Alexander Dickson - Web Developer covering PHP, jQuery / Javascript, XHTML, CSS, more

Thoughts on the iPhone

I've owned an iPhone now for 4 months; I guess that is long enough to give a proper review of the phone that seems to be everywhere I look. I have decided to record a mini review in unordered list format for any of my readers considering purchasing this device. For the most part, I like the phone, so I will concentrate on things I do not like or I have found very useful.

The Phone

I guess the most important thing of the iPhone should be the phone, I guess.

• It is rather easy to accidentally hang up on someone because of the touch screen. Whilst you can't push the button with your ear, it is easy to do with a unwary finger.
• Entering a phone number on a touch screen takes a bit more effort. Being able to feel the buttons on my old phone allowed me to dial someone without looking at the keys or screen. It is possible on the iPhone, by committing the on screen keys to memory, but it is more difficult.
• When you get a missed call, there is no way to dismiss it as read. Instead, after reading the modal window, you then must go to the Phone app, and then the Recents tab to dismiss it.
• I love the favourites feature - it is like a visual speed dialling for your most common contacts.
• Messaging lacks the ability to insert a contact's number into a text message. You can quit the Messages app, open the contact and copy and paste there number, but it feels cumbersome compared to my older phone.

The Camera

Camera is a fairly standard feature on phones these days. The iPhone's camera is lacking some serious features.

• No flash - this eliminates nice night time shots. There are some apps that artificially brighten photos - but in my opinion it is no substitute for a flash.
• The shutter button suffers from the same problem as the number keys - when you can't feel it - you can't easily push it. There is an app available that will turn the screen into a giant shutter button.
• No self timer - again there is an app that gives this ability
• The Camera app can tag photos with the date, time and location that they were taken. This is pretty cool!

Web Browsing

Browsing the web is generally pretty good using the in built Safari app. I just wish more developers would either make a portable device friendly version of their pages or not produce a fixed width site (even though I am guilty of the latter).

When the sites use a fixed width, it can often mean horizontal scrolling - one of the ugliest and frustrating things to encounter when using a website. It is often necessary because in order to read the text comfortably, one must zoom the page adequately, which will zoom past the fixed width of the content. I do intend to make an iPhone friendly version of this site someday soon.

One slight problem too is that Safari on the iPhone does not support Flash. This does not make me too upset as I could imagine it would be awful to navigate some Flash sites on the iPhone.

Apps

I love the iPhone for its apps! They are very useful and have given me great entertainment and convenience. I will post soon with a list of my must-have iPhone apps.

Another great thing about the App Store is the ease of updating apps; just click update from within the store and the iPhone will automatically download the update and install it.

On screen keyboard

In short - having an on screen touch keyboard sucks. Being able to feel the keys is very important - even if you don't realise it.

It also sucks having a touch screen because anything you must touch on the screen blocks part of the screen. It is quite annoying in certain games and apps.

iPod

The iPhone's built in iPod (I sound like one of Apple's marketers) is pretty good. One handy shortcut is the ability to double press the home button to access the iPod controls.

What other smart phones do better

• Property QWERTY keyboards with actual buttons
• Support charging by standard USB B cables
• Some have built in FM transmitters

Conclusions

If you can put up with a few niggles and adjustments, the iPhone is handy and a great device.