iPhone For Seniors For Dummies, 2025 Edition

Dwight Spivey has been an expert on all things Apple for 20+ years. He’s the author of many technology books, including the most recent edition of iPad For Seniors For Dummies. Dwight is also the Educational Technology Administrator at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 1Icons Used in This Book 2Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting to Know Your Iphone 5Chapter 1: Buying Your iPhone 7Discover the Newest iPhones and iOS 18 8Choose the Right iPhone for You 10Decide How Much Storage Is Enough 13Understand What You Need to Use Your iPhone 15Where to Buy Your iPhone 16What’s in the Box 17Take a First Look at the Gadget 18Chapter 2: Exploring the Home Screen 21What You Need to Use the iPhone 22Turn on iPhone for the First Time 23Meet the Multi-Touch Screen 24Say Hello to Tap and Swipe 28Browsing App Library 32Display and Use the Onscreen Keyboard 35Keyboard shortcuts 36The shift key 37Emojis 37QuickPath 38Swipe to Search 39Wonderful Widgets 40Change and Customize Your Lock and Home Screens 41Chapter 3: Getting Going 45Update the Operating System to iOS 18 45Learn App Switcher Basics 47Examine the iPhone Cameras 48Take a Look at Face ID 50Discover Control Center 51Lock Screen Rotation 54Explore the Status Bar 54Take Inventory of Preinstalled Apps 56Put Your iPhone to Sleep or Turn It Off 59Chapter 4: Beyond the Basics 61Charge the Battery by Plugging In 62Charge the Battery Wirelessly 62Sign into an Apple ID for Music, Movies, and More 63Sync Wirelessly 64Understand iCloud 68Turn On iCloud Drive 69Set Up iCloud Sync Settings 70Browse Your iPhone’s Files 71Chapter 5: Managing and Monitoring iPhone Usage 75Meet Screen Time 76Create Some Downtime 79Allow Certain Apps During Downtime 81Set App Limits 82Set Content and Privacy Restrictions 86Manage Children’s Accounts 88Part 2: Using Your Iphone 91Chapter 6: Making and Receiving Calls 93Place a Call by Using the Keypad 94End a Call 96Place a Call by Using Contacts 96Return a Recent Call 97Use Favorites 98Receive a Call 100Use Tools During a Call 103View Live Voicemail 104Turn On Do Not Disturb 105Set Up a Driving Focus 106Set Up Exceptions for Do Not Disturb 107Reply to a Call via Text or Set a Reminder to Call Back 109Change Your Ringtone 109Chapter 7: Organizing Contacts 111Add a Contact 112Sync Contacts with iCloud 114Add Photos and Contact Posters 116Add Social Media Information 118Designate Related People 120Set Individual Ringtones and Text Tones 121Search for a Contact 123Share a Contact 124Delete a Contact 126Chapter 8: Communicating with FaceTime and Messages 129What You Need to Use FaceTime 130An Overview of FaceTime 131Make a FaceTime Call with Wi-Fi or Cellular 132Accept, Enjoy, and End a FaceTime Call 135Switch Views 137Set Up an iMessage Account 137Use Messages to Address, Create, and Send Messages 139Read Messages 141Clear a Conversation 142Send Emojis with Your Text 143Use Messages Apps and Tools 144Send and Receive Audio 146Send a Photo or Video 148Understand Group Messaging 149Activate the Hide Alerts Feature 150Chapter 9: Using Handy Utilities 151Use the Calculator App 152Find Your Way with Compass 154Record Voice Memos 155Measure Distances and Level Objects 158Discover the Home App 161Translate Words and Phrases 162Manage Passwords and Other Stuff 165Chapter 10: Making Your iPhone More Accessible 167Set Brightness 168Change the Wallpaper 169Get Just the Basics with Assistive Access 170Set Up VoiceOver 171Use VoiceOver. 174Customize Vision Settings 175Use iPhone with Hearing Aids 177Adjust the Volume 177Set Up Subtitles and Captioning 179Manage Other Hearing Settings 180Say It with Live Speech and Personal Voice 181Turn On and Work with AssistiveTouch 182Turn On Additional Physical and Motor Settings 184Focus Learning with Guided Access 185One-Handed Keyboard 187Control Your iPhone with a Tap on the Back 188Control Your iPhone with Voice Control 189Adjust Accessibility Settings on a Per-App Basis 191Control Your iPhone with Your Eyes 192Control Your iPhone with Vocal Shortcuts 193Chapter 11: Conversing with Siri 195Activate Siri 196Discover All That Siri Can Do 199Get Suggestions 202Call Contacts 202Create Reminders and Alerts 203Add Events to Your Calendar 204Play Music 204Get Directions 205Ask for Facts 207Search the Web 207Send Email, Messages, or Tweets 208Use Dictation 208Part 3: Exploring the Internet and Apps 209Chapter 12: Browsing with Safari 211Connect to the Internet 212Explore Safari 213Navigate Web Pages 215Use Tabbed Browsing 217Organize with Tab Groups 219View Browsing History 222Search the Web 223Add and Use Bookmarks 224Download Files 226Translate Web Pages 228Chapter 13: Working with Email in the Mail App 229Add an Email Account 230Manually Set Up an Email Account 232Open Mail and Read Messages 234Reply To or Forward Email 235Create and Send a New Message 238Format Email 239Search Email 244Mark Email as Unread or Flag for Follow-Up 245Create an Event from Email Contents 247Delete Email 249Organize Email 250Create a VIP List 251Chapter 14: Expanding Your iPhone Horizons with Apps 253Explore Senior-Recommended Apps 254Search the App Store 257Get Applications from the App Store 258Organize Your Applications on Home Screen Pages. 260Organize Apps in Folders 262Delete Apps You No Longer Need 264Offload Apps to Keep Data 265Update Apps 267Purchase and Download Games 270Chapter 15: Socializing with Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. 273A Few Social Media Dos and Don’ts 274Find and Install Social Media Apps 275Create a Facebook Account 276Customize Facebook Settings for Your iPhone 277Create an X (Twitter) Account 278Create an Instagram Account 279Part 4: Enjoying Media 281Chapter 16: Shopping the iTunes Store and Apple TV 283Explore the iTunes Store 284Buy a Selection 285Rent or Buy Movies and TV Shows 287Use Apple Pay and Wallet 289Set Up Family Sharing 289Chapter 17: Reading Books 291Find Books with Apple Books 291Buy Books 294Navigate a Book 296Select and Customize Themes 298Modify Your Book’s Font 299Adjust Accessibility & Layout Options 301Chapter 18: Enjoying Music and Podcasts 303View the Music Library 304Create Playlists 306Search for Music 308Play Music 309Shuffle Music 313Listen with Your Earbuds 314Listen with Spatial Audio 315Use AirPlay 316Play Music with Radio 317Find and Subscribe to Podcasts 318Play Podcasts 321Chapter 19: Taking and Sharing Photos 323Take Pictures with the iPhone Cameras 324Save Photos from the Web 328View Your Photos 329Edit Photos 331Organize Photos 333Share Photos with Mail, X (Twitter), or Facebook 335Share a Photo Using AirDrop 336Share Photos Using iCloud Photo Sharing 337Delete Photos 337Chapter 20: Creating and Watching Videos 339Capture Your Own Videos with the Built-In Cameras 340Using QuickTake for Videos 341Edit Videos 343Play Movies or TV Shows with the TV App 345Content from third-party providers 345Content from the iTunes Store 347Turn On Closed-Captioning 349Delete a Video from the iPhone 351Chapter 21: Navigating with Maps 353Display Your Current Location 354Change Views 355Zoom In and Out 357Go to Another Location or a Favorite 358Drop a Marker (or Pin) 360Find Directions 361Get Turn-by-Turn Navigation Help 363Download Maps for Offline Use 365Go Globetrotting! 367Part 5: Living with Your Iphone 369Chapter 22: Keeping on Schedule with Calendar and Clock 371View Your Calendar 372Add Calendar Events and Reminders 375Add Events or Reminders with Siri 377Create Repeating Events 377View an Event 379Add an Alert to an Event 379Select a default Calendar Alert 379Set up an alert for an event 380Search for an Event 382Delete an Event 382Display the Clock App 383Set an Alarm 385Use Stopwatch and Timers 386Chapter 23: Working with Reminders and Notifications 389Create a Reminder 390Edit Reminder Details 391Schedule a Reminder by Time, Location, or When Messaging 393Create a List 395Sync with Other Devices and Calendars 396Mark as Complete or Delete a Reminder 398Get Notified! 400Notification summaries 400Set notification types 402View Notification Center 404Stay Focused and Undisturbed 406Set up a focus 407Turn on a focus 408Chapter 24: Keeping Tabs on Your Health 409Understand the Health App 410Apps that Health can collaborate with 413Equipment that connects with Health 414Create Your Medical ID 414Become an Organ Donor 415View Health App Data 416Import and Export Health Data 417Sharing Is Caring 418View Health Records 419Stay on Top of Your Medications 420Log Daily Moods and Emotions 422Chapter 25: Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your iPhone 423Keep the iPhone Screen Clean 424Protect Your Gadget with a Case 425Extend Your iPhone’s Battery Life 426Deal with a Nonresponsive iPhone 429Update the iOS Software 430Find a Missing Apple Device 431Back Up to iCloud 433Index 435