TUAW readers: Help us tell Apple what you want in the next iPhone!

Apple's campus is a surreal place to be. You're surrounded by a loop of buildings where some of the most advanced technological innovation is going on behind closed doors. That excitement aside, another great thing about being on campus was being able to dine at Café Mac. Café Mac is Apple's cafeteria/restaurant for employees. It's some of the best food you'll ever eat and the café rivals whatever Google has. But I loved Café Mac for more than the food. It is a place where you can meet and mingle with people from all different departments, be that legal, marketing, IS&T, software, or hardware.

Now before I go any further, let me state right now that every single Apple employee I've ever met takes their NDAs very seriously and no employee has ever revealed insider knowledge or let any secrets slip (to me anyway). I've remained iChat friends with a bunch of Apple employees I've met from some very cool departments on various trips to campus. I can tell you, though Apple would never admit to being influenced by sites like Engadget or TUAW, individuals at Apple do read those sites and do take into consideration what they read on them.

Now, here's where you come in: I know there's been a ton of excitement about the impending Apple iSlate, but let's not forget that, if past years are any indication, the iPhone OS 4.0 will be previewed sometime this Spring with a probable Summer release. I'm sure you all have your hopes and dreams what you want the next iPhone and iPhone OS to include, so here's your chance to get your voices heard – hopefully by many of the people on Apple's campus too.

I'm writing a series of features about what people want in the next iPhone and I need you to send me emails detailing what you would like to see in it. I'll have one iPhone article a week for the next month. Each article will deal with a specific wished-for area of the iPhone: next week's article will deal with the iPhone OS as a whole (settings, home screen, search, general behavior, etc.). Week two's article will cover iPhone hardware, while week three and four will cover the iPhone's built-in apps like Mail, Maps, Calendar, etc.

Until Friday, January 8, I'll be collecting your wishes and ideas for the next "general" iPhone OS. You have until then to email me your feedback, wants, mock-ups, and concept drawings. Don't be afraid to link to concepts you've seen at other places on the web either. And don't be afraid to borrow features from the Palm Os or Android, too. If they have something you like there's no reason Apple can't learn from them, so by all means include it if you think it would make the iPhone better. I'll present everything you guys tell me in an article and hopefully the boys in Cupertino will take notice.

Only feedback sent to tuawiphone [at] me dot com will be considered, but please feel free to lash out your thoughts in the comments too. Also, please only send me your "general OS" wish-lists now, or things could get lost in my mail box if you send your hardware wishes for articles down the line, etc. And, judging from the amount of email I'll get, it would be a great help if you could put your ideas in list form with a description for each if necessary.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/tag/iphone

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Apple's campus is a surreal place to be. You're surrounded by a loop of buildings where some of the most advanced technological innovation...

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Tom

What needs to be added to the iphone is simple just look at the other smartphones out there and the features they have that the iphone does not. Not being able to customize message alerts like the blackberry, a all inclusive mailbox to see mail from all accounts at one time and notification area like the palm pre. I love my iphone but still use a blackberry for work, why because of the limited custimization that apple allows. These are easy fixes and do not require hardware upgrades to accomplish. If apple really wants to increase revenue then features like this would do it. I wouldn't have to carry 2 phones anymore, just my iphone.

March 12 2010 at 10:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Stevepiel

How about the ability to insert multiple pics in a new email?

January 24 2010 at 2:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Stevepiel

How about a signature line in our SMS texts?

January 24 2010 at 2:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ray

I would love the ability to "delete individual calls in the recents" screen just like I am able to select and delete from among the individual text messages I've received. If it's a wrong number that I have dialed, or if someone has mistakenly called me, I'd rather not have that number cluttering up my recent calls screen. However, to my knowledge, iPhone users are unable to delete individual calls in the recents screen. The only thing we can do currently is delete the entire list of recent calls. That's a bummer.

January 11 2010 at 11:46 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

fractured

I know it's late, but a unified inbox for mail, and the ability to group apps in folders (like Categories in jailbreak) would really improve the phone for those who buy lots of apps. Apple does like people buying apps, don't they?

January 10 2010 at 11:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tebus

I would love to see a home screen similar to the Blackberry that shows new e-mails, sms messages, upcoming calendar appointments and missed calls (without jail breaking the phone and installing underground apps). Also, allowing programs to run in the background would be great for some apps such as IM programs that you would like to remain logged into etc.

January 09 2010 at 10:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

CAlvin Edwards

My Top 5 Next-Gen iPhone Mod Wishes
1. Verizon compatibility (largest network)
2. 5 MP camera on back
3. Capacity upped to 54 GB
4. Front-facing camera for videocalling (Who knows, if Apple does it, they might just cause videocalling to go mainstream!)
5. iPod Nano color treatment.

January 07 2010 at 10:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

djg

Roughly in order of importnance. Some of these missing features are almost enough to drive me back to the Blackberry!

Warn before discarding email composition, like when hitting up/down arrows

System-level spell check

Mark all mail read/Delete all read mail

Show unread mail count on the splash screen

Show icon in icon bar when in range of a WiFi hotspot - connect on touch on WiFi icon

Busy/Free/Tentative in Calendar

Sideways editing view in Calendar

Swipe left/right to change dates in Calendar

Weekly view in Calendar

Sorting by title in Notes

Biometric unlock password

Option to keep unlocked if plugged in

Native To Do app with Outlook sync

Support for Outlook categories for contacts/calendar/To Dos

System-level voice control for all functions - especially find contact, start/send SMS, start/send email, search maps by address or business name

Turn by turn option for Maps, with traffic

Topo and other view options for Maps