Taking the Plunge: Updating to iPhone 2.0 Software Early

As was previously pointed out here at TUAW, the 2.0 firmware update for current iPhone ~~and iPod Touch~~ users has leaked out a bit early. Some have already taken the plunge and installed it. Still others are waiting for the "official" version from Apple to be released before going ahead and installing it. I'm not one of those people.

In the interest of doing something so readers of TUAW won't have to take the chance of a bricked iPhone, I downloaded and installed the new firmware this morning as soon as it was available. The update process went smoothly and, as expected, all of the media was erased from my iPhone. Fortunately, once the iPhone restarted and began its first sync after the update, all of my previous media (music, podcasts, video) was restored and able to be used again.

At first glance, some of the changes included in the new iPhone interface in iTunes 7.7 include an 'Applications' tab and a button to set up your iPhone to work with Apple's new MobileMe service which, as of this moment, isn't actually up and running yet. Also, after downloading several apps from the new App Store including AIM, Facebook, Google and Twitterific Premium, the iPhone was able to use those new applications without issue.

I also downloaded and installed other applications such as Salesforce Mobile, Net News Wire and Remote but so far, have not tested those. Also, and this particular change in the iPhone 2.0 interface made me very happy, there is now a dedicated 'Contacts' button allowing you to reach your contacts without having to go through the 'Phone' button first.

So, it appears that, at least in my case, the iPhone 2.0 firmware is a success. As the day progresses I'll let you know what else I find. Meantime, if you have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.

Update: As pointed out by commenters, this update is for the iPhone only. The iPod touch update will be a paid download from the iTunes store for $9.95 and will include the January Update apps, as Robert noted earlier today.

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As was previously pointed out here at TUAW, the 2.0 firmware update for current iPhone and iPod Touch users has leaked out a bit early....

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anne

I have an old Iphone, bought in the Usa, unlocked etc through Ziphone, runs 1.1.4, use it in Europe. I am assuming that upgrading to 2.0 will lock it again. Correct?

July 16 2008 at 7:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Gabe

This update took me about 30 mins as well... be patient!!

July 11 2008 at 10:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

badweasel

Has anyone actually verified whether the version we installed yesterday is the same as the one released today?

July 11 2008 at 2:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kipper

Help. I tried to go to the 2.0 software from a non-3G iphone. I had the 2.0 ispw and everything seemed fine. once the phone restarted itunes would not recognize it, also I cannot even get to the software update (option clicking on the button) to go back to a 1.1.4 or earlier ispw file....help

July 11 2008 at 11:39 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ebony

After 40 mins. I got spoke to techsupport and was told to just keep trying as server is being bogged down because of the amount of people trying to access the server for the update. It has been officially 2 hours now and as I am typing I get some activity from iTunes. Yeah! I have software 2.0 update! I am happy now. Okay, I am going to checkout all the Apps. Good luck to the others who are having issues. Hang in there you will get thru it.

July 11 2008 at 11:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ebony

It's has been 1 hour now and my iPhone is still at factory default settings. I am calling APPLE!

July 11 2008 at 9:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ebony

I tried the update and my iPhone was restored to factory setting. I am still waiting for my settings to be restored. How long does it take? It has been about 20 mins. since it wiped out all my settings and data. Currently, iTunes is displaying, "Accessing iTunes Store". Should I still wait?????

July 11 2008 at 9:47 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

STSanford

I hope this can be reversed. I cannot get the "official" 2.0 to load now and this version is a bit buggy.

July 11 2008 at 9:12 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

STSanford

I have it running and for the most part it's solid, however, Exchange Active Sync does NOT seem to work bidirectionally. Items added to the calendar from the Exchange Side do sync to the iPhone, but updates made on the phone are not sync'd back to the Exchange Server. Anyone else experience this "bug" or could it be by design? (Hope not, that cripples my use of the phone).

Also, any definitive way known to upgrade to released 2.0 even though the build we have is technically newer that what will be released?

Do you (can you) roll back to 1.4 then somehow trigger iTunes to re-download the latest version?
Thanks

July 11 2008 at 3:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to STSanford's comment

Jamie Whitfield

Good question... I hope that this can be done...

July 11 2008 at 6:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Joey

The password "bug" is not a bug, its a feature. It allows you to know what the last letter you actually type, rather than wondering "did I type the letter 'g' or did i type f, or h, or something next to that?"

July 11 2008 at 2:11 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply