Got a VZW iPhone... some questions...

[Emulex]

then get to coding dude.

it's just a phone - i prefer to not be tied to work that way.

 

[Nothinman]

then get to coding dude.

it's just a phone - i prefer to not be tied to work that way.

Except that Apple's MO is to make you work their way...

 

[Anubis]

1) The fact that cant be done is why i like the iphone. My wife has had droid phones for years, and every goddamn one of them lights up some obnoxiously bright light if a text or e mail comes in. My bedroom looks like a baseball stadium if she forgets to turn the phone face down before going to sleep. Enjoy your phone and use audio if you want to know, or press the home button to check it periodically.

2) Again, without this you would hang up on people when you pick up the phone when its ringing since the incoming call activates the screen, etc etc. It takes less than half a second to unlock it, whats the problem... i even have a passcode on mine and it doesnt bother me in the least, i know i wont accidentally do anything to my phone in my pocket or anywhere else, AND if for some unforseen reason my phone is lost, i dont have to worry too much about anything on it being accessed.

3) Home page? This isnt a computer. Plus, the system stores where you were last, just like if you were to never close your browser on your computer, whenever you bring it up, theres where you were before.

You have the best phone on the market right now (imo anyway), if YOU dont like it, then you shouldnt have bought it, or done more research on it prior to doing so. Ido think if you use it for a little while though, it will become normal, and youll love the phone.

1) the light on the droid is not that bright, hell i almost never notice mine. also its a standard feature on most phones, notability BB. im actually kinda surprised that iphones dont do this or at least have an option for it

2) unless apple does something different im gonna guess this is wrong. FWIW you can do it on android phones just fine

3) home pages arent just for computers. not being able to set one is pretty stupid. if FF or Opera or any other browser works on ios then you can use those to do it. they all also support the quick select page. which is awesome

 

[gorcorps]

Eh... I wonder if there is any actual iPhone fanboy here... Or at least any person who can proclaim themselves as an iPhone fanboy?

1) The screen lights up when you have a new message. Leave it upside when you sit down. Alternatively, it vibrates when you have a new message. But if you're talking about leaving the phone there for hours to go shopping then getting back to find a light on, then... that's not possible yet. The only LED on the iPhone 4 that's capable of doing so is much too bright for that task. Click the home button to see the last notification anyhow, if the screen is off and the phone is not trying to shake that milk bottle off the table.

2) Bypassing slide to unlock incurs problems as sometimes your phone can bump in your pocket and lights the screen. Remember that it's not just the power button but the home button also turns the phone on. Some apps prevent the screen from turning off so the screen may stay on that way for a long time. Draining your battery needlessly. But if you absolutely don't want to waste that 0.5s to slide your finger across the screen, jailbreak is the only solution.

3) There are third-party browsers on the App Store that will allow you to have file downloading ability, *simple* file uploading ability (Flash-based and Java-based solutions don't work, obviously), homepage, Dropbox support, offline cache (default browser doesn't have that), and even user agent settings so you can masquerade as Internet Explorer. Some will charge you a premium, but the upside is you only have to purchase it once, and it'll be installable on a number of devices.

4) Just a hint: don't try anything, even paid, that offers to let you view Flash contents on your iPhone. If you absolutely have to, use your MacBook.

5) Just another hint: don't ask anything regarding how to not run iTunes to manage your phone. You are tied to iTunes one way or another. Even jailbreaking doesn't get you that far.

Edit:

6) If there is something you can't find in the iPhone's App Store, chances are it doesn't have an alternative when you've jailbroken the phone, or the alternative is in beta state and will be broken with the next firmware update.

A few comments:
#5) Not true. Though you do have to use itunes to update firmware and activate the phone, that's all you absolutely NEED it for. There's plenty of software that lets you manage everything else w/out itunes. I call that not being tied to itunes, because you only have to use it once every couple months for an update.

#6) Also not true. Most of what I use via jailbreak is stuff that can't be remedied elsewhere, which is exactly why we jailbreak. Is there an sbsettings in the app store? There wasn't last time I checked... How about winterboard? I don't think there's any official apps that let you change things that winterboard lets you do, given that it basically swaps files that apple never wanted you to swap. Lockinfo? I've only seen jailbreak apps that let you put stuff on your lock screen. There's more but those are the few big ones that most people still jailbreak for.

 

[runawayprisoner]

5) You have to use iTunes to back up, put music/videos/books, and do file sharing with supported apps on the device. There are music players that can read straight from arbitrary locations, but they are not very stable, and you lose equalization support from the official iPod app.

6) In my own opinions, SBSettings is not that much useful because you wouldn't be constantly trying to turn off WIFI, Bluetooth and all that jazz. For the most part, automatic brightness works well, and iOS tries to manage all of the radio for better battery life, plus it'll manage memory better so you really don't need SBSettings for any reason at all past iOS 4.0. LockInfo is nice, but it's buggy, and what do you really need it for? Put information on the lockscreen or homescreen (yes, it does put widgets and stuffs onto the homescreen as well)? You can access those information whenever you want by tapping the respective icons, and you don't drain battery and data plan needlessly while those widgets and information apps try to update in the background. I can justify having Winterboard for theming purposes, but at the end of the day, it's a phone. Apple's default interface looks pretty and consistent enough. Even using Winterboard doesn't help make your device look significantly better since consistency is not there. You'll just be able to theme the homescreen and lockscreen for the most part. I have jailbroken my devices extensively... all the way from the 2.x days, and I've recently given up with iOS 4.2 because there just isn't a need to do so anymore. Stock works well, and I don't have to constantly deal with instability issues from jailbreak apps trying to hog resources or any of that thing. Of course, when people start to use their phones as more than just phone, I can see what would happen with jailbreaking,... but hey, it's just a phone to me. I use some apps occasionally, but I'm over trying out 10 apps or so a day.

Edit:
Number 1 reason for me to give up on jailbreaking: every time there is a new firmware, it takes weeks for a jailbreak to come out, then it takes months for apps to be compatible, by which time, another new firmware with better features or fixes for certain things would have already come out.

 

[Metron]

I'm the opposite, I loved having the LED light different colors for different notifications so that I could just look at the phone without turning on the screen to see if I had a text, work email, personal email, FB notification, etc. It's one of the things I miss most from my BB now that I have an Incredible.

Download "Blink" from Market.... free app that lets you customize your LED colors for each notification. Free!

 

[gorcorps]

5) You have to use iTunes to back up, put music/videos/books, and do file sharing with supported apps on the device. There are music players that can read straight from arbitrary locations, but they are not very stable, and you lose equalization support from the official iPod app.

6) In my own opinions, SBSettings is not that much useful because you wouldn't be constantly trying to turn off WIFI, Bluetooth and all that jazz. For the most part, automatic brightness works well, and iOS tries to manage all of the radio for better battery life, plus it'll manage memory better so you really don't need SBSettings for any reason at all past iOS 4.0. LockInfo is nice, but it's buggy, and what do you really need it for? Put information on the lockscreen or homescreen (yes, it does put widgets and stuffs onto the homescreen as well)? You can access those information whenever you want by tapping the respective icons, and you don't drain battery and data plan needlessly while those widgets and information apps try to update in the background. I can justify having Winterboard for theming purposes, but at the end of the day, it's a phone. Apple's default interface looks pretty and consistent enough. Even using Winterboard doesn't help make your device look significantly better since consistency is not there. You'll just be able to theme the homescreen and lockscreen for the most part. I have jailbroken my devices extensively... all the way from the 2.x days, and I've recently given up with iOS 4.2 because there just isn't a need to do so anymore. Stock works well, and I don't have to constantly deal with instability issues from jailbreak apps trying to hog resources or any of that thing. Of course, when people start to use their phones as more than just phone, I can see what would happen with jailbreaking,... but hey, it's just a phone to me. I use some apps occasionally, but I'm over trying out 10 apps or so a day.

Edit:
Number 1 reason for me to give up on jailbreaking: every time there is a new firmware, it takes weeks for a jailbreak to come out, then it takes months for apps to be compatible, by which time, another new firmware with better features or fixes for certain things would have already come out.

5.) Then you just haven't found the right program yet. I can assure you that there are programs out there that let you update your music and videos without itunes, yet still have them appear in the itunes library just like you used itunes. Official ipod app still works. I'm not sure if something apple did broke these programs recently, because I haven't used my phone for that stuff in a while, but when 4.0 first came out what I was using worked just fine without the issues you mentioned. I'm sure there's bad programs out there, but there's ones that do it properly too.

6.) We just have different ideas of what's useful I guess. I turn bluetooth and wifi on/off several times a day. No reason to keep them running when I'm not in a wifi zone or am using bluetooth. Autobrightness works well now, but on my 3G it was worthless. I turned it off and adjusted my brightness myself. I also am one who likes to customize their stuff. I want the phone to feel like mine, and not just another Apple product. Agreed that it's not necessary, but it's important to me and others as well. I use a special SMS tone so I know that I got a text, and not one of the other 5 iphones within earshot. If stock works well for you, that's fine. I've just been jailbroken for far too long and giving it up really limits what I know is possible on the device.

 

[Nothinman]

Download "Blink" from Market.... free app that lets you customize your LED colors for each notification. Free!

The issue is more that the the LED is the size of a pin so it's pretty much useless. I've had the thing so long now that my usage patterns have changed and I don't are any more. =)

 

[runawayprisoner]

5.) Then you just haven't found the right program yet. I can assure you that there are programs out there that let you update your music and videos without itunes, yet still have them appear in the itunes library just like you used itunes. Official ipod app still works. I'm not sure if something apple did broke these programs recently, because I haven't used my phone for that stuff in a while, but when 4.0 first came out what I was using worked just fine without the issues you mentioned. I'm sure there's bad programs out there, but there's ones that do it properly too.

6.) We just have different ideas of what's useful I guess. I turn bluetooth and wifi on/off several times a day. No reason to keep them running when I'm not in a wifi zone or am using bluetooth. Autobrightness works well now, but on my 3G it was worthless. I turned it off and adjusted my brightness myself. I also am one who likes to customize their stuff. I want the phone to feel like mine, and not just another Apple product. Agreed that it's not necessary, but it's important to me and others as well. I use a special SMS tone so I know that I got a text, and not one of the other 5 iphones within earshot. If stock works well for you, that's fine. I've just been jailbroken for far too long and giving it up really limits what I know is possible on the device.

5) If there are actual solutions, then please name them so I can give them another whirl. Last I checked, there was nothing anywhere that can do said task.

6) I think then that an Android phone may fit your need better. If it's looks that you are after then Android might do a better job.

 

[Zen0]

5) If there are actual solutions, then please name them so I can give them another whirl. Last I checked, there was nothing anywhere that can do said task.

6) I think then that an Android phone may fit your need better. If it's looks that you are after then Android might do a better job.

Android has free GPS. That's really about it.

Man, if the DroidX has predictive on screen typing like my Droid did, jesus I would not be surprised if those users go suicidal.

Something about the Apple Magic that allows the on screen keyboard to actually work... incredible programmers really... I had to use my Droid's physical keyboard to prevent me from committing sepuku on a daily basis.

 

[Nothinman]

Android has free GPS. That's really about it.

Man, if the DroidX has predictive on screen typing like my Droid did, jesus I would not be surprised if those users go suicidal.

Something about the Apple Magic that allows the on screen keyboard to actually work... incredible programmers really... I had to use my Droid's physical keyboard to prevent me from committing sepuku on a daily basis.

There are alternate keyboards available in the market and the X comes with Swype preinstalled. I've been using SwiftKey for a while now and it's awesome.

 

[Kmax82]

5) If there are actual solutions, then please name them so I can give them another whirl. Last I checked, there was nothing anywhere that can do said task.

6) I think then that an Android phone may fit your need better. If it's looks that you are after then Android might do a better job.

Just because you dislike a couple aspects doesn't mean you need to jump ship, or you'd be better off with Android.

I love my iPhone, but there are things that it could do better, which jailbreaking provides.

1) A better notification system (Notified Pro).
2) Pertinent info at a glance (LockInfo 3.0 Beta, 2.0 was a mess IMO).
3) Free tethering (TetherMe).
4) Quick toggling of settings (SBSettings).

However, I still love the rest of my iPhone. These are just things I add, because I can. If I ever were at a point that I couldn't have these, then I would just remove my jailbreak and go stock, because there is more that I like than dislike. Where as with what I've played with on Android it's the opposite. There are more things that annoy me on Android.

 

[Nothinman]

Just because you dislike a couple aspects doesn't mean you need to jump ship, or you'd be better off with Android.

I love my iPhone, but there are things that it could do better, which jailbreaking provides.

1) A better notification system (Notified Pro).
2) Pertinent info at a glance (LockInfo 3.0 Beta, 2.0 was a mess IMO).
3) Free tethering (TetherMe).
4) Quick toggling of settings (SBSettings).

However, I still love the rest of my iPhone. These are just things I add, because I can. If I ever were at a point that I couldn't have these, then I would just remove my jailbreak and go stock, because there is more that I like than dislike. Where as with what I've played with on Android it's the opposite. There are more things that annoy me on Android.

But you're still tied to iTunes, which is a major problem for some people. And despite gocorps assertion to the opposite no other apps have been mentioned to manage your iPhone's music, apps, etc.

And it's kind of funny that 3 of the 4 apps you mention to make your iPhone better cost money. So you pay a premium for the iPhone itself and then have to hand over money to a handful of 3rd party devs in order to make it work the way you want, nice.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Android has free GPS. That's really about it.

Man, if the DroidX has predictive on screen typing like my Droid did, jesus I would not be surprised if those users go suicidal.

Something about the Apple Magic that allows the on screen keyboard to actually work... incredible programmers really... I had to use my Droid's physical keyboard to prevent me from committing sepuku on a daily basis.

Well, don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that you absolutely have to switch to Android if you find something you can't do on your iPhone. It's just that if pretty graphics and widgets were a major reason for you to jailbreak then I feel Android would be a better fit as Android offers more customization choices. Though not necessarily deeper customization.

Plus as mentioned, you have to pay for those iPhone customizations just to be able to match what you can get for free on Android.