When Apple released iPhone OS 2.0 over a year ago, very few people had access to the betas and screenshots were few and far between. Was it because early developers were seasoned, professional Mac veterans who took the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) seriously? Who knows. What we do know is that iPhone OS 3.0, following last Tuesday’s beta release, is running rampant over the internet. Somewhat less than honorable “developers” are even offering to “sell” access to the 3.0 beta. Yikes.

This has led to a lot of users getting, or at least thinking about getting, the 3.0 beta for their own iPhones.

Well, think carefully. And think twice!

This is not finished software. This is a beta, and not in the Google/Gmail perpetual meaningless beta sense. This is a true beta in that it is not meant for production iPhones, used as primary devices, out in the real world.

Who knows what kind of de-bug, trace, non-optimized, or generally not finished code is running in the current, and first iPhone OS 3.0 beta.

If you’re a legitimate developer, using 3.0 on a test device to check for compatibility for your apps and report bugs back to Apple is one thing. To think you can use it for regular, day-to-day use is quite another.

It may be slow. Lists may disappear. Sound may cut out. Connection may time out. Battery time may worsen. 3rd party apps may crash or otherwise not work well. And you may need to reset your iPhone daily, if not several times a day, to work around the beta nature of the current build. That’s what happens with a real beta.

Also, these beta’s expire, and if you don’t have quick access to the next beta, you’ll be without your iPhone — and that’s assuming Apple doesn’t wait hours or days between expiry and the next beta release.

And dropping back down to 2.2.1 isn’t always easy. The baseband is changed, and hacking back to 2.2.1 has left some users with issues they didn’t have previously as well.

So, yes, iPhone OS 3.0 has lots of amazing features, and we hope very much it will be killer stable come “summer”-time when Apple releases it via iTunes for everyone.

Until then, read our iPhone 3.0 walkthrough. Watch Apple’s video. If you’re not into testing pre-release software, if you’re not patient, if you need a reliable, primary iPhone, if you want it to “just work” think twice before loading the iPhone 3.0 beta. Then think again. One look at our forums shows it isn’t a smooth ride.

(And tech pundits who’ve told readers and listeners it’s no big deal, and to go for it, should also think twice and remember they’re often cutting edge users themselves, with many devices to fall back on — not the case for everyone.)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Advisory: Not a Developer and Thinking of Going to 3.0? Think Twice!

We have been, and will continue, to cover specific features in their own posts, but for those of you — like us — just chomping at the bit for more iPhone 3.0 Beta 1 goodness, here are some preliminary screenshots to tide you over.

If you haven’t already, check out our previous massive news roundup, and let us know what you want to know more about next!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3.0 Beta 1 Screenshot Gallery

‘Tis soon the season. No, not fall, but new firmware season as Apple has released the first beta for firmware 2.2. Following on the 8 betas for 2.0 (released July 11, which turned out a little on the undercooked side…), and 4 for 2.1 (released September 12, which changed from feature bump to stability patch), 2.2 will hopefully bring us a little Notification Server love, and who knows what else? (Not going to say cut and paste — a blogger can only get their heart broken so often!). Says Macrumors:

The new version is labeled iPhone OS 2.2 beta 1 and is accompanied by a new beta of the iPhone SDK (build 9M2611). Beyond “compatibility testing”, there are no other differences noted by Apple.

Doubtless, the one NDA to [redact] them all is in full effect, but hopefully some deep-delving coders will discover (and leak!) a few goodies for us anyway.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 2.2 Firmware Beta 1 Seeded to Select Developers

Last night Apple began seeding iPhone firmware 2.1 and SDK Beta 1 to registered developer program members (those who paid the $99 fee and were accepted, and have App Store uploading privileged’s). Word came in early about new features in CoreLocation and Notification Server APIs. Now Engadget is adding the nigh-mythical holy grail of basic smartphone functionality to the list of maybes: Cut, Copy, and Paste!

Another bit which may or may not make it into 2.1 is copy/paste. We’re still both hopeful and skeptical, but supposedly in the new version of the WebKit framework exists commands for “plugins,” “copy,” “paste,” “cut,” and some others. We can’t confirm if these really exist (and if they do, we don’t know how they’ve actually been there, or if they’re simply holdovers from the desktop WebKit frameworks), so don’t hold your breath.

Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s head of iPod and iPhone marketing has previously stated that cut, copy, and paste is on the future feature list, but with limited time and resources, Apple didn’t get to it for 2.0. Will 2.1 be different?

What do you think? Any breath holding on your end?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 2.1 Rumor: Cut/Copy/Paste Cometh?!

Apple has reportedly seeded an early beta of firmware 2.1 (5f90) and a new and improved SDK to developers. Among the changes, CoreLocation (which covers GPS and other location-aware services) gains direction and speed tracking abilities (leading to a fresh round of turn-by-turn speculation, ‘natch), and API’s for the Notification Server that, come September, will be used in-lieu of background multitasking to push alert badges and sounds to Apps (like Instant Messages, Tweets, etc.). Given how MobileMe is doing with Push, that one may prove interesting…

On the negative side, 2.1 is one way street. Developers using 2.1 can not create binaries compatible with the current 2.0-centric App Store, so they either have to maintain two independant development environments (Update: possibly 3 environments and up to 6 devices, 2.0 and 2.1 for iPhone 3G (with mandatory carrier plans), iPhone 2G, and iPod Touch — expensive much?), or wait for App Store 2.1 to launch (in September along with Notification Server?)

Of course, before 2.1 we’ll likely see the already being tested 2.0.1, which will hopefully fix many of the bugs plaguing upgraders and new adopters both. Like, really soon, right Apple?

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This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 2.1 Beta 1: GPS Boost + Notification Server APIs