Using your iPhone 3G can be a little daunting at first. I think of myself as quite technically literate, but I still found myself jumping onto Google to see how to how to do this or that. What didn’t help was that this was my first "smart" phone and also that I’m Windows user rather than a Mac guy.

So if you’re just in process of learning how to use your iPhone (or just thinking about buying one), I thought I’d make your life just a little easier and answer the questions that you may have.

If you’ve been using you’re iPhone for any length of time, you’ll have worked all of this out a long time ago, but as I said, this is for newbies.

How do I sync my iPhone 3G with Microsoft Outlook

Don’t panic. Yes you can sync your iPhone with Microsoft Outlook, but you do need to download and install iTunes, which you can get from here. Once installed, iTunes will load automatically when you connect your iPhone to your PC. To sync your iPhone simply select the iPhone icon under Devices in the left panel in iTunes, and then click past the registration screen, and then an advertising screen, to get the summary tab where you can sync with Outlook, as well as update your iPhone software.

How do I zoom in  and out of maps on the iPhone 3G?

Playing around with Maps, I couldn’t quite work out how to zoom in to see detail. There was no obvious way of zooming using a slider or something similar. Luckily, it’s actually pretty simply. To zoom into a section, just double tap the area you’d like to see in more detail. To zoom back out, just double tap again, but with two fingers (and yes, this does actually work, despite seeming a little unlikely).

Can I use Gmail with my iPhone 3G?

I have my Gmail account set up so that I can check various email accounts from different machines. I’ve also found this to be a convenient way of handling the half a dozen email addresses I’ve someone how accumulated over the years. For some reason I imagined that I’d need to set up each POP address separately on the iPhone 3G. Boy, was I relieved when after selecting the Mail client I was offered the option of setting it up with Gmail. I do have to say it works very well, and checking and replying to emails is very straight forward. Yes, it is practical to go out and to use the iPhone to keep an eye on the email.

How do I add my city to the weather widget on my iPhone 3G?

When you first load the Weather widget, you’ll see the forecast and current temperature for New York and Cupertino. Which is great if you’re in New York or Cupertino, but not so useful if you’re not. I couldn’t find an obvious way of adding cities, but in retrospect, it’s actually pretty simple. Select the Weather widget. Select i (bottom right corner of the screen; I found it a little tricky, but keep trying until the i glows and the screen spins around). Select + (top left of the screen). Then type in the name of your city, hit search, and then tap the appropriate entry. Then Tap Done. Easy!

How do I connect my iPhone 3G to my wireless Wi-Fi network?

Out of all the devices I’ve connected to my wireless network, the iPhone 3G has been the easiest so far. As soon as I switched on the iPhone 3G at home, it automatically detected the available networks, asked me which one I wanted to join, and prompted me for the password.

Let me know if there’s something else you couldn’t quite work out when you first started using your iPhone (just add a comment) and I’ll add to this list.

Related:

How to reboot/restart a crashed or frozen iPhone

Consumer Reports comes to the iPhone, touch…

iPhone firmware 1.1.3: should you upgrade?

MacWorld: iPod Touch 1.1.3 update includes new apps, for a price

iPhone update 2.1 literally kills Windows Vista

Entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 6:44 am under How-to, iPhone.  Print This Post

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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