Ryan Boswell [dot] com
iOS 4.0
So I made the jump to upgrade to iOS 4.0 on my 3GS. Initially I was hesitant because of what happened the last few times I upgraded the software on my iPhone (iTunes crashed half way through, and I spent half a day trying to restore my iPhone because the upgrade was corrupt), but I had the whole day to play, so I decided to just jump in.
Fortunately everything went smoothly, even if the whole process to an hour and a half (from upgrading iTunes to the latest version all the way through to the post-upgrade sync).
One of my favorite features of the new OS is folders. I absolutely love them. One of the first things I did was consolidate all of my apps onto one screen, deleting about 5-6 unused apps in the process. Now, all of my apps are 2-3 taps away.
Wallpapers are nice, but it’s not like the feature is any reason to scoff at.
Multitasking is still something I have yet to really use, I don’t really have any apps that are really ‘multitaskable’, I’ve never had the desire to be able to do it. But I do like the app switcher/media control. Previously if you double-tapped the home button you’d just get iPod controls (something a lot of people I know never knew about until I showed them, it also works when the screen is locked), now you get that and the ability to quickly switch to a recently-used app, all in one interface, kinda useful I guess.
One thing that I don’t remember hearing about anywhere, is that the iPod app now makes use of folders that you have in iTunes. Previously, whatever folders and playlists you had synced just showed up in a flat list. Now everything is nested just the way you have it in iTunes. This is really useful for me because I make pretty heavy use of folders and smart playlists to sync just the right music to my iPod (since I have a collection larger than I could fit on my iPod, getting the right music on it requires a bit of magic), and before all of those playlists showed up with all the other ones, which was annoying. Now everything is safely tucked away and organized the way I like it.
The last thing I want to mention is the speed boost. Ever since upgrading, everything feels a helluva lot snappier and smoother. I noticed almost immediately that everything seemed to just zip along compared to before, not that it was sluggish or anything, but still. Damn. I can only wonder how much faster everything is and feels on the iPhone 4.
Speaking of which, I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to make the jump and upgrade to the iPhone 4. I didn’t pre-order it (stupid decision), so I don’t know how hard it’s going to be to actually get one, but I plan on getting in line Thursday morning around 5am with everyone else at my local Apple Store and try my luck. I decided on the black 32GB model, just like what I have now. Then once I have my new iPhone 4 and everything is working alright, I’m going to ship my old 3GS off to NextWorth, my quoted price is going for $200, so overall the upgrade is going to cost me $100 plus tax and the $18 upgrade fee. Not too bad I guess. So you can expect an update sometime Thursday or Friday detailing my experience trying to get a new iPhone without a pre-order.