iPhone 5 For Dummies, 6th Edition

Tricks with Links and Phone Numbers

The iPhone does something special when it encounters a phone number or URL in e-mail and SMS text messages. The iPhone interprets as a phone number any sequence of numbers that looks like a phone number: 1-123-555-4567, 555-4567, 1.123.555.4567, and so on. The same goes for sequences of characters that look like a web address (URL), such as http://www. WebsiteName.com or www. WebsiteName.com. When the iPhone sees what it assumes to be a URL, it appears as a blue link on your screen.

If you tap a phone number or URL sequence like the ones just shown, the iPhone does the right thing. It launches the Phone app and dials the number for a phone number, or it launches Safari and takes you to the appropriate web page for a URL. That’s useful but somewhat expected. What’s more useful and not so expected is the way Safari handles phone numbers and URLs.

Let’s start with phone numbers. When you encounter a phone number on a web page, give it a tap. A little dialog appears on the screen displaying that phone number and offering you a choice of two buttons: Call or Cancel. Tap Call to switch to the Phone app and dial the number; tap Cancel to return to the web page.

Here’s another cool Safari trick, this time with links. If you press and hold down on a link rather than tapping it, a little floating text bubble appears and shows you the underlying URL.

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