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mr breaker · Jul 1, 2007, 10:55 PM

The biggest drawback to the iPhone that I have noticed so far from using it is that you need to press the button to check for new notifications.

ie. if my phone is on my desk, and I get a voicemail while I'm in another room, I'll have to hit the button to check for messages when I get back. There's no blinking light or anything of that sort.

It seems that the screen turns on with a beep only once when a new message is received. It would be nice if it would at least repeat this at some interval until you acknowledged it...

::maroma:: · Jul 1, 2007, 11:16 PM

I agree. I think it would've been great if they included a small LED behind the glass somewhere (maybe in the top corner), similar to the iMac's light on its face. Or even make the home button glow a little. When you have a new message, email, SMS or whatever it could do that nice pulsing that all the Macs do.

mr breaker · Jul 1, 2007, 11:45 PM

I wonder if they could even make a small glowing dot or icon that showed up on the LCD screen while the rest of it was just black.

::maroma:: · Jul 2, 2007, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by mr breaker

I wonder if they could even make a small glowing dot or icon that showed up on the LCD screen while the rest of it was just black.

That would be pretty good too. That might even be achievable through a software update. I wonder if Apple will open up a user suggestion area for people to send them ideas for features. Lord knows we have a lot of ideas.

stevesnj · Jul 2, 2007, 12:40 AM

yeah my razr would beep every 45 seconds for a reminder

SoBayJake · Jul 4, 2007, 11:01 AM

I could handle a small icon glowing, but if it was an audio alert, I would hope it could turned off. I sleep in the same room I charge my iPhone, so some sound every minute or so would drive me nuts.

mdc · Jul 5, 2007, 03:05 PM

The BlackBerry had a status LED on it that flashed to tell you what was going on.
Flashing red meant there was a text/email. Blue, bluetooth was on. Green/Red, low battery. Purple, instant message.

The white square in the home button would be cool if it glowed a different color when there was a notification.

Gee4orce · Jul 5, 2007, 04:42 PM

It drives me nuts when a phone repeatedly and continuously beeps if I have a message ! If I want to find out if I have a message, it's easy enough. If I'm expecting a call and wonder if I've missed it, I can find out. If I'm sitting in the lounge watching a movie, I don't want to be thinking "what the hell is that bleeping every 30 seconds ?!"

milhous · Apr 26, 2008, 03:15 PM

The iPhone is first and foremost a communication device. We want our communication fast. If we miss a communication, we should be alerted to it in multiple ways than solely having to remind ourselves to check the phone manually. All other phones will chirp when there is a missed call or missed voicemail and to my knowledge that is standard behavior of all phones.

And think of how inefficient and a waste of time it is to manually check the phone. What if I don't have the phone with me at all times? What if I had the phone set to ring, couldn't hear the phone ringing, and the caller left a voicemail. When would I next remember to check the phone?

There should simply be an ON/OFF slider that activates Missed call/VM chirp, vibrate, etc. that's turned on by default.

DigitalEl · Apr 27, 2008, 01:09 PM

Milhous, I hear ya. No need to justify your rationale. The bottom line is that it should be a phone first. All of the above should be presented as options. If you have use for it, great... Turn it on. If you don't, that's fine, too... Turn it off. Apple's usual "we'll decide for you" doesn't work as well with such an essential communications tool.

I love my iPhone, but it is silly that some of the most basic features of a disposable, free-with-contract Nokia trump it in usability. How about a text message/e-mail sound you can actually hear? That'd be nice, too.

EndlessMac · Apr 27, 2008, 01:56 PM

Wait...are you guys saying that the iPhone doesn't at least have an icon show up on the main screen when there is an unheard or new voicemail? For example on my current cell phone I can just look at the outer screen and there will be small envelope icon displayed when I get a new voicemail. That's all I need. I would find it annoy if it beeped so turning off audio beeps would be good.

With my current cell phone I can quickly glance at its outer screen to know if I got a new message because it's always displayed. The iPhone can use a light to do the same thing if they don't want the screen on all the time.

frdmfghtr · 02:45 PM

There is an indication on the main screen; there is a small red circle that appears on the phone icon when there is a missed call/voicemail waiting, with the number of missed items--think of the new message counter on the desktop Mail icon. The only way you see it though is if the screen is on.

What is being discussed is some sort of audible notification that repeats until acknowledged, and/or a visual notification that repeats until acknowledged that is visible even when the main screen is off.

Adding a visual indicator of some sort adds physical complexity due to additional hardware, and maybe there wasn't enough desire for such a feature to justify the added complexity and cost.

EndlessMac · Apr 27, 2008, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by frdmfghtr

The only way you see it though is if the screen is on.

What is being discussed is some sort of audible notification that repeats until acknowledged, and/or a visual notification that repeats until acknowledged that is visible even when the main screen is off.

Thanks for clarifying it for me. I'm surprised that Apple overlooked this feature. Most people I know leave their cell phones on but with the iPhone it will probably use up too much battery power if the screen was left on also. Maybe Apple can create a low powered "standby" display that will only show things like the time and if new voicemail messages have arrived. This way it can be displayed all the time without wasting much battery power.

frdmfghtr · Apr 27, 2008, 05:58 PM

Could Apple do this? Yes.

Will they? Not likely. It adds complexity and cost, which would probably not be offset by additional sales. Given the iPhone's popularity, I don't think the lack of ths feature is a deal-breaker.

Perhaps somebody will write a small app that gives the audible tone; a quick Googling didn't turn one up, so either (a) it can't be done in software (which I would find hard to believe), or (b) there just isn't the demand for it.

jimmingin · Apr 27, 2008, 06:02 PM

If you want to make suggestions to Apple on future iPhone features to go:

Apple - iPhone - Feedback