When I first heard that Apple was going to be releasing a phone, I was a little gun shy. I had never owned a Mac but had worked (and played) on them in school. Being a graphic designer had its perks. But I was in the market for a new phone after having carried the Motorola Razr for so long, so I began researching the iPhone. Luckily, Apple had signed an exclusive contract with AT&T, which was my carrier. The phone came out in June and although I would not get my very own until Christmas I spent many hours inside the Apple store playing with the device.
After I got the phone I fell in love with the features that were at my fingertips. I could browse the Internet with mobile Safari, sync my email and my calendar, and even download and listen to numerous albums with the iPod functionality. It even has GPS with turn-by-turn directions, a calculator (turn it sideways for a scientific calculator), and an always-changing App Store that allows you to download any number of useful apps. This phone was a dream come true and I used it all the time. But the phone is not perfect. I want to take some time to discuss what I feel are five flaws that Apple needs to fix for the iPhone to truly be the best smart phone on the market. (I know, I could hardly believe it either – Ricky Potts is blogging something negative about the iPhone.)
5. Dirty Screens
Whose idea was it to make a touch-screen phone that not only showed every fingerprint, but also was impossible to clean? I mean, sure, out of the box they give you a cloth that was designed to clean this screen, but who actually knows where that is? I want to be able to use my sleeve to clean my screen. Regardless, this is a big issue when you want to show someone something on your phone. You hand them the phone without wiping it off first and they will look at you like you are crazy. I wish they had taken the time to develop a screen that would still allow the ease of a finger but also stay a lot cleaner that this one does.
4. One Carrier
I hate that I have to be on AT&T to be able to carry an iPhone. Sure, I could jailbreak my phone and use it on any network, but I like the fact that I have Apple and their customer care in my back pocket. That gives me a feeling of security. I had an instance with my first generation phone where I kept breaking every set of headphones I had. It was not because I broke them on purpose, it was just because I was using them. Even after the phone was out of the warranty period, Apple still replaced my headphones each time I needed a new pair. I went through seven sets.
But, all that aside, being forced to have AT&T does not allow me options when it comes to cell phone packages. I have to pay what they tell me. If they say that unlimited text messages are $XX.XX, then I pay that. No other options. Other carriers are actually offering much better deals while AT&T has not let up on their price points at all.
3. Battery Life
Holy crap does the battery life on an iPhone suck! It was a little better on my first generation phone, but the 3GS is running (by choice) on 3G data speeds all day long. That kills the battery. Sure, I charge it the night before I go out, but on any normal Saturday the phone won’t make it through half the day before needing a boost. You would think that if Apple were producing a phone with as much power as this thing, they would have put a little more research and development into the battery. Not to mention that the battery is not removable. With my previous phone, I could simply grab an extra battery and go. With the iPhone, that’s not an option.
2. Volume
The volume on this phone is terrible. I have my phone on vibrate 90% of the time, so ringer volume is not that big of a deal for me, but the volume when I am on a call is disappointingly low. I have to have the phone nearly full blast when I am on a conversation because I can barely hear the person. Time and again when using this phone, I have to say, “What did you say?” And the 3GS is no better than the first generation. The only solution I’ve found is to use the headphones when I’m on a call. The good thing about this is that I am usually listening to music anyway, so the headphones are always close by.
1. Running Multiple Applications
This is by far my biggest pet peeve with the iPhone. Most (if not all) smart phones on the market can run multiple applications at once. The iPhone can’t. I can listen to Pandora just fine. I can send a text message just fine. But I cannot listen to Pandora and send a text message at the same time. That bothers me. This is also something that could easily be fixed with a software update. That’s the beauty of this phone – everything syncs to iTunes when connected to the computer. So why has it been over two years and still no update to fix this issue?
Perhaps this is my way of proving that I am human. I have taken what I feel to be one of the greatest inventions in our lifetimes and shown you five flaws that might affect some people from switching to the iPhone. Regardless of these minor issues, I have to keep telling myself that nothing is perfect. In the end, Apple still has my heart and AT&T has my paycheck.
Your number one issue is my number one issue as well. Your example is the exact example I would have used too. I haven’t really noticed the volume thing, but then again I hardly ever actually talk on my phone. The battery thing is killer. This is the first phone I’ve had where I had to have a car charger.