The symbols that turn up again and again on a phone, and what actually
happens when you tap them. Plain English, no jargon.
You cannot break it by looking
Opening a menu never does anything on its own.
Tapping the three dots, or the three lines, or any other menu icon only
shows you a list. Nothing at all happens until you tap one of
the items on that list. So it is always safe to open one and have a look.
If you do not like what you see, tap anywhere else on the screen, or tap
Back, and it closes again as though you had never opened it. When you are
stuck, opening the menu to see what is in there is usually the right
thing to do.
The twelve you will meet most
Three dotsMore choices are hidden here. Tap it and a list drops down — things like Delete, Settings or Share. Nearly always in the top right corner.
Three linesThe app’s main menu. Opens a list of all its sections. Usually the top left corner.
ShareSends what you are looking at to somebody else, or into another app — a text, an email, WhatsApp.
PictureOpens the photos already on your phone so you can pick one to send. The little mountain does not mean mountains.
CameraTakes a new photo right now, instead of choosing one you already have.
BackGoes back one step to the screen you were just on. Nothing is lost and nothing is deleted.
SettingsWhere you change how something behaves — text size, sounds, notifications, your account.
SearchTap it, then type what you are looking for.
AttachAdds a photo, a document or a file onto an email or a message.
AddStarts something new: a new message, a new contact, a new note, a new appointment.
DeleteThrows it away. On most phones it is not gone for good — it waits in a Bin or Recently Deleted folder for about 30 days.
WriteStarts writing something new, or lets you change something you have already written.
Three dotsMore choices are hidden here. Tap it and a list appears — things like Delete, Settings or Share. Usually the top right corner.
Three linesThe main menu on a website. Opens a list of all its sections. Usually the top left corner.
ShareThe box with an arrow escaping out of the top. Sends what you are looking at to somebody else, or into another app.
PictureOpens the photos already on your phone so you can pick one to send. The little mountain does not mean mountains.
CameraTakes a new photo right now, instead of choosing one you already have.
BackGoes back one step to the screen you were just on. Top left, often with a word next to it. Nothing is lost.
SettingsWhere you change how something behaves — text size, sounds, notifications, your account.
SearchTap it, then type what you are looking for.
AttachAdds a document or a file onto an email.
AddStarts something new: a new message, a new contact, a new note, a new appointment.
DeleteThrows it away. It is not gone for good — it waits in a Recently Deleted folder for about 30 days.
WriteStarts writing something new, or lets you change something you have already written.
Why these are harder than they look
Almost none of these are pictures of the thing they stand for. The
three dots depict nothing at all — they are
borrowed from writing, where three dots mean “something has been
left out”. The picture icon shows a photograph
of a mountain, to stand for the idea of a photograph, which is two
leaps of imagination before you get anywhere near your grandchildren.
They are not universal symbols. They are vocabulary, learned by years
of using computers and then quietly forgotten about by the people who
design them. Anyone who did not sit through those years never got the
lesson — which is the whole reason this sheet exists.