Support NeoGAF

[Gritesh]

Yeah I know I wont get the widget functionality, which saddens me, coming from android I look at iOS and from the outside it looks very dated and boring...

But I fear I might be missing something with intense value below the initial look.

 

[LCfiner]

iOS is app focused not home screen focused. that’s why it can appear outdated compared to WP7 and Android. but the quality of the apps is anything but outdated - they’re top of the line. the best of the best have no equal in quality on other platforms.

the lock screen in iOS 5 is better than before with the notifications enhancements but the whole OS is structured around apps so you generally need to swipe or tap a couple times to see the “at a glance” info you might get on the home screen of other devices. (making it not quite “at a glance” unless it’s a new email or reminder that shows up in the lock screen)

 

[Husker86]

you won’t get the lock screen widget functionality that you’re used to but, frankly, the rest of the experience on iOS is so much smoother and the music management with iTunes so much more robust than android that I feel it’s an overall upgrade in user experience.

Gritesh, I think the iPhone is what you want.

But in response to this, I use iSyncr which lets me sync with iTunes including playlists/playcounts, etc. So depending on how you want to manage your music with Android, you can certainly stick with the iTunes route (I actually don't mind the software unlike some others).

 

[Tunesmith]

After using the camera a bit, I don't think the new camera is all that great, the colors are all on the warm side and using the physical button causes camera shake. I hope the next update fixes the color temp issue. Maybe next next iPhone they redesign the button to have a half press feature so the camera doesn't shake. It still shows alot of noise in my pictures, does camera + have a manual white balance feature? Macro focus is pretty good tho.

I use the Apple headphone volume button to take photos quite a bit, eliminates the shake problem.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Things I like about my android device:
- The Widgets, I like that when I power my phone on at the home screen I have the time, the weather (animated) and the forecast for the week all there on my home screen.

I don't think I'll ever understand this obsession with live updating widgets on a phone's home screen. Hell, I don't even use widgets on my desktop/laptop computers.

Is there really any practical use for having 1/4-1/2 of your screen size taken up by a big ass clock with weather information? Do you really need to see that every time you go to your home screen? Is knowing the weather forecast immediately that important?

I like to focus on one thing at a time when I'm using my phone. That's why the app focus of iOS works better for me than having a bunch of live-updating blocks/widgets.

 

[Husker86]

I don't think I'll ever understand this obsession with live updating widgets on a phone's home screen. Hell, I don't even use widgets on my desktop/laptop computers.

Is there really any practical use for having 1/4-1/2 of your screen size taken up by a big ass clock with weather information? Do you really need to see that every time you go to your home screen? Is knowing the weather forecast immediately that important?

I like to focus on one thing at a time when I'm using my phone. That's why the app focus of iOS works better for me than having a bunch of live-updating blocks/widgets.

You do realize there are more than weather widgets, right? WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS toggle, Calendar widget--upcoming agenda (my personal favorite). Anyway, this argument is the same as people getting mad at others for making their phone have a different theme...why do you care? If Android users don't want widgets, they don't have to use them.

 

[Melhisedek]

Guys do you have Auto-Brightness on or off and also do you use push or fetch? I wonder how much do these options affect battery life

 

[123rl]

I have Auto Brightness on and Fetch for all email. My battery life is great. It's currently on almost 7 hours use and 25 hours standby with 27% battery left

 

[BocoDragon]

So, I put my phone under some real bright light and see hairline scratches on it (otherwise unnoticeable).

This irks me. I thought the glass on this thing was supposed to be tough and I am very careful with this thing. Are these tiny hairline scratches minor manufacturing defects or are they a result of every day use?

Probably a result of every day use. Keys n things can minorly scratch it.

I seem to remember a lot of people in this thread dissing cases + screen protectors. I'm glad I ignored them.

 

[Husker86]

So, I put my phone under some real bright light and see hairline scratches on it (otherwise unnoticeable).

This irks me. I thought the glass on this thing was supposed to be tough and I am very careful with this thing. Are these tiny hairline scratches minor manufacturing defects or are they a result of every day use?

This has happened on every phone of mine with oleophobic coating, including an iPhone 4. I pretty much don't believe the people who say they don't have them, but I won't call them definite liars since I cannot see their phone.

Probably a result of every day use. Keys n things can minorly scratch it.

I seem to remember a lot of people in this thread dissing cases + screen protectors. I'm glad I ignored them.

The ones he is talking about are only visible with the screen off and light shining directly on it...hardly a huge downside to keeping slim form-factor. But I'm not one of those people who hate others for using cases/screen protectors.

 

[BocoDragon]

This has happened on every phone of mine with oleophobic coating, including an iPhone 4. I pretty much don't believe the people who say they don't have them, but I won't call them definite liars since I cannot see their phone.

It also happened on my 3G and 2nd gen iPod Touch, which didn't have that coating.

 

[BocoDragon]

The ones he is talking about are only visible with the screen off and light shining directly on it...hardly a huge downside to keeping slim form-factor. But I'm not one of those people who hate others for using cases/screen protectors.

True, those scratches are not obvious or ruin the experience in any way.

But I like things mint condition so it's a no brainer for me: case+protector. (It also helps that I found a kickass clear rubber one that looks like it belongs there.)

No, I NEVER put my phone in with anything else in my pocket (Hell, I'll shove my dick to the other side if I have to do that to avoid contact there as well).

Also, let me be clear, I'm using an Ivyskin clear case on the backside of my phone which is where the scratches happen to be!

that's odd. Maybe the case scratched it?

Or maybe your model was scratched before you even got it?

 

[stay gold]

So is the 'load earlier messages' button just supposed to be there? Or do i have to turn something on in settings?

Im scrolling to the top of my conversation and theres no option to go further back.

 

[jonnybryce]

I don't think I'll ever understand this obsession with live updating widgets on a phone's home screen. Hell, I don't even use widgets on my desktop/laptop computers.

Is there really any practical use for having 1/4-1/2 of your screen size taken up by a big ass clock with weather information? Do you really need to see that every time you go to your home screen? Is knowing the weather forecast immediately that important?

I like to focus on one thing at a time when I'm using my phone. That's why the app focus of iOS works better for me than having a bunch of live-updating blocks/widgets.

I'm somewhere in the middle. If you're going to have 7 pages of widgets then you might as well just open the app since navigating to the widget is going to take just as long/longer. However having my appointment reminders, latest emails, weather and whatever else I find important available at a glance on one screen is awesome and useful. Makes remembering things and keeping up to date effortless.

 

[Dez]

I'm somewhere in the middle. If you're going to have 7 pages of widgets then you might as well just open the app since navigating to the widget is going to take just as long/longer. However having my appointment reminders, latest emails, weather and whatever else I find important available at a glance on one screen is awesome and useful. Makes remembering things and keeping up to date effortless.

That is pretty much achieved in ios5 with the notification centre.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm somewhere in the middle. If you're going to have 7 pages of widgets then you might as well just open the app since navigating to the widget is going to take just as long/longer. However having my appointment reminders, latest emails, weather and whatever else I find important available at a glance on one screen is awesome and useful. Makes remembering things and keeping up to date effortless.

I guess I just don't see the point.

Seeing the title or a preview of a new email does absolutely nothing for me personally. If I want to check my email, I will open up the appropriate email application. Same goes for social networking services. Short previews do absolutely nothing for me, personally. I like notifications that I have new messages, etc, but I don't need anything beyond that.

The only widget I personally found useful on my Droid was the power management one that allowed me to turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. or turn airplane mode on or off. Those settings are typically tucked in the settings menu, so it was convenient to be able to swipe to my second home screen and quickly access them. However, the only reason I ever *needed* to access those features was because the Droid was pure slimy dogshit at switching connections. Connected to Wi-Fi in the house? Expect to wait 15 minutes after leaving the house for the Droid to realize on its own that you're no longer in range of the Wi-Fi connection and switch to 3G. Got on an elevator or went underground? Expect to wait 5 minutes or more for the Droid to get off its ass and search for a signal again. The fact that I pretty much had to manually manage those connection settings was the only reason I found that widget to be useful. I have zero need for it on my iPhone, which I find instantly connects to whatever is available.

 

[def sim]

The point of widgets is that it's a nice option that gets information to you faster. I'm sure some people don't need it, but there are people that do and having that available to them is better than not.

 

[Gritesh]

I bought the iPhone 4s just got home a while ago and I'm trying to get everything set up. I figured that I already did the android thing and that I would try something new

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

About Android's widgets and options:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich-galaxy-nexus/

“What we heard from everyone we talked to in the study was that they love these things [smartphones], they are a part of their lives. They’re incredibly passionate about them. They can’t live without them. That was awesome. But we also heard a lot of things we didn’t like to hear.”

“With Android, people were not responding emotionally, they weren’t forming emotional relationships with the product. They needed it, but they didn’t necessarily love it.”

Matias says that the studies showed that users felt empowered by their devices, but often found Android phones overly complex. That they needed to invest more time in learning the phones, more time in becoming an expert. The phones also made users feel more aware of their limitations — they knew there was more they could do with the device, but couldn’t figure out how to unlock that power.

There's a balance, and an iPhone feels like it's ready the very first time you touch it, and you don't feel like any feature is hidden from you.

Android phones carry on the same feelings regular people have had with computers for so long: there's just so much here that I don't know about or don't know what it does or how to use it or how to turn it on/off or whatever, and people inevitably end up feeling too overwhelmed and incapable of using their device.

I'm not saying the iPhone doesn't need widgets. But the way it's done on Android right now aligns with the complexity and power argument that even Android's experience designer is agreeing needs to go away. There are ways to empower users without frightening or intimidating them, and someone will find a better way eventually.

 

[LCfiner]

I'm not saying the iPhone doesn't need widgets. But the way it's done on Android right now aligns with the complexity and power argument that even Android's experience designer is agreeing needs to go away. There are ways to empower users without frightening or intimidating them, and someone will find a better way eventually.

I agree. I think that MS is on the path to a better way. I think they’ve thought about it more than Google has. there’s much less configuration needed for live tiles and they provide a lot of the glanceable information that widget people seem to want. but from my understanding, it stops short of providing controls via the tiles.

still, it’s a lot easier than setting up Android widgets

 

[ahoyhoy]

Can't find the solution via Google, but...

Is there any way to extend the time between notification reminders (like texts)? I like the idea of having a reminder in case I don't hear the text chime the first time around, but having it play again two minutes later (or 5 times over the course of 10 minutes) is not ideal for me.

 

[Particle Physicist]

This has happened on every phone of mine with oleophobic coating, including an iPhone 4. I pretty much don't believe the people who say they don't have them, but I won't call them definite liars since I cannot see their phone.

How bright does the light have to be? I have been case-less since I got the phone and I don't see anything. As long as it looks fine in natural light, I don't really care, but I am curious.

 

[Husker86]

How bright does the light have to be? I have been case-less since I got the phone and I don't see anything. As long as it looks fine in natural light, I don't really care, but I am curious.

To see it best it has to be pretty sharp light, as in being able to see the bulb reflecting. Honestly it shouldn't take more than a few seconds of tilting the phone to the right angle to find them. I was half joking about not believing people who say they don't have them, I'm just really surprised.

 

[Maximus.]

I bought a bumper and a incase frosted snap case to test if I liked cases. I liked the bumper but it added a bit of thickness to the sides. I decided I would stick with just invisible shields for now. I may get an iskin if I can find the right color somewhere.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Anyone know of a app like appshoper that shows deals and free items for Itunes (movies, tv shows and music)?

 

[hyp]

appears that setting time zone feature might be the problem causing iphone 4S batteries to drain. a bug in ios5 perhaps.

http://mod.my/rEJMCz

 

[QualityPixel]

appears that setting time zone feature might be the problem causing iphone 4S batteries to drain. a bug in ios5 perhaps.

http://mod.my/rEJMCz

If this is true, then that would explain why I was scratching my head because of all these complaints. It's already off for me.

 

[Blackhead]

About Android's widgets and options:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich-galaxy-nexus/

"What we heard from everyone we talked to in the study was that they love these things [smartphones], they are a part of their lives. They're incredibly passionate about them. They can't live without them. That was awesome. But we also heard a lot of things we didn't like to hear."

"With Android, people were not responding emotionally, they weren't forming emotional relationships with the product. They needed it, but they didn't necessarily love it."

Matias says that the studies showed that users felt empowered by their devices, but often found Android phones overly complex. That they needed to invest more time in learning the phones, more time in becoming an expert. The phones also made users feel more aware of their limitations — they knew there was more they could do with the device, but couldn't figure out how to unlock that power.

There's a balance, and an iPhone feels like it's ready the very first time you touch it, and you don't feel like any feature is hidden from you.

Android phones carry on the same feelings regular people have had with computers for so long: there's just so much here that I don't know about or don't know what it does or how to use it or how to turn it on/off or whatever, and people inevitably end up feeling too overwhelmed and incapable of using their device.

I'm not saying the iPhone doesn't need widgets. But the way it's done on Android right now aligns with the complexity and power argument that even Android's experience designer is agreeing needs to go away. There are ways to empower users without frightening or intimidating them, and someone will find a better way eventually.

Well he's adjusted it for the upcoming Android 4.0, hasn't he? He's made widgets much more easier to discover and personalize. It should be as easy to use a widget as to use an app in Ice Cream Sandwich.

iOS5 has widgets. If we go by Apple's definition of a widget as a mini-application that provides "an easy way for people to access important information and perform simple tasks without disturbing their work" then it could be argued that iPhone OS has always had widgets—the iPod pop-up and lockscreen controls in 1.0, the the multitasking bar Settings controls added in iOS 3.2/4.0 and now the notification center Weather and Stock widgets for the iPhone in iOS5. Apple tends to hide away these features or make the overly complex to discover and configure. I've met a few people who had been using the iPhone for years but didn't know about the pop-up controls (we've seen a couple confessions on Gaf too) and those I did teach ended up confused by the change to the multitasking bar. Apple still needs to catchup with Google's implementation in Android; certainly what's shown in ICS is much better.

I agree. I think that MS is on the path to a better way. I think they’ve thought about it more than Google has. there’s much less configuration needed for live tiles and they provide a lot of the glanceable information that widget people seem to want. but from my understanding, it stops short of providing controls via the tiles.

still, it’s a lot easier than setting up Android widgets

I agree, Microsoft's widgets/tiles/hubs are very good, especially with the multiple apps tiles and deep linking added in Mango. Some third party apps provide tiles for settings but those aren't quite controls via tiles either.
Palm's widgets/notifications were amazing and still haven't been topped imo.

 

[jwluther]

appears that setting time zone feature might be the problem causing iphone 4S batteries to drain. a bug in ios5 perhaps.

http://mod.my/rEJMCz

It could be a placebo effect, but I saw that article earlier today, turned off that setting, and I currently have around 60% battery when I would normally be completely dead.

 

[Raitosaito]

So I tested out the camera today as I was just walking around.

Ish sho goodz

 

[SonnyBoy]

Was siri able to allow u to dictate an email from day 1? If so, I wasn't aware of it and thought it was limited to just text.

 

[Number45]

Yeah, that's been there from the start.

 

[Tunesmith]

It could be a placebo effect, but I saw that article earlier today, turned off that setting, and I currently have around 60% battery when I would normally be completely dead.

Turned it off yesterday as well, usual overnight standby drainage down from ~10% to 1-2%. Usage seems overall greatly improved too. If this is a placebo it's a damn convincing one!

 

[Keylime]

My battery life has been fine, but I turned off that setting just to see what kind of change it would make (if any).

Seems like the next patch release should be coming sooner rather than later with some of these battery issues being uncovered.

 

[Karish]

appears that setting time zone feature might be the problem causing iphone 4S batteries to drain. a bug in ios5 perhaps.

http://mod.my/rEJMCz

Mines been off and my battery life still blows.

 

[kevo_huevo]

Has anyone had any trouble with their phone syncing wirelessly to itunes? When I go into my phoen settings > wireless sync, the "sync now" button is greyed out, even though it is plugged into a chargers and connected to my wireless network (itunes is open). additionally, i have checked the options in itunes to automatically connect and display my device and to sync wirelessly. any ideas to resolve this?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Has anyone had any trouble with their phone syncing wirelessly to itunes? When I go into my phoen settings > wireless sync, the "sync now" button is greyed out, even though it is plugged into a chargers and connected to my wireless network (itunes is open). additionally, i have checked the options in itunes to automatically connect and display my device and to sync wirelessly. any ideas to resolve this?

Leave it alone and let it do it automatically. Has it been backing up normally without your intervention? Mine often starts the backup a couple hours after I plug it in.

 

[Number45]

I just want to say (again) how happy I am having gone with Three. Great package, amazing 3G speeds and this arrived in the post this morning:

It came ONE DAY late, and actually saved me from making special arrangements for the delivery (I knew it was going to be late). The bumper isn't the official one, it's this one, but overall I can't complain at all.

 

[Cathcart]

So I'm thinking about "upgrading" from the unlimited plan on my AT&T 4S to the 4GB plan because of tethering (I know jailbreaking is easy but I don't want to do it so that's not really an option).

I'm just wondering if anyone else has that and what they think about it? I'd mostly be using it with my Mac Air. Can you do stuff like play WoW or watch Netflix on the laptop or is it just good enough for web pages and messaging? I don't mind the extra money if it let's me do a lot more but I just wanted to check before losing unlimited forever.

 

[Keylime]

So I'm thinking about "upgrading" from the unlimited plan on my AT&T 4S to the 4GB plan because of tethering (I know jailbreaking is easy but I don't want to do it so that's not really an option).

I'm just wondering if anyone else has that and what they think about it? I'd mostly be using it with my Mac Air. Can you do stuff like play WoW or watch Netflix on the laptop or is it just good enough for web pages and messaging? I don't mind the extra money if it let's me do a lot more but I just wanted to check before losing unlimited forever.

I made the switch the moment they offered tethering plans. You can indeed play WoW on it, but it's not the smoothest experience.
You'll have something like 300-1000ms pings to server so all of your actions will slightly delayed (you couldn't raid with that kind of internet connection), but you can certainly do dailies and craft and all your other random stuff. I did a ton over that connection with my character.

I haven't jumped over my data cap yet, even when I was heavily tethering...so you should be safe. Something like watching Netflix movies would likely have a much bigger data pull than just playing WoW.

Don't regret the switch at all...and it's not like people with unlimited bandwidth are going to stay unlimited forever. Anyone that thinks AT&T is going to let those people stay unlimited forever is crazy. They are either going to incentivize people to death to switch to limited plans, or just straight up cut them off.

I reduced my voice plan to cover the difference in cost, so it all works out.

 

[kittens]

Last night I dreamt I got an iPhone 4S. But I didn't have any money to pay for a data plan. :lol

 

[jonnybryce]

About Android's widgets and options:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich-galaxy-nexus/

There's a balance, and an iPhone feels like it's ready the very first time you touch it, and you don't feel like any feature is hidden from you.

Android phones carry on the same feelings regular people have had with computers for so long: there's just so much here that I don't know about or don't know what it does or how to use it or how to turn it on/off or whatever, and people inevitably end up feeling too overwhelmed and incapable of using their device.

I'm not saying the iPhone doesn't need widgets. But the way it's done on Android right now aligns with the complexity and power argument that even Android's experience designer is agreeing needs to go away. There are ways to empower users without frightening or intimidating them, and someone will find a better way eventually.

That quote isn't exclusive of widgets and there are plenty of features on iOS, from the multitasking tray when you double tap to tapping the time bar to jump to the top of a page, that you're average iPhone user doesn't simply know about. It has to be discovered. There's no reason they can't make widgets another optional thing that ignorant users will have no trouble being left out of.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Has anyone had any trouble with their phone syncing wirelessly to itunes? When I go into my phoen settings > wireless sync, the "sync now" button is greyed out, even though it is plugged into a chargers and connected to my wireless network (itunes is open). additionally, i have checked the options in itunes to automatically connect and display my device and to sync wirelessly. any ideas to resolve this?

Mine's been doing the same. I have no idea why it won't sync.

edit: hm I just tried going into wi-fi sync on the iPhone first then started up iTunes. Seems to have worked.

 

[eggybob]

I've had a minor problem with my iPhone. All my music had album art but after a connection to itunes I'd say over 60% now don't show album art. Any reason why that's happened?

 

[Wrekt]

I've had a minor problem with my iPhone. All my music had album art but after a connection to itunes I'd say over 60% now don't show album art. Any reason why that's happened?

My album art has also gone retarded. Suddenly metal bands have Busta Rhymes plastered all over their album covers and indy DJs are a part of Dethklok now. In itunes, everything is correct but no amount of syncs or rebooting fixes the album art on the phone itself.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

That quote isn't exclusive of widgets and there are plenty of features on iOS, from the multitasking tray when you double tap to tapping the time bar to jump to the top of a page, that you're average iPhone user doesn't simply know about. It has to be discovered. There's no reason they can't make widgets another optional thing that ignorant users will have no trouble being left out of.

If someone is completely ignorant of extra features, do they care? With Android, people know they don't know everything there is to know about their phone. The complexity is immediately in your face. I assume most people tap on every iPhone app icon, dick around, and feel like they've seen it all and are in control.

Your last sentence is what I already said though: "There are ways to empower users without frightening or intimidating them, and someone will find a better way eventually."

 

[reilo]

I just want to say (again) how happy I am having gone with Three. Great package, amazing 3G speeds and this arrived in the post this morning:

http://i.imgur.com/XlISrl.jpg[/IMG

It came ONE DAY late, and actually saved me from making special arrangements for the delivery (I knew it was going to be late). The bumper isn't the official one, [URL="http://www.casestyle.co.uk/griffin-iphone-4s-reveal-bumper-frame-white.html"]it's this one[/URL], but overall I can't complain at all. :)[/QUOTE]
AT&T gave me a $50 credit because it arrived Saturday instead of Friday. I wasn't going to be able to pick it up on Friday anyhow hah.

 

[Technosteve]

bad thing about good internet speeds in my iphone 4s my usage is up, 300 megs in a week I blame YouTube fir working

 

[Bgamer90]

So... I still have no problem with people putting clear cases on their phones but I've moved from "team clear case" to "team caseless".

I took my clear case off of my 4S and played with it/held it for a while and realized how much better the build quality of the 4S is in comparison to the 3GS. The 3GS was light and felt cheap without a case due to it's plasticy nature. The 4S feels solid and is definitely heavier than the 3GS. The 4S is slim but yet feels as if it isn't due to it's weight. And the back is less prone to scratches. The 3GS was easy to scratch due to it's shiny plastic back.

So anyways, I'm going caseless though I'm not going to act like a jerk if I see someone with a case on their iPhone lol.

Also, I'm kind of regretting getting the 32GB version... have about 7 GB left after putting movies, games, and music on it these past few weeks. Should have got the 64GB.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

I got my pouch today. Only cost a few bucks and it works fine.