iPhone
A couple weeks ago, I picked up an iPhone (right before 1.1.2 came out).
Compared to my Wizard, the iPhone is a joy to use. The OS is more fun, more pleasing to use. I like the iPhone’s email client better (though I’m not sure I like the 200 email per folder limit, but it has not been an issue yet). The webbrowsing is clearly better on the iPhone. Reception is a bit better I think, and reacquiring signal is much much better (the Wizard was horrible at reacquiring signal). Physical size is obviously better.
The calendar needs a little help (compared to other smart devices). I wish there was some sort of today type screen, though at the same time I like that the unlock screen is pretty clean and that you’re taken directly to the app screen, so I’m not sure where exactly you would put the today screen.
My only real complaint about the iPhone is the lack of any sort of external indicator. An LED or something to indicate that I have missed a call/SMS/email/whatever. If a leave it on my desk, I won’t know I missed something until I pick it up and turn it on the next time. Clearly a new hardware revision isn’t going to help me now, so I’d be satisfied with software (third party is fine) that will play a reminder alert/vibe every 5 mins until the phone is turned on.
The only thing that I used to do on my Wizard that I can’t do on my iPhone is GPS navigation. I’m hoping that early next year, after the iPhone is officially opened to third party apps, I will be able to make use of my Bluetooth GPS puck with my iPhone with software like TomTom or something.
iPhone and the web
Safari on the iPhone is second to none for mobile web browsing. Wish it did Flash. Sort of. I don’t miss seeing Flash based ads (or downloading them). I guess the only instance where I miss Flash is when I am visiting a site that relies heavily on Flash. I also wish I could save/download files.
iPhone and email
One thing I am slightly confused about is the poor reception of the iPhone’s email capabilities as compared to other more businessy type devices, like the BlackBerries and Windows Mobile devices. The iPhone doesn’t do push email - I’ll concede that, but I don’t use Exchange so it doesn’t really matter that much for me.
I think the iPhone email application works great compared to other devices. For instance, on BlackBerries IMAP folders are not used and it basically works as a email “pager”. People complain about being unable to delete or move multiple emails on the iPhone, but of neither BlackBerries or Windows Mobile devices support that either. Update: You can delete/move multiple emails at at time on WM PocketPC/Professional. Who knew? Just click and drag to select a range of emails. But don’t let go of that click initially because it will open the email. And don’t hold the click too long before dragging because then the context sensitive menu will pop up.
And there are complaints that you can’t edit Word or Excel files. Of course neither can BlackBerries or Windows Mobile smartphone devices (Professional or PocketPC versions can), and nobody complains about this apparent lack of a “business” feature. Or maybe they don’t realize it because nobody really uses it. And the iPhone’s Word doc viewer is light years ahead of the viewer on the BlackBerries (which relies on serverside preprocessing).
Nevermind that the iPhone uses much nicer fonts and has much better HTML email support.
iPhone and WiFi
Works wonderfully. My last phone (a Wizard) had WiFi as well but I never used it because it was such a pain in the ass. My friends with similar Windows Mobile devices have said similar things. But on the iPhone, it just works. And because it works so well, I leave it on and I use it all the time.
iPhone and Bluetooth
The iPhone currently has a slightly crippled stack and can only be used with headsets. I hope this is improved in the future.
As for headset handling, I think for the most part it works better than my Wizard. It is easier to switch between the headset and the phone. The only issue I had (and it may be specific to my headset and its ability to be paired with multiple devices) was once after using my headset with other devices, it was no longer connecting to my iPhone and the iPhone did not think it was there and the only way I could get it to connect was to re-pair it (it was still “paired”, I had to delete the old pairing and redo it). Normally, pushing the call/answer/multifunction button on the headset would cause it to connect and the iPhone would react appropriately, but since I had been using the headset with a different device last, it was trying to connect that that device.
iPhone and the keyboard
There is definitely a learning curve involved. And I’m still not quite where I would like to be. I’m better at it now, but I’d like to be more consistent. The Wizard had tiny keys so those coming from like a TYTN (with larger keys) may be more annoyed. I do like the fact that I don’t need to slide the phone open anymore.
However one thing is that I haven’t quite figured out the best way to hold it in the vertical position to type with my thumbs. In the horizontal position, there is enough room on the back for the other fingers. In the vertical position, there isn’t quite enough room, In order to get good range of motion for the thumbs, I feel like I should float the thumbs with the joint a little further out. But in that case there is really nothing holding on to the iPhone. It just kind of sits in my hands. And the concern there is someone will bump into me causing me to drop it, though it seems to be fine when sitting. Maybe the moral of the story is not to answer email while walking. On other devices, like the Treo, I can hold it the same way because the other thumb can still hold the device via the keyboard with triggering a keystroke. If I hold my thumbs in closer (in order to grip the sides of the iPhone), I get a smaller range of motion and it becomes difficult for me to hit the keys along the edge (though I can easily reach across with the opposing thumb). I think I’ll be able to figure something out with more use.
It’s kind of amusing to me. When I watched Star Trek (I’m not a trekkie), I thought who in the world would want to use a touch screen only interface? You do loose a little with the loss of tactile feedback, but if the interface is good enough it isn’t as much as you would think. Is the iPhone the first step to an LCARS like interface becoming widely accepted?
iPhone and other features
I don’t really miss the lack of video recording, MMS, multiple receiver SMS, etc since I’ve never used those features. I wouldn’t be surpised if they showed up in the future in a software update, but that’s really not a big deal to me.
iPhone, in conclusion
Overall I’m pretty happy with the my iPhone. It is definitely a good step, and will hopefully compel the industry to move in the right direction.
As an aside, I wonder how many people refer to their iPhone as “iPhone” versus “phone” like in the case of “I forgot my iPhone/phone”. I always referred to my Wizard as “phone”. With my Treo, I may have used “Treo” more than I did with my Wizard. I guess it depends on how strong the brand is. I suspect the ratio of “iPhone” to “phone” is pretty strong, especially compared to generic HTC devices (and their carrier branded brethren).