Friday Roundup for July 18th, 2008 - iPhone tips submitted by you

Happy Friday, Touchtip readers! Today we’d like to share with you some of the best tips that our readers have sent in over the past week. We’ve got some terrific reader tips this week which include how to get free SMS messages on your iPhone, and how to get free push syncing of email, calendar, and contacts without shelling out the extra cash for a MobileMe subscription. You’ll also learn the secret of mastering the iPhone keyboard (hint: it’s easier than you think!).

Read on to learn about these tips, and more. And if you have your own tip you’d like to share, please send it to us and we’ll post in our next Friday Roundup. Now, on to the tips.

 

Free SMS messages on the iPhone
Submitted by Sean P

The new voice and data plan for iPhone G3 is killing me. The entry level plan does not even include any SMS. I almost added that to my plan, but then discovered the AIM instant message app available for free in the App Store. This was most excellent news because you can send SMS messages to any phone number through the AIM protocol for free! If you don’t have iPhone 2.0 yet and can’t add App Store apps, then just point mobile Safari to Meebo.com and use their web-based chat client for AIM. Either client will work, and here’s the trick: when you add a new contact, simply use that persons wireless phone number preceded by a “+” sign like this, +4155567899. The plus sign tells AIM that this message is an SMS which gets routed automatically to the right carrier with no charges. Cha-ching!

 

Don’t waste $100 on MobileMe - Set up push email, calendar, and contacts for free!
Submitted by darth_la8r

This is totally sweet. You can save the money for MobileMe syncing by taking just a little time to set up a free Mail2Web account. It takes a little work to get your iPhone all configured with it, but I did it in just under a half hour and it works great. It also works on my friend’s iPod touch. You gotta read the step-by-step instructions on the Lifehacker site first.

 

Old deactivated iPhone makes a great iPod touch with wi-fi
Submitted by Ebat51

Now that the new iPhone 3G is available, if you can get one, expect older iPhone 2G models to start appearing on eBay and Craigslist. These will be deactivated devices that you can pick up at a bargain price if you look for good deals. Even without cellular service, these deactivated iPhones will still work great as an iPod touch with wi-fi.

 

FriendFeed now plays well with iPhone
Submitted by Kathryn Finney

If you are a social networking butterfly like me, then you’ve got friends all over the place online. You can bring them all together using FriendFeed which now works great on the iPhone. I was using FriendFeed from my laptop and it made it easy to monitor my buddies on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. FriendFeed supports even more social networks than that, and it is so convenient to have it right on my iPhone now.

 

iPhone typing - secrets revealed
Submitted by Geoff Kellner

I hear so many people (most BlackBerry snobs) complain about the iPhone’s virtual keyboard and how it’s so difficult to type with. I’ve never had a problem with it because I’ve always trusted the built-in auto-correct which is very accurate. I tried explaining this to my co-workers but they just didn’t get it. Then I found this excellent blog post on how to type better on the iPhone or iPod touch. The key is being able to trust the auto-correct. If you can master that, then all you need to do is tap the screen close the letter you are trying to tap and let the iPhone take care of the rest. The only key you must hit accurately is the space key. I think all iPhone and iPod touch owners should read this.

 

Store club cards on your iPhone as pictures
Submitted by Dan Fong

Here’s a tip to lighten your wallet a bit. Take all those club cards out of your wallet or purse and take a photo of each one on your iPhone. Now you can put all those cards away and just carry your iPhone. When you need a card number it’ll be right there in your photos app.

 

Taking screenshots is now built-in to iPhone 2.0 firmware
Submitted by bobby_boy

This is so awesome. I love taking screenshots of my iPod touch and sending them to my friends. I used to have a jailbroken device and a hacked app to get this to work before. Now, however, the latest firmware, iPhone 2.0, has this feature built right in. To take a screenshot from anywhere on your iPod touch (or iPhone), just hold down the home button and quickly press the sleep/wake button at the top of your device. You’ll see the screen flash, and an image is saved to your Cameral Roll. You can then email these to anyone by tapping the share option in the Photos app.

 

Read more iPhone tips submitted by readers of Touchip.

 

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