DISQUS

Sheamus · 5 months ago

Hmm, I wasn't aware that iPhone couldn't multitask. I have a Blackberry Bold, and can happily run the web browser (leaving it to load pages/submit data etc in the background), email, music player and message system all at once. Can the iPhone not even do *two* things together, like have the web browser running while you're sending an SMS message? And if not, when you close the browser to do something else, do you lose everything you've done up until then (ignoring things like history, etc)?

I was going to get an iPhone later this year so I could keep up to speed on the Twitter-related apps on the handset (amongst other things), but if you can't tweet while listening to music, I'm not sure there's much of a point.

Kubricklove · 5 months ago

The core apps that come with the phone such as iPod, safari, email, etc. can multitask. It is the third party apps that Apple excludes from multitasking.

Joe Manna · 5 months ago

I hear the pains. This is what we call a great product being killed by an inferior service. Several of the pains described can be remedied by jailbreaking the iPhone and using a combination of free (free as in beer, err, speech...) applications and 3rd party modifications. The only way Apple will learn on their poor decision to align with AT&T is when users surpass them and dictate how they want to use their phone and service.

The 3.0 Firmware brought some favorable changes to the iPhone. That said, I highly recommend and use the following apps:
* Backgrounder (multitasking)
* BossTools (more control of things)
* WinterBoard (more UI control)
* Qik (video broadcaster, competes with UStream)
* UStream Broadcaster (video broadcaster)
* Cycorder (video recorder, .MOV filetype)
* PDANet (tethering via ad-hoc Wifi)

The real solution here is not to hinder innovation through a finite set of resources. Apple should permit/sanction hacked apps via a certification process. Official apps gain visibility and preference; unofficial apps are slapped with a warning and users take their own risk in using them.

In the end, Apple COULD have leveraged the paid and free app dev communities. And AT&T would have a superior network for simply providing bandwidth. But it's a calculated risk, and for now, the hackers haven't amounted to much losses.

That's what the record companies said when Napster was around. Now look how thriving the Apple iTunes Store is, eh?

~Joe

secretsushi · 5 months ago

Louis,
Your article here is spot on! These are all reasonable requests that would make iphone owner's lives much easier... myself being one of them. I also think you rightly pointed out that "loving the iPhone" as a user does not constitute thinking that the iPhone is a "perfect device".

All products have room for improvement and Apple products are no exception, but there are no strong contenders who are any closer to narrowing that gap towards perfection. I have enjoyed my 1st generation iPhone since day one and my recent 3Gs purchase has cemented my appreciation for the device due to the improvements. Apple or not, show me a viable alternative and I'll consider it.

To bring it back to your point, addressing even half of the items you listed would hugely improve the experience of using the iPhone. Again, spot on!

mef · 5 months ago

Agree with the article, but since I live in a country where I had to tweak the phone to get it to work properly, I can tell you that 1, 2, 5, 7, 9 and 10 are all more-or-less easily addressable with a jailbroken phone. I can also say jailbreaking isn't very hard, even though there were those early horror stories two years ago about conflicts with Apples 1.1 upgrade.

Click on the jailbreaking app to start, then use the included all-in-one installer (on the phone) to put in the relevant apps.
1. 'Categories' gives you folders for sorting.
2. 'Backgrounder' gives you multi-tasking.
5. 'SBSettings' gives you easy toggles.
7. 'Winterboard' lets you install customized alert sounds, in convenient theme-packs if you prefer.
9. 'Ultrasnow' unlocks 2g and 3g iPhones.
10. 5 item dock and 5 column springboard are also 'Winterboard' options.

Mark Davidson · 5 months ago

A great article Louis. I really enjoy your posted items. You are an asset to my FriendFeed.

Michael Fidler · 5 months ago

I've been using the iPhone for less than a week, and I've already come to some of the same conclusions. I’ve also been multitasking since my first Amiga in the 80's. It's strange not being able to do it again. Regardless, I now believe that the iPhone is the standard by which all other phones will be compared. I love my iPhone! I have a serious (off topic) question. I've already used over 8GB's of memory on a 16GB model. That's only music and 3 pages of apps. Should I upgrade to the 32GB model? I have 30 days to upgrade.

Nigel Walsh · 5 months ago

absolutely yes, upgrade! excuse the pun, but size matters. The last thing we want is to whinge about storage space.... Things are only going to get bigger and bigger or simple more of them..

Kubricklove · 5 months ago

I would upgrade. I never thought I'd use the video camera, but here I am filling up large amounts of storage with video. I would always buy the most storage possible. I always ignore those who say " who needs all that space?" where there is a will there is a way.

Mark Essel · 5 months ago

We suffer when something is so close to being a perfect fit for our needs... but is just a little off. Great review.

Mark Essel · 5 months ago

Thanks Louis, great points on all fronts. As an iPhone (original) user I'm looking for the next big upgrade that won't cost me $100/month in phone bills. I'm still hoping that a 4G phone isn't too far off and is so similar to portable computer that we call it something else.
How about a "Global"? (invented by a friend for an rpg we wrote).

Tamar Weinberg · 5 months ago

Thank you Louis!!!!

Mike Nencetti · 5 months ago

good article! I am still waiting for the Verizon Iphone. (taps foot......)

Melfi · 5 months ago

Regarding your third point, I haven't had an issue with apps overriding my music. True when I start an app up it turns off the song I was listening to, but if you hit play on your headphones, your music will begin to play again and the app's music will turn off. This has worked for every game I have (Scrabble, Wolfenstein, Tiger Woods, etc.).

Jeff Douglass · 5 months ago

Great article

jcunwired · 5 months ago

I may get an unfollow after this, but you sound like the perfect candidate for a Palm Pre :))

Tamar Weinberg · 5 months ago

I am a candidate for a Palm Pre. I still use Sprint.

Geoff Schultz · 5 months ago

Pretty much hard coded into us to always want more :)

Nigel Walsh · 5 months ago

Louis - here's a newcomer I have just seen. Check out the HTC Hero - a video by the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8117382.stm Looks pretty interesting... Fully customisable!

JCunwired · 5 months ago

Two words. Palm Pre :)

Shock Me · 5 months ago

All very good ideas. All can likely be addressed in subsequent point releases of the iPhone OS.

However none should come at the expense of greatly reduced battery life. Therefore I recommend an 11th Way to improve the iPhone OS. Battery use profiles settings menu and options to turn on a hardware button combination macro to minimize power use in standby mode.

Kubricklove · 5 months ago

I would greatly appreciate profiles for settings as well.

Nigel Walsh · 5 months ago

ooh yes, all these features are brilliant but - if its out of juice, its out of juice. This is my number 1 for me...

JS · 5 months ago

Ummm the iPhone does multitasking...it just hasn't been opened up to third parties.

Kipp Bodnar · 5 months ago

well said Louis

AdamC · 5 months ago

Try to get a job with Apple to solve these problems than whining here as a blogger.

Kubricklove · 5 months ago

Don't be an ass. The post is full of constructive criticism, which is completely reasonable. Your comment is uninsightful, inelegant, and unreasonable.

martinjy · 5 months ago

Re #1 - I agree. Something like Spaces from the desktop OS could work nicely for app sorting...