Just like you have a name, your iPhone does too. This is what shows up every time you try to AirDrop something over to another Apple Device, use Bluetooth to connect to another device, or use features like Find My iPhone or iCloud.
When you buy a brand new iPhone or one that has been reset to its factory settings, your iPhone doesn’t have a name. Any time you try to connect to another device or use a feature where your devices’ name would usually pop up, it would just say “iPhone”.
An unnamed iPhone would generally not be a problem, but if you are in a setting where there are several other iPhones in the same area, and someone is trying to connect to yours, maybe to AirDrop some pictures from an event you are at. It would make it very difficult to pinpoint which iPhone is yours in a sea of others. Sure, you could try to connect to each iPhone until you find the right one, but that would be a painfully long and unnecessary process. This is why Apple gives you the option to name your iPhone yourself.
How to change the name of your iPhone
The way the Apple interface works makes it super easy to customize your iPhone according to your preferences. All the steps are simple enough that even a new iPhone user would be able to follow through. The reason why most people can’t figure out how to change these settings is the fact that the settings are usually hidden inside other settings. So finding them on your own might get a little difficult.
To change the name of your iPhone follow these steps
- On your home screen, swipe around until you find “Settings”,
- In the Settings menu, scroll down about ⅓ of the way until you find the option that says “General.”
- In the General settings, you will find a bunch of basic settings. Here, you need to tap the “About” option, and it will navigate you into the general information about your iPhone.
- In the about menu, you will see everything like your software version, your IMEI number, and all the other information but on the top, you will see “Name.”
- In its factory settings, this would just be “iPhone”. Click on the “Name”, and it will now give you the option to type out whatever name you want.
- Type out your “new name.”
- Once you have, tap the blue “Done” button on your keyboard to save the name.
- If you are not redirected automatically, just tap the “About” option on the top left corner of your screen to go back into the About menu
- Your iPhone’s “name” would now have been reset.
How to change the name of your iPhone using iTunes
If for any reason you want an alternative way to change the name of your iPhone through your computer, you can do that too by using iTunes. To do it this way,
- On your computer, launch iTunes
Connect your iPhone to your computer by plugging it in via USB and wait for iTunes to recognize the phone.
- If you get the prompt to “Trust” the device, type out your passcode on your iPhone so iTunes can have access to it.
- Once iTunes has access, your iPhone will show up on the iTunes screen.
- On the top left of the screen, you will see your “iPhone” along with the battery percentage. There, double click on the name of the phone.
- This will automatically select the current name of the iPhone, and you can simply type out the name you want to switch to.
- Once you are done, press “Enter” and your new name will be saved.
Switching out the name on your iPhone only makes your life easier. It is something you should consider doing when you’re just setting up your new iPhone in order to not run into any issues later on. Since you can easily do this from your iPhone and your computer, there’s no reason not to do it as it only takes a couple of minutes!
