The iPhone has been on the street and in our hands for a slight more than a calendar month now — sentence sure fly when you may browse the Internet and get atomic number 99 - mailanywhere . While we ’ve evaluated the iPhone , Apple ’s roving equipment is the sort of product that needs to be revisited every so often . After all , a month from its June 29 dismissal , we ’re still discoveringnew tipson what it can and ca n’t do .
So with a calendar month of heavy iPhone use now under belt , we have a skillful perspective than we did in the wane minute of June 29 on what ferment with the iPhone — and what does n’t . TheMacworldeditors have all weighed in with a listing of thing they ’d care to see the iPhone do or , in some cases , do well . While the complete list get rather lengthy — everyone has their own pet causes and peculiar requests , after all — more than a few items kept reappearing on our compliments lists . It ’s these consensus items that appear below — and that will make a great mobile twist even better . ( We ’ll tackle our lengthier wish list in profundity over atiPhone Centralall this week . )
Hardware
A few of our iPhone desire are admittedly out of reach for the current mannikin , as they would require change to the iPhone ’s actual ironware .
The iPhone ’s Maps feature is great — but how much good would it be , if it could tell you where you were ?
Add GPS support : We ca n’t say enough good thing about the Maps program that help oneself you easily observe location and driving directions with a few unproblematic taps . Actually , there ’s one other salutary affair we desire to say about Maps in a future adaptation of the iPhone — it would be the ultimate function program if it recognize where youactuallywere at all times . With wireless entree to Google ’s on a regular basis - updated maps ( or the ability to pre - load mathematical function for a region on your iPhone ) , a GPS - enable iPhone would be a fair alternative to a full - boast GPS recipient for many masses .
The iPhone’s Maps feature is great—but how much better would it be, if it could tell you where you were?
Go 3 G : Many people hop the first iPhone would feature support for3 G , a wireless applied science that offers upright web public presentation than theEDGE networkthat the iPhone really uses ( though 3 gm is still slow than Wi - Fi ) . Apple has said the reason 3 G support was n’t included in the first iPhone was that available 3 GB computer hardware would have hampered shelling life , and that AT&T ’s current 3 guanine meshing is n’t widely useable . AT&T says its 3 G reporting is presently limited to 160 metro surface area , although the ship’s company is amplify that reporting . In line , the iPhone ’s EDGE meshing is available in most AT&T coverage country . Still , you’re able to expect to see 3 gramme support in a next iPhone mannikin — and that will ameliorate the phone ’s wireless capabilities.—DAN FRAKES
The Interface
The iPhone ’s interface is its bread - and - butter , and it ’s tasty toast at that . But sometimes you function into a part that just feels half - baked . As coolheaded and “ ooh”-inducing as the iPhone ’s multi - touch interface is , there are things about it that do n’t quite feel finished .
Let us choose text edition : Although the iPhone tries to anticipate your text manipulation needs , and provide you with a few ways of shunt info from one app to another , there are fourth dimension when it ’s like ram in downtown Boston : You just ca n’t get there from here . Say you want to mail an destination to a supporter from the Maps app , or perform a Google search for a term on a Web pageboy . perhaps you just want to delete a large amount of text quickly . There ’s no way of life to do that now — rather of snap up a block of text , swiping your finger brings up the magnifying loupe . Adding text selection capableness — along with copy , cut , and glue statement — would fix this problem in a blink .
Add a search cock : Other than the choice to use Google or Yahoo in the iPhone ’s version of Safari , hunting is simply missing from the iPhone . If you ca n’t quite remember which e - mail service subject matter had your supporter ’s telephone set identification number in it or which week in October you have a dentist ’s appointment or the name of the repp for a company you work with , you ’ll have to spend some time ruffle away . The same hold rightful for Notes . And bury about doing an iPhone - wide search . Either each diligence want its own search port or Apple should add a consecrate Spotlight - esque app to the home silver screen .
The horizontal keyboard, available only in Safari, should become a staple of other iPhone apps.
Enable multiple option : Most Mac and Windows user are so accustomed to the ability to take multiple items that it ’s become 2nd nature . Unfortunately , no such capability subsist on the iPhone . While this might be a minor infliction when it comes to Notes or SMS conversations , it becomes of vital importance in apps like Mail , when you need to deal with the episodic onslaught of junk e-mail messages . At good , you could swipe and delete each e - mail , two gestures per deletion . Some capacity for batch - deleting or -editing — not just in Mail , but in other apps , as well — would save meter and sanity .
Bring landscape fashion to more applicationsTyping on the iPhone ’s keyboard is among the equipment ’s surprising pleasures . But that does n’t mean there are n’t possible improvements to be made . In Safari , you may wrench the iPhone sideways to get at a encompassing keyboard for promiscuous typing . So why not make this orientation usable in other text edition - heavy applications , such as Notes and Mail ? Why not go the full nine yards and make it available whenever you summon the keyboard ? Hardcore iPhone typists everywhere will thank you , Apple .
The horizontal keyboard , available only in Safari , should become a basic of other iPhone apps .
You can send photos via e-mail one click at a time; we’d like a way to select multiple images.
Establish some user interface consistency : The iPhone manages to maintain some grade of body in its user interface , but there are time when it can throw you for a loop . Why , for exercise , can you not lift Notes , Contacts , or Voicemail subject matter to delete them ? And why does the Edit button appear in the bottom left corner of Safari ’s bookmarks , but the top correct corner the residue of the time ? Learning dissimilar muscle retention for different applications is to be expected , but consistency is the battle cry of unspoilt design : You never want to have think about where a command istwice.—DAN MOREN
Overall , we love Mail — in many way , it ’s the best peregrine eastward - mail client any of us has used . But there ’s the rub : Because it ’s so good in so many ways , the places it goes untimely are glaringly , frustratingly , headland - slappingly obvious . In fact , of all the built - in lotion , Mail is the one that generated the most feature / improvement requests in our informal , internal poll parrot .
Create a co-ordinated inboxA unified inbox — like the one find in Mac OS X ’s Mail program — would ease the tap - heavy task of check over new messages across multiple einsteinium - mail accounts . It takes three dab to go into an account , grab a mailbox on that account , and launch the first message , and three taps to get back out . manifold that across four or five east - mail history , and you ’ve got a raft of tapping ahead of you that would be entirely extinguish if Apple added a single integrated inbox .
Make it easier to delete message en masse shot : On the iPhone , there ’s no easy fashion to delete more than one e - mail message at a meter . meld that fact with the iPhone ’s lack of any sort of junk - mail filtering , and deleting all those east - postal service offers for low - price medicine and penny Malcolm stock becomes a repetitious — literally — retarding force .
I know iChat, SMS, and you are no iChat.
allow users stigmatize all messages as read : Just as the power to erase content in one fell swoop is missing from the iPhone , so is a way to mark all messages as read . It should n’t be .
military group substance to display as plain text : Many people dislike HTML - formatted email . Spammers use it right smart too often , paradigm - heavy content take a long time to download , and , quite honestly , many pre - made HTML substance templet are just plain ugly . On your Mac , you could apply a concealed Mail taste to force all messages to display in plain text mood . That preference is missing from the iPhone — you’re stuck with a authentic barrage of effigy - laden and slow - to - load hypertext markup language message .
sum more flexible options for selecting textbook to be quote in replies : We ’ve already noted that you ca n’t select text on the iPhone ; that goes for reply to messages , too . You have no control over how much of the original e - mail gets quoted . There ’s also no setting for enable or disabling quoting in general ; Mail on the iPhone mechanically quotes theentiremessage when you start your reply . Adding these capability would be a liberal step toward making the iPhone ’s mail service even more like its OS decade counterpart .
Make picture - air easier : If you have a series of photos to send off to someone — pictures of the Thomas Kyd , say , that you need to partake in with their grandparent — you’re going to have to send a serial of e - mails . you may only select one photo at a time ; a multiple selection tool would make affair much easier .
provide image from e - mails to be saved to the Photos app : photograph incur in Mail are stuck there
you could mail photos via Es - post one click at a time ; we ’d like a means to choose multiple images .
; you ca n’t add e - mailed image to the iPhone ’s Photos diligence — at least not easily . You could move the photos into iPhoto on your computer , and then add together them to the iPhone the next time you sync , but this is a capacity you should be able to do entirely from your phone.—ROB GRIFFITHS
The phone
Enable tradition ringtones : Most modern earpiece let you add custom ringtones — simple air or even actual music file . Some phone providers require you to purchase these ringtones through a service , whereas others let you simply upload the ringtones directly to your phone . The iPhone does neither ; in fact , other than assign different built - in ringtones to special contacts , the iPhone tender small in the manner of ringtone customization .
This may seem like a frivolous feature , but it has hard-nosed role . For instance , you may arrogate a meaningful custom ringtone to a specific someone in your contact list so you experience when that person calls without even looking at your telephone . Plus , impost ringtones are just patent fun .
Yes , there are several unsupported solutions foradding custom-make ringtones , but they do n’t countenance you apply iTunes Store purchases and they ’re … well … unsupported . It would be skillful to have an Apple - sanction , fully - featured method acting to do what many comparable phones already permit .
Add custom alert tonesWhen you have qui vive get off for calendar events , alarms , e - mail , voicemail , and more , being able to customize each allow you to immediately know what ’s move on just by the audio . For example , if you ’re working and get an e - mail alert , you may decide to ignore it ; on the other hand , a calendar alarm may notify you of an imminent naming . Right now you have to check every sentence an alert chimes on the iPhone ; greater customization would increase the speech sound ’s usefulness .
countenance the iPhone become a modemAs good as the iPhone ’s Web web browser is , many people would rather surf the Web on their laptop computer . More significant , there are lot of Internet - required tasks you ca n’t discharge on your iPhone because they require an diligence on your data processor . Many roving phone cater the capacity to use the phone as a modem for your figurer ; that would be a nice alternative to have with the iPhone . ( Although not for the deliquium of center , there areinstructions availablefor sharing your iPhone ’s EDGE connection with your computer.)—JIM DALRYMPLE
PDA features
The iPhone ’s live characteristic and program program make it a equal to PDA , its lack of true third - company applications notwithstanding . But there are a telephone number of things we ’d like to see it do , or do other than .
make to - do listing : iCal , which the iPhone already syncs with , offers To - Do lists . So why does n’t the iPhone ? While we can grow toTa - da List , which stores multiple to - do lists online and is accessible via the iPhone ’s Safari , we surmise that iCal ’s To Do lists will eventually make their way onto the iPhone .
Let substance abuser sync Notes : Notes on the iPhone is handy for jotting thing down , but none of the notes you drop a line can sync with your Mac . you may e - mail them from your iPhone to your Mac , but it ’s a one - room cognitive process . The main obstruction to syncing Notes is the lack of a corresponding app on your Mac to syncwith . But given that a notes feature article will be included with Leopard , we bear it wo n’t be long before Notes syncing will make up its room into an iPhone software update .
Access your Contacts leaning from the home plate screen : The Contacts button in the iPhone ’s telephone cover is convenient ; we want it to continue correct where it is . But we ’d also like to be capable to get at the Contacts heel directly from the domicile blind for those ( many ) time when we need to get at contact info from within another app .
Assign a calendar event to a specific calendar : you may synchronize multiple Mac - hosted calendar to your iPhone ’s Calendar app ; however , they get combined into a single calendar on the phone . That ’s a minor incommodiousness , but one we can live with . It ’s kick the bucket the other means that ’s the problem : when you produce new calendar event on the iPhone , you ca n’t decide which of your Mac ’s calendar each should synchronise to . alternatively , all iPhone - create upshot get synced with the individual calendar you designate in iTunes . We want to be able-bodied to assign new body of work event to our work calendar and Modern personal events to our personal calendar .
Give us storage capabilities : you may utilize any iPod as a obliterable driving to hive away and change files by enabling Disk Mode via iTunes . However , despite being a member of the protracted iPod family — it syncs via iTunes , after all — the iPhone does n’t tender this option . We hope Apple finally offer this feature via a software update ; until then , you may approximate it using iPhoneDrive . )
Let us redact documentsMail on the iPhone lets youviewWord , Excel , and textual matter text file , but this tantalizing preview mode leave off the corresponding ability to make change to those document — a feature usable on almost every competing smartphone . break that the iPhone incline a version of Mac OS X , and that Apple already has engineering for edit Word documents — and perhaps Excel soon — it does n’t seem undue to desire that the iPhone will eventually gain the ability to edit such documents.—DF
Internet
Apple famously postulate that the iPhone ’s web browser delivers the true Internet . For the most part it does — but here are a pair of fix that would help it deliver even more .
contribute Flash support in Safari : For the most part , the Safari web browser app on iPhone delivers Web Sir Frederick Handley Page exactly like you ’d gestate from a computer - free-base browser app . One of the more gross exceptions , however , postulate its inability to show Flash . So many internet sites rely on this Adobe quid - in that it ’s hard to study the iPhone ’s World Wide Web experience unfeignedly “ real . ” Want to take in a lively baseball game game on MLB Gameday ? Sorry , that ’s a Flash app . How about an embed video on a blog ? Sorry , that ’s almost invariably a Flash movie . If Safari on the iPhone gain support for Flash , on the other hand , you ’ll be hard pressed not to call it what it is : therealreal Internet .
I have it off iChat , SMS , and you are no iChat .
Add a true iChat / AIM node : We ’re staggeringly reliant on crying messaging here atMacworldto do our jobs ; we also use it to ride out in touch modality with protagonist on - the - go . And yet the iPhone , an otherwise one and only communications gimmick , go down down hard when it comes to indorse exigent messaging : it just does n’t . There ’s an SMS guest that seem like iChat and allow you send textbook content to other mobile telephone . But how does that help me front at my crony leaning and come out a conversation with a friend ? There are several Web - based workarounds , such asTinyBuddy IM , but nothing will match an actual instant - messaging syllabus running on the iPhone , alarm me to incoming Old World chat and countenance me natively browse my buddy lists . C’m on , Apple — the SMS app is halfway there . The iPhone should be the best moment - message machine in the world . Make it happen.—JASON SNELL
The rest
To reword a Steve Jobs keynote , two more things …
append video capture : today , most phones with a built - in camera can also catch video using that camera . Although the iPhone ’s television camera is n’t the best on the mart , it ’s respectable , so it should be able to handle basic video . ( And given that the iPhone had a built - in YouTube guest , would n’t it be coolheaded if you could catch video and upload it straight off to YouTube ? )
give up third - party applications : You did n’t think we ’d leave this one out , did you ? We understand wanting to keep the iPhone “ locked down ” for security and constancy reasons . And we could even go along — partially — with the theory that Apple wanted mass to get used to the “ true ” iPhone experience before countenance third - party developers botch up it . But the truth is the iPhone could be doing so much more right now with a short assistant from third - political party developer . But we intend the ship’s company will indeed start the iPhone to such growth , even if third - political party apps have to be “ certified ” by Apple.—DF
[ Dan Frakes , Dan Moren , Rob Griffiths , Jim Dalrymple , and Jason Snell all contribute on a regular basis to Macworld’siPhone Central web log . ]
