iPhone 3.0 wishlist
Posted on 17th Mar 2009 at 12:36 by Alex Watson with 12 comments
Today Apple is going to be unveiling iPhone OS 3.0 and no doubt the twitterverse will be blogervating about it minute by minute when it is revealed. As there are several iPhone users here at bit-tech and CPC (myself, Tim, Mark and Clive are all slavish devotees, and Joe has an iPod Touch), and as it's great fun to speculate on what Apple will do next, we thought we'd put together a quick wishlist of features we'd like to see.
Copy and paste
First up, and most obvious, is copy-and-paste - yes, you can mail links to yourself, but it's freaking frustrating to find a piece of information while browsing with Mobile Safari and not be able to put it into a note or an email.
App multi-tasking
Many other commentators have suggested copy-and-paste - to the point that people seem convinced it will appear in this afternoon's announcement. My only thought is that copy-and-past is really only useful with another, much bigger feature - app multi-tasking and the ability to run tasks in the background. Palm has announced that it's upcoming Pre will support this feature, but so far Apple has stuck strictly to a policy that allows only Apple-coded, crucial iPhone apps - such as SMS and the alarm clock - to run in the background and interrupt other programs. If they do stick to not allowing apps to run in the background, copy-and-paste isn't going to be that useful as you'll need to copy to the clipboard, then quit out of one app and load another to use the info.
Fewer restarts
iPhone apps are great, but they can be crash-happy - especially when the phone has been on a few days, and you've been in and out of performance intensive apps such as games. Better memory management by the OS would probably help.
An improved e-mail program
While the iPhone's email app 'supports' Gmail, Exchange and other mail systems, it doesn't support more advanced features such as threaded conversations or search.
Support for MMS messages and video
This would be great, but the former isn't something the US market is that keen on, so I'm sceptical as to whether we'll see it. Video however, seems more likely, and if it does make an appearance, I'd expect an app with strong ties to iLife, and probably some 'fun' filters as seen on the Photobooth app that's included with OS X.
An interface overhaul?
OS 3.0 is getting its own Apple event, so it clearly needs to feel like a major release - I'd expect a graphical overhaul, perhaps centring on the home screen, and how it deals with multiple apps.
App Store upgrade
Finally, I also hope Apple does something about the App Store. iTunes doesn't offer a good way to explore and find new apps - I've discovered most of mine through recommendations from friends - and the 'management' of new apps is frankly, close to disastrous. An updated version of the Twitter app I use, Tweetie, was rejected for showing Twitter posts with profanities in; feedback I've had from iPhone developers seems to confirm there's very little discussion or information from Apple while your app is in moderation, and if it does get rejected, the reasons seem arbitrary (and of course, mistakes still get through). As I've said before, apps are a great part of the iPhone experience, and Apple needs to create a decent support system for them.
Clive also suggested a better alarm clock, but I'm not sure a firmware update, even one written by the mighty Apple, can add a 90db klaxon to a phone.
Right, now it's over to you - what feature are you looking forward to in iPhone OS 3?
Copy and paste
First up, and most obvious, is copy-and-paste - yes, you can mail links to yourself, but it's freaking frustrating to find a piece of information while browsing with Mobile Safari and not be able to put it into a note or an email.
App multi-tasking
Many other commentators have suggested copy-and-paste - to the point that people seem convinced it will appear in this afternoon's announcement. My only thought is that copy-and-past is really only useful with another, much bigger feature - app multi-tasking and the ability to run tasks in the background. Palm has announced that it's upcoming Pre will support this feature, but so far Apple has stuck strictly to a policy that allows only Apple-coded, crucial iPhone apps - such as SMS and the alarm clock - to run in the background and interrupt other programs. If they do stick to not allowing apps to run in the background, copy-and-paste isn't going to be that useful as you'll need to copy to the clipboard, then quit out of one app and load another to use the info.
Fewer restarts
iPhone apps are great, but they can be crash-happy - especially when the phone has been on a few days, and you've been in and out of performance intensive apps such as games. Better memory management by the OS would probably help.
An improved e-mail program
While the iPhone's email app 'supports' Gmail, Exchange and other mail systems, it doesn't support more advanced features such as threaded conversations or search.
Support for MMS messages and video
This would be great, but the former isn't something the US market is that keen on, so I'm sceptical as to whether we'll see it. Video however, seems more likely, and if it does make an appearance, I'd expect an app with strong ties to iLife, and probably some 'fun' filters as seen on the Photobooth app that's included with OS X.
An interface overhaul?
OS 3.0 is getting its own Apple event, so it clearly needs to feel like a major release - I'd expect a graphical overhaul, perhaps centring on the home screen, and how it deals with multiple apps.
App Store upgrade
Finally, I also hope Apple does something about the App Store. iTunes doesn't offer a good way to explore and find new apps - I've discovered most of mine through recommendations from friends - and the 'management' of new apps is frankly, close to disastrous. An updated version of the Twitter app I use, Tweetie, was rejected for showing Twitter posts with profanities in; feedback I've had from iPhone developers seems to confirm there's very little discussion or information from Apple while your app is in moderation, and if it does get rejected, the reasons seem arbitrary (and of course, mistakes still get through). As I've said before, apps are a great part of the iPhone experience, and Apple needs to create a decent support system for them.
Clive also suggested a better alarm clock, but I'm not sure a firmware update, even one written by the mighty Apple, can add a 90db klaxon to a phone.
Right, now it's over to you - what feature are you looking forward to in iPhone OS 3?
12 Comments
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This is a software announcement so i think your hopes will not come to fruition.
been using copy and paste, video recorder and background apps for a long time. also just started using bluetooth file transfer with iBluetooth from Cydia since last week.
not sure whether anyone have heard about a prediction on the copy and paste. basically you have to use 2 figures to select the text, that's way too much effort. Clippy from Cydia allows double tap then hold down to select text, and can copy from any source including within safari.
Apple is slow and useless. only good thing is the multi-touch supported games.
when is this out for download?
plus points:
+p2p gaming
+app get direct accessory control
+map API
+sms forward/delete
+youtube accounts
+voice memo in iCal
++shake to shuffle
+++landscape keyboard for all :D
+++Spotlight
unsure:
-in-app purchase
-push notification becomes too annoying? (eg, the pop up message)
-MMS and stero bluetooth are 3G only :(
about damn time for copy and paste! but i still think Clippy on jailbroken devices work works better.
oh, no news about Flash support.
Also, Turn by Turn Guidance will be allowed. +++
Wow, so the SwirlyMMS dev team are far superior to the Apple dev team?
They'll probably have new hardware out in Juneish, so they're obviously restricting features to encourage upgrading. Especially since most 1st Gen adopters' contracts will have ended.
i hope dev-team finds a way around this, almost all other EDGE enabled phones have MMS without problem.