Filed under: iPod Family, Software Update, iPhone
5 things you need to know about the iPhone 1.1.1 update
Before you hit that 'Upgrade' button, here are a few items of community interest to consider.
1. It's a one-way street. You cannot downgrade the firmware back to 1.0.2, not even using the alt-Restore trick that lets you pick an ipsw file to restore from.
2. The new firmware is locked down tighter than a WWE Half Nelson. If you somehow managed to upgrade while keeping your iPhone apps intact -- I have yet to hear a confirmation of this happening, and I kinda doubt it can happen -- congratulations. Everyone else is out of luck. Don't expect a jailbreak anytime soon.
3. You can buy songs at the iTunes WiFi music store and transfer them back to your computer. iTunes creates a custom playlist with your purchases.
4. The Home-button and double-space tricks are cool. Not sure whether they're cool enough to make it worth cutting off your access to third party apps, though.
5. My media folder disk access utilities still work. So if you want to store some files on your iPhone or iPod touch, download from here. For Intel Macs only. If you want to run on a PPC, grab this universal, rename it to util and replace the one in my tar file. It won't run as cleanly but you still get to use it on a PPC Mac.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
yacoub said 8:07AM on 9-28-2007
Good - now that iPhone users are on the same page as iPod touch users, the hacking effort will be more united and us touch users will get some attention hopefully. It sucked when the iPhone was open and free and the touch was locked down and everyone who had an iPhone didn't care. Now they understand what it's like. =P
Now let's get this sucker freed again so hopefully the touch can benefit as well.
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oshawapilot said 8:10AM on 9-28-2007
Well, I won't be updating anytime soon.
Lets see - a great phone running all the applications I could possibly want...or a few new features in the core OS at the expense of everything else useful?
The decision seems pretty straightforward to me.
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serenity said 8:16AM on 9-28-2007
Two thumbs down for locking it down, Apple. This made it WAY less likely for me to get one if (when) they get to where I live.
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thom_y said 8:19AM on 9-28-2007
Perhaps the next step, future versions of iTunes (e.g. shipped with Leopard) may only allow the most current versions of iPhones to sync with iTunes.
Its one thing to be locked in at 1.0.2, but not being able to add new music files would make the iPhone a useless paperweight for some of us.
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yacoub said 8:29AM on 9-28-2007
@#4: Then while they're at it they might as well require an open credit card account linked to iTunes and charge you a few cents everytime you transfer songs to your iPod.
I mean, it really just depends on how communist you want them to become in the realm of the hypothetical. Or maybe they'll become libertarian and open up to 3rd party apps and such. If we can dream of the worst-case scenario, certainly we can also dream of the best.
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Jon said 8:30AM on 9-28-2007
This is so disappointing. When I first bought my iPhone I was in love with it like no other gadget I've ever owned!
Unfortunately every move apple has made since then has slowly been killing my interest and is slowly making me despise this thing.
Not only am I getting to the point that I'm ready to ebay this thing, but I'm really learning to hate apple. There is just no good reason for apple to DELETE everything users want on their phone and then force some POS wifi DRM store on us.
Ok, I'm on an apple fanboy site (and I was/am one of them) so go ahead and tear me appart now. I didn't bend over and let apple have their way with me so I'm ready for your abuse....go
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Johnny Thrash said 8:31AM on 9-28-2007
Most people bought this phone KNOWING that Steve Jobs said, "No third party apps." You thought it was a good purchase decision even though you couldn't install any software on it. Now that you can't, again, you complain that they did something wrong. There is no logic in that whatsoever.
And before you go whining to me that it's yours and you can do with it whatever you choose... I agree with that. But you certainly knew what Apple's stance was. And for anyone who wants to say that it's against the ToS or whatever other legal terminology, just stop, because people are going to do what they want, when they want and no amount of legal jargon is going to stop it. End of story.
But my question still remains... you bought it knowing what Apple's stance was. This is no real big surprise.
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Reg Muffet said 8:35AM on 9-28-2007
When the 1.1.1 update hit,
"I felt a great disturbance in the source, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."
Hey Princess Erica!
Don't forget to give a report on the state of your Rebel Alliance.
A lot of innocents seem to think it'll be trivial to get their AppTapp / Installer.app fix again, and that getting SummerBoard themes back are only a simple update away.
Some clarification on why it won't be, and how Joswiak effectively lied when he stated that Apple was neutral on the 3rd party app scene.
I for one think it's just as noteworthy as the unlock bricking phones (which was totally expected) that the 3rd party development scene has been effectively shut down (which was less necessary).
iPhone lovers must now fork into two branches: 1.0.2 recalcitrants who can run 3rd part apps, and 1.1.1 eager beavers who can't.
What I'm worried about: if it stays like that for long, and more and more people drift up to the exciting world of Wi-Fi Music store / Safari vulnerability patching / Mail attachment rotating goodness of 1.1.1, will the scene just die...?
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Adrian vG said 8:36AM on 9-28-2007
All the apps are ugly and suck anyway.
Except that NES emulator...
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Jon said 8:38AM on 9-28-2007
So Mr. Jobs doesn't want to allow 3rd party apps because it could bring ATT's west coast network down??? Has he ever used another cell phone or does he just have slaves that do that for him?
Every phone I've ever had has allowed you to install apps, and guess what.....I never caused the ENTIRE (or any section) cell phone network to crash.
Apple has gone completely greedy. This business of controlling what users do with a device they PAID FOR is truly sickening. People have voice their opinion on this and apple just doesn't give a shit. They're going to do it their way and damn it you better like it...and you BETTER buy iTunes DRM songs or apple will take another app off your phone!
I bet if we don't all buy enough DRM songs apple will start by deleting the phone app next month...I wouldn't be shocked. The we'd just call it the "i". As in, "I'm" getting screwed by apple.
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Keith said 8:46AM on 9-28-2007
I don't care about 3rd party apps - but this damn update just made my iPhone completely unusable. It crashed during the update, then wanted me to restore it to the factory settings, then crashed while doing the restore! I now have no phone, and am wanting my money back.
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Jon said 8:48AM on 9-28-2007
@ Johhny Thrash
Apple said from day 1 that they would not be supporting 3rd party apps, yes. They did not say that they would be going out of there way to prevent people from doing things on their own. In fact, they said the opposite.
No matter how you make your argument, this is just not right! No matter what apples stance was or is, this is not a smart move for them to make. I know I'm not the only person who has been disappointed by apples iPhone politics.
The iPhone will not enjoy the success it could have if this position doesn't change. The iPhone platform WILL DIE if it's closed off from any kind of creativity...and before you attack my opinions, the iTunes DRM store is not creativity! It's greed.
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John Kenneth Fisher said 8:50AM on 9-28-2007
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
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Reg Muffet said 8:52AM on 9-28-2007
@Adrian vG,
Did you actually run any?
A lot of otherwise conservative journalists appreciated just how much potential the evolving polished apps were showing:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=3a3bc11ceb52c838f2992a07c517eb1bd5db77ab
The level of sophistication that was being achieved after so short a time, with no SDK documentation, demonstrated the pure love and enthusiasm shown by those involved.
It would be a crying shame if this potential was lost for good, and it is frankly reprehensible on the part of Apple that it took deliberate steps to kill the scene off.
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Reg Muffet said 8:56AM on 9-28-2007
Sorry, that video link showing some of the most impressive apps should be:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=60063a68a1418ed080c995b01a36efb853a11417
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SalizarrMarxx said 8:59AM on 9-28-2007
I'm curious here. Isn't there some way to essentially packet sniff a USB connection, so you can figure out the iPhone synch protocols?
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Billy K said 9:04AM on 9-28-2007
This is not the Apple I've known, loved and supported for nearly 30 years. This is more like AT&T.
I personally don't give a crap about 3rd-party apps (yet), but these tactics suck. It's one thing to strong arm other companies. It's another to strong arm your customers. I think Steve's been hanging out too much with the recording and telecommunications industry suits.
P.S. What about 3rd-party apps for iPod Touch, Steve? Your excuse about security and "bringing down the network" doesn't apply. Apple is solely in control of the Touch.
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Johnny Thrash said 9:06AM on 9-28-2007
@12 It's not greed. Thats just ridiculous. You just sound angry and bitter and want to lash out.
Even Erica (and MANY other people, myself included) wanted to be able to buy music, etc directly from the phone at the start. People cried because they could not buy items from iTunes using their Apple TV as well.
The iPhone sold before it was hacked and it'll sell after. Being a doomsayer because you are sore about it being locked down, yet again, isn't going to change that.
And for the record. I'm not arguing or debating. I'm looking at it from a logical perspective. I'm not angry or even slightly bothered one way or the other. I truly couldn't care less. I have the very best phone on the market, the Apple iPhone.
But if you must know, personally, I just see a bunch of kids crying and whining cuz Apple didn't do it their (the kid's) way. Quite frankly, it sounds like a bunch of Windows users who expected it to all be easily breakable and hackable and as destructible as Windows.
And I'm sorry, but that's just not the Apple way.
Do I want 3rd party apps? Oh yes... absolutely, but crying foul is not the answer.
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JMG said 9:09AM on 9-28-2007
@ Reg Muffet
You make some good points. All along I've been wondering, if Apple makes each update harder to crack, will it cause another rift in the non-AT&T activated/jailbroken/unlocked user base who barely manages to crack it just before a new update is released?
However, I think that the promise of some really great 3rd party apps will outweigh most people's decisions to "upgrade" to "Wi-Fi Music store / Safari vulnerability patching / Mail attachment rotating goodness of 1.1.1."
Regarding updating or the 3rd party app scene, the key word is patience. Everyone from Erica to iNdependence's Operator seems to be advocating that. If you're at 1.0.2, stay there for now. It's "base" in this game of technological tag.
The iPhone wasn't hacked in a day. Nor will this update be cracked in a short time.
But it will be.
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tristan said 9:32AM on 9-28-2007
can this app to use it as a external drive enable you to put a ringtone on it? hmmm?
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