CLEARING CACHE storage space.

Your iPhone’s cache is temporary storage space on your iPhone where recently viewed Web pages are stored which helps Safari to quickly load a previously visited page without having to reload the entire page from the Web server on each visit. Here’s how to clear cache storage space.

Clearing the cache empties the storage space of sites you may not visit again for the next six months or ever. It will help your iPhone run faster. Here is how you accomplish that feat in a few easy steps.

• Select Settings on the iPhone.
• Scroll down until you see the choice labeled Safari. Select Safari.
• Select Cache. Select the option labeled Clear Cache. Press Clear Cache.

FIXING PROBLEMS

How to Fix Broken or Crashing iPhone Apps - Anyone who’s had an iPhone or iPod touch for a while knows that sometimes apps just stop working. The first step is reboot your phone, but if that doesn’t work, the solution is generally to delete the app from your iPhone and the re-download it.
The iTunes and iPhone use the FairPlay DRM database to track keys. This can becoming corrupted. To understand this issue, you need to know how your iPhone (and iTunes) handles apps. You see, each and every iPhone app has copy protection on it called FairPlay. To run an app, it needs to be unencrypted using a unique key which is generated by the App Store (aka the iTunes server). The key is given to your iPhone by iTunes to be stored in a local database so that apps can be run with or without data service. It sounds complex, but actually it works quite well.
Because the iTunes server issued the keys in the first place, it can issue them again. The simplest way to accomplish this is to download an app from the App Store. It can be any app you want—free, pay, new, old—iTunes will refresh your key database just the same. After it’s been downloaded, verify that other apps run; they should. Once you’re sure everything’s back to normal, you can remove the new app without breaking things again.

NOT SO LEGAL STUFF

Hacking, jail-breaking, and third-party downloads - I am pretty much down the middle of the road on this. Apple designed the iPhone and other devices. They know what they are doing and what will work on it. If the app I want is not in the Apple app store I don’t install it. I believe if it were any good it would have got on the list. Most of the crashed phones I have read about come down to third-party installations. Same goes for hacking and jail-breaking. If you want Apple to support and fix it, stay above board. That’s just my opinion, but it works. I don’t load the device up with music and movies and I don’t have any problems.

If your faithful iPhone locks inadvertently, don’t panic, just press and hold the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons simultaneously for 8 seconds and your iPhone automatically resets.

If you want to quit any unresponsive program just press and hold the Home button for 6 seconds and you’re out of it.

SORTING PHOTOS

How do I sort photos on the iPhone? - We are not talking about the Camera Roll. Apple doesn’t use sorting methods like we do. You can rename photos and change modification dates and they do not resort. When you add more photos they just tack onto the end of the others in the phone. The iPhone sorts photos chronologically based on the optimized version it creates.
The iPhone has Camera Roll and Photo Library to store your photos.
What you have to do to get your photos sorted the way you want them is the following:

1. Go to the C:\Documents and Settings\folder_name\My Documents\iphone\Photos folder on Windows XP.
2. Copy the entire folder to another folder somewhere else on your computer.
3. Now delete everything inside the Photos folder, the photos and the "Photo Cache" folder.
4. Uncheck the "Sync Photos" box in iTunes and choose to delete all pictures from your device
5. Go to the folder that your pictures are in. Find the folder called "iPod Photo Cache" Delete that folder. That’s where the photos are organized.
6. Sort the photos in your Photos folder by name or date.
7. Connect your iPhone, start iTunes, and recheck the box to sync photos and sync.
8. iTunes will optimize your photos again and they will be sorted the way you have them in the folder

It is not the cleanest way to get your photos ordered, but it gets the job done. You will have to do this every time you add new photos, but I would rather take a few minutes every time I sync my iPhone and have my pictures sorted correctly rather than look at my pictures out of order.
I created other folders under the Photos folder as albums and named them Cats, Personal, Scenic and so forth and moved the various photos into these folders before syncing in step 6.

When you connect the iPhone to the computer, sync again. I found that all photos I put into the cats and personal folders also get duplicated in the Photos folder. I can’t do anything about that.
You can organize albums by dates also.
2006 Family Album
2006 Wedding Album
2006 xxx Album
2007 xxx

LINK TO EXPLANATION of signal strength with various cell phones

IPHONE BACKUP PROBLEMS

Sluggish iPhone 3G after installing ISO 4.0 upgrade - Some users say the answer is to do a "hard reset" three times. Yes I know, It sounds silly to do this three times but just try it. Be sure you know your 4-digit code to unlock the phone before trying this.
To do a hard reset, you must press BOTH the Power and Home button a few seconds until a slide appears "slide to power off". Now slide to power off. After about 15 seconds the iPhone completely shuts down. Now wait 1 minute and power on the iPhone again by press and hold the power button until an apple logo appears on the screen. Now wait till it is up and running. Enter your 4 digit code to unlock the phone. Now repeat this two more times: power off ,wait for 1 minute, power on, then repeat.
Okay, when you are finished, test if you notice better response of your iPhone. Does it perform more like the brand new iPhone when you first had unboxed it? Your situation might be different and this fix might not work for you. I found this on the net.

IPHONE CODES: CARRIER/BILLING INFO

CLEARING CACHE storage space. These are some of the codes I have tried out.

*225# and tap Call. Bill Balance. (Postpaid only)	*646# and tap Call. Check minutes. (Postpaid only)
*#06# – Displays your iPhone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number (this code also works on many other phones).	*#43# and tap Call. Determine if call waiting is enabled.

I have not checked the rest of these.
*#21# – Displays any call forwarding settings enabled on your iPhone.
*#30# – Shows you if you have the call presentation (to see who is calling you) setting enabled or disabled.
*646# -View available minutes on your AT&T plan (*min#).
*777#- View available minutes on your AT&T pre-paid plan (if you get the “Account Not Found” error, you do not have a pre-paid account and you should try the code just above this one for postpaid accounts).
*3282# - View wireless data usage statistics (also *data#).
*729 – Makes a call to AT&T to pay your wireless bill.

ITUNES STUCK ON VIDEO DOWNLOADS

The iTunes program stuck on video downloads. If you started downloading a video episode and never finished because you changed your mind iTunes will restart the download every time you start iTunes. How do you stop it? You locate that “C:\Documents and Settings\your folder\My Documents \My Pictures\Videos\Podcasts” and delete it. You delete it under Podcasts on the left menu bar in iTunes also. You may have to do it twice.

LOST PHONE

iPhone 3.1: Remotely lock Your iPhone with MobileMe. Among the myriad of tiny improvements included in iPhone 3.1, Apple introduced users with MobileMe accounts an option to find and remotely wipe a lost or stolen iPhone. In 3.1, you can now remotely lock your iPhone with a four-digit passcode.

SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE

Phone getting sluggish? Maybe you have noticed a difference after installing OS4 and using it for awhile. Flicking through screens and typing has delays that are nerve-racking. The iPhones, like computers, have memory leakage.

The answer is to do a "hard reset" and to do it three times. Sounds silly? Yep, but try it. Here’s how you do it.

Press the Home Button and Power Button, both for about ten seconds until the power off slide appears. Slide to power off. Wait one minute and power the iPhone on again with the power button. Remember, you are going to power off and power on three times with a one minute interval. When finished, test this in your apps, Safari, and email to see if you notice a difference. I did.

IPHONE PHISHING SCAMS

Wi-Fi Phishing Scams - The new phishing scam lures victims by setting up fraudulent Web sites that appear to be log-in sites for legitimate Wi-Fi hotspots. When users log in and access the phony sites, providing personally identifying information, their computers are hit with as many 45 viruses.
These phishers also sell the credit card info. The most lucrative and easiest place for hackers’ commercial gain is business hotspots such as airport lounges, hotels, and conferences.

1. Don’t log into a Wi-Fi that you do not recognize, buy a $20 credit card at a store that is trash after you use it.
2. Users should enter passwords only into Web sites that include a Secure Sockets Layer key at the bottom right of the Web browser.
3. Hotspots should be used only for Web surfing and not for making online purchases.
4. Users should also turn off or remove their wireless cards from their computers when they aren’t accessing a hotspot to prevent others from accessing their machines.

YOU JUST GOT SOAKED

What to do if your iPhone gets wet? - Tip #1 Whether the culprit is a sink, toilet or rainstorm, getting your iPhone soaked in water is bad news. If the unthinkable happens your best bet is to make sure the iPhone is off, wipe it down with a dry cloth, then do one of the following immediately.
• Put your iPhone in a bag of uncooked rice and let it sit for several hours (up to 2 days).
• Place your iPhone in a plastic bag with a few silica packets.
The point with these methods is to draw all moisture out of the phone as quickly as possible. Just air-drying the unit with low heat is an option, but won’t act as quickly as the aforementioned methods.
If none of these tactics prove effective, and your iPhone loses significant or all functionality, take the phone into Apple. They will repair your iPhone for a service fee.
Some people had success having their damaged iPhones replaced free of charge by geniuses at the Apple Store, but don’t count on it. This type of replacement is likely only if it can be proven that the device was damaged during routine use. Knocking it into the sink while bathing the dog does not count as routine.

Water damage: iPhone dropped in water - Tip #2

What should you do?

Used phones: How to activate a used phone

You have a few options.

Take the iPhone to AT&T Wireless

If a friend gives you their old iPhone, you can make it your own by taking it to an AT&T store and telling them you have an old iPhone and would like to use it as your own. You will have to sign up for AT&T service and set up an account, and they will give you a new SIM card. Once you install the SIM card, you can activate the iPhone at home using iTunes. This is by far the easiest way to activate and reuse an old iPhone.

Can I Use a Carrier Other Than AT&T?

The iPhone works best with AT&T, but it is possible to unlock the iPhone so that it works with other carriers (note that the iPhone only works on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, it does not work on Verizon or Sprint, which are CDMA networks). We do not recommend unlocking, but if you want to do it, it is not illegal. An unlocked iPhone can be a hassle, however. For example, you will not be able to take advantage of Apple iPhone software updates until the people who created the unlocking software tell you it is ok to update.

If a friend or family member wants to give you their old iPhone, and you want to use it as a phone, ask them to erase all content on the iPhone before giving it to you. This is done on the iPhone by going into Settings > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings > Erase iPhone. Note that this erasing process can take up to two hours.

If you want to use the iPhone just as an iPod touch without phone service, read the section immediately below.

Can I Use the iPhone Without Having Phone Service? Like an iPod Touch?

Yes, and it will work with iTunes too, allowing you to buy and synch music and apps from the App Store. But, you should ask the person who is giving you the used iPhone to keep the original SIM card inside the iPhone. Your friend will have to tell AT&T to disable their old SIM card and get a new one. The reason you should keep the old SIM card inside the iPhone is so that you can take advantage of new software upgrades and restore your iPhone.

Your friend should also restore the iPhone before giving it to you so all his data is erased. Just make sure the iPhone is activated (you can open apps, etc) when it is given to you.

What if there is no SIM card inside the used iPhone?

As long as the previous owner has not left the iPhone in a restored, unactivated state, you can still use all the iPhone features (including synching with iTunes) except for the phone functions. Without the original SIM card, you will not be able to install software updates from Apple or restore the iPhone until you get a new SIM card.

If you restore or install one of Apple upgrades without a SIM card, the iPhone will stop working. It will not work again until you activate it with a new SIM card or jailbreak it. In other words, do not restore or attempt to upgrade the iPhone unless you have the original SIM card inside.

If all else fails your only option is to jailbreak it. The term jailbreaking essentially means hacking the iPhone so that you can do whatever you want with it, including installing applications that are not approved by Apple and then unlocking it for use on other carriers. Apple will not support it and it will not work on AT&T phone plans.