iPad and iPhone tips for browsing Safari and apps

Since the release of iOS 5 the Reader function has greatly improved reading webpages in Safari. Due to the smaller screen size of the iPhone, I have found that using the Reader option is much more useful on the iPhone than the iPad.

This is especially true with websites like iPadhelp.com. We have chosen not to use a different theme for mobile devices, but tapping Reader in the URL bar after a page loads resizes the article and eliminates everything else in the background. Use can also make the font even bigger by tapping “AA” in the top left corner while viewing a page in Reader.

Here’s an example of using Reader in Safari on the iPhone. This is the same webpage with the two different views.

Status Bar

Another tip that will speed up things is tapping the Status Bar to quickly go to the top of a webpage. This not only works in Safari but several other apps as well. For instance, you can use this while viewing Mail, iTunes, the App Store, iBookStore, Photos, Twitter, and many other apps.

The Mail app on the iPad has a split screen while viewed in landscape mode. If you tap on the Status Bar above the inbox, only the inbox will go back to the top of the page. If you tap above the message, only the message will go to the top.

Anytime you are viewing a long list of items on your iPhone or iPad, try tapping the Status Bar to quickly go to the top of the screen.