How can I tell if my smartphone is an iPhone?

Many people, when booking for a course, say they need an iPhone course, without really understanding what brand of smartphone they have. To check what sort of smartphone you have, look on the back (behind the screen) and if you see an Apple, it is an iPhone, otherwise it will most likely be an Android phone.

How can I find out what version of iPhoneOS is on my device?

The following steps can be used for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Tap on Settings from the Home screen. From the list of settings tap General. From the General settings tap About. A summary of all iPhoneOS versions can be found here.

How do I access the Recycle Bin on my iPhone or iPad?

While there is no general-purpose Recycle Bin in iOS or iPadOS, some apps may provide one but it depends on the version of iOS on your device and the apps that are installed. For example, with the Apple Photos app there is a Recently Deleted folder. As long as the appropriate option is turned on (see app Settings), when you delete a photo or a video, it will be moved to this folder and stay there for 30 days. If you deleted a photo or video and want it back within 30 days, check the Recently Deleted folder to see if it's there. Touch and hold the photo or video you want to restore, and then tap Recover. The photo or video will then be accessible from the Photos app, most likely in the Recently Added folder. Alas, for most of the other apps, there is no Recycle Bin or Undo facility.

How do I reload a web page when using the Safari browser on iOS?

It important to understand that most web pages consist of multiple files and in normal mode all of these files must be loaded into cache before the web page can be displayed. The file name displayed in the URL is only one of those files. The exception to this is if you use Private Browsing mode (from the menu), which does not use cache but requires all of the files to be reloaded whenever the page is accessed, leaving any existing cache files untouched. If you want to reload just the file shown in the URL: Tap on the reload symbol If any of the other files used by the web page have been changed they will not be reloaded and the versions already in cache will be re-used for them instead. This means that your web page may not necessarily reflect the latest changes. If you want to reload all of the files associated with the web page you will need to clear the browser cache before reloading the page. From the Home screen tap Settings and on the Settings screen tap Safari. On the Safari (Settings) screen tap Clear Cache. Alternatively, you could switch to Private Browsing mode (from the menu) and access the page from there, remembering that the browser cache will not be updated. If, for some reason, you do not want to clear the browser cache, and you know the names of the other files, you can enter them in the URL and reload them individually, but this can be rather tedious.

How can I view web pages stored locally on my iPad?

This question has arisen many times when I access local web pages I have compiled on my Android tablet to provide useful information while travelling overseas often without access to reliable WiFi, and while I am happy to share the information with other Android users, I cannot share with iPad users, and have had to explain why. When you view web pages stored remotely using your web browser, all the data is coming from a single source, i.e. the remote website. When you view web pages stored locally, the various components needed are typically stored in multiple locations and the "sand-boxing" security of iOS prevents the web browser from accessing them and javascripts from executing. The web browser can only display html pages that are stored locally to the app. However you can use an app like Documents by Readdle to upload the folder and open the app browser (uiwebview), or GoodReader by Good.iWare Ltd. On the other hand, if you want to create and run a local website on your device, these options are rather impractical. It is possible to develop a local web site that is written using HTML5 Offline Application Cache but this is beyond most users. If you want to use a device in this way, you would be better off using an Android device because it works like a normal computer and handles security in a different way.

How do I transfer files from my iOS device (iPad, iPhone) to my PC?

There are several ways this can be done, and it depends on the operating system of your computer. Apple provide a detailed explanation here.

How can other devices view photos & videos from my iOS device (iPad, iPhone)?

Transferring files to other devices is covered above, but in many instances there may be a problem with the other device understanding the file format. By default, all photos and videos produced using iOS 11 or iPadOS 11 and later, are stored in High Efficiency format (HEIF, HEIC or HEVC) which Windows 10 may not understand as explained here. Alternatively you can instruct iOS/iPadOS to save files in a different format: 1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad. 2. Tap Camera. 3. Tap Formats. 4. Tap High Efficiency for HEIF/HEIC or tap Most Compatible for JPG/JPEG. You will now be able to shoot JPEG photos instead of HEIF photos. NOTE: This also means that you will shoot MPEG-4 (H.264) for video instead of HEVC. While JPEG might be a more compatible format than HEIC, choosing Most Compatible instead of High Efficiency format has its tradeoffs, in that if you want to use features like 4K at 60 frames per second video recording or 1080p at 240 fps slow motion, you'll need to choose High Efficiency.