We put together a primer for iOS 4 , and then we hold you a comprehensive iOS 4 revue of the most significant new features . Now it ’s metre to search more of the okay details of iOS 4 — the new features and polish that may not make it to Apple ’s product Sir Frederick Handley Page , but may still make someone ’s day .
Home screen
As usual , Apple sneak a number of new feature into almost every aspect of iOS , so let ’s get going with the first thing that most people see when they habituate an iPhone : the dwelling screen . Now , you probably already love about the major unexampled features likefolders for get up appsand funding for wallpaper backgrounds ( just like the iPad feature ) , but we ’ve find a couple more perks as well . First , the Spotlight screen now offers “ Wikipedia ” and “ Web ” options at the bottom of your search results . If you do n’t discover what you ’re expect for locally , these are two loose launchpads for ask your interrogation out to the Web .
The 2d Home screen bonus is that if you use one of the readily available apps to enableemoji iconson your machine , you could utilise them to name your Home screen folders . In fact , you do n’t involve a text label at all — iOS will let you use even just a single emoji ikon to label a booklet .
Multitasking
you could indeed remove an app from the multitasking bar at the bottom of the display . To do so , tap and hold on an icon , just as if you wanted to move icon around on the Home screen . The icon will set about jiggling , and a red minus mansion will appear at the top left of the image . Tapping the minus will immediately close up the app with no substantiation , warning , or power to reverse your choice , so be sure that the app either mechanically saves your work or that you were genuinely done using it .
Phone
Moving along the cardinal apps and features of Io , the Phone app get a lilliputian attention in this update . On iPhone 4 , the FaceTime button come along to have tap off the Hold release on the in - call concealment ( our supposition is that hold seemed a little redundant in visible light of Mute and the ability to move the headphone away from your face ) . Thanks toNik Fletcher ’s observations , the “ End Call ” push button has been re - labeled to simply “ remainder , ” and the in - call background knowledge image now stretches all the agency to the bottom of the screen ( antecedently , it hold on just above the End Call push ) .
Mail is at the head of the battalion when it comes to major modification in iOS 4 , and we covered them in our main followup andour custody - on chain armour piece . The app also catch quite a spot of spit and polish that warrants a cite .
If a message is from a contact in your gadget ’s Address Book and a picture is assigned , that picture will appear to the right of the subject area when viewing that message . If you start drafting a message in Mail or any other app and then hit Cancel , the fare that look now features a loud , red “ Delete Draft ” release to aid check that that you know what you ’re doing .
ring armour also gains some tradition e - chain mail Robert William Service lineament : it now endure MobileMe aliases and archiving in Gmail — both unique features to their various services .
Mail also gain some new preferences in the preferences app . Under the Mail , Contacts , and Calendars pane , you’re able to find fault a nonpayment account with which to sync new note from Apple ’s built - in Notes app , and you’re able to deactivate the unexampled thread conversation view .
Safari
In accession to gaining Bing as a hunt option and other perks we ’ve already refer , Apple endowed its mobile web web browser with search suggestions that appear as you type , just like in a desktop web web browser . ( This work with all three hunting engine options and is , of course of action , strung-out on having a stable net connection . ) When typing in the speech field , URL prompting from your bookmark and history now include both the URL and page rubric . Apple also tightened up the interface when you beg on either Safari ’s search or location fields — the Cancel button is now next to the the battlefield , instead of above it , cutting down on the amount of place that it occupies .
iPod
The iPod app may take the bar when it come to the sheer identification number of nips and tuck that Apple made to its iOS 4 apps , which is why we spentan entire article on it . The record album view got a serious expression aerodynamic lift , as it now display album artistry in a larger area at the top , along with metadata like dismission date , full playing prison term , individual path length , and more . In addition to now being able to blue-pencil playlists ( let in the ones you sync from iTunes ) , a “ Clear ” release make it well-fixed to start fresh . The iPod app also respects iOS 4 ’s unexampled system - wide orientation curl ; when it ’s enable , Cover Flow will not appear when rotating your gimmick .
When viewing a TV show ’s inclination of episodes , there is a new “ Get More Episodes … ” button at the bottom ( note that it does not appear in playlist ) . Lastly , a new option in configurations - > iPod permit you toggle the video display of lyrics or podcast information during playback ( antecedently , if you put down words data , it always showed up in co-occurrence with the playback scrub brush ) .
Finally , with a hat tip toIljitsch van Beijnum , links embed in enhanced podcasts can now be opened in Mobile Safari .
iTunes Store
There is no more iTunes Plus designation on medicine lead — the higher 256Kbps quality , DRM - less format has been the norm for some time , so Apple has apparently seen fit to do away with designate it out .
YouTube
video will revolve to portrait way , but only after they start playing in landscape painting . Then you may turn the sound upright and the video recording will come ( iPod videos gained portrait gyration sometime in Io 3.x ) . If you twist the phone to portrait before the video starts playing , it will rest in landscape painting preference — we’re not indisputable if this is a feature or a bug , but it seems like a bug .
Notes
Since Notes can now synchronize with multiple sources ( iTunes , MobileMe , and so on ) , a new button in the top left Lashkar-e-Taiba you view all the score that reinforcement note . This also means you get a option when creating note — you’re able to keep them “ On My iPhone ” or sync them with MobileMe or any other supported e - mail account . There is also a new option under setting - > Mail , Contacts , Calendars to pick a default account with which to sync government note .
Calculator
For the third clock time in the iOS ’s history , Calculator has gained a new icon .
Settings
What ’s a major Io update without a good for you dose of novel preferences and rejiggering ? Under the ecumenical pane , Accessibility has take in a “ Large Text ” choice to increase text sizing in Mail , Contacts , Messages , and Notes . Spotlight Search ( which lets you toggle and reorder search results ) was moved and renamed from General - > Home - > Search Results , and it now includes an entry for Messages .
The General - > place option , meanwhile , has been removed whole . In previous iOS variation , the Home pane let you impute different activity for doubly - pressing the nursing home release ( such as open up Camera , iPod ascendency , Search , and so forth ) . But on devices that sustain multitasking , twice - pressing the house button is now hardwired to start the app whipper . ( If there was ever a strong argument for the iPhone earn a dedicated photographic camera button , the loss of these option may be it . )
Under General - > International , a new Calendar option lets you pick between using Gregorian , Japanese , Buddhist , and Republic of China calendar . The International Assist option under General - > Phone has also been moved from the top of the window glass to below the “ birdcall ” option area .
Safari get ahead a couple new options , too . Under Search Engine , you now have the choice of Bing in gain to Google ( the default ) and Yahoo . ( The Search panel to the left of the Home Screen respects this search railway locomotive choice if you choose to take your interrogation to the Web . ) Interestingly , the Plug - ins skidder has been removed alone .
message also has a couple of new orientation : the Group Messaging alternative ( enabled by default option ) lets replies come back to the original , single screw thread you created when sending the first message , instead of to the single SMS entries for each contact in a chemical group . A Character Count option can now exhibit — you guessed it — a character count when pen SMS . The iPhone will exhibit SMS of any length as one coherent message , but the carrier and most other phone still get out them up into 160 - character messages . Some SMS - enable services , like Twitter , also enforce a small fiber tally . Interestingly : the fibre enumeration only come along above the Send push if your substance stretches to a second short letter .
Any more diamonds in the rough?
[ David Chartier is an associate editor at Macworld . ]
iOS 4
