iPhone - basic phone functionality

Parsec

Parsec

Parsec

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16 Aug 2005
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I've been eyeing up the iphone since it was released, and had another try of it in the o2 shop today. There's £100 off at the moment although it looks like the 3g version is due after the sale ends.

First - is the iphone simple and non-annoying to use as a calling and texting machine? I'm quite fussy in this, always had Nokia and once bought a SE a few years ago which I had to get rid of after a few months because the UI was pants. The steps to call someone on the iphone looked a bit long winded to me compared to hitting down-arrow on a nokia phone and then hitting the first letter of the persons name, then scolling down.

Second - is 3G really all it's cracked up to be, is it really worth waiting and paying the extra?

I'm interested to know what people think :)
 
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edit the swear boss.

The UI is the best in the business I find.
May come across as a little fisher price/simple as there isn't a lot to choose from regarding settings but its fantastic and works flawlessly.

Texting is awkward at first but can be mastered quite easily except its dam near impossible to text while moving.
 
I like simple and easy, "convention over configuration", make it work the way 90% of people want it and don't faff about with loads of config settings for the other 10%

Bit worried about what you said about the texting though because you can text moving on a normal phone. Is there other options for texting i.e. a different prog that is easier to use I wonder.

When texting I thought you'd be able to turn the device around and use it landscape format to get the bigger keyboard but strangely it doesn't support it.
 
What I think he means is that it's impossible to text by touch, you have to be looking at the screen to text properly. It's easy to text while moving with the iPhone, just be aware of your surroundings.
 
testing is easy, you just got to trust the software to correct your mistakes and you can type very fast with it, faster than you will ever be with t9.
 
The correction part of texting was the one bit I found a bit less than intuitive at first. Say you type a word wrong, the phone suggests the right word in a bubble with a little X icon to the right.

I was trying to tap the bubble, trying to hit return to accept, nothing worked. That you press the spacebar is not obvious - bit it works when you get used to it :)

What do people think about 3g - I'm not convinced it's that great but haven't used it for a year or two
 
There is a transparent overlay you can get, much like the screen protectors, that has the positions of the keys cut out. So you can text just by feel, I can't find the stupid website for love nor money though. But with this overlay you could text while walking etc.

I tell a lie I finally found it!!

Its called My Touch Keys and here is the link:

http://www.mytouchkeys.com/
 
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AFK_Matrix said:
There is a transparent overlay you can get, much like the screen protectors, that has the positions of the keys cut out. So you can text just by feel, I can't find the stupid website for love nor money though. But with this overlay you could text while walking etc.

I tell a lie I finally found it!!

Its called My Touch Keys and here is the link:

http://www.mytouchkeys.com/
Click to expand...

Ok for texting, sucks for video viewing or surfing.
 
Parsec said:
I was trying to tap the bubble, trying to hit return to accept, nothing worked. That you press the spacebar is not obvious - bit it works when you get used to it :)
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Yeah you don't have to do anything to accept the word just type away as normal. I really love testing on the device and its much quicker than on a normal phone for me.
 
i wouldnt say its quite the best in the business. the concept is sheer brilliance but apple left so many holes in the interface. thats why weve all jailbroken and spent hours customising, right? a lot of the software from apple is counter-intuitive , the way you access text messages just seems backwards, you have to go in to options just to access the contact list. you have to go in to options to access the ipod settings (WTF is that all about).... its very unfinished in its out of the box state.


oh, and no MMS from apple either lol.
 
james.miller said:
i wouldnt say its quite the best in the business. the concept is sheer brilliance but apple left so many holes in the interface. thats why weve all jailbroken and spent hours customising, right? a lot of the software from apple is counter-intuitive , the way you access text messages just seems backwards, you have to go in to options just to access the contact list. you have to go in to options to access the ipod settings (WTF is that all about).... its very unfinished in its out of the box state
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Options to access the contact list?

I quite like having all the options in one place, rather than cluttering up each app, but I do agree there's rather large holes in the functionality as standard.

Hard to believe MMS still isn't in the latest 2.0 betas.
 
whats frustrating about that is that you have to come out of the ipod to access the equalizer. thats just silly lol. ive fixed virtually all of the flaws i can - mms works, i did have ethe replacement sms program (called SMSd but for some reason it stopped working lol). double tapping the home button now brings up the contact list. i use 'Categories' to group programs together on the summerboard to keep it nice and clean ect

edit sorry not the contact list from settings, i was thinking of something else :/ lol
 
hyper_piper45 said:
It does screw you over sometimes though! :D

Does anyone know if the dictionary learns new words after time or not?
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The instructions seem to imply it learns words you use and corrections you cancel, and it seems to have added some words for the more colourful side of my vocabulary to the autocomplete for me already :)
 
hyper_piper45 said:
It does screw you over sometimes though! :D

Does anyone know if the dictionary learns new words after time or not?
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Yes it does.

I wanted to put in the word "pocky", it suggested "picky", so I pressed the x and next time i put in pocky again it doesn't suggest Picky, so it does remember it.
 
Hmmm.

I'm still not 100% convinced by the texting ability of the iphone.

Just out of interest, if it really bugged me (the onscreen keys being too small) would it be possible to use a stylus or does the screen work off current and need you use your actual finger?
 
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