On March 24th, Apple previewed it’s next major release of the iphone os; iPhone OS 4. The new os has over 1500 new APIs for developers and over 100 new user features including multitasking and folders for apps.
I have been running this new OS for a few weeks and while it is a good update, its still lacking some features that we have come to expect from smartphones.
Here are what I feel are the substantial features still missing from the iPhone platform:
Profiles: profiles would enable a user to switch multiple settings at the touch of the screen. One could set up a “bed time” profile to put the phone in silent mode, lower the screen brightness, turn on airplane mode etc
Widgets: utilized in almost every other smartphone platform, widgets give the user digestible information without the need for running individual apps. Widgets would especially shine on the iPad’s larger screen and could be implemented in a similar way to Mac OS X.
Smart folders in Mail: In OS 4, Apple has added a unified inbox for all the email accounts. What would however be even more awesome would be the ability to create and save smart folder based on search criteria. These could then be synced with the MobileMe cloud and across devices.
Shared file system: whilst I understand Apple’s desire to obliviate the file system as we know it, apps still need to share and pass information between each other. There has been some headway in this area but it still leaves a lot to be desired. What I would like to see if a shared location in the same manner as the photos library where apps can drop and pick files from. Ideally this would also sync to the cloud.
Podcast Subscription: its great that I can search and watch podcasts from the iTunes app on the iPad. However, what would be even more useful would be if I could actually subscribe to my favorite podcasts and then get alerted when new episodes are available to watch.
Built-in cloud service: If you have used DropBox you will know exactly where I am going with this. Currently, the method of getting documents in and out of the iPhone OS 4 is a bad joke (using iTunes!). Even Windows Mobile’s ActiveSync could at least synchronize any selected folders. What’s needed is a DropBox type of service thats baked right into the OS. If Apple is then unwilling to provide a local shared location for information exchange, then the cloud service could prove to be an even better solution.
Btw, this is my first post from the iPad. I drafted it in Pages and copied the final into the WordPress app.
