10 Things that "Absolutely suck" about the iPhone. (Yes I have one)

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cmaier

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I apologize Malatesta. I meant no offense by the "analyzing" and felt your response was condescending.

As for your analysis, I pretty much concur. After two weeks with iphone I'd say it is far ahead of any phone i've used in terms of useability, but is lacking in features. However, I do think, functionality-wise, its web browser is ahead of anything i've seen in most areas. As an engineer, I also think it's an amazing job of hardware engineering. The screen, proximity sensors, multitouch, thin profile, etc., are things that either don't exist in other products or which do not exist all in one package. Yet.

I also do think that having iphone in the market will result in more creativity from palm, htc, and the rest. I hope.
 

bruckwine

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No, it's certainly not 5 years ahead.

I'd say the average of its advances are about a year ahead, and it's certainly behind in lots of areas.

I guess we'll see where things are a year from now. One thing I know for sure is it will be awhile before Palm catches up if palm thinks foleo is a great innovation :)

And if Jobs had stated that I'd probably have little issue with the phone tbh..but he blew it out of proportion and given what it lacks that just rubs me wrong. The engineers however had the right idea and I too look for other competitors to benefit/innovate - the marketing sucks though imo (much like the Mac guy ads).
 

surur

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Some iPhone users are getting desperate.

Seriously considering returning my iPhone, need your opinion

johnbro23 07-21-2007 01:55 PM

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Seriously considering returning my iPhone, need your opinion

This is my second thread to this effect. A few weeks ago, I complained of constant crashing of many key programs, mostly the Safari, iPod and Maps applications. Forum members suggested restoring iPhone software. I did so, and the problem was fixed temporarily. However, it seems that the crashing has become more and more frequent as time goes by. About once a week, I restart my phone, hoping it will help. It doesn't really have any effect anymore. Over the past week, the problems I've been having have been persistent and are listed below:

1. Safari quitting after a few clicks around the web. Some sites that are notable for crashes include weather.com, posting on facebook.com, and even some of the complex pages on apple.com, such as .../iphone.

2. iPod and Safari running at the same time seems to double the chance of a crash of either application

3. Google Maps crashes after an average of two minutes of use, and forgets where I was. (i.e. if I open up Google maps and I'm at NYC for example, navigate to L.A., it crashes, then opens back up in NYC). It's very annoying when I'm getting directions.

4. Surprisingly enough, iPod actually has crashed simply playing music, although this happening is rare. However, coverflow is a different story. It seems to only be able to handle about two minutes of coverflow use.

5. YouTube tends to crash after an average of 10 minutes of use.

My iPhone only has about 100MB of free space, so maybe the fact that it's so packed with data causes some of the crashes? I have 140 contacts (which is think is a little below average. All contacts have photos), about 1000 songs (mostly encoded in 196kbps, all with around 600x600 pixel cover art), 7 videos (320x240 .h264), 540 photos, and no stored email.

So my questions is: should I return my iPhone for a new one? There's no Apple Store around me, so would an AT&T store be able/willing to just swap me phones?

Overall, I am happy with my phone. The things that it can do just amaze me. But I feel that I should be getting a more..well..stable experience after spending $600 on the device.

iBookG4user 07-21-2007 01:59 PM

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When I'm listening to music while I browse the web, I also get a lot of crashes. Although none of your other issues seemed present on my iPhone. I suggest that you go take it back to the AT&T store and have them look at it to see if you can get a new iPhone.

yescurvyswab 07-21-2007 02:32 PM

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I've had mine since Monday, and I had this issue yesterday. I thought it was Meebo's fault at first, but then everything else started crashing, and the slide to unlock stopped working. Then I tried to turn it off, and it took about 4 tries for that slider to work. After turning it back on, it's fine. :confused: I'm sure this will get fixed in an update, so I'm not too worried. I knew there would be problems at launch time, I just couldn't wait :apple:

ukneeq 07-21-2007 02:36 PM

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I would go ahead and try returning it if you are overall happy with the iPhone. Then give it til at least the 1st software update. If it is still crappy after that, then just return it and wait for the next revision.

boss1 07-21-2007 02:45 PM

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patience IMO. The fact that the apps crash, and there are a lack of rich apps should be of no surprise to anyone.

I would give Apple at least until the 1st firmware update before going through the process of returning it and getting a dif. phone.

Would suck if they fixed it all and added some new features a few days after your purchase return.

But if you can't deal with it as is today what can we say. Your going back to the dark side! <beginsoundeffect>dun dun dun<endsoundeffect>

johnbro23 07-21-2007 03:05 PM

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by boss1 (Post 3945845)
patience IMO. The fact that the apps crash, and there are a lack of rich apps should be of no surprise to anyone.

I would give Apple at least until the 1st firmware update before going through the process of returning it and getting a dif. phone.

Would suck if they fixed it all and added some new features a few days after your purchase return.

But if you can't deal with it as is today what can we say. Your going back to the dark side! <beginsoundeffect>dun dun dun<endsoundeffect>
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Yeah, my plan would never be to return it and go back to my old phone. If you all hadn't convinced me to wait it out, I would've tried to return it for another iPhone, hoping that it was hardware issue and a new phone might fix the problems.

You have a good point about waiting for the first firmware update. It just can't come soon enough...

KD7IWP 07-21-2007 03:40 PM

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If it crashes all the time I would recommend exchanging for another and if keeps doing it, hold off until later. Almost fortunately for me, I can't get an iPhone at least until version 2 because I live in Canada and we all know it will be another century or so until we see it. Probably will debut in Europe before it does here and I'm only 7 miles from Washington State. :(
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=332391

Surur
 

Malatesta

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I apologize Malatesta. I meant no offense by the "analyzing" and felt your response was condescending.

As for your analysis, I pretty much concur. After two weeks with iphone I'd say it is far ahead of any phone i've used in terms of useability, but is lacking in features. However, I do think, functionality-wise, its web browser is ahead of anything i've seen in most areas. As an engineer, I also think it's an amazing job of hardware engineering. The screen, proximity sensors, multitouch, thin profile, etc., are things that either don't exist in other products or which do not exist all in one package. Yet.

I also do think that having iphone in the market will result in more creativity from palm, htc, and the rest. I hope.
No appology needed, but thanks. Writing tends to not convey the necessary pragmatics of speech, sadly, so these things happen.

I agree with the rest of what you wrote and I hope it jump starts the rest of these companies as well. I also hope the carriers loosen up a bit in terms of OEM freedom, but for that I'm less optimistic.

I'm excited to see MS's "photon" and POSII. Both, well in development for 2 years now, are supposed to heavily refine the UI in terms of speed and simplicity. Could be interesting.
 

surur

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After two weeks with iphone I'd say it is far ahead of any phone i've used in terms of useability,... .

Only if you dont try and use it for anything the designers did not anticipate. This is also a fact which needs to be acknowledged. Examples are all over this thread.

Surur
 

Malatesta

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I think in terms of smarthphones and advanced features, including the iPhone for sake of argument, we can see a couple of similarities between what we see here and from Surur's posts:

(1) BT is difficult to "get right" despite it being a standard
(2) Memory allocation and the variable that is the "internet" can lead to a host of unpredictable behavior in the OS
(3) All of this mobile development is very hard, regardless of the developer
(4) despite the restrictiveness of the iPhone, the hacker community is going strong to enable 3rd part apps, different networks and to make it fully custom. I bet once these hacking "tools" become easy to use, a lot of people will begin hacking their devices, no different than WM and POS. Though Apple may be less than enamored with such behavior.
 

surur

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I'm excited to see MS's "photon" and POSII. Both, well in development for 2 years now, are supposed to heavily refine the UI in terms of speed and simplicity. Could be interesting.

If Photon makes WM easier by taking away my options I dont want it.

Surur
 

Malatesta

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If Photon makes WM easier by taking away my options I dont want it.

Surur
Well, from understanding the flexible, modular core aspect of Photon, I'd imagine we'd see devices ranging from "super simple" to very complex work horses with lots of customization. All of this will be up to the OEM for each device. The rest to XDA, lol.

So I doubt we'll see all Photon devices "dumbed down". We'll just see some very different WM devices with a range of functionality.

I think Ed Hardy even hinted at "selectable" interfaces e.g. "Classic WM" versus their new UI, which seems in line with how MS treats its OSs.
 

cmaier

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Only if you dont try and use it for anything the designers did not anticipate. This is also a fact which needs to be acknowledged. Examples are all over this thread.

Surur

Yes. Like I said, it's missing a lot of features. If those features are ever added, then I hope they do a good job of integrating them into the interface. For me, at least, i can do 90% of what I really want to do. With my treo 650 it was probably 95%. But the iphone can do things the treo 650 couldn't (like browse the web in a reasonable manner). HTC Mogul was what I was looking to get before i tried the iphone, and it probably would have done 99% of what I would have liked it to do, but I was not happy with the form factor.

Say what you'd like about the iphone, but what it does, it does very well. (as for the various reports of random crashing, etc., either i'm lucky or they're unlucky, because the two iphones i own have been rock stable. I suspect some people are getting defective hardware.) Agreed, it doesn't do a heck of a lot (in terms of quantity of features).
 

surur

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Yes. Like I said, it's missing a lot of features. If those features are ever added, then I hope they do a good job of integrating them into the interface. For me, at least, i can do 90% of what I really want to do. With my treo 650 it was probably 95%. But the iphone can do things the treo 650 couldn't (like browse the web in a reasonable manner). HTC Mogul was what I was looking to get before i tried the iphone, and it probably would have done 99% of what I would have liked it to do, but I was not happy with the form factor.

Say what you'd like about the iphone, but what it does, it does very well. (as for the various reports of random crashing, etc., either i'm lucky or they're unlucky, because the two iphones i own have been rock stable. I suspect some people are getting defective hardware.) Agreed, it doesn't do a heck of a lot (in terms of quantity of features).

I'm not just talking about features, but about UI awkwardness, such as this poster is complaining of. It is as if Jobs did not want practicality to interfere with his Zen-like vision.

Why I returned my iPhone
chrisutley Jul 15, 2007 12:31 AM

Why I returned my iPhone
My top reasons for bagging it in no particular order:

- Speakerphone echo
- AT&T GSM echo
- Phone makes my computer speakers buzz at home and work
- Must delete one email message at a time
- Battery life is poor if you use WiFi and Bluetooth
- WiFi connections that are otherwise stable drop frequently
- Too many taps to place a simple phone call
- Unlocking phone becomes a hassle after cool factor wears off
- Bluetooth connection to headset unreliable

I have all sorts of other minor complaints that are highly subjective, and not worth mentioning here. This all being said, it was still difficult to part with this super cool phone. I just use my phone too much to make so many compromises, not to mention all the money I was spending to adopt iPhone - from the phone itself, breaking a T-Mobile contract, and paying about $20 more per month to AT&T for a contract with 600 fewer minutes than I was getting at TMO.
icruise Jul 15, 2007 12:35 AM

With regard to the echo, that seems to be an issue that Apple was replacing iPhones for, so you might have had a lemon. It's possible that this caused some of your other problems, as well.
chrisutley Jul 15, 2007 12:42 AM

Which echo? The speakerphone echo is something I think all iPhones suffer from, that is the person you call hears an echo - you do not. The intermittent "GSM" echo is related to the network and not the iPhone specifically.

Perhaps I did have a lemon, I don't know. I'll try the iPhone again, once they have voice dialing, and some other features/fixes implemented.
icruise Jul 15, 2007 12:43 AM

More on iPhone echoing: Apple may be replacing some units ? iPhone Atlas
Timothy D Jul 15, 2007 11:37 AM

Thanks for returning your iPhone. I hope your next phone far surpasses it in reliability and functionality.
frdmfghtr Jul 15, 2007 11:51 AM

The speaker buzz will come from just about any GSM phone; it's not an iPhone issue.

I had the speaker buzz come from nearly any audio amp (home stereo, portable radio, external speakers on computer, etc.) when I had a GSM phone; BlackBerry, Motorola RAZR, or an old Samsung. They ALL caused the speaker buzz.

Battery life; no surprise there, since you have more radio circuitry turned on; that will happen with any battery-powered device where the radios are a substantial fraction of battery load. I bet you have the same problem with a Windows Mobile-based phone with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.

Bluetooth, Wi Fi connections-no problems here. Bluetooth dropped I think once or twice when the phone was brand new, but after that it connects quite nicely (using Motorola HS820 surfboard-shaped headset)

I'd have tried a replacement unit for these problems. As far as the other complaints go, (like the tape to make a call) I guess that's a function of the interface; with no physical buttons for making calls and other functions, there aren't any buttons to jump right to making a call.

I agree that deleting mail once at a time is a little tiresome. One can hope that a future software update will add some sort of right-click capability (two-finger tap like on MacBook/MBP touchpads) for things like cut, copy, paste, delete, delete all, etc.
ChrisB Jul 15, 2007 12:02 PM

Cell phones aren't really phones anymore
I have to agree with you that it takes too many clicks to get to what the main app is for this device - making a call.

With most all cell phones today, the manufacturers have forgotten the primary use of a cell phone: making calls. Apple is certainly guilty of forgetting the real killer app of a phone, but they are just following the crowd on that one.
Timothy D Jul 15, 2007 12:13 PM

I really dont think the main app is the phone. I believe that the main app is the iPod. It just happens to make a phone call. The reason being is the commercials always show the phone feature last. However, it is one of the main apps. It takes 2 button presses to make a call: Press the phone icon then dial your number 2 steps when in the home screen. Press the phone icon then select your contact, 2 button presses plus scrolling. Press the phone icon and any number in your favorites 2 button presses. You have to have these screens selected under the phone app. This is a very smart and elegant interface but my girlfriends samsung would probably be more traditional and welcoming to non-smart phone users. I had a blackberry and a sidekick 3, I find the interface on the iphone as the best so far.

72 hours with the iPhone
ChrisB Jul 15, 2007 12:23 PM

That's where I would disagree. If you going to put the word "Phone" in the name, and as with any cell PHONE, the device's primary function is a phone. If not, then don't bother selling it as a phone. Cell phones, including the iPhone, have forgotten their primary purpose, making calls.
Timothy D Jul 15, 2007 12:30 PM

Well phone is in the name because iPod phone sounds stupid. They sell it as a Phone because it functions as a phone which is why AT & T is in the mix, or does apple own cell phone towers? The primary function is as pictured in the commercials. "You've never seen an iPod that can do this." The phone feature is always shown last in the commercials. The iPhone is more like an iPod that surfs the web and makes phone calls while displaying weather, stocks, YouTube, directions and notes.

72 hours with the iPhone
frdmfghtr Jul 15, 2007 03:09 PM

Slightly off-topic, but this might help minimize the touches to make a call...

(1) Turn off the auto screen lock. You can still lock it manually with the top button.

(2) Since hitting the "phone" icon brings up the last phone mode (recents, favorites, etc.) exit the phone app using the home key when showing the screen you want to use the most.

If you exit to the home screen from the "Favorites" screen, then it takes two touches; one for the phone, one for the favorite contact. I haven't looked yet, but can you assign speed dial numbers to contacts?
Timothy D Jul 15, 2007 03:30 PM

No speed dial as far as I know. Just favorites. Pressing 1 will take you to your voicemail.
Cold Warrior Jul 15, 2007 03:48 PM

I get buzz with CDMA phones as well -- putting them near a walkie-talkie for example.
icruise Jul 15, 2007 04:28 PM

Yeah, my RAZR is quite a bit worse than the iPhone when it comes to making other devices buzz. I posted a while back about how my RAZR could even control my 5G iPod's scroll wheel. I wonder if the iPhone would do that as well.
chrisutley Jul 15, 2007 10:28 PM

It's clearly a phone first, I don't think that's even up for debate. Although let's assume you're right, so what? It's still way too difficult to place a simple call, even for an iPod that "just happens" to be a phone.


Quote, Originally Posted by Timothy D (Post 3430387)
Well phone is in the name because iPod phone sounds stupid. They sell it as a Phone because it functions as a phone which is why AT & T is in the mix, or does apple own cell phone towers? The primary function is as pictured in the commercials. "You've never seen an iPod that can do this." The phone feature is always shown last in the commercials. The iPhone is more like an iPod that surfs the web and makes phone calls while displaying weather, stocks, YouTube, directions and notes.

72 hours with the iPhone

chrisutley Jul 15, 2007 10:30 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by Timothy D (Post 3430354)
Thanks for returning your iPhone. I hope your next phone far surpasses it in reliability and functionality.

You should have to be at least 13-years old to post in these forums, as evidenced by the post quoted above.
chrisutley Jul 15, 2007 10:33 PM

I don't have the iPhone anymore, so I cannot verify the auto lock option. However, to the best of my recollection you cannot completely disable the screen lock. Regardless, for me it's still too much of a hassle, when I can program any of the buttons on the front of my current phone to dial somebody with a single key press. Two clicks my be passable, but you still have to remember to leave the phone app on Favorites each and every time you are on the phone. Voice activated dialing (that doesn't suck) would be a big step towards me purchasing an iPhone again ... but that's just me.



Quote, Originally Posted by frdmfghtr (Post 3430461)
Slightly off-topic, but this might help minimize the touches to make a call...

(1) Turn off the auto screen lock. You can still lock it manually with the top button.

(2) Since hitting the "phone" icon brings up the last phone mode (recents, favorites, etc.) exit the phone app using the home key when showing the screen you want to use the most.

If you exit to the home screen from the "Favorites" screen, then it takes two touches; one for the phone, one for the favorite contact. I haven't looked yet, but can you assign speed dial numbers to contacts?

icruise Jul 15, 2007 11:39 PM

I think that we're going to see a lot of changes in the iPhone UI in the coming months. One change that seems likely is the ability to go straight from the home screen to a screen of your choosing. This might be done through a preference setting (e.g. instead of going back to where you were, always go back to the phone app's favorites screen) or it might be something similar to a suggestion I made earlier. Namely, instead of having "slide to unlock" you should have "slide to place call" or something similar that allows you to jump to your most used feature.

I will say, though, that I can get from locked state to the phone favorites screen in about 3 seconds, which isn't all that long, although it does require multiple taps. The trick is to wake the phone up with your thumb on the home button, use your thumb to swipe the unlock slide, and if you're not already in the phone app, press the home button again and then tap the phone icon.

That said, if it doesn't suit your needs now, there's no point in suffering with it. Wait and see what they do with the software. It's just version 1.0, after all.
drfun Jul 16, 2007 12:51 AM

Well first to I have to say I have noticed the buzz in the speakers around me.
This is not the normal transceiver buzz from the phone checking into the cell network or before a call comes in.
I found it is something with the charging mechanism that sends off such interference when the phone is charging.

Also about the echo, oddly enough I was trouble shooting this with a friend that also has an iphone.
It seems it only happens to me when I call him, and yes its worse then the normal echo I am used to.
Note: I have had many phone over the last 10 years, all GSM and do not have a house phone.
Any way I have talked with many people since I owned the phone, call them on their cell phones and never noticed the echo before.
I think its a problem with my friends phone, not mine. I think his phone is causing the feedback into the line so I hear myself talking. No this was not a bad connect, it happened 3 times today when I called him, and only with him.

Just some random thoughts.

Also I forgot to mention I did get a phone with a bad battery and half the life of my 4 friends phones.
I did notice the buzz a lot more with that unit, I dont notice as much since I had it replaced.
Eug Jul 16, 2007 07:54 AM

Quote, Originally Posted by Timothy D (Post 3430376)
I really dont think the main app is the phone. I believe that the main app is the iPod. It just happens to make a phone call.

That's basically the point.

It's a little annoying for some people that phone functionality is almost given secondary billing on the iPhone.

I can't really comment myself though, since I haven't used it yet.
icruise Jul 16, 2007 08:09 AM

The only way that the phone app gets second billing is that Apple hasn't prioritized it over the other apps (not being able to jump directly to the phone functions when unlocking the phone). In terms of the phone app's functionality, I'm not sure there's much more that they could have added. It's all nicely integrated and implemented.
hardcat1970 Jul 16, 2007 09:03 AM

the iphone's speaker buzz is a lot stronger than most phones. I have owned many asian imported GSM sony ericsson phones, and they are nothing compared to iphone. I only hear the buzz when i am about to receive calls from my SE phones, but iphone is doing that all the time just by placing near the speaker. The other day when i tried to plug the iphone to the dock, where it was near my home theater, and iphone went buzzing like crazy even when i turned it to airplane mode. And i agree that it takes so many click to dial number because i am used to speed-dialing
besson3c Jul 16, 2007 09:41 AM

Being an early adopter has its downsides.
vln2 Jul 16, 2007 01:35 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by chrisutley (Post 3430281)
My top reasons for bagging it in no particular order:
- Speakerphone echo
- AT&T GSM echo
- Phone makes my computer speakers buzz at home and work
- Must delete one email message at a time
- Battery life is poor if you use WiFi and Bluetooth
- WiFi connections that are otherwise stable drop frequently
- Too many taps to place a simple phone call
- Unlocking phone becomes a hassle after cool factor wears off
- Bluetooth connection to headset unreliable

I understand, it all depends on the frustration level.
My own experiences in no particular order:
- WiFi started working great and always on once I put $ sign in front of the password (annoying - yes but we know what Apple is after)
- So far my battery is good, better then in HP IPAQ. I do not use WiFi all the time and I turne it off if I do not need it. I have always done that with my old phone.
- Bluetooth: I use Jawbone with Jabra EarGels and it sounds great. Yet when iPhone goes to deep sleep it may break the connection and I just have to turn the Jawbone off and on (2 clicks). Once connected calls are usually picked up by Bluetooth automatically but sometimes they do require unlocking screen and clicking multiple buttons to answer a call on Bluetooth (an issue using a belt holster).
I know that Apple is playing with color schemes but on the Home screen you do not know if the Bluetooth is connected or not - the sign is white while on every other screen it is either white or blue (connected). We need blue sign on Home screen to avoid confusion.
- "It is best to disconnect screen lock:" I did it and it still requires unlocking the screen - probably a glitch waiting for a fix on my iPhone. Apple will have to address that.
- I am on shared 1400 minutes plan now. It is not 1000 minutes each we had at T-Mobile but we should save some with rollover.

Overall I am still satisfied but those issues need to be addressed. We are hearing about major upgrades by November when Leopard comes out. I hope it will not take that long.
icruise Jul 16, 2007 01:40 PM

Quote
I do not use WiFi all the time and I turne it off if I do not need it. I have always done that with my old phone.

According to the somewhat surprising results obtained by Anandtech in their comparison of battery life on wifi, 3G and EDGE, the iPhone actually gets better battery life when using Wifi than in EDGE.


Quote
"It is best to disconnect screen lock:" I did it and it still requires unlocking the screen - probably a glitch waiting for a fix on my iPhone. Apple will have to address that.

It's no glitch (assuming I understand what you mean). What the "screen lock" feature does is to automatically lock the screen after a specific amount of time. If you put the phone to sleep yourself, of course it will need to be unlocked. That's how you would want it. In fact, I don't understand why turning off automatic screen lock would help at all in the OP's situation.
chrisutley Jul 16, 2007 04:40 PM

I had my iPhone about 2ft. from my SONY HDTV, and it was causing some flickering on the screen. I think the FCC has rules about this kind of thing. ;)
chrisutley Jul 16, 2007 04:48 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by besson3c (Post 3430799)
Being an early adopter has its downsides.

I get that. I bought a PowerPC Mac the day they came out, and I bought a Mac Pro the day they came out. I have a Blu-ray and HD-DVD player ... you get the idea. I'm not here to *****, just sharing my experience. Unfortunately, I had too many issues with iPhone 1.0, a few of which I suspect won't be addressed until the second generation model appears.
vln2 Jul 16, 2007 05:13 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by icruise (Post 3431015)
According to the somewhat surprising results obtained by Anandtech in their comparison of battery life on wifi, 3G and EDGE, the iPhone actually gets better battery life when using Wifi than in EDGE.

Interesting, I know that my old HP IPAQ used lots of battery power. I've noticed that adding Bluetooth to WiFi increased power consumption noticeably. Perhaps then Bluetooth uses more power then WiFi?

Quote, Originally Posted by icruise (Post 3431015)
It's no glitch (assuming I understand what you mean). What the "screen lock" feature does is to automatically lock the screen after a specific amount of time. If you put the phone to sleep yourself, of course it will need to be unlocked. That's how you would want it. In fact, I don't understand why turning off automatic screen lock would help at all in the OP's situation.

You are right, I hoped I could turn the iPhone off manually and turn it on again manually and not have to unlock screen again. I guess that will not work but should - it is like my own phone is not trusting me (I turned it off, then on and it still needs the screen unlocked). Pressing the top button should overwrite the auto screen lock.
I really would like Bluetooth icon in blue when conected on Home screen - its purpose is to give us quick access to applications and consize info on most important settings. It makes no difference what color WiFi icon is, it does for Bluetooth.

One more thing, I've noticed that when the battery goes below 20% and iPhone at times becomes little unstable I can't take auto lock off when somebody calls me. I move it to the right and nothing happens. I have to turn the phone off and on, miss the call and call that parson back. Another argument for taking auto lock off.
chrisutley Jul 16, 2007 05:25 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by vln2 (Post 3431165)
I guess that will not work but should - it is like my own phone is not trusting me (I turned it off, then on and it still needs the screen unlocked). Pressing the top button should overwrite the auto screen lock.

I agree with your suggested behavior for the top button. Seems kind of obvious ... I wonder why they are forcing the lock screen on us.
utw-Mephisto Jul 16, 2007 05:33 PM

If the iPhone is rather an ipod with phone functionality, why does it require a contract with AT&T .. ah well .. I still have my good old Nokia which can be used quite well as a phone .. Oh, it can also play MP3 :p :p :p
frdmfghtr Jul 16, 2007 05:42 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by icruise (Post 3431015)
According to the somewhat surprising results obtained by Anandtech in their comparison of battery life on wifi, 3G and EDGE, the iPhone actually gets better battery life when using Wifi than in EDGE.

It's really not that surprising. Consider that doing data transfers over EDGE is slower, requiring more TX/RX time over a longer distance from you to the nearest tower, requiring more TX power. Wi-Fi transfers are faster, over a much shorter distance.

One could argue that the higher data rate of Wi-Fi takes more power than the lower data rate of EDGE, which is true over the same distance; however, I think the lower power needed to cover a much shorter distance will have more effect.

icruise Jul 16, 2007 06:24 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by frdmfghtr (Post 3431191)
It's really not that surprising. Consider that doing data transfers over EDGE is slower, requiring more TX/RX time over a longer distance from you to the nearest tower, requiring more TX power. Wi-Fi transfers are faster, over a much shorter distance.

It's not 100% clear from what they wrote, but they said that they had several web sites on a local server and they had a script that they used to download one page after the other in a loop until the batteries died. It sounds like the test was designed to make the phones access the network constantly (as it should have been to make this kind of comparison) so the idea that because wifi is faster it had to communicate for a shorter period of time doesn't seem to apply.
spiff72 Jul 16, 2007 08:59 PM

With regard to speaker interference, I think that Nextel phones in general are the worst offenders (by far). I have a bookshelf stereo in my office, and whenever a coworker wanders past while talking on their Nextel, I get the signature Nextel "tic-tic-tic-tictictictictictic" sounds. This is from a range of about 5 feet away.

In Morse Code, it would look something like : ---..........

The only time I have ever heard anything from my iphone was in my car, when I set the phone literally right under the car stereo. The sound from this is much quieter, and it sounds a lot different than the Nextel's...
SEkker Jul 18, 2007 11:04 AM

I used to carry a PDA and a phone for the same reason the original poster returned the iPhone - convergent devices are often too much of a compromise (I am still underwhelmed by TREOs and Blackberries, for example). The iPhone offers me true integration in a single device, as well as true syncing with my laptop.

But, in contrast to the poster, I have not found the extra pushes for a phone to be annoying at all. After all, I went from a flip phone - which took me time to pull out, flip open, then make my call. On the iPhone, you pull out, activate, then choose your app - phone, browser, mail, etc. If the mail app is open (usually to my favorites list), I doubt there is really any time difference.

I had my iPhone save me over an hour yesterday alone because I was able to get info on COMPUSA stores - and save a trip to Bloomington, MN, when all the COMPUSA stores have been closed in Minnesota. All using the EDGE network.

That over an hour makes up for a lot of 1-2 second time lost having to go to favorites instead of a speed dial setup.

There is no question the iPhone interface is different, and some will not find the change 'better' for them. I am taking the long view that having true internet with me everywhere is valuable.

Oh, and I've used this as an ipod once or twice... For me, this is definitely a phone first.
analogika Jul 18, 2007 12:18 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by chrisutley (Post 3431155)
I had my iPhone about 2ft. from my SONY HDTV, and it was causing some flickering on the screen. I think the FCC has rules about this kind of thing. ;)

Yep. There's definitely something wrong with your TV.
CharlesS Jul 18, 2007 12:29 PM

This is why the iPhone should have been 3G instead of GSM-only. WCDMA doesn't generate nearly as much buzzing as GSM does.
::maroma:: Jul 18, 2007 01:11 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by CharlesS (Post 3432858)
This is why the iPhone should have been 3G instead of GSM-only. WCDMA doesn't generate nearly as much buzzing as GSM does.

Buzzing is why it should've been 3G? I would have thought the faster data rate would've been the reason. Silly me.

Really, buzzing, while annoying, is it really that huge of a deal?
fruitengine_hannah Jul 18, 2007 03:39 PM

man that sucks! i am planning to buy and embrace poverty by spending all of my savings.. now i am having second thoughts.... thanks for the heads up!
thefourthtenor Jul 18, 2007 04:11 PM

I returned mine as well... back to my blackberry :-(

The phone was lacking most of the tiny features... all of which... I use often.
icruise Jul 18, 2007 04:23 PM

So... what features were those?
philm Jul 18, 2007 04:34 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by vln2 (Post 3431012)
I understand, it all depends on the frustration level.
My own experiences in no particular order:
- WiFi started working great and always on once I put $ sign in front of the password (annoying - yes but we know what Apple is after)

What's the $ sign for? I don't know about this.
analogika Jul 18, 2007 07:28 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by thefourthtenor (Post 3433160)
I returned mine as well... back to my blackberry :-(

The phone was lacking most of the tiny features... all of which... I use often.

Such as?
ghporter Jul 18, 2007 09:37 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by philm (Post 3433177)
What's the $ sign for? I don't know about this.

For WEP (AND ONLY WEP) entering a '$' tells AirPort equipment to process an entry as hexadecimal rather than (the default) plain text.

But if you're using WEP, you're asking for someone with a few minutes and a nasty streak to break your "security". WEP is not secure. WPA IS secure and should be used instead of WEP in any and all cases.
chrisutley Jul 18, 2007 09:52 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by analogika (Post 3432834)
Yep. There's definitely something wrong with your TV.

Yeah, I'm sure the signals my iPhone produced causing my computer speakers to emit a buzzing sound, had nothing to do with the distortion my TV experienced when the iPhone was sitting next to it. Of course as soon as the iPhone was moved far from the TV, the problem suddenly vanished ... HAS to be the TV, has to. :rolleyes:
tinkered Jul 18, 2007 11:53 PM

Good call on returning your iphone. If it doesn't satisfy you then you should return it, as you did. I am happy to hear that you were ultimately satisfied with your shopping decision?

May I ask if you have ever posted in a forms about other shopping mistakes? Do you often regret your purchases? What about this electronic purchase was unique and urged you to share its negative experience with others? Is your post meant as a warning to others about the iphone? What lesson can I take from that I can I apply to my purchases purchases? I don't mean to sound derisive or fractious, I honestly want to know what I, as a form reader, was meant to get from the OP and this thread as a whole.
icruise Jul 18, 2007 11:59 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by chrisutley (Post 3433413)
Yeah, I'm sure the signals my iPhone produced causing my computer speakers to emit a buzzing sound, had nothing to do with the distortion my TV experienced when the iPhone was sitting next to it. Of course as soon as the iPhone was moved far from the TV, the problem suddenly vanished ... HAS to be the TV, has to. :rolleyes:

I took his comment to mean that your TV wasn't properly shielded. As I mentioned above, the iPhone is certainly not the only phone to cause interference, and in fact my RAZR has been worse.


Quote, Originally Posted by tinkered (Post 3433473)
May I ask if you have ever posted in a forms about other shopping mistakes? Do you often regret your purchases? What about this electronic purchase was unique and urged you to share its negative experience with others? Is your post meant as a warning to others about the iphone? What lesson can I take from that I can I apply to my purchases purchases? I don't mean to sound derisive or fractious, I honestly want to know what I, as a form reader, was meant to get from the OP and this thread as a whole.

I think it's perfectly natural for him to post something like this. Or can people only post positive things about the iPhone? In particular, he may have been responding to another thread that asked how many people would buy the iPhone again, in which most people were very positive in their evaluations of the iPhone.

analogika Jul 19, 2007 01:13 AM

Quote, Originally Posted by tinkered (Post 3433473)
Good call on returning your iphone. If it doesn't satisfy you then you should return it, as you did. I am happy to hear that you were ultimately satisfied with your shopping decision?

May I ask if you have ever posted in a forms about other shopping mistakes? Do you often regret your purchases? What about this electronic purchase was unique and urged you to share its negative experience with others? Is your post meant as a warning to others about the iphone? What lesson can I take from that I can I apply to my purchases purchases? I don't mean to sound derisive or fractious, I honestly want to know what I, as a form reader, was meant to get from the OP and this thread as a whole.

I think a detailed thread of constructive criticism on the iPhone is worth twenty "OMG love my iPhone!!!1!!!1" threads.
Nicko Jul 19, 2007 06:40 AM

Quote, Originally Posted by analogika (Post 3433541)
I think a detailed thread of constructive criticism on the iPhone is worth twenty "OMG love my iPhone!!!1!!!1" threads.

Hey be nice, iphones have feelings too!

IMO the criticisms in this thread are mostly non issues considering the iphone is version 1.0.
I just bought a new samsung and it makes speakers buzz when it is active, this happens with most phones.
As for the other issues, the majority of them are software related, which can and will be fixed in time.
---

"Too many taps to place a phone call"

Do you honestly think that Steve Jobs didn't do extensive research into how many taps people will tolerate to make a call? They had years to perfect the design of the iphone. Do you think that so little thought went into the essential function of what being a phone is all about? Gimmeabreak. Steve Jobs is smarter than you, rest assured you are in the significant minority when it comes to optimum taps needed to place a call. The iphone is not just another gadget, it is an experience and Apple has always strove to provide a superior user experience.

ebuddy Jul 19, 2007 07:10 AM

Quote, Originally Posted by tinkered (Post 3433473)
What about this electronic purchase was unique and urged you to share its negative experience with others? Is your post meant as a warning to others about the iphone? What lesson can I take from that I can I apply to my purchases purchases? I don't mean to sound derisive or fractious, I honestly want to know what I, as a form reader, was meant to get from the OP and this thread as a whole.

The more appropriate question would be; what were you hoping to gain by opening this thread? Why did the thread title; "Why I returned my iPhone" appeal to you?
icruise Jul 19, 2007 08:59 AM

Quote, Originally Posted by Nicko (Post 3433628)
"Too many taps to place a phone call"

Do you honestly think that Steve Jobs didn't do extensive research into how many taps people will tolerate to make a call? They had years to perfect the design of the iphone. Do you think that so little thought went into the essential function of what being a phone is all about? Gimmeabreak. Steve Jobs is smarter than you, rest assured you are in the significant minority when it comes to optimum taps needed to place a call. The iphone is not just another gadget, it is an experience and Apple has always strove to provide a superior user experience.

Well, I doubt that Steve Jobs personally did any research, but in any case, the OP was just saying that it was too much for him personally. That's OK. You don't all have to jump on him and question his reasons for starting the thread. I'm starting to understand why he was acting so defensive.


chrisutley Jul 19, 2007 03:46 PM

So my thread seems to stand out and require explanation, in the sea of "I love my iPhone, iPhone is perfect!" threads?

I had to laugh out loud at this backwards attempt at being clever. I mean ... seriously? Seriously?


Quote, Originally Posted by tinkered (Post 3433473)
May I ask if you have ever posted in a forms about other shopping mistakes? Do you often regret your purchases? What about this electronic purchase was unique and urged you to share its negative experience with others? Is your post meant as a warning to others about the iphone? What lesson can I take from that I can I apply to my purchases purchases? I don't mean to sound derisive or fractious, I honestly want to know what I, as a form reader, was meant to get from the OP and this thread as a whole.

chrisutley Jul 19, 2007 03:48 PM

Touche my quick witted friend, touche!

Clearly this thread has been hijacked by the zealots, teenagers, and shut-ins of the World so I'm going to wrap this up.

1) The iPhone is not perfect
2) Deal with it

Good day.


Quote, Originally Posted by jokell82 (Post 3434360)
You reversed that. It should be "keep the crappy tv and crappy cables I used to hook it up away from my cell phone." Or, just fix your crap.

::maroma:: Jul 19, 2007 04:13 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by chrisutley (Post 3434373)
1) The iPhone is not perfect
2) Deal with it

Good day.

I'm pretty sure that's what people in this thread were trying to tell you all along. I'm not quite sure why you decided to post a thread just to justify your reasons for returning your iPhone. Who cares why its not the phone for you? And what were you expecting the reactions to be really? Did you need anonymous people to reassure you on your decision?

besson3c Jul 19, 2007 04:19 PM

Quote, Originally Posted by chrisutley (Post 3434373)
Touche my quick witted friend, touche!

Clearly this thread has been hijacked by the zealots, teenagers, and shut-ins of the World so I'm going to wrap this up.

1) The iPhone is not perfect
2) Deal with it

Good day.

http://forums.macnn.com/103/ipod-iphone-and-apple-tv/342140/why-i-returned-my-iphone/

Surur
 

cmaier

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Hmm. Doesn't seem like a lot of taps to make a call to me. The treo is faster with its speed-dials, but for calls that aren't speed-dialed it seems to me to be approximately the same amount of effort. And I'm placing calls a lot less frequently than I'm checking email, etc. Adding a phone button might have been nice, but I don't think it is particularly necessary.

As for the unlocking, i'm not fond of it either. A hardware lock switch would have been nice, as would a blinking LED to tell me if i have messages, etc. so i wouldn't have to keep unlocking to check.

Neither of these problems is fatal, however. The swipe-to-unlock doesn't bother me much anymore (i still want an LED).
 

surur

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And I'm placing calls a lot less frequently than I'm checking email, etc.

Somewhere in here there is a post by some-one about how its impossible to set the pop e-mail polling to less than 15 minutes, and how it was not possible to initiate a send a receive, requiring the person to leave the app and return constantly to check for an e-mail they were expecting.

As Ive said, if you dont do it the Apple way things get awkward.

Surur
 

cmaier

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Yeah, polling sucks, especially since i had perfectly fine imap-push with chatter on palm. I've complained about that extensively, especially since they support push on yahoo. (Yes, i know it seems not to always work, but that's almost certainly a yahoo problem.)

I don't think the lack of push is "the apple way," though. I think it was just a premature release. All indications are that exchange activesync is on the way.
 

Malatesta

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Best line of that last Surur post:
Do you honestly think that Steve Jobs didn't do extensive research into how many taps people will tolerate to make a call? They had years to perfect the design of the iphone. Do you think that so little thought went into the essential function of what being a phone is all about? Gimmeabreak. Steve Jobs is smarter than you...
That is faith in a higher being right there, yikes.

Evidently this is the pinnacle of phone functions, since Steve designated it so. No way can it be improved and do not question it, for it is heresy.
 

Malatesta

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I just assumed that guy was trying to be sarcastic
whoops, lol, that might be correct.

then again, maybe not, someone else responded to that with...
Well, I doubt that Steve Jobs personally did any research, but in any case, the OP was just saying that it was too much for him personally. That's OK. You don't all have to jump on him and question his reasons for starting the thread. I'm starting to understand why he was acting so defensive.
 

mikec#IM

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hmm

The guy wasn't being sarastic...he really think Jobs is smarter and the iPhone reflects that.

Such is the life in land of the Apple zealot.

Bottom line - if you cannot either immediately dial a number from the "home" screen, you've failed phone design 101.
 
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