Anyone care to give an iPhone newbie some basic advice? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Both of my kids (and son-in-law) have had iPhones for a long time now.

My wife and I never wanted to assume the expense. But my wife has been feeling the call to make the switch and, conveniently, her "dumb phone" died last week...just before the big Apple announcement about the new iPhone 5.

So, I took her to the AT&T store (my carrier) and we each upgraded to an iPhone 4s.

We are both really new at this...but it really is amazing how quickly one gets the hang of the device after just a few days.

I've even already downloaded a few apps!

Here's what I know: I have been sure that wi-fi enabling is turned on (to be fair, the salesman at the AT&T store explained that to us...although that was one of the few things that I knew going in).

The biggest surprise for me is what a good phone the 4s has turned out to be. Very clear and loud.

The 2nd biggest surprise is that messaging between iPhones is free! I did NOT know that going in. And since all three kids have iPhones that just saved all of us on text charges!

I guess my main questions are about screen protectors, cases, and what sort of amazing things these phones can do for everyday life situations. I'm sure most of this has been covered in various threads throughout this forum. Feel free to post links to appropriate articles if that would be easier.

Maybe a good question would be what are the first things you do/get for your new phones when you pick them up.? Or, if you could get/do only one thing with your phone...what would it be? What app could you not live without?

This is a technology that feels completely foreign to me. My kids are having a field day as they mentor me on my new adventure.

 

[TonyD]

Did you consider waciting few dsays to order the FIVE?

 

[Sam Posten]

I use a mophie more for protection of the back glass than I do for the extra battery.
I use the Tomtom dock to charge it, requires removal from the Mophie.
Favorite Apps, YMMV:
Tomtom
Tweetbot
NextDraft
Best Camera
At Bat
Score Center
Speed Test
Convert
StarMapPro
calcbot
Netflix
Stubhub
Moviefone
BEBOT!
Games, some for me, some for my nephews:
AC/DC Pinball
Pocket God & PG Uranus
Angry birds, Angry Birds Space
Minecraft
geodefence
Drop 7
JetPack
Scribblenauts
Rebuild
Orbital
Dr. Awesome
Fruit Ninja
Field Runners
World of Goo

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Rather than a case, I got a simple bumper for my iPhone 4. It ported over to the 4S when I got that. i like how it raises the phone from the surface slightly when I set it down on the table.
Remember, too, that you have a full-featured iPod.
Ask Siri to tell you a story. If she won't, keep asking and she eventually will. (And ask her again when you upgrade to iOS 6 this week...the stories are different between iOS 5 and 6).

 

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks for the answers, everybody. I was thinking a simple bumper might be the way to go.

How about screen protectors? Are there favorites out there? Or are they all basically the same? Or, not worth it?

Originally Posted by TonyD /t/323794/anyone-care-to-give-an-iphone-newbie-some-basic-advice#post_3976276
Did you consider waciting few dsays to order the FIVE?

Nope. I almost just got a free iPhone 4...but was advised that the 4S is a substantial enough improvement that I should spend the extra $$$ to do that. So, for $99 apiece, my wife and I have jumped in.

 

[Sam Posten]

I hate screen protectors personally.

 

[TonyD]

You'll live it. Just won't be abl e to see YouTube videos posted on HTF..

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by TonyD /t/323794/anyone-care-to-give-an-iphone-newbie-some-basic-advice#post_3976321
You'll live it. Just won't be abl e to see YouTube videos posted on HTF..

Yes. I will now be able to personally experience ALL the frustration that people have when looking at the HTF on their phones!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I don't use screen protectors, just a bumper--so if you drop the phone it won't necessarily hit the glass.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Congrats on the jump, Mike!

I don't have an iPhone (yet?), but we do have an iPad (the new one), an iPod Touch (that was lost), etc. etc. Yeah, I too don't care for screen protectors although we do have the SmartCover for the iPad, which of course wouldn't work for an iPhone.

As noted earlier, your iPhone is a full-featured iPod as well (although an actual iPod can still be a touch easier/nicer to use for music), so you can put some music (albeit compressed) or maybe even some movie/TV digital copies (or your own DVD rips) on it -- perhaps just some TV programs for the latter since the screen is so small -- depending on how much storage you have. Don't know that I'd bother putting video on there myself though.

IF you're in the market for a new turn-by-turn GPS, the TomTom app seems pretty good, especially if you want the GPS to manage around the music while you drive, etc. Of course, that's mostly if you're actually in the market for such since that app does cost ~$50 (plus you might need/want to buy additional items for that usage). There's also Google Maps already on there that you may find useful -- I assume it's still on there though it will be replaced in the iOS 6 update w/ Apple's own new maps app. If you've never tried Google Earth (on your PC) before, that might be a fun maps-related thing to try.

Might be a good idea to get a better camera app as well. The camera's supposed to be quite good as far as such things go on phones/tablets, and you might find yourself using it regularly since you'll always have it w/ you. Certainly adds another dimension to social networking, etc. for lots of people. And I guess there's also Facetime (ie. video chat) too, especially since your whole family has the iPhone now -- just be careful you don't consume too much data doing that I guess.

I usually put some sort of Bible software on whatever mobile devices (w/ a decent size screen) we own and find the Mantis one to be pretty good for iOS -- not sure if you want that on your iPhone or not or whether you'd prefer something simpler and/or free-er. Other apps you might find of interest:

* Facebook
* Flixster (but maybe you'll prefer some other)
* IMDb
* Weather Channel
* Some free-or-$1 games like basic versions of Solitaire, Sudoku, Angry Birds, etc. (and some moderately fancier, $1-to-5 ones that are more for the wife and kids than me)
* Some edutainment and/or museum-related apps like Smithsonian, NASA, Space Images, BrainPop, etc. (though they're more for the kids than me)
* TED - ongoing presentation series about all sorts of subjects in Tech, Entertainment and Design sponsored by BMW, et al.
* Some news apps like New York Times
* Some calculator app and units conversion app (though I rarely find a need for them)
* Shakespeare (complete text of all his plays)
* Some language learning aids and/or dictionaries -- we have some games for learning Chinese (again, mainly for the kids) plus Pleco's very solid dictionary app and also a voice recognition translator (SayHi) that sorta works, but isn't that great

Finally, don't know if you've done it yet, but you'll probably need/want to install iTunes on a decently capable machine for synching w/ your iPhone -- and probably set it up w/ 1 account to share w/ your wife. iTunes can be a bit of a resource hog, so be forewarned, especially if you're still running a rather old PC w/ very limited RAM -- also, ripping music, doing the digital copy thing plus synching (particularly w/ full backup) can also eat up more HDD space than you might've planned.

_Man_

 

[TonyD]

I know there is a ton of TomTom Talk around here but I recommend the Navigon gps app.
I think it works better then TT and just as important to me the maps look miles better then TT maps.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yeah...I've got a nice widescreen Garmin Nuvi for which I purchased lifetime map updates...so I guess I won't be buying a GPS app for my phone. Too bad for me.

 

[TonyD]

I love the GARMIN. The best gps there is I think.

 

[DaveF]

I have TomTom, and my wife and I have used it for over two years. I've read good things about Navigon. These are "have all the maps in your phone" apps.
MobileX, I think it is, get good reviews. That's in the "download maps as needed" (like google maps), so you generally need data coverage to use it.
Because I need to trust my GPS app when driving in backwater locales with no coverage, like upstate NY and San Francisco CA, I have preferred TomTom so far.
But you can also wait and see how apples map app will work, coming soon.
What else:
CarCare
MobileRSS
My-Cast
Downcast
Audible
SplashID
Amazon
Imdb
RunKeeper
For a cheap thrill
Inception
Figure
Chuzzle
TinyWings

 

[TonyD]

I grabbed FoxFi and the add on and it works.
The FoxFi info on google play says not compatible with galaxy s3 so I dl'd from amazons app store.
Probably didn't make a difference but it works.
Also Jiuce defender light. Still trying that one out so we'll see.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten /t/323794/anyone-care-to-give-an-iphone-newbie-some-basic-advice#post_3976320
I hate screen protectors personally.

They're the worst. Not fond of cases either, but they upsell both of them at the stores, so everyone has them. They feel awful, look awful, and when I look at them, all I can think of is, "why did you ruin your screen like that?" And some of the screen protectors are a total bitch to install much less remove. Haven't gotten a scratch on any of my glass phones, and I keep them in my pocket. Just not with the keys.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I have some trepidation about the screen protectors, too. My wife might try one. I'll see how one works for her.

And my son has no case/protection for his phone, my daughter has a pretty thick case and my son-in-law has a case.holster.

I found exactly what I had wanted for my phone...a really minimal black bumper. It will provide some protection for the phone...but as you can see, all the buttons are still readily available and it will give protection for the glass on both sides when set on a surface (like noted by Steve up in post #4).

 

[TonyD]

I had one of those. I got it free when apple was giving one to everyone. I liked it.

 

[DaveF]

I liked the bumper a lot. But the cable pass through is too small for my car adapter, so I gave it up and am caseless.
Screen protectors: made sense for a Palm, where I was going at the screen with a stylus, waste of money for a modern touchscreen device.