How to Save Your iPhone Contacts to Your SIM Card

Storing your contacts on your SIM card makes moving between phones simple.

Though iPhones do not support SIM card contact management out of the box, there are iPhone applications that allow you to transfer your contact information from your contacts list to your SIM card. IPhones do have tools that allow you to import your contacts, but the third party applications available allow you to manage your contacts and export them back to your SIM card quickly and easily.

Step 1

Use SIManager to copy all of your iPhone contacts onto your SIM card. SIManager also allows you to copy SHM contacts to the iPhone. It has a simple tap-button interface and shows different colors for your contacts to indicate whether they have been imported, deleted or edited. It works on jailbroken iPhones.

Step 2

Copy your contacts and text messages onto your SIM card using IBE SIM Card Manager. It is available by adding the following source to Installer.app, Cydia or other application managers: http://www.ibegroup.com/products/SIMCardManager.pxl As of March 2011, IBE SIM Card Manager costs $19.95 and works on jailbroken iPhones. It has a user interface that is simple to use and copies contacts and texts without using Outlook or the Mac Address Book.

Step 3

Install Dekart's SIM Manager on your Windows PC to manage the contacts on your SIM card. Export your contacts from your iPhone to Outlook on your Windows PC, remove the SIM card from your iPhone and insert it into a USB smart card logon. Plug the smart card logon into your computer and use the SIM Manager software to export and sync contacts between Outlook and your SIM card. It is available for a fee and does not require you to jailbreak your iPhone. You can download Dekart's Sim Manager for a trial for free (see the link in Resources).

Read More

Help With iPhone Calendar Applications

Updating your iPhone and computer software should eliminate calendar sync issues.

The iPhone's built-in calendar application syncs your events from one or more email accounts that have calendar applications, such as Gmail or MobileMe. You can also download calendar apps with different features to get the date-related information you need on your iPhone, such as class schedules or group calendars.

Setting up Your Calendar

To use the calendar application that comes with your iPhone, you will need to allow it to interact with a calendar attached to your MobileMe email or other email account. Tap the "Settings" icon and select "Email, Contacts, Calendars." Choose the email account that has an associated calendar and enter your username and password if it is not already set up. Once the account is communicating with your iPhone, tap the account name and make sure the switch next to "Calendars" says "On."

Using the Calendar App

Access your calendar by tapping the Calendar icon on your home screen, and then add an event by tapping the plus icon in the upper right corner. Use the buttons at the bottom to chance between month or day view or a simple list of upcoming events. Navigate forward or backward on the calendar using the arrow icons, and then tap the "Today" button to return to the current day's view. Tap the "Calendars" button at the top to view which calendars you have imported to your iPhone and select which ones to view. You cannot add a new calendar through the phone interface if you want multiple calendars. Instead, launch your email account on your computer and use the full computer interface to add a new calendar, following the instructions provided by your email service provider. Once new calendars are added to your account, they will appear on your iPhone as well. If they do not, try switching the calendar off, and then back on, in the iPhone settings.

Troubleshooting

Syncing problems may occur with the Calendar app when your software is not up to date, either on your iPhone or on the computer you use to sync the device. Update your iPhone software to the current version, and then update to the latest version of the operating system for your computer. This does not mean you need to purchase a new operating system; simply visit the Apple or Windows website, depending on your computer type, and make sure you have downloaded any updates for the system version you currently run (Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard for Mac and XP, Vista or 7 for Windows). Download the latest version of iTunes and the latest MobileMe Control Panel onto your computer as well. After everything is up to date, re-sync your phone with the computer using a USB cable. Your calendars should work properly after the sync is complete.

Additional Calendar Apps

The App Store features many specialized calendar apps, including calendars for various cultures, holiday or special event countdowns and planning calendars that offer more or different features compared to the native application. Look for calendar applications that receive high customer satisfaction ratings in the App Store before downloading. If you have trouble or need help with these applications, return to the app's page on the app store and look for the company website on the app page. Enter the site address into a web browser and search for a "Support" section on the site to find help. You can also tap the "Report a problem" button in the App Store if you think your trouble with the calendar results from a programming bug. Follow the onscreen instructions to report your issue with the app.

Read More

How to See All SIM Contacts on an iPhone

A SIM card from another AT&T phone will work in an iPhone.

Subscriber Identity Module or SIM cards are microchips inserted into cell phones on some networks, including AT&T. A SIM card not only identifies your phone to the mobile network, but sometimes saves information, such as contact phone numbers. While the iPhone does not save its contact information to a SIM, it is able to import and then display the information previously saved to a SIM from another phone. Importing SIM contacts from your last phone to the iPhone means that you won't have to manually enter each contact.

Items you will need

* Paper clip

Step 1

Unwind part of a paper clip and insert the end into the hole on the iPhone's SIM card tray. The tray is on the side of iPhone 4 devices and the top of iPhone 3G and 3GS models. Apply pressure until the tray pops open and lay the SIM card from your old phone into the tray. Replace the tray in the phone.

Step 2

Open the "Settings" application on your iPhone's homepage. Tap "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" from the "Settings" menu.

Step 3

Scroll down the page to the "Contacts" section. Tap "Import SIM Contacts." If your iPhone has MobileMe, CardDAV or Microsoft Exchange enabled, select where you would like to contacts to be saved. If you don't have any of these programs, iPhone will save the contacts in your address book.

Step 4

Open the program where you directed the contacts, or the address book, to view the SIM contacts.

Read More

The Memory Use of iPhone Applications

An iPhone may close one app if other apps are using too much memory.

The iPhone is a cell phone manufactured by Apple that plays music, shoots pictures and videos and can connect to the Internet over cell phone data networks and Wi-Fi. The iPhone can also run "apps" or applications. Each application must load in the iPhone's memory before you can use it. If too many memory-intensive apps are running at the same time, one or more of the applications may shut down without warning.

Memory on the iPhone

The iPhone 4 has 512 megabytes of random access memory (RAM), which is where applications load and run. This memory is separate from the phone's storage capacity, which holds music, videos, pictures and apps. The iPhone 4 comes with either 16 or 32 gigabytes of this system memory. Certain apps can consume greater amounts of memory as you use them. For example, the Safari web browser can open up to eight pages at once. If these multiple open pages require a lot of memory, another application, such as music or video playback with the iPod app, may suddenly close down.

Multitasking

The iOS4 operating system allows the iPhone to run multiple applications simultaneously. For example, you can browse the Web with Safari while listening to music with the iPod app. If an app is designed to take advantage of iOS4's multitasking, it usually will hibernate when you are not using it. It only requires enough memory to store its current state, so you can switch back to it quickly from another application.

Close Applications

If you want to fully quit an application instead of just switching to another one, double-click on the "Home" button. This will bring up the four most recently used apps in the task bar at the bottom. Flick the screen left to see more recently used apps. Touch an app's icon until it starts jiggling; a red circle with a white minus sign will appear on it and the other apps in the task bar. Tap the red circle to close that app and free up some memory. If you have eight pages open in Safari, try closing the ones you are no longer interested in browsing.

Monitor Memory Use

You can download applications from Apple's App Store that will tell you how memory is being used by different applications (see Resources). For example, iStat, Free Memory and Memory Status will display statistics about currently running apps, with pie chart views showing the ones hogging the most memory. Some memory monitoring apps also allow you to terminate an application to free up memory and enable other apps to run more efficiently.

Read More