iPhone one-stop

How to forward a SMS?

Wizard — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:32:00 -0500

The iPhone's built-in SMS application does not allow you to forward a SMS message. To do that you need a 3rd-party application, WeTool, that you can get through the Installer module. Once you've installed it, launch it, go to the "Text Log" view, select the message you want to forward, click More at the top-right corner, and finally click Forward.

How to delete individual SMS?

Wizard — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:24:00 -0500

The iPhone's built-in SMS application does not allow you to delete a single SMS message, you can only delete a whole conversation/chat/discussion, which is something you don't generally want. To delete an individual message install WeTool through the Installer module, and launch it. Now go to the "Text Log" view, click the Delete button on the top-left corner, click the Stop symbol on the left side of the message you want to delete, and finally click the Delete button on the right side.

How to take screenshots with a key combination?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:45:00 -0500

There's a special key combination on the iPhone that lets you easily capture screenshots from anywhere. The feature is disabled by default though, and the setting to enable it is hidden. The easiest way to enable it is by installing Screenshot Enabled with the Installer application. Once you've installed it, the feature gets automatically activated. To capture a screen now just toggle the Mute/Silent switch while holding down the Home button. The screenshot taken is saved into the Camera Roll.

How to snooze the alarm?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:56:00 -0500

The fastest way to do it is by pressing the Sleep/Wake button at the top of the device.

How to read PDF documents?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:54:00 -0500

The iPhone's Mail reader allows you to read small PDFs with its built-in viewer. However, it's a bit limited, and it also requires you to e-mail the PDF via e-mail and download it from the iPhone. This might be quite problematic for large files, right?

PDFviewer is a native third-party application that comes to rescue. You can get it through the Installer app, browsing under the Community Source. To upload the PDF files you need to SSH into the iPhone (refer to this FAQ if you're a Windows user, and to this FAQ if you're a Mac user) and put the files under the private/var/root/Media/PDF/ folder. If the folder does not exist, create it (note that the folder name is case sensitive though). Finally launch PDFviewer, and it will list all documents found under that specific folder. Tap on one to read it.

How to SSH into the iPhone from Mac with Cyberduck?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:50:00 -0500

SSH (Secure SHell) is a network protocol that allows one computer/device to securely connect to a destination device (the iPhone in this case). Once connected to can see the file system of the target iPhone, copy/move/delete files and folders, and more. On Mac OSX you can use Cyberduck to easily establish a SSH connection.

Download and launch Cyberduck, then set the connection options as follows:

Host/server: the iPhone's IP address (refer to this FAQ to discover how to retrieve it)
Username: root
Password: alpine
File protocol: SFTP

Finally click Login and you should be connected to the iPhone. You can then start browing the iPhone's content, copy files etc.

How to SSH into the iPhone from Windows with WinSCP?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:34:00 -0500

SSH (Secure SHell) is a network protocol that allows one computer/device to securely connect to a destination device (the iPhone in this case). Once connected to can see the file system of the target iPhone, copy/move/delete files and folders, and more. On Windows you can use WinSCP to easily establish a SSH connection.

Download and launch WinSCP, then set the connection options as follows:

Host/server: the iPhone's IP address (refer to this FAQ to discover how to retrieve it)
Username: root
Password: alpine
File protocol: SFTP

Finally click Login and you should be connected to the iPhone. You can then start browing the iPhone's content, copy files etc.

How to retrieve the iPhone's IP address?

Wizard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:26:00 -0500

Go to Settings / Wi-Fi, and click on the "arrow" icon on the right-hand side of the active connection. In the next screen you'll get a number of network properties, among which is the current IP address.

How to quickly type punctuation characters when writing text on the iPhone?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:11:00 -0500

When you are writing some text on the iPhone (any application) and you need to add a punctuation char (comma, semi-colon, full stop etc.) you generall tap the "123" button, tap the punctuation char, and then tap the "ABC" button to switch back to the normal keyboard mode.

There's a quicker way to do it though: press the "123" button and -- while you hold your finger down -- drag your finger on the punctuation char. When you release the finger the punctuation char will be added and the keyboard will still be in normal mode.

How to precisely move the caret when editing text on the iPhone?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:51:00 -0500

If you are writing a SMS or a mail (or some other text, in other applications) and notice you must go back to edit or correct something, it would be helpful to precisely move the caret back to that point and make your correction, without deleting all text written so far. To do that, tap and hold your finger on the word you want to edit, or somewhere near it; after a couple of seconds a magnifying glass will pop up allowing you to move the caret forth and back one character at a time by dragging your finger.

How to jump to the top of a page in Safari?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:41:00 -0500

Just tap on the top bar of the screen, the one that shows the carrier name and the current time, and the page will scroll right at the beginning.

How to zoom images in Safari?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:25:00 -0500

Double tap an image to zoom it. Double tap again on it to restore the previous zoom level.

How to quickly locate cities in iPhone's Maps?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:41:00 -0500

If you type an airport code in the Maps search box (such as "MXP" for Milan, Italy) it will center the map on the respective airport. From there, you will be able to quickly move to the city center. A list of airport codes can be found here.

How to enable Caps Lock on the iPhone?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:20:00 -0500

To enable Caps Lock, first go to Settings / General / Keyboard and activate the option "Enable Caps Lock". Then when you're writing some text double tap the Shift key to turn Caps Lock on. You'll notice it is turned on because the Shift key will be blue.

How to change the icons on the iPhone's Home screen?

Wizard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:21:00 -0500

To move or remove icons from the default Home screen, hold your finder over an icon for two seconds; all icons will then start "vibrating" and this indicates that you're in Edit mode. You can now drag & drop icons to different positions, thus changing their order. If you move an icon outside of the screen, on the right-hand or left-hand side, you will place it on a secondary page. To delete an icon click on the X symbol of the icon (note that this won't delete the actual application).

To save your changes click on the physical Home button. If you moved an icon to a secondary page, you'll see two or more "dots" at the bottom of the icons list, which will allow you to switch the current page.