Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Bad Apple, iPhone, iPod touch
What I'd like to see in iPhone 3.0 (but probably won't)
Yeah, I know we haven't seen it yet, but based on what we do know, here's some things I'll bet Apple missed that I'd like to see ASAP.- Unified mailbox as an option: This works great in OS X. I sure am getting tired of checking 3 email accounts with hundreds of extra finger swipes every day. Even an icon to get me to any inbox I want to see would be an improvement. Some people don't want this. A simple software switch would be fine.
- Louder speakerphone: I have no idea why this as been such a problem since day 1. The volume of this phone is just not loud enough in a noisy environment. Maybe this is a hardware thing, maybe it's software. Whatever. Just fix this!
- Getting to Bluetooth and location manager: These settings are just buried too deep. How about a switch in the top level of settings? Once again, save me all that tapping.
- Consistency of app settings: Sometimes they appear in settings, sometimes within the app. I shouldn't have to scrounge around trying to guess which app works which way.
- Moving icons around on the desktop: Have you ever tried to organize icons by type, or popularity? Gee whiz, what a nightmare. Maybe this could be done by dragging apps in iTunes, or some easy method on the phone itself would be even better. As it is now, it's like one of those old plastic puzzles where you had to get things in order. Every drag of an icon on the iPhone often has unexpected or at least unwanted results. This is not one of those 'it just works' things on the iPhone.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
russell said 10:35PM on 6-04-2009
How about a keyboard whose keycap symbols change to show shift status, like uppercase only when shift has been pressed. You'd think that, being a virtual keyboard and all, that the buttons could reflect what you actually will get when pushed.
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Victor said 9:41PM on 6-04-2009
Wasn't there an application that allowed you to organize your applications via itunes or was that just a proof of concept?
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zeusbox said 2:04AM on 6-05-2009
it's just concept.
Jeff said 9:04AM on 6-05-2009
Now that I'm accumulating a lot of apps I'd actually like to be able to organize them in folders. Pressing a folder would open it to reveal the apps.
Ryan Trevisol said 10:16AM on 6-05-2009
Stacks!
gib said 11:40AM on 6-05-2009
Stacks would be nice, especially for all the games... I could declutter a huge amount with folder systems. But that still doesn't solve the nightmare that is trying to *organize* your apps. You would still have to move everything into a stack, and rearrange it all again.
That concept video would be a great way to organize on the computer, but has how about on the iPhone itself?
ElGabo said 9:43PM on 6-04-2009
Ability to mark several emails as read.
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Chad Hawley said 10:39AM on 6-05-2009
Um, hell yeah! Having the ability to "mark previous emails as read" would be great! I'm holding out for that in 3.0.
allen_84 said 9:03AM on 6-05-2009
They really need to add Expose or something to allow multiple apps running and the ease of switching between them.
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Matt said 9:44PM on 6-04-2009
@Mel:
About the speakerphone problem, do you have the original iPhone or the 3G? I've owned both, and the speaker on the 3G is both clearer and louder than the original iPhone's speaker, and is much more suitable in noisy situations.
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john Faitakes said 9:51PM on 6-04-2009
How about custom alerts for messages!?!?!??!
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Adam said 11:03PM on 6-04-2009
It kills me that i can change the email notification sound... I never hear it and i use it for work!!!!
Shannin said 7:40AM on 6-05-2009
Since my phone always stays on vibrate i would like different vibration alerts for text messages and email.
Jason said 9:53PM on 6-04-2009
I want to be able to turn cover flow OFF. I never use it and it's annoying when laying on the sofa trying to find a podcast or song and to have the screen keep flippin flopping around.
I want a WIFI icon that I tap and it turns wifi on/off. If not that then a physical button on the side.
I want to be able to hide core apps I have no use for like stocks,contacts,etc. I don't want it on page 3 I want it to go away for good.
I want wallpaper on the app screen.
I would like a refresh of the core apps icons. Or offer multiple themes and let us pick an app style.
I want to press and hold the home button for 2 or 3 seconds and it brings up the phone keypad and just the keypad.
I want FM radio. Radio apps work great unless you are using public transportation and travel through deadzones. 3 minutes of radio...5 minutes of buffer...3 minutes of radio 5 minutes of buffer,,,,, No reason the iphone couldn't have a physical FM radio rec. w/ core OS tuner app. Plus the online streams always block sports broadcasts because of rights.
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The Chad said 10:50AM on 6-05-2009
jailbreak solves most those problems. I second the coverflow off switch, I hate that!
Also, make the multiple notifications for texts optional, that was the dumbest addition to the software! How hard would it have been to add an option??
Johnny said 11:04AM on 6-05-2009
I forgot to charge my phone last night so I can't look, but there is an option to turn off the second notification somewhere in the settings. I don't remember if it was in 2, but I know it is in the beta of 3.0.
Roberto Felgueiras said 11:55AM on 6-05-2009
You want to REMOVE CONTACTS? Why on earth would you want to do that! It's a phone! I mean, the touch, I can understand, but the phone kind of NEEDS the whole contacts thing. Stocks I can do without, same with notes, I guess... but I hope you have a good memory to remember numbers.
Mohulis said 7:23PM on 6-06-2009
@Roberto
Having the contacts (address book) as an icon on the iPhone pages is redundant for most, as just opening the phone icon already has your contacts embedded. For some that or more business oriented or have a very large number of contacts it might not be as redundant seeing as you would want only those you call regularly in your phone contact list.
Joachim Bean said 10:01PM on 6-04-2009
Unified mailbox as an option:
I wish it would happen, but it does not look like it will make it in 3.0.
Louder speakerphone:
There are a few sound issues with the external speaker and the iPhone OS, but with the current hardware, I don't think it can get much better.
Getting to Bluetooth and location manager:
The Location Services switch is already on the General top level, for Bluetooth to be on the General settings top level, Apple would have to have a switch and a table cell in the same view (not too intuitive).
Moving icons around on the desktop:
Sorting could be a lot better. There have been hints at this and I bet this will be implemented sometime after 3.0 comes out.
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Esteban said 10:48PM on 6-04-2009
pleasefixtheiphone.com
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