How would you change the iPhone?
By Evan Blass 
posted July 8th 2007 4:45PM
posted July 8th 2007 4:45PM
We wanted to wait until the dust had settled a little bit and the legions of faithful got some time to adjust to their new best friend before asking the inevitable question about such a high profile device, and now feels like the right moment to end the honeymoon and really start tearing into the iPhone like the true vultures that we are. You're obviously well aware of what we think of the little bugger by now (almost all of us, in fact) and many of you have already opined on the matter in one of our innumerable posts over the past few weeks, but for the sake of future generation of robots downloading and synthesizing our archives, let's assemble these gripes together here in this one handy post.Right off the bat, we'll get the obvious candidates out of the way and save everyone some time: give us 3G, a physical keyboard, and for all that is good and right in the world, a little A2DP action so that we could actually cut the wire once and for all (well, those of you non-WinMo users, anyway). Those are just the biggies, and we know that there are a lot more out there (we're looking at you, missing MMS), so have at em...
35 reasons why I'm not going to buy an iPhone... but I'll look again when version 2.0 comes out...
1) it’s built to AT&T/Cingulars system (the company has a long term deal with Verizon). And the AT&T Cingular infrastructure is a painfully SLOW system.
2) no expansion slot.
3) can’t swap the SIM card with another phone if I drop the iPhone (two reasons: it’s built inside, and it’s a weird physical format card... if you want to use a different phone while your iPhone is being fixed you have to buy another sim card))
4) no MP3s (what would it cost to add the most common format on the planet?)
5) no GPS (you have to tell Google maps where you are before you can tell it where you want to go).
It's not like GPS is a new techinology... it's in the prepaid phones you can buy at the local 7-11...
And you can't even add an external bluetooth GPS - the Bluetooth is badly broken.
6) no replaceable battery (my 8 year old Nokia had that…)
7) no AvantGo (my ancient Palm 3 had that)
8) no Vindigo (local info)
9) no Adobe Flash in the browser - and that breaks a lot of stuff (how much would it have cost to include it?)
10) no Adobe Acrobat (PDF reader) (ditto)
11) no slide lid (which would prevent a scratched screen) (a slide lid could be 1/2 of a clamshell design, which I much prefer)
12) no car cradle with external antenna (no antenna jack - and my 9 year old Nokia had that). And I need an external antenna where I drive.
13) no way to connect an external keyboard (and have you priced out a bluetooth keyboard recently?)
14) you can’t use an audio file as a ring tone
15) can’t have different ring tones for different incoming calls (i.e. one for spouse/kids, a second for extended family, a third for everybody else... and my 3 year old Nokia can do this)
16) can’t talk to a printer unless it’s a pricey bluetooth one... the iPhone can use the internet via a wireless network, why can't it talk to the printer on my home wireless network?
17) can’t talk or sync to an Exchange server (the corporate mail server).
Better yet, fully synch with Outlook's Contacts, Calendar and Tasks (and make Categories work).
A blackberry can do that, why can't a "newer and better" product do it?
18) The music playing app quits when you start up the browser. Hello, the mac multitasked 20 years ago, why can't the iphone?
19) It's too slippery (you are forced to get a case).
20) It needs MUCH louder ringtones and stronger vibrate feature. Why can't it use the microphone to sense the surrounding noise level and adjust the volume to compensate? The local fast food stand had that in the 1970s... if you drove up in a quiet car it was "just loud enough", if you drove up in a open exhaust street racer it got much louder - and automatically.
21) Bluetooth file transfer. Hello? It does bluetooth, why can't it do file transfer?
22) be able to edit documents using a Bluetooth keyboard
23) Why can't the landscape feature work on ALL the apps, and expecially the keyboard?
24) Add iChat. Or is that too obvious?
25) Add iCal features, and make them sync. At a minimum I'd like the To Do list to sync with iCal To Do pane.
26) where's the eBook reader?
27) Why isn't there a Home key in the browser?
28) Why no Cut and Paste?
29) The camera sucks - no flash, no physical shutter button, no zoom. I can live without the first two, but I need zoom. And you can't flip it around for the future vChat/picturephone application.
30) A natural application that's missing - a password vault
31) If you miss a call/email/text there is no visual or audio repeat notify feature (i.e. beep, flash, or vibrate every 5 min until you check your phone). The Blackberry uses a single bicolor LED for this - it changes from green to red and back.
32) I have to return to the main menu every time I need to see if I have any email or messages waiting. Every other phone I've seen has an icon at the top of the screen indicating that you have emails/texts/voice mails waiting. Some even tell you hoew many.
33) 64-bit editions of Windows are not supported. Yes, that's official Apple policy.
34) You can't even set up the iPhone unless you have an iTunes account.
35) Obvviously Apple hasn't figured out that the world knows what a shift key is for. Adding a shift key to the front of the unit would have made the user interface so much intuitive/easier to use.
Is it going to be another mac cube? another Newton? Or a 2CX ? or an Olds Toronado?
Compared to current products the iPhone falls flat on its face in everything but sex appeal and esthetics
Personally, I’ll wait for version 2.0 and reconsider… but the reconsideration will be against this list…
And I can't be the only one with these complaints. It's a good product, but it could have been an excellent one.
dude you need to buy a phone before you can make statements about the phone.. Yes you can take the sim card out and put it into another phone i do it all the time...
• You should be able to change any screen to widescreen view (except the home screen of course). This is extremely helpful on any screen in which you have to use the typing keyboard because it makes the keyboard larger and easier to type.
• Test Messaging to multiple recipients (what were they thinking?)
• MMS text messaging
• There are no options when using a Bluetooth device (speaker, headphone, etc.). All phones by other manufactures have options on their phones with Bluetooth devices (automatic answer, how many rings before automatic answer, etc.)
• Voice dialing (again, what were they thinking?)
• Bluetooth printing from phone
• Quicktime plugin from Safari browser (apple makes quicktime right?)
• Flash plugin from Safari browser
It's an amazing smart phone. These are basic things that were omitted from the iPhone that even non-"smart" phones have.
I am shocked that apple didnt either buy or steal bluephone elite and salling clicker. i dont have an i phone so i dont know how it behaves when docked. but i've heard no mention whatsoever of this sort of functionality. Itunes/ dvd pausing with caller id from addressbook on screen on my mac is so so great. sending SMS from the mac is so great. I cant believe that no one has mentioned this, i was sure it'd be an absoulte no brainer on the iphone. add to that speakerphone over bluetooth, maybe these would have to be mac only features.
the iPhone is great!
I just want Flash in Safari :)
Already have an 8G iPhone so here's some rather simple software updates that don't require new hardware:
re: Keyboard -- of course keep it virtual; add selection of smiles, contractions, emoticons, etc; since it's a virtual keyboard, could consider allowing switch to a simulation of a T9-enabled keypad (which many are already familiar with)
re: SMS -- off course add pic mail; multiple recipients; able to send "recent messages" again to other recipients w/o having to re-type them; "save draft"; "save draft and send when service is available" (ie, write a dozen SMS msgs on the subway, and it sends 'em all when you emerge)
re: camera -- software controls (simple controls for brightness, white balance, manual contrast, zoom); video could be added thru software alone.
agree w/above posters re: safari flash/java, etc. all in good time...
TOP 20 REQUESTS
Not the right place for this but im lazy - I hope the Engadget boys will compile a TOP 20 REQUESTS from all of our comments, perhaps divided between software and hardware requests, and then let Apple know about it.
This forms a valuable petition, and Apple do tend to take notice of what their users want and will act on massive feedback quickly.
It would be great to be able to send vcards via text message from the addressbook. Also we should be able to send pictures via MMS. Not everyone has emil on their mobile phones.
I would like to be able to add photos to text messages
better battery life - i used to be able to go a ful day on my Treo with push email, web surfing, photo sms and calendar syncing over the air and oh yeah Id make calls too and the battery would last anywhere between 5-6 hours. The iPhone in a given day so far only gives me 3 hours before its dead - thats ridiculous
Do not change the headphone jack.
I've had too many get loose and wiggly over time. I love that the jack is no reinforced BECAUSE it is recessed. Apple should have included a small flexible adapter, but do not change to a flash headphone jack.
Make it a zunePhone
The iPhone can forget about making it in Europe without a good minimum 3,2 mp camera with flash, macro, video-function and a good lens. Possibly it will need a 5mp camera by this fall.
Here in Norway, cellphone and camera are now the same thing, that's why e.g the Sony-Ericsson K800 has gotten so popular.
You can't get ANY phone with 8GB of memory, and you guys are already complaining about this one? Give Apple a break!
So... These features would be nice with the current hardware config:
-Landscape keyboard on all apps, bigger buttons means less mistakes
-Photo text messaging, from the Photos widget right to the SMS
-Quicknotes for SMS, pre-saved messages that can be dropped in any text.
-Video Capture and sending
-Copy and paste text
-Multiple text recipients at once
-Setting songs from the iPod widget for the ringtone
-Voice recorder for dictation
Email, Email, Email. I think it's the weakest app on the whole phone. You should be able to:
-automatically download emails so you can read/respond off-line - there's plenty of storage space!
-mark multiple emails for read/unread/delete
-highlight, copy, and paste text
-turn the thing sideways to get the landscape keyboard
And a bunch of other things I'm sure. But if they fixed those 4 things this device would be significantly more useful as an emailing tool.
I would like Apple to fix the way emails are shown. If anybody sends me emails with forwarded emails...I cant see the attached email. It only shows up as a mime attachment. Its the only thing that bums me out.
I would like to see it have more storage and I would like to see it on a good carrier like Verizon.
1. Spotlight search - have you ever tried searching for that client who's name you forgot? You know, the architect with the house upstate who's friends with Gerry? All those keywords are in his entry...
2. MMS - dating is much duller without those "look what you're missing" photos
3. Copy and Paste
4. To-do list - seriously, how did this slip by?
5. Notes editable on the desktop.
6. A game or two.
Oh, and the ability to delete multiple emails for my one spam laden account because I can't stand seeing 80 unread messages that are all spam but with no way to delete them quickly - kills me.
I've scraped around for two days looking for an answer to why my itunes wont recognize my iphone.
Plugged it in at home, itunes opened and asked to be upgraded. Check. Second plugin, I need to upgrade to tiger. OK. Order from apple (disks in the mail) activated the phone at work with my itunes on a pc and chose to sync contacts later. (all my info is on my home mac - ical contacts and schedules). Received the 10.4.x upgrade in the mail, yadda yadda and now MY MAC AND ITUNES DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE PHONE.
Ridiculous and dissapointing that there is not a remedy. I have to go back to the office and fiddle with it there, when all I want is to sync the info in front of me right now.
My wish list:
* mobile iTunes downloading
* cut and paste
* to do list
* chat
* GPS
* find nearby friends feature
* iTunes songs as alarms and ringers
* ability to erase some calls in call log
* print ablility (wifi, bluetooth)
* bluetooth sync
* MMS
* ability to save received email picture attachments
* remote controller for itunes
* voice announcements of callers
* better on-board speakers
* Games: Tetris, solitare, WoW ;)
That's all for now... enjoy.
-jenny
Search (in Safari, in Email, in Contacts)
Copy/Paste
Save Files from Safari
Over-the-air Calendar and Contacts sync
Multiple Configurable Settings Profiles
Ability to use drive space for file transfer (USB or Bluetooth) (probably necessitates a file browser, too)
IM clients (I know AT&T wouldn't want this, since it would cut into their SMS income)
Home page bookmarks - If you're not going to provide a real dev kit, and insist that everything be Safari-apps, then at least provide a better bookmarking facility.
Keep it simple while still providing advanced functionality (search, copy/paste, etc.). How? Make a god-damned context menu. How about two finger tap at the same time, or two-finger double tap? or a 3-finger "rapping your fingers on the desk" motion? Or whatever. 99% of the time, you won't need it, but when you do need to get to advanced functionality, it's there.
I'd make the plan user choosable and I'd add a drink dispenser to the top.
My wish list:
1. 3G
2. GPS
3. Voice commands
4. 5M Pixel camera
5. Record video
6. Leave that keyboard ALONE!
7. External slot
8. Longer Battery Charge cycles before replacement
9. MMS support
10. Cheaper
cheers
chris
How about making a iPhone/Dashboard...... check out this video iphone dashboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0Uxgy4wgg
More memory, the point of it being an iPhone is to replace my iPod, and there's no way 8GB will suffice with my music collection.
Cheaper price, Apple only spends USD$300 of production costs on each iPhone, why the hell do we have to spend USD$600 to buy one?
1. Add at LEAST 30GB harddrive
2. GPS would be nice =D
3. CHEAPER PRICE
I refuse to get one till my demands are met and the iPhone goes for about USD$299
At risk of overkill on the "missing A2DP" issue - how about, DON'T CRIPPLE THE BLUETOOTH SOFTWARE THAT'S ON THE PHONE??? Somebody on myitablet figured out, A2DP is already included in "BlueMagic" software stack on iPhone. Apple has disabled the feature - why? To wait until they have their own Bluetooth stereo headsets ready for sale??
It's a phone, if you're going to complain about all the stuff it doesn't have maybe realize it's a phone.
The following are all, for the most part, realtively minor issues that Apple should never the less consider remedying prior to the release of the inevitable 16gb iPhone sometime next year.
1. Downloadable Content - iPhone users will not have the ability to access and download music, video, games, and other files directly from the iTunes store. Given the iPhone's considerable internet capabilities, incorporating such a feature seems like an obvious next step. An even bigger step forward would be making available for free on iTunes store, current television shows with advertisements spliced in, the very same advertisements that accompany their television counterparts. All this would require is a proprietary iPhone media player that allows users to do everything short of fast forwarding past commercials. The iPhone itself could keep track of the videos viewed and television stations would be generating the same amount of revenue by making their shows available for free download on iTunes store that they generate from broadcasting and airing those very same shows on television.
In response to the popularity of digital recording devices and piracy issues, ABC has begun to make popular programs available for viewing online on their website within a day of the programs first airing. Networks should jump at the chance to reach an even broader audience with their programming and generate higher ad revenues in the process, even when people are away from their homes. iPhone users would certainly appreciate the ability to directly download and watch any of the hundreds of television shows they may have missed the past week, or just rewatch a favorite, completely free of charge. The difference is, the users can go online and choose from literally hundreds of television shows and play them whenever you feel like it. The bandwidth and server costs could easily be more than offset by the additional ad revenue generated by people watching television even when they are outside of their homes, leaving Apple with a tidy profit afterwards.
2. Wireless Syncing - As reported by Time, although the iPhone has both Bluetooth and WiFi, users can't sync it wirelessly with a computer. It is currently unknown if the device will even allow music playback through a boothtooth headset. The ability to sync a phone through a Bluetooth connection is a standard feature nowadays and not including a feature as basic as that just doesn't make much sense. In fact, Apple should go one step further. The iPhone should be able to transfer data directly to any wireless network compatible printer, allow users to print photos and documents directly off of their phones without ever having to transfer the document over to a computer first.
Along the same lines, techophiles would certainly appreciate the ability to network their iPhones with their Tivos, Macs, and PCs allowing them to download and wirelessly transfer videos, music and photos back and forth from any location where they have access to a WiFi network. That would certainly make up for only having 4gb-8gb of flash memory on board. Imagine being on an extended vacation but still being able to transfer over new music and videos off of your Tivo or Mac 200 miles away. Many WiFi enabled devices nowadays are offering such features, including competitors such as the Archos and the Sony PSP, why not the iPhone? And on the same note, enabling a disk mode as found on standard iPods would be a great feature.
3. Cross Compatibility - The iPhone will not be compatible with programs offered on the OSX or with office applications such as Word, Excel or Outlook. While it does support pdf's, offering compatibility with Google Docs & Spreadsheets and even Powerpoint presentations so that users can open and read relevant attachments to corporate emails would be a great use of the large real estate this phone offers.
While on the issue of compatibility, the following would all be steps in the right direction: allowing the iPhone to be compatible with E-Books, AIM Mobile, ipod FM radio, online radio stations and video sites such as youtube, and Java which will not be supported upon release, removing any hope of users being able to access and play Java Games Online. It would be a shame not to allow people to use a device with so much real estate to peruse Ebooks. But perhaps the most important step would be making the iPhone compatible with the DivX and Xvid formats. These formats have become extremely popular and still allow for much better compression of video than any currently available standards. The Creative Zen Vision: M Player supports playback of these formats out of the box, it would be nice if the iPhone did as well.
4. Gaming on the Go - The advanced touch screen is just begging to have solid games built around it. Yes, rereleasing classics like Pacman and Tetris are an easy way for Apple to make a quick buck, but a few fresh titles that are built around the touch screen would be major hits if made well. The DS has been a steller success due in part to its touch screen. Current iPods have games built for them, games that are even purchasable over the iTunes store, so Apple releasing games for the iPhone is pretty much a given. The issue is in regards to the quality of the games, given the powerful processor found within the iPhone, Apple has the opportunity to go one step further, to support newer handheld gaming features such as online multiplayer sessions, with players matched up based on their playskill, as well as support downloadable demos and other downloadable content.
5. Recording & Networking - There are currently no plans for the upcoming iPhones to have any video recording capabilities. Some recent portables feature some very functional video recording capabilities. Should the next generation iPhone utilize this technology, users would be able to use their phones to make video phone calls and even partake in video iChat with fellow iPhone users. Podcasting, videoblogs, social networks, these all show the desire of people to interact with each other through their technology. Allowing fellow iPhone users to find and chat with each other and network together seems like the next logical step from podcasting. On a similar note, the iPhone will also have no voice recording or voice recognition capabilities. Incorporating such features would allow users to record voice memos, record lectures in class, tape meetings and such.
6. Voice Recognition - A keyboard on a portable device will never be absolutely perfect no matter how well designed. The current units being distributed for demonstration and review do not even feature any speed dial functionality, and the touchscreen keyboard itself does not recognize key presses as quicky as normal keboards and does not support landscape orientation. If Apple really is out to make the perfect handheld, why not enable voice recognition technology as an alternate text input method and to allow for voice dialing. Service calls, navigation sytems, even videogames already make use of voice recognition technology to great effect. Many physicians offices allow doctors to dictate their medical reports and use a computer to transcribe that dictation into text. Even most high end cell phones allow users to voice dial their friends, a feature that won't be available in the iPhone, this would just be the next logical step. You dictate, and the device types up the email, it can even translate the text to a different language before sending it.
To have perfect voice recognition, you could even have the user be required to first say aloud every common syllable in the English language so that the voice recognition syncs up with their unique voice accurately. Then, the voice recognition could be incorporated into controlling every aspect of the phone. You say "document" and it opens up a new document in Google Docs. You dictate and the phone types it up for you without ever having to touch a keyboard. You say "grammar check" and it checks for, displays and fixes any grammatical errors. You say "save" and it saves, you then say the name you want to save it under. You say "browser" and it opens up the Safari browser. You say I-P-H-O-N-E-Dot-C-O-M (or Bookmark Three) and it launches the official iPhone website. You can even use it in conjunction with Google Maps or a gps/navigation utility. You state where you would like to go, such as "Current Location: Intersection of 3rd and Main, Newfoundland, Virginia, Destination: Nearest gas station" and it gives you directions to that destination step by step.
Speaking of GPS functionality, if an actual GPS receiver was incorporated into the next generation of this phone, you wouldn't even need to state your current location. The iPhone would be able to give you directions on the go by constantly monitoring your current location, like a car's portable navigation system would. Unique but useful features like this would easily justify an even higher price tag. Portable Navigation Systems themselves run around $700. All the iPhone would need in order to serve the same function is a $50 internal GPS receiver.
7. Open Source - Perhaps the most important, but also the most unlikely step for Apple to take would be to release the development tools to the public and allow for homebrew software development for the iPhone under a freeware license. If Apple feels especially generous, it can even help freely distribute the best and most popular of these homebrew software through the iTunes store once the code is checked for any security and copyright issues. Independent programmers working on their own can come up with some of the most novel and innovative software solutions to common needs, software that Apple hasn't even thought of. Perhaps an Architect with some programming experience will develop a program for fellow architects to look over design plans of builds; perhaps an intelligent algebra student would make a program that enables him to input and utilize algebraic notation and solve algebraic equations.
8. Speed is King - Cingular, the iPhone's network provider, already offers a speedier 3G, or third-generation, wireless service--speeds of 400Kbps to 700Kbps with bursts over 1 megabit per second--in dozens of metropolitan areas. But the iPhone is not compatible with this service and data transfers are instead restricted to real world speeds of 120kps to 220kbs download and about 108 upload, which will likely prove too slow for video downloading. This is an issue that absolutely must be addressed by the next generation iPhone.
9. Battery Woes - While the iPhone's battery offers for a healthy five hours of talk time, it is unfortunately not user accessible. Users will be expected to send the phone in to Apple for battery replacement, just as with the iPods. If Apple were to see fit to make the iPhone's battery easily accessible and replaceable, it would allow customers to purchase extra batteries for instances when recharging the battery isn't an option, such as long camping expeditions. It would also leave the door open for a larger battery to be released in the future. And most importantly, having to send your iPhone to Apple each year just to get your battery replaced is not a pleasent prospect, especially considering that you will have to make due without a phone during that period.
10. Not Quite Picture Perfect - Sony Ericsson has had a 3.2 Megapixel camera phone with flash out for months now. There is no reason why Apple couldn't have opted to include a 3.2 Megapixel camera (a resolution that would make carrying a separate digital camera around with you wholly unnecessary) over the current meager 2.0 Megapixel camera. Nothing was mentioned on whether the iPhone camera incorporates flash, or a digital zoom or any such features. A good quality flash is very important if the iPhone truly is meant to supplant all other portables. And being able to sell off your current 3.2 Megapixel digital camera would go a long way in justifying the iPhone's price point as well.
1. more flash memory (at least 15-20G, come on it's an ipod!)
2. removable battery
3. GPS
4. Use for all carriers!
5. Lower price
6. use personal music as ringtones
other than these, the iphone is great!
(Copy, Cut, Past (could easily be achieved with "multi-touch")), and an encrypted note pad for passwords.
It would be really nice to be able to get to the notes on The desktop computer. It would be much easier for long lists like passwords.
Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Enable blue tooth and enable bluetooth and email V-cards
Would like to be able to move the icons around on the mainscreen, change the widgets to suit MY needs...(translator for example), LOUDER RINGTONES, landscape keyboard, a little less slippery,,,(maybe scalloped edges for finger holds?)copy and paste function. The memory is fine..if I need more for music, then why would I have an iPod..it's for convenience, not replacement. Silicon earpieces for the bluetooth. Hmmm...guess that would be enough...OH....one more thing...INSURANCE FOR BREAKAGE LIKE EVERYOTHER PHONE SERVICE OFFERS!!!!!
Errors and errors of omission
- copy paste
- unified inbox, optional identity when sending.
- a separate contacts app
- a todo app!
- a separate movie app (otherwise why not leave photos inside ipod app? be consistent)
- people complain of echoes when speakerphone is on in the dock
- ability to receive short code SMSs
Improvements
- multiple email delete/mark unread/move folders
- instant messaging app
- remove notice of no edge (want to use wifi only)
- auto join the strongest signal if no favourite network is available.
- the ability to record phone calls & voice notes
- a shortcuts button that leads to functions deep within each app (like inbox for mailbox x, or start timer,
- ability to use a calling card style prefix
- search box for contacts and events and email and photos and ringtones
nice but not necessary
- options inside an app not in the settings app.
- sync to thunderbird/lightnning/sunbird on the PC
- a slightly more reclined position for the iphone in dock would be nice.
- categorize ringtones/sounds
- the 'done' button appears in the top right. why? other "exit" or "ok" or :leave" buttons are on the top left. consistency lends towards a smoother interface experience.
- syncml for contacts, calendars, todos over wifi
1-Adobe Flash on Safary
2-Save phone number from websites or email to contacts
3-Save pictures I received on my email or I saw on internet.
4-SMS and Email Landscape keyword.
5-Optional Email Auto-check minimum evert 5 minutes.
6- Send and receive pictures thru the text message SMS
It can't replace my iPod since there doesn't seem to be a way to import text or notes. How hard would that have been?!