Software features missing on the iPhone

[Azmontana]

Ok now before I go on and all the fanboys get defensive, I am and have been an Apple fan for 15+ years and a very happy customer but I do feel that the iPhone has some basic features missing and I think most of my issues could be solved with software fixes, not sure if 4.0 addresses all of these.

1. Why can't I connect my iPhone to my Mac wirelessly via bluetooth or wifi and sync/update. Not a biggie but it would be nice to leave my phone in my pocket for example while it syncs etc.

2. When listening to music on the iPhone and the title of the name is too long, why does it not scroll through so you can see the full title. This is a basic function which my iPod has why not the iPhone.

3. Why is there no file management on the iPhone, I can use my iPod as an external hard drive, why can't we have a function which allows you to drag files, pdfs etc. To the iPhone and use an app to open and look at the files. Maybe theres an app that does this but I haven't come across one.

I had a few others but can't think of them right now, I'll post them when they come to me.

Thanks for reading and any helpful replies.

 

[Satori]

There are a number of apps that will allow you to send files wirelessly to your iphone from your computer including airsharing and file magnet. If you have mobile me, then Mail + iDisk will serve your purposes for file transfer & veiwing.

D

3. Why is there no file management in the iPhone, I can use my iPod as an external hard drive, why can't we have a function which allows you to drag files, pdfs etc. To the iPhone and use an app to open and look at the files. Maybe theres an app that does this but I haven't come across one.

 

[Small White Car]

Get a free dropbox account. Then get the free iPhone app and also download the free Mac software that puts a synced folder on your Mac. Use that to copy files from your computer to your iPhone over the internet. If you put them in the 'public' folder you can even e-mail links to files right from your phone.

If your contacts and calendars aren't being synced over the air set that up with something like google's services. You'll still have to sync your phone for music and movies, but it will make syncing less necessary as an every-day thing.

These doesn't fix all of your problems, of couse, but they'll help.

 

[pcguru83]

The biggest single software deficiency on the iPhone OS in my opinion is a proper way to manage notifications. The "system" we have now with pop-up boxes is horrible. It's a regular occurrence to frequently miss notifications because of the way these pop-ups are currently implemented. They overlap with one another, and viewing multiple notifications is practically impossible. I pretty much only get the most recent notification and that's it.

And I'll probably regret bringing this up , but the "other mobile OS which will not be named" has an incredible notification system. I used a myTouch 3G for a few days and was blown away by the notification bar. That thing is quite possibly one of the coolest and most intuitive interfaces I've used in a while. The way it compartmentalizes all notifications in one area is extremely handy. That was about a month or two ago, and I'm annoyed now by the lack of something similar to this every time I get a notification pop-up. It's just so cludgy.

Closely related to this is one is the much neglected lock screen. There is so much untapped potential with the lock screen, and it could tie in nicely with a revamped notification system. I use LockInfo on my jailbroken 3G, but I'm sure Apple's implementation would be much more cleaner.

Honestly, this one single area has got me considering other options. I love the look of the iPhone 4, but I just can't shake the feeling that iPhone OS 4.0 is getting...weird. I'm not sure how else to put it. The iPhone interface just doesn't seem to scale well--it's not conducive to adding new features.

 

[gloss]

The biggest single software deficiency on the iPhone OS in my opinion is a proper way to manage notifications. The "system" we have now with pop-up boxes is horrible. It's a regular occurrence to frequently miss notifications because of the way these pop-ups are currently implemented. They overlap with one another, and viewing multiple notifications is practically impossible. I pretty much only get the most recent notification and that's it.

And I'll probably regret bringing this up , but the "other mobile OS which will not be named" has an incredible notification system. I used a myTouch 3G for a few days and was blown away by the notification bar. That thing is quite possibly one of the coolest and most intuitive interfaces I've used in a while. The way it compartmentalizes all notifications in one area is extremely handy. That was about a month or two ago, and I'm annoyed now by the lack of something similar to this every time I get a notification pop-up. It's just so cludgy.

Closely related to this is one is the much neglected lock screen. There is so much untapped potential with the lock screen, and it could tie in nicely with a revamped notification system. I use LockInfo on my jailbroken 3G, but I'm sure Apple's implementation would be much more cleaner.

Honestly, this one single area has got me considering other options. I love the look of the iPhone 4, but I just can't shake the feeling that iPhone OS 4.0 is getting...weird. I'm not sure how else to put it. The iPhone interface just doesn't seem to scale well--it's not conducive to adding new features.

Agreed. Notifications need fixed.

 

[bstpierre]

3. Why is there no file management on the iPhone, I can use my iPod as an external hard drive, why can't we have a function which allows you to drag files, pdfs etc. To the iPhone and use an app to open and look at the files. Maybe theres an app that does this but I haven't come across one.

Yes, this would be good. I have dropbox which does allow you to view files that are shared between the iPhone and your dropbox account.

What I would like to be able to do is get a file on my iPhone by either getting it from DropBox or by saving it from an email message and then be able to ftp it to a website server. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't currently allow the different apps to share file space. They only know about their own file space. I am hoping that OS4 addresses this because I think this capability is more critical for the iPad since it is one step closer to a real computer.

 

[TSX]

If you think backing up your iPhone takes long now with the cable, I can only imagine how long it would take to sync over the air.

 

[Azmontana]

If you think backing up your iPhone takes long now with the cable, I can only imagine how long it would take to sync over the air.

Yeh I do realise that, thats why I never mentioned backing up and instead update new music, contacts etc which could very well be done wirelessly.

And to the poster above the lock screen is something I thought could be better utilised as well. I do agree with notifications.

I also thought instead of having the search bar when you slide left (which I never use and find it pointless), that space should be utilised for widgets like rss feeds, weather displayed directly on the screen etc.

 

[CrzyCanuck72]

Apple needs to buy a couple of the better jailbreak utilities, tighten them up, and implement them in the OS. Specifically, Intelliscreen, SBSettings, and QuickreplySMS would be excellent additions to the OS. They're all very Apple-like, are hugely useful, and address big flaws in the current OS.