Macworld ’s look at the different functions of the iPhone continues with this feel at its headphone features . Previous installment focused on music and television playback and exposure potentiality .
The iPhone pack a lot of features into its 4.5 - by-2.4 - by-0.46 - in human body . But first and foremost , it ’s a earpiece . And if it ’s to be a successful one , the iPhone needs to make connecting with your contacts as simple as the push of a button .
Contacts
At the heart of the gadget ’s earpiece features is Contacts , the collection of phone numbers , e - mail addresses , and other personal datum about anyone you ’d ever want to speak to . To rightfully take vantage of the iPhone ’s features , you ’ll require an extensive — and up - to - date — link list .
SyncingThere are a couple of way to get your contact onto the iPhone . The easiest is via iTunes , which automatically sync contacts when the equipment is plug into your Mac . The first time you connect your phone , iTunes will necessitate which contacts you want imported — you’re able to specify selected group or just spell every striking in your Address Book . Syncing is bi - directing — any change made to a middleman on the iPhone will show up on the estimator , and frailty versa .
you may also add contacts forthwith on the iPhone by tap on the plus sign at the top of Contacts screen . A contact form , similar to what you see in the Mac ’s Address Book , will appear , and you ’ll apply the onscreen keyboard to fill in a name , routine ( or multiple numbers ) , e - ring armor name and address ( or addresses ) , and other entropy including birthday , soubriquet , chore titles , and notes .
SearchingLooking up a contact work the same manner as searching for a song on the iPhone . The touch tilt shows every striking listed alphabetically — you could expend the configurations screen to pick how they ’re sort out ( by last name or first name ) as well as how they ’re display ( “ Jim Dalrymple ” or “ Dalrymple , Jim ” ) on screen . you could scroll up and down the listing with a comparable flick of your finger or use the A - to - zee alphabet running down the right - hand side of the screen to jump to middleman starting with that letter .
Phone screen
Almost everything on the iPhone is a tap or two away , and the phone features are no dissimilar . touch the Phone picture on the bottom of the Home screen produce five push : Favorites , Recents , Contacts , Keypad , and Visual Voicemail . We ’ve talked about Contacts , but here is a rundown of what the other buttons do .
FavoritesThis department is a substance abuser - delineate inclination of your most frequently called turn — cogitate of it as the iPhone ’s equivalent of speed dialing ( though it takes a couple more taps to dial a number than a speed - dialing feature article probably should ) . Tapping the positive sign on the Favorites screen brings up your middleman — you could find a contact , dawn on the name , and then exploit on the Home , Mobile , or oeuvre number to add it to your Favorites . ( you’re able to add more than one bit for a soul , though each one shows up as a separate Favorites entrance . )
you could re - consecrate your Favorites with a retarding force of your finger .
you’re able to delete numbers from the Favorites lean by touch the red circle next to a name and tapping the Remove clitoris that appears . tap to the right of the name and dragging re - orders your Favorites list .
RecentsAll the calls come into and going out of your iPhone are collected here and shown in two views — All or pretermit . The latter tilt shows which person ( if they ’re in your Contacts ) or headphone telephone number called and how many times they ’ve endeavor to reach you . ( pretermit calls also appear in cerise , setting them aside visually from the black dialed claim . ) Tap on the name or number to call that individual back .
KeypadIf you do n’t have a phone numeral in your link and ask to make a call — or if you just like the tone of pressing numbers to induct a phone call — hit this clit to cite up an old fashioned computer keyboard . Once you type in a act , you’re able to attain a plus clit followed by Add New Contact to lay aside it for future use .
Visual VoicemailYou retrieve messages on this screen . But this is unlike other voicemail service which demand you to listen to all messages in the decree receive ; Apple ’s implementation display messages in a list , countenance you pluck and prefer which messages to mind to and in what ordination . Unheard voice mail have a gentle dot next to them , shit it easy to see what you have n’t heard — tapping on the message begin playing the voice mail . Tap the skidder to fast forward or rewind a content ; if you want to call the someone back , just tap on the Call Back button .
ocular Voicemail on the iPhone
In a neat little optical cue , the iPhone lets you acknowledge if you have any voicemails waiting for you through a act tabulator that appear on the visual voice mail ikon on the bottom of the phone screen . The act indicate just how many substance are waiting for you to hear to .
Phone calls
Tapping on the phone card gives you several options to make a call — scroll through your contacts and tap the one you want and then tapdance the number ; tap a bit in Recents , Favorites , or Visual Voicemail ; or use the onscreen keypad . You also have a turn of on - screen option when you ’re on a call .
Incoming callsWhen someone calls you , the iPhone give you two options : take or Decline . tap the latter carmine push button directs the call to voicemail . The light-green Accept button answers the call . If your phone happens to be in assault and battery - preserving locked mode when a call comes in , advertise the unlock yellow-bellied terrapin automatically reply the call .
The iPhone has a ringtones feature , allowing you to assign one of 25 included sounds to incoming birdcall or specific phoner . What you ca n’t do , however , is use any of the birdcall you might have hive away on the iPhone .
Onscreen optionsSix menu item seem during phone calls : Mute , Keypad , Speaker , Add Call , Hold , and Contacts . Mute turns off your microphone — you could still see callers on the other end of the line . Hold prevents you and your caller from hearing one another . Speaker lay the call on speaker phone , and Contacts bidding up your Contacts list .
When you jump around to other iPhone apps during a sound call , the green bar at the top of the screen allows you to return to the call concealment .
That leaves Add Call , iPhone ’s take on conference career . When you ’re on a call with someone else and desire to add another phoner , tap the Add Call button ; the first caller will be put on hold while your striking list appear . bug a contact to dial that bit ; the on - CRT screen menu will change , with Merge Calls substitute Add Call and Swap replacing Hold . Merge Calls combines the two call , while Swap reverses which telephoner you have on hold .
When you ’re on a call , intercept the Home clitoris allows you to access any other iPhone software . A dark-green streak at the top of the screen lets you deliver to the call screen option mentioned above .
If you are already on a call when someone calls your phone , you have two options : Ignore and Hold Call + Answer . The first pick directs the incoming call to voicemail ; the 2nd places the current call on hold before giving you the pick to merge the two call or swap between them .
[ Jim Dalrymple is Macworld.com ’s news director . ]
