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.]
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A “Finder” would be nice. Where you can see all the files on your iPhone, Bluetooth them to other phones or Bluetooth capable devises, delete any of them, upload them to sites such as Flickr or even DropSend and make music or video files into custom ringtones.
I would also like to be able to change what is on the home screen, add web apps to it and get rid of apps I’ll never use, and if I did need to look at an app not on my homescreen I could find in the Finder.
I would like to be able to download stuff, Music from iTunes, little games that sort of stuff.
And finally: I would like Photobooth effects in the camera.
NEEDS GPRS OR someway to Use My Tom Tom..wasting a traffic subscription now 8 (
I think they should start selling ringtones for the iphone. Also GPS would be a nice addition.
Already could’ve use this:
– integration between Calendar app & Google Maps. There is a “location” field for a calendar event. If I enter an address in there, I’d like to be able to click that location in Calendar to take me to the location in Google Maps.
Let the display turn landscape in ALL APPLICATIONS like it does in Safari and give that BIG KEYBOARD.
Need is a specially for Mail, Notes and SMS.
Send SMS to multiple contacts at the same time.
Be able to save SMS message and send it to different people.
As someone who has spent considerable time in both the cell phone and computer businesses, I’ll tell you MY number one beef: NO VOICE DIALING. The interface is shore purty, but in many areas the iPhone cannot be used while driving due to hands-free laws. In the Washington DC metro area for example- the nation’s #1 cell phone market btw- using a keypad (soft or otherwise) while driving is good for a $100 ticket if you are caught. Even if I was willing to consider spending this much for a cell phone, this omission of a feature included in every el cheapo $20 phone is a deal breaker.
Repeating calendar events need to accomodate events that repeat on the same day each month (second Thursday) as well as the date (the 13th).
The Phraze-It Keyboard by Prevalent Devices for typing with your index fingers or thumbs.
I’m just waiting for Kotoeri-style Japanese text input.
Or, just map the JIS keyboard.
Just as in other incarnations of OSX, this should be accessible not only in the Japan-market iPhone, but selectable as an option anywhere in the world.
People here need to send foreign language email too!
Top things iphone needs
THE TOP 2 THINGS
Search
cut and paste
VALUABLE BUT DOWN THE LIST
synch notes to computer other than email
Filter email by date subject sender…
email, the ability to specify the outgoing server regardless of which account you are in
A real network (G3)
video through the camera
video conference call
Voice to read email
Zoom on camera plus a 3 mega pixel camera.
make the blue tooth a2dp profile for stereo bluetooth headphones
You can download all your iPhone’s photos by going into your Application folder on a mac and selecting “Image Capture” This will download any pictures you have taken into a directory you have created on your Computer’s hard drive.
Thought you might like to know.
One feature I would like to see is the ability to add folders to the Pictures area on the phone. That way I don’t have to sync and I can just upload pictures into folders until I want to delete them.
I hate having all my work in one giant folder, and all the phones camera shots in another.
Does anyone know of a way to add a folder to the phone that is not sunk? Synced? Whatever!
Its doesn’t fullfill your wishes.. but we aren’t sitting on our fannies either.
Take a look at this.
http://mooncatventures.blogspot.com
Sort Contacts by Company or Title as well as by Name.
I want the option to have my voicemails be converted into text so I can read the voicemails instead of having to listen to them, in situations like when I’m in a meeting or at a loud place that I can’t hear so well. Software recognition software should be able to do this I would imagine.
While in the maps program, I want a way that I can put in my current location, then press a ‘map contacts’ button and have it map all the closest addresses of my contacts, so I can see if I’m close to where any of my contacts live/work…the list format would show the closest contact first and the distance to them, then ascending with respect to distance.
The already list is just good enough and covers almost everything that need to be available with the next gen iPhone. However, I would like to add one things and that is to have a higher mp camera (i.e 3 megapixels onwards 4mp 0r 5m) with video recording.
How about the ability to configure alarms/alerts
1. Which sound under which circumstance
2. Volume of specific alert
3. SET REPEATING. This is a big deal to me. If an alarm goes off (e.g. for an appointment), if I’m not there when it goes off, it does not repeat for me to know that it happend when I come back. Same thing for Emails, SMS, etc. It would be nice to set how long to keep repeating and the frequency.
4. Snoozing an appointment alert. I like to give myself a good amount of time (e.g. 1 hour) before an event to alert me in case I’m across town from the meeting place. But, if when that day comes, I’m close, it would be great to be able to set a snooze like PocketPC (e.g. 5 min, 10 min, etc. or 5 min before, etc). VERY helpful.
Dax
Display contacts in the contact list as they are setup in outlook. Some I have by company, company (name), name, name (company). Not just name. I don’t know all of my contacts by name (e.g. AC repair guy).
Dax
Here is my 2 cents.
Contact lookup in Phone mode (like it does in SMS mode)
MMS texting
SMS multiple people
Games
Ringtones
File Browser
Ability to download attachments from email (i.e Photos)
3nd party applications
The iPhone is a DVB-H mobile device for watching broadcast TV.
1 Text is data. I feel ripped off that I have to pay extra for text when I have unlimted data (AT&T issues). 2 Pressing space bar twice automaticly puts in a period like a BlackBerry. 3 Allow developers to write apps for phone. 4 Pages and numbers for iPhone so we can read documents. How about moving the iPhone to a fast data network like Sprint or Verizon. Edge at best hits 300k, while Sprint’s EVDO hits 3.1MB.
This may have already been added to the list (sorry I need to run to class and I didn’t have time to read all the comments), but this has annoyed me since the day I activated my iPhone. I HATE that you cannot manually manage your music like you can on iPod. I have a 8GB iPhone but over 20GB of music. It annoys me that the only way to but music on the iPhone is to load all (which will have iTunes create a random playlist of songs for anything over 8GB) or through playlists. Would it be that hard to be able to let people drag and drop music. Maybe I am part of a slim minority who likes to do this? Yes, I know I can just create an iPhone playlist and have that sync to my iPhone (which I have done) but then I have an iPhone playlist just sitting in iTunes which annoys me. I guess I am just quirky like that.
Often I have friends call me who are looking for a cell number of another friend. I think the contacts page should have a button to sms the concact information directly. For non-iphone users, they see it as a text. For iphone users, they get a sms with a button to import the vcard, or other format into their contacts with all the info attached.
This would be most often used when someone wants your own contact info. Now, you can send them the whole deal, email, address, birthday, url It really needs to be on the list of things to have on the phone.
i want to shake the iphone to turn off the alarm. and if the phone happens to be in my pocket…well, that should be funny
I wish there was a preference for how long the unlock slider is. When using the iPhone with one hand, sometimes it’s a tad hard to slide the slider all the way across. I find myself trying a coupel times when the phone is ringing…..I wish I could make it shorter. People have different sized hands….why not accomodate that on the unlock slider?
Integrate the damn phone with your own apps on the Mac!! Address book bluetooth SMS and Dialing? WTF
I don’t know if anyone said this yet or not, but the ability to place a phone number into a text message from the contact list. Or a simple copy and paste.
I’m thinking of these as for my iPod touch, or based or the reports of the iPhone’s abilities (I’m from Australia) but:
1. Songs with no cover art should show the desktop image in the now playing screen rather than the ugly placeholder.
2. Searching (of music, movies, and podcasts — including meta-information such as comments, lyrics, episode notes, and subtitles — using the spotlight framework. (Search like in the 5.5G would be pretty pointless, as you can get to the song quicker via the song list)).
3. Wireless/EDGE updating of podcasts. Offline storage of webpages & Google Gears (or similar) support.
4. Exposure compensation for the Camera, and image adjustment (like a more iPhone version of http://images.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/images/iphoto_editing20070807.png after taking a photo, and when viewing a photo.
5. Custom (visual) Equaliser. Because the presets suck.
6. Support for interactive Quicktime movies. They may not be able to do flash (that would be up to adobe) But interactive quicktime would allow people to make flash-like apps for the iPhone, and thus would increase the usage of Quicktime in Web sites, and thus would increase Quicktime use for consumers, and thus Apple profits)
7. Media Browser. Currently, there is no way to upload files to the web via Safari. Clearly, they don’t want to expose the filesystem to the user (and there’s really no reason to), but they could implement a media browser like the ones in iLife & iWork (and in leopard’s finder) (eg: iMovie HD’s one: http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2208/picture1ql6.png ) with the items: Photos, Music (if agreements allow this), Movies (again…), Contacts (as VCards) Notes…
8. Bluetooh – Using the aforementioned media browser, allow sending things via bluetooth to other devices (or ‘squirting’ via WI-FI)
9. Autoswitching Desktops – Like on the Mac, I’d love it if we were able select a photo album/event/folder, and have it switch betwwen them every time you see the lock screen/every 10 minutes/every hour/ every day/every time you sync…
10. Home Screen Customisation – I don’t care about stocks. Google Maps has absolutely no information in my town. I don’t need them to be one tap away. BUT – I listen to a large number of Podcasts (and movies too, but the iPod touch has them one touch away already) And, I’d love those to be one tap away
11. There’s a keyboard – so use it! let me change the name of the on the go playlists to something descriptive please
12. Smart Playlist creation – This should probably be done as part of the search feature mentioned above. Allow the creation of smart playlists based upon meta-info on the iPhone. It already computes the existing Smart Playlists, so I can’t se why it couldn’t make a new one
13. Proxies. — My school (and all other ones in my state) use a proxy server to access the (filtered) internet. without it configured, I can’t use the WIFI at school 🙁 Setting a PAC file URL would be great
14. Scientific Calculator. Currently, I use this http://scicalc.belfry.com/ (in bookmarklet form) to get a scientific calculator without the web, but to do it natively would be easier (and therefore easier)
15. (this list is getting long than I expected) Multiple selections. It would be useful for almost all lists – two finger drags shoudl select multiple list items & allow them to be manipulated together (eg, deleted)
16. To do list, that syncs with Mail. It seems so obvious… maybe they’ll add it when leopard is released.
17. RSS reader, that also syncs with Mail.
18. Mail on the iPod touch.
Note: I don’t know why everyone’s complaining about having to take out the iPod/iPhone to change songs – you can just double tap the home button and touch the controls. It’s pretty hard to miss, and there’s nothing else you can do with a tap on the lock screen anyway… unlocking requires a slide…
Maybe it has been stated but every other camera phone I have owned, I could send a photo thru text message. Seems like a given but you can’t do it as far as I can see. If I am wrong somebody please set me straight. I convinced a buddy of mine to ditch his Sony Ericsson for an iPhone and he was asking me about this. Mail is great but it I should be able to send photos to others who aren’t onboard yet.
i want those things
The camera should have flash, zoom and other advanced camera features. Otherwise, we have to hang on to our old cameras. What’s the point.
When passcode lock is activated, it would not be possible for someone to look up an ICE contact (In Case of Emergency). This could be added to the keypad that pops up when the phone is woken up. This should probably be a note, which allows the owner to type in any information relevant for his would-be rescuer , or could include contact information for an individual that finds a lost iPhone (i.e., in case you find this phone, please contact…”.
Because the iPhone has so much personal information, it would be wise for all to passcode lock their phones and Apple should encourage this!
I vote for 335!!
I love to see a “print” button added!
I have a Wi Fi HP color photo printer at home. It be great after taking some photos, receiving some or reading a web story I like to print and share, to link to
my Wi Fi printer and do just that – print!
Print on photo paper or just paper.
This is for the iPod touch more than the iPhone, but the ability to host the map data files locally so that they are available when you can’t get a cell or wifi signal (arguably when you need maps MOST). Not the sat photos, obviously, but the drawn maps can’t be that big and you could just host specific regions (UK/Europe, North America, Asia, etc.)
iCal week view in widescreen mode.
iphone needs to have a better way to look up contacts. the same way you are able to start typing person name when sending them email. it starts to find the contacts based on the your typing. also should be able to look up a contact based on there company name. say if you for get there name but remember there company name.
It would be a nice feat if it finally got released in the Netherlands without simlock and for a reasonable price too!! dammit, its so frustrating to see every country in europe get it and still not even a rumor that it’s coming to us…
I bought an iPhone during christmas and love the thing however I do get pissed that I bought a $400 phone and there are things that suck about it, even though I love it.
#1-sms pics! Why in the world can’t I send or receive pics via sms messages? This shouldnt even be an option!
#2-video recorder would be nice.
#3-sound! I want to be able to hear my speaker better and have the ringtones louder.
#4-ringtone rings! I should be able to take any song that I own, weather bought off itunes or via cd, pick a 30 second section and set it as my ringtone.
if anyone knows any ways to do any of those things please email me and let me know ownthemountain@comcast.net
thanks!
The iPhone already allows you to pause or stop a song while in any application or even when the phone is locked. Just need to set the preference where a double-press of hardware button brings up the mini ipod controller overlay.
What I’d like is to have a larger forward/reverse tool in iPod, so I can more precisely drag the audio forward or backwards.
im not too sure if someone mentioned this already, but i would love to see the iphone come to its full potentials. Having an application to write paper or essays would be one of those potentials!!..something like microsoft word, i don’t know if apple deals with Microsoft but it would really help if steve build an application just like MW or just make a deal with microsoft and add it to the iPhone!!! im sure it wouldnt hurt your pocket, much steve. and also, a Documents Folder would be most helful too. if you gonna write papers, u have to have somewhere to save them(this would also mean that Copy & Paste is included on the phone)!!!!!!!!!!
Locally stored Google Maps would be awesome. (make it able to be more like a GPS unit). I don’t see why i need to constantly wait on EDGE for maps to download of roads that won’t change very often.
For reference, North America takes up 1GB on my Tom Tom.
I use Google Maps way more than the iPod part, so if its a big chunk, thats fine with me.
I’d like to see the accelerometer used to charge the battery. There are probably a 100 reasons why it isn’t going to work but the principle of kinetic energy generation has been around in wrist watches for decades – it would only need very small amounts generated from our movement to make an overall difference to the life of the battery.
Global data base search. Maybe this is already on the list, but I didn’t see it. The Palm OS had a very nice global search function that would search contacts, calendar, notes, etc. I used this feature daily on my old PDA. The new iPhone OS needs this same capability.
Get rid of “Slide to Unlock” – aside from looking neat, it serves no purpose whatsoever if you think about it. Just an annoying extra step that needs to be taken 50 times a day.
It’s purpose was to prevent unintended actions on the touchscreen. However there is no need for this.
For one, the touchscreen only responds to fingers. Things in your pocket cannot trigger them.
Secondly, the only time screen-lock is engaged is when the iPhone goes to sleep (either manually or with auto-lock). The touchscreen is totally deactivated at that point. The only way to wake up is to press a hard button (which are far too rigid to be accidentally pressed while inside one’s pocket).
At the very least, the option to disable should exist in the Settings menu.
Provide some options for screen dim, sleep, and auto-lock. Right now there is one option. Auto-lock (which does everything). After 1-minute, for example, it doesn’t just auto-lock. It also goes to sleep if nothing is happening. Or if music is playing, it dims the screen instead. There needs to be a way to control this behavior.
More importantly, there needs to be different behavior based on whether it’s plugged in or not. I don’t need nor want it to go to sleep when it’s receiving power. But it does, and because of it, using Google maps w/ GPS in the car is utterly useless unless I want to leave auto-lock/auto-sleep turned off (which I don’t). When unplugged, I want it to go to sleep after a set time in order to save battery life. But when it’s plugged in and charging, I don’t want it to sleep, dim, or screen-lock. Ever.
Aside from going to sleep or dimming, screen-lock is especially stupid in this case. Nobody charges their iPhone while it’s inside their pocket.
Last year I made a video about how apple could improve itunes and also iphone by making it easyer to make playlists… se it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=YmTIV_VYgkk