iPhone basics for testing your app · Build Your Card App

By the endYou can unlock your iPhone, change a setting, join the same Wi-Fi as your computer, take a screenshot, and get it onto the computer.

Your app will run on your own iPhone long before it reaches the App Store. These are the handful of phone skills the later parts rely on.

Unlock

Press the button on the right edge once, or lift the phone. The Lock Screen shows the time. Look at the phone to unlock with Face ID, then swipe up from the very bottom edge. On an iPhone with a round Home button, rest your finger on it instead. If asked, type your passcode, the number code you chose when you set the phone up.

You arrive at the Home Screen: pages of app icons. Swipe left and right to move between pages. Swipe up from the bottom edge to leave any app and come back here.

The Settings app

A gray icon with gears, named Settings. Nearly every phone change happens here. Tap it, scroll with one finger, tap a row to go in, and tap the < at the top-left to go back.

Same Wi-Fi as your computer

When you test your app, your computer and the phone talk to each other over the same Wi-Fi network.

On a Mac

On the Mac, click the Wi-Fi symbol (curved lines) at the top-right of the menu bar. The network with a tick is yours. Note its exact name.

On a Windows PC

On the PC, click the Wi-Fi symbol at the bottom-right of the taskbar, near the clock, then the > next to the Wi-Fi symbol. The network marked Connected is yours. Note its exact name.

Then on the iPhone: open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and tap that same name. Type the Wi-Fi password if asked. A tick appears next to the name.

Some homes have two names, like "Home" and "Home-5G". Put both devices on the same one.

The App Store

The blue icon with a white "A" is the App Store. It is where you will install the Claude app for iPhone, and where your own app will live one day. It uses your Apple Account. The first time, it may ask you to sign in.

Take a screenshot on the phone

Press the right-edge button and the volume-up button (on the left edge) at the same moment, then let go. On a Home-button phone, press the Home button and the right-edge or top button together. A small preview appears at the bottom-left. Screenshots go to the Photos app: open Photos, scroll down to Media Types (on older versions it is under Albums), and tap Screenshots.

Get it onto your computer

On a Mac

AirDrop moves photos and files between Apple devices that are near each other, with no cable.

On the Mac, open Finder and click AirDrop in the sidebar. At the bottom of the window, set Allow me to be discovered by to Everyone or Contacts Only. Leave this window open.
On the iPhone, open Photos and tap the screenshot.
Tap the share button: a square with an arrow pointing up, at the bottom-left.
Tap AirDrop, then tap your Mac's name when it appears.
On the Mac, the file lands in Downloads. If both devices use the same Apple Account, it arrives with no question. Otherwise click Accept.

Later, you will plug the phone into the Mac with a cable for the first install. The phone will ask Trust This Computer?, and you will tap Trust. Part 12 walks you through that.

On a Windows PC

A cable is the reliable way. Use the charging cable that came with the phone, and set this up once.

On the PC, open the Microsoft Store (press Windows, type store, press Enter), search for Apple Devices, and install the app made by Apple. It lets Windows talk to an iPhone. You do not need to open it afterwards.
Unlock the iPhone and plug it into the PC.
The phone asks Trust This Computer? Tap Trust and type your passcode.
On the PC, press Windows, type photos, and press Enter to open the Photos app.
Click Import at the top-right, then From a connected device. Pick your iPhone if it asks.
Wait for the pictures to load. Tick the screenshot, choose where it should go (Pictures is fine), and click Import.
The picture is now in that folder in File Explorer. Unplug the cable when you are done.

Without a cable, email the screenshot to yourself: open it in Photos on the phone, tap the share button (a square with an arrow pointing up), tap Mail, type your own address, and send. Open the email on the PC and save the picture to Downloads. If you use iCloud Photos, Apple's free iCloud app from the Microsoft Store can also show every photo in File Explorer, under iCloud Photos.

Practice

Take a screenshot of your Home Screen.
Get it onto your computer using the steps above.
On the computer, drag it from Downloads (or Pictures) into your Binder folder.

If something goes wrong

My Mac does not appear in AirDrop on the phone. On the Mac, turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on. Both are in Control Center, the icon with two small switches at the top-right of the menu bar. Wake the Mac. Keep the Finder AirDrop window open and set to Everyone. On the phone, open Settings, General, AirDrop, and choose Everyone for 10 Minutes. Keep the devices within arm's reach.

The PC does not see the iPhone. Unlock the phone and look for the Trust This Computer? question; it only appears while the phone is unlocked. Make sure the Apple Devices app is installed. Try another cable or another port on the PC. Some cheap cables only charge.

The PC finds the phone but Photos shows nothing to import. If iCloud Photos is on, the phone may hold only small previews. On the phone, open Settings, tap your name, iCloud, Photos, and choose Download and Keep Originals for a while. Or just email the screenshot to yourself.

The phone shows no Wi-Fi networks. In Settings, Wi-Fi, make sure the switch at the top is green. Move closer to the router.

I cannot find the screenshot on the phone. Open Photos and use the search box. Type screenshot. Or look at the most recent pictures at the bottom of the library.

I forgot my passcode. Apple's way out erases the phone and restores it from a backup. Search Apple's support site for "forgot iPhone passcode" and follow their page. Expect to lose anything not backed up.