Apple releases iPhone Software v2.1

[KamileonX]

is it me? or is the iPod on the iPhone 2.1 lacking Genius?

[onceuponamac]

just a heads up if you don't have a lot of time for the update - it appears to erase all of you contacts... which then have to be resynched - I'm using exchange server active synch... it's not snappier yet - because it's downloading 2900 contacs

[irnchriz]

Camera - Comic touch used to take an absolute age to initialise the camera function. In 2.1 pow, straight up. Unbelievably quicker.

Apps - All seem to load much quicker, no crashes so far.

Backup - takes only a few seconds now.

Signal - At my home when 3G was activated on 2.0.2 the signal would drop right down, turn it off and it would pop back up to full. With 2.1 its the same signal strength with 3G on or off. (o2 UK)

Email - works fine, no issues before.

SMS - no lag in typing. loads quicker too.

Contacts still lag slightly when you load them (delay before you can scroll them). Only about a second though so its no longer an issue

[Footloose301]

Update was flawless. Everything still there.(Contacts, Pic, Videos, Music, Settings, Emails, etc)

The only thing I can't find is Genius.

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by KamileonX

is it me? or is the iPod on the iPhone 2.1 lacking Genius?

start a song playing, then touch the screen. The ipod genius icon appears along with the scrub bar.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by KamileonX

is it me? or is the iPod on the iPhone 2.1 lacking Genius?

I would count that as a blessing.
Do you really need something to "recommend" music to you and make up bogus playlists? -take all your information and "know" your likes and dislikes?
Isn't shuffle good enough?
Do you like when Amazon or Ebay "recommends" crap to you because you bought something vaguely like it? Do you need someone to "recommend" a pair of socks or a shirt to go with your pants you're buying when you shop?

[ShaneSaw]

MY DISAPPOINTMENT! since when does Steve highlight a firmware update that only includes big fixes? c'mon Steve. ShaneSaw wants something nice to play with. naww not really. I love the iPhone and it continues to blow me away!

[NeilM]

Anyone got a manual link and procedure for the v2.1 download and install? We have several office phones to update. Like Apple system software updates where I usually do a manual one-time download to save time, I'd like to do the same here.

(My 2.1 d/l and install at home went flawlessly. Took about 20 minutes in all, 5 to d/l via FiOS, rest for installation, reboot etc.)

[Galley]

[Bug] Similarly-titled albums ("Greatest Hits") are no longer grouped separately in the iPod app. Aaargh!

[jego]

Originally Posted by teckstud

What is the issue?

The touch's battery drains rapidly when it is standby mode. I started noticing it yesterday and there are posts on Apple's boards about it.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....04094&tstart=0

[Leehblanc]

It seems they've fixed one of the most annoying bugs that doesn't get a lot of press. In my office, (in the middle of a brick and steel building) I get 1 bar. 20 feet away, once I am outside, I get 4-5. Often, when walking outside, it would take up to 1 minute for the phone to realize it had a signal. Also, in certain places on my desk, it loses signal. Reorienting the phone would again take up to 1 minute for it to "realize" it had signal. Now, it appears to be instant.

[Amorya]

Originally Posted by Maury Markowitz

Are you sure you want MMS? Really really really sure?

I mean, if everyone had a phone that could display pictures in e-mail (or their Facebook app), why would we need it in the first place? Then we could just e-mail them to people, regardless of whether or not they're on a phone or a computer, and be sure they can receive them. Better yet, we wouldn't have to pay the freakin' carrier $4.99 for the privilege!

I realize old standards die hard, but let's do all we can to kill this one.

Maury

1) Not everyone does have an email capable phone. Many people I know don't want their email on their phone, so even if the phone is capable then they do not use the feature.

2) What if I don't know someone's email address but do know their phone number? I have hundreds of people in my address book, but only have email addresses for about 10% of them.

3) It's free as part of your SMS allowance on most networks.

4) It's embarrassing when someone says "Can you MMS that to me" and you have to explain that your iPhone can't do that. It usually results in a look meaning "I thought it was a really advanced piece of kit, but it can't perform this function which we would both find useful!"

5) Email is not immediate. Since people get so much of it, having it read within 2 days is about all you can expect. Sending an MMS gets it there semi-instantly. It's a medium reserved for "Here is a picture I'd like you to see", rather than getting lost among the business emails, spam and low-priority things.

[ThinkAdrian]

Originally Posted by KamileonX

is it me? or is the iPod on the iPhone 2.1 lacking Genius?

It's below the scrub bar, if you have synced everything first.

I was impatient after the install and aborted sync. After I manually forced a sync, he genius button showed up

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by jego

The touch's battery drains rapidly when it is standby mode. I started noticing it yesterday and there are posts on Apple's boards about it.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....04094&tstart=0

Thanks for this heads up but this must be happening on the old Touch I would think. Does anybody even have a new Touch yet? Apple on Fifth Ave Ny did not have them Wednesday. Would it affect the new Touch as well? Hhmm, I'm sure they'll fix it.

[rdhaag]

The Caps Lock feature seems to have disappeared.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by jego

Hopefully the iPhone version won't have the Standby battery drain issue the touch currently has.

Originally Posted by teckstud

What is the issue?

I've been having this problem lately. It seems that there is background service that keeps draining the battery. I fully charged my iPhone last night before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning the battery was almost empty. Checking the Standby and Usage time I got about 8 hours and 6 hours, respectively. I had this problem before with my 1st iPhone and had to reset the iPhone to fix it. It is most likely the email application trying to check emails. I have only 2 email with fetch is set at 1 hour, one exchange, and one MobileMe.

Now, since I updated to 2.1 my iTunes has been "Syncing "Nasser iPhone"" for the last hour!!!

[kourtney]

Originally Posted by Leehblanc

It seems they've fixed one of the most annoying bugs that doesn't get a lot of press. In my office, (in the middle of a brick and steel building) I get 1 bar. 20 feet away, once I am outside, I get 4-5. Often, when walking outside, it would take up to 1 minute for the phone to realize it had a signal. Also, in certain places on my desk, it loses signal. Reorienting the phone would again take up to 1 minute for it to "realize" it had signal. Now, it appears to be instant.

holy crap batman, that makes me weak in the knees.

[NeilM]

Originally Posted by rdhaag

The Caps Lock feature seems to have disappeared.

Still there on my updated iPhone.

[Mr Underhill]

Finally loaded v2.1.

First thing i noticed when the iphone 3G rebooted was an "iPhone Activated" message with the Dismiss function. Anybody else see this?

Is it me or is the 3G icon at the top of the phone different?

Had 1-3 bars now have 5 solid although Safari doesn't seem any different in terms of connection speed. Can load a YouTube video from my office, surrounded by exposed metal girders, for the first time ever which is brill, so must have improved connection speeds.

Nothing else to report as yet but to be honest never suffered any real issue's before this update.

[irnchriz]

Heres where you get the genius app.


Cool, my 100th post

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by Amorya

1) Not everyone does have an email capable phone. Many people I know don't want their email on their phone, so even if the phone is capable then they do not use the feature.

Not everyone has MMS on their phone. Not everyone wants MMS on their phone.

Email is open, MMS is not. It's that simple, IMO... with email, you can send to anywhere in the world, with MMS, you can send to phones only. It's a closed system, like Compuserve or AOL in the 80s. And like them, it will die out as soon as people realize it's a lame, legacy, expensive scam.

2) What if I don't know someone's email address but do know their phone number? I have hundreds of people in my address book, but only have email addresses for about 10% of them.

1) Call them and ask.
2) Most carriers have email/MMS gateways. If you know their phone number, you can email them short emails at <phone#>@<carrier>.net and it gets delivered to them on their SMS/MMS system, to their phone.

3) It's free as part of your SMS allowance on most networks.

I don't pay for SMS either - it's a total scam.

4) It's embarrassing when someone says "Can you MMS that to me" and you have to explain that your iPhone can't do that. It usually results in a look meaning "I thought it was a really advanced piece of kit, but it can't perform this function which we would both find useful!"

Email it to the above phone#@carrier... keep the following list handy: http://www.mutube.com/projects/open-.../gateway-list/ When I get a phone number, I ask for their carrier as well. Sometimes I get funny looks, but when I explain that it means I can send them things through email, they think it's really cool.

You email, they get it through SMS/MMS. You pay nothing, they pay for their end.

And, it works the other way too on some carriers... phones can email out by sending to a special SMS number: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gat...Email_Gateways

5) Email is not immediate. Since people get so much of it, having it read within 2 days is about all you can expect. Sending an MMS gets it there semi-instantly. It's a medium reserved for "Here is a picture I'd like you to see", rather than getting lost among the business emails, spam and low-priority things.

See 4. They get it immediately.

And, on the other hand, I don't get fleeped with random cutesy crap all day.

[Mr Underhill]

Originally Posted by Leehblanc

It seems they've fixed one of the most annoying bugs that doesn't get a lot of press. In my office, (in the middle of a brick and steel building) I get 1 bar. 20 feet away, once I am outside, I get 4-5. Often, when walking outside, it would take up to 1 minute for the phone to realize it had a signal. Also, in certain places on my desk, it loses signal. Reorienting the phone would again take up to 1 minute for it to "realize" it had signal. Now, it appears to be instant.

Yep i'm hearing you there. Same situation for me. Now i can load YouTube video without having to go outside.

[Mr Underhill]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

Heres where you get the genius app.

It's important to note that you need to sync your phone in itunes before you see the Genius icon and have it enabled in Itunes before it'll do its Genius thing. Genius!!

[TonyV]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

Heres where you get the genius app.

Kinda off topic, but how do you post screen shots from your phone?

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by TonyV

Kinda off topic, but how do you post screen shots from your phone?

Just press the Home button and the power button together and 'Snap!' it takes a screenshot.

[TonyV]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

Just press the Home button and the power button together and 'Snap!' it takes a screenshot.

Thanks!

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by hittrj01

Because music is just a bunch of files that are able to be accessed, the apps are actually getting installed and becoming part of the operating system. I agree, it should still not be THIS slow, but there is still a lot more going on when you install apps than a simple file transfer.

A bit of clarification for others reading this...

Apps are just files as well. They never become "part of the operating system". In fact, the operating system is in a completely separate directory structure that doesn't intermix with app data at all. There is certainly more going on than file copying. But that other stuff isn't accurately described as becoming part of the OS.

Some of the sluggishness is from apps being made up of many files, sometimes thousands of files per app. These are all contained in the application bundle. Copying a thousand files totallying 10MB will take much longer than copying a single 10MB file.

The rest of the sluggishness... I'm unsure about. Perhaps the apps are busy finding links to the appropriate versions of installed frameworks.

[mrjoec123]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I would count that as a blessing.
Do you really need something to "recommend" music to you and make up bogus playlists? -take all your information and "know" your likes and dislikes?
Isn't shuffle good enough?
Do you like when Amazon or Ebay "recommends" crap to you because you bought something vaguely like it? Do you need someone to "recommend" a pair of socks or a shirt to go with your pants you're buying when you shop?

Well, if you have several different kinds of music on your iPhone, yes, Genius is far better than just plain old shuffle. When I'm listening to Iron Maiden, I don't want it to follow up with Neil Diamond. When I'm listening to Pat Metheny, I don't want the next tune to be a Beethoven concerto.

It's not about learning my likes and dislikes. It's about reacting to my current mood. That's incredibly valuable to me.

[walshbj]

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

Please, lets agree to use another adjective to describe iPhone software update 2.1 then "snappier"...

Can I pile on? Remember when the only word used to describe decent software was robust? And PLEASE - can we stop saying that Application B is like Application A on steroids? The first time I heard that it was in reference to Scandisk, in 1995. ARRRGGGH !!

[Mr Underhill]

Just enabled Genius in iTunes, synced my iPhone 3G, selected a track and created a Genius playlist. No previous Genius playlist on my iTunes so i synced the phone expecting the Genius playlist to be synced to iTunes but it isn't.

Odd!! Is this an oversight in v2.1 or my bad?

[stevetim]

Originally Posted by dfiler

A bit of clarification for others reading this...

Apps are just files as well. They never become "part of the operating system". In fact, the operating system is in a completely separate directory structure that doesn't intermix with app data at all. There is certainly more going on than file copying. But that other stuff isn't accurately described as becoming part of the OS.

Some of the sluggishness is from apps being made up of many files, sometimes thousands of files per app. These are all contained in the application bundle. Copying a thousand files totallying 10MB will take much longer than copying a single 10MB file.

The rest of the sluggishness... I'm unsure about. Perhaps the apps are busy finding links to the appropriate versions of installed frameworks.

Interesting ... but what is the .ipa ... it looks like one file going out. Is that unpackaged somehow when it hits the iphone. I really want to understand because maybe I will hate apple less if i do

I dread hooking an iphone to itunes now because of the time it takes and I have never been patient enough to wait over an hour for a sync.

[Mr Underhill]

Originally Posted by Mr Underhill

Just enabled Genius in iTunes, synced my iPhone 3G, selected a track and created a Genius playlist. No previous Genius playlist on my iTunes so i synced the phone expecting the Genius playlist to be synced to iTunes but it isn't.

Odd!! Is this an oversight in v2.1 or my bad?

Oops my bad. Forgot to save the playlist first

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by walshbj

Can I pile on? Remember when the only word used to describe decent software was robust? And PLEASE - can we stop saying that Application B is like Application A on steroids? The first time I heard that it was in reference to Scandisk, in 1995. ARRRGGGH !!

Yes, but nowadays it's like that metaphor... on steroids.

[hdasmith]

Push contacts still not working properly on my iPhone from MobileMe! This is really annouying. Can someone remind me why it was changed from .Mac please?!

SMS programme as slow as ever on this phone, but contacts works without delay.

Out of interest, for those having trouble with genius playlists, have you activated then in iTunes? To be honest, it's hopeless anyway.

Caps lock still working on my iPhone.

[onceuponamac]

Originally Posted by NeilM

Still there on my updated iPhone.

my caps lock hasn't worked since i got the 2nd gen iphone...

[onceuponamac]

Text message function is still painfully slow. hit the sms button, and it takes time to bring up various message threads - hit button to start a new message thread and try to add a name and the system hangs - still very slow...

[Mr Underhill]

Originally Posted by KamileonX

is it me? or is the iPod on the iPhone 2.1 lacking Genius?

I ken what you mean. Too early to say how Genius it is in terms of song selection but certainly Genius of Apple to shove the Itunes store right under your nose

[xitzjustalex]

Did anyone notice that their Bluetooth switched Off after the iPhone 2.1 update?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by mrjoec123

Well, if you have several different kinds of music on your iPhone, yes, Genius is far better than just plain old shuffle. When I'm listening to Iron Maiden, I don't want it to follow up with Neil Diamond. When I'm listening to Pat Metheny, I don't want the next tune to be a Beethoven concerto.

It's not about learning my likes and dislikes. It's about reacting to my current mood. That's incredibly valuable to me.

Duh- that's why we create playlists and shuffle within the playlist.
DO you also own a mood ring?
Do you have your Biorhythms checked regularly?

[hdasmith]

No, Bluetooth is still on.