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How Apple could make multiple modes available for different situations

Luke1robb

Luke1robb

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 3, 2008
809
0
Cambridge, MA/Smithfield, RI
So I read this article today from TUAW...

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/02/17/tuaw-tips-maximize-battery-power-for-gps-apps/

It talks about how to save battery life by turning off certain features. Well this got me thinking, what if Apple designed a way to quickly and easily change the "mode" of your iPhone (i.e. Airplane, Meeting, Gaming, Power Saver, etc.).

I think I've come up with a great way of implementing this. By simply holding down the sleep/wake button, which usually brings up the power off slider, you could have 4-5 options appear. These would include Turn off slider & cancel (the usual) and Power Saver, and two other customizable modes.

So what do you all think? I figure maybe Apple will listen in or someone can write an application for jailbroken phones.
 
Luke1robb said:
So I read this article today from TUAW...

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/02/17/tuaw-tips-maximize-battery-power-for-gps-apps/

It talks about how to save battery life by turning off certain features. Well this got me thinking, what if Apple designed a way to quickly and easily change the "mode" of your iPhone (i.e. Airplane, Meeting, Gaming, Power Saver, etc.).

I think I've come up with a great way of implementing this. By simply holding down the sleep/wake button, which usually brings up the power off slider, you could have 4-5 options appear. These would include Turn off slider & cancel (the usual) and Power Saver, and two other customizable modes.

So what do you all think? I figure maybe Apple will listen in or someone can write an application for jailbroken phones.
Click to expand...

well that pretty much is called SBsettings for jailbroken iphones and lets you save a great deal of battery by turning off unwanted services (I turn off wifi when I leave my house, then run on GPRS until I need data; then I quickly turn on 3G ..)
 
IMHO it shouldn't be necessary to have to jailbreak your iPhone - Apple should provide these things, or allow developers greater access to the OS in order that they can do so. For one example...why did I have to jailbreak my touch simply in order to have a background behind the Apps?
 
jmmo20 said:
well that pretty much is called SBsettings for jailbroken iphones and lets you save a great deal of battery by turning off unwanted services (I turn off wifi when I leave my house, then run on GPRS until I need data; then I quickly turn on 3G ..)
Click to expand...
Not really... the OP is talking about creating profiles, each of which has its own combination of features that are on or off. SBsettings is sort of a intermediary between a stock phone and having actual profiles - it lets you switch features on/off easily, but you still have to set features individually.

OP, I totally agree, profiles would be great, and I think your implementation would be really nice.
 
There is a lot of wasted space on that screen. This sounds like a perfect idea to use it up.

Wonder when somebody is going to design a sound profile app for the JB crowd...
 
I found this very helpful on WM phones. You can hold down the home button and bring up different profiles. They may have only involved phone sounds, but it wouldn't be too hard to use that same idea with other features.

I liked it because it allowed you to choose from more than just silent or ringer. For example, when I was in class I'd keep it on vibrate, but when I was teaching it'd be on absolute silence (no alert whatsoever).
 
northy014 said:
IMHO it shouldn't be necessary to have to jailbreak your iPhone - Apple should provide these things, or allow developers greater access to the OS in order that they can do so. For one example...why did I have to jailbreak my touch simply in order to have a background behind the Apps?
Click to expand...

Have you seen some of the terrible themes people post on cydia? Apple doesnt want our phones to look like crap. If everybody made themes like we see on macthemes, then I am sure they would allow it.

I dont agree with this, which is why my iPhone was jailbroken before I left the parking lot of the apple store the day I bought it.
 
NeoMayhem said:
Have you seen some of the terrible themes people post on cydia? Apple doesnt want our phones to look like crap. If everybody made themes like we see on macthemes, then I am sure they would allow it.

I dont agree with this, which is why my iPhone was jailbroken before I left the parking lot of the apple store the day I bought it.
Click to expand...

We're not talking about themes, we're talking about a sounds profile, so silence, vibrate, meeting, etc.
 
eplchamps0304 said:
Won't happen. It will be too complicated for the average iPhone user.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I just don't agree: I'm sure that if Apple were to do it themselves/allow developers to do so, the natural laws of competition would sort it so that someone would make a simple consumer end app.
 
northy014 said:
I'm sorry, but I just don't agree: I'm sure that if Apple were to do it themselves/allow developers to do so, the natural laws of competition would sort it so that someone would make a simple consumer end app.
Click to expand...

+1, I think this is pretty simple. If the user wants to use it, they can, if they don't, they just use the vibrate switch on the phone. If someone is saying its too hard, then you would also say that turning off the phone is too hard cuz that's all this requires.
 
They could just add a button at the bottom of the main Settings page: "Save as profile". You press that and it freezes every current setting, and you give it a name. To make different profiles, you change whatever settings you want, and keep hitting the save button for each combination. Then to access/switch profiles, you hold down the power button as you suggested.
 
As someone's mentioned, WM phones often have a hotkey to go to a special menu where you can chose a different profile, turn on/off radios, etc. Kind of a central control panel.

If you're really interested, then I'd say to Google around and find all the profile options available in other phones.

Then I'd also look at programs that add even more features. For example, other phones have apps that allow you to preset the profile by your calendar and/or GPS location.
 
CrzyCanuck72 said:
They could just add a button at the bottom of the main Settings page: "Save as profile". You press that and it freezes every current setting, and you give it a name. To make different profiles, you change whatever settings you want, and keep hitting the save button for each combination. Then to access/switch profiles, you hold down the power button as you suggested.
Click to expand...

I like this idea, I wonder if Apple is really listening though. I doubt it. I wonder if I submitted feedback if they'd really care... Thoughts?
 
I don't think that profiles would be necessary unless background apps were allowed, but I'd be for putting shortcuts on the home screen. I'd like to turn off my Bluetooth without going through about 5 screens. Doing the same with WiFi would be great because I never do it since I use WiFi about half the time. My battery gets me through at least a couple of days, and I have charging cables all over the place.
 
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