iPhone OS 4 Wishlist – What Are The Features You Want To See?

Craig Grannell ()

iPhone OS 4 Wishlist – What Are The Features You Want To See?

Leander posted yesterday about rumoured features for iPhone OS 4.0, including multi-touch gestures OS-wide, background apps, UI changes, and more.

Today, on TechRadar, Gary Marshall outlined his thoughts on 10 ways to make iPhone OS 4.0 damn near perfect, offering ideas such as disabling orientation, deleting default apps, home-screen widgets, document sync from a Mac (or PC), Mail filters, and one I’d love to see—touchable wireless icons (so you can disable Wi-Fi without accessing Settings).

I commented on that article with ideas of my own about what I want to see in iPhone OS 4.0:

Mail needs an optional unified inbox that can be set as the default view. Forcing me to go in and out of each inbox is dumb.

All default apps should be removable, with a suitably chunky warning if you decide to do so. If Apple only hides them, I don’t care. Perhaps there should be a show/hide list in Settings.

The Springboard needs serious work, because while it was great pre-App Store, it’s now a nightmare to arrange/organise apps. One might argue you should do this in iTunes, but plenty of people only use their device, ignoring iTunes in the main.

I’d like to see an app list, available by swiping left of Spotlight to access an app launcher that lists every app on the device, but that can be filtered as per Spotlight. I did a mock-up of this for Cult of Mac back in October.

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On deleting an app, you should be able to optionally store its settings, which should (again, optionally) be available when reinstalling the App via iTunes at a later date. In other words, if I’ve spent 20 hours getting 90% of the way through Myst or Peggle, but delete the app, I shouldn’t have to start from scratch on reinstalling it. As it stands, Apple’s decided iPhone and iPod touch gaming should be akin to cheapo Nintendo DS carts, as opposed to something with a battery back-up. Such a system would benefit apps, too.

Also, Apple should fire/beat to within an inch of their life whoever came up with the sync UI in iTunes and get someone with some actual talent to redesign it. I don’t appreciate ‘film’ titles being truncated after about 25 characters, forcing me to check a tiny thumbnail to see if I’m syncing the right one. And the Applications tab is a disgrace, coming across like an interactive Flash website from 1999, not a robust system for organising your apps.

So, what are your wishes for iPhone 4.0? Tell us in the comments!

84 comments »

About the author

Craig Grannell

Craig Grannell is Cult of Mac's designer and an occasional contributor. He also runs iPhoneTiny.com, a Twitter-driven reviews site for iPhone apps and games. Follow Craig on Twitter @CraigGrannell and visit his website, Snub Communications.

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Posted in iPhone, iPhone Apps, iPod Touch, Opinions, Top stories |

← Older Comments
  • kojo

    Two words. LANDSCAPE SPRINGBOARD! I’m sick of going back and forth from portrait to landscape a million times while using my iPhone. Needs the (optional) home screen orientation to be either set portrait, set landscape or auto-rotate.

  • kojo

    I’d also like to see full status bar customization, such as changing that annoying iPod text in the top to a custom text. Icons saying you have unread SMS email etc… temperature, battery power different wifi symbols. just one of the many reasons I jailbroke my iPhone.

  • http://www.mr2.org.nz John

    Keep Flash away, we dont need Adobes crappy bug ridden and security nightmare client on iPhone.
    Wireless synch with iTunes – please!!!!!! Synch with multiple iTunes, please!!! I want to get my podcasts at work and keep my music at home.
    Actually, a neat iTunes feature would be podcast subscription sync.
    A swipe guesture for airplane mode with a slider confirmation like with power off.
    A delay before requiring to swipe to unlock, and allow you to pick the direction of the swipe- some of us are lefthanded.
    Sheduled ring volumes or sound profiles.

  • Jason

    -New Tones
    -Faster access to settings like wi-fi, airplane mode, bluetooth – that’s the main reason I have jailbroken my iPhone – SBSettings
    -improved texting application with ability to quick reply with pre-made phrases like: “Can’t text now, I’m driving!”, “On my way home.”, “Hurry, get naked.”
    -multiple user accounts on the iphone with parental controls that limit the device to “phone use only”

  • Proto732

    Separate Signatures for each mail account you have setup. If I am looking at my Exchange mail from work, I want my work signature and details on the messages I send. If I am in my personal gmail account my simple name signature should be applied.

    Pressing the Mail icon should take you to an account chooser, rather than into the last mailbox folder you were looking at.

    Notification sounds!! Let users customize alert tones. Sell them in iTunes for 25 cents each if you must have control over the process, just let me pick something unique so I am not reaching for my phone every time someone else’s goes off.

    Give me the option to flag messages for follow up on Exchange accounts.

  • aaron

    Ability to selectively lock individual apps with 4 digit code. So when you hand it off to someone or a kid to play a game, there not all snooping around in your other apps. This goes for mail as well. Also ability to control the mail notifications like other apps.

  • http://Funhousegames.webs.com Zack

    I am with everybody on everything. But those people who say you don’t need flash…… YES YOU DO. I’m getting sick of the AppStore. And let jailbreaking. I mean really apple. If you don’t let people jailbreak apple is just gonna have the same problem they had in the 90′s… NO MONEY!!!

  • Brian

    1. NO FLASH. Flash makes either my Mac or PC so hot I can fry eggs. It’s a battery whore of the first magnitude. Flash was designed for desktop computers, not handhelds. It can be eclipsed by other technologies, and the sooner, the better.

    2. Structure user-created data so that it can be backed-up independently. This is a biggie for me. I have experienced OS corruption twice during back-up/synching that nuked all my data. While it is trivial to recover apps, recovering lost data is not. Some apps, such as Splash ID, sync independently with a desktop version, which assures my data won’t be lost. Gas Cubby lets you sync/back up data you enter with cloud-based storage. Either I would like to see more app developers offer some sort of option for this, or even better, have Apple make it so that we can back up the data we create independently to an external drive or storage device.

    3. Update app and file management. I use a lot of apps on my iPhone. I would love it if there was a way to group my apps into a folder or something similar. While you can sort apps in iTunes for rearranging on your iPhone (thanks for adding this!), it can be a tedious exercise. Being able to cluster apps together might make it easier to get to what we want faster.

    4. Locking individual apps and files with a security code. Some apps like Splash ID have this feature (along with heavy encryption). I would like to see this at a system-wide level to protect access to my private data.

    5. The ability to hide apps. (See #4 above.)

    6. The ability to select some apps to multi-task. A perfect example are travel apps like TravelTracker, FlightUpdate or TripCase can’t access the iPhone Calendar, because the API for this is locked by Apple. A shame. I hope that this is a feature in OS 4.0. I understand why Apple is being so tight – just look at the growth of malware on Android phones. But I hope a reasonable way can be fashioned between Apple and the developer community.

    7. Take a look at the WebOS from Palm and steal a few of their better ideas. They stole from Apple – it’s payback time.

    8. An option for a unified in-box, but only as an option. My corporate email (via Exchange) is a flood. The last thing I need is having all my personal email mixed in. But to others, this is important. By making it an option, everyone wins.

    9. Spam filtering for email. Please!

    Thanks!

  • Jacqui

    The ability to switch bluetooth function on quickly without having to go through settings all the time!

  • Mark

    1. Flash player
    2. Multitasking.
    3. Home screen? Maybe, maybe…

    Some wrote “tethering, iPhone must hold more than 200 email” – in OS 3, we already have this! I have more than 300 e-mails, and iPhone is OK.

  • Dadou

    To be able to turn on/off the landscape mode. I’m sick of CoverFlow when i’m not totally straight on two feet.

  • Col

    I want to be able to delete a TV show or movie in the same way I can delete an app.

    When I’m trying to download an episode in a wifi hotspot to watch then and there, there’s nothing more annoying than being told I don’t have enough room to do so.

    Especially as the only way to make room is to go home and go through the cumbersome syncing procedure via my laptop.

  • Meredith

    Three things I would LOVE:

    1. At present, we can upload and use custom ringtones, which can also double as alarms. Why can’t we also upload other custom sounds for texts, notifications etc? At present, the iPhone only offers six text sounds and NO options for the others. My friends with dinky clamshells have more flexibility.

    2. Allow us to customize the dynamic range on auto-brightness. I am constantly having to manually adjust day- and nighttime brightnesses because either the daytime setting is too dim or the nighttime setting is too bright.

    3. Similarly, provide a way to adjust the touch screen sensitivity. If, like most of us, you have a screen protector on your phone, touch responsiveness can be an issue; this is particularly bad if you have a “privacy screen.” I’ve noticed this problem particularly in very cold weather.

  • SP

    1. Multi-tasking option – turn on or off at my choosing
    2. Ability to set different mailbox accounts to have different new mail sounds (Blackberry offers this, why the heck doesn’t the iPhone?)
    3. Agree about listening to music apps while doing something else (goes to multi-tasking option)
    4. Force-quit option like on Mac.
    5. Built-in system stats
    6. Agree with ability to arrange apps by category/type
    7. iTunes/App Store wish-list

  • Andy

    Bluetooth, beeing able to use headset to skip songs

  • http://www.cultofmac.com darren

    A quick notes sync facility to load stuu on the pc. i dont use outlook but gmail instead so its frustrating big time

  • Shawnii

    They should have a pre-installed iPhone to iPhone messanger /application like “BBM” (Blackberry Messanger) that the Blackberry has! Or come out with an app. so we can get blackberry messanger on our iPhones, so we can talk with our blackberry friends ! Apple would make MILLIONS of dollars if that would happen because every teenager is OBSSESED with BBM, and I’m even thinking about changing from Iphone to a blackberry. So yeah please come out with an app for that!

  • http://www.dinnielim.com Dinnie

    I would love for CoverFlow to be switched off as and when I like. And for Safari as well.
    A native, built-in MSN Messenger or AIM or Yahoo Messenger for those of us who don’t want to pay 1.99 for all-in-one messaging clients.
    I would also love for these messaging apps to run in the background even as I run other apps.
    And of course, custom message alert tones and notifications. This is the reason why I have not switched over from my Blackberry yet.
    Also, document syncing with my Mac would also be awesome, and perhaps Bluetooth transfer of songs and pictures that do not have DRM?

  • John Stainton

    I’d like to see apps run on the mac like widgets do – so I can seamlessly work in a notepad app that syncs to the phone version of the desktop version

    be able to edit my itunes lists, delete tracks to make space while on the move etc.
    Ability to macro/mutli delete mails and photos + filing of photos in sub folders

    I’d like categories for apps – like utility, music, games etc.

  • Aaron

    I’d love to have the ablility to make and save playlists on the iphone. Right now you can’t even save on-the-go playlists, which is stupid, because even the 2nd gen ipod let you save multiple on-the-go, which you just then re-named when they synched back to your computer.

    you can save lots of genius playlists, but no on the go. I can write 1000 word emails if i want, but i can’t make a playlist of songs that are from the library on my iphone and re-name it? that’s confusing.

    Some things others have mentioned: quick access to wifi/airplane mode, but most importantly, bluetooth. wifi and airplane are resonably easy to get to, but bluetooth is burried way down, real convinient if you’ve turned it off to save battery and are now trying to turn it back on so your headset will work. Voice dialing for 3g iphones is needed as well, as more and more places are making it illegal to dial or text while driving.

    Email: a unified inbox would be a nice option, especially if you could choose which mail accounts went to it (ie unified personal accounts, separate work account. some have complained about deleting many emails, they obviously don’t know you can just swipe in the inbox to delete. i’d like to see a swipe right be delete, swipe left way be a “mark as read” so i don’t have to open an email that was nothing more than the subject and summary.

    push gmail. seriously, why no push gmail yet?
    minimal multi tasking, say for pre-installed basic apps like text messaging, mail, settings, etc. so i don’t have to go through the wait to re-load a game if i need to send an email.

  • jtroop

    ipod controls on cover flow

  • bioshazard

    Now that the Tablet has been announced, does anything change?

    I think no.

    I still want a unified inbox, flash support in safari, and multitasking (it can even be limited multitasking; just at least try, guys)

    I didn’t really complain about the lack of flash on the hone, but on the iPad? Steve, I thought you said it was supposed to be a “better” browsing experience, not a gimped one.

    Grats, Apple, you gave us not only an iPod Touch that doesn’t fit in your pocket, but also an underpowered, feature-limited netbook without a keyboard. Truly the worst of both worlds.

  • Mirpec

    Please add:
    - SMS counter of characters (160 per message)
    - Flash with enable/disable option
    - customizable alerts and ringtones (ascending tone for alarm/ringtone, on/off vibration on alarm)
    - SMS concepts folder
    - use iPhone as mass storage drive
    - bluetooth working with all phones
    - more camera settings and on/off camera sound
    - advanced lock screen
    - ability to specify image resolution for MMS, autoresize
    - autorotate springboard

    Thanks

    -

  • Toni

    FLASH PLAYER!!!!!!!
    FLASH PLAYER!!!!!!!
    FLASH PLAYER!!!!!!!
    FLASH PLAYER!!!!!!!
    FLASH PLAYER!!!!!!!

  • Banani

    Two very important features:
    - SMS delivery notification
    - More secure application uninstall (user should provide app store password before completely deleting an app from iPhone). Every time my son plays with my iphone I diiscover he deleted one or more apps with simple click, and the only way to restore is through iTunes!!! (in addition to losing all apps settings)

  • John Adams

    Playlist folders on the ipod app. I have 100s of playlists, organised in iTunes by playlist folder. I’d like to be able to see the playlist folders on the iPhone, just like the iPod nano.

  • Kalid Alyoasi

    * Bluetooth app to send and receive any file

    * file manger app

    * Chose video capturing format

    * Making iphone as a mass storage when i plug the USB

  • Kalid Alyoasi

    FM radio app

  • Josh

    Message alert tones need to be customizeable. I use this phone to run my business and hearing the same alerts allday and night not only puts me in a bad mood, I also become accustomed to them and begin to miss the messages. Again the “noise” becomes really, really annoying. I don’t mind buying an app for this option but, come on, this is supposed to be a smart phone.

  • Ron

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  • Heaven

    CUSTOM MESSAGE ALERT TONE OPTION UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH
    CUSTOM MESSAGE ALERT TONE OPTION UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH
    CUSTOM MESSAGE ALERT TONE OPTION UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH
    CUSTOM MESSAGE ALERT TONE OPTION UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH
    CUSTOM MESSAGE ALERT TONE OPTION UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH

  • nancy

    i accidentally deleted an email and found out that when deleting emails it doesn’t go to the trash box it just totally disappears. So i had no way in retrieving the email. It should go to the trash box until the 30 days limits up or when we empty the trash box.

  • http://www.4u2me.com Lasareath

    The ability to modify the spellcheck. The ability to add your own words so that it stops asking every single time if you misspelled a word that you type everyday and you know the spelling is correct.

  • John Meekins

    The ability to change the E-Mail notification sound.
    Well all sounds would be nice.

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