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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > iPhone 3.1 wishlist thread

iPhone 3.1 wishlist thread
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slugslugslug
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Jun 17, 2009, 05:54 PM
 
Someone had to do it, right? May as well have been a poster without a reputation for being annoying…

Here are the first things that pop to mind for me
  • AVRCP Bluetooth profile: Well, maybe this should be on my 3.0.1 wishlist. Pretty much any A2DP headset can also control playback on its paired phone via this BT profile. According to MacWorld, Apple left it out of the 3.0 software. So you can listen to your music without wires, but if you want to skip a track, you have to fish the phone out of your pocket/bag/whatever. Kinda strange.
  • A Spotlight API. It would be so awesome if any developer could make their app's contents/metadata searchable from the Spotlight screen, similar to how Spotlight is extensible on the Mac.

I've probably thought of more and forgotten them, but I'll kick it off with that for now.
     
SSharon
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Jun 17, 2009, 05:59 PM
 
How about this. I want to send a text to someone and so I navigate to their name and tap to send a text message. Then my iphone asks me which number (since I have mobile and home for most contacts). Why isn't an iphone smart enough to default to sending a text to the mobile number instead of the home number? It defaults to creating mobile numbers anyway so if I designate a number as home I really mean it.
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kman42
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Jun 17, 2009, 06:03 PM
 
1) MobileMe calendaring on par with the Exchange calendar support, i.e. invites. More than one Exchange account supported.

2) Background apps Sorry, had to be said. I'll at least offer an implementation. Double-click the home button brings up a real time view of all running apps, similar to Mobile Safari pages. You can then swipe between them. The Pre stole this implementation of cards directly from Mobile Safari. You can currently set double-click to various functions, so this would just be added to the list. The good thing is that novice users wouldn't be forced to use a more complex interface, but power users could take advantage of it, knowing the cost in battery life.

3) More voice control features, like launching apps by name. They could even make this almost perfect, by asking developers to include three voice samples with the submission of their apps. These samples could be included with the app so that the phone has something to which it can compare.
     
JKT
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Jun 17, 2009, 06:52 PM
 
1. Put the shutter button in the camera app somewhere much more practical (e.g. nearer the centre of the shot so you can press it with your thumb, but making it translucent so that it doesn't interfere with your view). That way I wouldn't feel as though I was in danger of dropping my several hundred pound investment whenever I take a portrait photo with only one hand... Also, let me opt to use the camera without having to first enter my password for the phone so I can take a quick(er) snap when needed.

2. Password protection for autofill in Safari... jeez, what are they thinking at Apple when it comes to the security of your identity on the iPhone? Bugger all it seems.

3. Allow me to pick my default browser. I don't want to have to use Safari at all. Let me pick iCab mobile as my default browser for all other apps.

4. Let me delete useless Apple apps. I don't use YouTube. I don't use Contacts (I can access that info via the phone app so why do I need another one for it too?). I don't use the Weather app. I don't use the iTunes app. I probably won't use the Voice Memos app. I wouldn't use Safari if I could help it.

Let me at least remove them all from my phone (but retain them in iTunes).

5. Let me use an image on the springboard for my background instead of it just being boring black.

6. Let me turn off auto-rotation and set the view for apps.

7. Let me create repeating appointments in the calendar app.

These are all more likely to be in OS 4.0 if at all:

1. Add an "iChat mobile" to the Messages app.

2. Merge the Photos and Camera apps - again, why do I need two apps that have the same features?

3. An unified inbox in Mail ffs.

4. Searchable message contents.

5. Some way of managing apps on the phone that isn't an UI nightmare.
     
JKT
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Jun 17, 2009, 07:24 PM
 
Another one for 3.1:

8. The ability to set the volume of my clock alarms independently of the volume for the speaker. If I have the volume low for the speaker, there should be no reason why my alarm clock should be forced to be at a low volume too.
     
fisherKing
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Jun 17, 2009, 07:27 PM
 
i'd REALLY like to turn off the search bar in the list view of Calendar; that's my main place to be on my touch, and it's using up space...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
JKT
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Jun 17, 2009, 07:28 PM
 
9. Similarly, when sending a message with a sound alert using the Find my iPhone feature, the volume of the sound should automatically be set to the highest possible rather than what the user defined! It could be far too quiet for someone to hear it otherwise.
     
Brien
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Jun 17, 2009, 09:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
Someone had to do it, right? May as well have been a poster without a reputation for being annoying…

Here are the first things that pop to mind for me
  • AVRCP Bluetooth profile: Well, maybe this should be on my 3.0.1 wishlist. Pretty much any A2DP headset can also control playback on its paired phone via this BT profile. According to MacWorld, Apple left it out of the 3.0 software. So you can listen to your music without wires, but if you want to skip a track, you have to fish the phone out of your pocket/bag/whatever. Kinda strange.
  • A Spotlight API. It would be so awesome if any developer could make their app's contents/metadata searchable from the Spotlight screen, similar to how Spotlight is extensible on the Mac.

I've probably thought of more and forgotten them, but I'll kick it off with that for now.
The only things I'd add to this list:
1. Landscape Weather. Like stocks, give expanded forecasts/hour by hour etc. on the landscape view.
2. Live-update icons for Clock and Weather. If the calendar app can update to the current date, why can't the Clock icon give the correct analog time, or the Weather icon reflect the current weather? The icon could even turn violet at night-time.
     
slugslugslug  (op)
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Jun 17, 2009, 09:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
3. Allow me to pick my default browser. I don't want to have to use Safari at all. Let me pick iCab mobile as my default browser for all other apps.

4. Let me delete useless Apple apps.
Oh, yeah, these are both good ones. Hearing about the new MapQuest app the other day made me think it'd be cool if you could set a different default mapping app too, like if there were a URL standard for locations.

Another one that I've thought about a lot: a unified sync API for apps that have a desktop counterpart; a la Palm's conduits or the MobileMe sync API. It seems weird that every developer should have to roll their own method of syncing their content, and it always has to be on the same subnetwork, instead over the whole wide internet or USB.
     
kman42
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Jun 17, 2009, 11:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
The only things I'd add to this list:

2. Live-update icons for Clock and Weather. If the calendar app can update to the current date, why can't the Clock icon give the correct analog time, or the Weather icon reflect the current weather? The icon could even turn violet at night-time.
     
ort888
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Jun 18, 2009, 01:17 AM
 
I want shortcut buttons.

I want a button on my homepage that calls my wife. Hit the button, and it calls my wife.
I want a button that links to my favorite playlist. Hit the button, and the playlist starts.
I want a button that toggles 2G and 3G. Hit the button, and it switches.

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Spheric Harlot
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Jun 18, 2009, 02:35 AM
 
Originally Posted by ort888 View Post
I want shortcut buttons.

I want a button on my homepage that calls my wife. Hit the button, and it calls my wife.
There's a dozen apps for that.
     
FireWire
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Jun 18, 2009, 02:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by ort888 View Post
I want a button that toggles 2G and 3G. Hit the button, and it switches.
Similar to that, I'd like a way to make "profiles" for settings and be able to easily switch between them. For exemple, when I'm running low on battery, I'd like to be able to switch off Location Service and 3G without having to click on different preference panes.

Speaking of battery, there should be a way to automatically turn off non-essential functions when the battery is getting low. And implement a way to at least be able use it a bit when it gets below 10% instead of being locked out of it until you charge it... My older phone at least tried to let me use it even in ultra-low-battery situation.
     
Simon
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Jun 18, 2009, 03:11 AM
 
1) Week view in Calendar
2) All Google maps should display a scale
3) Reaction to accelerometer input (flip screen) lags way too much
4) RPN mode for built-in calculator
5) Finally make wifi authentication (WPA, TKIP, TTLS, PAP) work like it should
6) Safari tabs should continue to load in the background
7) Include secure notes and sync with notes in Keychain
8) Remove the suckiness from the built-in weather app (why not use the same AccuView weather they used for Dashboard?)
9) Get rid of huge title bar in calendar (the 'add' button could be put in the bar at the bottom)
10) Option to remove search bar in Calendar
11) Better long file name display in iPod
12) Unified Inbox in Mail

In that order (I'm sure I forgot some though).
( Last edited by Simon; Jun 18, 2009 at 10:10 AM. )
     
shifuimam
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Jun 18, 2009, 11:52 AM
 
Voice control on the 3G. That's really the biggest thing for me.

That and the SMS app takes forever to load. Kind of annoying.
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fisherKing
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Jun 18, 2009, 12:10 PM
 
i'd like to delete email, and it's gone, not moved to the trash...and THEN i delete, and it's gone...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
kylef
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Jun 18, 2009, 12:13 PM
 
I can't believe Apple still don't have a unified inbox for Mail (like Simon and JKT have said). Today was my first time using two accounts, which I've always done in Apple's Mail program, and to discover this not being the same on my iPhone was just a bit stupid. Also, what ort said - a 2G/3G button. My battery is still good, but I'd prefer to get as much usage as possible because many of the apps I use are pretty battery draining.
  1. Turn 3G on with one tap on an 'application'
  2. Turn bluetooth on similarly
  3. Unified inbox

.. all I can think of right now.
     
JKT
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Jun 18, 2009, 12:44 PM
 
More:

1. Support for encrypted messages in Mail.
2. Colour coded message backgrounds to demonstrate the address the message was sent to or from. This would be vital for an unified inbox.
3. Message threads in Mail
4. Rich text formatting options throughout but especially so in Mail.
     
JKT
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Jun 18, 2009, 12:49 PM
 
Instead of a button for toggling between EDGE and 3G why not an option to have 3G only come on automatically when you open e.g. your browser or Mail app (you could have an UI that let you select which of your apps this would happen for). At all other times it uses 2G or even GPRS.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Jun 18, 2009, 01:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
Instead of a button for toggling between EDGE and 3G why not an option to have 3G only come on automatically when you open e.g. your browser or Mail app (you could have an UI that let you select which of your apps this would happen for). At all other times it uses 2G or even GPRS.
That might case delays and dropped connections. Also what if you are already on a call? Edge can't handle voice and data plus it will drop the call.

I think by the time Apple figures out the technical details of doing something like that 3G or better coverage will be much much better.
     
ort888
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Jun 18, 2009, 02:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
There's an app for that.

There, I fixed it for you.

I don't actually have an iPhone yet, so I was really talking out my ass. But in my time using them I've noticed that some things are a little harder then they should be.

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osiris
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Jun 18, 2009, 02:43 PM
 
Allow the alarm to boot the phone up - like most other cell phone alarms.
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kylef
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Jun 18, 2009, 05:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
Allow the alarm to boot the phone up - like most other cell phone alarms.
I hate that 'feature' on other phones. If I turn the phone off, it's because I want it off - ie. not disturbing me.

@JKT - what about applications that would benefit from 3G? eg. Tweetie / Wikipanion etc.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 18, 2009, 06:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by kylef View Post
I hate that 'feature' on other phones. If I turn the phone off, it's because I want it off - ie. not disturbing me.
If I've set an alarm, it's because I want it to wake me - regardless of whether the phone is off or on.

Most people I've met like to sleep at night (with no phone ringing) and still get up in time for work.
     
kman42
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Jun 18, 2009, 06:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Most people I've met like to sleep at night (with no phone ringing) and still get up in time for work.
My workaround for this situation is to just put the phone in Airplane mode. No calls or texts and the alarm still goes off.

I'm not suggesting your feature request is invalid, but I've found this useful on several recent trips.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 18, 2009, 07:15 PM
 
Oh.

Good idea.
     
SSharon
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Jun 18, 2009, 09:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by kylef View Post
I hate that 'feature' on other phones. If I turn the phone off, it's because I want it off - ie. not disturbing me.

@JKT - what about applications that would benefit from 3G? eg. Tweetie / Wikipanion etc.
My previous phone before my iphone was a nokia that did this. Then the phone got old and the alarm would pick random times of day to go off. I literally yanked the battery when I took my law school exams because a ringing phone is an automatic failure. If I can't take the battery out of my iphone to be 100% sure the phone won't wake itself to alert me I don't want the feature.

Unified inbox would be nice. I have 7 accounts right now and I would also like to have some being pushed and some only updated on the hour.
AT&T iPhone 5S and 6; 13" MBP; MDD G4.
     
FireWire
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Jun 18, 2009, 09:26 PM
 
Oh, and I'd also like an option that let me plug the phone for synching without charging.. I don't want to waste a charge cycle just to download a few pictures or add a contact.
     
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Jun 18, 2009, 10:02 PM
 
A partial charge only counts for a partial charge cycle. So if you charge only 10 percent, you use only 10 percent of a charge cycle. You can do that approximately 9 more times to equal one charge cycle, so don't be worried too much. However I understand some frustration if you want to keep your phone for a long time without having to worry about battery life.

Apple - Batteries


Originally Posted by FireWire View Post
Oh, and I'd also like an option that let me plug the phone for synching without charging.. I don't want to waste a charge cycle just to download a few pictures or add a contact.
     
SpinCycle
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Jun 18, 2009, 10:05 PM
 
I would like to see a feature like that of Quick Reply when jail broken. i.e. when a SMS comes in you get the option of replying right on that screen. Not interrupting what you are doing. As it is right now you either have to close the pop up or reply. Reply takes you to the SMS window, effectively closing out anything you were doing before. Stopping your Pandora music or closing your Bejeweled game perhaps.
     
kman42
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Jun 18, 2009, 11:27 PM
 
1) A decent notification system that doesn't pop-up every message and then make them go away forever.

2) How about a scheduled notification system on the phone that third party developers can use for due dates and times?

3) How about opening up the Slide to Unlock screen so that we can get some information about missed calls, etc at a glance?
     
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Jun 19, 2009, 12:03 AM
 
Now that Mail will accept messages pushed to folders (which is great), I want to the badge on mail to actually reflect the number of new messages across all folders, not ONLY the inbox.
     
osiris
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Jun 19, 2009, 09:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by kylef View Post
I hate that 'feature' on other phones. If I turn the phone off, it's because I want it off - ie. not disturbing me.

@JKT - what about applications that would benefit from 3G? eg. Tweetie / Wikipanion etc.
Perhaps you misunderstood my comment:

The Alarm clock, when set, should boot/wake the phone.
( Last edited by osiris; Jun 19, 2009 at 09:40 AM. )
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
slugslugslug  (op)
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Jun 19, 2009, 11:01 AM
 
I think he understood what you said but disagrees with you. I.e., if he turns the phone off, it's supposed to trump any alarm settings.
     
osiris
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Jun 19, 2009, 12:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
I think he understood what you said but disagrees with you. I.e., if he turns the phone off, it's supposed to trump any alarm settings.
He's talking about pushed alarms from apps, I'm talking about the alarm clock.
Tweets going off at some ungodly hour would be madness! Madness I tell you!
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
He's talking about pushed alarms from apps, I'm talking about the alarm clock.
Tweets going off at some ungodly hour would be madness! Madness I tell you!
He's talking about alarms IN GENERAL.

If there's any sort of clock malfunction (as in the exam example), or operator malfunction (I've had alarms go off I was certain I'd meant to turn off), it's completely irrelevant what kind of alarm it might be that could cause you serious trouble - you want the ****ing thing to be OFF. Meaning OFF. As in, "not standby in case some alarm clock decides to wail upon the world", but ****ING OFF.

     
osiris
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:13 PM
 
guys - you still are misunderstanding me - an alarm clock to wake me in the morning that doesn't require the phone to be on overnight. The set alarm will turn the phone on and wake me. That's it.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
aehaas
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:18 PM
 
Be able to take photos of a page or document and then easily convert it to a pdf, then save and/or email and/or fax easily to another location. You should be able to scan or photograph multiple pages, then all at once do the same thing. This obviates the need for a scanner or fax machine, very handy for many professionals.

Also, I am not aware, can you receive an email and then print it via Airport or Bluetooth to your printer attached the Airport base station or through computer printer sharing?

How about a built in stopwatch for sports events.

How about native support for at least being able to read a Word, Quark or Excel and any PDF documents. ? Look at TIFF, jpeg, PS and other picture formats. These are ways that the business person can view documents on the go even if they cannot change them. At least they can be read.

I will not leave Alltel/Verizon, so I am waiting...Nothing against ATT, just that I do not jump around, I stick with companies that have been working for me.

How about AM and FM radio reception - if an antenna is needed the earphone line can be used. ? TV by direct reception ?

...Laser level, single LED flashlight, an event counter, a lightning detector (like the ThunderBolt for campers), a laser measuring distance calculator for construction people or home decorators, the earphone jack can be used for voltmeter probes, and oscilliscope too, incorporate a strain gauge and you have a scale, a pH testor, a thermometer probe...
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slugslugslug  (op)
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
guys - you still are misunderstanding me - an alarm clock to wake me in the morning that doesn't require the phone to be on overnight. The set alarm will turn the phone on and wake me. That's it.
No, read Spheric Harlot's somewhat histrionic post above yours. He's talking about the same thing as you and thinks it's a bad idea. I agree. I think off should mean off, though I suppose this could be a preference itself.

Anyway, what's wrong with the phone being on overnight?
     
osiris
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
No, read Spheric Harlot's somewhat histrionic post above yours. He's talking about the same thing as you and thinks it's a bad idea. I agree. I think off should mean off, though I suppose this could be a preference itself.

Anyway, what's wrong with the phone being on overnight?
Battery life?
I'm apparently beating a dead horse here, so I'll continue using my Samsung along with my iPhone when I travel.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
kman42
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Jun 19, 2009, 01:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
Battery life?
I'm apparently beating a dead horse here, so I'll continue using my Samsung along with my iPhone when I travel.
Have you tried the Airplane mode trick? In addition to preventing phone calls, etc, it cuts way down on battery use.
     
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Jun 19, 2009, 04:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
4. Let me delete useless Apple apps. I don't use YouTube. I don't use Contacts (I can access that info via the phone app so why do I need another one for it too?). I don't use the Weather app. I don't use the iTunes app. I probably won't use the Voice Memos app. I wouldn't use Safari if I could help it.

Let me at least remove them all from my phone (but retain them in iTunes).
I don't think deleting the apps outright would be a good idea. The Apple apps are stored on a separate partition from the App Store apps, IIRC. It might affect the signature of the partition and make it hard to detect tampering. Besides, since it's a different partition, you wouldn't be able to use the free space anyways.

But, having the ability to hide Apple apps you don't use (effectively removing them) would be a nice idea.
     
kylef
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Jun 19, 2009, 04:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
4. Let me delete useless Apple apps. I don't use YouTube. I don't use Contacts (I can access that info via the phone app so why do I need another one for it too?). I don't use the Weather app. I don't use the iTunes app. I probably won't use the Voice Memos app. I wouldn't use Safari if I could help it.

Let me at least remove them all from my phone (but retain them in iTunes).
Turn on restrictions (Settings > General > Restrictions). You can turn off Safari, YouTube, iTunes, the App Store, Camera, and the Location Feature.

Problem solved? Quite a few people have talked about wanting to remove Safari too. It's right there.
     
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Jun 19, 2009, 07:30 PM
 
I would love to have caller blocking. A blocked call would effectively be silenced, no ringer or buzzer. I've managed to get on a few spammer call lists and don't want to deal with them.
     
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Jun 19, 2009, 10:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
Be able to take photos of a page or document and then easily convert it to a pdf, then save and/or email and/or fax easily to another location. You should be able to scan or photograph multiple pages, then all at once do the same thing. This obviates the need for a scanner or fax machine, very handy for many professionals.
Why do you need it to be a PDF? You can now email or MMS multiple photos from your photo library so we are covered there. Faxing is a dying technology, but I can see how it would useful for another few years yet.

How about a built in stopwatch for sports events.
That has existed since iPhone 1.0 - it's in the Clock app.

How about native support for at least being able to read a Word, Quark or Excel and any PDF documents. ? Look at TIFF, jpeg, PS and other picture formats. These are ways that the business person can view documents on the go even if they cannot change them. At least they can be read.
You can view most common file types (not sure about Quark files) if they are emailed to you. There are also many apps that will let you transfer documents to your iPhone over a wireless network and view them.

How about AM and FM radio reception - if an antenna is needed the earphone line can be used. ? TV by direct reception ?
FM radio I could see, but a digital TV receiver? That's asking a bit much for the time being, I'd say.

...Laser level, single LED flashlight, an event counter, a lightning detector (like the ThunderBolt for campers), a laser measuring distance calculator for construction people or home decorators, the earphone jack can be used for voltmeter probes, and oscilliscope too, incorporate a strain gauge and you have a scale, a pH testor, a thermometer probe...
ewwwwww....... That's asking way to much. The beauty of this device is it's simplicity and ease of use, relative to it's feature set. The combination of everything you're asking for here would result in a very clunky device. Certainly not an Apple device, anyway.
     
ThisGuy
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Jun 19, 2009, 11:07 PM
 
Sort all apps alphabetically.
     
shifuimam
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Jun 19, 2009, 11:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by d0ubled0wn View Post
I would love to have caller blocking. A blocked call would effectively be silenced, no ringer or buzzer. I've managed to get on a few spammer call lists and don't want to deal with them.
I believe you can call AT&T and have numbers blocked through them.

Otherwise, do what I do - create a "do not answer" entry in your contact list, and add to it any numbers you don't want calling you. Customize the ringer for that contact to be silent, and you'll not have to worry about it anymore.
Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
     
d0ubled0wn
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Jun 20, 2009, 03:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by shifuimam View Post
Otherwise, do what I do - create a "do not answer" entry in your contact list, and add to it any numbers you don't want calling you. Customize the ringer for that contact to be silent, and you'll not have to worry about it anymore.
That's a great idea, thanks.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 20, 2009, 06:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
Be able to take photos of a page or document and then easily convert it to a pdf, then save and/or email and/or fax easily to another location. You should be able to scan or photograph multiple pages, then all at once do the same thing. This obviates the need for a scanner or fax machine, very handy for many professionals.
Pages of text? At 3 megapixels? with a built-in pinhole lens?

Um.

Even doing this with a DSLR camera doesn't necessarily produce usable results- that's why they build cheap document scanners.

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
Also, I am not aware, can you receive an email and then print it via Airport or Bluetooth to your printer attached the Airport base station or through computer printer sharing?
There are apps that allow you to print wirelessly (not sure how many, it might be that HP's own proprietary one is the only one available).

Otherwise, I'm not sure how Apple could/should implement this, other than by installing several gigabytes of printer drivers onto your phone, the way they've done in their computers operating systems...

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
How about a built in stopwatch for sports events.
Already there, since 2007.

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
How about native support for at least being able to read a Word, Quark or Excel and any PDF documents. ? Look at TIFF, jpeg, PS and other picture formats.
Quark, I don't think so - and really, there's nothing more useless than doing layout proofing on a 3.5" screen, is there?

Not sure about Photoshop.

The others already work.

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
I will not leave Alltel/Verizon, so I am waiting...Nothing against ATT, just that I do not jump around, I stick with companies that have been working for me.
I see what you mean (I just left O2 after ten years, but their service quality had deteriorated over the past few years, anyway).

This just means that you're not going to get an iPhone for a *long* time - at least another three years.

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
How about AM and FM radio reception - if an antenna is needed the earphone line can be used. ? TV by direct reception ?
Radio is conceivable - the built-in tuner is able to do that.

Originally Posted by aehaas View Post
...Laser level, single LED flashlight, an event counter, a lightning detector (like the ThunderBolt for campers), a laser measuring distance calculator for construction people or home decorators, the earphone jack can be used for voltmeter probes, and oscilliscope too, incorporate a strain gauge and you have a scale, a pH testor, a thermometer probe...
Some of that can already be done with apps available today (oscilloscope), much will be possible with the new APIs for accessory makers, and for the rest, I suggest you write to Victorinox for their pocket knife with PH tester.


Aside: Do you *really* want to be able to use a mic/headphone out jack as a VOLT METER!?

I mean, are you just rambling, or are you seriously advocating that people fry their phones on a regular basis?

I might see a market for an add-on accessory, but considering that will probably be substantially more expensive and not much more accurate than a $20 stand-alone multimeter, I fail to see the point except for pure gimmick value - which the whole last paragraph of your post seems to be about.

I certainly won't buy an iPhone until it makes a decent espresso.
     
kylef
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Jun 20, 2009, 06:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
Perhaps you misunderstood my comment:

The Alarm clock, when set, should boot/wake the phone.
I understood. But I turn my phone off for a reason.
     
 
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