Читать книгу iPhone For Dummies - LeVitus Bob - Страница 7

The iPhone is a harmonious combination of hardware and software. In this section, we take a brief look at what’s on the outside. In the next section, we peek at the software.

On the top and side

The top of iPhone 6 and 7 models is as smooth as a baby’s bottom, as shown in Figure 1-1. If you have one of the iPhone 6 models, your sleep/wake button is on the side. For all models, the SIM card tray is on one side, and the ring/silent switch and volume buttons are on the other side. We describe these elements more fully in the following list:

❯❯ Microphone: Used for FaceTime calls and noise suppression during phone calls.

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SIM card tray: The SIM card tray is where you remove or replace the SIM card inside your iPhone.

A SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is a removable smart card used to identify mobile phones. Users can change phones by moving the SIM card from one phone to another – kind of. The iPhone uses a nano-SIM.

❯❯ Sleep/wake button: This button is used to lock or unlock your iPhone and to turn your iPhone on or off. When your iPhone is locked, you can still receive calls and text messages, but nothing happens if you touch its screen. When your iPhone is turned off, all incoming calls go directly to voicemail.

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Ring/silent switch: This switch, which is on the left side of your iPhone, lets you quickly swap ring mode and silent mode. When the switch is set to ring mode – the up position, with no orange showing on the switch – your iPhone plays all sounds through the speaker on the bottom. When the switch is set to silent mode – the down position, with orange visible on the switch – your iPhone doesn’t make a sound when you receive a call or when an alert pops up on the screen.

Silent mode is overridden, however, by alarms you set in the built-in Clock app, iPod audio, and selecting sounds such as ringtones and alert sounds in the Settings app.

If your phone is set to ring mode and you want to silence it quickly, press the sleep/wake button on the top of the iPhone or press one of the volume buttons.

❯❯ Volume buttons: Two volume buttons are just below the ring/silent switch. The upper button increases the volume; the lower one decreases it. You use the volume buttons to raise or lower the loudness of the ringer, alerts, sound effects, songs, and movies. And during phone calls, the buttons adjust the voice loudness of the person you’re speaking with, regardless of whether you’re listening through the receiver, the speakerphone, or a headset.

FIGURE 1-1: The rear side of the iPhone SE (left), 6s (center), and 7 (right), as seen from the top.

On the bottom

On the bottom of your iPhone, you find a microphone, the Lightning connector, the speaker (or speakers), and the headset jack (all but iPhone 7 models), as shown in Figure 1-2:

❯❯ Headset jack (iPhone SE and 6): The headset jack lets you plug in the included iPhone headset, which looks a lot like EarPods but with an elliptical shape.

❯❯ Microphone: The microphone lets callers hear your voice when you’re not using a headset.

The iPhone sports three microphones (top front, top back, and bottom). The top ones are used for FaceTime calls and also work with the main mic (located on the bottom) to suppress unwanted and distracting background sounds on phone calls using dual-mic noise suppression or beam-forming technology.

❯❯ Lightning connector: The Lightning connector has three purposes for most iPhones and four for iPhone 7 models. One, you can use it to recharge your iPhone’s battery. Simply connect one end of the included Lightning–connector–to–USB cable to the iPhone and the other end to the USB power adapter. Two, you can use the port to synchronize. Connect one end of the cable to the port on your iPhone and the other end to a USB port on your Mac or PC. Three, you can use the Lightning or dock connector port to connect your iPhone to other devices, such as a camera or television using an adapter such as the Camera Connection Kit or one of Apple’s A/V adapter cables. And four (iPhone 7 models only), you use it to connect EarPods or the included 3.5mm headphone jack adapter so you can listen to audio or talk on the phone without holding a slab of glass and metal in front of your face.

Little-known fact: The EarPods with Lightning connector that come with iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will work with any iOS device with a Lightning connector.

❯❯ Speaker: The speaker is used by the iPhone’s built-in speakerphone and plays audio – music or video soundtracks – if no headset is plugged in. It also plays the ringtone you hear when you receive a call. iPhone 7 models have stereo speakers.

FIGURE 1-2: The front side of the iPhone SE (left), 6s (center), and 7 (right), as seen from the bottom.

On the front

On the front of your iPhone, you find the following (labeled in Figure 1-3):

❯❯ Camera: The camera on the front of the iPhone is tuned for FaceTime, so it has just the right field of view and focal length to focus on your face at arm’s length, which presents you in the best possible light.

❯❯ Receiver: The receiver is the speaker that the iPhone uses for telephone calls. It naturally sits close to your ear whenever you hold your iPhone in the “talking on the phone” position.

You should be the only one who hears sound coming from the receiver. If you have the volume set above about 50 percent and you’re in a location with little or no background noise, someone standing nearby may be able to hear the sound, too. So be careful.

If you require privacy during phone calls, use the included Apple headset (or any compatible third-party wired or wireless headset – as discussed in Chapter 14).

❯❯ Status bar: The status bar displays important information, as you discover in a page or two.

❯❯ Touchscreen: You find out how to use the iPhone’s gorgeous high-resolution color touchscreen in Chapter 2. All we have to say at this time is try not to drool all over it.

❯❯ Home button and Touch ID sensor: No matter what you’re doing, you can press the Home button at any time to display the Home screen, which is the screen shown in Figure 1-3. The iPhone's Touch ID sensor can use your fingerprint to unlock the phone (see Chapter 2).

❯❯ App icons: Each icon on the (first) Home screen launches an included iPhone app or one you’ve acquired from the App Store.

Photo courtesy of Apple, Inc.

FIGURE 1-3: The iPhones are a study in elegant simplicity.

On the back

On the back of your iPhone is a camera lens. It’s the little circle in the top-left corner. The iPhone also has one or more little LEDs next to the camera lens for use as a flash for still photos, as a floodlight for videos, and as a flashlight (turn it on and off in Control Center). For more on using the camera and shooting videos, see Chapters 9 and 10, respectively; for more on the flashlight and Control Center, see Chapter 5.

Finally, all current iPhone models have a third microphone on the back (refer to Figure 1-1).

Status bar

The status bar, which is at the top of every Home screen and displayed by many (if not most) apps, displays tiny icons that provide a variety of information about the current state of your iPhone:

❯❯ ••••• Cell signal: The strength of the cellular signal. The cell signal icon tells you whether you’re within range of your wireless telephone carrier’s cellular network and therefore can make and receive calls. The more filled circles you see (five is the highest), the stronger the cellular signal. If you’re out of range, the circles are replaced with the words No Service. And if your iPhone is looking for a cellular signal, the circles are replaced with Searching.

If your screen shows only one or two filled circles, try moving around a little bit. Even walking a few feet can sometimes mean the difference between no service and three or four filled circles.

❯❯ Airplane mode: All wireless features of your iPhone – the cellular, 4G, 3G, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), and EDGE networks, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth – are turned off. You’re allowed to use your iPod on a plane after the captain gives the word. But you can’t use your cellphone except when the plane is in the gate area before takeoff or after landing. Fortunately, your iPhone offers an airplane mode, which turns off all wireless features of your iPhone and makes it possible to enjoy music or video during your flight.

Some flights now offer on-board Wi-Fi. If you’re on such a flight, you can turn on Wi-Fi even when airplane mode is enabled. Just don’t turn it on until the captain says it’s okay.

❯❯ LTE: Your wireless carrier’s high-speed LTE network is available.

❯❯ 4G: Your wireless carrier’s high-speed UMTS network is available.

❯❯ 3G: Your wireless carrier’s 3G UTMS or EV-DO data network is available and your iPhone can connect to the Internet via 3G.

❯❯ EDGE: Your wireless carrier’s slower EDGE (Enhanced Datarate for GSM Evolution) network is available and you can use it to connect to the Internet.

❯❯ GPRS/1xRTT: Your wireless carrier’s slower GPRS data network is available and your iPhone can use it to connect to the Internet.

❯❯ Wi-Fi: Your iPhone is connected to the Internet over a Wi-Fi network. The more semicircular lines you see (up to three), the stronger the Wi-Fi signal. If your screen displays only one or two semicircles of Wi-Fi strength, try moving around a bit. If you don’t see the Wi-Fi icon in the status bar, Internet access is not currently available.

Wireless (that is, cellular) carriers may offer one of four data networks. The fastest are the so-called 4th generation networks such as LTE and 4G UMTS; the next fastest is 3G; and the slowest are EDGE and GPRS. The device looks for the fastest available network. If it can’t find one, it looks for a slower network.

Wi-Fi networks, however, are even faster than any cellular data network. So all iPhones will connect to a Wi-Fi network if one is available, even if a 4G, 3G, GPRS, or EDGE network is also available.

Last but not least, if you don’t see one of these icons – LTE, 4G, 3G, GPRS, EDGE, or Wi-Fi – you don’t currently have Internet access.

❯❯ Wi-Fi call: Your iPhone is making a call over Wi-Fi.

❯❯ Do Not Disturb: The Do Not Disturb feature (see Chapter 4) is enabled.

❯❯ Personal Hotspot: The iPhone is providing a personal hotspot connection to another iPhone or another device.

❯❯ Syncing: Your iPhone is syncing with iTunes.

❯❯ Network activity: Some network activity is occurring, such as over-the-air synchronization, sending or receiving email, or loading a web page. Some third-party apps use this icon to indicate network or other activity.

❯❯ Call forwarding: Call forwarding is enabled on your iPhone.

❯❯ VPN: Your iPhone is currently connected to a virtual private network (VPN).

❯❯ TTY: Your iPhone is set up to work with a teletype (TTY) machine, which is used by those who are hearing or speech impaired. You need an optional Apple iPhone TTY Adapter (suggested retail price $19) to connect your iPhone to a TTY machine.

❯❯ Portrait orientation lock: The iPhone screen is locked in portrait orientation. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal Control Center and then tap the portrait orientation lock icon to lock your screen in portrait orientation.

❯❯ Alarm: You’ve set one or more alarms in the Clock app.

❯❯ Location Services: An application is using Location Services, a topic we discuss in Chapter 13.

❯❯ Bluetooth: The icon displays the current state of your iPhone’s Bluetooth connection. If the icon is blue, Bluetooth is on and a device (such as a wireless headset or car kit) is connected. If the icon is gray, Bluetooth is turned on but no device is connected. If you don’t see a Bluetooth icon, Bluetooth is turned off. Chapter 14 goes into more detail about Bluetooth.

❯❯ Bluetooth battery: A tiny battery icon next to the Bluetooth icon displays the battery level of some Bluetooth devices.

❯❯ Battery: This battery icon displays the level of your battery’s charge. The icon is completely filled with green or white when your battery is fully charged and then empties as your battery becomes depleted. You see a lightning bolt next to the icon when your iPhone is recharging.