Full iPhone OS 3.0 Software Review
Apple released the much-anticipated iPhone OS 3.0 software on Wednesday, and since then, we have been busy over here testing what’s new. With over 100 new features, v3.0 is no minor upgrade for iPhone and iPod touch users.
However, after all the buzz, the transition to v3.0 seemed a little anti-climactic. Only one new app icon appeared on my phone after the installation. Was that it? Not even close—while the change in appearance is slight, there’s much more behind the scenes.
The new features highlighted on Apple’s website have gotten a lot of hype, but the lesser-known features are worth a mention as well (and have been a lot of fun to discover!). Here, I’ll explore the real-world application of the main features and some of my favorite ‘hidden’ ones in the iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade.
MAIN FEATURES
Cut, Copy & Paste
Finally! Even though other smartphones have had this for a while, we’re still excited. Call it the “#1 feature the iPhone should have had in the first place,” but the way it works is the best part: it’s seamlessly integrated into all applications.
Simply touch the screen where you want to copy, and a dialog box will pop up. Select the word or block of text that you would like to copy, and select “Copy.” When you have the spot open where you would like to paste the selection, touch again and the “Paste” command will pop up.
Note: Your copy/paste dialog box may vary between applications, but the principle is the same. In Safari, touching the screen will immediately bring up the Copy dialog box. In Mail, you will be prompted to either Select or Select All and then Copy. The only place where I ran into a problem was in MMS, where my only option was to select the entire conversation bubble, rather than just a section of it. In that case, I copied the entire block of text into a new note, and then selected the snippet I wanted from there.
Landscape Orientation
Not much to elaborate on here, since landscape mode is pretty straightforward. As promised, every application I used supported landscape mode except for one—apparently, it is not supported in Search! Maybe that will change with the next update?
Spotlight Search
Aside from the aforementioned incompatibility with landscape mode, Spotlight on the iPhone is pretty great. With a simple swipe of your finger to the left (the same motion you make when you flip pages back to the Home screen), the Search field pops up. It was so intuitive, I discovered it accidentally.
Spotlight searches all of your contacts, email, music, calendars and applications, and sorts the results by the best match. One click on a result takes you to that selection—if it’s an app, it opens; if it’s a song, it plays, and so on.
Click here for a screenshot of the search panel.
Click here for a screenshot of the results.
Voice Memos
This application now resides on my Home screen, on which I gladly made room after I discovered that it will work with my Rap Cap to record—you guessed it—voice memos. Not into talking to yourself? Use it to record anything else you please (the only limitation is the capacity on your device) and you can then share the file via email. The result is a standard .m4a file format, which can be used with iTunes, QuickTime or dozens of other media software.
The interface is slick, and Apple keeps it simple with as few buttons as possible and the glossy image of an old school microphone (which I keep imagining Frank Sinatra or Edward R. Murrow either crooning or broadcasting into, respectively) and audio VU meter, complete with a virtual needle.
Find My iPhone
A plus of a MobileMe account now (especially for those forgetful types) is Find My iPhone, where users can now locate a lost or stolen phone via GPS technology. All you need to do is a quick setup.
First, to activate it on your iPhone, go into Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and select your MobileMe account. Flip the Find My iPhone switch to On. Then, log in to your MobileMe account, click the Accounts icon, and select Find My iPhone on the lefthand side. The map will zero in on the phone’s location.
It does not pinpoint the exact location, but does give a pretty accurate radius to either jog your memory if you’ve misplaced it, or a tip to tell the cops when you report it stolen! If it’s the latter, you can then remotely ‘wipe’ the data to keep your info safe. If it’s the former, you may want to just send an audible alert to the phone to help you find it.
Note: When I tested this, it showed the location data within the last 24 hours. I was able to refresh it by selecting Update Location, and it accurately updated the map to display my phone’s current location.
Improved Calendar
There’s support now for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync as well as search capabilities via Spotlight. Shared calendars are supported through CalDAV, but currently, there is no way to sync them. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more to the iCal improvements, but it’s a start.
Parental Controls
I don’t personally need this (at least not yet), but it’s great that Apple is giving users the choice to customize system access and censor the content on the internet if they wish.
To enable restrictions, go to Settings > General > Restrictions on your iPhone. Assign a password, and then toggle an On/Off switch for access to any/all of the following categories: Safari, YouTube, iTunes, Installing Apps, Camera and Location.
Among the allowed content, you may then select the level of access in the iTunes Store, which now limits browsing to only certain ratings of shows/movies (G, PG, etc.), music, podcasts and apps that are age appropriate (7, 9+, etc.). (Apple now requires developers to assign an age rating to each app.)
ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS
Safari
It’s notably faster, and now includes AutoFill to remember your user names and passwords.
iTunes
You can now rent movies, purchase audiobooks, etc. on the fly. There is also support for iTunesU on the iPhone/iPod touch.
Languages
Added support for over 30 languages. He noted that one of the advantages of the iPhone’s ‘soft keyboard’ is that a multi-lingual user can simply tap the keyboard to change languages “in real time.”
Stereo Bluetooth
Any compatible Bluetooth device with stereo support will now work—this includes headphones/headsets and auto kits for your car stereo.
YouTube Login
Now, you can access your own YouTube account, rather than just watch videos. You can save and sync bookmarks and rate favorites.
Shake to Shuffle
This means exactly what it says: all you need to do is shake your i Phone/iPod touch, and it will shuffle the songs in your playlist. (This is really cool, by the way.)
HIDDEN GEMS
There are supposedly 100+ ‘hidden’ features in iPhone OS 3.0 and counting. Here are some of my favorites:
Added Keyboard Characters
The keyboard now has certain keys that display extra options when you hold them down. A period reveals an ellipsis symbol, the dash reveals an emdash option and the apostrophes can reveal “smart” quotes. Cool!
iPod Controls
If you have your iPhone set to auto lock at any point when listening to music, you will eventually need to “slide to unlock” to fast forward a song that you’d like to skip over. Now, if you press the Home button twice, the iPod controls will pop up without unlocking your device. Thanks, Ed!
Force Quit
To quit an unresponsive app in v3.0, hold the Sleep/Wake button at the top of the device until the red slider appears that says “slide to power off.” Then, hold down the Home button to quit the unresponsive application. Hopefully, no one has to use this much.
Unlimited App Pages
Now, you are no longer limited to 8 pages (or was it 9?). No matter—now you can fill your phone with as many apps as your device has room for! The only caveat is that if you go beyond the 11 pages (which translates to 176 icons), they are not visible and can only be accessed through Spotlight.
Camera Options
The Camera app now gives you a preview of the last photo you took in the lower lefthand corner, where the symbol for your Camera Roll used to be. You can also now email more than one photo at a time!
COMING SOON
There are also some core features are aren’t available yet, because they require AT&T’s full support. Among them:
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)
MMS allows users to view photos, hear audio, see contacts and locations all in one application. Recently, I received a video message from a friend that I couldn’t view in my SMS app. “No problem,” I thought—the message included an access code and password for AT&T’s website so I could login and see it there.
However, both codes were a long, random character combination and in the absence of a copy and paste feature, I couldn’t easily access it without a pen and paper (how archaic!). Unfortunately, I never manually copied the codes for the login, and AT&T deleted the message seven days later before I could view it. D’oh! Hopefully, we will see support for this later this summer.
Tethering
Have you ever needed internet access desperately, and no Wi-Fi was available? The great thing about tethering is that you will be able to connect your iPhone to your computer and share its internet connection (via cell tower) through USB or Bluetooth. This will work on both Macs and PCs and uses the 3G network.
This is not yet supported by AT&T, though there is a workaround for those who can’t wait. Find out here if you’re curious.
Turn-By-Turn GPS
Finally, we’ll be able to use the iPhone as a real GPS. TomTom will be releasing an app in the App Store that will dictate turn-by-turn directions to you in the car as well as a corresponding car accessory that will mount your device to the windshield for hands-free access.
I can’t possibly list everything, but in short, this seamless, yet feature-rich upgrade is an absolute necessity for any existing or new iPhone or iPod touch user. Apple is firmly (back) at the top of the smartphone competition!
To download the update, plug your iPhone or iPod touch into your computer, and click “Check for Update” in iTunes.