"Hi Apple support. I am writing these request because I really admire this new device, seeing it as a very powerful opportunity opener for combining lifestyle and work everywhere.
As a master student in CHI and Communications I have come to realize that the iPhone's SMS functions are greatly underpowered compared to other less advanced but more popular phones.
I understand that SMS-services are used less in the US than in Europe so this might explain your priorities on the subject.
What is greatly needed to make SMS more powerful is the ability to:
- receiving and understanding v-cards sent as SMS or MMS. It's very cumbersome that I need to call my friends to get other contact information.
- handling SMS'es as manipulable objects. With it's powerful multitouch keyboard, text messaging is much easier and the users are more prone to typing longer messages. Based on this, it's all the more frustrating to accidentally realize that you didn't choose the correct contact and have to type everything back from scratch.
- phone and email handling. Mail already realises and understands phone numbers, appointments and email addresses that you can add as new contacts etc. This lack of feature in the SMS functions combined with the lack of v-cards only makes contacts sharing all the more difficult.
Typing in general:
- enabling horizontal keyboard functions in SMS and Mail. This would make it even easier to type better, quicker and easier to others.
- while picking a primary keyboard like Danish, the special and most commonly used characters of the Danish alphabet (Æ, Ø and Å) should be placed closest to the character the user needs to press. As it is now, the user needs to press A to get an Æ or and Å, then wait for the choice dialogue to pop up, then slide the finger all the way to the right (which feels awkward and slow).
- dictionary should be user configurable. Making a dictionary 100% automatic will never take care of semantic spelling errors. Being able to explicitly (not just wondering if it actually works correctly) edit out words, adding and deleting outright wrong suggestions makes for a much more user configurable feel to the phone. On a related note, it would be great if there were more choices to pick from when the dictionary suggests something. Ie. when typing the Danish word 'for' (for, to in English), it suggests 'før' (before in English) which are both correct words but if the user does not notice the suggestion, it will autocorrect it, making the sentence rubbish.
- Small bug when having two or more dictionaries/keyboards enabled under 'International'. My primary keyboard and language should be English (switching to Danish when I type email and SMS) but in Safari whenever I need to fill out a form, it says 'gå' instead of 'go' for some weird reason.
I hope that you are already aware of some or most of these issues and that this post can underline the importance of adding the functions as quickly as possible.
regards
- Magnus Hansen. CHI-student at Roskilde University Denmark."
I really hope this is fixed in newer updates...
As a master student in CHI and Communications I have come to realize that the iPhone's SMS functions are greatly underpowered compared to other less advanced but more popular phones.
I understand that SMS-services are used less in the US than in Europe so this might explain your priorities on the subject.
What is greatly needed to make SMS more powerful is the ability to:
- receiving and understanding v-cards sent as SMS or MMS. It's very cumbersome that I need to call my friends to get other contact information.
- handling SMS'es as manipulable objects. With it's powerful multitouch keyboard, text messaging is much easier and the users are more prone to typing longer messages. Based on this, it's all the more frustrating to accidentally realize that you didn't choose the correct contact and have to type everything back from scratch.
- phone and email handling. Mail already realises and understands phone numbers, appointments and email addresses that you can add as new contacts etc. This lack of feature in the SMS functions combined with the lack of v-cards only makes contacts sharing all the more difficult.
Typing in general:
- enabling horizontal keyboard functions in SMS and Mail. This would make it even easier to type better, quicker and easier to others.
- while picking a primary keyboard like Danish, the special and most commonly used characters of the Danish alphabet (Æ, Ø and Å) should be placed closest to the character the user needs to press. As it is now, the user needs to press A to get an Æ or and Å, then wait for the choice dialogue to pop up, then slide the finger all the way to the right (which feels awkward and slow).
- dictionary should be user configurable. Making a dictionary 100% automatic will never take care of semantic spelling errors. Being able to explicitly (not just wondering if it actually works correctly) edit out words, adding and deleting outright wrong suggestions makes for a much more user configurable feel to the phone. On a related note, it would be great if there were more choices to pick from when the dictionary suggests something. Ie. when typing the Danish word 'for' (for, to in English), it suggests 'før' (before in English) which are both correct words but if the user does not notice the suggestion, it will autocorrect it, making the sentence rubbish.
- Small bug when having two or more dictionaries/keyboards enabled under 'International'. My primary keyboard and language should be English (switching to Danish when I type email and SMS) but in Safari whenever I need to fill out a form, it says 'gå' instead of 'go' for some weird reason.
I hope that you are already aware of some or most of these issues and that this post can underline the importance of adding the functions as quickly as possible.
regards
- Magnus Hansen. CHI-student at Roskilde University Denmark."
I really hope this is fixed in newer updates...
