iPhone Tips - The Way-Cool Hidden iTunes Scrub Speed Tip

Here’s the situation: You’re listening to a podcast or audiobook and trying to find the beginning of a specific segment by moving the Scrubber left and right. The only problem is that the Scrubber isn’t very precise and your fat finger keeps moving It too far one way or the other. Never fear — the iPhone OS 3.0 software has a wonderful (albeit somewhat hidden) fix.

Just press your linger on the Scrubber (that little round dot on the Scrubber bar), but instead of sliding your finger to the left or right, slide it downward toward the bottom of the screen. As you slide, the scrubbing speed changes like magic and the amount of change is displayed above the Scrubber bar. The default (normal) speed Is called hi-speed scrubbing; when you slide your finger downward, the speed changes to half-speed scrubbing, then to quarter- speed scrubbing, and finally to fine scrubbing.

While you’re sliding, keep an eye on the elapsed time and remaining time indicators because they provide useful feedback on the current scrubbing speed. This scrub trick is easier to do than to explain, so give it a try.