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.
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).
