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Personalizing Your iDevice

Before using your new gadget, you will want to customize its settings. From standard measures like settings passcodes, notifications, and alerts, to more creative options like selecting wallpaper and ringtones, we will walk you through all the necessary steps to get you using your iDevice in no time.

Personalizing Your Screen

Setting Background Images

Personalizing your lock screen and home screen is one of the easiest and most fun things you can do in order to make your device different from everyone else's. While your device comes with several default images to choose from, you can also use images from your Camera Roll or photo apps for a truly individualized look. There are also apps, like Pimp Your Screen, that offer cool background images and app shelves in a myriad of styles and categories.

Setting Background Images

Go to Settings → Brightness & Wallpaper and tap on the image under Wallpaper. Tap on Wallpaper to choose one of Apple's stock images, Camera Roll to select from the images you have taken or saved, or any photo app in which you have saved images like Instagram (free, app2.me/3183).

Tap on the image you'd like, then when you come to the Move and Scale page, zoom in and center the image as you wish. Tap Set and then seelct Set Lock Screen (what appears when you first "wake up" your device, Set Home Screen (what shows behind your app icons), or Set Both.

Organizing Your Apps

For info on how to navigate the App Store and downloads apps. Once you have downloaded some apps, you will likely want to move them around and organize them into folders.

Rearranging Apps

To move an app, tap it and hold until the icons start to wiggle. Simply drag it where you want it and let it go. To move it to a new screen, drag it off the screen and let it go when the new page appears. Once you have finished moving your apps around, press the Home button and the icons will stop wiggling.

To save space on your screen, you may want to create folders of similarly themed apps (e.g., Games, Music, Travel). You need at least two apps to start a folder. Pick two, tap and hold one of them until all the icons start to wiggle, and drag it onto the other.

Create Folders of Similary Themed Apps

You will then see the two apps together and be prompted to name the folder. Press the Home button to return to your main screen and drag any other apps you want included into the folder. Once you are finished organizing your apps, tap the Home button and your changes will be saved. To edit a folder, tap on it until it starts to wiggle, and then tap it again. Drag apps in or out as desired and edit the name by tapping on the text. Tap the Home button when you are done.

Privacy & Protection

Setting a Passcode

Some people are comfortable using the basic lock screen, but if you'd like an extra level of security, set up a passcode so that only you can unlock your device. You can either create a simple, 4-digit passcode or a longer one that uses a combination of letters and numbers.

Simple Passcode: Go to Settings → General → Passcode Lock. Make sure the Simple Passcode setting is set to ON. At the top of the screen, tap Turn Passcode On. Type in the 4-digit code you'd like to use and repeat when prompted.

Passcode

Longer Passcode: Go to Settings → General → Passcode Lock. Slide Simple Passcode to OFF. At the top of the screen, tap Turn Passcode On. Type in the alphanumeric passcode you'd like to use, tap Next, re-enter the passcode, and tap Done.

Choosing Passcode Requirements

While still on the Passcode Lock screen, tap Require Passcode. The shorter the time you select, the more secure your device will be. For the strongest security, tap immidiately.

Go back to Passcode Lock and scroll to the bottom. Toggle Erase Data to ON if you'd prefer for all data on your device to be erased after 10 failed passcode attempts.

Go back to General → Auto-Lock. For the strongest security, select 1 Minute.

Setting Restrictions

You can restrict access to certain feature or downloaded content on your iDevice. This is a particularly handy capability for patterns who don't want their kids to install app, use the camera, or listen to explicit lyrics.

Go to General → Restrictions and tap Enable Restrictions. You will be prompted to set a 4-digit passcode; this is distinct from the passcode for unlocking your device. Pictured is a list of apps and features to which you can decide whether to allow access; toggle OFF in order to restrict access. Scroll down further, to the Allowed Content section, to create even more specific restrictions, such as only allowing certain movie rating or not allowing in-app purchases.

Ringtones & Alerts

How your phone alerts you when you receive a text message, call, email, or notification is a personal choice. Some people like the vibrate-only setting, while others like loud zips and zings for just about every alert. Luckily, you can drill down to every single sound option in your device's settings, so you can find just the right combo for you!

Go to Settings → Sounds. Under Vibrate, chose whether you want your phone to vibrate when ringing or when in silent mode. Under Ringer and Alerts, slide the volume bar to the ringing volume you want. If you'd like to be able to adjust the volume with the volume buttons on the side of your device, slide Change with Buttons to ON.

Sounds

Under Sounds and Vibration Patterns, go through each category and select the sound you'd like, or select None.

At the bottom of the Settings → Sound page, you will see Lock Sounds and Keyboard Clicks. If you don't want your device to make a clicking sound every time you put your device to sleep, wake it up, or type on it, slide both to OFF.

Managing Notifications

You have the power to select exactly how many and what type of notifications you receive from every app on your device. Each time you open a new app, it should ask you if you'd like to allow notifications from it. Right then, select the option you'd like; it will save you some work later on. If you'd like to clean up the amount of notifications you are receiving and revisit your settings app by app, here is what to do.

Go to Settings → Notifications. Under In Notification Center, you will see all the apps you are currently getting notifications for. If there are any you don't want there, tap on the app name and slide the top option, Notification Center, to OFF.

For each app that you choose to continue receiving notifications for, you can select exactly how you'd like to receive them. Tap on an app under In Notification Center and select what kind of Alert Style you'd like: None, Banners (which appear at the the top of your screen and go away automatically), or Alerts (which require an action before proceeding). You can also opt to have it make a sound when it arrives, and to have it show up in your lock screen.

Do Not Disturb

A great feature 'Do Not Disturb'. It allows you to schedule time during which calls and alerts are silenced.

In order to turn this feature on, go to Settings and slide Do Not Disturb to ON. Then tap Notifications → Do Not Disturb, slide Scheduled to ON, and choose a range of time (for example, when you will be in sleeping, or in an important meeting). Under Allows Calls From, select Everyone, No One, or Favorites. Slide Repeated Calls to ON if you'd like a second call from the same contact to go through if it is made within three minutes of the first.

Do Not Disturb

This way, if you allow calls from no one, but your spouse calls twice about an emergency, the second call will go through.