Now that the WWDC 2010 keynote's over and the dust settles, we know what we're going to get in the coming weeks. iPhone 4 with a brand new look and tons new features, iOS 4, iMovie for iPhone, new developer APIs, iAd, and then some. Apple definitely changed the game today. But what about the things we wanted but didn't get?
We're all extremely excited to get our hands on the new hardware and OS but for many users, iOS 4 still leaves certain things to be desired. Keep on reading to see what we would have liked to see.
A new notification system was one area we really wouldn't have minded a change. This is something we had hoped would be addressed in 4.0, but alas, it wasn't. The way notifications present themselves isn't necessarily the best implementation. This is an area that's been neglected almost since the 1st generation iPhone. Besides the addition of push notifications, nothing has been added or tweaked. If you receive a text then a Twitter push notification, the Twitter notification is all you'll see. In 2010, we'd think it's time for a change.
Several other mobile platforms such as WebOS and Android have a nice notification layout that leaves iPhone users with something to be desired. It would have been nice to see a complete overhaul. To me, this alone is reason for jailbreakers to keep on jailbreaking.
A lot of folks also would have liked lock screen or home screen widgets. Perhaps this could have provided a creative way to implement a new notification system as well as show users information they want to see, when they want to see it. Jailbreakers have had functionality like this in apps such as LockInfo and Intelliscreen for quite some time now. We aren't quite sure why Apple hasn't produced a native solution yet.
One thing I really would have personally liked to see is a few simple tweaks to texting functions. Anyone who texts frequently knows that everytime you get a text, you'll have the choice to either view the text or close it. That's it. What about an option to reply without closing out of whatever you're doing, whether that be playing a game or browsing Safari? Again, jailbreakers have had this option for a while with apps such as QuickReply for SMS and iRealSMS. Apple has given developers an API for in-app SMS and I think a lot of people are confusing that with having a quick reply method. As far as I can tell, it isn't the same. A quick send option from anywhere would have been nice as well, like iReal offers. You can configure your own gesture for it within Settings.
One thing on the top of my list was an announcement about MobileMe. I was almost positive something would have been mentioned about pricing or features, especially as MobileMe has been in Beta for a while now. With services like DropBox and Box.net, can Apple afford to still charge $99/year? With services such as DropBox, you get 2GB for free, 50GB for $9.99/month, and 100GB for $19.99/month. For a mere $20 more a year, you get over 3 times the storage MobileMe offers with the typical $99/year single license.
Did anyone else expect an announcement about AppleTV? What about those rumors of it running a new OS similar to that of the iPhone and iPad? Or what about that mythical Magic Trackpad we saw briefly this morning?
Are we stoked about iOS 4 and iPhone 4? We sure are! But as with all things, there's always room for improvement and these are some of the things we think still need improvement. Did any of you really want to see something that wasn't announced? We'd love to hear from you, let us know in the comments!
Reader comments
WWDC 2010 - What We Didn't Get
Do you think this is related to the sim card bugs with iOS 5.0.1 for 4S?
How about, back to the basics!
and I could go on and on. Apple does some really cool and new features, but still lack many features my old Motorola Q did 5 years ago. I can't wait any longer. Moving on to EVO.
All I want is power profiles, like on any laptop. I want to be able to set the brightness and lock screen timeout based on if the phone is plugged in or not. This is mainly for my car... When o dock it in the car, I want it to go to full brightness and no screen lock, and when it's removed from power, it should go back to a dimmer screen and 2 min lock. This is basic functionality, and should be there from the start. It may be in os4 but not announced specifically... Does anyone know?
if apple weren't such dumbasses, they'd let the community do stuff like customize notification systems on their own, but, your phone can't change basic operations ...and that is why i am selling it
@Bryan - Losing those notifications to badges (should you receive multiple notifications within, say, a span of 30 seconds) is not the best situation; I don't know what those badges are about, and I have to search through all my apps to see whether I have a notification.
@E Pow - iOS 4 has spell check.
@Bryan
What you describe is a limitation of the iPhone's notification system, not notifications themselves. In both Android and WebOS, you can save a notification for later, and still retain when it arrived, where it was from, and its contents. Only Apple's system blows away this information on each new notification, and that is precisely what needs the overhaul.
Agreed on the text messages, though wis there was way to get them into background similar to e-mails so it wouldn't interrupt at all. If in the SMS app and other messages come in, they just show up, but the need to reply or close is a nightmare as I get several tweets as SMS. The ability to have these either show in the unified inbox or setting to have them show up in SMS app without needing to action would be great.
@10 - spell check is in iOS 4. This was announced a while ago.
http://www.gadgetvenue.com/apple-iphone-os-40-ipad-style-spell-check-fea...
I was hoping to see some stuff about the Apple TV, personally. WD, Seagate, and Asus are growing in that market and it's a market that Apple could really do well. they just have to deal with too many movie studios. Watching MKV on xbmc on my Apple TV is bloody painful. (but so is MKV, soooo..)
I would have love to see a Spellcheck.
Really disappointed with the lack of improvements on notifications and a home screen. The OS really hasn't been dramatically changed at all..
I was really looking forward to being able to input touch gestures from the back of the phone, now that the entire front and back are covered in the same material. This would open up a new world of possibilities for apps. Maybe next year.
Strangely enough as far as the notifications are concerned with multitasking and quick task switching it's sort of a work around. If I have the app open and the badge is there I will at least be reminded to get to it at. Later time versus now where if I get a notification and leave it to a later time there is no tellling where it is from.
I really wish notifications were revamped :-/
Just because I can now save the state of an app and reply to a text doesn't fix the problem lol. Nonetheless, I am very excited about getting my hand on one :D
I wanted 64 GB, but I'm a storage junkie. Really pleased with new screen, better camera, front camera, new processor, bigger battery and new case design.
not sure, whether the iOS 4 w/ (limited) multitasking will address painfully absent features like accepting and sending calendar invites and transfer of birthdays from contacts to calendar...
Two things I'd like:
The "notification" for emails and texts that pop-up should have the options "Mark Unread," "Mark Read," "Read" (open), and "Reply"
Second, the "Location" field of calendar events really really should open a link directly into the map app. It makes me crazy that I have to cut and paste where I'm going from the Calendar App, into the Map App...and they are both "native."
Agree 100% on better push notifications. Maybe even a lock screen like LockInfo.
Little surprised it was all iPhone yesterday, figured there's be some laptop refreshes... And iLife10.
Hey Ally, just wanted to point out an error in your post. Dropbox isn't $20 more, its pricing is $9.99 / month or $99.00 / year for the 50GB, and $19.99 / month or $199.00 / year for the 100 GB
I also troll because I have no life.
iFail says it all. Froyo is so much more advanced than iFail4.
So no one has the download link for the WWDC conference?
"@paul says:
June 7, 2010 at 10:23 pm
I’m tellin you man talk to text is the ONLY thing that the Android phone has now that the Iphone doesn’t… Unfortunately, the way apple works we’ll be waiting till summer 2011 for that"
to respond:do you have an app that can download torrents? do you have a way to install apps that aren't in the app store? do you have an app that replaces your GUI and lets you customize gestures, desktops, and icons? do you have an app that lets you automatically create profiles based on location? do you have an that offers free turn by turn navigation? do you have apps that can replace your SMS client, do you have apps that replace the software keyboard to a myriad of other options, such as swype. do you have an app that lets you excecute terminal commands and provide you with root access to your phone? do you have an app that lets you run any nes, snes, genesis, gb, gba, psx or n64 game ever made? do you have widgets? do you have free tethering options? ...oh.. android does
how the heck is apple not going to allow us to perform a quick text function like everyone that has jailbroken there phones.......... Steve dude what the HE-doubble hockey sticks....this is just horrable that there isnt even an app in the app store that provides this function........ I am so mad right now this new 0S 4.O is just fallen short.
@Allison Whoops sorry! :)
No built in radio either :(
I can cope as I have an app for the internet radio :D
i'll tell you what today told me i wasn't getting... a new iphone, i was completely totally devastated that we aren't actually getting anything new, none of my friends have iphones already and the fact that i can only use video chat with people that do renders that new features completely useless to me...the ol 3g went on ebay today and i'll be getting a nexus one. i was hoping to hear about out of app store installs, widgets, free mobileme, you know stuff android has. but just like the 90's apple won't compete, they just put what they have out there with 0 regard for matching what already exists. they must have been at a loss to know what to do after google beat them to the punch with video chat and multitasking. pretty sick of hearing about battery life.. this seems to be apple's only straw in the hand, android handsets last all day, the end, and they can video chat with anyone. hell they can even run video game emulators right out of their market. and their benchmarks show power management ahead of apples. i'm gonna miss my iphone, but i'm excited about the future, if apple down the road does something game changing, i'm on board, i can let their politics slide (tho it's hard) but today, they did NOT change anything, other than my subscription to their product.
I just sent Steve an email. Below is an exact copy of my message to him. I only edited my contact info so I wouldn't get harassed by some of the trolls on this site.
Steve,
An A+ upgrade....I feel it's more of a B+.
I'm a business power user. I'm on my iPhone ALL the time. Theres just no way to sugar coat this. My experience is that the texting & notification system on the iPhone is terrible.
Improve iPhone notifications and build a quick response method into text messages. Not that big of a deal.
Thanks!
Sent from my iPhone!
nesto Ber
Mat Pr Real Estatenesto.h@gmal.co
Direct: 1 (208) 991-
Fax: 1 (208) 336-
p.s. - I like the improvements in iOS 4. I plan on using them all.
@Dev
Well said. I'm happy overall with the hardware and software, but I feel the lack of a decent notification system, and the inability to do something useful with the lock screen is a let-down. These would have been icing on the cake.
All I wanted out of the hardware upgrade was a) better battery and b) better camera and flash, so I'm happy there. Video is not really something I would use much. More than pleased with 32GB storage.
Steve
Please stop calling this ios. Ciscos OS is called ios. Stop copying. It should be called ipos. Or better yet pos. Effin fanboys.
A notification system would have been nice, the pop up after pop up is not cool, I always lose at least the first two, then I go hunting for which apps I have messages on.
iPaladin:
I live in Chicago and have had a great time with my 3GS. I've driven from Gary to the north side without drops, and surf and talk and surf on the Brown Line.
YMMV.
@(Copy of) Dev rene didn't write it, I did. ;) I agree notifications are lacking. It's why I'll continue to jailbreak if need be ;)
I wanted to hear about AppleTV, free MoMe and when iPad would get iOS 4?
Steve famously said this was an A+ upgrade. Unfortunately, it fell short.
Hardware: Pretty close to an A+. If the comments about the screen and the cameras, hold up, those get A+. How the dual microphones improve the iPhone's admittedly poor call quality is still to be determined, but I am hopeful. I am naively hoping the new antenna structure might alleviate some of the call dropping problems; as much as AT&T infuriates, my non-iPhone AT&T phones drop less. Hopeful, but grade: incomplete. They definitely lose some points for not having a 64GB model.
Software: Solid B, no more. The high point in the OS is the multitasking, which looks like it might be the equal of the Android bundles/services model. In true Apple fashion, iOS multitasking is less flexible than its more open Android counterpart, but more polished. The video of Pandora playing and being controlled in the background feels exactly how I wanted.
That said, the software grade gets marked down for:
Notifications. Rene, you are being far too charitable in your description :) The iPhone notification system is quite simply unacceptable, and needed to be overhauled in this release, if not earlier. If anything, local notifications in iOS4+ will make the problem worse, not better.
Apple's voice controls are still poor. This will at some point change when Apple digests Siri, but it would have been nice to see some improvement, as this is one area where Android really badly outshines the iPhone.
Lock screen. I do not need full bore widgets, but even a simple Today screen would be nice. That wallpaper picture of the earth is calming, I suppose, but it would be nice to have actual information available at a glance without swiping.
Cooperation between Apps. It is way too hard to share files or data between applications on iOS. This weakness is more glaring on the iPad than on the iPhone, but as they bring iMovie and iWork to the iPhone, the warts will show here too. This is another area where they should borrow from Android and refine it how they like; their Intents system is much better than anything we have to date.
Side loading. A pipe dream, I know, but something which in and of itself would have made this an A+. I realize Apple wants control, but they are letting fantastic ideas wither, never be created, or consigned to the jailbreak ghetto. QuickReplySMS and SBSettings are just two jailbreak ideas that should have been in the iPhone 2 generations ago, and yet we will do not see them outside of a group Apple would love to see outlawed. Sad. If you are afraid of dumb/average users messing up their phone, bury it deep in the menus, with a big red modal box saying "SIDE LOADING WILL VOID ALL TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNTIL THE PHONE IS VERIFIED WIPED. HAVE A NICE DAY, RISK TAKER."
On a related note, the brouhaha over adding Bing obscures what should be the real question. Why are we asking which search providers Apple allows us to have, when we should be asking why we cannot add our own? This would shut up many critics, It is trivial to do so and, again, this could be deep in the settings, where the timid would never see it.
As @iName said, for the first time, the hardware is outshining the software. That is not all bad, but while some aspects put Android and WebOS to shame, in other parts iOS is just not keeping up, much less maintaining the lead. Apple will undoubtedly sell a jillion of these things, but they should not get too comfy, because this release did not maintain the historical gap Apple has enjoyed over their competitors. And that is fine with me; I want them to feel and be motivated by the pressure.
Verizon really? It's for chicks and homos! Android is FAIL. The 3 people that actually have 4G on the EVO are crying Now since the phone only lasts 2 hours with it turned on. Gimme a break crybabies! Go elsewhere to bash we don't give 2 squirts of pee for your complaining! iPhone 4 FTW!
I left at&t and an iphone 3G @ the beginning of the year for VZW and the Palm Pre Plus. To this day I still don't regret it. The fact that I don't drop calls and know I can get 3G pretty much anywhere I am going makes all the difference. I loved my iphone 3G but not at&t. As nice as the iphone 4 looks it isn't impressive enough for me to leave vzw & my Pre Plus. The notification system alone & multitasking webOS style keeps me where I am.
oh, and Ben tried to slam cdma & vzw saying you can't multitask or do anything else while talking on the phone. That's not true @ all. You can do anything you want minus surf the internet while speakimg. To me not a big deal. I've never been in the situation where I needed to surf & talk @the same time. If so I'll pop on wifi.
Well I think that multitasking should solve the texting problem a little although I know people would still want the in app option. One thing I wanted for texting though is the time stamp on texts... Right now when you get a text close enough from the previous text it would not show the time... That's usually fine but there are times when I would like to know the exact time I recieved or sent a text message.
Has anyone got a download link for the WWDC 2010 conference?
James,
They will have 4G LTE soon so alll poundings should be able to be handled well. Even on EV-DO, it is a demonstrated fact that Verizon has spent far more per customer than AT&T on their networks, so with the load balanced between Verizon and AT&T, both networks will operate better. Even if you are a fanboy for AT&T, you should want the iPhone on Verizon, if for no other reason than to unload your network of all those pesky data hogs. ;)
Locke's Dead Body,
I'm glad AT&T works for you. I am just looking out for users in places big and small, from rural areas with EDGE and big cities with epic AT&T fail like NYC, SF, and Chicago. Also, Consumer Reports rated AT&T dead last in most metros, so I'm not going to look at my relative lack of problems and conclude all is well when the evidence states otherwise.
I just don't understand why Apple ignores the notification issue. I recently switched from a BB9700. The biggest surprise has been how much I miss my LED! I never even thought about it. It was so nice to walk by and see if I needed to check my phone. I haven't even mentioned the absurd lack of customization for email notification. I love my iPhone, but how does RIM get this so right and Apple gets it so wrong?
Just for the record, I have great AT&T service and vzw suck the big one where I live. So, THERE.
What happened to the simple fixes that everyone asked for after the first iPhone released. Like choices of tones for email alerts, multiple alerts etc. How about getting rid of that stupid swipe to answer instead of pressing th home button. Or how about moving swipe to answer to the center of the screen so one does not drop the phone while using it one handed. That's it for me....going to android.
this is the first time the iphone's hardware outshines the software.
spec wise iphone 4 sounds great and couldnt ask for anything more, but on the software side they still behind their competitors in areas such as a decent notifications system.
here's hoping for a major improvement with iOS 5
I'm tellin you man talk to text is the ONLY thing that the Android phone has now that the Iphone doesn't... Unfortunately, the way apple works we'll be waiting till summer 2011 for that
Well if we could get off maybe some other network than AT&T I would be happy. Apple just needs to offer the phone to Verizon, Verizon accept, and a lot of people would be happy including me. When will you get the iPhone Verizon?!?
I'm with Paul...Speech to text would be great if integrated into SMS. I don't want to be using Dragon dictation anymore. Give us that speech to text goodness!
iPaladin,
It has yet to be demonstrated that "VZW's network just works" when millions of data greedy iPhone users are pounding on it.
rofl im sorry did u just say tmobile is better then att?... oh i want some of what your smoking
I was a Sprint customer before switching to AT&T to get the iPhone 3GS, and I have to say, I have been neither impressed nor disappointed with their service. In the area that I live in, I rarely have a dropped call or low/slow service, but my mom and dad, who are on Verizon and Sprint respectively, have many problems with their service. If it weren't for the iPhone, I wouldn't be on AT&T, but using it now, I have no complaints whatsoever.
Ben,
At the end of the day most people don't give a flying you know what about the CDMA vs. GSM fanboy war. They just want a phone that works. I thought that Apple was trying to go for something that worked, but AT&T doesn't work for a lot of people who can't reliably send and receive calls, has poor 3g coverage compared to Sprint and Verizon, caps data at an untenable level, and limits the number of
people who can get an iPhone. AT&T isn't even available in many areas. I don't
get the GSM arguments, I am a fan of GSM. Name one carrier that has given GSM more of a bad name than AT&T, you cannot find one. The day VZW launches LTE is the day a better GSM carrier exists in the US, heck T-Mobile beats the dog crap that is the AT&T network. It's a shame because I want GSM to win but AT&T does the GSM cause more harm than good. It's pretty clear, the best CDMA
carrier or the worst GSM one? I'll take the former, VZW's network just works.
I like what they have added but as with other people more space would have been nice especially with 720P video, notification is a huge area they need to improve, being able to turn off Wifi with out going so many screens seems a no brainer. It's like we said last year, here's hoping that with IOS 5 we get.......
Oh, and two more little things:
I still expect MobileMe to have at least part of its functionality become free. Maybe Apple will announce this on or around the actual release date of the iPhone 4. Better to spread the announcements out so the press can absorb and regurgitate each tidbit.
Also, and this is just a tiny nitpick, it would have been great if iPhone 4's 802.11n were able to run at 5GHz as well as 2.4GHz. On an AirPort network, AFAIK, if even one client is at 2.4GHz, all the rest are forced to run at 2.4GHz as well. Not a big problem, but it would speed up things overall. (Probably a battery life issue.)
TALK TO TEXT!!????? Why cant we get this and why aren't enough people begging for this??
If they had done something about the notifications this would have been a grand slam. I'd say it's around a triple right now, maybe an in the park home run. I'm hoping with fast app switching and all that texting will be easier. Don't need my home screen cluttered with a list of hundreds of tweets and other junk, I'll check them when I'm good and ready.
I agree with a quick reply for SMS. I wanted a finder to hold documents downloaded from emails. However it seems that apple is probably never going that direction because they just included a PDF section in their iBooks app where PDF files are downloaded to. It makes no sense to me. What does PDF files have to do with books.
We're aloud ( lol ) to create new play list titles in 4.0 , how about being able to add lyrics to each song ?
How about having addresses and dates in safari , mail and sms linkable to Maps and calender respectively. That was suppose to be in 3.0 but I haven't been able to make full use of it because ( if I recall correctly ) linkable street addresses are only in mail.
Can i set my own backlight time out length ?
And about YouTube. If I'm watching a video and I get a call the video I'm watching is interupted. I have to start over and If I'm on 3G it's extremely annoying to wait for the video to start over or to get back to the last place I was.
Calender could get a slight update. Can I just copy an event and paste it within calender now.
I complain more about core features rather than the lack there of.
Q: you said, "you won't be disappointed". Well, i'm not, you're right, but i'm neither excited.
A: (50$ itunes gift card)
Steve
sent from my iPhone
:)
not that i care about it, but what happened with that facebook integration rumor.
I missed quite few things.
A) a larger screen. 960x640 pixels for 3.5", seriously.
B) Flash
C) wifi on/off button
D) many browser addons available but not possible to set as default (i.e. Icab)
E) a little weather forecast in lockscreen.
Well, iphone4 and iphone os4 are good, but not superb. I can live without them. Last year the iphone kicked ass, best smartphone. But now, hmmm, not that excited anymore as in the past, despite iphone4/ios4.
512 RAM!!!!!!
what about wireless syncing I was sure that they would have announced that. I guess I'm just going to have to end up jailbreaking my iphone...
As much as I would like to see some of the features mentioned above, I greatly appreciate Apple taking their time to focus on perfecting them. I would much rather wait for Apple's quality features than other mobile companies rushed and sluggish offerings.
Oh, shuddupp...shut up! :P
i agree a revamped notification system woulda been nice. however i have no problem waiting for the jailbreak and lockinfo. It is probably 1 of my favorite apps on the iphone. That and quickreply.
But on Verizon's network you can't talk the phone and use other parts of the phone at the same time... People talk about how you can multitask, to me true multitasking is talking and surfing the web, playing game's, typing some notes...all while talking on the phone. Yeah jailbreaking is nice, but honestly it gets old after a while of having to redownload all the stuff you had on your phone to get it back to where you had it...
I'm sure the CDMA network will be able to support it after a while, but right now with the contract that AT&T has with Apple, I don't look for them to break it...but then again they could.
Honestly a 64GB phone, really why does one need that much space. Why would you want to keep all your music on it, that's why you can select play list you want on it, add and remove music and videos.
I am happy with a 16GB phone, and will continue to get that size until they stop making the size or I die.... I won't complain about what I'm not getting from Apple, they could stop making the device a phone all together and tell people to kiss it, but at least they listened to users and took all the concerns into consideration when making this device..software and hardware wise.
I am sure as the weeks goes forward other great things will be mentioned and every blogger will be busy to post the latest and greatest things they hear...I plan on checking tipb every single second I get....
It would have been great news to hear that iPhone had FINALLY come to Verizon!!!
I'm also dissappointed that the iPhone still only comes in 16GB & 32GB version. Where's the 64GB version; with 720p video recording even 32GB is going to be tight.
Today wasn't about the Apple TV, really who care's about that...it was all about the iPhone.