iPhone OS4; a smooth upgrade
In case you have not heard, Apple released the much talked about iPhone OS4 (now officially called iOS4) at about noon EST today. I did not get a chance to install it till I got home at 4:45p. Getting to my desktop at home I proceeded to back up my iPhone 3G S, iTunes immediately recognized a new version of the OS and asked if I want to upgrade. Of course I said- yes.
In the software agreement I did notice that there is an option to opt out of Apple’s localized advertising. With opting out, no information would be shared with Apple but ads would no longer be customized- interesting. They are really pushing the potential of ads to a new limit.
Back to the install.
The whole download and install took about 30 minutes. No glitches.
Some notes on the upgraded OS:
1. I unlocked the phone and had to reenter my voicemail pin number.
2. The phone seems as responsive as before.
2.I changed my desktop wallpaper- a new option.
3.The spellcheck has been changed, it now underlines the misspelled word.
Double tapping on the word gives choices of words.
4. I went to the app store and updated all the apps. Pandora the multitasking version was among them. Installed it and immediately started playing music. In fact I am playing music in the background while typing this article. Very nice. I also went to my mail app and switched between all three without a stutter. (multitasking is limited to 3G S and the iPhone 4)
5. Double tapping the home button brings up all the running apps. Scrolling left gives the music player controls.
6. You can no longer set the home button to bring up your speed-dial list.
7. Folders: now apps can reside in folders. Tap and hold on and icon the apps start to jiggle. Just drag one app over another the software automatically created a folder and gives a name suggestion. The name can be changed. The folders can be moved. Very nicely done. I was able to reduce the number of screens by half, especially the apps that I rarely use.
8. Mail can now show threaded conversations. Much easier to find those emails that are related.
9. Photos now can show faces and places if they were tagged in desktop iPhoto- a nice touch.
10. Location services (GPS) now has an arrow to indicate when it is turned on.
11. Camera now has a zoom function.
12. Screen shots are saved as .png files.
13. VOIP services like skype should be able to run in the background. The app has not been updated to take advantage of this as of this writing.
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