The iPhone’s keyboard has a few extra characters that only become visible if you press and hold down keys. Two frequently used characters you might find useful to know about are the em dash (–) and the ellipsis (…).

Em Dash–

To make an em dash—often used to interrupt a sentence for parenthetical remarks like this one—hold down the hyphen key until you see an em dash appear next to the hyphen. Slide your finger over to highlight the em dash and release your finger.

Ellipsis…

To make an ellipsis, hold down the period key until the ellipsis appears next to the period. Slide your finger to highlight and release.

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To take full advantage of Voice Control on the iPhone, it’s helpful to know all of the commands at your disposal. Below is a list of all voice commands for the iPhone.

Call Commands

Corrections

Apple describes these commands as used to “make a correction.” However, I’ve only found them to be able to cancel Voice Control after a secondary prompt, such as when it asks, “Home or Mobile?”

iPod Controls

Cancel Voice Control

Cancels (closes) Voice Control.

Other Info

To activate Voice Control, you can either hold down the iPhone home button or hold down the button on the iPhone headphones. For the best results, speak clearly with a slight pause between each command and use full names for contacts.

The default language for Voice Control is the same as in the iPhone general settings (General –> International –> Language Setting). If you would like to command Voice Control in a different language and impress your friends, you can change it in Settings –> General –> International –> Voice Control.

Voice Control works even when the iPhone is passcode locked. To change this, go to Settings and navigate to General –> Passcode Lock and turn Voice Dial off.

You can say “eight hundred” for phone numbers that contain “800.” This only works with the number 800, a common toll-free number. For all other phone numbers, you’ll have to speak each digit, as in “seven zero zero” for 700.

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Sending a cell phone text message to more than one person can often save you a lot of typing. The iPhone has the ability to do this, although figuring out how is not very intuitive. Just follow these simple instructions:

1. Open the SMS app:

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If you’ve played an audio or video file on your iPhone in the iPod app, you’ve probably noticed the scrubber bar at the top. If you’ve tried to use it, then you’ve also noted that it’s not exactly useful for rewinding or fast forwarding for a few seconds, but good for skipping around. There is a better solution to moving back and forward in small time increments:

Press and hold your finger on the forward and back arrows to slow rewind or “slow” fast forward:

Note that the longer you hold your finger the down, the faster it will rewind or fast forward.

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If you like to listen to the iPhone as you go to sleep, there is a sleep timer function that can automatically stop playing music or video after a set amount of time. The function is sort of hidden within the iPhone’s Clock app.

How to Set the iPhone’s Sleep Timer.

1. Open the Clock app.

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One of the lesser known features of the iPhone is the ability to rent movies in iTunes and watch them on the iPhone. Air travelers especially find this feature useful, as it means they can carry a movie wherever they go without those bulky mobile DVD players.

Renting a movie in iTunes costs $2.99 for a standard “classic” rental and $3.99 for new releases, with $0.99 weekly specials available.

How to Rent Movies in iTunes:

1. In iTunes, select iTunes Store in the left sidebar:

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