iTech Tips

I kind of resent the book titles that end in "for Dummies" or "for Idiots" because I can be self deprecating enough with a book insinuating I might be less intelligent than I am.

Prime example, I've had my iPhone for several months now.  My mobile phone stopped working when we were dealing with the accident and my dear hubby was able to pick up an iPhone 3 quickly so that I could stay connected.  Completely distracted by more important things at the time and too lazy as they calmed down, I never really investigated the ins and outs of best practices when using my iTechnology.

This week I was teaching a class and one student asked another "have you been turning off your applications on your iPhone when you're not using them?" and then showed him how to do that.  I just stood back and watched and then gave it try when I returned home, feeling silly that I never bother to learn this little battery saving trick.  It applies to all the i's - iPhone and iPad and iPod, and because I don't want anyone else to ever feel "stupid" for not knowing, this is how you do it.

This button on your iTech product is called the "home button."

If you press it two times quickly, the current screen will slide up a row and a new row of icons will be displayed.  These icons represent what is currently running in the background of your iProduct.

row of icons

Using your finger, double tap on an icon you want to turn off will cause it to do that cute little jiggle icons on your iTech products do to allow you to delete them or move them around on your screen.  In that bottom row they will have a little red circle with a minus sign in the upper left corner of each icon.

fuzzy because they are jiggling

Tap one time with your finger and it will turn off that application running in the background.

tap minus sign to turn off application

Doing this regularly will make your iTech product run much more efficiently, including extending time between the need to recharge your battery!  How cool is that.

Conversely, if you are in the middle of using one application and need to switch to another, when you want to return to the previous application double click on the home key so that the row of open applications appears and single tap on the application to return it to open on your screen.