Playing Video

Now that you know what you want to watch, here’s how to watch it:

1. On the Home screen, tap the Videos icon.

Your list of videos typically pops up (though what appears may differ depending on your setup). Videos are segregated by category — Movies, TV Shows, Music Videos, as shown in Figure 10-1 — although other categories such as Rented Movies and Podcasts may also appear. Listings are accompanied by thumbnail images and the length of the video.

2. Flick your finger to scroll through the list, and then tap the video you want to play.

You may see a spinning circle for just a moment and then the video will begin. But on the most recent iPhones, especially the snappy 4S and the 5, the video starts playing without any noticeable delay.

3. Turn the device to its side because the iPhone plays video only in landscape, or widescreen, mode.

For movies, this is a great thing. You can watch flicks as the filmmaker intended, in a cinematic aspect ratio.

4. Now that the video is playing, tap the screen to display the controls shown in Figure 10-2.

5. Tap the controls that follow, as needed:

• To play or pause the video, tap the play/pause button.

• Drag the volume slider to the right to raise the volume and to the left to lower it. Alternatively, use the physical volume buttons to control the audio levels. If the video is oriented properly, the buttons will be on the bottom-left of the iPhone.

• Tap the restart/rewind button to restart the video or tap and hold the same button to rewind.

• Tap and hold the fast forward button to advance the video. Or skip ahead by dragging the playhead along the scrubber bar.

• Tap the scale button to toggle between filling the entire screen with video or fitting the video to the screen. (You won’t see this button in every movie.) Alternatively, you can double-tap the video to go back and forth between fitting and filling the screen.

Fitting the video to the screen displays the film in its theatrical aspect ratio. But you may see black bars above or below the video (or to its sides), which some people don’t like. Filling the entire screen with the video may crop or trim the sides or top of the picture, so you aren’t seeing the complete scene that the camera operator shot.

Figure 10-2: Controlling the video.

6. Tap the screen again to make the controls go away (or just wait for them to go away on their own).

7. Tap Done when you’ve finished watching. (You have to summon the controls back if they’re not already present.)

You return to the iPhone’s video menu screen.

On some movies, you can tap a control to summon a film’s Chapter guide (it’s not shown in Figure 10-2). The control resembles three bars, one on top of another, each with a period to the left of the bar.

To delete a video manually, swipe left or right over the video listing. Then tap the small red Delete button that materializes. To confirm your intention, tap the larger Delete button that appears.