply place the email messages on your iPhone and in your desktop mail application without recording if it was read in one or the other and saving that status to the server.

You should contact your email service provider if you aren't sure which type of account you have. Most free email accounts are POP (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.), with the exception of GMail and AOL, which are IMAP. You can't change the protocol your email account uses - if you have a POP account and want an IMAP account, you'll most likely need to switch email providers.

I think this covers most of the very common questions but again please add to the list if I've missed any. Nothing to do with jailbroken or unlocked phones, please.

[Lincoln]

I demand this be a sticky!

- John

[itsabouttime]

Lol :laugh2:

[smitty24]

nice post. Sticky!!

[Spikefood]

Should think of things to add to the list.

[SmartAlx]

10) isn't quite right. Although draining the battery won't (in fact) increase battery life, it will recalibrate the iPhone so it accurately displays the true battery life. This can help to keep it from appearing that the battery is draining too fast.

Although this paragraph from batteryuniversity.com (http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/batteryuniversity.com) seems to agree with your point:A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.
It goes on to explain the importance of calibration:
Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.

[macgirl]

great idea! but i think you could just post one of these and have chris sticky it in multiple forums and lock it once it's finalized. otherwise, we'll have various versions of it floating around and each may contain different information.

8) isn't entirely accurate now - there are companies that are making headphones to fit the iphone's jack specifically, such as the v-moda vibe duo's.

a suggested addition -
how about the following to head off the "why are emails i already read on my iphone showing up as new still on my computer?" questions:

Are emails you read on your iPhone still showing up as new/unread on your computer? If so, then your email account is most likely a POP account. Two of the most common email account protocols are POP and IMAP - see these IMAP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imap) and POP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol) Wikipedia articles for detailed descriptions of each. In short, IMAP accounts record the status of each email message as they are accessed and/or modified. So, if you read a new message on your iPhone, the read status of that message will be recorded on the server and it will show up as read if you look at your email on your computer. POP accounts simply place the email messages on your iPhone and in your desktop mail application without recording if it was read in one or the other and saving that status to the server.

You should contact your email service provider if you aren't sure which type of account you have. Most free email accounts are POP (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.), with the exception of GMail and AOL, which are IMAP. You can't change the protocol your email account uses - if you have a POP account and want an IMAP account, you'll most likely need to switch email providers.

[jaydoc1]

great idea! but i think you could just post one of these and have chris sticky it in multiple forums and lock it once it's finalized. otherwise, we'll have various versions of it floating around and each may contain different information.


Thanks for the tip. I hadn't thought of that and haven't really ever tried to put a post like this together before. This was pointed out in another thread to me (although more in the form of a flame than in a constructive way so I probably didn't really get the underlying point). I actually did IM Chris when I made the posts so hopefully, if he thinks it's worthwhile it will be stickied. Otherwise, oh well, I feel like I tried to make a helpful post.

I'll update #8 and add your e-mail tip as well. Thanks.

[jaydoc1]

10) isn't quite right. Although draining the battery won't (in fact) increase battery life, it will recalibrate the iPhone so it accurately displays the true battery life. This can help to keep it from appearing that the battery is draining too fast.

Although this paragraph from batteryuniversity.com (http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/batteryuniversity.com) seems to agree with your point:
It goes on to explain the importance of calibration:

Thanks. I ripped off your quote and added it. :smile:

[Swagger]

How could you forget this question??? Can anyone tell me why my ringer/alerts and sound stopped working??? Yes, we can. Turn on the little switch on the left (as in, screen facing upward) side of the phone. All of you know, that is a classic newbie question...M:laugh2:

[jaydoc1]

Thanks and added.

[Tinman]

You know it's kinda depressing reading all of those iPhone cons in one list. ;)



--
Mike

[jaydoc1]

I have trained myself to think of them as eccentricities. Helps me sleep at night. :laugh2:

[TheJimbo]

Jaydoc1, this is well written and touches all the important points - nicely done! Two items that are really ticking me off now that the holidays are here is lack of MMS and lack of mulitiple SMS. I'm tired of having to go to the 'net to view an MMS pic, and I can't send one. As for the SMS issue - my fingers are still tired after having sent out Thanksgiving messages! C'mon Jobs, get with the program! Most other phones have been able to do this for yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeears!

[jaydoc1]

Agreed! You, me, and just about everyone else agrees about that!

[Swagger]

Jaydoc1, this is well written and touches all the important points - nicely done! Two items that are really ticking me off now that the holidays are here is lack of MMS and lack of mulitiple SMS. I'm tired of having to go to the 'net to view an MMS pic, and I can't send one. As for the SMS issue - my fingers are still tired after having sent out Thanksgiving messages! C'mon Jobs, get with the program! Most other phones have been able to do this for yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeears!

Cut & Paste would also assist in sending the same text message to multiple recipients. We don't have that either. How could Apple have missed adding Cut & Paste??? I never realized how valuable Cut & Paste is, until not having it on the iPhone. Also, the inability to forward text messages, is truly frustrating. I will never again purchase a phone/PDA that doesn't have those two functions. I also have lost hope that we will ever get them, through an update. Sad, Sad, Sad....Mark

[kakofonix]

Bump...

Just going through some old posts that some of our new members might benefit from.

I know, what a way to spend New Year's Day!:tounge:

[chrismmm]

that was a really good but depressing post. when working with email and wesbites it would be really really convenient and cool to have some kind of cut and paste utility.