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What DON'T you like about the iPhone?

B

badlydrawnboy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2003
1,531
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I'm considering an iPhone and I'm bleary-eyed from reading so many online reviews. However, many of them were written several months ago and I wonder if recent firmware updates have addressed any of the issues they raised. For example, I know it's now possible to create custom ringtones in GB or use songs from iTunes as a ringtone - whereas it wasn't before.

I figured I'd come here to ask current users for their (brief) review of the iPhone. Specifically, I'd like to know what you DON'T like about it. What issues still haven't been addressed?

Also, would you buy it again? Considering its shortcomings, is it worth the price?
 
badlydrawnboy said:
I'm considering an iPhone and I'm bleary-eyed from reading so many online reviews. However, many of them were written several months ago and I wonder if recent firmware updates have addressed any of the issues they raised. For example, I know it's now possible to create custom ringtones in GB or use songs from iTunes as a ringtone - whereas it wasn't before.

I figured I'd come here to ask current users for their (brief) review of the iPhone. Specifically, I'd like to know what you DON'T like about it. What issues still haven't been addressed?

Also, would you buy it again? Considering its shortcomings, is it worth the price?
Click to expand...

The main thing I don't like about the iPhone is how I needed to buy an adapter for the headphone jack so I could hook it up to my tape adapter in my car. Seems like that could have been avoided on the design side. Other than that, creating custom ringtones only took a few minutes on my side of things so that wasn't too bad. There are minor minor stability issues like maybe once a week Safari will crash or the iPod will stop playing but they aren't bad. Battery life was a bit less than I expected, but it could be that I'm just using it too much haha.

It's not even a question, I'd buy it again. It is still the best "device" out there IMO. It was worth the price to me because I needed a new iPod anyway and those run $250-300.
 
For me, I absolutely love my iPhone. I think, overall, it is the best device out there for fun, casual smartphone use. I would say the things I don't like about it are the lack of Multimedia messaging (however, you can email pictures to people), and one drawback to the touchscreen interface is that you really cannot operate the phone effectively without actually looking at it. which can be dangerous while driving in particular. The iPhone makes up for this drawback by being amazingly easy, fluid and fun to use.

I would definitely buy another one...in fact, I just bought another one for my wife for Xmas and she loves it too.
 
Love the iPhone, very glad I bought it, and wouldn't trade it for the world

But:
- Not being able to send text's to multiple people NEEDS to be added
- Flash should be added soon
- Edge is incredibly slow but nothing that bad
- Safari lockups/drops are quite bad with sites that need a little bit of loading
 
-Not having a search function to search names/addresses or Calendar events.

-Not being able to use MMS well. (You have to access all MMS messages on a website which won't let you save or forward pics.)

-Not having Pocket Quicken for my iPhone. (SDKit comes out in Feb. 08')

-Not having a To Do list function.

-Not being able to sync Notes.



Still better than my Treo (s) or the Blackberry though.


-NYB
 
I'd buy the iPhone in a heartbeat. It's the best cell phone/PDA/portable computer ever. I was debating getting a macbook pro for all my mobile computing needs and the iPhone satisfies it and then some.

Going online is great. I wish EDGE would be more consistent but I guess that's more dependent on the area I'm in.

Other than the fact of a lack of third party apps (for now) and it's kind of slippery without a case (at least in my and my friends' opinion) it's worth getting if all you need is a simple organizer, MP3 player, phone in one neat package.
 
I just got one for christmas. I was worried about EDGE internet use being slow, but it has been great so far.

I wouldn't mind if it was a little bigger than 8gb though
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3B48b Safari/419.3)

no native iChat (without hacking). Everything else is perfect
 
This list does not take into account workarounds via jailbreaking. This is out-of-box stuff I feel Apple should accommodate. Off the top of my head:
  1. MobileMail.
  2. iTunes requirement.
  3. Lack of notes syncing.
  4. No disk mode.
  5. Though much improved in 1.1.x, the iPod is still not as intuitive as classic iPod.
  6. Lack of Bluetooth sync or iSync compatibility.
  7. Lack of tactile feedback when pressing interface elements.
  8. SMS interface -- why would I want to delete an entire history of conversation to get rid of *one* message?
  9. Antenna placement.
A few of these I knew about when I purchased the iPhone, and since it's a product still in its infancy, I understand that these issues may or may not be resolved in the future.
 
What I hate about the iPhone is no cut and paste, you can't click urls sent to you in SMS and you can't choose to use someones email address or phone number that has been sent through sms. I loved it on my L7 that you can choose to use the number, grab the number texted to you and save it. No big whoop. It can always be added on as a feature later.

The big thing I'm not a fan of is the fact that I can't use bluetooth to send ringtones from my L7 to the iphone. What a shame. I usually use bluetooth to share ringtones. I did download iphoneringtone maker and I was able to upload 3 ringtones to my 1.12 iphone but that probably will not work when 1.1.3 comes out. I've got alot of ringtones I made myself using MotorlaPhoneTools. I'll have to put them in my iPhone.

Another thing that REALLY bugs me is receiving multimedia messages. I sent myself a ringtone and AT&T gave me some url to log onto and put in a password to retrieve the message. Again, I hate it how I can't click on the url. For a phone that is supposed to be a multimedia phone, you'd think it would let you just open up the message containing the file. I really don't get why they do it that way.

Last but not least, when I go to Barnes and Noble, the data plan is only good for Edge, not their wi-fi hot spots. I have to go into the phone, turn off wi-fi then the phone will start using Edge instead of trying to use a wi-fi connection it can't use. No big deal. Just a small nuisance. But it would be nice if the data plan included wi-fi hot spots.

Other than that, the phone is more of a PDA than a cellphone. I love the seemless integration with Outlook. When the SDK comes out, watch this thing being marketed as Apple's PDA/Phone the way the iPod went from just a music player to a music/video player. I'm in the medical field and I can't wait for ePocrates to be ported to the iPhone. I can use the browser on this thing to log onto the hospital portal and look at patient records when I'm on the go and on call. A VERY big plus. Being in residency, I'm going to download some of our lectures offered online and stick them in my iPhone so I can view them when I want. Watching videos over Edge is way too slow.

As for the photoalbum, I'm currently using it for my personal photos and to review dermatology slides. This thing rocks. I was kinda mad at first that my wife got me something so expensive when we're short on cash (new baby) and I thought of returning this thing. But that went away quick after 5 mins. I wouldn't trade this thing for the world. With the SDK coming out, the possibilities are endless with this device. When the new version comes out with 3G and bigger capacity, I'll definitely upgrade and give this one to my wife.
 
I generally like it. There are some minor issues though.
1. I much more prefer UI of Nokia when it comes to SMS. Why in the name of God I cant delete single SMS in conversation?Its kind of stupid to keep all of them while you really need one or two.
2.iTunes integration-I could definitely live without it :)
3.I would like to be able to have panoramic view when i type SMS.That would make typing much easier.
4. Unlock dam thing! Im tired to watching if for example my GF would not accidently restore it and brick it.To get it back takes sooo much time
 
What I don't like about my iPhone

I agree with the comment that it's hard to use while driving.

However, I love everything else about the iPhone, so most of my complaints are just additional features I want:

1. Voice recording.
2. Games/downloadable applications
3. Video recording
4. More memory/thinner/faster
5. GPS
6. Voice recognition for headset dialing
 
Great device if you're not a heavy business user and seeking a convergence device. I bought mine for less than $300, so I would do it again for that price. The following would have to resolved before I passed on a BB Curve in a higher price range

Dislikes

No multiple recipient texting
No multimedia messaging
No multiple email deletion (glaring omission)
Safari instability
No flash support
No enterprise support
Crippled bluetooth
No 3G, limited to crappy EDGE
Locked and unsubsidized with AT&T
 
:apple:Not having a search function to search names/addresses or Calendar events.

:apple:Not having a To Do list function.

:apple:Not being able to sync Notes.

Otherwise I love this thing. I would buy it again in a NY minute. Don't walk....run to your local Apple Store and get one.:apple:
 
i dont mind using itues, but I hate not being able to drag and drop any time i want to onto the phone like I do all my other ipods.

I wish it had disk mode, which would probably fix the above problem.

it is the coolest gadget I have EVER owned, and I had had a lot of them!
 
As I mentioned in another thread... I hate not having a reminder beep/vibrate every so often for missed messages! I haven't heard much discussion about this, but I can't believe that it is a non-issue for many people.
 
sellitman said:
:apple:Not having a search function to search names/addresses or Calendar events.

:apple:Not having a To Do list function.

:apple:Not being able to sync Notes.

Otherwise I love this thing. I would buy it again in a NY minute. Don't walk....run to your local Apple Store and get one.:apple:
Click to expand...

Isn't it possible to add new to-dos in iCal? Even if it is, I agree that's not the same as a true to-do list.

I use OmniFocus on my Mac, and they're committed to producing an iPhone version when they get the SDK.
 
the main one is poor battery life and that you can't manually manage music like on all other ipods... but then i was going to use my iphone as a phone and not a mp3 player anyway.
 
The Iphone Is The Shiznit!

Yeah, Apple has some work to do but just as the iphone is it blows away all of the other dumbphones!
Of course that does depend on what you want it to do, but apple is adding more features all the time.
I would like disk mode, and will buy the 16gig when it comes out and then the 32 and then..
well you get the idea:D
I think battery life is great but you might want to dock it once a day.
A phone that has the screen that the iphone has, well the others can only hope to grow up!
 
What percentage of the complaints that people have are hardware-related, and what percentage are software-related? If most of them are software-related, I'd feel comfortable buying it as it is now and watching it get better with each firmware update. Of course 16 GB would be nice, but I could probably get by with 8 GB.
 
1. I hate not being able to delete multiple email messages.
2. Let me change the FONT of the NOTEs feature!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Already bought 4 (two for family use, sold one, gave another as a present). Would buy again! LOVE IT!
 
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