iPhone OS 3.0 and iPhone 3G S observations
Saturday, 20 June, 2009 — apple iphone
- It’s rather nice to open pages in MobileSafari and not have a page rebuild when closing another page.
- The Compass will occasionally get confused. I’ve noticed it with both the compass and Maps in Compass mode. Obvious things like waving the compass near a speaker will cause confusion, but it came up other times without an obvious interference source. Next time I’m out, I’ll need to keep an eye for power lines when the Compass complains.
- While tethering is an iPhone 3.0 OS feature, it is not available on the first generation iPhone, which is EDGE only. I tried. My understanding is it’s something to do with with available chipsets in the original iPhone, not bandwidth.
- Tethering is pretty easy to set-up with the iPhone 3G S. I got it working with Bluetooth and a USB connection. I’m unsure which method I’d prefer. USB offers the advantage of charging the phone while using the connection, but Bluetooth would allow me to keep the phone in my pocket.
- While I like the concept of tethering, it’s probably not something I’ll typically use. I’ll probably use it when I’m at a venue with tollboothed or inconsistent Wi-Fi. Alternate use: if I need to do something more than simple commands via a shell client to perform emergency server maintenance.
- Until such time as I need it, I’ve shut tethering back off.
- The iPhone 3G S video uploads nicely to Flickr via email. Unfortunately, Flickr’s smart phone site doesn’t support video viewing. However, Fraser Speir’s Darkslide app does allow video viewing. The ability to upload video to Flickr via Darkslide is on the way.
- Force quitting apps in iPhone 3.0 requires a new shortcut.
- Using NetNewsWire is much nicer. Switching between sources is far more fluid, the app crashes less with lots of unread feeds and selecting a feed item brings up the entry text almost instantaneously.
- Overall, everything about interacting with apps feel crisper.
- The oil-resistant screen is nice, and sure enough, a few swipes against a shirt is enough to make it new. The back of the phone still grabs smudges and holds them tightly.