Help Build the ultimate iPhone feature request list
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
We’ve had the pleasure of using the iPhone for a couple days now, and while we certainly view it as a technological marvel, there is always room for improvement.
Since Apple itself has said there will be future software updates to add new functionality to the iPhone, we thought we would compile a list of things we’d personally like to see in the iPhone, and we’d like your help.
We invite you to add your ideas in the comments below, and we’ll add the ones we think are the best to the master list. (And if anything we bring up here actually is already possible in the iPhone, please let us know. We don’t claim to be iPhone experts yet). We’re not really looking for things like “add more storage” or “add a faster network”. We’re more looking for things that can be added via software/firmware to improve the way the current iPhone functions.
The list will be updated periodically as we continue to test the iPhone.
-The Doc
Add Copy and Paste – this should be a no-brainer. The question is of course, how would it work given the touchscreen interface? I think the iPhone needed one extra multi-function “physical” button somewhere on the exterior which could be programmed to handle different functions based on the app. This would be one scenario where I could see that button handling a selection/copy text motion when held down and the cursor was dragged across. But there could be other methods of doing this using the existing interface.
Display should have an auto-dim/off function to conserve battery life (I am aware of the auto-lock feature, and this is not what I mean). Since battery life is a concern with an all-in-one device, I don’t see why there is not a setting to control the screen brightness during inactivity. For example, if you navigate to the iPhone’s main menu, and then put the iPhone on the desk and walk away, an hour later the main menu screen will still be shinning brightly (perhaps even damaging the screen!). If you leave it charging over night with that screen showing, it will have been on all night. Similarly, if you are playing tracks in iTunes, the screen will not dim either (I paused a music track over 25 minutes ago, and the screen has been using full power the entire time). A “regular” iPod’s screen will dim after a certain amount of time. Laptops have a similar function. On the iPhone, the only way to set this is to set up the auto-lock to go on, which is not always ideal. I would like to see the screen dim or go black after a user-defined time period, and be able to be woken by a touch, not a physical button press. [UPDATE: I noticed if you have the iPhone plugged into a wall outlet charging, and have your auto-lock turned ON, the phone will not lock, and will instead dim the display after the set time (depending on what you are doing, this is not consistent throughout the iPhone. The iPhone display dims when on the main screen, or while playing a song with the “iPod” screen up, but if you pause a song while charging, it will lock, not dim).
Not sure if this is intentional, but it is an example of what I want the iPhone to do when inactive and auto-lock is NOT turned on.
Drag URL onto “new page” icon to open a link in a new page – If you press and hold on a link in Safari, the link’s the url appears. Since there is no “right click” to open the link in a new tab (page), I think it would be cool if you could drag that “pop-up” link onto the New Page icon to open it in a new page.
Safari Password Storing – I understand mobile phones are particularly susceptible to theft and the iPhone perhaps even more so due to it’s “hot gadget” status, but I would love for Safari to be able to remember website passwords. The way see this working would be a “Keychain” type of functionality where one password could unlock them all. Have it timeout periodically for security (optional 5, 10, 30 min settings). Even entering the same password every half hour would be preferable to having to remember 30 others. Macenstein reader Kendall adds “I want Keychain on the iPhone as well, but also some kind of interface for reviewing and adding to the contents of Keychain – I’d like to be able to add other account codes there as well to be held securely.”
Widescreen keyboard should be an option for EVERY app that handles text, not just Safari. It’s just easier to type on a larger keyboard.
EVERY app should rotate when the iPod rotates. Mail and Notes especially, but maps would be cool too.
Add a master “Address Book/ Contacts” button to the main interface
Add an iTunes/Music controller to the top menu bar The top of the menu bar displays a little “play” icon when iTunes is playing music. When in any other app, you should be able to tap that triangle once to pause, and again to play. It is annoying to have to tap the “main menu” button, then “iPod”, then “pause” if you need to quickly and briefly pause the music.
Flash and Java Support Obviously this will be tricky, but it will go a long way toward allowing developers to code more “app-like” applications for the iPhone, and should open up games to the iPhone as well. The problems are of course these will likely be crippled in some way by Apple/AT&T to discourage VoIP apps from being written. Rumors are Flash support will be added sooner than later, so perhaps we’ll get an idea of Java’s future when we see how Flash is handled.
Add “Disk Mode” like standard iPods I can’t tell you how many times I use my iPod to move files to and from work. Let’s get this going on the iPhone. After all, it is meant to help limit the number of devices we carry around. I don’t want to keep my old iPod or a thumb drive handy.
Ability to assign more than one signature in Mail It took Apple a long time to being this feature to the “regular” version of OS X’s Mail, but now that it’s there, why didn’t they carry it over to the Mail settings? The “signature” option should be located under each mail account’s prefs, allowing you to assign a different signature to each sending address
I should be able to decline a call when the iPhone is “locked” If you manually lock your iPhone (or it auto locks after a set time) and you receive a call, you are presented only with the option of “Slide to unlock and answer phone”. I cannot decline the call and stop it from ringing without answering it. This is potentially embarrassing in a meeting situation where you want to silence your phone’s ringing without taking the call (I know there is a silent mode switch, but that is not the same. I want to be able to send people right into voicemail, instead of having everyone listen to my phone vibrate until they are sent to voicemail). Unlocking a ringing iPhone should NOT auto answer it (unless you set it in a preference). It should merely unlock it and then give you the answer/decline button it normally shows if it. again, this is just another option that you should be able to set in a $600 cutting edge phone. [UPDATE: Apparently you can decline a call by pushing the wake/sleep button twice. I still think it should work with the touch button, but at least it is possible]
Add “Games” Fairies, would be an awesome one for the touchscreen.
Add “Rules” to iPhone’s Mail This would go along with adding folders, most likely, but it would be useful in deleting junk mail (unless Apple decides to let the iPhone respect Junk Mail headers (see below)).
User defined custom ringtones I KNOW this must be a feature Apple will eventually add; they must have just not had time for everything. But NO phone calling itself a “music phone” limits this feature. One of us here at Macenstein has already said this is the sole reason he is holding out on buying an iPhone. I understand that perhaps Apple wants to start selling ringtones via iTunes, but let’s not get greedy Apple. There’s room for both.
Let us browse the device via Bluetooth I’d like to be able to get the photos I took with the iPhone onto my computer without having to e-mail them back and forth. Similarly, I’d like to be able to perhaps pull off notes. [UPDATE: A few people have pointed out iPhoto will try to import your iPhone pics when attached to your computer. I have 2 problems with using iPhoto as the conduit for photos. 1) I want to also be able to drag photos ON to the iPhone without adding them to my iPhoto library. For instance, many site have started making iPhone sized wallpapers of various subjects. I don’t want a picture of Mr. Sparkle from the Simpsons or some Suicide girls in my iPhone library, but i MIGHT want them on my iPhone as wallpaper. 2) Anyone know what Windows users do?
Time stamping on SMS messages. There is none. What’s up with that?
Add a “period” key to the main keyboard.
Directory access, or at very least, access to the photos folder So you can upload iPhone photos to websites that support that like flickr.
A “multiple delete” key for e-mail Right now you have to delete each message individually. (Maybe add a “checkbox” system, like many webmail clients use to perform bulk actions).
Ability to remove Application icons from the main menu screen I’m sure as Apple adds apps this will become possible. It bothers me that a slot is taken up by the “Clock” app right now. While it is somewhat convenient to know what time it is in Tokyo at the moment, my current time is right at the top of the iPhone. The Clock seems like it was turned into an application just for the sake of filling a hole.
Add audio output option to alarms and ringer Similar the iPod’s options for the clickwheel sound to be heard in the “headphone”, “speaker”, or “both”, I think ringtones and alarm reminders should have these options. Putting the phone in “silent mode” will not make the alarm silent, or play only via headphones. There are times when I use the timer to time something, like when a DVD or set of video dubs is scheduled to finish. I’d like to have the option of me being the only one who hears my alarm go off.
Let us use an iTunes song/playlist for our alarm. – While we’re on the topic of the alarm, Macenstein reader Ryan says “I know I’m probably one of the 7 people who use their iPhone as an alarm clock, but the oversight of actually selecting from the music library is beyond me. I don’t want to wake up to a ringtone, i want to select from the 1,000 songs i put on the iPod. Come on, Apple, that’s easy. Step it up.”
Add Cover Flow view for contacts. – Macenstein reader Daniel
Video Out like 5G iPod – Macenstein reader Tracy
Ability to send text messages to multiple recipients – Macenstein reader David
Ability to open a link in a new page Maybe a two finger tap?- Macenstein reader Michael McLean
iChat Built in chat functions like AIM or MSN – Macenstein reader Kris Snow
A way to email the full 2 Megapixel pictures taken from the camera At current it only emails a 640X480 picture. – Macenstein reader SeanG (We agree. We only noticed this behavior ourselves this afternoon. Disappointing).
Customizable Dictionary – Macenstein reader Doug Hardman
Safari bookmarks syncing should work like music/video playlist syncing. I don’t need my iPhone to have every bookmark that my desktop Safari has – there should be an ‘iPhone folder’ or an option to mark certain bookmarks with a ’sync to iPhone’ flag. – Macenstein reader El Payo
Pseudo GPS since there is not GPS chipset inside the iPhone, have google maps jump to the cell tower that you are currently logged on to – Macenstein reader john95127
Mail client should respect the mail server’s junk mail headings and not download junkmail (We personally think this is a great idea!) Macenstein reader JTK
Ability to use the iPhone as a wireless modem Wireless modem for my laptop via Bluetooth, via serial (to save power), Wireless modem for my laptop via WiFi. (mini WAP). – Macenstein reader BusinessGuy
MMS Seems a next gen phone should support this current-gen feature. – Macenstein reader Ferna
A true RSS reader RSS almost makes more sense on an iPhone than a computer. – Macenstein reader Michael McLean
Get Groups working in iPhone’s Mail Groups within address book do not retain their functionality in Mail. In Mail on OS X, inputting a Group Name into the To: field will automatically add all the email addresses you have stored in that group. Mail on the iPhone does not seem to support this feature. – Macenstein reader ScooterD
Video recording We’re not sure if this is possible or not via software/firmware, but we’re listing it anyway. Again, this is just one of those things found in clunkier, cheaper phones that an iPhone should be allowed to do. – Macenstein reader Florian Vanthuyne
Video uploading to YouTube and while we’re at it. let’s make it possible to upload those iPhone-shot videos to YouTube – Dr. Macenstein
Private photo gallery in Photos app I’d like a password protected album in the photo app. That’s the place where friends seem to go first to check out pictures and I’d love to have pictures that are my own private jokes and memories that are protected from being pawned through by others asking questions: ex-girlfriends/parents that kind of thing. People who are into mobile porn would probably like this too. – Macenstein reader Patrick
Support for Bluetooth GPS devices with Maps integration Bluetooth GPS devices are relatively inexpensive, have decent battery life, and wouldn’t have to add any bulk to the phone itself, since they’re external. – Macenstein reader ClunkClunk
Call duration We should know how long a call lasted. At the moment there is no way to see how long was a call. – Macenstein reader Jptolife
We actually can see this being useful to those who require time billing, like lawyers and such who charge for phone calls.
Support for AirTunes Since this is the first iPod with WiFi, I think support for AirTunes would be a welcome addition. Currently, you can only stream iTunes music to AirPort Express speakers from a computer. AirTunes directly from an iPod would eliminate need to use a computer for this. Just sit on the sofa with your iPhone, stream music to your speakers over WiFi. – Macenstein reader bky (We’re not sure if this is possible with the iPhone’s current hardware, but it is a cool idea).
Voice Dialing Hard to understand why on earth they left this out, but I would have waited to buy had I known it did not have it. I make alot of calls from my car (via bluetooth headset), and voice dialing is essential. – Macenstein reader Erik Olsen
How about a To Do list tool that syncs with iCal/Outlook? – Macenstein reader Laszlo
E-book reader (eReader) – Macenstein reader Chris
Ability to turn pictures off when browsing on safari with edge for faster load times. – Macenstein reader chris miles
Rearrange & Reorder I Googled for an hour trying to find out how to reorder my email accounts, stock lists & photo albums NADA, lemme drag & drop everything, please. – Macenstein reader Brett L
Add a search feature in the contacts bar When somebody like me has 1200 contacts they will get mixed up in different letters. An optional search bar should be included. – Macenstein reader Anonymous
Add a voice recorder I used this function constantly on my old phone. whether it be an idea for a song, or a spoken idea i couldn’t type out while driving, this was indispensable. – Macenstein reader lonelysandwich
Spotlight all over the place Mail, contacts, music, calendars, it should be everywhere. – Macenstein reader Allison
GPS via Dock connection I would like if there was an gps that could use the 30 pin connection at the bottom of the phone so it uses less battery life than blue tooth. – Macenstein reader Chris
Wi-Fi only mode How about letting me turn off the phone but not WiFi. I’ on vacation in a place with no cell coverage, but we do have WiFi here. My battery lasts only a day with the phone searching for a signal it is never going to find. – Macenstein reader John
iTunes Store I’m shocked you can’t buy things directly from iTunes on Apple’s first iPod + internet device, it seems ridiculous. And weird, cause they could make so much money from that. – Macenstein reader Allison
Allow all Application icons to display info Weather and clock icons should update continuously like the Calendar. Also, the calender should have notification buttons on it when you have an event within a specific time frame..for example if i have a meeting today one hour before the meting a “1″ notification button should appear on the calender- Macenstein readers Corey Gomel and Drew Russell
Add “dialed” and “received” to Call Lists Currently, the call lists are for All and missed. How about dialed and received as well? – Macenstein reader Seth Tepfer
Custom Dictionary I would like to add that I wish there was a way to teach the keyboard/dictionary words. I have used the “notes†features extensively to keep track of my day and find myself retyping some of the same words all the time and they are words that my phone doesn’t know yet. – Macenstein reader Kathleen
Turn the volume up to 11 Better volume while on calls and speakerphone. Louder ring tones. – Macenstein readers ballyhoo and Jamie
Mail fodlers Since I only use the POP email feature (currently) I would like the way to make a new folder to put mail into. They have the option to move a message to another folder, but only options are Inbox, OutBox, Sent, Trash. I would like to be able to make a new folder such as *save* so I can move emails (such as an email with my resume) into it so I can have it at all times without always seeing it in my inbox. – Macenstein reader Clint L
Contact Categories i got used to having categories in my Treo. Now I miss it. I want to be able to see filters for restaurants, family, doctors, co-workers. – Macenstein reader Bret L We agree. iTunes should have the option to sync only selected groups from the Mac’s address book. I do not want something like drugstore.com added in my iPhone’s address book just because I had them in My Mac’s “stores” addresses used to perform a rule.
Keep the suggestions comin’ folks!
[UPDATE: WOW. This list is growing fast! Thanks so much for all your comments. If Apple adds even a quarter of these suggestions in the coming months they will have the most revolutionary handheld device to date. And thanks for keeping (most of these) actually feasible! ]
[UPDATE 2: I have sent this link to Apple via their iPhone feedback page.]
–
Here are my thoughts on some things on the wish list.
I agree with everything except password saving — NEVER NEVER NEVER
I would like to add that I wish there was a way to teach the keyboard/dictionary words. I have used the “notes” features extensively to keep track of my day and find myself retyping some of the same words all the time and they are words that my phone doesn’t know yet.
The ability to type in ALL CAPS — if it’s possible to do this I haven’t figured it out yet.
I would add for Safari to remember certain things like e-mail addressed, street addressed, etc. but NEVER NEVER NEVER passwords. That’s just a bad idea altogether.
1. the alarm clock needs a snooze – that you can click on w/o unlocking the phone.
2. Games – Sudoku, bejeweled, peggle, etc
3. Currently, the call lists are for All and missed. How about dialed and received as well?
4. Favorites lists a different line for each phone number. I want one line for each contact, and a submenu for their multiple contacts
5. I have thousands of contacts. using the letters to navigate doesn’t get me close enough.
here’s a request I haven’t seen – Have the weather and Time icons on the home page contstantly update like the Scdhedule does. I’m tired of seeing 73 and sunny. At least the schedule changes dates.
I will second the idea of updating the weather icon not sure if the clock should update continuously since its a pretty small display that would be hard to read
Adding to this the calender should have notification buttons on it when you have an event within a specific time frame..for example if i have a meeting today one hour before the meting a “1” notification button should appear on the calender
PS: is this list being updated i have read many diff. ideas that should be put on the master list
Excellent list!
Windows users can access iPhone photos with any manager, or just go to ‘mY Computer’ where you can see your iPhone as a digital camera… I don’t know ifbyiu can put photos on this way, but I think I’ll go find out cause I hate iTunes lowering the resolution of photos I WANT to be able to zoom into.
How about letting me turn off the phone but not WiFi. I’ on vacation in a place with no cell coverage, but we do have WiFi here. My battery lasts only a day with the phone searching for a signal it is mever going to find.
I would like if there was an gps that could use the 30 pin connection at the bottom of the phone so it uses less battery life than blue tooth
Mine does dim the screen before it auto locks. Not when it’s plugged in – all the time.
To the people complaining about the recessed headphone jack: It’s recessed because of the physical interaction of the shape of the back and the cylinder of the jack. If you look closely, the closest point of the jack to the outer case is almost flush, but it’s the curve on the top edge that makes it seem recessed. The only ways around this would have been to make a cylindrical protrusion with the jack on top, make the whole thing thicker to put the jack on a flat surface, or make the hole around the jack as big as the biggest headphone plug in the world. I think none of these options were aesthetically acceptable to Apple. Their own headphones all work because they’ve had small jacks for years. Besides, unless you’re just using this as an expensive iPod, you’ll be needing the mic and button in the supplied headphones. Give it a while and I’m sure there will be third party mic / headphones that will work with the recessed jack.
BCC in Mail
I’m very surprised that these things aren’t on the official list in the post yet:
– JAVA and FLASH support. They’ve become so integrated into webpages, I don’t tend to notice them until they’re missing, then I feel cheated that I can’t load pages.
– STEREO BLUETOOTH AUDIO.
– CHAT! I don’t even personally use chat programs, but find it annoying that it’s not there…though I know why: AT&T can charge for text packages but it’s harder to charge for chatting when the plans all have unlimited data.
– ITUNES STORE. I’m shocked you can’t buy things directly from iTunes on Apple’s first iPod + internet device, it seems ridiculous. And weird, cause they could make so much money from that.
– SPOTLIGHT all over the place. Mail, contacts, music, calendars, it should be everywhere.
and a couple things that would be nice, but not as necessary:
– 3rd party apps can only be accessed through bookmarks at present…you should be able to add their icons to the home menu — this must be possible, even if they’re still only web apps.
– bluetooth data transfer should be available for everything…contacts, photos, music.
GadgetGav,
Yes, your iPhone dims right be fore it locks. That isn’t what I am talking about. We want a display sleep mode for when your phone is NOT set to auto-lock. The display should dim at some point, but will not. Leaving auto-lock on all the time is unnecessary and quite often annoying.
When you are listening to music, and the screen blanks and you turn it back on, it is locked but with the background as the cover of the music.
If there is a timer going, I’d like to turn the screen back on and see the status of the timer without having to unlock and go to the timer (or stopwatch).
More:
1) On Windows, Sync bookmarks with Firefox and Opera, not just IE and Safari
2) Ability to record memos using built in mic
3) Bluetooth headsets hear all audio – music, videos, everything – not just phone audio
How about being able to select info from Contacts when setting up an event in the Calendar. Many of my Calendar event are reminders to call or Email someone, I should be able to pull that info from the Contacts in into my calendar reminder, that way when I get the reminder, I can just tap on the phone number or Email in the reminder, rather than having to close out Calendar and then look for that info in the Contacts.
Improve Safari, it’s kinda buggy, especially when on the Edge network, I have has to re-boot the iPhone more than once when it has frozen. Sometime Safari just randomly closed itself and the iPhone returns to the main screen.
Open it up for developers to create REAL apps, not web apps. Web apps on the Edge network, have you tried to do real web stuff on Edge, reminds me of the days of dial up modem.
And last but not least, it’s been mentioned many times before, HOW ABOUT A FEW GAMES?
It is a truly unique item, for all the beautiful technology put into it and furthermore all of it left out. I want the ability to:
watch movies on every website, easily download audio music and movies through an iTunes icon, be able to obvisously text message mass amounts of people (I feel they left that out because of the e-mail function but text messaging many people at once is key for business – no wonder why some corporations aren’t fully ready to move on it yet). Why do the birthdays on contacts not notify you on that day that it is their birthday? Games would be good but further dimish the battery so whatever. Video would be amazing with this phone. Wow I just realized I need to play with my iPhone more.
– I trust all of you – think up some good shit – I am out – Make it Happen –
_AND FAST_
0. offline browsing! I want iphone to automatically download the New York Times — including all the article links — for me every morning so I can read it on the subway.
1. I hate how long it takes to skip forward to the next song when listening to music when the iphone is in my pocket. With my ipod, I could control playback with the clickwheen with my hand in my pocket without having to look at the damn thing. With iphone, I have to stop whatever I’m doing, take it out of my pocket, look at the screen, slide to unlock, click the ipod button, and then tap to skip forward. That’s really really annoying. It’s also frustrating because I don’t like taking it out and flashing it around on the subway, which is precisely when I’d most like to skip from song to song. I’d like to be able to assign music playback skip forward / backward to a physical button, e.g., the volume button, or perhaps the “home” button when the phone is locked.
2. dear god add a multiple-recipient SMS text feature so I can tell all my friends about my upcoming party. every other [non-smart] phone I’ve ever had has had this feature.
3. MMS messaging
4. “delete all” email messages or “mark all emails as read” — I waste so much time cleaning out my inbox its unbelievable.
5. let me assign mp3 playback instead of ringtones for the ringer, but also for alarms, clicks, and all the other sounds the machine makes.
A flash for the camera.
Or, a setting to allow more light when in a dark environment.
The camera does a very poor job in low light settings.
I was in a dimly lit restaurant and the camera was totally useless.
Bring back the handwriting recognition software from the Newton. it was really good, just got caughtup in the bad press resulting from a product (Messagepad)brought to market before it was ready.
1. Horizontal texting (makes it easier to grip iPhone and thumb type)
2. Modify iTunes to easily RIP DVD’s for playback on iPhone or iPod video
I find that when the phone is asleep and people call me (even when I have full service) the phone does not ring or vibrate even what it is not on silent and the ringer volume is turned all the way up. Furthermore, when I pick up the phone and go to unlock it it shows like the person is calling me at that second and the missed call times (even if its 5 in a row) say that I was called and missed the call at the exact time I unlocked my phone when I know this obviously isn’t the case. Is anyone else experiencing similar problems or is my phone just messed up?
Bigger send button in SMS, I keep hitting the ‘O’ or ‘P’
I’d like to reiterate the need for a period button on the main keyboard.
You can turn on music while in a phone conversation…I wouldn’t mind being able to have background music during a conversation but volume control changes music AND voice. How about separate volume control for the two.
Gestures to shortcuts…I’d like to use two fingers in a circular motion (or something) to pull up a favorite contact…
Calculator have tipping function
Multiple vibrates for text messages (my sony ericsson vibrated three times). I rarely feel it when I get a text.
And another thing! Would it kill them to give some kind of indication that you had messages waiting (either email, text, voice, etc) on the locked screen. The upper menubar shows indication of wifi signal strength, gsm signal strength, battery power and an indicator that the phone is locked (as if the big slider wasn’t indication enough) but no icon for messages. Even the free sanyo phones have a blinking LED when you have a message. So I have to unlock my phone and navigate to the home page to see if I have messages. Some will of course say, wahwahwah, but try to perform this function while driving with one hand and without looking down at the phone. I love my iPhone but the little things really irk me.
One more!
Enable drag and drop in iTunes. Syncing playlists is t e d i o u s.
One more, idk if this was posted or not, but how about a search feature for the iPod? im pretty sure the 5.5gen ipods have a search available, granted 4 or 8gb isnt a lot of music, but nevertheless, i would love to be able to save some time
I’d like to see custom fields in contacts syncrhonized with the iPhone. I use these as keywords for searching for contacts. Of course, this assumes that Apple will add a search feature… but that seems like a sure bet (I simply can’t imagine that they intended to leave this out… just couldn’t provide an efficient one in time?).
Here is an apparent bug: if you try to edit a line of text too close to the top of the screen, you can’t see the enlarged text in the “magnifying” glass because it is apparently off the top edge of the screen. In those cases, the magnifier should appear below (rather than above) the text to be editted.
One more… Please add a FM reciever! I would love to be able to listen to LIVE news or favorite radio stations.
When clicking in the safari address bar to enter a new web address, or entering text in a field on a web page, any existing text in that field should be highlighted ready to be typed over. Currently you must hit the “x” button next to the web address field, or you have to backspace if you are in a general text field.
Also, there should be an arrow back key on the keyboard that allows you to click past letters instead of having to delete and retype them. Although I like the magnifying glass feature, I think an arrow key would be faster in many situations.
I would like if apple came out with their own case for the phone and a dock that fit the phone with the dock. I hate the fact that i have to take off the case i have to use the dock but love the way the the phone sit in the dock on my table were I can see it across the room if some one calls
It would be very useful for us in the academic arena to be able to save pdf and other forms of documents on the iphone and also be able to access them without connecting to a computer. Professors and college students would like to have a device that they can use to search for papers, save and access them conveniently.
I’d really like other WiFi authentication methods to be supported – namely LEAP. We use LEAP at work and since the iPhone does not support it I am stuck with EDGE.
Please don’t spam me if I have my head up my ass, but I would a little chirp if I have a missed call or voice mail when away from the iPhone. Basic stuff!
A scribble app to jot down notes without the keyboard. Or, to use it to doodle. That would be especially handy.
osx makes the iphone into the first macintosh (mini ‘tablet’ or otherwise) that most windows users will have ever seen, touched, used (and called 😉
but osx has a much lower profile in asia than it does in the rest of the world (for many reasons – some of them due to apple’s neglect, some of them due to other factors).
so, the iphone needs a killer app that is especially aimed at this new market: language learning – which is a HUGE thing almost everwhere in asia (eg, english scores have a heavy influence on university entrances). obviously there are lots of people outside asia who are also second language learners — but the biggest halo effect for macs would be the result of a killer osx experience for language learning on the iphone.
however, apple has long lost its focus on education – eg computer based technology (CBT) – so is no surprise that the mac (and by extension the osx based iphone) dont integrate what is needed, especially for language learning.
apple needs to get back on track with quicktime as rich media platform.
* voice: speech synthesis & speech recognition should be a clear differentiator from the other pda’s (msmobile, palm treos, moto ‘Q’ and BB ‘curves’): it should so something they cant (obviously any requirement that pushes the cpu beyond its current ~500Mhz level becomes a battery issue).
(however: at a minimum, voice capability is a direct value-add to the whole in-car issue issue, so that alone should be considered).
* interactivity: here is a good example of how apple is now paying the price for the foolish decision to axe in half investment in R&D, when Jobs returned to apple …. the interactive version of quicktime (which added tracks for hypercard scripts, to oversimplify) would have served many different constituencies over the last decade:
first, apple would have had an web story to easily rival Flash (instead we are stuck with the most arcane, buggy, resource-pig imaginable);
second, apple would have had a plausible enterprise response to the corporate drones mired in Visual Basic (hyperscript as client technology could have been ported to the jvm – and it could have been interfaced with webobjects to do enterprisy things) …. instead we are stuck with, well, VB! ’nuff said.
third, it could have been seriously integrated with java so that it became the de facto media layer for smart devices (set-top boxes, maybe games consoles (openGL based), nexgen dvd players etc. As it was, there was a token effort to re-purpose some of the kaledia effort into a java layer for quicktime, but that was left to languish like most other original ideas at apple! … and there was no effort to do the converse: produce a portable quicktime engine for java (the limitations of JIT performance gradually declined, and the cost/power/performance of the silicon in embedded devices that would run bytecode have gradually increased to acceptable levels).
The net result is that apple is not shipping ANY solution for _useful_ content so 2nd rate shiite has filled the vaccuum for network-based media:
* shiite adverts use Flash as basically just a video codec … and for NO GOOD REASON when h.264 is by far a better technical & commercial solution for delivery video!
* script-kiddies use javascript in the most painful ways to deliver interactivity.
Yes, CSS, xml, and ajax in general (and RubyonRails a little bit in particular) might make web 2.0 almost tolerable … and apple’s canvas tag in html5 might be a somewhat saner object for scripting … etc etc …
But, at the end of the day the result is that: a) apple is playing catch-up with web technology for years ahead when it yet already possessed some desktop technology that could very gracefully evolved as a networked media solution; and b) the inferior, ill-conceived, tangled mess we are stuck with instead hobbles everyone’s ability to get on with the job and deliver USEFUL interactive media.
(This screed also ignores the fact apple has totally neglected the dbms aspect of interactive media … Job’s did manage to sustain the search technology he inherited at apple, based on the LSA (latent semantic analysis that underlines the v-twin engine) – which slowly evolved into spotlight …. however, he did nothing with filemaker or an opensource alternative like mysql (let alone POSTGRESS!) to start dealing with the semantic web, especially the mpeg7 & mpeg21 aspects that should have become part of quicktime … for the present purpose, it is enough to restrict the scope of Job’s failure to the narrowest issues of interactivity for quicktime, such as the lack of any Scene Description Languages, all these obviously have a direct bearing on larger search & query questions).
So, What Is To Be Done with interactive media on the next 2G iphone & the (osx-based?) 6G ipod?
* Flash: no. It brings nothing to the table – and as a video codec it distracts from the benefits of a standards-based approach (h.264).
* Java: maybe ….
…. if apple can get a serious commitment from SUN (or perhaps the other way around! … maybe if Apple can actually make a serious commitment to SUN: just look at how lame & hald-hearted apple’s support of java has been … it doesnt even have java3D, so the opensource community had to build up an OGL work-around!)
note: SUN has finally created a binary standard for javamobile, so the futility of developing java for pda’s should bow transform to make it a plausible candidate vs web-based approaches (ajax).
**** The simple reality is that apple’s gutting of R&D has left quicktime far far behind as an interactive delivery platorm for the desktop, and a no-show for the network (mobile or otherwise).
Microsoft (silverfish) & Adobe (apollo) have RIA (rich internet architecture) platforms that can scale from the desktop across the network & on mobiles (maybe even consoles * set-top-box boxes) ….
BUT APPLE HAS LEFT ITSLEF WITH NO INTERACTIVE MEDIA PLATFORM!
except AJAX.
And is that really enough going to be enough for interactive media?
Note: It is not as though apple doesnt have experience in having a tool (webobjects) pump out multiple front ends (html, java, mac) … it is not as though it has no choice but to either offer no enrichment to quicktime or else surrender control of the platform to proprietary platforms from adobe/microsoft that represent THE ANTI-THESIS OF AN OPEN WEB!
Apple does have enough intellectual property remaining to enhance quicktime into a network/mobile/set-top -aka-appletv platform for interactivity – this despite the intellectual pogroms led by Steve Jobs a decade ago that practically denuded apple’s labs.
The business rational for putting quicktime into high gear on the nexgen iphones & ipods is simple: it will expose osx to a huge audience in asia (and elsewhere) that would otherwise no nothings about apple gear:
(1) indirect effect: the halo effect for macs would be substantial in asia if tens of millions of customers are going into applestores for the first time!
(2) direct effect: serious interactive technology for osx on an apple pda will make cbt (and especially language learning) into a killer app … inasmuch as any new CONTENT feature for a pda could be ‘must-have’ —
NOTE: in other words, apple should obviously try to have one killer app in each of the three pda categories: for communications, it is live video and visual voicemail is a must-have for the phone function; as for content, it is language learning (cbt) that is a must-have for the ipod function (not streaming youtube/tv, which is nice but not killer); as for the internet, it is navigation via gps-based maps – especially with live parking spots & traffic routes – that is a must-have for the communicator function … not an ajax browser! …
… Given the cramped (but nonetheless amazing) viewing area for web pages, it is reasonable to assume that most general-purpose web content will have to be endured as opposed to being a stress-free experience; that is ajax widgets will be the only aspect of the web experience that will be positive – because form will fit function …
… Ajax is indeed well-suited to these special purpose data views; but it does not have a strong first-order notion of feedback (i do mean something more than an ajax primitive like ‘REST’) and even if it did have such a notion, the bandwidth would be insufficient for realtime interaction …. in other words, game design on ajax would suffer from the same constraints as language learning (ie analysis of the content & interaction should properly be performed by the local cpu … doing high-quality speech generation or recognition over the network would simply cost a fortune even with 3DG bandwidth!)
It would not be unreasonable to assume that here would be 5M/Y units of (mostly) asian users who buy an iphone just because it has language ability.
NOTE: For asian languages, apple might have to be more flexible about input methods — a stylus is almost unavoidable for asian languages. Since Leopard has not demonstrated any amazing new predictive input methods for asian languages, we can safely assume that the iphone doesnt have any either.
Stylus input will obviously be especially important to language learners who will need alot of feedback on character drawing (and therefore an especially smart recognizer that can discriminate against USER mistakes as much as it can recognize the internal MACHINE mistakes (these are two different learning models!) – and the same issue about learning models will arise in the speech recognition engine for non-native speakers as well.
Also: The video ichat aspect also has an implication for language learners: having access to a native speaker as a language practice partner is an invaluable advantage no matter how excellent the courseware might be. One big splash form cbt that will drive lots of sales of iphones (especially in asia) is apple-organized language partners via voip! (that is going to probably mean wifi not 3G unless the carriers can understand their own enlightened self-interest!). If apple can insert itself – as broker or partner of an educational service – directly into this value-chain (ie not leaving up to a _chance_ search on facebook or whatever) by using some cool OSX, agent-based discovery services (like zero-conf does for hardware), then millions of students in asia will flock to the iphone …. asian parents arent to keen to pay for the entertainment aspect of gizmos, but they will be emphatically enthusiastic to pay for a device that has tangible educational value! The ‘language buddy’ feature in _video_ iChat (yes, fix the damn camera!) will be an instantly clear selling point for (middle class) parents in asia. Apple would be a FOOL to ignore one of the most effective aspects of its business model: customers as evangelists … ie a business model that depends on customers that BUY rather than a manufacturer that SELLS. Education-mad asian parents are a huge market just waiting to be acknowledged by Apple.
NOTE: Of course in order for quicktime to be a ‘smart’ as well as interactive media platform it will have to understand the cbt standards such as;
* LOM (the learning object metadata) – http://ltsc.ieee.org/wg12/index.html
* SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Mode) http://www.adlnet.org/index.cfm
* or even simpler stuff like ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) – which could be vital for acceptance in the enterprise context (troubleshooting/helpdesk)
Remember that quicktime does have a basic html parser built-in (though god knows why apple cant follow RealNetworks’ lead, and allow for web content to be viewed inside the media player! instead of forcing us to pop out of context and launch safari) …. so by extention, if Quicktime can render web content (or use a web service), then there is no good reason quicktime cant be enhanced to process other specialized types of interactively oriented content … such as those that are germane to the cbt domain (cf above).
Sorry this rambled a bit 😉
No sleep: brain not very linear 😉
seriously … I really do believe that the delivery of cultural content language like language learning and cbt in general (along with landmark exploration for tourists) is an obvious & huge opportunity ignored by apple. Google has a translation platform, so it is an obvious partner for apple in language based services for the next 3G phone / wifi ipod.
If quicktime is enhanced to be a semantically aware platform for rich & intelligent content – with integrated speech/stylus recognition – then the language learning feature will be worth $1B/Y in iphone revenue — that is hardly something can just ignore (as much as apple has made an art of ignoring what its customers need!)
A task list would be real nice. Even nicer if it could sync to outlook etc. Also would like to be able to have voice notes. Every phone\pda I’ve ever had has it.. I use that a LOT. every other wish has already been mentioned 🙂
I vote for BCC in mail app too, I can’t believe only one other person thought that was an omission. It isn’t like that is even the tiniest bit difficult. It is just another simple field.
Would like to be able to save any picture in a browser to photos for use of wallpaper as well as save in email, all the above sound good, lets hope they fix stuff soon..
Support 802.1x, common in universities.
I want to save email attachments like photos or vids, .avi, .mov, etc. and access them after the mail is deleted.
Work uses MS Exchange (yech, I know). I’d like to forward my appts with a rule and have the iPhone automatically put them in my calendar like my Outlook client does. Outlook doesn’t even understand the iCalendar format on attachments (.ics files).
The WiFi at work uses PEAP for access control. OS X supports this, iPhone does not.
Scientific calculator option
default values for commonly entered parameters (e.g. alert times on appointments, etc.)
What about volume equalizer for phone calls? One of my major gripes about the technology of the cingular network is that the volume of the call is never consistent. Why can’t the phone compensate for it? It has a great speakerphone, make it work!
How do I unequivocally turn the alarm off? It isn’t clear when it is just snoozed and when it is completely turned off. The alarm rings, I press some button, it stops ringing. I go into “Clock > Alarms” and it says the alarm is turned off. Yets some snooze minutes later, it goes off again. How annoying!
I keep looking for a landscape view in Mail…
Real apps like Word, Excel and Powerpoint to be able to edit info without using Web 2.0. When I am overseas or in the mountains or away from WiFi or the Edge Network, I need to be able still to write, edit and design by documents. TO need to depend on a internet connection to do word processing and edit excel documents is ridiculous!
syang
“Real apps like Word, Excel and Powerpoint ” but they would give money to microsoft and it would power “THE MAN”!
But seriously… in a $600 phone, it should ATLEAST have an AIM feature.
I LOVE my iPhone, but I have to say the whole management of outgoing mail on the device is not really friendly to a truly mobile user.
Most of the time my WiFi is switched off just so I can consistently send mail without having to fight the whole smtp/port/spamblocking battle.
Lots of different potential fixes and of course many possible settings, but the simplest solution would be to allow multiple outgoing mail servers just like OSX mail. If one does not succeed, choose another one.
Please fix this soon.
HOW TO ADD WORDS TO IPHONE DICTIONARY.
Please help spread the word. Many people are not aware of this. It is not obvious. You have to read the user guide p 18.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iPhone_User_Guide.pdf
(Caps added for emphasis)
Suggested corrections appear just above or below the word you’re typing. To use the suggested correction, type a space, punctuation mark, or return character.
To REJECT THE CORRECTION, finish typing the word as you want it, then TAP THE WORD before continuing to type anything else. (The second time you type the same word and reject the correction this way, iPhone ADDS THE WORD TO ITS DICTIONARY.
One more things.. Since AT&T is incapable of providing an accurate time source, the iPhone should have the ability to adjust the ‘seconds’ under the manual time settings-option. An accurate clock is important for obvious reasons; The AT&T source in Orange County, California is off by approximately 1 ½ min (test your local time accuracy through National Institute of Standards @ 303-499-7111 or http://tf.nist.gov/). I have also compared AT&T time-source issue on other mobile devices, so it’s not the iPhone at fault.
Good list. BUT…
I don’t think any of these features are revolutionary. These are mostly all standard on my current cell phone, just not in a fancy interface such as Apple’s. These things should have been there from the start. Apple likes to omit normal features because they like to keep things simple so that it can be used by the widest audience without overpowering them or confusing them. Most times this dissatisfies many people. They then later add these features if there is enough demand/user feedback requests. Although they could have just been busy and haven’t been able to add them bug-free yet. The notes suggestions are already going to be implemented when Leopard is released.
Reagrding software GPS, the cell network can return a very accurate location (better than just the logged tower location) because the cell network knows signal strength on multiple towers and knows which antenna plane is getting the strongest signal. The cell system uses this info to generate a very accurate location for 911 calls and actually does a crossfix to generate the location. This would be an awesome capability until the next generation iPhone comes along.
Add the ability to make calls via WIFI as was recently announced by T-Mobile.