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Setting up the Apple iPhone is a very simple affair, even if you’ve never used an iPod before. For those who have however, the setup process is very similar. You certainly don’t need to be used to using Apple products or be particularly software savvy to have your iPhone up and running in no time. One thing’s for sure, Apple have perfected the setting up process and made everything very intuitive. Once you’ve plugged in your iPhone in its dock, you’ll see a greeting screen. As a guide, it takes around 30 seconds to get your iPhone from totally shut off to fully functional. From here, all you need to do is install iTunes by following the step-by-step instructions. A few minutes (and some fifteen screens) later, you’ll be ready to start using your iPhone and change any settings you wish. We won’t elaborate much on these here because the iPhone guides are very simple to follow. What's more interesting to focus on how to use the iPhone's amazing touchscreen interface.
First steps First of all, you’ll be facing the main menu. Most of you will have become very familiar with the icons used in this menu (just take a look at the photo on the left) and we look at each one in more detail later in this review. When you start using your iPhone, you’re basically faced with a dozen colourful icons – each representing a different application – and at the bottom, four main icons giving you access to the Phone feature, Email, Safari (in other words, the internet) and the iPod. This is all very clear and pretty, it doesn’t take a genius to understand immediately how to navigate around this menu, and all the key shortcuts you’re likely to want to use are available. At the very top of the screen, you see the usual information you expect on a mobile phone: reception strength, operator, time and battery gauge. For some reason, the battery gauge is tiny and inaccurate, with no actual percentages or measure of time for your battery’s life. We think this was done for aesthetic reasons, which is a shame from a user’s perspective. Overall though, the menu screen is very bright and pretty so far – but what do you do from here? One small thing: before you try to customise the theme of your iPhone, sit back for a moment. Unfortunately, you’ll find that Apple don’t have this feature for the iPhone, which is surprising given that this is one thing many mobile phone users like to play around with. Sure, you can set the background which shows up when you’re making calls as well as when you’re unlocking the screen, but that’s about it. You’ll just have to get used to the standard iPhone theme Apple chose. Let’s face it though, it’s not a big deal, we actually think it looks pretty good. You’ll also find that different applications have different themes, varying from blue and black (iPod, phone, YouTube and clock), blue (email, Safari, SMS, calendar and settings), grey (camera and photos) or black (weather and stocks). A couple of applications have their own theme, namely the notes and the calculator. This, together with a few other variations (such as the missing data background across applications) can be a bit misleading. But again, it’s not a big deal and most people won’t even realise without focusing on it. Using the multitouch screenThis is, without a doubt, the best feature of this fantastic little device. Apple have made it particularly easy, intuitive and even fun to use the iPhone’s multitouch screen. Although how you are intended to use the interface depends to some extent on which application you are using at that time, it’s safe to say most people will become very familiar with the interface in a very short timeframe. That’s the beauty of the iPhone’s user interface: it’s intuitive and doesn’t require much thinking at all. It helps bridge the gap between the device and the user by stripping away the language or command barriers you might face with other devices. If you want to do something with your iPhone, just start playing with the screen and before you know it, you’ll have figured it out. It feels exactly like the iPhone ads you see on TV (except for the connection/download speed!). Let’s face it, there’s nothing revolutionary about listening to music on your mobile, others have been doing that for years. Nor is it rare to find a mobile device that features email – in fact many others do it much better than the iPhone, surf the internet or even play movie clips. That’s all become pretty common these days. What truly sets the iPhone apart is the way Apple have managed to create a whole experience for the user. Touching its large LCD screen, you find yourself immersed in a fun, intuitive world where technology is capable of a little bit of magic. The kind of effects (here we address ourselves to our more mature audience) you used to image could only be possible in sci-fi movies when you were a kid become possible with the Apple iPhone. OK, before we get carried away, a word of caution (as always): it isn’t perfect. But one thing’s for sure, you’ll have a lot of fun using your iPhone and you might just be able to accept the various irritations as a result. We reviewed the iPhone’s various sensors that help make the user’s experience so much fun in our hardware overview, so we won’t focus on that aspect of things here. Instead, we want to briefly look at how you’re intended to use the iPhone’s multitouch screen. Here’s a quick guide to the main gestures you’ll need to become familiar with to make the most of your iPhone’s touchscreen interface. We expect many of these to form part of teenagers’ day to day lexicon before the end of the year, so we recommend you memorise some of these to keep up! That said, we suggest you keep an open mind when learning how to use these as there are a few exceptions (some, not many), depending on the application you’re using, where they don’t work in the same way. Before looking at these different functions, you may want to have a quick look at one or two Apple iPhone UK ads to familiarise yourself with them. You'll see a a few of the gestures we describe here in action. Single tap / clickThis is the most obvious of all gestures and is likely to be the first one you use. This allows you to select an item, button or media file. When surfing the internet in Safari, this allows you to navigate URLs. Two taps / double tapThis allows you to zoom in and out of views in practically all applications. When using the Google Maps functionality, this only allows you to zoom in. To zoom out in Google Maps, just do the same thing with two fingers instead of one. Pinch This allows you to zoom out of photos, Google Maps or the internet (using Safari). For example, use two fingers on the surface of a photo and squeeze them together to zoom out. SpreadThis is the opposite of Pinching and allows you to zoom into photos. Simply take two fingers on the surface of a photo or webpage and spread them out to zoom in further. DragThis gesture allows you to scroll up or down through lists and Cover Flow in a controlled manner. Simply tap and hold to stop the motion. FlickThe Flick gesture is an accelerated Drag. In other words, this allows you to scroll up or down though lists and Cover Flow at speed. The effect is a bit like spinning a wheel, depending on how quickly you Flick, the motion will accelerate. As with the Drag gesture, simply tap and hold to stop scrolling through the list. SwipeYou will need to do this gesture from left to right. Swiping allows you to change panes when using Safari, iPod or the weather application. When using email or SMS, this gives you the option to delete an item.
As you can see by now, some gestures vary depending on what you’re using at that time – Apple haven’t been entirely consistent here. But then again, it’s not surprising given how many applications you have on the iPhone and how difficult it is to synchronise applications in this manner. And we’re not talking about a lot of exceptions; don’t take this the wrong way. Most of the time, you can expect these gestures to work in the same way across applications. We’ve mentioned some of the key differences – it’s mostly a question of becoming used to the specific applications to remember what you need to do. We certainly didn’t find that this was a big issue, but some users may find it bit uncomfortable at first and take longer to get used to using the iPhone. One thing’s for sure, you have to learn this new ‘language’, whereas a traditional mobile phone usually only requires you to be able to read the instructions to know what to do.
But once you’ve learned the gestures, you’ll have a lot of fun. Most of the gestures and functions are very intuitive and once you’ve learned them, you’ll quickly find that you’re saving time and streamlining tasks and even doing things without thinking. We take our hat off to Apple for successfully pulling off what few devices have achieved in the past: make technology work for the user, rather than force the user to learn how to use the technology. Although this video doesn't feature any human user, it provides a good guide for navigating from the menu to some of the key applications, and includes some of the main gestures described above. |
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