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If you consider yourself a Luddite—someone who isn’t particularly comfortable with technology—the iPhone can seem unnecessarily complicated.

An iPhone is a telephone, camera, computer, map, newspaper, television, music player, wallet, notebook, alarm clock, and much more—all packed into one small device.

You don’t have to learn everything it can do. You only need to learn the things that are useful to you.

Here are some of the most useful things an iPhone can do, explained in plain English.

1. Make and Receive Phone Calls

First and foremost, an iPhone is still a telephone.

You can:

• Call someone.

• Answer incoming calls.

• See who is calling.

• Keep a list of your family, friends, doctors, businesses, and other contacts.

• See a list of recent calls.

• Listen to voicemail.

• Block unwanted callers.

You can even say:

“Siri, call John.”

If John is in your Contacts, the iPhone can place the call for you.

2. Send and Receive Text Messages

Instead of calling someone, you can send them a short written message, called a text.

You can also send:

• Photographs

• Videos

• Website links

• Voice recordings

• Your location

• Emojis—the little smiley faces and other symbols people put in messages

You can also send a message to several people at the same time.

3. Take Photographs

Your iPhone is an excellent camera—and you don’t have to understand photography to use it.

Open Camera, point the phone at what you want to photograph, and tap the round button.

Your pictures are automatically stored in the Photos app.

You can photograph:

• Family and friends

• Vacations

• Pets

• Documents

• Receipts

• Business cards

• Something in a store you want to remember

• Where you parked your car

You can also organize your photographs into albums.

4. Record Videos

Your iPhone is also a video camera.

You can record birthdays, vacations, grandchildren, pets, sporting events, speeches, or anything else you want to remember.

You can then watch the video on your iPhone or send it to someone else.

5. Make Video Calls

With FaceTime, you can talk to someone and see them at the same time.

This can be especially useful for keeping in touch with family and friends who live far away.

You can also use other video-calling services, such as Zoom, depending on which apps you install.

6. Send and Receive Email

Your iPhone can handle email much like a regular computer.

You can:

• Read email.

• Write and send email.

• Reply to messages.

• Forward messages.

• Delete unwanted messages.

• Send photographs and documents.

• Open photographs and documents that people send you.

7. Browse the Internet

The iPhone includes a web browser called Safari.

Think of Safari as the doorway to the Internet.

You can use it to:

• Read the news.

• Look up information.

• Check restaurant menus.

• Shop.

• Look up medical information.

• Check sports scores.

• Research a vacation.

• Read reviews.

• Visit your bank’s website.

• Look up phone numbers and addresses.

8. Get Directions

The Maps app can act like a GPS navigation system.

Tell it where you want to go, and it can give you directions for:

• Driving

• Walking

• Public transportation

It can also help you find nearby restaurants, stores, gas stations, hospitals, pharmacies, and other places.

It can even tell you approximately how long it will take to get there.

9. Use Siri as Your Personal Assistant

Siri lets you talk to your iPhone instead of typing.

For example, you can say:

“Siri, what’s the weather tomorrow?”

“Siri, call Susan.”

“Siri, remind me to take the chicken out of the freezer at 4:00.”

“Siri, set an alarm for 7:30 tomorrow morning.”

“Siri, how old is Robert De Niro?”

For someone who doesn’t enjoy navigating menus and buttons, Siri can make an iPhone considerably easier to use.

10. Set Alarms, Timers, and Reminders

Your iPhone can replace an alarm clock and kitchen timer.

You can set:

• A morning alarm.

• A timer while cooking.

• A reminder for an appointment.

• A reminder to make a phone call.

• A reminder to take something with you when you leave the house.

11. Keep a Calendar

The Calendar app can keep track of appointments and events.

For example:

• Doctor appointments

• Birthdays

• Dinners

• Meetings

• Vacations

• Theater tickets

• Haircuts

The phone can remind you before the appointment so you don’t forget it.

12. Keep Notes and Lists

The Notes app is like carrying a pad of paper in your pocket.

You can use it for:

• Shopping lists

• To-do lists

• Names and phone numbers

• Travel information

• Ideas

• Instructions you don’t want to forget

You can type your notes or dictate them by speaking.

13. Record Your Voice

The Voice Memos app works like an old-fashioned tape recorder.

You can record:

• Your own thoughts.

• A lecture or presentation, when permitted.

• A conversation, when appropriate and legal.

• Information you don’t want to write down.

• Notes to yourself.

Depending on your iPhone and software version, recordings can also be transcribed into written words.

14. Listen to Music, Radio, Podcasts, and Books

Your iPhone can replace several older devices.

You can listen to:

• Music

• Internet radio

• Podcasts

• Audiobooks

You can listen through the iPhone’s speaker, headphones, your car’s audio system, or a Bluetooth speaker.

15. Watch Television, Movies, and Videos

Your iPhone can also be a miniature television.

With the appropriate apps and subscriptions, you can watch:

• YouTube

• Television programs

• Movies

• News

• Sports

• Streaming services

You can sometimes send what you’re watching from your iPhone to a television and watch it on the larger screen.

16. Read Books, Newspapers, and Magazines

You can use your iPhone as an electronic reader.

You can read:

• E-books

• Newspapers

• Magazines

• Newsletters

• Websites

You can usually make the print larger if you have difficulty reading small text.

17. Check the Weather

Your iPhone can tell you:

• The current temperature.

• Whether rain is expected.

• The forecast for the next several days.

• Weather in another city.

• Severe weather information.

This can be particularly handy when traveling.

18. Use a Calculator

Yes, it is also a calculator.

You can use it for everyday arithmetic without hunting around for a separate calculator.

19. Pay for Things

With Apple Wallet and Apple Pay, your iPhone can hold digital versions of participating credit and debit cards.

At many stores, you can pay simply by holding your iPhone near the payment machine and confirming your identity.

Wallet can also store certain:

• Airline boarding passes

• Event tickets

• Transit cards

• Loyalty cards

• Digital keys

You don’t have to use these features if you prefer physical cards.

20. Do Your Banking

Most major banks have iPhone apps.

Depending on your bank, you may be able to:

• Check balances.

• Review transactions.

• Transfer money.

• Pay bills.

• Deposit a check by photographing it.

• Receive alerts about transactions.

For financial apps, it is particularly important to use strong passwords and the iPhone’s security features.

21. Shop

You can shop online from your iPhone.

You can order:

• Groceries

• Household supplies

• Clothing

• Gifts

• Restaurant meals

• Prescription refills, where available

You can also compare prices before buying something in a store.

22. Store Important Information

Your iPhone can store documents and information you want to have available when you’re away from your computer.

For example:

• Travel documents

• PDFs

• Photographs of important papers

• Tickets

• Reservations

• Instructions

• Contact information

Just remember: highly sensitive information should be protected carefully.

23. Help You When Traveling

An iPhone can be an extremely useful travel companion.

It can help you:

• Get directions.

• Find restaurants.

• Check into flights.

• Display boarding passes.

• Make hotel reservations.

• Translate languages.

• Convert currencies.

• Check the weather.

• Take vacation photographs.

• Contact family back home.

24. Translate Languages

The iPhone can translate words and phrases between many languages.

This can be useful when traveling or communicating with someone who speaks another language.

In some situations, you can speak into the phone and have it provide a translation.

25. Find Your iPhone—or Other Apple Devices

Apple’s Find My feature can help locate a missing iPhone.

It can also help locate certain other Apple devices and accessories associated with your account.

If you’ve ever put your phone down somewhere in the house and couldn’t remember where, this feature can be extremely useful.

26. Make Text Easier to Read

If the print on the screen is too small, you can make it larger.

The iPhone also has numerous Accessibility features for people who have difficulty seeing, hearing, touching, or reading the screen.

For example, the iPhone can:

• Enlarge text.

• Magnify objects.

• Read text aloud.

• Accept spoken dictation.

• Provide captions.

• Flash the light when certain alerts arrive.

These features aren’t just for people with disabilities. They can make the iPhone easier for almost anyone to use.

27. Call for Help in an Emergency

An iPhone has several emergency and safety features.

Depending on the iPhone model and how it is configured, it can help you:

• Call emergency services.

• Contact emergency contacts.

• Display important emergency information.

• Detect certain serious car crashes.

• Use certain emergency satellite features when cellular and Wi-Fi service aren’t available.

It’s worth learning how the emergency features on your particular iPhone work before you ever need them.

28. Install Apps to Make the iPhone Do Even More

An app is simply a small computer program designed to perform a particular job.

Think of apps as adding new tools to your phone.

There are apps for:

• Banking

• Games

• Travel

• Restaurants

• News

• Weather

• Exercise

• Shopping

• Music

• Television

• Transportation

• Medical offices

• Airlines

• Photography

• Artificial intelligence

You get apps through Apple’s App Store.

29. Use Artificial Intelligence

Modern iPhones can also give you access to artificial intelligence tools.

AI can help you:

• Explain something you don’t understand.

• Write or improve an email.

• Summarize information.

• Brainstorm ideas.

• Learn how to use technology.

• Plan a trip.

• Translate information.

• Answer everyday questions.

You don’t need to understand how artificial intelligence works in order to use it.

30. And Yes—It Can Still Just Be a Telephone

Perhaps the most important thing for a technology-challenged person to understand is this:

You do not have to use everything on an iPhone.

If all you want to do is make calls, send texts, take pictures, read email, and get directions, that’s perfectly fine.

Learn one useful feature at a time.

Once you’re comfortable with that feature, learn another.

The Bottom Line

The easiest way to understand an iPhone is not to think of it as a complicated computer.

Think of it as a toolbox.

Inside that toolbox is a:

Telephone. Camera. Video camera. Map. GPS. Calendar. Alarm clock. Notebook. Voice recorder. Music player. Television. Newspaper. Book reader. Calculator. Wallet. Flashlight. Internet browser. Personal assistant.

And the remarkable part is that the entire toolbox fits in your pocket.

For the self-described Luddite, the goal isn’t to become a technology expert.

The goal is simply to learn enough about the iPhone to make your everyday life a little easier.