July 17th, 2007
Seven ways to improve iPhone in software
Here are seven ways Apple could improve iPhone in software:
1. WiFi Reception & Functionality
When using WiFi, iPhone is amazing. When surfing on WiFi the Web really works. Web sites with links to PDFs work really well, right in the browser. The same goes for Amazon’s in-book search/reader. The only problem is that iPhone’s WiFi reception isn’t nearly as good as on my MacBook, probably due to the smaller antenna and/or iPhone’s aluminum enclosure. Also iPhone needs to be able to stream music via AirTunes to an Aiport Express Base Station.
2. File Browser
Unfortunately, there’s no way to store PDF’s on iPhone - or any files for that matter. iPhone needs a file browser that’s accessible so that I can store and read PDF, Word and Excel files during down moments - especially when there is no WiFi access available. One workaround is to email files to yourself as attachments if you want to read them. Apple: please add a “Documents” folder.
3. Notes Syncing
A workaround for the lack of Notes syncing on iPhone is to use IMAP. If you use IMAP you can compose an email and save it to the drafts folder. The drafts folder is synced to the IMAP server and then available on your desktop machine’s email client. Hardly ideal but it works until Apple fixes this glaring omission. I suspect that Notes will sync to Mail.app after Leopard is released.
3. Visual Voicemail
Visual VoiceMail is such a great concept but it is frequently “unavailable.” This appears to be an issue when AT&T network coverage is poor. Also the speaker phone is not nearly loud enough so I almost never user it. Both of these can be tweaked in software.
4. Map the Home Button
Does anyone else find it annoying to have to use the Home button to get anywhere? First, I am worried about the hardware button wearing out. And it’s weird (after using the touchscreen) to have to press a hardware button to get home - it requires a pretty hard press. Second, it seems so unnecessary. To dial out, I have to go through something like three screens. It seems like there is always one or two taps extra on the way to where I want to go. The Home button should be able to be mapped to another application, using…
5. Hold and Release
I know that simplicity is the Mac thing, but Apple didn’t put the iPod clickwheel on iPhone for a reason and they eventually acknowledged that more than one mouse button is better. Simplicity over function shouldn’t and doesn’t always win out. Therefore, I wish that their would be a hack to allow hold and release functions to work (i.e if you hold the Home button for an extra second, it would go to a defined application. Default it to the phone dialer.) Other tap and swipe type functions while in the phone application would be great too.
6. Finger Gestures
While we’re at it, add full blown finger gestures (ala mouse gestures). Spell out a letter and it jumps to a name in the address book (ahem, contact list). Hot corners could also work, so could touch and hold. All of these could be mapped to functions, applications or macros via the Settings application.
7. Safari Bookmarklets/Home Screen Customization
Lacking true, third-party applications it would be great if iPhone could create Safari bookmarklets on the front page. This way, frequently accessed Web pages could be accessed with one tap from the iPhone home screen. Or even better with finger gestures.
I also want to be able to turn front page applications on or off. For example, If I don’t care about the Calculator or Clock, it would be nice to turn them off and replace them with Safari bookmarklets that I use more often.
Bonus Tip: Easy RSS
Here’s a tip to easily get a bunch of RSS feeds onto your iPhone. In Safari 2 (I’m not using version 3) click on the bookmark icon on the left of the top nav bar (to organize your bookmarks) and create a new folder called “RSS.” Then click on the blue “All RSS Feeds” icon, select all the feeds (or just a subset) and copy them to the new “RSS” folder you created. On your next sync the new RSS folder is synced to iPhone. (Thanks Stuart)
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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