10 iPhone Tips, iPhone Rants, and Battery Tests
Posted by Chris Leckness on 07/17/08 in At&t, iPhone
I asked and you guys answered. This poll was right on with what I expected based on the audience we have here. I think we’ve done a good job mixing it up here still. Either way, here is another iPhone post, and it’s another on my own personal usage.
Unlike many of the iPhone users, I have very little experience using the iPhone. Even though I have had the iPhone since day 1, I have about 1-2 weeks of hands on time. Now that the iPhone’s 2.0 Software supports 3rd party apps and Microsoft Exchange, it was time to give it another shot. I have done that and because I’ve been to busy to take the time to change it out, I am still using it.
I flashed my old iPhone to an unofficial 2.0 ROM a week ago. The battery life was horrible the next day. I will admit that I used the device a ton Friday to test and play. I had the Treo 800w to test out the next couple days and I used it mainly Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night I loaded the “official 2.0 ROM” and got back at the real world test to see if the battery could live up to my needs.
Yes it can. I was able to make it through to about 5:30pm to 6pm and have 10-20% battery left. Keep in mind that this isn’t a 3G device. Its a 1st Gen iPhone running 2.0 software. The usage is moderate. An average of 2 hours of talk time, 2 hours of twitter, games, and testing, and constant checking of email coming into me via Exchange Server. 85% of the time, I am using EDGE and 15% WiFi.
What I found seems to eat the battery most is video (obviously) and playing games. I had 40% battery life on of the days and decided to play a couple rounds of poker. Thirty minutes later, 20% battery remained.
A couple of rants after almost a week of use…
- Keyboard - Still don’t like it. I will say that it is smart and auto corrects a lot, but I still don’t like it. I don’t look forward to replying to email on it.
- Maybe a bug, but dupe Apps - I don’t know if this is Iconfactory’s problem or Apple’s problem but it sucks. I was using the free version of Twitterific for a couple days then decided to go with the Pro version to support the company. I bought it just fine. It installed over the air right to the phone no problems. Well, it’s a new icon and the old icon still remained. I decided to just delete the free version. I got home and put the iPhone on the cradle. I wake up the next day and both icons are back. Apparently iTunes placed it back when it synced. Why couldn’t the Pro version just overwrite the free version?
- This is a tad nit picking, but I would love to see the buttons that appear top left of the screen (back button, etc) to be able to be moved to the lower left to make the phone more one hand usable.
Overall, I have been pleased with my experience and have not had any real pitfalls using it exclusively. Like I said the 1st time around, the phone is great for alot of people, but until they fix some things, it’s not for me. Well, they have fixed those things.
Here are some tips that I’ve discovered or found around the internet…
- This is one I found REAL EARLY. In fact this is one I used to bring some pretty screenshots last Friday. - Take Screenshots In iPhone 2.0 Software
- Pinch Media has an unofficial RSS feed to keep up with iTunes App Store additions. The categories are New Apps, Updated Apps, Top 100 free apps, and Top 100 paid apps. I found this one over at JK on the Run.
- Hold down the .com button and see what happens. Eh? Ya like that? Quite nifty.
- Do a hard reset? Yes. To do a hard reset. Press and hold the power button(top button) and press and hold the home button at the same time. Hold for several seconds and ignore the slide to turn off prompt. When you see the Apple logo, let go and you are all set.
- You can move the icons around. Press and hold down on one of the icons until the iPhone vibrates and all the icons are wiggling. At this point you can delete some icons and move them all around. To get out of this mode, hit the home button.
- Multiple pages of icons. You can also swipe your finger left to right or vice versa to move from one page of icons to another. There are little dots at the bottom to indicate how many pages of icons you have.
- If you are using an older iPhone and updated to 2.0, check out your ringtones. There are new ones.
- Parents - Did you know that the iPhone has parental controls? Under the general section of the settings, there are some restrictions that can be set. Explicit Lyrics, Safari, YouTube, iTunes, and the App Store. You can simply turn them on or off.
- Saving Images in Safari - Easy Mode. Just touch and hold down on the photo until you get options. Then just hit save. Simple eh?
- Throw your TI-85 away. Want to see a slick trick? Open calculator. Then turn the iPhone side ways. Like that? A scientific calculator. Nice.
Just a little link to share too. This is a good read from Popgadget… iPhone 3G- is it worth the fuss?
Written by Chris Leckness · Filed Under At&t, iPhone
Tagged: 3g iPhone tips, iphone battery life, iphone tips
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Thanks for this great post and super tips. I hope you decide to keep covering a wide variety of mobile topics. I really enjoy the diversity and what keeps me coming back is that you guys don’t try to *act* like a cnet or major publication. I like the *real person* perspectives and honesty.