Another day, another iPhone fix Version 2.0.2 of firmware for Apple's iPhone was made available yesterday, offering improvements on 3G reception for some, but not fixing the crashing applications Steve is promising to sort by September. Apple won't say what's in the latest firmware version, beyond promising "bug fixes", but one thing that won't be fixed is …
Well, reading between the lines of the unpunctuated drivel on a lot of Apple user sites (I'm put off an iPhone again! Tch, maybe Webster's right...) - including "take out your sim card and polish it, that'll cure the problem" (durrrrr if your SIM hasn't got good contact you probably won't get the iPhone onto any network - is it in Flight mode? I think not)... I reckon the first iteration of teh 3G iPhone has suffered from the usual bugbear of multimode, flipping to 3G too soon and staying too late. This results in awful overall service, and I can see the pattern emerge where people (usually furious people) post they leave their iPhone on EDGE (nuff said, these are not the brightest peeps) and get good service.
Holy Flip flopping iPhone, Batman! Dual mode network issues in a first gen firmware? Whod'a thunk it?
Incidentally, I spent 7 years protocol testing mobiles, including dual mode ones. There's no substitute for drive testiing (i.e. driving about and finding blackspots in coverage - like J10 of the M4) and soak testing, and if you don't do it properly this is what you get.
Rush job as usual - output = shite software.
It's good to see that Apple are releasing regular updates which actually do fix some bugs. And the update notification and install process is pretty easy for end users
Ok, so we all wish there weren't bugs that needed fixing in the first place, but what software is bug-free?
I've been waiting years for Sony Ericsson to fix long-standing bugs in the P990i and M600i firmware. Even when SE do release a new firmware, there's no way to find out - I have to install a separate updater application and run it manually to check for updates periodically.
It's the same with Nokia... Apple seems far ahead in this respect - although their "Release Notes" leave a lot to be desired. "Bug fixes" ... hmmmm
Us 2G users had a bunch of new problems introduced with 2.0 and neither of these updates have fixed any of them.
Cell phone location triangulation in maps doesn't work (at all) any more, text entry makes Safari throw itself around the page as the autocomplete rendering decides it should be at the top corner rather than where the text box is, backing up takes hours etc etc.
I'll just start off that I am not a mac fanboi, quite the contrary usually, and I don't have an iPhone, but I've used them as well as plenty of not so smart "smartphones" in my time.
The 3G iPhone, whilst it has problems, is miles ahead of any other phone out there, especially for the money. As someone mentioned earlier, Sony Ericsson's efforts have been bug ridden their entire life, but never got the derision they deserved.
People seem to be forgetting that this ISN'T an operating system for a PC, and it's for a phone. Yes they could have got all the bugs out before release, but judging by Symbian's (as their main competitor) efforts for the last few years, it's not a requirement.
I'll still shell out for one when the time to renew comes.
I plugged in my iPhone to update this morning, following having to completely wipe the thing 3 days ago, when it was a week old, to try and fix the fact it wouldn't communicate at all with the cellular network for hours at a time, and it errored during the update and broke the phone, and wouldn't be seen by itunes.
Having plugged it into another computer, it showed up as broken, and it has now restored it, but done so by wiping everything off the phone again, so I have to set it all up yet again.
Whee!
This is why I didn't upgrade to 3g when it came out like the rest of the sheep.
First of all, 3g doesn't have all that great of coverage here in the States. Second, spending another couple hundred bucks for slightly faster internet is just wonky, considering I rarely need it outside the range of a wifi. Third, and I feel like I have to be clear here... IT ... JUST ... CAME ... OUT.
FFS, people, "bleeding edge" comes with certain risks, like whether or not it will function like it says it will. Thanks, I'll pass until those bugs get worked out, or they add something that really catches my attention because 3G and GPS ain't it.
if I'm on a wireless network, it takes a minimum of 4 rings on the caller's side before my iPhone rings once. Most often it goes into voice mail. If I take it off the wireless and run it on 3G only, it usually starts ringing on the second ring.
Supposedly the 2.02 fix was going to address that, but I'm seeing no difference. If my iPhone doesn't iRing, then what's the iUse of having it as a iCommunications iDevice? Having to workaround by disabling wireless (half of the reason of having the handset!) isn't acceptable.
Apple-please prioritize the ringing issue!
Running the update on XP64. Apparently this is the reason that it ate my phone.
Incidentally, the iPhone doesn't support 64bit XP, so I had to get a separate 64bit version of the mobile device driver to access the phone at all (I work in VFX and 64bit is standard for all machines).
So I guess the 64bit driver may have caused the issue. Which undoubtedly means it's all my own fault.
The issue here is pressure to get the 3G out as quickly as possible so as to keep investor happy. Apple should have learn it lesson years back when they went through a similar thing with their pcs and laptops where software would crash computer would simply over heat and shut down.
I did think that they (Apple) would have processes in place to make sure what they produce is to the quality and standard that's worth all the money, us the customers are paying. I, for one, own both a apple mac and itouch and have had little or no problems...touching wood so far.
I hope jobbs is reading some of the comments that people are making and taking steps on testing the product before it goes to market.
Seemingly after the 2.0.1 upgrade, the GPS has stopped working for O2 customers in the UK. Apple support postings show that GPS is working in others. Hope that the new upgrade fixes some of this unlike what previous 'upgrades'. Previous upgrades have been like turning compost - they uncover more bugs than what they bury!!!
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