My New Apple iphone, and Other Regrets

Judging by the number of people I see checking their iphones, I must be the last person on earth to buy a smartphone. My resistance broke down one day last summer when my camera which had served me so well over the years, simply stopped working. It was the right moment, as sometimes happens, and before I knew it I was in the mall with my daughter, who had been trying to talk me into shopping for an iphone for months.

I know that the Apple iphone is only one of many, and that there are other phones with similar capacity and sophistication, but the Apple iphone and the Samsung Galaxy seem to have acquired top spot. When it came to the actual purchase though, I couldn’t justify the expense of buying the newest iphone, so I settled on an older model, the iphone 6s Plus, mostly because I liked the larger screen.

Initially, all I wanted was the security of having a cellphone on my person, the ability to send written notes back and forth (text), and the convenience of having a camera on my phone. The 6s Plus seemed to have it all. With a few deft taps and swipes my daughter programmed it, connected it to WiFi, and I was good to go!

For the first few days I was delighted with it, breaking the news of my acquisition to friends and family by phone and text, taking pictures of the autumn fog, the gardens around Victoria, the yellowing trees and yes, even videos—of everything that moved. Noticing that others were using their phones to do more interesting things like Googling for information, keeping track of appointments, entering reminders, and looking at Facebook, I was impatient to learn more, But my daughter assured me that it was a learning process, and suggested that maybe I should take the ‘need to know’ approach.

Sure enough, the more I used it, the more I realized that I was on the very lowest end of the learning curve. For example, I’d sometimes get the option to accept or reject an incoming phone call with the pressing of a button, but at other times, I had to touch and slide to answer. Remembering the blissful simplicity of the ‘pick up and answer’ days (gone forever), I wondered why. So I brought up Google and typed in my question. Here’s the long winded answer I received:

“The slider option appears when the phone is locked because it reduces the chance of accidentally answering a phone call in your pocket or in your bag. And if your phone is in your hand, being used, it’s functionally easier to answer with the tap of the button as opposed to the slide of a finger.

So when the iPhone is locked, you get the ‘slide to answer’ option. But when your phone is in use, you get the ‘accept’ and ‘reject’ options in the form of the button. You can still reject a call if your phone is locked and only the ‘slide to answer’ option comes up. Simply press the lock button once to ignore it and let the call ring out in silence, or twice to actually decline the call and cut the person at the other end of the phone off completely.”

Not much of that registered, and furthermore, I didn’t have a clue about whether or not my phone was locked, and how I could unlock it, if that was what was needed. As with several other mysteries of this phone, framing a question, and asking Google solved few problems didn’t work. Online tutorials proved just as unhelpful, since the instructors invariably missed some important steps. Most helpful were quick one-on-one sessions with my daughter or assistants at the mall phone booths. Eventually, I did learn, and at last mastered some basic operations. 

After several weeks of owning my phone, I can proudly say that this is my skill set:

• I can turn my phone off and on (including the screen only).
• I can charge it.
• I can turn the sound off and on.
• I can can send messages (text).
• I can answer and make phone calls.
• I can change phone and texting ring tones.
• I can take photos and videos.
• I can download my photos to my laptop.
• I can turn off the apps that suck up data, costing me extra charges.
• I can Facetime.
• I can enlarge type in settings, display and brightness.

I’m informed however, that there are at least 30 more built in apps to learn! These include the calendar, find my phone, flashlight, weather, reminders, contacts, email, maps, Siri, watch, compass, tips, files, microphone, lightning connector and more.

Should I want to, (I don’t) I can download 12 more apps from the Apple app store —imovie, garageband etc.

I’m also informed that there are 15 ways to take a video, 21 camera enhancements and endless ways to attach photos and documents to email. I can, if I wish, also activate the fingerprint sensor, make payments using Touch ID and receive and redeem rewards using rewards cards.

Although this process was not easy for me, I’m pleased that I’ve come this far. Who knows, I may actually master it eventually! But maybe not. Maybe I should hold out for the Apple iphone 11 (at $1729.00) which is already here, I’m told.