Some sound advice about the iPhone 5 and issues you may come across...

[anon(4698833)]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems we've had a major influx of people who, for one reason or another, are having little issues here and there with their iPhone...and within these issues, most of the threads created can be answered very simply or really don't require an answer at all...here are a few tips that might help you:

- Every iPhone 5 is under warranty right now (unless you've abused it and/or dunked it under water). In that, when you have issues, unless you are simply looking to broaden your technical prowess, take it back to Apple, and if you don't have an Apple store near you, contact them and have them send you a replacement...your last option would be going to the carrier store, but i would exhaust all options before going this route. When you have a warranty, use it...

- If you have a question that starts with "Should I..." or "What would you", chances are that's a question best answered by yourself. If you come to a forum to ask "What color should i switch my phone to?", 99% of the people here are going to read it and move on, a few people might give you flack and a couple of people might name a color...all in all though, pick the one you WANT! In the end, even if all of us told you a color, and you decided against that...you'd get what you want right? Well run with that decision from the get go! Then we get to the "Should I blah blah blah...", let's be real here guys, nobody can answer these questions besides you...i could tell you what I would do but it probably wouldn't apply to you at all, so why start a thread asking if you should return a phone or switch a color or the like? Make a decision! The beauty of freedom really, the ability to choose for ourselves...

- If you have to ask if something is a "widespread issue", chances are it is not...widespread issues are (as implied), widely known...

- Carrier issues...this is a biggie. Carrier issues are so subjective that it makes it nearly impossible for you to truly get help on this website with them. From what I've observed being here for a few years, we don't have any major carrier technicians here, so the chances of you getting a useful answer is pretty small...combine that with the fact that a carrier works differently in different cities, when you say one sucks and ask if you should switch to another, what answer are you expecting? AT&T works flawlessly in Atlanta...it may not work at all in your town...so when you ask generally, and someone like me says "AT&T works great.", this isn't going to help you much is it? If you need carrier help, call your carrier...that's as simple as it gets.

...I'm nobodies daddy (or a moderator or that matter), and i know that we all want to discuss stuff from time to time to gain further knowledge and just to shoot the sh*t, and that's understandable...but i think many of you could really do yourselves a favor by taking some of the above advice to heart, it'll save you time and wasted bandwidth over stuff that becomes awfully redundant on the forums, and really doesn't end up assisting you anyways.

Thanks.

 

[kch50428]

Another suggestion for folks: Try the "Search Forums" box at the top for some keywords related to your topic of interest... it's kind of like Internet meme "Rule 34" - chances are, someone has had a similar issue/question - and there's likely a thread already discussing it.

 

[anon(4698833)]

TL;DR? Google and/or the search function are your friend.

 

[Jeremy]

Another suggestion for folks: Try the "Search Forums" box at the top for some keywords related to your topic of interest... it's kind of like Internet meme "Rule 34" - chances are, someone has had a similar issue/question - and there's likely a thread already discussing it.

TL;DR? Google and/or the search function are your friend.

I've been fighting this kind of stuff since 2005 when I first came to these forums. If there was a simple solution, believe me it would have been implemented.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems we've had a major influx of people who, for one reason or another, are having little issues here and there with their iPhone...and within these issues, most of the threads created can be answered very simply or really don't require an answer at all...here are a few tips that might help you:

- Every iPhone 5 is under warranty right now (unless you've abused it and/or dunked it under water). In that, when you have issues, unless you are simply looking to broaden your technical prowess, take it back to Apple, and if you don't have an Apple store near you, contact them and have them send you a replacement...your last option would be going to the carrier store, but i would exhaust all options before going this route. When you have a warranty, use it...

- If you have a question that starts with "Should I..." or "What would you", chances are that's a question best answered by yourself. If you come to a forum to ask "What color should i switch my phone to?", 99% of the people here are going to read it and move on, a few people might give you flack and a couple of people might name a color...all in all though, pick the one you WANT! In the end, even if all of us told you a color, and you decided against that...you'd get what you want right? Well run with that decision from the get go! Then we get to the "Should I blah blah blah...", let's be real here guys, nobody can answer these questions besides you...i could tell you what I would do but it probably wouldn't apply to you at all, so why start a thread asking if you should return a phone or switch a color or the like? Make a decision! The beauty of freedom really, the ability to choose for ourselves...

- If you have to ask if something is a "widespread issue", chances are it is not...widespread issues are (as implied), widely known...

- Carrier issues...this is a biggie. Carrier issues are so subjective that it makes it nearly impossible for you to truly get help on this website with them. From what I've observed being here for a few years, we don't have any major carrier technicians here, so the chances of you getting a useful answer is pretty small...combine that with the fact that a carrier works differently in different cities, when you say one sucks and ask if you should switch to another, what answer are you expecting? AT&T works flawlessly in Atlanta...it may not work at all in your town...so when you ask generally, and someone like me says "AT&T works great.", this isn't going to help you much is it? If you need carrier help, call your carrier...that's as simple as it gets.

...I'm nobodies daddy (or a moderator or that matter), and i know that we all want to discuss stuff from time to time to gain further knowledge and just to shoot the sh*t, and that's understandable...but i think many of you could really do yourselves a favor by taking some of the above advice to heart, it'll save you time and wasted bandwidth over stuff that becomes awfully redundant on the forums, and really doesn't end up assisting you anyways.

Thanks.

'Nuf said...

 

[BLiNK]

Another suggestion for folks: Try the "Search Forums" box at the top for some keywords related to your topic of interest... it's kind of like Internet meme "Rule 34" - chances are, someone has had a similar issue/question - and there's likely a thread already discussing it.

did you just say SEARCH?? there's a certain staff member here that might slap your hand if you suggest that in a thread

 

[kch50428]

did you just say SEARCH?? there's a certain staff member here that might slap your hand if you suggest that in a thread

Yeah, I did say the dreaded "S-Word"... - the concept is right in the forum rules, under the "Forum Etiquette" section...

Search Before Posting - Often times questions and/or topics have already been discussed in an existing thread. Before posting a new thread, please use the search feature to research your question. While we welcome members who are new to the world of iOS, it can become monotonous for the community to continue answering the same questions repeatedly. Also, do not reply to questions by telling someone to do a search. Either kindly point them in the right direction, answer their question, or feel free not to respond.

Yeah - I know - the last two sentences seem to contradict the first three... (shrug...)

 

[Jeremy]

did you just say SEARCH?? there's a certain staff member here that might slap your hand if you suggest that in a thread

Personally I can understand not telling people to "search" to a certain extent. It all depends on the situation and forum member. What I do is perform the search for the poster with the question and kindly link them and possibly close the thread. Like I said earlier, stuff like this will always exist in forums.

 

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I did say the dreaded "S-Word"... - the concept is right in the forum rules, under the "Forum Etiquette" section...

100% correct.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Honestly...above the rules and what not, i think most people would benefit from just using some common sense.

 

[Jeremy]

Honestly...above the rules and what not, i think most people would benefit from just using some common sense.

Not going to argue with that and the guidelines are filled with common sense "rules". I'll admit I'm a stickler for organization and asking things repeatedly over and over is not going to keep these forums organized.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Honestly...above the rules and what not, i think most people would benefit from just using some common sense.

Which you and I know isn't so common. I really wish people had the instincts that we have when it
comes to forum etiquette.

Having first been on the CB forums for a couple of years and racking up about 8,000+ posts, I can
say that these forums have actually gotten better when it comes to the things that irk us as regular
posters/enthusiasts. The iMore forums, to me, don't feel nearly as active as the CB forums did
when I was a regular. It could be a lot worse here, lol.

 

[kch50428]

Honestly...above the rules and what not, i think most people would benefit from just using some common sense.

"Common Sense" is an oxymoron.

As in anything passing itself off as sense is far, far from common...

 

[John Yester]

I've been fighting this kind of stuff since 2005 when I first came to these forums. If there was a simple solution, believe me it would have been implemented.

Exactly, Unanswered threads should be given a link to the most recent and relevant thread to pass on the discussion.


Most new users, don't search or care to search... They have an issue, a problem and want it resolved now... They create a thread and hopefully a swift answer will help them in due time.

Best we can do as a community is pass on what has been passed on to us before. Knowledge and helping out those who are lost and need help NOW. Once they get their answer all is well.

I do believe most ask common questions because they are unsure and don't want to make the wrong decision or choose the wrong setting in their device and end of breaking something. So there is some fear with some making decisions for themselves. Again best we can do is pass on the best answer or location of the best answer.

Threads can be quite repetitive in some cases and non descriptive, but we are working on cleaning them up. Not locking them down , but choosing better titles and linking to better answers.

The Moderation team is actively working on them all the time.

 

[pkcable]

If you ARE going to say search, then show the new member how to do it, AND provide the answer. Teach them how to search so they will know how to do it for the next time AND lead them to the answer. It's like in the store when you ask about a product and they tell you about it AND then take you right to where it is so you can buy it if you want.

 

[anon(4698833)]

While I think it's great and all to help when a person can, it's a bit much when people are asking these kinds of questions..."What color iPhone should i get?", "My phone has terrible reception, what would you do in my case?", "I dropped my phone and shattered my screen, how many of you would replace the screen?"

I mean really? I really like this community, there are some pretty cool members here and some great discussions at times...but when someone comes into the forums looking for a place with some real core info and a legit knowledge base, and they see these kinds of threads...yikes...

 

[anon(4698833)]

If you ARE going to sat search, then show the new member how to do it, AND provide the answer. Teach them how to search so they will know how to do it for the next time AND lead them to the answer. It's like in the store when you ask about a product and they tell you about it AND then take you right to where it is so you can buy it if you want.

Even salesmen (being paid mind you) have lines where, when crossed, would be met with the most dumfounded look...imagine someone going to that same store (let's say it's a music store) and the customer said "I want some music, do you have music? What kind of music should i get?"

 

[Jeremy]

While I think it's great and all to help when a person can, it's a bit much when people are asking these kinds of questions..."What color iPhone should i get?", "My phone has terrible reception, what would you do in my case?", "I dropped my phone and shattered my screen, how many of you would replace the screen?"

I mean really? I really like this community, there are some pretty cool members here and some great discussions at times...but when someone comes into the forums looking for a place with some real core info and a legit knowledge base, and they see these kinds of threads...yikes...

Generally people with those types of questions are newer to forums in general. Like you I never understood those types of questions but it doesn't mean people won't post them. Another good example is "which carrier should I use?"... And that is a question nobody but the poster should answer as carrier reliability will differ based upon location! Painful to see over and over yes, just have to deal.

 

[LazyStarGazer]

If you ARE going to say search, then show the new member how to do it, AND provide the answer. Teach them how to search so they will know how to do it for the next time AND lead them to the answer. It's like in the store when you ask about a product and they tell you about it AND then take you right to where it is so you can buy it if you want.

Exactly. If your trying to be helpful to a newbie, showing them how to find answers for themselves is the classy thing to do.

"Teach a man to search, and he will find answers for the rest of his life.
Belittle him and shout 'Do a search!'... and you just look like a dikc".

(I admit, the paraphrasing there is pretty tortured)

 

[trtmazda3]

Don't ever go to the carrier store. Apple forbids carriers and their employees from doing anything with iPhones besides selling them. I know, I work at one. And I have to turn away disgruntled iPhone owners every single day.