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.
I've gotta say the thing I'm most disappointed in is the fact that I wanted to see what the gamecenter was like and the day thing isn't even there... As far as the rest thats just Apple's way of saying older iphone users need to step they game up because aside from the folders nothing is any different than the last major update oh and bing.
Just jailbreak your iPhone 3G running on iOS 4 and you will have it all :") YouTube acowsaysmoodamn
sold my 16gb iPhone 2G for Php12,000.00.. That's approximately USD260! Got myself a 3GS to upgrade to iOS4.. sweet!
Should I upgrade to iOS 4.0, or is it laggy (on a 3G)?
@curtisslaynegmailcom Buggy*
jailbreak your 3G with redsn0w to enable custom wallpapers and multitasking... its been working beautifully so far for me.
@ddddd
You got your email working? Mine is DOA. No exchange connection at all.
@jbreez On a side note the leaving out of the original iphone is a bit much (sure they don't need to add any of the newer features, but damn they can't even use the ibook store lol wtf is that), but yea the omission of something as basic as wallpapers is less absurd than the omission of a battery level indicator...that's the easily most over looked feature.
HAHAHA You guys got screwed.
My phone seems to be quicker
Fast switching on engagdet app ;-)
I just put iOS 4 on my iPhone 3G AND IT IS F@*%#ING SLOW and buggy it's taken me over an 40min to post this comment, Opening this post from Tweetie to Safari then Safari crashing 3 times then logging to engadget then writing this post made me get a vain gushing on my forehead and headache I'm seriously considering to put my iPhone back to 3.xx so in my opinion unless you have a 3Gs or soon the iPhone 4 then there's no point to update the iOS, BTW my partner has the 3Gs and iOS 4 works like a charm but most of her apps are now broken so hope to see developers updating soon!
I honestly don't know what Engadget is talking about. Everything they've said isn't included I've been using and enjoying immensely. Though the digital zoom makes pictures look like shit..
Other than that, no problems, all features work beautifully and I love it.
@toastninja17 Oh, and it's actually much faster and snappier than before.
My phone is a lot faster after the update. Makes that last major one from last fall seem lame in comparison. Are you guys getting a faster experience? Good deal!
I've been able to create playlists on-the-go long before iOS4..
I have a new name for iOS. iFail 4. With iFail 4, we can't give you wallpapers because we don't know how to do this simple feature Android phones have had since the beginning. iFail 4, we can't give you multi-tasking yet even the most rudimentary of Android devices have it. Even the Palm Pre can do both multi-tasking & wallpaper features because we at iFail think different. We think that you should pay us mega bucks for new features. Because the new iFail phone will magically wow you with it's metal finish and inability to complete calls or stay connected to networks.
@StrikeFreedomMeister the only reason is to force you upgrade. they very well know how to make it work ;) its a switch in the config.
CrippleOldPhoneToForceUpgrade = 1;
nothing more. jailbreaking removes it. it's that simple really. keep on buying Apple.
I Dont understand. Everything that apple said was going to be there was there, except iBooks and gamecenter. Had to download manually. Multitasking is more like backgrounding and the update broke some of my apps. Orientation lock is there. A monkey could find it. Try harder before posting an article saying it isn't there.
@xvshadow Theres even a separate wallpaper option for the lock screen and home screen. Where the heck did you guys download the update. Got mine directly from iTunes at 2pm PST on the 21st. No lag. Only problems are app comparability and crappy excuse for multitasking.
Another missing totally basic feature:
- custom SMS message alert tones
Camera zoom doesn't work for me.
I'd like to see custom icons now.
I want to buy iPod Touch but how can I find that its 2G or 3G? Does 2G comes only with 8GB version, and 16GB and 32GB are 3G?
@saeen
i believe all ipod touch's sold now are 3rd generation.
@calvin8714 I read in a comment on youtube, somebody wrote they are different. And even if you see at Apple site, 8GB had separate column than that of 32/64GB versions.
There's now a logo in the top bar for when GPS is in use, whether in determining your location for an app, or using GPS in Maps. Also, the icon in Maps has changed.
The problem with microsoft is that they are always trying to copy what apple does instead of going for innovation. That's why apple is so widely successful. They innovate and create products that get people excited by technology again. Who really gets excited about zune? lol.
once again "Multi tasking" as it is not true multi tasking, as in, doing more than one thing at once, this just freezes one so it can do another, oh in this case it can't even do that :P
The only real problem I have on my 3G right now is the lack of features for the 3.5 hour update process. What I did get was good but they block the home screen wallpaper, seriously. What the heck is that? I want the iPhone 4 and had intended to upgrade immediately but then they shut down the upgrades so now I'm stuck until they open them back up again, wonderful.
I grabbed my upgrade on the 3G.. works fine, my phone is a tad snappier but I really wish they could include wallpapers...
I noticed that during the update, that my 3G actually had the water drop wallpaper with icons on top of it. It's gone/incapable of doing that now, but it was nice while it lasted.
I'm pretty ticked off about their complete lack of support for the 1G iPod Touch/iPhone
They have the same guts as the 3G. I understand why we can't get multitasking, but no folders? Game center?
And iBooks doesn't work either. It requires iOS 4.0 for iPhone/iPod. Seriously? Seriously? And you've asked us to pay for updates previous to this.
I know Apple doesn't have to keep me around, but there's no other reason than money that we can't have iBooks.
If I can run backgrounder and winter board on my 3G with the spirit jailbreak, then why the heck would I update to this crap. I'm severely dissapointed apple.
for sure - keyboard is a no
do you guys know if i can use iPhone without AT&T, but using an asian sim card?
Excellent. This will make my jailbroken 3G easier to sell.
I have an iPhone 3GS on Rogers wayyyyyy up here in Canada; upgraded to iOS4 through iTunes yesterday and all the features that are stated as not working, work;
- Wall paper (changed it multiple times)
- Muktitasking (with double-tap home button feature)
- Screen lock
I have been having lots of problems with my bluetooth (won't pair with my car stereo anymore) but everything else seems to work great
Apple said from the beginning that the iPhone 3G would not get some of the new features.
While IOS 4 may have a form multitasking now and what we all kno is in need of a makeover in the form of the notification system, I found one particularly irksome thing in the fact that when u add a new app the phone still takes u back to the homescreen...
As much as I hate that my 3G won't get all the features of the iOS4, its simply Apple's evil marketing because as soon as iPhone 4 comes to Canada I will be one of the first to get my hands on it.
If my 3G could multitask I might not be in such a hurry...
Thanks for this post. I've just upgraded to iOS4. Bit of a let down, but it will definitely encourage me to buy the new iPhone 4.
Dear Left-handed Steve,
Are you off your meds? Thanks, but no thanks. You can keep your #FAIL phone -- the most stunning* consumer electronic device ever!
Best regards,
---
Damion Hankejh | hankejh.com
Whats missing? ALL of my apps and their settings and preferences are now missing is what's missing. ALL of them. DO NOT upgrade to iPhone 4 OS if you own an iPhone 3G. Its not worth the trouble that you WILL encounter with the upgrade. Trust me.
I hope Apple releases a 4.0.1 or whatever. My 3G is slow like many other owners of 3Gs. I like the additional features it includes, but I don't understand how the features it has had since the beginning are slower like messaging and the iPod. I don't think they should be affected by this, but they are!