Stupid iPhone User Tricks

I’m not big on reading manuals. Considering the iPhone’s printed documentation is pretty sparse I guess that’s a good thing. So I’m browsing away at lunch a week ago and find myself wishing I could tap on a link in Safari and have it open a new browser page without closing the page that contains the link. After all that’s what I do in Firefox and Safari on my Mac.

Apple must have been reading my mind.  iPhone software 3.0 has just such a feature.  If you hold your finger on a link after one second a dialog opens that gives you the option to: 1) open it, 2) open in a new page or  3) copy it.

It’s probably well documented somewhere on the web, but if I just discovered it last week I bet there are others that have not come across this feature in the short time 3.0 software has been available.

This trick does not work in software version 2.2.1.

Just In Case

Thick skin or a hard case? Do I want to want to uglify my beautiful iPhone 3GS in a rubbery skin or hard case? I have one of the former on my iPod touch. While it does the job of protecting the iPod from minor drops and scuffs from my desk/pocket it is butt ugly to look at compared to a naked iPod Touch.

Since I feel a naked iPhone in the pocket is an iPhone that will eventually get scuffed and scratched, I knew I needed a holster to tote it around.  Humm lemme think…$30 for a cheap case?  No way dude. Check out this case at Amazon.  It has pretty good reviews and you can’t beat the price of $.01.  I bought it prior to the price drop for $1.62.  Still a great deal.  Fits the phone nicely.  Has magnetic latches that work well at keeping it closed and the phone safe. It has a large integrated belt clip as well as two belt loops if you want to feed a belt through them. The only down side is the clip does not rotate, but that’s one less point of failure in my view. The outside is a simulated black leather and the inside is a soft tan color simuleather.

Now what to do about the potential for scratches from sitting the phone on a desk or in the car? Found Gelaskins do the job for $14.95 at Amazon. Adds virtually no thickness to the phone and is available with a large number of  colorful designs. It’s basically a stick-on vinyl skin. I found it easy to install and wraps around the sides. It does leave a little of the top and bottom edges of the case exposed, but not much and if the intent is to keep scuffs off the back it does the job.  To install it you start out aligning the camera hole in the skin with the camera, make sure the top edge is even then lay it down. Rub it down from the center of the back out.  At first the corners had some small wrinkles, but rubbing them down for a few minutes took care of them and they have not returned. Make sure your phone and hands are clean before installing. Looks very nice. Mine is designed to look like a printed circuit board. When my son saw it the first time he asked why my iPhone case was missing.

3GS Docking Maneuvers

I wanted to give my iPhone 3GS a dog house to hang out in when its not roaming around outside.  I prefer one that provides support for the phone. It’s harder to knock over and there is less likelihood of damage to the connector if it gets hit or pushed on my desk. I don’t use a form fitting case, so wiggle room for a case was not an issue. I see no reason to spend a lot of money for it so long as it works.

Found this one at Amazon. I paid $14.87 + $2.98 S&H. Since then the price has dropped a few dollars. The funny thing is that what I received is not what was pictured at Amazon. What I received is pictured above. What I ordered is below. Not really a problem since the dock I received is better looking and form fitting to the 3G/3GS. I’m thinking the dock below is a generic dock that can be easily adapted by the vendor for other phones/iPods whereas the dock I received is iPhone 3G and 3GS specific.

It comes with a USB cable to sync and charge. There is a pleasant blue led on the back to indicate that it is powered. If your iPhone is wearing a thick skin this dock will not work for you without first removing the skin. My iPhone wears a thin skin from GelaSkins and fits the dock perfectly.

Hot Stuff Baby

Picture courtesy of Cnet.com

I’ve read several stories regarding iPhone’s getting hot after heavy use.  My own experience is that 30 to 40 minutes of near continuous web surfing at 3G is enough to make the phone very warm to the touch.  Nowhere close to burning, but it makes taking a phone call immediately afterward uncomfortable.

It also manages to suck down what looks like about 20% of the battery during that time. I swear I can actually see the battery charge indicator move while I surf.

The heat isn’t an issue for me nor is the power usage. My phone so far has always made it through the day. I managed to get the charge in the red zone only once.  Rechargeable batteries get hot when large demands are put on them and I expect heavy use to cause electronics to get warm. How it effects the life of the battery or electronics is a concern, but  aside from not using the phone to do what I got it for there is nothing I can do about it.

The Arrival

Pre-ordered my iPhone 3GS on June 12, 2009.  On Jun 19th it arrived via UPS.  Apple shipped directly from China to my front door. Unboxing was a non-event.  Nothing was missing, damaged or otherwise disappointing. The phone is a beautiful gadget.

Activation took about 5 minutes via iTunes. I remember reading about others having a ton of problems getting activation that day.  I guess I hit it at a sweet spot for server utilization around 4pm.

ATT signal strength is almost nil in my house, but I expected that since my company provided Blackberry Curve running on the Sprint network is equally useless in this semi-dead zone. It’s not an issue as I didn’t buy the iPhone to use at home.  Positioning the phone at different locations in my house (sometimes different positions on my desk) provides one bar and an edge connection.  When I pick it up off the desk I lose the signal.  If I drive up the road a couple of miles 3G is available. It made setting up my visual voice mail from home a little difficult.  I have had pretty good signal in most areas I travel in the Charleston, SC area. Got one dropped call since I got the phone in an area that switches from 3G to 2G near the airport.  Aside from that it has been reliable for signal strength.

I’ve had one occasion recently where I discovered it was locked up with a black screen when I pulled it out of my case. Did a soft reset to get it running again. Don’t know what caused the lockup. On one other occasion I had to reboot the phone for it to connect to ATT when I left my dead zone and was in an area that I know has 3G. The phone said ‘No Service’ when I left home and it did not change until I rebooted.

Battery life has been OK.  I make minimal phone calls, but have several periods through the day that I do a lot of web browsing and wireless access. The phone has made it through the day with 25 to 30 % battery remaining. Generally I leave GPS and wireless networking turned off. They are only activated when needed.

Got the first bill the other day. I’m a new customer to AT&T mobile with a minimal plan of 450 minutes a month and no text messages. The bill was for June 15 (before I even had the phone!) through Aug 7th and came to $171.