iPhone software v2.0 to add contact search, meeting invites
A new beta of Apple Inc.'s iPhone software v2.0 released privately on Tuesday includes a handful of subtle refinements and feature additions, such as a contact list search.
The inability to search the address book and phone number listings has stood out as one of the iPhone's most glaring omissions given that such capabilities have routinely been included out-of-the-box on most rival handsets.
At last month's iPhone Software Roadmap event, Apple inadvertently dropped hints that the feature would finally arrive as part of the iPhone software v2.0 due this June when a slide demonstrating the some of the update's features revealed an inconspicuous magnifying glass icon atop the phone app's alphabet search strip.
Although the first few external betas of the iPhone software v2.0 did not include the feature, build 5A240d released on Tuesday does according to Engadget, as evidenced by the below screenshots.
Also new to the latest beta is an iCal meeting invites folder, accessible via a drawer icon at the bottom of the iPhone's iCal application -- a button that was disabled in previous builds.
The inability to search the address book and phone number listings has stood out as one of the iPhone's most glaring omissions given that such capabilities have routinely been included out-of-the-box on most rival handsets.
At last month's iPhone Software Roadmap event, Apple inadvertently dropped hints that the feature would finally arrive as part of the iPhone software v2.0 due this June when a slide demonstrating the some of the update's features revealed an inconspicuous magnifying glass icon atop the phone app's alphabet search strip.
Although the first few external betas of the iPhone software v2.0 did not include the feature, build 5A240d released on Tuesday does according to Engadget, as evidenced by the below screenshots.
Also new to the latest beta is an iCal meeting invites folder, accessible via a drawer icon at the bottom of the iPhone's iCal application -- a button that was disabled in previous builds.
Comments
* That's right. "Advance."
But when a to do list is going to be available ?
The iPhone's fast UI and capacitance touchscreen make it much faster than any other phone or smartphone I've used. I probably won't be using the search feature much and, if I do, only if it can also search obscure information in the contact Notes.
I don't need to search a contact, I NEED TO SEARCH EMAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent point. And searching AIM (coming soon), SMS, and internet history would be nice too, but I'm not holding my breath.
Sounds like other than 3G and a few new bells and whistles, it almost looks like the same old iPhone. I think the SDK is still promising, though. I just want this thing to come out in June like its rumored in Australia right now and not be tied down to AT&T, which is not the best service in the US right now.
The option for as many personalized apps via the SDK is a strong point. Plus, the iPhone is now in it's 7th OS version, with v2.0 to be the 8th.
What would you like to see?
The iPhone's fast UI and capacitance touchscreen make it much faster than any other phone or smartphone I've used. I probably won't be using the search feature much and, if I do, only if it can also search obscure information in the contact Notes.
Exactly. If I can search for restaurants in NYC or other such information without resorting to making groups, I'd use it.
Edit: What would be more helpful is if there was a global search app, so I can get email, contact info, and notes, etc all in a single window.
Exchange Notes and Tasks support, please.
How about the iPhone actually sync notes and to-dos from Mail on OSX? Geez, it's a no-brainer!
Edit: What would be more helpful is if there was a global search app, so I can get email, contact info, and notes, etc all in a single window.
Good idea! I have seen no evidence that Apple will create this, but I also no reason why a savvy coder couldn't make a Universal Spotlight Search app for Mobile OS X. I might even pay $.99 for such an app if it was done well enough and would search any other 3rd-party app that maintained a database.
Why can't we search emails?
Also... why can't we read emails using the landscape mode? Here's a no brainer.
How about the iPhone actually sync notes and to-dos from Mail on OSX? Geez, it's a no-brainer!
Totally agree...especially about To Dos. To Dos are a fundamental part of personal time management, and are supported by every phone (let alone smart phones) I can think of. They're built into iCal and Mail, and it's just strange and idiotic that Apple hasn't bothered to support them in the iPhone by now.
And - even my old iPod video was capable to so that - I'd like organize different calendars in my iPhone (e.g. different colors)!
Further more the German keyboard is a desaster: there is no option to manually type certain characters (such as ä, ö, ü) and word recognition isn't learning :-(
Apple: PLEASE don't disappoint us again!
Thorge
Totally agree...especially about To Dos. To Dos are a fundamental part of personal time management, and are supported by every phone (let alone smart phones) I can think of. They're built into iCal and Mail, and it's just strange and idiotic that Apple hasn't bothered to support them in the iPhone by now.
With all the other syncng going on the inability to sync Notes and To-Dos makes no sense no sense to me. The inclusion of these in Mail and connection with iCal made me think this was a guaranteed feature once Leopard was released. I would have bet money on it.
Good idea! I have seen no evidence that Apple will create this, but I also no reason why a savvy coder couldn't make a Universal Spotlight Search app for Mobile OS X. I might even pay $.99 for such an app if it was done well enough and would search any other 3rd-party app that maintained a database.
Wow Sol, 99 cents. That should get the developers slavering.
Sounds like other than 3G and a few new bells and whistles, it almost looks like the same old iPhone.
You are just looking at the surface. A lot is changing under the hood.
Apple has a few user interface patents for mobile devices that have not yet been used.
It'll probably be like the Leopard beta. Where the UI was the same as Tiger and Apple did not reveal the new UI until Leopard was launched.