This is the list of things that I found wrong with the iPhone after a few days of using it.
Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent device, with an outstanding user interface, but is missing a few things.
Some of these are just me being picky but others are a real pain and should have been addressed by Apple (like the battery that can't be replaced).
Here's the list:
- No copy/paste
- Can't use standard headphones without an adapter
- Every mp3 file cannot be a ringtone (you need to manually convert on iTunes to AAC, rename the file bla bla...)
- Email doesn't have landscape mode
- Video files can be added as "TV Shows" in iTunes but only TV shows purchased through iTunes can be viewed on the iPhone
- No easy way of dragging photos onto the iPhone. You can drag photos off through the "Apple iPhone" in the Windows file explorer but you can't add photos through there. The same interface should be used for copying photos to and from the iPhone
- No spell check
- No Gmail app that uses IMAP for always on synchronization plus utilizes unique Gmail features like labels, stars, message threads... You can currently either use the native IMAP feature on the iPhone but then you don't have the unique Gmail features, or use Gmail's iPhone web interface which gives you all the unique features but doesn't automatically check your account (you could leave the browser open but that doesn't really work).
- iPhone doesn't appear as an additional hard disk on your PC (like the iPod does)
- No zoom in camera
- No video in camera
- No camera flash
- No voice dialing
- No speed dialing
- No 3G
- No games like the latest iPods have
- No flash in Safari
- Can't change the from address when replying to an email
- Notes aren't synced with Outlook notes
- No sync via bluetooth
- Battery can't easily be replaced
- Can't mark video as "unplayed". Once you play a video for even a second it is marked as played.
- Ringer isn't loud enough
- No mode for viewing emails without images (saves bandwidth and for privacy issues)
- No email templates
- No built in voice recorder
- Safari "tabs" don't load in the background, you can only have one tab load at a time (for some reason the tabs also blank out when you leave Safari instead of just showing the last visible screen)
- No backspace in calculator to erase just the last typed digit
- No week view in calendar
- Can't see full name of video file
- No on screen visual indication of silent mode
- When alarm is snoozed you can't turn it off
- No remote for iPod
- Very hard to pause music when using standard headphones (not original iPhone headphones)
- Very hard to make a phone call while listening to music
- No Bcc in email
- Can't set different checking intervals for different email accounts
- Battery suddenly dies without any warning
- Bluetooth drains the battery
- Setting up iTunes to sync properly to Outlook contacts and calendars is a pain. The different contact folders (groups) and calendars occasionally do not appear in iTunes (I still have no idea how to sync multiple Outlook calendars).
- Can't sync with multiple Outlook PST files (only works on the default PST file)
- No way to setup one way sync for calendars (to only have Outlook update the iPhone but not vice-versa)
- Apostrophes in Outlook calendar events appear as '' in iPhone calendar
- No native to-do application (that syncs with Outlook)
Ok, so call me picky, but you can't use standard headphones, no flash for camera...? C'mon!
Got anything to add to this list? Post it in the comments...
I've been contemplating uploading a similar list of defects for the N95. The details are radically different (you can use backspace anywhere. copy and paste work just fine) but the general feel is about the same. It's an excellent device, but has a lot of little (and sometimes not so little) annoyances.
ReplyDeleteMost of the N95 annoyances are with the web browser. It uses Webkit so basically the same as the iphone, but
- no predictive text in urls (for long SEF urls this is agonizing)
- address bar always has a www in it even though virtually no sites require this (and what if I want to visit something with "m." instead of "www."? Usually I find myself having to use backspace a few times before I can start typing out a URL
- tabs are very hard to open (which is stupid because they're dead easy to close and cycle)
- massive, lengthy redraws while the phone downloads images (I suspect it's done this way to conserve memory or performance... It's massivley annoying over the cell network but on WIFI it's not a problem because the WIFI network speed is much higher.) I don't like when the text downloads instantly and then the phone hides it from me for five minutes before I can read it
- the messaging (email, sms) interface is EXTREMELY slow to load initially - even apache httpd loads faster (although after that it's OK)
It's frustrating that outside of a messaging/internet context or 3rd party app I'm usually unable to use predictive text input. For example the phone has an atom-publish client (useful for submitting to blogs and such without the pain induced by the browser) doesn't allow me to input my username predictively. Why not? My username is used in lots of places and even appears in URLs. Given that I can easily need to type it several times per day, it makes no sense to force me to input it non-predictively.
Programmers have major headaches, too. On Apple you're supposed to use only apps from the app store (unfortunately kind of limiting).. Well, on the N95 you can use any signed app. Unfortunately the official toolchain only works on Windows (although there are ways around it). On my Windows install there's an emulator - actually a simulator - but regardless it doesn't run correctly. Every app needs to be signed. The signature is time-limited so apps that worked fine in 2006 can not be installedin 2008 without winding back the system clock temporarily.
Anyway I'd better not make a full list here let alone describe it in detail. You get the idea. An open handset is looking very attractive.