Name something the iPhone could learn from competitors.

[angrylawyer]

I wish you could see the current shuffled playlist. Sometimes while I'm shuffling I want to hear a specific song, but currently I have to leave the shuffle, play the song, then when it ends, return to the start of a brand new shuffle.

It'd be cool if I could just see the shuffled list and just click where I want to start within it.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

notification drawer like WP7 and Android.

+1 for the Android notification tray. It's one of the best things about Android.

 

[JD914]

As for 4.0 inch+ iPhone, forget about it. Last I remember Jobs was mocking the 'Hummer phones.'

But then again, Jobs has a history of trashing his competitors.

He's a complete anal/OCD jerk. iPhone is vision of what he sees fit for Apple customers (ridiculous "new" iOS notification tones) and not what Apple customers really want .

When he decides to cave into demands it's takes ages for improvements to reach iOS. When they do reach iOS he pontificates and professes how much better Apples does it.

No other CEO is more outspoken and misspoken than Steve Jobs. He needs to stay on the sidelines, take his foot out of his mouth and his head out of his @$$.

 

[Savor]

I wish you could see the current shuffled playlist. Sometimes while I'm shuffling I want to hear a specific song, but currently I have to leave the shuffle, play the song, then when it ends, return to the start of a brand new shuffle.

It'd be cool if I could just see the shuffled list and just click where I want to start within it.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind having that simple feature too. I don't own a Zune, but their software has the capability and probably why I use it as my desktop media player. iTunes can't even do that yet.

Honestly, whatever features the next iPhone will have, I still may just move away from the platform for my next phone. It has been 4 years already, and only minimal upgrades here and there. So many people have an iOS device and some of us are just getting tired of it already. There are many useless apps I wouldn't need at all just by using Safari. I have a CNET app, G4 app, and all these other apps that are just mobile web apps. Even adding widgets or better lockscreen will not make a difference for me since I've done it before back in the early JB days. iPhone in vanilla form is not even on par with the dev community from a couple years ago.

I'm hoping other competitors have a better road map with some "leapfrog" technologies they can introduce to us alot sooner than what Apple likes to by holding back on. I'm really looking forward to RIM's first tablet. Version 1 and Apple's Version 2 tablet may only be up to par with it once released. I want to just call it PlayBook with no other number after it. My only concern is battery life, but I look forward to it more than the 3DS. If the N3DS cost $250-$300, I might as well wait or get a PS3 for that price since they do more.

 

[thinkpatience]

I don't know if other phone have this but 2 things:

Quick switch from WiFi to 3G. I hate browsing the web somewhere and constantly having it try to connect to a WiFi connection (when none work), but I don't want to turn this feature off because when I am home or near a free WiFi I would prefer to use WiFi. Going through the settings menu to adjust things is takes like 30 seconds! Geez, it's almost 2011, I want it instantly!

Password Protected folders. Everyone who doesn't have an iPhone wants to play with mine, I'm generous and share. But I have private information on that phone let I would prefer the nosey people to not venture to.

 

[PlatinuM195]

Notification LED light and better notifications.

The LED could be backlighting the home button for example.

 

[QuarterSwede]

He's a complete anal/OCD jerk. iPhone is vision of what he sees fit for Apple customers (ridiculous "new" iOS notification tones) and not what Apple customers really want .

When he decides to cave into demands it's takes ages for improvements to reach iOS. When they do reach iOS he pontificates and professes how much better Apples does it.

No other CEO is more outspoken and misspoken than Steve Jobs. He needs to stay on the sidelines, take his foot out of his mouth and his head out of his @$$.

Are you kidding me!? He's one of the most beloved CEO's by employees, shareholders and consumers. He's a marketing genius and has singlehandedly made keynotes interesting and irresistible to watch. The reality distortion field was named for a reason. You may not like it but he's brilliant.

 

[tigress666]

Are you kidding me!? He's one of the most beloved CEO's by employees, shareholders and consumers. He's a marketing genius and has singlehandedly made keynotes interesting and irresistible to watch. The reality distortion field was named for a reason. You may not like it but he's brilliant.

Gotta agree. I won't say Steve is a great person, in fact from everything I've read about him it sounds like he is quite the opposite and would not be some one I would want my kids to look up to for ethics or just being decent to your friends.

But... that doesn't mean he isn't good at marketing or selling stuff. He's good at getting people excited about stuff and making stuff sound like a great idea, like Apple made it better, like it is something to be excited about. And he's good at what he is doing which is marketing and is doing well for Apple. For Apple's sake he should not be staying on the sidelines, he's doing a great job of marketing for them. Marketing isn't about being a good person, it's about making people feel good about the product you are selling. And he does a good job at that.

I have to agree he does tend to make keynotes interesting (and usually I find that kind of stuff boring but it is interesting to watch Apple keynotes).

 

[thinkpatience]

Gotta agree. I won't say Steve is a great person, in fact from everything I've read about him it sounds like he is quite the opposite and would not be some one I would want my kids to look up to for ethics or just being decent to your friends.

But... that doesn't mean he isn't good at marketing or selling stuff. He's good at getting people excited about stuff and making stuff sound like a great idea, like Apple made it better, like it is something to be excited about. And he's good at what he is doing which is marketing and is doing well for Apple. For Apple's sake he should not be staying on the sidelines, he's doing a great job of marketing for them. Marketing isn't about being a good person, it's about making people feel good about the product you are selling. And he does a good job at that.

I have to agree he does tend to make keynotes interesting (and usually I find that kind of stuff boring but it is interesting to watch Apple keynotes).

He's a jerk, but everything else you said is completely true (business wise). And he's so far so good while dealing with Pancreatic Cancer (which is often a death sentence), which impresses me even more. So the man can stand his ground and is obviously doing a good job for Apple.

 

[Hooksta]

1. Much improvement in ear piece volume (hearing callers better). My blackberry is just as loud at less than half volume.

2. I'm very interested in the WiFi hotspotting the Droid X can do. A buddy of mine runs his non-3G iPad wirelessly from a WiFi broadcast off his Droid. Freaking cool!

3. Speak to text.

 

[JD914]

DP
10char

 

[w00t951]

I just got rid of my EVO for the sexy nexy "Nexus-S", and I did have a case on it for the first week, but it felt extra big, and at the time it was Summer, and wearing shorts, it felt like a brick in my pocket, weighing my clothes down. And was super thick with the case, just way too large to be comfortably portable.

The Nexus-S is feather lightweight, and about the same size as the iPhone4, don't even feel it in my pocket, and the Super AMOLED screen is drool worthy

The reason the Nexus feels featherweight is because it's made of plastic. The AMOLED seems to oversaturate colors, along with distorting colors when you change the viewing angle. certain colors, such as bright yellow or greens also are off tone from all the other colors, and that bothers me.

 

[androiphone]

i like the notification LED idea, i think a nice place for it would be for the square on the home button to glow white

i made this to demonstrate, obviously it would be more noticeable in the real world with it being a real light and all

that is the best possible way they could ever do it, a notification light is very useful, although apple would not be the first most nokias have done it the same way since the nokia 6220 classic.

I will add to the list email privacy, where you could lock just the email client,

and remove the 'bars' top and bottom, here's a pic I did on the old 3GS shape you just have to imagine it looking like an iphone 4 and with a front facing camera.

 

[dccorona]

I'd rather not. I would much prefer more subtle than that.

Plus the way they laid out the tiles and everything, Windows 7 just is ugly. I really don't get the appeal. I tried to play with one and I found it far from intuitive (like when I picked up the iphone for the first time it was natural on how to use it, no instructions required. It really felt like I needed to read the manual first before using Windows 7 to even be able to get a feel for it).

I understand your objections to it, but playing with one doesn't really do it justice. It seems bland and pointless, I agree, when you just see a demo unit. But when you actually HAVE one, and have customized it so it's yours, there's no comparison. Seeing the people you care about on the front screen right there, watching their tiles update with their status', seeing all your contacts floating along the people icon...it's amazing. And as you use the phone for the first few days, it notices what features of it you aren't using, and pops up little windows showing you features you may have overlooked. It's a pretty amazing thing.

And the iPhone wouldn't have to look like WP7 to have "living" icons. It could be done another way

 

[dccorona]

It's freaking huge compared to the iphone. I doubt most IP4 users would want to go that size. It's slim but looks like a wide screen GPS that you see people stick on their dashboards. I never seen anyone have a case on it, probably cause of it's size.

I've seen it with a case, and it looks like it could kill me

 

[dccorona]

Are you kidding me!? He's one of the most beloved CEO's by employees, shareholders and consumers. He's a marketing genius and has singlehandedly made keynotes interesting and irresistible to watch. The reality distortion field was named for a reason. You may not like it but he's brilliant.

when the iPad came out, I was very disappointed, and thought it was the stupidest, most pointless thing ever. Then I watched him "pitch" it during the keynote, and had to have one.

He's a billionaire for a reason.

 

[spinedoc77]

This is a tough one, the list for DOH things Apple missed the boat on is kind of long. I'd say if I had to pick one thing it would be lockscreen information, texts, weather, email, calendar, etc.

 

[0038396]

-LED Light
-Customize sounds for SMS/Email
-Sound profiles. Work mode, home mode, bar mode.
-Notifications need to work better
-Widgets
-SMS privacy. I don't like a big fat notification popping up (jealous gf).
-Lock screen customization, lots of wasted space on the lock screen.

settings>messages>sms preview> off

notifications are so needed. i love android's (even though android SUCKS otherwise)
all carriers (oh god. i just remembered sprint uses wimax, wtf? don't support that I guess :/)
bigger folders, just scroll!
I hope that they unify the Facetime through other phones too, they said they could, right?

haha sorry, some of this isn't from competitors, but it's just suggestions.

Wow, all these 'improvements' are readily available on Android.

As for 4.0 inch+ iPhone, forget about it. Last I remember Jobs was mocking the 'Hummer phones.'

But then again, Jobs has a history of trashing his competitors.

um look at the title of this thread

 

[CosmoPilot]

In order of my preferences:

1. Better notification management
2. Voice to text/email capability (made simple)
3. Customizable Lock Screen
4. Terminate background apps
5. Wireless sync/backup capability
6. New UI for managing apps

 

[keeper]

Well at the age of 50+ the reason i'm changing to android HTC Desire is the ability to change colours and font size in SMS so i can read it.

If I had this option i'd be staying with Apple.

 

[daneoni]

webOS style or better notification system (Android/RIM versions are tedious)
Quit all button for multitasking
Live updating app icons (like the current calendar app) for weather/stocks (or use the lock screen)
Custom notification sounds like every other smartphone on the planet
Macbook style LED or Palm gesture area type notification light
OTA syncing/updating.
Maps overhaul
Support for push Gmail (that doesn't require exchange like webOS/Android) or IMAP IDLE
Also move to 3.7 or 4.0" screen. (NOT 4.3 and stick with 3.5 if the phone would become larger as a result)
UI revamp or at least UI spruce up (not really important)

The End.

 

[Max.]

On FB I see tons of statuses where people ask whether they should get an iphone or bb and someone always compares the specs and shows how iphone is superior, yet they still end up getting a blackberry. BBM.

TBH, this is a dilemma I'm in right now. I love my iPhone, but the Blackberry is nice, and has BBM. Pretty much everyone I know has BBM and it's hard to turn away, my iPhone still feels pretty outdated.

So I second a BBM-like app. Mind you, I know less people with iPhones than Blackberry's.

 

[Kariya]

He's a complete anal/OCD jerk. iPhone is vision of what he sees fit for Apple customers (ridiculous "new" iOS notification tones) and not what Apple customers really want .

When he decides to cave into demands it's takes ages for improvements to reach iOS. When they do reach iOS he pontificates and professes how much better Apples does it.

No other CEO is more outspoken and misspoken than Steve Jobs. He needs to stay on the sidelines, take his foot out of his mouth and his head out of his @$$.

Tell us how you REALLY feel

TBH, this is a dilemma I'm in right now. I love my iPhone, but the Blackberry is nice, and has BBM. Pretty much everyone I know has BBM and it's hard to turn away, my iPhone still feels pretty outdated.

So I second a BBM-like app. Mind you, I know less people with iPhones than Blackberry's.

Whatsapp?

 

[Merkie]

You think AT&T is going to cut into their texting profits? Sure they already have similar apps but it's user base is dismal, but with a stock app most users will not include a text plan or choose the cheapest plan. I'll bet on it that the agreement with Apple/AT&T talks about such. Maybe when the iPhone is on multiple carriers in the US, then Apple will proceed.

There are for more iPhones being sold without AT&T than with AT&T. I doubt AT&T has any influence on the featureset of the iPhone at all.

Whatsapp?

Whatsapp is the answer. Literally everyone I know with a Blackberry also has Whatsapp.

 

[URFloorMatt]

1) Better Notifications
2) Better Notifications
3) Better Notifications
4) Better Notifications
5) Better Notifications

Notifications management on the iPhone is now prehistoric.

Other things that are important but not nearly as critical:

1) Google Maps -- this app is getting terrible.
2) Email -- this app has always been terrible, but I don't care so much because the Gmail mobile page is fine.
3) Sound profiles -- this suggestion was made several times above and it's something I never noticed was missing but would be great.