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How to Use iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.0 Features
After upgrading to OS 3.0 it quickly became apparent that how to use many of the new features of OS 3.0 was not apparent. In this first installment I’ll cover how to use some of these features and if there are further questions in the comments section there may be a second installment.
Backup Encryption
This feature will appear in iTunes if you have iTunes 8.2 or Later, iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.0 and either Windows or Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later. If you meet the requirements, the next time you plug in your iPhone/iPod Touch you will see the new option “Encrypt Backup”.
Though the help is a little sketchy on what “Encrypt Backup” means, I think it is safe to assume it protects your backups with a password so bad people cannot get your “text messages, notes, call history, contact favorites, sound settings, widget settings, and more.” To use this feature just check the box next to “Encrypt Backup” and iTunes will ask you for a password to protect your backup. Enter one and it will create a backup right away. If you look in under Preferences -> Devices you will now see your backup with a lock next to it. Now whenever you try to restore you will need to enter your password.
Spotlight Search
To tell you the truth, if I had not remembered there was supposed to be Spotlight Search for the iPhone/iPod Touch I probably would have forgotten all about it though there are a few hints strewn about OS 3.0. The first hint is right on the navigation dots at the bottom of every page. If you look very closely you will see that the first dot is not your Home page dot but rather a tiny magnifying glass signifying that there is now a new page to the left of Home. To get to Spotlight Search, just go to your Home page and slide your finger to the right and you’re there.
There is also a second hint, just in case you missed the first. If you go to Settings->General->Home you will now be given the option of changing what a single click of your Home button does. These options are Home, Spotlight Search, and iPod. This gives you another way to access the Spotlight Search if you find yourself using it a lot. Also you can change where Spotlight looks and in what order by checking out Search Results on the same page.
Select, Copy, Paste
One of the most sought after features of the iPhone/iPod Touch 3.0, this is also one of the oddest ones to figure out, but once you do it becomes really easy to use. First the easy one, Select All. To perform Select All, just tap and hold for a second anywhere where you want to copy and a new option box appears with “Select|Select All”. Tap “Select All” and everything will get selected and the “Copy” option now appears, tap that and everything is now copied.
Regular Select is a little odd however, initial instinct says that like on a computer where you use the mouse cursor to select, on your iPhone/iPod Touch you would use your finger to select just like the mouse cursor. This initial instinct is wrong. Instead you pick the area about where you want to copy and tap and hold for a second causing the “Select/Select All” options to appear. Tap “Select” and the nearest word will be selected.
This doesn’t seem all that useful until you notice the blue dots at either end of the word, one above and one below. If you click on the dot to the left above the word, a new magnifying glass appears and you can extend your selection before the word. Likewise, if you click the dot to the right below the word you can extend your selection after the word. You will notice that when you’re not changing your selection, the “Copy” option will appear, select this when you are done.
To paste is relatively simple, just go to where you want to paste and tap and hold for a second causing the “Select|Select All|Paste” options to appear and select “Paste” and you’re done.
Restrictions (i.e. Parental Controls)
In case you want to manage your child/spouse/parents’/friends’ restrictions, you can find these under Settings->General->Restrictions. There are many things that Restrictions allows you to manage. First you can take away access to the following applications: Safari, YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Location. You can also manage content in the following ways: Block In-App Purchases, Explicit Music and Podcasts, and set a maximum rating for Movies, TV Shows, and Applications according to your selected region under “Ratings For”. It is really easy to set up, just tap “Enable Restrictions”. A keypad comes up and asks you for a 4 digit pin. This happens twice and now you can Allow/Block to your heart’s content. Personally, if I were still in high school/college where I had friends that would set this on me I would do a pre-emptive strike and set the pin myself with everything enabled just to keep them from messing with it.
Notifications
A new feature in OS 3.0 is Notifications. This is an app enabled feature and you won’t even see it under the settings menu until you have an application that uses it. Once you do though, you can access the Notification settings by going Settings->Notifications. From here you have the option of turning Notifications off completely or by application. Each application has its own set of settings which you can change manually.
With that ends the first installment of iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.0 feature how-to’s. If you have any questions or would like other features covered please type a comment or send a message and it’ll be included in the possible second installment.
