Tips & Tricks

Security

39. Keep Your Data Secure

If your iphone gets stolen a stranger now has access to your contacts, appointments, emails and photos. Applications you've installed might grant access to other personal data such as your facebook account. Setting a passcode helps to protect your privacy.

Heres how ;

a) Tap settings / general / passcode lock

b) Enter a passcode that no one else can get

40. Erase All Data

There is additional security for keeping your data away from prying eyes should your phone get stolen or lost. Turn on erase all data. Now, if someone steals your phone and tries to guess your passcode, the iphone erases your personal data after 10 unsuccessful attempts

41. Encrypt Your Backup

With iTunes 8.1 or higher, you can now encrypt the back up file that contains all of your iphones data on your pc. In iTunes you'll see a new Encrypt iPhone Backup check box in the summary panel

42. Enable Find My Phone

If you subscribe to mobile me, you can enable a feature called Find My iPhone. To enable this, you need to sign up for a mobile me account at me.com and then enable the feature

43. ....Find Your iPhone

Once you've signed up, you can log in to me.com to locate your phone on a map. The find my iphone options are tucked away under the account tab in mobile me

44. Attract Attention

Once logged in at me.com, you can also send a message to your phone and get it to play an insistent sound for 2 minutes. The sound plays even if your phone is set to silent but does play at the ringer volume which makes it hard to hear if its set low

45. Remotely Lock Your iPhone

The OS3.1 update brings another level of security to your iphone. If you decide its missing temporarily and you want to keep your data safe, you can lock your iphone remotely via mobile me. From me.com select remote passcode lock and enter a new code to secure your iphone

46. Remotely Wipe Your Data

Mobile me brings another level of data security to your iphone. If you decide its been stolen, you can issue a command to your phone to delete all your data and reset it to factory defaults. Once you've done this, your iphone will no longer be able to respond to location requests which is a pity as you'll need to decide between keeping your data secure or giving the police good information on its location. Should you be reunited with your phone, you can use itunes to restore the data from your last backup

47. Reduce Roaming Charges

3G use overseas can be an expensive luxury. Here are a few suggestions on being cost effective with your phone when abroad ;

a) Reset the usage statistics when you arrive overseas and monitor your data usage

b) Turn off push email to avoid using 3G and instead use wifi when available to check email or browse the web

c) Turn data roaming off. Go into settings / general / network / and turn data roaming off