Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Top 10 iPhone Flaws

Even the greatest gadgets have flaws, and the iPhone is certainly no exception. Praise it all you want, but the "Jesus phone" has plenty of little annoyances or nuisances that get under a user's skin. Fortunately, technology is all about workarounds to common problems. So we've not only put together a Top 10 list of iPhone annoyances to vent about, we're also offering solutions (where we can) to fix those pesky iPhone problems we hate so much.


10. Default Apps Can't Be Hidden

The iPhone's start screen is filled with shortcuts to prepackaged applactions that come with your iPhone whether you want them or not--for example, an app for checking stocks whose shortcut can't be removed from the iPhone interface. Despite Apple's insistence, not everyone wants to check the Dow Jones Industrial Average or for that matter the weather, or even use the iPhone's calculator. That the iPhone's prepackaged apps can't be hidden, deleted, or otherwise customized speaks to the stubborn rigidity of Apple.

Ideally: If Apple wanted to fix this annoyance, it would have an "Appearance" option in the Settings menu that would allow users to make unwanted apps disappear without actually deleting them.

Workaround: Isolate undesirable apps on your last home page--that's the quick and dirty method. A more elaborate trick, detailed at Macenstein, stashes apps on a hidden overflow page, though this works only until the iPhone is turned off. Jailbreakers will seek out programs such as Sbsettings or Poof.


9. You Can't Run Pandora or Other Apps in the Background

One of the iPhone's greatest assets is the ability to stream Internet radio stations such as Pandora and Slacker from anywhere with a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. Too bad you can't listen to that music while checking e-mail or playing games.

Ideally: In a perfect world, Apple would allow certain apps to run at the same time as others. We understand that Apple's trying to keep the smartphone running smoothly, but if the iPod app can play music in the background, the iPhone's audio apps should be able to do the same.

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