No sooner has iPhone 3.0 Beta 4 been released, then our tip-lines have been filling up with finds. So far the big news looks to be that that mysterious “Store” tap, icon-less and empty in previous betas, now sports user info.
Also, the camera is now polite enough to ask if you like the photo you just took and want to save it, or if you don’t and want a chance to re-take it. Note: we’re not sure about this change yet, it may only be implemented for MMS, and may have been around in previous betas (lots of maybes, we know, we’re trying to sort through everything as efficiently as possible.) If it is system wide, some of us will lament the loss of our ability to rapidly snap photo after photo without the interruption of requesters…
(Thanks Andrew and anons!)
Like clockwork, Apple has released iPhone 3.0 Beta 4 along with iPhone SDK 3.0 Beta 4 to developers. This marks the 3rd consecutive alternate-Tuesday update following the original Beta 1 release. Beta 2 and Beta 3 were both heavily scoured by code-divers who discovered several new, as-year unannounced features (see our updated iPhone 3.0 walkthrough for more!).
Will Beta 4 be any different? We certainly hope not!
Note: We’ve gotten reports that developers must install the iTunes 8.2 pre-release before attempting to install iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 4.
Also remember iPhone 3.0 is a real Beta intended for developers and testers, not for daily use on a primary phone. If you don’t need the beta, don’t install the beta, and for Jobsake don’t buy it off of eBay. Yikes!
(Thanks Danny, Andrew, and all those who sent this in!)
Back before the iPhone, I was using one of GRC.com’s long, pseudo-random passwords for my WPA-protected Wi-Fi network. Typing it into iPhone 1.x, even iPhone 2.x was a non-starter, however, so I shrank it down considerably.
Similar security-conscious folks have lamented not only the lack of copy and paste on the iPhone, but especially the lack of “paste-into-password field” to support just those kinds of super-secure strings.
Well, it looks like we might be getting them — along with the previously discussed copy and paste features, in iPhone 3.0.
Whether this makes it or not into the final release version is something only time will tell (because Apple, of course, isn’t saying).
But we want it.
Ars Technica has heard from those ever-enigmatic “sources familiar with” that there might just be more going on behind the rumored new Voice Control feature in iPhone 3.0 than we’ve seen so far:
Jibbler appears be an enhancement to the iPhone SpringBoard application, the Finder-esque app that acts as a launcher and will support the newly announced 3.0 Spotlight search. Jibbler may be controlled via the iPhone headset—button squeezes could be used to record short voice segments from the user, which Jibbler will then interpret. Voice synthesis can then be used to give the user a response, similar to the latest generation iPod shuffle, which can “read” playlists and track names—the difference being that the iPhone hardware itself could handle real-time voice synthesis.
Okay, so the code-name is worthy of a Microsoft de-branding exercise, but the technology is intriguing. Apple certainly has taken steps towards voice implementation with the latest iPod shuffle’s VoiceOver and recent headsets have raised the bar (perhaps too much) on control clicks.
Many users have asked for simple voice dialing. Is Apple providing that and, in typical fashion, wondrously more with “Jibbler”, or is it a case of breaking a simple function by stretching it too far?
We covered some new finds in iPhone 3.0 over the weekend, including MobileMe data merge and commercial Wi-Fi auto-join, but we’ve also updated our complete iPhone 3.0 walkthrough with all that and more, so if you haven’t checked it out lately, go take a look.
It’s still months from Apple’s nebulous ‘”summer” release date, so more will change, and maybe even a bit more will be added before it drops, let us know if there’s anything specific you’re looking for, from Apple, or from us!
Following up on the MobileMe data merge screenshots… We’d heard mention of this when iPhone 3.0 was introduced, but it’s the first time we’ve actually seen how it actually works. WiFi Settings now includes and option for auto-join, which we’re assuming saves passwords for commercial, web-fronted WiFi services like you’d find at a hotel or coffee shop.
Also, when you log in, you get a special slide-up window with some new controls and an embeded web-view — no more app-jump to Safari.
Very nice!
Again, for more iPhone 3.0, check out our giant walkthrough…
We’ve now gotten a few reports and some screenshots of yet more new functionality in iPhone 3.0 Beta 3.
First is “merge”. If you already have bookmarks, contacts, or other data on your iPhone (for example, if you synced it over via iTunes) and you enable MobileMe, a menu will slide up asking if you want to merge the data, not merge (i.e. replace), or cancel.
Next are “Publishing to MobileMe”, which shows a direct upload status bar, and new options to view published items on MobileMe, or “tell a friend” (via MMS?).
More screenshots after the break, and for a far more detailed look at the beta releases so far, including WiFi Auto-Join also posted today, check out our massive iPhone 3.0 walkthrough.
Apple Insider scored some iPhone 3.0 Beta 3 screen shots, some we’ve already seen before, but some showing off a new goodness like the Settings option for Notification (though where Apple’s usual Smiley Face w/Badge icon went to is anyone’s guess). We did a quick check, and no one we contacted had this pane visible yet, so it may only show for those actively receiving push notifications, or who have done some digging through the code.
It’s nice that Apple will apparently let users globally enable or disable the different types of Push Notification: Sounds, Alerts (text boxes), and Badges. It will be even nicer (perhaps vital) that we also get to selectively enable/disable them within individual apps as well. For example, Twitter can badge, IM can Alert, new RSS only Sound.
NOTE: “Carrier Settings” aren’t new. They have been visible on networks like Rogers since 2.0 (perhaps because Rogers subsidiary Fido also carries the iPhone in Canada?)
They also show off some evidence of battery percentage-level numeric indicators in both black (good) and red (danger!), as well as Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard-style data detectors, which we’ve seen in previous betas, but are highlighted for the Notes app.
Check out their full post for more screen shots.
Jeremy recently whipped up an iPhone 101 how to on using Restrictions to set some parental controls, and we’ve had a peek at what Apple already surfaced in previous iPhone 3.0 betas, but now it looks like Beta 3 gets a tad more granular with an extra option:
Along with Installing Apps, you can selectively disable the ability for you, or someone you parentally control, from impulse buying those extra game levels or custom sound systems and super-weapons.
Likely a Good Thing.
Ars Technica is reporting that the way Push Notification works has been, according to developers they’ve spoken with, improved in the latest Beta 3 release of iPhone 3.0. To wit:
The major change in the UIKit API is that Apple has added separate types for the three notification methods: badge, text alert, and sound. Developers can register their apps for these different notification types individually for the needs of their users. Previously, apps registered to received remote notifications but controlled the type via settings. Developers we spoke to universally agreed that this was a welcome improvement.
Still nothing in the way of non-obtrusive, Google Android- or Palm Pre-style notification, nor any indication of how Apple will gracefully handle multiple modal dialogs popping up all at once, but there’s still time to wow us with something awesome come WWDC, right Apple?
Ars also mentions some interesting developments regarding Dashcode (widget development) for iPhone, and more, so be sure to check them out.
