iPhone 2.1 Update

Posted on 18 Sep 2008 14:12:22 by John Slater

Last week saw the launch of new iPod Nanos, iPod Touch and small changes to the iPod Classic as well as a new iTunes version. Apple also released a new iPhone update towards the end of the week and this is my roundup and review of the new update.

Official Change-Log
Apple released a list of fixes and features that were included in the new version of the iPhone software and it was quite extensive...

- decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
- significantly improve battery life for most users
- dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
- improve email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
- faster installation of 3rd party applications
- fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
- improved performance in text messaging
- faster loading and searching of contacts
- improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
- repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
- option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
- Genius playlist creation

...the update also contains a large number of security fixes which can found at the Apple website. These are all fixes that Apple seems to have hidden away

Unofficial Change Log
Apple did not include these fixes within the original change log but they are certainly things that been fixed by Apple because they are quite noticeable. Find below my breakdown of the new features/fixes...

Application Installation Pausing
Apple have now implemented a feature that allows the pausing of application installations on the iPhone. I'm not sure why i would need this feature because applications install in the background anyway.

Triple Clicking for Previous Track
Introduced on the new Headphones that Apple released is the ability to triple click on the headphone to take you back to the previous track. Until now only click (pause) and double click (next track) have been useable. This is a handy feature for when i use the headphone's which is hardly ever because my iPhone spends most of its time plugged into my car stereo.

Half Pie
In the past if you listen to a podcast for more than 1 minute the "NEW" circle disappears, so this means when you watch half of the podcast and then turn off the iPhone it assumes you have watched it all meaning that when you resync the podcast could be deleted. With this new feature if you have only watched some of the podcast it shows a half circle, watching the entire thing removes the circle.

Better iPod Song Listings
When viewing your iPod songs, albums or artists you can see much better information about the item. A song now shows the artist name and album meaning it is much easier to find what you are looking for. This is great when you are viewing playlists.

App Updates Keep Position
Updating an application no longer means that they will be placed on the end of the main screen, after an update they will be left in their original position.

Network Data Icon Changed
Before the update the Data Network icons were within squares. Now the box has gone and GSM (when you don't have Edge or 3G) is a small circle.

Official Feature Breakdown
I also have a few things to say about some of the official new features that Apple announced in their change log...

Backup Time
This is something that has been of major concern to most iPhone users, backing up the data on the iPhone since the introduction of version 2.0 has taken far too long and despite 2 very much failed attempts to fix the problem it seemed it wasn't going to get fixed. In the latest version Apple have dramatically improved the backup process which for me takes only 1 minute at the most which is a large change from the 20 minutes it used to take.

Faster Installation of Apps on iPhone
I don't install many apps via the App Store simply because it takes to long to download, i normally just make note of the App and download it at home. However i have noticed that Apps take much less time to install, this still will not make me want to install apps via the iPhone.

SMS Performance Fixes
Before the update large conversations via SMS on the iPhone really slowed down the loading of the SMS application. With the update SMS loads much faster and Apple have found a nice way of loading earlier messages as and when you need them, by simply adding a small button to load earlier conversations.

Repeat Alerts
If you receive a new SMS message you will be reminded after 5 minutes (2 more times) that you got a message with your chosen message tone. Personally this is very annoying because even if you read the SMS on the home screen it reminds you meaning you have to launch the App before it stops alerting you.

Genius Playlist Creation
Like the new iTunes the new iPhone software allows you to create a Genius playlist based on what you are listening too using data from iTunes which i assume is stored on your iPhone too.

Verdict
The iPhone is a massive improvement and has successfully fixed lots of bugs and made the iPhone experience much faster in many applications. Backup time improvements are great and has to be one of the best fixes in the update. The SMS update has also made the loading process much faster and is a huge plus.

I wouldn't say the iPhone is perfect yet and Apple need to come to a realisation that until they make lots of changes and add standard features to the iPhone they do not have the best phone by a long shot.

What is still missing?
Look out for my Article about what the iPhone is missing when it comes to standard features and how easy it is for Apple add these features with a simple update or offering the features as a free download via the app store.