Allow me to begin by saying that, after just a couple of hours of use, I’m very impressed by the iPhone. In addition, it passes the Wife Test. In just under 15 seconds she was dashing all over the interface and, before a minute was out concluded, “This is beautiful.” (Usual caveat: My wife has no interest in technology, not because she’s not smart as a whip, but because she has better ways to spend her time. When she pronounces a gadget good, it is.)
With that out of the way, a couple of gripes.
AGHHHH, SPAM!!! Because I run SpamSieve on all my Macs I’d nearly forgotten how much of this crap I receive. Retrieving email on my iPhone reminded me. My iPhone offers no spam filtering that I can see and, man, do I need it.
Yes, I do have a Gmail account and because Gmail’s spam filtering is so good, I’m seriously considering moving more of my regular email work to that account.
Chalk this up as Reason Number One why I’d like people like SpamSieve’s author, Michael Tsai, access to the guts of the iPhone’s email client.
I miss my headphones I’m not a big fan of Apple’s earbuds, which explains why I’ve accumulated half a dozen other headphones that I favor for my iPods. Regrettably, the iPhone’s audio port is built in such a way that none of my other headphones work with it-the audio port is recessed so the headphone plugs can’t make a proper connection. Belkin and Griffin Technology will be shipping inexpensive iPhone headphone adapters at some point, but I’m sorry Apple didn’t include something like this in the box. Because the iPhone is also an iPod, I’d like the freedom to use it like one without such hindrances.
Less-than-ideal network reception As Rob Griffiths mentioned in a previous entry, wireless reception on the iPhone isn’t exactly robust. Like Rob, with the iPhone I’ve seen dead spots in the house where my Macs have no problems. And when it does make a connection it’s not the fastest network device I own. Usable, certainly, but not ultra-speedy.
No manual iPod management Although touted as “the best iPod” Apple’s ever made, it’s also more limited than recent iPods. Specifically, you can’t manually manage media on it. I’m in the habit of moving iPods from one computer to another, adding a bit of media from this computer and another bit from a different computer. This is impossible with an iPhone as it syncs only from the computer it’s attached to. Making this a two-for-one gripe, unlike with my other iPods, I can’t use the iPhone as a storage device. It can’t be mounted as a hard drive.
Re: Storage device.
The iPhone lacks this, but you can remove it anytime during synch - like to take a phone call. Devices that mount to the OS as a disk volume can't do this.
You can fill an iPhone manually! In the Manual Apple has posted today this possibility is being explained. I do not know though if severel Macs or PCs are supported. But why shouldn't it?
>You can fill an iPhone manually!
Unless I'm reading it wrong, what they describe in the manual is starting a sync manually -- disabling the "Automatically Sync When This iPhone is Connected" option then requires that you press the Sync button to sync your iPhone.
This isn't the same thing as being able to drag content from your iTunes library to the iPhone.
I wonder if it might be a good idea to set up an iPhone only email account, then have other accounts forward to that ( I don't know much about email and spam programs). Might be worth a try, unless in theory, this just wouldn't go through the spam filter first.
Hey, Chris, question for you: what if any streaming audio formats does it support? I know it won't (for now) work with sites that depend on a Flash player, and I gather it doesn't support streaming Real and Windows Media formats, but what about sites that offer iTunes, QuickTime, or generic MP3 streams?
Phonewise, I'm satisfied with my Treo, but I'm a radio fan, and if the iPhone would replace the pocket radio I always carry as well as the Treo, it might be worth it to me. I went by the Apple store in Emeryville this moorning to pose this question, but the staff person I talked to told me he hasn't yet been able to get *any* streaming audio working on his new iPhone.
You can find on the Apple Web site the iPhone TTY Adapter for your headset
This is impossible with an iPhone as it syncs only from the computer it's attached to.
Does that mean, that even calendars and addressbook only syncs with one computer, or is this syncing with only one computer is just limited to the media?
Ouch. No spam filtering. There goes the email practical usage.
Ouch. Headphones other than Apple's mediocre ear buds don't work without adapter that's not available yet. Thud. Bad design and planning there.
Apple has GOT to find a way to make using their iPods (and now the "greatest iPod", the iPhone) work better with multiple computers.
The sound of oh-too-many unactivated iPhones sitting on desks and tables around the country.
The sound of pencils being tapped on desks and tables while iPhone bleeding-edgers ponder various forms of physical violence to be perpetrated.....
>what if any streaming audio formats does it support?
It supports QuickTime. I've been able to stream the Macworld podcast -- both the AAC and MP3 versions -- as well as some QuickTime video from Crooks and Liars.
>Does that mean, that even calendars and addressbook only syncs with one computer, or is this syncing with only one computer is just limited to the media?
It's just limited to the media. When you attach the iPhone to a different computer and sync just the info you're offered the option to replace the Info (contacts, events, mail accounts, and bookmarks) or merge them.
Good question. I wouldn't have seen this feature if you hadn't asked.
Hey Henry Norr,
The Treo can do streaming audio by using Pocket Tunes in combination with Shoutcast.com
Hey Chris,
How is the phone calling reception on AT&T's shoddy voice network?
>It's just limited to the media. When you attach the iPhone to a different computer and sync just the info you're offered the option to replace the Info (contacts, events, mail accounts, and bookmarks) or merge them.
Ohhh, that's very good news. Thanks for the reply.
I refuse to use a client-side spam filter. When the spam reaches your mailbox it's already too late. I prefer server-side filters. I quit using mac.com because they lack spam filtering and switched to Gmail which has excellent spam filtering. I also switched gmail accounts recently with my old account forwarding to my new one, which is the one I check. The huge amount of spam I got at my old account stays there and almost none reaches my new address. For my other email, I use my Dreamhost IMAP mailbox with SpamAssassin set up for very strong filtering and Procmail to delete any mail marked as spam before I ever see it.
Chris,
I have my iMac running all day with spamsieve on, and it filters my dotmac email for me. That way when I check mail on macbook or trek the mail has already been filtered. I would think this would work with any IMAP account.
>> It supports QuickTime. I've been able to stream
>> the Macworld podcast -- both the AAC and MP3 versions
Evidently it depends not just on the format, but also on how the stream is delivered. I just went to Cingular store and tried streaming from KQED.org, which offers, among others, QuickTime, iTunes, and MP3 streams. I tried those three, and in each case I got a messages saying "Safari can't download this file."
Guess I'll be sticking with my radio for a while....
Why do people have such a problem with creating and using playlists? Simply create a playlist called iPhone, and manage that manually. And have the iPhone autosync to that.
Oh, boo hoo, you have to resync the entire 8 megabytes? I would figure, like most iPods, that only the CHANGES are synced.
But the author it seems, may be going around the house, picking and choosing from several iTunes libraries around the house. I would face the same problem. My laptop doesn't have room for a very large iTunes Library, and my Desktop, I have usually used an external drive. Um AppleTV is only an iPod with wifi, and one could create a common media server without this. Still, I don't understand what the big deal is-- concern with iPod as sneakernet device?
While SpamSieve doesn't currently run on the iPhone, if you have IMAP you can use SpamSieve on your Mac to filter the spam out so that you don't see it on the iPhone.
Along the lines of dealing with all the spam, is there really no "Select All" and then delete option for emails? I have spent literally hours having to delete hundreds of spam emails that first downpoured on my iPhone when I first sync'd it. It is so painful. Do we really have to delete each one at a time? I don't see any other option. Do you?
>is there really no "Select All" and then delete option for emails?
We've been talking about exactly that little thing behind the scenes and, as far as I know, no one has found such a feature.
Which, I agree, is silly. I hope Apple will implement it in the iPhone 1.1 Software Update.
On synching to different computers... I set mine up to synch different synch sections (music, contacts, calendar, etc.) to different PCs/Macs). Therefore, I'm getting it to synch music on one, contacts and calendar on another, etc. I can't combine synching for one category on different computers, but for me this seems to work. Will not be ideal for most, but is great for me, since I have these separated (work vs. fun) among the PCs.
I'm very disappointed about not having managing manually. I'm an iPod newbie, I just started off with a shuffle at Christmas, and was suprised that it worked that way. But it's the size of a matchbook, so I could understand that.
I thought I was getting the functionality of a real iPod with the iPhone, but that's not the case. I'm a bit upset.
Ok, my brother has an iphone and he cant figure out how to sync movies and songs from one computer to the next, now i've been all over the internet and most say you cant while a few say you can, but they dont explain how...can anyone explain to me step by step, like i am in kindergarten how to do it..thanks
Hi Christopher-
Thanks for the great articles. Quick question regarding your response to the iPhone spam victim. Why not recommend Yahoo Mail? They have an unlimited storage quota, outstanding spam filtering, virus protection and are currently the only of the "Big 3" providers to offer full push IMAP email to iPhone users. What's more - they do it absolutely free. In addition, you can even use your own domain name (small business, etc.) for a small yearly or monthly fee.
I tried Gmail on the phone, but was dissatisfied with the way deleted messages, 'read' messages, and folder organization were not synchronized.
All the best,
Eric
--
Eric Catania
Owner, Digital Reality
Certified Apple Consultant
Apple Authorized Business Agent
www.digitalrealitydesign.net
I like the GMail option. The spam filtering is fantastic with GMail! You may have a couple get through from time to time but for the most part spam is no longer a concern using this service.
Hi, I agree with a previous poster in regards to not liking client-side filtering because it's simply too late and I don't see a benefit for iPhone to provide this service on their phones. It's a client and not a server type device. Also, this is the job of the POP/Mail server to filter the e-mail and not its clients. Thus, I would never install these applications on my macs that I use as client desktops. However, i would filter at the server as Gmail has done.
Good luck,
-Conrad