iPhone 2.1 software update announced (update: $10 for some iPod touch owners)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Sep 9th 2008 12:11PM
posted Sep 9th 2008 12:11PM
P.S. No mention of copy and paste.
Update: 2.1 will be available for iPod touch owners for $10. Come on, you didn't really expect it to be free did you? There's a "buy now" button at the end of that link but it only downloads v2.0 at the moment.
Update 2: Fine print says free to those who paid for iPod touch 2.0 update. Lucky you. [Thanks, Foad]
about time! faster backups!! hopefully this should be good!
wasnt there something about a mi...whats i called?...micro....MICROSOFT thats it couldnt remember...... werent they doing something today?
promises, promises.
Well, I was mostly waiting for them to add some functionality to the GPS, which is pretty much useless right now.
When is TomTom going to make their software?
When is SlingMedia going to get their Sling box for iPhone?
Come one they used to have copy and paste on a Newton for crying out loud!
http://www.iphone-hacks.com
I think they have some surprises left for us. Why would the new iPod touch get Genius playlist and iPhone not? Hopefully we're seing this on Friday:
*GPS-turn-by-turn
*Genius playlists
*New unknown features (copy and paste?)
Sorry to piggyback, but the Apple website's fine print says:
*If you’ve already upgraded to the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch, the 2.1 update is free.
So most people won't have to pay for the update!
Yes, but can I cut & paste?
Any Push/background for apps?
No, but you can use your iPhone to cut cake.
I will gladly skip cut and paste for a phone I can use without crashes and dropped calls.
how about this for iPhone in general? Not yet, but I'll be watching for this closely.
Seriously this is pathetic. They cant make a clipboard application and allow all applications to access it? And add the ability to use it from the browser and all native apps?
Its almost as if this is something that apple doesnt want you to have. This thing has been out for over a year, in development for several before that, and this simple functionality still isnt in.
Apple is releasing the cut and paste function for the next $10 update. Maybe.
"Some great new performance enhancements... free to all owners, available this Friday."
Ah so, it actually does "just work" now?
Thank God. The laggyness is maddening - not to mention the general instability of the thing. Still want:
1) Hands-free/voice calling
2) Cut/paste
3) No more wildly fluctuating signal without even moving
4) Flash Support
5) Document syncing/offline viewing
I seriously hope it does just work. The text lag if maddening, and at the moment I can't open a single downloaded app, they all just close after about 2 seconds.
Come on Apple, 5th time lucky with the version 2 software?
@phil:
me too. apps crash every time now. phone is completely laggy, and buggy. the iphone has seriously gone downhill.
God I hope so. I haven't reverted to 1.x because I do enjoy the activesync and apps which I rarely use, but it took the iPhone from 'works perfectly' to 'occasionally as slow as WinMo' which is unacceptable for a device that is a phone first. It was the #1 thing that Apple got right when they released the iPhone, making it a great phone. Lately the 'phone' part seems to have been coming in second... or third.
with this 2.1 update, we are announcing several new features:
-less dropped calls!
-no crashing!
-decent battery life!
some great features in that update, apple, where are the actual features? like tom-toms gps nav app?
btw, i do have an iphone.
Phil & zbot: I had that same problem too. It started with one of the apps failing while in sync and after that I couldn't open any apps at all; they would just close after ~2 seconds.
I removed all the apps, re-downloaded them, and re-synced them and they started working again.
thank god, my 2.0 seems unusable at times.
About effing time.
Does it to do video yet?
Better battery life has got my ears perked up. I find gaming difficult because of the lackluster battery life.
i want link for download
"Look out Steve! It's behind you!"
*Whack!*
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
now if att would just get their 3g shit together...
It's the phones that are the problem for me, 3G internet is perfectly fine for me.
My tilt's 3g is fantastic.
Me too, my ATT Tilt is great. YouTube viewing is awesome.
And with the free Tilt tweaks available, i can turn on HSPDA speeds.
Will it get the native genius feature that the new nano has?
Yes...its coming in 2.1 for the touches...
still no copy & paste? What a joke.
indeed.. my sony ericsson w580i 'dumbphone' has copy/paste... i use it plenty. get with it, oh innovative apple
They never said if this update gives iphone users the genius playlists and the nike+ update. It seems weird that they would give it to tough users but not to iPhone users.
Yeah, that would be some crap if I couldn't get it on my iPhone 3G. I was stoked seeing the Nike+ UI, but they never said anything about the update for iPhone. Here's to not having Apple screw me into having to get another device for only one purpose.
Seems like it Nike+ transmission requires either the external or internal transmitter, neither of which the iPhone currently has.
Very, very annoying.
Aside from "bug fixes," which should have been there since day 1, there should have been other material announcements concerning the iPhone, like (duh) copy/paste and Flash support.
I do not think the nike stuff will work with the iphones or current touches, they stated that the new touch will have the hardware needed and all you would need to do is buy the shoe dongle. I imagine there will be a dock connector sometime in the future but for now it appears to be touch only (newer ones that will be released)
I'm a bit confused. The Nike+ is built in then this picture from that other tech blog has this picture:
http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/ipodletsrock/ipodletsrock61.jpg
That could be it synching or maybe you can use your old chicklet nike+ system with it.
I can't see why wouldn't they take advantage of bluetooth for this. I don't know what kind of radio the nike+ thing uses though.
hey that pic with the nike+ was a before after thing like you used to have to use this but now *poof* it went away
thus built in unless the 3g can do something with the gps i doubt it will work i would think they would have shown it then not now
Blast, gotta wait for a jailbreak'd version
No, when the hell will an unlock utility come out for 2.0?? I've been on the 1.1.4 bandwagon for a while because I refuse to sign a 2 year contract for a used phone. How the hell is THAT legal?
apple and genius don't mix..lol
So I'm guessing you've never heard of the Apple Genius Bar. Poor you.
so...what was so important about this update...what was the cannot miss part of this entire show? What a let down.
No voice dial? Come on Apple every 5 year old phone has voice dial. It's also a law now in many states.
That's it? Performance enhancements and fewer dropped calls? Way to slide past 2.1 in there Stevie since its probably the only worthwhile thing you got going on there today. No features? Nothing? Guess i will be selling my bloatphone sometimes 3g
So Apple releases an update that contains fixes to the very problems you're whining about, and you're going to sell it because there aren't a boatload of new features? Even though you're complaining about the problems, not the features? Do you understand how stupid that sounds?
2.1 update should have just happened. Announcing it as part of a big event seems kind of cheap.
Well, i guess it still is a product, to some touch owners.
So crash fixes, does this cover when Im browsing the internet and the browser literally just closes?
How disappointing. I can't believe all this hype was for colorful Nano's and some very common feature that they decided to dub "genius".
I just brought my phone back to the mac store for that very problem. They replaced it for free. I'm having a grand time on 2.0.0....I'm not touching an upgrade till I think it's worth upgrading to. The phone works great without the damn updates that just bog the phone down.
Give me cut and paste, or I swear I'll jailbreak the damn thing.
am i the only one who wishes they give you the option of disabling that corrective text bubble when your trying to type something?
i called my best mate "Dad" the other week when i was trying to put "Daz" and was in a rush to send the text out only realising that he was getting a text sent his way in which i see him as a father figure
yes i know to press the "x" but it would be nice to not have to wait to see if any corrective bubble is going to pop up all the time
YES!!!!! I want the option to not only disable text correction but also the ability to add unrecognized words to it's library (when autocorrect isn't disabled).
jailbreak it, there's an app that disables the autocorrect.
I'd actually like to invert the autocorrect (i.e. tap the correction if the correction is right to rplace my word, otherwise ignore)
So, how much are they gonna charge for this one? rofl.
He said - it's free to all 2.0 users.
so....Let's Rock...some rainbow themed ugly nano's, pretty much the same touch, some genius thing that wasn't even mentioned for iPhone, and some firmware that will make the iPhone work (maybe) like it should have on day one? But at least we can play stupid video games while we're waiting for keyboard lag to fix itself...thanks steve!
Is it just me but i think this is the beginning of the end for Apple. Their not doing it fro me anymore
Nope. I really don't agree.
This event was what we all expected, ALL iPods got renewed. And gosh they are all some pretty faces.
rtsp and 3rd party background push support would be nice.
BUT, if I had to chose, I'd take better responsiveness and stability and battery life before new features.
Hopeing we'll get the UI and genius on the older Ipod touch. Don't see why we wouldn't.
Yeah, any confirmation on whether 2.1 will/will not work on 1G iPod touch?
You obviously don't know Apple very well.
Why did everyone forget about asking for MMS at every software update? Some of us still sort of want it...
How about that new fangled technology called mms messaging maybe you could charge more for it and call it imms, and maybe icopy & paste for a subscription fee
How about a new fangled technology called email? Look into it, I hear you can get email on computers too, not just phones, making it vastly more useful than mms.
Right, I was pleased when the Ms and Apple communities agreed to no longer mention BSODs or one button mice, let's now agree to no longer bring out these hairy old nuts:
Lack of cut/paste on iPhone
Lack of MMS on iPhone
Lack of optical drive on Air
Lack of clock on Zune
please fix the DROPPED CALLS !!! This is ridiculous. Everyday I have dropped calls and this never happened before I got an iPhone.
2.1 is the compilation of 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 update
if you don't enjoy your iphone 3G, then sell it and leave. For those that continously go on about MMS, how about using e-Mail instead?
Yes, there are many flaws/problems with the iPhone and the iPhone 3G, but if you look past those, you'll find that it is a better phone than the N95 8GB or any other Windows Mobile Smartphone.
If you cannot look past these flaws/problems, then your best bet would be to stop whinging, sell it, and buy a better phone that suits your needs.
And BTW, if you had a Blackberry Bold, you would not expect Blackberry/RIM/Quanta to update the issue. I remember having Windows Mobile Smartphones (O2 XDA II, XDA IIs, XDA Atom, XDA Exec), and they continously had issues, ended up selling them.
Hopefully this 2.1 update fixes all the problems, But if it doesn't, I still love my iPhone 3G.
i am almost done with the iphone. if the bold or the new android phone is stable, i'm jumping ship. the email on the iphone is a joke.
Protip: Every time you sync your ipod touch to iTunes, it performs a backup. This can take up to a half hour the first time this happens.
What about Push Notification!?? First it disappears from the SDK, now no mention of it in 2.1. It would be nice if we got some of the other features detailed today too (genius, Nike+, shake shuffle). What's the deal?
Where's the Push service and Multitasking support, you jerks? I couldn't care less about copy and paste :p
Seriously underwhelmed
"This is a big update, it fixes lots of bugs. Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster." Nice.
Steve did say 2.1 fixes ALOT of bugs. I believe he just briefly gave the crowd the most important bug fixes. It is very possible that the updates fixes the keyboard lag, web browser closing out of no where, and a lot of the other bugs we are facing. But we will not know until we test it for ourselves. But ofcourse Apple wont give us release notes so we know what exactly is in the update.
I have to agree, it really is annoying how the iphone does not have copy & paste, VOICE DIALING, and MMS. I have had cell phones for a while and I remember voice dialing and mms in my ancient motorola phones. I dont see how they have not implemented these features into the iPhone. I really believe that it would be available until the 3RD generation iPhone. Apple totally had the technology to make the 1st gen with GPS, and 3G but they wanted to keep they HYPE and demand up for the iphone. So mark my works, Copy and Paste, MMS, and Voice Dialing will be in the 3rd. Even tho all of that is just software, people are going to want to want the new PHONE with newer features even if you can get it on the 1st, 2nd gen.
i for one am not waiting around much longer on the iphone. having to deal with lack of features that apple dictates that people don't want is getting tiresome. mms. copy/paste. voice dialing. multi-tasking. add these features already! guaranteed android will not be so idiotic.
Where is the fix for push yahoo mail??????????????
What an epic fail of a show. AAPL really does have a reason to drop like a rock today.
Actually it seems almost everything dropped today. Except T, which is at +0 at the moment. But I agree with your comments.
I guess with 2.1 they didn't have enough people believing them that 2.0.2 would fix the 3G problems so there are still a ton of people on 2.0 and 2.0.1 clogging everything up (or so they say) i'm still on pwnd 2.0.1 and dealing with the lag (which is very annoying)
MMS would be great. Sure you can email it, but not everyone can check email on they're phones. Text messaging however is how the world communicates now apparently. I know there are times i'd like to send a picture to a friend knowing they would see it in the next few mins. Instead of maybe days when they get back to a computer. my 3yr old nextel i850 does that with actually probably a better camera. I never sent one SMS with that phone. They were all MMS.
I have been screwed by my Restore on sunday....Actually my iPhone wouldnt start for good on Sunday afternoon...it just shows the bright Apple logo...(looks like it is laughing at us)...And then i do the buggy restore from back up on the phone...The restore start at 8:15 pm on Sunday...And then i decide to wait and wait and wait...decided to go to work without the phone (giving the restore some time) came back 5:15 pm on Monday...And the restore finally gets done at 6:00 pm...and then i try to sync my iPhone for downloading some new apps...and what it does is delete all the apps on my iPhone (wonderful job...) and back to the same process again...restore from backup ...but this time it does in a wonderful 8 hrs...so i started the backup at around 12:30 AM on Tuesday...and the lucky for me that it was done by 8:30...so now the problem is I cannot sync anymore my iPhone....because it says some stupid read write error...So According to the iPhone i should stay away from the iTunes...Somebody in Apple is against the iTunes I guess. So Apple hope 2.1 solves this buggy issue of restore from backup...I am done with iPhone otherwise...I will unlock it....By the way the iPhone is 1st generation...So no worries of 3G for me.
Finally, this had better deliver because I didn't have any problems before. Up until last Friday I started getting keyboard lag, and yesterday I couldn't open any apps because they all crash after opening them, even hard resets won't fix it so hopefully this will.
we'll see what happens. I'm pretty excited, but apple has let me down in the past.
NO CUT AND PASTE YET!? AH FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!! IS IT REALLY THAT DIFFICULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????
After all, I'm still waiting for the real iPhone software update with push notification service and more new features.
Makes you wonder if it's just bug fixes, why it couldn't have been 2.0.3.
I do love my iPhone a lot, but I am really sick of Apple way of doing things, we were promised so many exciting updates for the phone, last year, and realistically all Apple have actually offered us, is the ability for other vendors to supply anything cool, and even then strangled by the sandboxing.
So 2.1 will come out, fix something, not fix others (as per usual) and then we'll move on, still without the WTF features.
Stop whoring out your diggs. Loser.
How about MMS (Multi Media Messaging)? I can send a picture with a free phone, but I phone I paid $300 plus crazy monthly fees I can't text a picture c'mon.
what pisses me off the most about mms is that when someone sends you one, it directs you to a flash website where you can't even see it. if there's no copy/paste, addresses should open in the map app like phone numbers open the phone one.
Can we please get an Engadget policy against posters whoring out their diggs in the comments?
Where is this room with this enormous screen he keeps making these announcements located?
How about actually supporting Yahoo Push Mail. This was supposed to work from the beginning and was one of the biggest selling features.
No problems so far with 2.0 on my old 2G (only a little lag on addressbook)
Apart from this will the new software include the nike+ support on iphone too? don't mind using the old dongle, but I don't want to revert to my 1gen nano when I go running
Hmmm, it's a wait and see game now to see how successfully this updates fixes different bugs for different people. I really want the Genius feature, and hope it's included in the 2.1 update for the iPhone. It's shown on the new iPod Touch, so I'm hopeful, but if it IS there, why was it not specifically mentioned?
How can they keep missing things that people really want, like "MMS" & copy/paste.
No sale here until I see at least one of these on an iPhone..Oh, & reliable 3G that
doesn't drop calls every other block..
Don't listen to the hype. I hate dumb ass people that read negative messages and *ASSUME* that it applies to EVERYONE, it doesn't.
First, why the hell do you NEED MMS? Eh? Email, that works, so WTF is wrong with the EMAIL??!? I fail to understand why people INSIST on using text message when it costs EXTRA! Did you ever think of that, probably not.
3G doesn't drop every block, it affects SOME users in SOME areas, but AT&T has had LESS problem than OTHER networks, get your facts straight before you go spouting from your blackberry, k boy?
I have been a LONG time Palm treo user (Since they first came out) and this line of Comments sounds Just like the ones we about issues with the Palm O/S .. My experience there was that Most of those folks that were complaining were loading thier phones up with all sorts of "Hacks" , I have a feeling that a Large Number of folks that are complaining here are running Jailbroken iPhones running hacked software.. I'm running My Original (Not JailBroken not iPawned) 8GB Iphone with Numerous app's that I've downloaded from the App store. Running 2.0.2 and I NEVER have a problem .. Each time I install an App I test IT and then try running everything else on the phone to make sure it hasnt affected another program. Just because You CAN do something doesnt mean that You should , Just becuase You have 16 GB Available to fill up Doesnt Mean You Have to Fill it.