Configuring an iPhone to Suit Your Preferences
In this chapter, you learn how to make an iPhone into your iPhone. Topics include the following:
- Working with the Settings app
- Setting keyboard, language, and format options
- Configuring the Control Center
- Setting Do Not Disturb preferences
- Setting Privacy and Location Services preferences
- Setting Passcode, Touch ID, and Auto-Lock preferences
- Setting restrictions for content and apps
As you’ve seen in previous chapters, the Settings app enables you to configure various aspects of your iPhone, such as connecting your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network and configuring iCloud. The Settings app provides many other configuration tools that you can use to tailor how your iPhone works to suit your preferences. Perhaps the most important of these is the security of your iPhone that you can configure by setting a passcode and fingerprint recognition using Touch ID along with your privacy and location settings. You can also configure the keyboards available to you, the Control Center, Do Not Disturb hours, and how content on your phone can be accessed.
Working with the Settings App
Aptly named, the Settings app is where you configure the many settings that change how your iPhone looks, sounds, and works. Most of the tasks in this chapter involve the Settings app. Rather than repeat the first couple of steps within each task, it is more efficient to show you how the app works so you can easily access the controls you need for each task.
Using the Settings App on Any iPhone
You can work with the Settings app on any iPhone as follows:
On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app opens. The app is organized in sections starting at the top with Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Cellular.
Swipe up or down the screen to get to the settings area you want to use.
Tap the area you want to configure, such as Sounds.
- Use the resulting controls to configure that area. The changes you make take effect immediately.
When you’re done, you can leave the Settings app where it is or tap the back button, which is always located in the upper-left corner of the screen, until you get back to the main Settings screen to go into other Settings areas.
Searching for Settings
New! You can quickly find settings you need by searching for them:
- Move into the Settings app.
Tap in the Search bar; if you don’t see the Search bar, swipe down from the top of the Settings screen until it appears.
- Type the setting for which you want to search. As you type, potential matches are shown on the list of results. Matches can include a settings area, such as Sounds, and specific settings, such as the ringtone and vibrations used when you receive a call.
Tap the setting you want to use.
Configure the setting you selected in the previous step.
Using the Settings App on an iPhone 6/6s Plus
When you hold an iPhone 6/6s Plus in the horizontal orientation and use the Settings app, you can take advantage of the iPhone 6/6s Plus’ split-screen feature as follows:
- Hold the iPhone 6/6s Plus so it is horizontal.
Tap the Settings app to open it. In the left pane, you see the areas of the Settings app that you can configure. In the right pane, you see tools you can use to configure the selected function. The two panes are independent, making navigation easier than with other iPhones.
Swipe up or down on the left pane until you see the function, feature, or app you want to configure.
- Tap the function, feature, or app you want to configure, such as Sounds. Its controls appear in the right pane.
- Swipe up or down on the right pane until you see the specific setting you want to change.
Tap the setting you want to configure, such as Ringtone. Its controls appear in the right pane.
- Use the tools in the right pane to configure the setting you selected in step 6. These work just as described in the previous task and throughout this chapter except that you move within the right pane instead of changing the entire screen.
- To move back through the screens in the right pane, use the back button, which is labeled with the name of the screen you came from.
Tap another area in the left pane to configure it. As you can see, the split screen makes it very easy to quickly switch between areas in the Settings app.