Poll: iPhone Owners: Happy with your iPhone? [Archive]

rjwill246

Jul 4, 2007, 03:09 PM

I'd like to hear peoples reasons on why or why they don't like it...

Good things / things that could be improved upon.

There's not been much feedback - apart from general comments such as 'best thing since sliced bread'.

It is easy to use, the typing is a breeze, despite my first apprehensions and clumsiness. Two thumbs typing quickly becomes easy and the audible feedback is as good, to me, as tactile. Big gripe so far-- cannot decode attachments which show up as MIME (the default when MAIL cannot decode the item) but, I can see the images on the MAIL application on the computer-- this is something that is fixable and needs to happen soon.

The clarity of the screen is superb, the multitouch is so useful, and the fact that the phone remembers where you were last, so that in swapping duties, you come back to the last spot when want to continue the original task. One could go on, but as others have noted, it is turning out to be one of the best handheld devices. Could it be better? Of course! But this is Gen 1, after all.

mduser63

Jul 4, 2007, 03:48 PM

The interface works just as well as the videos show. It shows the typical Apple attention to detail. Web browsing and email are both very handy for me, and I really have no reason to carry a laptop most of the time anymore, since those are the main things I used one for before.

That said, and while I voted "Very Happy", there are some things Apple needs to fix in software updates. Safari crashes frequently for me. iPod crashes consistently when trying to use Safari while listening to iPod. Mail has crashed a couple times. Having the keyboard visible in Safari should not preclude you from rotating the screen. Mail needs a way to mass manipulate messages (delete, mark as read/unread, etc) and a junk mail filter. You should be able to use SMS in landscape mode. I could list more and while it seems like a long list of shortcomings, in reality they're not that big of a deal and I'm confident that Apple will address them in updates (especially the crashing issues).

Rocketman

Jul 4, 2007, 04:54 PM

For those poll responders who are "very unhappy", I want to buy your 8GB iPhone at a 20% depreciation and I will take over your service contract obligations, by prepayment if necessary. I have about 4 relatives that would be late early-adopters if someone else would do all the work for them.

Rocketman

vespagirl

Jul 4, 2007, 04:59 PM

I love my iPhone to death. My only wishlist items would be louder alerts, especially for text messages. If I could customize the sounds a little more, I'd be ecstatic. Aside from that microscopic detail, I'm thoroughly pleased and finding new things to love about it each day. Additionally, I extend warm wishes of good luck and happiness to all fellow iPhone owners and hope for any pending issues or dissatisfaction to find a quick resolution.

FF_productions

Jul 4, 2007, 05:34 PM

I've played with my Uncle's iPhone like crazy and I must say this is the best Cell Phone I've used.

It is so easy to use. My DAD wants to get one because he thinks it is so cool.

My whole family is blown away because they have never seen such technology in a phone.

My mom refers to it as a "mini-computer", but it's easier then a computer. Your fingers do the work, flicking through letters/images and everything.

montex

Jul 4, 2007, 06:43 PM

The very first text message I sent was completed in half the time it would have taken on my previous cell phone. I'm one of those people who eschew the ROTFL and WTF and BTW language of primitive cell phones, and it's always been difficult to get a simple contraction typed out - something I can't communicate without. The iPhone is smart enough to know that dont = don't and cant = can't. What a breath of fresh air!

I've had many moments where I ask myself "can this be real?" The screen is nicer than anything I've seen before. So sharp and clear, even in daylight. It's like the first real gadget of the future is finally here.

I've only had it a few days but I can't imagine going back to what I had before. iPhone is a class act and those who dismiss it as just a cell phone will never get it.

zombitronic

Jul 4, 2007, 07:16 PM

I'd like to see widescreen integration in more of the apps; ie. Notes and Maps. I want YouTube videos to be able to flip to portrait view. I wouldn't, but an option to turn it on in Settings may be useful to some people, perhaps to shrink low quality videos.
I wish Maps and Safari stored more data for snappier load time, mainly when using the EDGE network.
MySpace, the blood clot of the internet, occasionally makes Safari quit. Other than that entire domain, I've had no problems. WiFi browsing is a great experience. YouTube is fun, if you've got the speed. Otherwise you wait for your prize at lesser quality.
The max speaker volume durring phone calls could be a bit louder. It's loud and clear for music.
I was iffy on the keyboard at first try, but after using it a few times I'm typing fast and almost flawlessly, (I'm using it now.) It takes very little time to get used to.
Multi-touch feels amazingly natural. At my G4 desktop I have the urge to stretch-out and flick websites and pictures.
The screen, itself, is incredible. The surface does get smudged but is easily wiped clean, and even if not, the screen is so bright and clear you can't even tell. You have to see it with your own eyes to realize its beauty.
The camera takes great pictures. I use it more than any other camera that I've owned. The slideshow transitions are a fun effect, especially when watching with a soundtrack.
Battery life has been promising. I've been using the iPhone for 6 hours, 24 minutes standby time and 5 hours, 15 minutes of usage time, (as shown in the Usage utility in Settings,) and it's still half charged.
I'm sure Apple will continue to impress with software updates.
This is the coolest computer I've ever owned. I love it.

penguino

Jul 4, 2007, 08:14 PM

Super happy. I dumped my land line. iPhone is da bomb.

Dagless

Jul 4, 2007, 09:11 PM

I'm glad to hear it's a good device. Another market Apple looks set to do well in.

BigPrince

Jul 4, 2007, 09:12 PM

Super Happy except for the sound. I wish I could get it louder.

Cleverboy

Jul 4, 2007, 09:19 PM

I'm only "Happy". I'd be "Very Happy" but I see too much missing stuff, so that even though I'm insanely happy with the rest, I have to remove the last star. Also, I've had syncing problems and the lack of drag-and-drop media syncing has made me later than I've needed to be from time to time, waiting for ALL relevant files to sync. --Say you JUST want a new song you downloaded, yet in the last hour 5 new podcast episodes came in. You go to uncheck your podcasts (so it can go straight to syncing your new music) and iTunes informs you that in unchecking the podcasts, it will delete all existing podcasts (that were previously copied and perhaps unplayed yet) off your iPhone when you hit "sync". SCREWED. How lame is that? That's just been an unexpected pain in the neck for me and a reason to not use "Very".

~ CB

lalcan

Jul 4, 2007, 11:23 PM

rt_brained

Jul 5, 2007, 12:47 AM

Can I say, "Hell-Freakin' Yeah"? Okay, then Hell-Freakin' Yeah!

Looking forward to landscape-oriented keyboards for ALL applications though.

kalisphoenix

Jul 5, 2007, 12:50 AM

I hate polls like this. "64% of respondents say that the question is completely irrelevant and they answered only because they wanted to see the poll results."

arn

Jul 5, 2007, 04:23 AM

I hate polls like this. "64% of respondents say that the question is completely irrelevant and they answered only because they wanted to see the poll results."

yes, you have to substract out the don't own an iphone ones to get actual percents. which at the moment are:

80% Very Happy
13% Happy
3.7% It's ok
0.8 % Unhappy
2.2% Very Unhappy

arn

Nym

Jul 5, 2007, 05:20 AM

It's nice to see most people are loving it :)

I'm really curious about it's size, weight and height, guess I'll have to wait until it reaches Europe so I can touch it and get it's feel.

Too bad we (non US citizens) have to wait so long, you lucky bastards... :o

cwt1nospam

Jul 5, 2007, 07:43 AM

As of now the poll with those who don't own an iphone removed, stands at:

80.3% Very Happy
12.7% Happy
3.7% It's ok
1.0% Unhappy
2.2% Very Unhappy

That's 93% either happy or very happy!

grimmace

Jul 5, 2007, 08:17 AM

You know what's funny? My first text/email was treated like any other SMS or IM when on a phone. A message very short and to the point in broken text since I have been so used to bad OS. Now all my texts/email are in full sentences from my phone and in most part spelled correctly. I will get used to this now.

mainstreetmark

Jul 5, 2007, 08:59 AM

I'd like to hear peoples reasons on why or why they don't like it...

I'm "very happy", but

- Interface inconsistencies. The weather widget is customizable by the Tiger widget "i" button, which is unique in the iPhone OS
- Not all "lists" work the same, such as, again, the weather widget doesn't let you re-order, but the Address Book does
- The iPod isn't an iPod at all
- "Rating" is awkward to get to. in the iPod, you tap to get the scrubber, then tap again to get the rating. In iPhone, tap gets the scrubber, but you have to click on the playlist icon to get to the rating.
- On The Go isn't integrated into the rest of iPod, such as the tap+hold method I'm used to. It's a separate function, where you go in and search around for music - no way to add a song you're currently looking at to the playlist that I can tell
- The CoverFlow always shows the entire collection, not the current playlist as iTunes does. Therefore, it's useless as a tool to find what you want to hear in the playlist.
- If you're off-net and send an SMS, it gives you an error (of course), but unless you stay in SMS and wait for a signal, you'll loose your message - no "save and try later" thing.

- I can't find a single issue with Maps

- There's nothing on YouTube at all. A dancing guy and a cat.

- The keyboard is way better than expected. Type a sentence using all normal words as fast as you can without bothering to check to see if you're typing right, and it'll nearly 100% of the time correct it correctly. I wish OSX had this typo fixyness in it.
- The keyboard typo fixer doesn't know the name of some Apple products such as "basecamp"

- Can't "select all" in Mail. Every spam and myspace whore friend email I get has to be manually deleted, which is beginning to suck.
- There's too many clicks in Mail. Account->Inbox->message, back, back, ->Other_Inbox->message. Two whole panes are mostly empty (listing my 3 email accounts, then the inbox+trash for each account).

Most of this stuff will likely be fixed as the iPhone OS matures (don't tell me this is OSX either - i'm sick of hearing that exaggeration). I fear my iPod issues will never be fixed as that appears to be their new design.

KingofAwesome

Jul 5, 2007, 09:40 AM

I'm "very happy", but
- The CoverFlow always shows the entire collection, not the current playlist as iTunes does. Therefore, it's useless as a tool to find what you want to hear in the playlist.
- If you're off-net and send an SMS, it gives you an error (of course), but unless you stay in SMS and wait for a signal, you'll loose your message - no "save and try later" thing.

Those sound like "1st Gen" issues to me. Not to say they aren't bugs - they certainly should be corrected, but with everything they had to prepare for this release, they certainly sound to me like oversights that can be fixed soon, hopefully in a software upgrade.

- The keyboard is way better than expected. Type a sentence using all normal words as fast as you can without bothering to check to see if you're typing right, and it'll nearly 100% of the time correct it correctly. I wish OSX had this typo fixyness in it.
- The keyboard typo fixer doesn't know the name of some Apple products such as "basecamp"

I hadn't thought of it before, but if this tech was in Leopard, I'd be very happy. And to be fair, Basecamp is a product by 37signals, not Apple.

zombitronic

Jul 5, 2007, 10:04 AM

don't tell me this is OSX either - i'm sick of hearing that exaggeration.

It's only an exaggeration if you're thinking in exaggerated terms. While it doesn't have a Desktop, Finder, Dock, etc., these things don't make OS X what it is. It's the underlying core technologies and applications that define the OS. While the iPhone may not contain the full retail desktop version of OS X, as Apple has stated and shown, it does contain a version of OS X, albeit a "lite" version.

mainstreetmark

Jul 5, 2007, 11:17 AM

I hadn't thought of it before, but if this tech was in Leopard, I'd be very happy. And to be fair, Basecamp is a product by 37signals, not Apple.

Mmmm... "Bootcamp".

It's only an exaggeration if you're thinking in exaggerated terms. While it doesn't have a Desktop, Finder, Dock, etc., these things don't make OS X what it is. It's the underlying core technologies and applications that define the OS. While the iPhone may not contain the full retail desktop version of OS X, as Apple has stated and shown, it does contain a version of OS X, albeit a "lite" version.

Yes, of course I'm not talking about Finder and all that so much. What I mean is, if there truly is a kernel down there that's OSX, then it inherently is able to compartmentalize and isolate any application written by a third party, but to date, Apple claims there isn't third party development due to some 'security' or something, and we're stuck writing "web apps", which as we seen appears to be limited to web apps that list other web apps (for now). Once developers are let into iPhone's OSX, then we would hopefully get access to some hardware-level stuff and be able to have things like iStumbler-type apps running. THEN, the iPhone will mature. It's only a matter of time. Your "lite" comment is equivalent to my "exaggerated" comment.

I forot to mention in my original post, that only photos and safari respond to turning it sideways. Maps and E-Mail does not. But yes, we have iPhone v1.0, and it's mostly bug free. We'll see where it goes, but man does it ever have great potential, ESPECIALLY, if Xcoders are let in.

dontwalkhand

Jul 5, 2007, 02:45 PM

It's only an exaggeration if you're thinking in exaggerated terms. While it doesn't have a Desktop, Finder, Dock, etc., these things don't make OS X what it is. It's the underlying core technologies and applications that define the OS. While the iPhone may not contain the full retail desktop version of OS X, as Apple has stated and shown, it does contain a version of OS X, albeit a "lite" version.
Like Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile has some aspects from desktop versions of Windows, but there are things absent, such as the desktop, and taskbar buttons...its a lite version for your PHONE, It is not a full blown computer, its a PHONE!

Yankees 4 Life

Jul 5, 2007, 05:25 PM

yup, my bad boy iphone is most definently a phone, which runs a computer os x....

zelman

Jul 6, 2007, 03:39 PM

AT&T has managed to screw up my account. Now I'm unhappy but it's not Apple's fault.

mac 2005

Jul 6, 2007, 06:27 PM

I can already picture the headlines at MSNBC and ZDNET and all those misnamed technology know-it-all's...

"The iPhone is dissapointing, say Apple fanboys

In a recent poll from a well-known Apple fanatics page, only 36% of the participants told they're satisfied with the newest Apple gadget, among the complains from the angry mob, the low volume of the iPhone, along with the inconsistency of the interface (f.ex. you can write in landscape mode only if you're using the not-compatible web browser included in the small list of apps) and frecuent app crashes head the list, and most of the users are already waiting for the second revision to solve the problems found."

;)

Leo

Isn't "angry mob" a bit redundant? ;) Seriously, though, what do you expect? As much hype as Apple created with the phone, the natural story is: Does the device live up to the hype? And this site is on the radar of reporters covering the space. If people here love/like/hate the iPhone, the mood is going to be fairly representative of iPhone users. In other words, the media can report only what iPhone users report first.

zap2

Jul 7, 2007, 08:06 AM

I'm very very happy...I'm a bit upset with iPod part crashing when I do other stuff, but that should get fixed it time.

Everything else is perfect, and EGDE is much better then I was lead to believe.

Cleverboy

Jul 7, 2007, 08:21 AM

I'm very very happy...I'm a bit upset with iPod part crashing when I do other stuff, but that should get fixed it time.
Everything else is perfect, and EDGE is much better then I was lead to believe. Tell me about it. Good stuff. One thing though... Safari on EDGE is a bit crashy I think. I think its MUCH faster and stable on WiFi. A little bothersome to have a slower connection, just to have the browser poop out. It usually remembers all your tabs though, so its not too bad and most people don't realize it crashed because of this (like Firefox's "restore session" on auto-pilot).

~ CB

motorazr

Jul 7, 2007, 06:06 PM

I hate polls like this. "64% of respondents say that the question is completely irrelevant and they answered only because they wanted to see the poll results."

you are very right...the poll clearly says : iPhone Owners: Happy with your iPhone? ...so why is there the I don't own one yet option?

Edit: Oh, and I love mine...EDGE is much better than my old PPC's VZW network internet, and is much faster than I expected. Ya, still a few bugs, but time will fix those :)

synth3tik

Jul 7, 2007, 06:16 PM

Why is there even "I don't own an iPhone" in a poll thats entitled "Happy with your iPhone"

ricgnzlzcr

Jul 7, 2007, 10:17 PM

I'm incredibly happy with my iphone. What I've always wanted in a phone is a full browser and this is the best I've ever seen. My macbook power cord just bit the dust today and this little iphone has taken care of my internet and music needs perfectly. I'll go get the cord fixed tomorrow, but with this iphone I am in no hurry.

Now this doesn't mean that the iphone has no issues. First I am used to a blackberry keyboard and while I'm typing fast, it's definitely not as fast. Second, I wish I had some games a la nintendo ds but I suppose that will come with time hopefully.

Digital Skunk

Jul 8, 2007, 12:47 AM

The only thing I don't like about the iPhone is Cingular and their lack of insurance and overall sucky service.

FWU

Jul 8, 2007, 04:05 PM

I love my iPhone but I have two issues:
(1) my voice mail at work gets attached to my email as a .wav file. My didn't play it and neither does the iPhone.
(2) Apple and AT&T wouldn't allow me to transfer my phone number from my Blackberry since it was a commercial account. Now that I have the iPhone I want to cancel the account on my Blackberry and transfer the phone number to my iPhone. AT&T says there is no way to change the number even though they are both AT&T accounts.

nbs2

Jul 9, 2007, 07:59 AM

Why is there even "I don't own an iPhone" in a poll thats entitled "Happy with your iPhone"

Because a quirk of these polls (as opposed to the user created) is that you can't see the results without voting.

pilotError

Jul 9, 2007, 08:48 AM

I'm pretty happy with mine.

I have the same issues as everyone else, mime attachments, landscape mode is inconsistent, when calling my answering machine at home, you have to search for the keypad button to enter the password, etc. but something unusual happened that I didn't expect...

It is now a productive piece of my daily life.

I have to admit, I bought it because it was shiny and new and cool (of course), but I've now moved past that and its something that's integrated into my daily routine. I don't have to be at my desk to check email (all 4 accounts), I get phone calls, text messaging is pretty useful (I never wanted to use it prior to this), and pretty much most of the functionality works as advertised.

The Edge network isn't all that bad in my neck of the woods, its useable, but not if I wanted to actually do work from it. Then again, if thats what you need, you should have a laptop.

Through posts and my own experience, the hardware is still a little inconsistent. I have 2 iPhones, and the bluetooth on one of them died. The replacement does have some issues, but works. My second phone just works.

I had battery issues with the 2nd phone, but after a weeks worth of use, it seems to have straightened itself out (wouldn't charge to 100%).

Even the quirky inconsistencies of the interface are starting to become non-issues. I'm getting in the groove where even my wife (who doesn't like gadgets) has become pretty productive with it.

The weakest option on the phone IMHO is the iPod feature. Due to the power savings being so aggressive, if you want to do anything you need to unlock and find the right button to push. It looks great when showing your friends, but my little shuffle has better usability. If you want to just put it on shuffle or don't care what comes on next, then its fine.

I'm a converted Mac guy within the last 2 years, and I'm very glad I made the switch. I've even dedicated some hours learning how to program these things. Now I just wish they would come out with a true Software Developers Kit for the iPhone, instead of the lame web interface. I love the Sudoku website, but it takes a long time to generate the page sometimes.

thatguy_youknow

Jul 9, 2007, 03:03 PM

top of my wishlist

• Customize home menu - i don't care about stocks and would like to be able to put the apps in the order of my choice.
• Search within a webpage or email.
• Flash support.
• Store files/be able to download attachments. You can't even download a photo to use as a wallpaper or a contact photo. - EDIT- from mail attachments
• Ability to add multiple attachments to an email.
• If the WiFi base station is a subscription based point alla tmobile (which i do have and use) it should ask if it should use edge.
• Put the backspace/delete key at the top of the keyboard and make the return key larger or put something else there. - not that big of a deal, just makes more sense to me.
• Safari needs to store user names and passwords. This would make subscription based access points much eaiser to deal with and not to mention anyother time a person has to log in to a site.

All off these can be done with software so I am hopeful.

pilotError

Jul 9, 2007, 03:51 PM

You can't even download a photo to use as a wallpaper or a contact photo.

Is this true? I've never tried to change the wallpaper, but I could have sworn I've seen a popup that asks if I want to use the photo as wallpaper. Camera function maybe?

I would like the ability to open links in a new safari page. It sucks when your on Edge (pun intended) and your going through a forum to have to go back and forth. Everything usually gets marked as read as some point.

marklon

Jul 9, 2007, 04:29 PM

Overall yes, i just have a few issues already posted on this forum, no copy and paste, cant email multiple attachments, no BCC ...etc

MacOrSendItBack

Jul 9, 2007, 10:55 PM

The screen visibility in direct sun light is the best of any device I have ever seen. I find more features that I have not heard about every day. Simple things, like holding down the back space key will start deleting whole words, trashing notes (etc) animation. Its the little things that Apple does that makes their products such a pleasure to use.

Clix Pix

Jul 10, 2007, 01:53 PM

Is this true? I've never tried to change the wallpaper, but I could have sworn I've seen a popup that asks if I want to use the photo as wallpaper. Camera function maybe?

When you're in iTunes synching the iPhone there are the various tabs for setting up what you want to sync, including photos. You can add in any photos from your own iPhoto or other files. I have quite a few of my personal photos on there now. In the "Photos" section on the iPhone itself, when you click on a particular photo you then have the option to add it as wallpaper or assign it to a contact. My wallpaper is a photo of a Great Blue Heron that I took a couple of months ago, and many of my contacts now have their photos displayed alongside their information. It's cool when they call me on the iPhone and I see their images!

pubwvj

Jul 10, 2007, 05:34 PM

I just read in our local paper that you can't have an iPhone if you're in Vermont. Or at least you can't activate it in Vermont. There is no AT&T coverage anywhere in Vermont. Apparently Vermont is the only state, according to the article in the Times Argus, that lacks the necessary coverage.

Bummer.

But then I don't really need an iPhone. What I want is an iPal - palm size Macintosh.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

emptyCup

Jul 11, 2007, 06:22 PM

Seriously, though, what do you expect? As much hype as Apple created with the phone, the natural story is: Does the device live up to the hype?

As I see it, Apple didn't create any hype at all. Jobs demoed an actual working phone at MacWorld and ran a few ads during the Academy Awards. They didn't say a thing until the middle of June when they started their ad campaign and posted demo movies on their web site.

Since MacWorld the public relations machine that pretends to be the press has been in FUD overdrive: most expensive phone ever, 40 minute battery life, doesn't have features even the cheapest phones have (buttons), can't be programmed but can be easily hacked, won't work with business ...

In all the stories I've seen about the iPhone (and Blackfriar's Marketing has tracked thousands) I have yet to see one that called the iPhone heavily anticipated (which it was) or heavily marketed, advertised or promoted (which it wasn't). They always use the pejorative "hype". The press invented the "hype", chastises Apple for their own excess and continues doing it even as a million people use it happily (for the most part).