Though there has been a recent trend for companies to forgo a product manual, many people still prefer to learn using a book. Apple doesn’t provide a paper manual, but they do offer a free ebook manual through iBooks.
With the introduction of iOS 7 this manual may be even more valued. iOS 6 and prior was designed for people who had never used a smartphone, because when the first iPhone came out it gave birth to the concept of the smartphone as we know it today. Buttons needed to be large and obvious, navigation was simple. But today’s average consumer is familiar with smartphones and demands sophisticated features that may be less intuitive but allow them to get their job done more efficiently and with less clutter. My friend Patrick Thornton discusses this at length in the latest episode of The Interchange Project.
Here are links to each of Apple’s newly updated manuals: