Rants About Software

If the buzz is any indicator, Apple is getting ready to reveal iPhone OS 4.0, along with it's new tablet. Apparently, the new iPhone OS and the OS for the tablet will be very similar, so Apple has been hesitant to reveal the iPhone OS until the tablet has been revealed.

Before the new OS is revealed, I figured I'd post a few things that I would like to see Apple do.

• More Interface Customization Options - Our iPhones all look the same. Give us wallpapers, let us organize our icons differently. Let us change our icons. Just let us do something! Perhaps Apple should take a look at what people are doing with their jailbroken devices.


• General File Storage Area - I want a general file storage area that I can freely browse and that all apps have access to. Maybe I want to save an image from the web to my storage area. Then crop the image using some image editing app. Save the cropped image, then send it as an email. This is standard functionality, there's no reason why the iPhone shouldn't support it.


• Removal of Default Apps - One thing that has always bugged me is that I can't uninstall the apps that come pre-installed on the iPhone. The Stocks app is useless. The Weather Channel provides a much better Weather app. I don't use Voice Memos or iTunes (I use it on the Mac, but not on the iPhone.) So just let me get rid of them!


• Allow Competing Apps - Right now, the only browser available on the iPhone is Safari. Well what if Mozilla wants to put FireFox on the iPhone? Right now, they simply can't. What if someone builds a better Calendar app? Apple should change their policy to allow competing apps to be available. Why should they care if someone else builds a better Calendar? The people buying it still bought their iPhones, and Apple is still getting their cut of the app sales. Plus this would hopefully encourage Apple to improve on their own apps. Everybody wins.


• Improved Home Screen - The home screen is pretty much useless. We don't get much more than a notification of missed calls and text messages. How about adding new emails or @replies on Twitter to the list? How about the weather based on your current location? The home screen has remained relatively unchanged since the iPhone's launch. There has to be something Apple can do to improve it.


• Apps Running in the Background - They addressed this issue before with push-notification. While it's nice, it just feels like a hack. Give us the ability to have apps run in the background. We know it will affect battery life, and we'll make the choice to run apps in the background or close them on a case to case basis (just like we do with our laptops.)


• Run Multiple Apps at Once - This is a direct extension to the previous point. I should be able to listen to Pandora while using other apps. Period.


• Flash Support - Everyone's been asking for this since day one. Apple has claimed that they don't include it because of performance issues. Honestly, I think it's because they don't want people to use Flash as a way to get around the App Store. Even, if that's not the case and older iPhones did have performance issues, surely that's not the case with newer models.

Update on January 18, 2010 by Errornix

Apple has confirmed an event for January 27. While they haven't specifically stated what will be revealed, it's almost certain that it will be iPhone 4.0 and the new tablet. I can't wait to see what they've been working on.

Update on January 27, 2010 by Errornix

Well, Apple's event came and went, with no mention of iPhone OS4. The whole event was about the iPad (I want one.) This was a bit of a let down.