Bernskiold Media

iPhone 3.0, my thoughts

A couple of weeks ago now, Apple unveiled a preview of the iPhone 3.0 firmware and at the same time released the beta version to developers. As an iPhone developer, I was very excited to be able to download and install iPhone 3.0 on my phone to begin using it right away, as it features some updates and news that I’ve been longing for. I’m going to post here my thoughts on the iPhone 3.0 Beta firmware as of this first week of really using it.

The Speed and Responsiveness

Starting with the basics, this is probably what concerns a lot of folks that might be holding off on the beta installation. I must really say that this is more like an RC (Release Candidate) version. Very stable for being a beta and apart from the occasional small lags, there are no problems that you are pulling your hair from and want to revert back to 2.2.1. The lags are fully acceptable and are just smaller and that is what I’ve heard from other people as well. So far so good!

Interface Updates — Landscape Viewing

Most of the Apple applications have now gotten a nice interface update which is the availability of landscape viewing mode. Especially in mail, this is a huge time-saver, being able to type and use the landscape keyboard with the larger keys to type longer mails, faster. Another welcome update for me is the availability of a full swedish keyboard complete with our special characters right on the keyboard. The only peeve here is that when in the horizontal viewing-mode, these keys are very small. I guess that is something you need to get used to, especially after using the old keyboard for a while now and for me who are constantly switching between the English keyboard and the Swedish keyboard on the phone for writing.

Spotlight and Search

I’m in love with the new, second home-screen. Available to the left of your main home-screen, is a brand new spotlight screen. This allows you to search the contents of your entire phone, from mail messages to phone contacts to actual applications. The ability to search for an application name is especially useful when you’ve got many screens of apps and you quickly want to launch an app. Just type the beginning of its name and select it from the list to start it!

A great new thing is also the mail search. By default it searches through every message that has been downloaded to the phone, but with just a simple tap, you can extend this search to search on the server as well. This makes it even easier to find the right message you are looking for, everywhere, without worrying that it might not be on your phone anymore.

Voice Memos

I actually felt that this new app that comes with the firmware is worth a special mention only because it is so much better than any of the other voice recording applications that I’ve used before. It’s got a very sleek interface and it is simple to use and share voice notes either through email or MMS. What I am amazed by is the audio qualities of these memos. They really sound good and are even useful if you wish to record on the iPhone for podcast use!

MMS

I bet a lot of you were waiting for this point. Yes, the iPhone 3.0 supports multimedia messages and sending both photos and audio (voice memos that is) works just fine! I am however not as excited for this as a) it costs to send (where email is free) and b) I never really used it before the iPhone anyway… But for all of you interested in this, you’re going to be happy to know it works just fine and even looks nice!

These are the features that I’ve used the most and that I notice the most in the every day usage. Yes, I do like the ability to sync calendars that I subscribe to and yes, it is really nice to be able to finally sync notes from the notes application back to iTunes. It is however the surprisingly good speed and responsiveness I am most thrilled about (as it is a beta) and of course the landscape writing and viewing and the rest of the larger points that I listed.