1} The Home Button: For More Than Simply Closing Apps.

As the only physical button on the face of your iPhone, the Home button may seem rather insignificant, sitting as it does in the midst of capacitive touchscreen goodness. One may also think the only reason to press it is to close an app and return to the menu screen, however, this versatile little button can do a little more than that!
Return to Your Main Home Screen. If you’ve filled up the maximum 11 home screens with apps, then a quick return to your main page can be handy. Just a single press of the Home button from any of those screens takes you instantly back to the first without any frantic swiping.
Enter Spotlight. It may be a swipe away, but an alternative method to enter the iPhone search is a single press of the Home button from your main Home screen.
Wake Up Your iPhone. Aside from the sleep/wake button on the top of your device, the Home button performs the same function.
Give it a Custom Function. By heading to Settings/General/Home, you can select a feature to open every time you double press the Home button. Choose between the camera, search, favourites or the iPod player.
iPod Controls. If you have music playing and are not in the iPod app, then a double press will display some simple controls and the option to return to your player. This also works if your phone is locked, bringing up the same controls without the need to unlock your iPhone.
Voice Control (3GS only). Holding down the Home button for six seconds displays the Voice Control panel.
Here are a few functions accessible when you combine the Home button with the sleep/wake key:
Take a Screenshot. A snappy press of both the sleep/wake key and the Home button will see the screen flash white and you’ll hear the camera shutter sound. A screenshot is now saved in your camera roll.
Force Quit an App. Press and hold the sleep/wake key if an app has frozen, but instead of swiping the power off slider, hold down the Home button for 10 seconds to force quit the app and return to your home screen.
Force Reboot. iPhone not responding at all? By holding down the sleep/wake key and the Home button together, your phone will reboot.
Apple may have only given the front of your iPhone a single button, but they gave it plenty to do! If you have any other hidden productivity tips for the Home button, let us know in the comments.

2} “Secret iPhone Service Codes”

I recently stumbled across a very interesting article on HubPages , written by info4all. The article, titled “Secret iPhone Service Codes,” provides a short list of some of the “codes” Apple and AT&T have integrated into the iPhone, allowing phone service information to be accessed using the phone application’s keypad.
To use these “codes” (if they can be called that,) open up your iPhone’s keypad, and type one of the codes listed below. Hit the call key to execute the command.
Basic iPhone Information
Use these shortcuts to view information about your iPhone’s core functionality:
*3001#12345#* : Enter Field mode. Field mode reveals many of the inner settings of your
iPhone, specifically up-to-date network and cell information.
*#06# : Displays your iPhone IMEI, the unique identifier for your cell phone hardware.
(No need to tap Call.) Together with your SIM information, it identifies you to the provider
network.
Service Shortcuts
These shortcuts provide quick access to information about your account:
*225# : Bill balance. (Postpaid service only; the acronym is BAL for balance.)
*777# : Review account balance for prepaid iPhones on the GoPhone plan.
*646# : Check remaining minutes. (Postpaid service only; the acronym is MIN for
minutes.)
*3282# : Check your data usage. (Postpaid service only; the acronym is DATA.)
*729 : Make a payment. (The acronym is PAY.)
611 : Connect to customer service.
While you can undoubtedly use your iPhone to its fullest without ever having to enter one of these codes, I just thought it was pretty cool that items such as bill balance can be accessed straight from the iPhone.

3} 10 battery saving tips for your iPhone

TestFreaks.com recently came up with a 10 item list that will help you get the most out of your iPhone’s battery. While many of these tips may seem practical, you’d be surprised at how many people complain of their iPhone’s short battery life without actually trying to do something about it!
Without further ado, the tips:
Turn down screen brightness
Adjust email to check for email less often
Turn off WiFi
Turn on auto-lock for the screen
Turn off the equalizer
Get an external battery
Get a mobile charger
Turn off vibration alerts
Turn off Bluetooth
Update the phone often
So far, I’ve turned down my phone’s brightness (in conjunction with auto brightness,) turned off WiFi notifications, turned off the equalizer, turned on auto lock, and updated as frequently as possible. Generally I can go for about a day and a half of moderate iPhone use without having to charge the device.
Keep in mind that the more you use the device, the more calibrated your iPhone’s battery will become, and in turn the more juice you’ll be able to squeeze out of it.

4} How to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS using “purplera1n” on the Mac

Just recently, Geohot made the Mac version of purplera1n available, and well this is the one I had been waiting for. So without much of a wait, I went ahead with the jailbreak. The overall process was really simple, and at least in my case it was very quick. All said and done, it look me about 5 minutes to complete the process.
Just in case anyone was going to purplera1n for the Mac, here is a step-by-step guide of the steps that I did to complete the jailbreaking process.
Download “purplera1n” from purplera1n.com
Unzip
Run the purplera1n app
Click the “Make it ra1n!” button
Wait. (then) Done! Wait…
(in the meantime you can enjoy looking at the image of Geohot in purplera1n that appears on your iPhone.
iPhone comes back and begins syncing with iTunes
After sync is complete, disconnect iPhone and run the newly installed Freeze app on your iPhone
After that launches, tap the “Install Cydia” button
The download of Cydia then begins
Downloading…
Then a quick Unpacked, Cleaned and Finished!
After that just click the home button to exit the Freeze app
Then reboot your iPhone 3GS, at which time you should see the Cydia app
Run Cydia and install any necessary updates
Now you can enjoy having a jailbroken iPhone once again
Now for the warning: So far the jailbreak and my iPhone 3GS seem to be OK, but as with any jailbreak and/or unlocking, make sure you have all your data backed up before you begin.
Finally, enjoy your jailbroken iPhone 3GS, but remember to than Geohot and his crew for purplera1n.

5} iPhone OS 3.0: SMS messaging now with more control

With the iPhone related news coming to a screeching halt due to the holiday weekend here in the US, I thought I would take a little time to offer a post on a feature that was added in iPhone OS 3.0 — improvements to the Messages app.
Most people seem to be pretty happy with the newly available landscape mode for SMS, however that is not where the updates to the Messages app have stopped. In addition to landscape mode there has also been a few other perks added, which for me as a heavy text message user come very welcomed.
If you are in a specific message in the Messages app, you will see the familiar “Edit” button on the top right corner of your iPhone display and hitting that reveals the additional features. Users now have the option to delete messages on an individual basis as well as the previous “Clear All.” Additionally, you can also forward messages on individual basis.
Once you tap the “Edit”button, simply tap the messages that you want to delete or forward. Once the message has been chosen you will see a red check mark on the left side. Once you have selected the message or messages just tap the “Delete” or “Forward” button on the bottom.
Personally, the individual delete is not as exciting, of course, it could help if you have sent something slightly embarrassing, but still feel the need to keep the rest of the conversation. For me, the forwarding is very nice, because now you can share one bit of information without having to give the person you are forwarding the message to a complete conversations, especially when in most cases they will have no need for the message as a whole.

6} iPhone 3GS: Video editing and a friendly warning

One of the great new features that comes along with the iPhone 3GS is video recording as well as the ability to edit and easily share it while on the go. Well, in this case, I am using the term edit with a little sarcasm because it seems to be more like trimming instead of editing.
Without getting to far into the how to side of video editing, this post will remain a little simpler and just offer a friendly warning so others will not lose any video footage — like I did. Thankfully, in my case, the footage was not all that important, but still.
Anyway, getting back to the term edit, it seems that the iPhone more specifically does not edit video, but instead it actually trims the video. All in all, that is fine by me, but be prepared that when you make any edits, or trim that video on your iPhone that you are going to lose the parts you trimmed.
You see, when you trim the video it discards the trimmed portions and leaves you with just your edited version. What would be ideal, is if Apple would save the original file and then save a second (editing) version as a new file.
That said, think twice before you edit trim your precious videos on your iPhone 3GS because you may end up tossing that special moment.

7} How to enable Push Notification settings in iPhone OS 3.0

Granted, there are not many apps in the App Store that are supporting Push Notifications at this point, and for some that may be leading to a little question as to how to enable the notifications.
Well, to begin with, the “Notifications” listing in your iPhone’s settings will not appear as an option until you launch an app that has that support. In my case, you can see (in the below image) that app is Tap Tap Revenge 2.6.
Anyway, simply launch an app that has support for Notifications then go back to your iPhone’s settings and then you will notice a new listing called “Notifications” that will be listed as “On.”
Once there, you can then go in and customize the settings on an app by app basis.

8} How to enable the Battery Percentage on the iPhone 3G S

One of the little gems that you can find on the iPhone 3G S is an option to show your battery life in a percentage as opposed to the standard battery indicator. Personally, this is one that I am happy to see, I have previously had to jailbreak in order to enjoy this, but now it is official.
Sadly though, and for reasons I cannot guess — this option is only available in the iPhone 3G S. I am also unsure as to why this is not turned on by default, however once you know where to go, it is simple enough to enable.
Anyway, to enable the battery percentage indicator, go to:
Settings -> General -> Usage
Then once you are in the Usage section, simply move the slider for “Battery Percentage” to the On position.
All set, you should then see your battery life in a percentage form, unfortunately this does not help the overall battery life in any way, but for some (myself included) it is a nicer way to view your current battery status.

9} How to enable autofill for Safari on iPhone OS 3.0

I love the comments we have been receiving lately, not only have they been fun to read, but also engaging. We have had a fair amount of comments simply sharing user experiences, as well as some readers offering helpful advice and some readers looking for a little help. That said, keep the comments coming and in the mean time here is a quick how to for a recent comment.
The question was asked about how to turn on the autofill functionality in Safari on the iPhone.
“Does anyone know how to use the autofill feature for usernames and passwords on websites?”
In order to enable that feature, first go to your iPhones Settings.
Settings -> Safari -> AutoFill, then switch the sliders for “Use Contact Info” and/or “Names & Passcodes” to the on position based on which you want to autofill. Personally I have opted to switch both to the on position.
I kind of expected that autofill would have been turned on by default, but I think I can understand why it would have been left in the off position, as I mentioned in a previous post, I can understand that some may see it as a security issue. Thankfully though, it is simple enough to turn on.

10} Yet another, also much easier method to activate Internet tethering on iPhone OS 3.0

Enabling Internet tethering on your OS 3.0 running iPhone has just been made even easier. Now instead of downloading and updating your iPhone, you can set your self up by simply visiting a website and making a few clicks.
In order to use this simpler method, just grab your iPhone, launch Mobile Safari and surf on over to http://help.benm.at/help.php.
Once there, it is just a matter of making those few clicks. Basically, just click on Mobileconfigs, then choose your country and carrier and you should be all set.
Again, this comes with a warning that you may get into trouble with your carrier, not to mention it has also been noted as negatively affecting visual voicemail by some users. That said, have fun and enjoy being able to tether you connection.