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

[braj]

The problem is that the American carriers want final say on every device on their network. This is what google and at&t are currently haggling with the fcc about with the 700MHz auction.

Let's hope google gets its way.

Did I mention American carriers suck?

 

[Certs]

According to posters on howardforums and elsewhere, you can indeed remove the sim from your iphone and place it in a "beach phone." Voice and text work. It's the reverse that is the problem (sim from another phone into the iphone).

Correct, and 3G data works too (tested on 750 and blackjack).

 

[Malatesta]

Looks like people are expecting iPhone updates fast and furious...too bad in the phone world, updates are few and far between.

This may change with the iPhone, but generally on most smartphones, (and phones) firmware/software patches are rare (compared to desktop software)

No doubt and expecting a software update after 3 weeks does seem a bit fast, except two things:

(1) Apple is/has been working on an update since they probably locked down the software for shipping. So it's not that far fetched.
(2) In a nice surprise, Motorola released an update for the Sprint Q 3 weeks after release to fix a bunch of issues, so it can and has been done.

 

[bubbatex]

(2) In a nice surprise, Motorola released an update for the Sprint Q 3 weeks after release to fix a bunch of issues, so it can and has been done.

But it didn't really work too well - at least on mine!

 

[Malatesta]

But I think it will be about 2 years before we see anything like Safari.

Even as a demonstration-release, MS's Deepfish is not too far off from what Safari can do.

Demo

I've been using it for months now and even though it's just a "technology preview" (not even an alpha or beta for release) it works quite well. There is a security issue with server-side handling, so that is one thing that will need to be considered.

 

[Malatesta]

But it didn't really work too well - at least on mine!

lol, sorry about that, it helped me though

 

[braj]

Even as a demonstration-release, MS's Deepfish is not too far off from what Safari can do.

Demo

I've been using it for months now and even though it's just a "technology preview" (not even an alpha or beta for release) it works quite well. There is a security issue with server-side handling, so that is one thing that will need to be considered.

Not to mention Nokia's browser and the upcoming Opera. Apple may have the slickest implementation so far but they are not using a unique idea. First one that allows me to highlight some text and send it via IM, SMS or email wins IMO. At the very least allow me some menu option to send the link via email.

 

[cmaier]

Even as a demonstration-release, MS's Deepfish is not too far off from what Safari can do.

Demo

I've been using it for months now and even though it's just a "technology preview" (not even an alpha or beta for release) it works quite well. There is a security issue with server-side handling, so that is one thing that will need to be considered.

Looks pretty nice. Let's hope they actually release it sometime. A lot of the MS labs stuff tends to dead-end.

Let's also hope that iphone had some effect on the mobile browser situation, and lots of good browsers are coming; before iphone, the innovative browsers that people were talking about (at least that I heard about) were things like opera (which, while a step up from blazer, isn't in the same league with mobile safari). I imagine we won't see much of a response from MS or palm, however, until their next generation of products. (And, for palmos, that might as well be never. I expect we'll see their linux-based OS around the time duke nukem forever ships).

 

[surur]

So... Apple and security... have you met before?

iPhone / Yahoo: Too cool to do standards, too hip to do security.
20070719T140828+0000

Replay! Attack!

Okay, so those two words don?t mean anything to you.

Take one iPhone. Take a Yahoo mail account, supporting ?Push IMAP?, although it?s neither P-IMAP nor Lemonade. The iPhone authenticates to Yahoo using a proprietary mechanism called XYMPKI. The exchange goes like this:

iPhone: I?d like to authenticate using XYMPKI, please.
Yahoo: *nothing*
iPhone: Here?s a structured message, containing my device ID and a signature.
Yahoo: *nothing*
iPhone: Here?s my X.509 certificate in DER form.
Yahoo: Okay, I believe you.

Now, people have posted these traces on the web. Everyone knows that PKI is pretty secure, of course.

So, find one, and repeat it:

Me: I?d like to authenticate using XYMPKI, please.
Yahoo: *nothing*
Me: Here?s someone else?s first message, that I snooped off the wire, or grabbed via Google.
Yahoo: *nothing*
Me: Here?s someone else?s certificate, that I also got.
Yahoo: Okay, I believe you.

This is known as a replay attack. It?s not too serious, because any recent IMAP service supports TLS - they?re all mandated to by RFC3501, let alone Lemonade. This prevents replay attacks via sniffing, because you can?t get data. You?re still vulnerable to someone spoofing the DNS, and therefore pretending to be Yahoo?s server, although TLS certificate checking should catch this, too.

Oh, wait - because Yahoo! Don?t! Do! Standards!

So they don?t do TLS.

So not only does DNS spoofing work very nicely - thanks, Yahoo - but also anyone on an unencrypted access point can lift your credentials.

So.

What could Yahoo and Apple have done about this?

Well, firstly, they could have done TLS. That?d protect against the replay attack, as well as bringing them somewhat closer into line with the RFC they?re meant to be following.

Secondly, they could have used a different mechanism, say DIGEST-MD5 (venerable and moving to historic, but still quite good), GSSAPI, or simply TLS and SASL EXTERNAL based on the device certificate. Or some other proprietary mechanism that actually offered real security.

But they didn?t. Because they don?t, apparently, give a flying **** about basic security, standards, or indeed anything much other than how to look cool. I don?t know why I?m so angry about this, given I don?t own an iPhone, but it?s a further let-down from people who really ought to know better.

These things ought to be a showcase for technology, not a shiny box of stupidity.

http://blog.dave.cridland.net/?p=32

So, has Paris Hilton got an iPhone yet? On the other hand, the iPhone doesn't do video, does it...

Surur

 

[cmaier]

Not to mention Nokia's browser and the upcoming Opera. Apple may have the slickest implementation so far but they are not using a unique idea. First one that allows me to highlight some text and send it via IM, SMS or email wins IMO. At the very least allow me some menu option to send the link via email.

You can actually copy and paste links now using bookmarklets. I'm guessing there is a send-link bookmarklet out there somewhere, too, but if not it would be a pretty easy modification.

Not a very pretty solution, but it works. (I actually rely on a bookmarklet for "find on this page" pretty heavily - it's a pretty nice way to go until and unless they add some more functionality).

 

[braj]

You can actually copy and paste links now using bookmarklets. I'm guessing there is a send-link bookmarklet out there somewhere, too, but if not it would be a pretty easy modification.

Not a very pretty solution, but it works. (I actually rely on a bookmarklet for "find on this page" pretty heavily - it's a pretty nice way to go until and unless they add some more functionality).

But I thought Apple products were supposed to be elegant?

 

[surur]

But I thought Apple products were supposed to be elegant?

I seriously wonder if Apple will add all this functionality that people seem to want. Wont they end up needing that big anti-thesis of the iPhone, menus?

Surur

 

[cmaier]

But I thought Apple products were supposed to be elegant?

I'm not defending it. Just stating facts. To do these things one needs to touch the bookmark icon, then select the appropriate bookmark. These functions should definitely be built-in. In the mean time, I'm willing to put up with it because the benefits for me outweigh the problems. I have no doubt that copy and paste will be added shortly, and everyone (me included) will move on to the next items on their list of favorite complaints. In the mean time, there's a partial work-around.

 

[cmaier]

I seriously wonder if Apple will add all this functionality that people seem to want. Wont they end up needing that big anti-thesis of the iPhone, menus?

Surur

iphone has menus, of sorts. For example, the settings app is essentially one big menu (implemented as forms). I don't think the interface is "anti-menu" so much as it is "hide stuff we think you don't use often."

 

[surur]

I don't think the interface is "anti-menu" so much as it is "hide stuff we think you don't use often."

Or "leave out stuff we think you don't use often".

Surur

 

[braj]

I'm not defending it. Just stating facts. To do these things one needs to touch the bookmark icon, then select the appropriate bookmark. These functions should definitely be built-in. In the mean time, I'm willing to put up with it because the benefits for me outweigh the problems. I have no doubt that copy and paste will be added shortly, and everyone (me included) will move on to the next items on their list of favorite complaints. In the mean time, there's a partial work-around.

Yeah, I wasn't saying you were You are about the most level-headed iPhone user I've personally come across. Kudos to you, sir Oalvarez you definitely are not.

 

[Malatesta]

Yeah, I wasn't saying you were You are about the most level-headed iPhone user I've personally come across. Kudos to you, sir Oalvarez you definitely are not.

I agree. You can actually discuss things with cmaier. His views are relative and valued here.

I am curious with how widespread the iPhone is projected to be, if we'll see a reversal of hacking/virii for mobile devices i.e. we have anti-virus scanners for WM yet there has never been a "real" virus attempt to spread on these devices (despite all of those FUD "projections" from symantec).

But will there be more attempts at hacking/compromising the iPhone due to

(1) It's so widely adopted (relatively) and it's prominence
(2) It's so locked down that it attracts more attention?

Obviously it's way too early to make any predictions, thought it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[surur]

If its the next Razr (50 million over the next 2 years) it will be hacked to kingdom come.

Surur

 

[mobileman]

Even as a demonstration-release, MS's Deepfish is not too far off from what Safari can do.

Demo

I've been using it for months now and even though it's just a "technology preview" (not even an alpha or beta for release) it works quite well. There is a security issue with server-side handling, so that is one thing that will need to be considered.

With all due respect Malatesta, Deepfish has nothing on Mobile Safari. I installed it on a few of my work devices, and while it might be the best WM browser available, it still has a ways to go before it can compete. I'm also wondering how much effort Microsoft will put into developing it further.

 

[Certs]

Yeah, I wasn't saying you were You are about the most level-headed iPhone user I've personally come across

I feel neglected