Get the Most Out of iOS 4.2

Five fab features for your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad!

Updating iOS on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch can take a looong time. So if you’re not always motivated to leg out that marathon--or if you’re just wondering what new toys Apple tucked into your iDevices--we’ve dug deep into 4.2 and emerged with advice on how to put its five best features to work for you.

1. AirPlay

Have you noticed a new button--a rectangle with an arrow inside--in some iOS media apps? That’s your new friend, AirPlay. It sends pictures, audio, and video to the Apple TV, and it can also pipe audio to an AirPort Express and compatible third-party speakers. In the iPad’s iPod app, the AirPlay button is to the left of the volume control. In other apps, like Videos, it’s on the right. On the iPhone, the button is to the right of the controller in AirPlay-compatible apps. Tap it, and you can choose an AirPlay-enabled receiver.

Pump your killer Bombay Bicycle Club and Phoenix tunes to the best speakers in your house with iOS 4.2’s sharp new AirPlay feature.

2. Free Find My iPhone (and iPad)

If you aren’t subscribed to MobileMe, you know the pain of locating an iDevice without Find My iPhone. Now with iOS 4.2 you get free--yes, free--Find My iPhone. But there’s a catch: you need to configure it with an iPhone 4, iPad, or fourth-gen iPod touch before you can find other iOS devices.

We knew our iPad was around somewhere!

3. Search Text on Websites

Hunting for a certain word on a website? You can now utilize Mobile Safari’s search field in the top right. Start typing in a search term, and after you enter the first letter, you’ll see an On This Page list of options in the results. Tap the word you’re searching for in that list, and it’ll be highlighted on the webpage--awesome for looking through long articles. 

Um, who else is wondering what a “prosh” is? Just saying.

4. New iPhone Text-Tone Tricks

Rocking the iPhone 4? You now have new text tones. If not, you’re stuck with the old ones (only Apple knows why). At least you can now assign tones to contacts on the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and iPhone 4. Go to Settings > Sounds > Text Tones to check out the new alerts. To assign one to a contact, launch Contacts, choose a contact, then tap Edit.

Get on the horn, it’s Apple.

5. iPad Multitasking and Folders

Finally, your iPad can run multiple apps simultaneously. To see which applications are running and quickly switch between them, double-tap the Home button to reveal the app tray. To quit troublesome apps, touch and hold any app in the tray to start them jiggling, then tap the offending app’s red circle to quit it.

If an app starts misbehaving, use the quit function on the multitasking bar.

To create a folder, touch and hold any app until they all jiggle, then drag two apps together. Your iPad automatically names the folder, but you can change it to something else. Folders hold 20 apps, but if you need to make room, open the folder, touch and hold the app you want to remove, then drag it out.