CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Most of us carry around a powerful computer and it’s not a laptop.
It’s an iPhone.
Each new model is stuffed with state-of-the-art features which can be overwhelming.
Many iPhone owners are content to just talk, text, and take pictures.
Ned Hosic of Boston iPhone Repair in Harvard Square said these phones are much more potent than many people realize.
“When the first iPhone got released in 2007, it had more computing power than what NASA had when they landed on the moon.”
People in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner admitted to Boston 25 News that they didn’t have a clue how to take advantage of the phone’s capabilities.
“Honestly, I think it’s overwhelming,” explained one woman. “I probably don’t use my phone to its fullest capacity.”
Another added, “I think it’s running a lot of things that I don’t use. I don’t use it, besides my email, my text messages, and phone calls. I am doing the same old stuff the phones were originally made for. I really don’t do anything special.”
Hosic showed Boston 25 News some easy tools that can enhance a user’s experience with an iPhone.
He started by showing simpler ways to search for photos.
He has 20,000 pictures on his phone so he uses a quick trick to find specific shots.
He says to start a search by thinking of the location where you took a photo you want to see.
When he typed in ‘Newport’, 38 pictures out of the 20,000 showed up.
“Let’s say you didn’t remember it was Newport, but you remembered there was a fire because you were sitting around a fire. You can type in ‘fire’ and it will show you 20 pictures where there’s a fire involved.”
A trick for gardeners overwhelmed with plants that look alike is to use a free identifying tool.
All you do is take a picture of the plant in question.
“You’re going to press the little information icon at the bottom, and you’ll see the words ‘look up plant or animal’. We’re going to click on ‘look up plants’ and this is telling me our picture is of a large flower tickseed or red sorrel.”
Editing a text or email is easy if you use the space bar a different way.
If you hold it down, you can navigate the cursor up and down to the exact spot you want to edit.
Navigating the web can be quicker too.
If you’re scrolling thru web pages and moving further down the page, and then decide you want to get back to the top “you just tap the time icon, and it will take you to the beginning of the page.”
Audio tools can be helpful if you like background noise to relax or fall asleep.
Free sound effects exist for a bubbling brook, the ocean, and rain.
Another feature allows a user to record a phone call and then get a full written transcript of the call in their ‘notes’.
Even the pros admit it’s hard to keep up with updates and new tools.
They say one of the best ways is to take advantage of YouTube tutorials.
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