Apple Previews iPhone OS 4

I read quite a lot of reviews in the press on various topics, but one thing I find very useful is to find the source of the press release. Then I can read the original content and find out what is important to me.

In the case of the Apple information it took a bit of hunting. Here is a link to one of their articles.

www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/04/08iphoneos.html

The Apple iPhone 3GS has a number of fairly obvious areas where things could be improved and I'm happy to say, a number of areas look like they'll be enhanced with OS 4.

The following is a list of areas where I've found shortcomings and whether or not I feel OS 4 might improve my iPhone experience. Your list will obviously differ from mine.

1. I tested Skype on the iPhone thinking how neat would it be to have Skype running so I could receive calls on the iPhone. The problem is once Skype goes into the background you can't receive calls.
   
   One of the big changes with OS 4 is multi-tasking. This may fix this issue and if it does, Skype really becomes useful on the iPhone. From my limited testing of Skype (I stopped using it since it didn't work in the background) I found Skype to be OK when used on a wireless network.
   
   It should be noted for those who have purchased a 3G iPhone and not the later 3GS unit, it appears multi-tasking won't be available.
   
   
2. I have two email accounts. It really is tedious to traverse up and down the menus to see the messages in each inbox.
   
   The new unified mailbox looks like it might solve this issue and that would certainly make having multiple email accounts much easier.
   
   
3. Folders sound like a welcome feature.
   
   I currently have a few web site shortcuts on my iPhone and whilst there aren't many, the screens start to look cluttered.
   
   
4. Whilst I'm not really a fan of ads, they are a necessary part of life whilst most of us prefer to get free content rather than paying for content. I found it interesting that developers will get a good slice of the advertising revenue, "and developers will receive an industry-standard 60 percent of iAd revenue.". I think for developers that is good to know.
   
   
5. As a developer I've felt the current approach of developing and releasing apps via the App Store puts me off. Technically I'm not currently in a position to develop apps for the iPhone, but the current approach of being locked in via the App Store stops me from even investigating developing apps for the iPhone.
   
   With the new enterprise features I thought this line was very interesting: "iPhone OS 4 enables enterprises to securely host and wirelessly distribute their own in-house developed apps to employees". I think that option is worth reviewing.

I thought it may be of interest to jot down some of the things I personally find limiting with the iPhone. Don't get me wrong, I still think the iPhone is the market leader, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved.

• When deleting emails I can only select one at a time. Often I want to select all and then deselect those I want to keep. A single delete would then delete all the emails I don't want. Even the ability to select each unwanted email and then delete all selected would be much better than the current approach.
  
  
• With photos I have the same problem as emails in terms of deleting unwanted photos. There are times when I'd like to select a number of photos and then delete them all at once. The current approach of deleting each photo separately is tedious. Yes you can dock your iPhone and use the PC to delete more than one photo at a time, but I'd prefer not to have to dock my iPhone.
  
  
• Many sites designed for a smartphone and sometimes even when in email, I am faced with small text. There is no way for me to enlarge the text. I'm at the age where I don't need to wear glasses when using a computer, but with the iPhone I am often in the situation where it is very difficult to read the screen without glasses.
  
  
• I was really interested in seeing the iPhone on the big screen. To my disappointment when connecting the iPhone to a large screen TV via a video cable, I could watch videos, but that's about it. What I really wanted to be able to do was to view pictures and also just view whatever was shown on the iPhone. There may be an app for this, but finding apps is tedious. I've purchased a few apps and whilst they don't cost much, I've found they usually don't end up doing what I want.
  
  
• I'd like to be able to have a file on my iPhone which I could send to others via email. At the moment it seems I can only forward a photo. Saving a file to the iPhone and then being able to attach it to an email for me would be very handy.
  
  
• I'd like to develop iPhone/iPad applications on my Windows PC. Having to buy a Mac to develop applications and then also invest the enormous amount of time is a considerable hurdle for me.
  
  
• Spellchecking doesn't exist in the Safari browser and in other applications. One review article mentioned spellchecking was part of OS 4, but since I couldn't confirm the information from the Apple information I've included, it here as something which could be improved.

- Kelvin Eldridge