If you’re an iPhone user and as geeky about it as I am, you’ve probably already done the iOS 4 upgrade. I did it last night and, while it took a bit of time, it was well worth it. This is by no means an exhaustive review, just my first impressions of the features that jump out at me in my personal use.
My favorite features — in no particular order:
- Still Camera: Digital Zoom • A big one for me; just tap in the middle of the screen and you get a slider that lets you choose the level of zoom you want. Makes my Snapture app unnecessary.
- Multitasking • This is sweet. Double-tap the home button and it brings up a dock that shows the last four apps you used. You can switch between apps by double-tapping on the home button.
- iPod Controls • Double-tap to bring up the multitasking screen then scroll left. A very quick way to control the iPod while you’re doing other things on your phone.
- Video: Tap to Focus • In the video window, tap the screen where you want to focus. I tested this and it works well, but i’m not to bore you with that.
- Home screen background • This is just plain fun and pretty.
- Folders • By far my favorite new feature. I’ve kept my home screen apps out of folders to be able to access them with one tap, but the rest of my screens have apps organized by function. With more than 120 apps on my phone this cleans it up quite a bit. I’m sure I’ll rearrange and restructure the folders as I use them, but for now, I’m loving it.
Double-tap the home button to bring up this screen
iPod controls
My home screen stays the same
Apps on the second screen are organized into folders based on function
I’ve upgraded the software but I’m not planning to upgrade my phone anytime soon — I have 3GS, so it runs smoothly with all the features.
How about you? Have you installed the update? Planning to get a new iPhone?
Let me know in the comments.
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Well, I've been using a 2nd gen iPod Touch and a 1st gen iPhone for a while… so it's pretty necessary that I upgrade at this point
I'll be sure and let you know when the game is out. I'm thinking the official launch will be July 7th or sometime that week, though it depends a lot on when Apple approves it. Thanks!
Lucky you – I'm not getting one yet, but am loving the folders as well. And the multitasking screen is great – makes it lots easier to switch between recently-used apps.
BTW, be sure to tweet it out when your game is released! I'm always looking for new and wonderful ways to kill a little time
Thanks for the quick overview — I'm pretty excited about iOS 4, especially the folders. I haven't installed it yet as I'm currently finishing up an iPhone game and getting ready to launch it (and it's never a good idea to upgrade at the very end of a project like that) but I am planning on getting one of the new phones and upgrading what I've got to iOS 4 very soon