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This blog post is going to be a little bit different. You, the readers, can help me write it. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks you’ll know that Apple have releases iOS5, the latest Apple iOS Operating System for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Here’s what Apple say;

“iOS 5 includes more than 200 new features for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.”

Well this post is all about the really useful features you discover and how to use them. All you need to do is post a comment explaining a new iOS5 tips or feature and I’ll add them to this post. Simple.

General iOS5 Tips

Word Suggestions
When writing text in an application double tap a word to see additional suggestions.

Mute Button
When you enable sounds with the mute button on the side it now shows the volume level.

Location Services Status Bar Icon
If you have the the Location Service Status Bar Icon set to on, via Settings > Location Services > System Services > Status Bar Icon, it will turn purple when an application is using Location Services.

iOS Software Updates
To check for available iOS updates, select Settings > General > Software Update. If a software update is available, you will see a description of the available update and a button labelled “Update Now”. Clicking this button will begin downloading the update. Updates to iOS5 are deltas or differences so are expected to be much smaller than the usual updates.
via Jason Pope

Emoji Emoticons
You can now type all sorts of Emoji emoticons (smileys) by using the new Emoji keyboard. To activate this goto Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Emoji. Now whenever you’re typing, tap the globe icon next to the space bar to select all manner of stuff.

Automatic Downloads
If you have multiple iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch devices, you can now enable Automatic Downloads. Go to Settings > Store and enable it for Music, Apps and iBooks. Now when you download something to one of your devices it will be automatically downloaded to your others.

Find My Friends
Not strictly iOS5 but download this free app from the Apple App Store to locate your friends and family from an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Very similar to the “Find My iPhone” app but for people.
via Jason Pope

Keyboard Shortcuts
Use abbreviations that expand into commonly used full words. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut… The default shortcut is omw which will expand into “On my way!”
via Polevault Web

Camera

Access to Photos
When using the camera, swipe from left to right to reveal existing Photos, swipe back to return to the camera.

Volume Up Shutter Button
Hold the iPhone sideways in landscape orientation, and the volume up button works as the camera shutter button.

Zoom Function
A two finger pinch or expand will activate the zoom feature.

Direct Access from Locked Screen
On the lock screen, double click / double press the home button to view the camera icon as well as the music player controls that feature on previous iOS versions. The camera button takes you straight to the camera app.
via Martin Lucas

Exposure Levels
When you’re taking a photo with the camera a single tap on an area of the screen will adjust the Exposure Levels based on the area you selected.

AE/AF Lock Levels
When you’re taking a photo with the camera tap and hold on an area of the screen to adjust and lock the Exposure Levels based on the area you selected. You can now frame the picture without the levels changing.

Screen Grab
Briefly hold down the power button then click the home button to save a picture of the current screen to Photos.

iMessage

Delivery Method Indicator
When typing a new message in iMessage the send button will be green if the message is to be sent over the SMS network. If the recipient is registered with iMessage the button will turn blue. The text box watermark will also change and say “iMessage”.

Typing Indicator
If you send someone a message via iMessage, when they start to type their reply you’ll see a bubble appear with an ellipsis (…) in it while they’re typing.

Mail

Important Mail Indicator
You can now highlight an email as important with a little red flag in the inbox. When reading an email tap “Mark” next to the subject.

Drag and Drop Recipients
You can now drag and drop recipients between the To: Cc: and Bcc: fields. Just press and hold the recipients name until it gets bigger, then drag and drop into place.

Text Format
When writing email messages, you can format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts and create indents in the text. To access these features, select the text to apply formatting and then tap the right-pointing arrow to access the additional menu items. If you select Define, a handy dictionary pops up.
via Jason Pope

Contact Photos
If you have a photo assigned to a contact, in the Contacts App, a small thumbnail photo appears next to the subject line of the email in the inbox.

Notification Centre

Main Access
Swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal and drag down the Notification Centre. In Photos this reveals a new button that you can then drag down.

Direct App Access
When you get a new notification via the “locked” screen, swipe the notification from left to right to go directly to the notification in the application that generated it.
via James Lattimer

Detailed Weather Report
If you have weather configured as a notification in the notification centre, tap on the weather icons to bring up the weather page. Swiping down on the weather opens up further detailed descriptions of the weather over the next few hours.
via Mark Worboys

Photos

Edit Options
While viewing a photo a single tap will reveal the new “Edit” button in the top right. This gives a new menu on the bottom with the following features; Rotate, Enhance, Red Eye and Crop.

Album Management
Albums can now be added directly from within Photos. Click the Albums button at the top or bottom and then click “Edit”

Reminders

Location based Reminders
To-do items can be set with due dates and locations. Location based reminders will send an alert whenever you are near the destination that the item is associated with. Reminders pop-up in the Notification Centre as appropriate.
via Jason Pope

Safari

Uncluttered Reading
When viewing a web page you may see a “Reader” button appear in the address bar at the top. Click it to see a clean uncluttered version of the web page.

Twitter

App Integration
iOS5 lets you sign in to Twitter and then tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, and Maps. Setup Twitter from Settings > Twitter and then simply tap on the share / action button in the integrated apps and select Tweet. You also get a nice tweet sound when the tweet is posted.
via Jason Pope

WiFi Sync

Wireless iTunes Synchronisation
Synchronise your iPhone or iPad with iTunes on a computer that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network. To set-up Wi-Fi sync for the first time, connect the iPhone to the computer via the lead and turn on “Sync over Wi-Fi connection” in the device summary pane. After you configure Wi-Fi Sync your device will sync automatically once a day when its connected to power and iTunes is running. You can manually sync over Wi-Fi via Settings > General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync > Sync Now.
via Jason Pope