iPhone: The Missing Manual, 5th Edition

Chapter 3. Phone Calls & FaceTime

Suppose you’re in luck. Suppose the “number of bars” logo in the upper-left corner of the iPhone’s screen tells you that you’ve got cellular reception. You’re ready to start a conversation.

Well, almost ready. The iPhone offers five ways to dial, but four of them require that you first be in the Phone application. The following pages cover all these methods. (The fifth way is dialing by voice, as described in Chapter 4.)

Dialing from the Phone App

To dial by tapping, open the Phone app like this:

1. Go Home, if you’re not already there. Press the Home button.

2. Tap the Phone icon. It’s usually at the bottom of the Home screen. (The tiny circled number in the corner of the Phone icon tells you how many missed calls and voicemail messages you have.)

Tip

Of course, you can also double-press the Home button to open the task switcher. If you make calls often, the Phone app’s icon should be there waiting for you, as described on One Quick Press: Wake Up. This shortcut skips the trip to the Home screen.

Now you’ve arrived in the Phone program. A new row of icons appears at the bottom, representing the four ways of dialing from here:

• Favorites list. Here’s the iPhone’s version of speed-dial keys: It lists the 50 people you think you call most frequently. Tap a name to make the call. (Details on building and editing this list begin on The Favorites List.)

• Recents list. Every call you’ve recently made, answered, missed, or dialed but hung up appears in this list. Missed ...