iPhone 3G, iOS 4, and you -- what's missing (spoiler: multitasking)
By Ross Miller 
posted June 21st 2010 7:33PM
posted June 21st 2010 7:33PM
What's there
- Folders
- Threaded mail
- iTunes playlist creation / editing
- 5x digital zoom: just tap on the display near the capture button, but be warned, it doesn't paint a pretty picture
- iBooks: we were having issues with the earlier build, but it seems to be running fine after today's official download -- PDFs work, too.
- Photos: you can now sort by albums, events, faces, and places
- Game Center: the icon is present, but as of this writing we're unable to connect to the servers. (Update: a number of readers saying it didn't come with today's download. We nabbed ours as a gold build, which might explain the discrepancy despite still being considered "up to date" by iTunes.)
- Spell check has been updated
- Spotlight search: you can search the web and Wikipedia from the home screen search bar. That said, not all our queries -- "Engadget," for example -- weren't offering the option. [Thanks, jkane08]
- Multitasking: this is the big one. Double-tapping the home button doesn't give you the handy menu, there's no fast app switching, and background use is missing in action.
- Screen lock: normally in the multitasking menu (which isn't available on 3G), it's nowhere to be found, even under Settings. Bummer.
- Home screen wallpaper: you'd think this simple addition would make the cut, but sadly no. The dock has been given a visual upgrade, though.
- Bluetooth Keyboard support: we haven't tried this ourselves, but an influx of reports from Twitter suggest this is also a no-go.
@Lord Vadur
Vadur?? VadUr??
IMPOSTER!!
DIE REBEL SCUM!!
Meh the 3G is an old phone...switch now.
@wakeup
No thanks.
It may not be the fastest, but it works. I'm not made of money ya know.
Btw, I have apples multitasking and wallpapers enambled. Works well enough. The iPhone 3G should support multitasking. No excuses, Apple.
*enabled
@SolidSnake How did you enable it?
@greg787 use redsn0w to jailbreak, it's enabled by default.
@wakeup What's missing for me, support for the iPod touch 1G! Same hardware as the iPhone 3G, throw us a bone Apple. I know it'll be missing some features! Please let us have it!
@SolidSnake
A 3GS is only 100 bucks now, 3G users give iPhone 3GS and soon to be iPhone 4 users a bad name. The Androids only want to comapre their Snapdragon powered 2010 phones to a 400 MHz phone made in '08.
Yep. Easy as hell.
2 months ago I had to do it manually on the first 4.0 Beta...
Kudos to the hackers who figured out how to do it (it wasn't easy).
@wakeup
I agree. Kudos for saying that, despite being downrank'd to hell.
@wakeup Yah I actually agree with one of the stupid, downraked comments, the 3G is not adequate...and my 3rd gen itouch was even a bit laggy at first when I installed ios 4 but it's better now...anyone who has a 3G and is being given this chance for an early upgrade is silly not to upgrade unless they don't have enough money
@justaPAkid
3GS isnt 100$ as unsubsidiced(/intalment plan) phone. You will be paying it in the phonebillm and the TCO is about 500$...
@justaPAkid The 3GS is the worst valued phone relative to the other offerings that Apple has. When the 3GS came out and the 3G was there for $99 I thought it was a great value. Now, for $99 you get:
less memory
less storage
a WORSE screen/resolution
one less year of software support
worse resale value
No one should buy the 3GS from Apple IMO, buy an "unlocked" (quotes for the U.S. and a few other select places) and avoid the contract subsidy or buy the iPhone 4. It's ~4 bucks a month difference over 24 months, but what people wont consider is that some of this money can be recouped when you are ready to sell. I'll venture that the 3GS wont hold its value as well as the iPhone 4 (because it's overpriced relative to the iPhone 4).
The fact that there's no Homescreen wallpaper really pisses me off... the orientation lock should have been added too...
Steve Jobs is REALLY trying to say that it can't handle screen-orientation locking??? I'm all for your success but lets cut the b***s*** Jobs...
Upgrade to new device, not happening.
@juanvaldez
Resale value? The lifespan of any of these phones (and most electronics) is so damn short. There isn't any real resale value unless you're going to sell it in the next 6 months. By then the Iphone 4 will be at walmart for $99. Early adopters ALWAYS get gouged especially from Apple.
@REP Bullshit! I sold my 3G for over $200 and bought 3Gs for $299
I have my 3Gs listed on ebay. Already bids are over $200 with 3 days to go. New iphone 4 is costing me $299. No resell value my ass!
@justaPAkid
As an itouch 2nd gen owner its unacceptable that the device cannot use the wallpaper feature unless jailbroken.
As a HTC Hero owner I'm plenty happy with my Android regardless of iphone generation.
As a Chicago Blackhawks fan it was great to win the Stanley Cup in PA :)
You triple fail, congrats
Well us 2G iPhone users don't even get iOS4 - which on a technical standpoint, I can somewhat agree with, but they wont even let us download iBooks from the iTunes store! 2G users keep getting prompted that they need OS 3.2 to install - well how do we do this when Apple don't even provide us with 3.2 Which is currently only available for the iPad? I mean seriously, an A4 chip is not required to read ebooks and PDFs! Shockingly I guess Apple doesn't want to sell ebooks to the millions of 2G users!
@juanvaldez
Seeing as he "wasn't made of money", I would recomend he spent 100 on the 3GS vs the iPhone 4 or EVO...
@SolidSnake Yer not made of money yet you probably pay at least $1000 a year for your smart phone cell service. If you were truly hurting for money you'd get a shuffle and a metro PCS contract for $25 a month. Tired of all these phone people complaining about $199 when they spend $1000 for phone another $1000 for internet and $1000 every other year for game systems and games.
@SolidSnake
The 'excuse' is ... its like 2 year old hardware...it probably will just be clunky and slow with multitasking.
@Teslanaut
The iPod touch 1G does not have the same hardware as the iPhone 3G; it doesn't even have the same hardware as the original iPhone. The processor speed hierarchy is as follows, slowest to fastest:
iPod touch 1G
iPhone
iPhone 3G
iPod touch 2G
iPhone 3GS/iPod touch 3G
iPhone 4
@SolidSnake The iphone supports multi-tasking and homescreen wallpapers, but they disabled it cause it just made the phone even slower than it is now. I was using the iphone 3g a while ago, and I have to say, it is really slow compared to the ipod touch 2g. The real question is why didn't they enable it for the iPod touch 2g.
@SolidSnake
You've got to be kidding me. My friend had it enabled on his 3G and it was /so/ laggy that his apps would take forever to load, and he would receive a txt message an hour later.
@REP Yes "RESALE VALUE", you haven't seen replacement iphones on Ebay before? People lose their phone, they have a contract and AT&T charges $600ish for a replacement of a brand new phone, some people downgrade, some never upgraded so they keep their old phone (in a year's time this would be the iPhone 4).
@John H I'm under the impression that the iPhone 3GS is slightly above the iPod Touch 3rd Gen. I think it's minor, but I read the iPhone 3GS would have better FPS than the 3rd Gen iPod touch.
@Plazmic Flame There is a screen lock rotation and even shows the same lock icon from iPad on status bar. Its located inside multi tasking then swipe right to get iPod controls and click on the lock icon.
@justaPAkid In this case, you might be right, however it wasn't really the $100 difference he was commenting on. It was the contract (less data/higher fees), the extended contract term, the ETF, and the fact that he'd have to go and get a brand new phone. So, the $99 wasn't the deal breaker to him, it was the incidentals, therefore the iPhone 3GS is a non-starter to him and you can't actually recommend the iPhone 3GS bc he won't buy it. However, if his iPhone were to break, the extra $100 on the iPhone 4 might actually seem a reasonable value next to the iPhone 3GS.
@REP Are you joking a month after the Motorola Droid came out it was free but nobody complained because it wasn't an iPhone...
So plase be real.
@John H Do you know what your talking about??!???!!! You have it wrong....
iPhone 2G/3G/ iPod touch 1
then
iPod touch 2nd gen
then
3GS/ iPod touch 3rd
then
iPad/iPhone 4
in prossesor clock, each group has the same chip, my sources are wikipedia, look up List of iPhone OS Devices(Probably iOS now)
3G is just a original iPhone with 3G radio
Sent from my iPhone 2G pissed off that I don't have iOS 4
also to others, if you hacktivate/unlock your iPhone you can not pay for data and just use it as a phone like I do, OMG
@SolidSnake
Developing against it, iOS doesn't even do cron jobs. And 'multitasking' isn't multitasking, it's backgrounding with a FREAKING time limit and iOS can kill you app anytime! No thanks!
Otherwise, the event kit and notifications framework are finally usable!
@SolidSnake
iOS4 will not be able for iPad Users until fall.. In Substitute iPod touch and iPhone Users will have the download today.....
Apple iPhone iOS 4: Top 9 New Features to Expect
http://www.aneesoft.com/tutorials/iphone/iphone-os-4-new-features.html
I agree 100
@John H The CPU & Ram are the same from iPod touch, iPhone 2G, and iPhone 3G. All 3 have CPU of 620 MHz underclocked to 412 MHz. Same amount of RAM. Same GPU. Only difference is specialty hardware like 3G/2G modem, Camera, etc.
@SolidSnake I'm sorry but I'd have to disagree. The iPhone 3G only has 128 MB of RAM, as opposed to the 3GS' 256 MB and the iPhone 4's 512 MB. Once all the apps are released to support it, your 3G will likely slow to a crawl. Now this doesn't mean I don't feel for you, it sucks, but I can see why Apple didn't include it for the 3G. The experience would just suffer too greatly. I do however think it's stupid that you can't even customize your background image by default.
You have no argument. This iPhone is just for me to play around with...
I am on verizon and have an lg Chocolate Touch (crappiest phone on the planet). My parents refuse to put me on their iPhone family plan... So don't call me a hypocrite.
@SolidSnake Also on the iPhone 3G, the quality of the phots transferred from the computer, that were taken on a DSLR, are horrible. Anyone else facing this issue? The photos taken on the phone are fine, but the issue is only the ones that have been transferred from the computer.
@SolidSnake Also on the iPhone 3G, the quality of the photos transferred from the computer, that were taken on a DSLR, are horrible. Anyone else facing this issue? The photos taken on the phone are fine, but the issue is only the ones that have been transferred from the computer.
@SolidSnake Except that they said from the beginning that multi-tasking would NOT be on the 3G. Why would they feel the need to offer excuses for not delivering something they said they wouldn't be delivering? Seems to me they met any reasonable expectation. No excuses required.
@SolidSnake But will it blend?
@wakeup
Is everyone else finding that taking pictures is a ton faster? It's so snappy! Not sure weather it's just the 3GS or not but wow, loving the homescreen wallpaper too
Maybe some 3G owners didn't get their pre-order for the 4 in soon enough and have to wait a few weeks and want iOS4 now (I'm updating and re-jailbreaking this evening when I get home)
Fuck the ipod touch 2g can't do most of the stuff either.......
@TheSunman89 really? Damn...i have a 2g as well ...guess I'll have to buy a new ipod touch in september :(
@hammydbest
Or use Redsn0w to get multitasking and homescreen wallpapers.
@TheSunman89
Sitting here with my 2nd gen iPod Touch and I'm underwhelmed with iOS4 beyond belief.
The update also seems to have broken my Exchange support so now my email, contacts and calendar are not working. Awesome update!
The only plus so far, Blades of Fury, a game purchased over a year ago that NEVER worked and was denied a refund by both Apple and Gameloft is now working...oh joy!
All anti Android fragmentation talk should pretty much cease now. The trick of calling it iOS4 when it's really 1OS3.5 is only one Apple tards would fall for.
@Tes
just because apple has the same problem doesn't mean android's fragmentation becomes a non-issue
*disclaimer: owner of samsung galaxy, stuck on donut*
@Tes
yeah, but, but, but, CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR WALLPAPER?!?!?
Bwahhahhhahhahhh!!!!
(not making fun of you Tes, just the lame update)
People bitch about Android updates because they can't get free Turn-by-turn TTS navigation or voice dictation and Apple updaters bitch 'cause they can't mutitask or change their wallpapers. Cracks me up.
@mrqs
My point being it's been a reality of all tech for ever. Only with Android has this issue suddenly raised it's head as if it mattered.
Kind of lame that even simple stuff like background walpaper isn't included, but it's certainly done on purpose. Want to change your walpaper? Buy a new phone! Har..