iPhone 2.1 Software Update Rumors
July 27, 2008 by Ryan Ray
If you haven’t heard yet Apple is already cooking the 2.1 software update for the iPhone. There are a few rumors to cover that have been unearthed in the code, but first let me assure you they are also working on the current software version 2.0. They need to make various bug fixes in a smaller 2.0.1 release first so don’t worry. I know when I heard they were working on a 2.1 I had wondered how we could go from 2.0 to 2.1 so quickly. Well I don’t believe we are going that quick. The rumor is this update will come in September along with the application push services. Atleast that’s what Apple has said, they plan on releasing the application push services in September. So obviously by then they have to have this 2.1 update out.
Apple has released the 2.1 Beta software, but only to a few developers while making all of the other excluded developers pretty mad. I still don’t quite understand their NDA on the developers as it is giving the developers quite a lot of headaches, but we can talk about that in another article. Well some of the developers who got ahold of the 2.1 Beta update have been digging through it, looking for what’s changed. And believe it or not they found three new things so let’s go over them and talk about what this means.
Cut, Copy & Paste
What seems like the simplest feature to add has become the most requested one by just about everyone on the planet. The problem is developing a great gesture that allows a smooth copy and paste, or cut. Apple has been researching ways to do this for quite some time. An Apple engineer has even said that copy and paste was on the list for the new iPhone 3G, just not very high on the list for the launch. It looks like it is finally coming to the iPhone though. In some of the Localizable.strings in the code they have discovered commands that the current firmware doesn’t support, including cutting, copying and pasting. So it seems like it’s coming, just a matter of time before we are all learning that new gesture, whatever it may be, to copy and paste.
Now you might say, how would we use cut, copy and paste in our daily iPhone lives? Well we have gotten by without the feature as Apple designed the interface around that missing feature pretty well. If there is a link we needed to copy into the browser, it would automatically open with one tap in mobile Safari. Things like that have kept us from missing copy and paste too terribly much. Think about this though, now that the iPhone is a mobile blogging platform and still a great email machine the need for these features is getting greater and greater. Apps like Typepad’s and Wordpress’ highlight this need and has lit the fire under Apple to finally give us cut, copy and paste. All I can say is IT’S ABOUT TIME! Thanks Apple.
Built In Mobile Radio
There is a few string of code that reference a native mobile radio function, meaning Apple wants to support internet radio instead of through 3rd party apps. This could be bad news for the AOL radio app. I don’t use the AOL app personally but if Apple builds their own internet radio app that could be the end of the AOL radio one. I think Pandora is still safe though, Pandora’s app does what no other internet radio app does so they can rest easy, hah. I wonder if this will work the same way the iTunes radio stations work? If you go into the iPod function on the iPhone then under the “more” section there would be the option for radio. I would definitely like that added feature. Just for instance when I drive back to school in the fall it’s a 6 hour drive. I have a iTunes library that will last me almost a whole month straight, but when I need something different these apps like Pandora and if Apple builds one are welcomed features. They give me something I haven’t heard yet. It keeps my ears fresh.
Turn by Turn GPS
It looks like Apple is keeping it’s word when it said they are working on a way to add turn by turn navigation to the iPhone’s GPS features. In the new 2.1 SDK there is said to be expanded core location features which allows it to detect which way you are heading and how fast you are going. This will definitely help any turn by turn software that is made. So it seems Apple is laying the groundwork for that sort of thing. I’m sure I’ll make another video for everyone when the new GPS features come so we can compare the two. To me this is my most wanted feature out of the iPhone 3G. I don’t want two devices to carry around to help me find my way. The iPhone 3G has GPS in it, so just give it the ability to do turn by turn. I went on vacation to Florida last summer and the only way we got around was with my iPhone, the original one! It didn’t have any kind of locate me features or anything but the Google Maps application was a life saver. So by next summer when I want to go on another vacation they better let me have my turn by turn navigation!
Application Push Service
Like I mentioned earlier Apple is setting up servers to enable the Apps to use push services and run in the background without using up precious battery life. This means you can stay logged into AIM and get into other apps at the same time. Any app that uses notification services will be able to tap into the push service for their notifications. Now we just need Google to develop push services for Gmail, and their Calendar services. I don’t want MobileMe and Google’s mail services already rock. Just please, pretty please, I can haz push Gmail?!@!?
So besides the bugs being squashed this is what’s being added to the next software update. I think it’s going to make the iPhone even better, again! Every software update makes this phone better than it was before. The iPhone is already the best phone out there, I mean the competition is still trying to catch the first iPhone. So each update puts the iPhone further out ahead of everyone else. Let me know what you think about the rumored updates. What do you want the most out of your iPhone, or are you waiting on a feature before you buy one? Let me know in the comments. Thanks!
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THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING MULTIFUNCTIONING PHONE AND NO M M S! I JUST MISS MY MMS OPTION, THAT’S ALL… YOU HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT MMS?
Hey Kyle, thanks for the comment first if all. This is definitely something apple needs to address. Personally I’ve never used mms no matter the phone I had. With the iPhone apple may be trying to push you to email. But then what happens when I want to send a picture to my moms phone which doesn’t do email? This definitely is a request made by a lot if people. If everyone keeps bugging apple I’m sure they will have no choice but to add MMS. I hope they add it soon for you! Thanks again
hi ryan,
great site, great video for that GPS test. i really hope they bring these new GPS features, would be very useful indeed.
a question – does google maps recalculate the route if you stray from the original one? i could live with looking at the phone on my dashboard for the moment.
cheers!
Hi Rambo! Is it really Sylvester Stallone visiting the site?!
Anyway thank you very much for the kind words. I really hope that they bring a great GPS turn-by-turn application to the iPhone soon. So to answer your question Google Maps can recalculate your route, but it doesn’t do it automatically at the moment. I don’t know if it will ever do it automatically, but to make it recalculate itself you have to edit your directions and rechoose the starting point as your current location. It will then relocate you with GPS and give you the correct directions from there. Not the best solution to do while you are driving but it can be done.
Like I said we’re dealing with Apple, they can definitely bring a very elegant and great navigation app. If they are going to I hope it’s very soon. Just add it to the app store and let us all download it! Thanks again
haha i wish! just my nickname unfortunately…
but again, awesome site you have here, very informative. i’m looking at getting an iphone, and GPS was a big factor – it seems be an ipod+phone+web browser+GPS, everything i could ask for. just need to save some money!
oh and for the record, i live down under in beautiful australia. cheers!
oh and another thing that puzzled me mate – can you use GPS without having a network connection? i’ve heard you can use the cached tiles in google maps.
take care.
Wow Australia! That’s great to see visitors all the way from the beautiful down under, Although we are down under to you, haha. When I come visit I’ll come say hello.
GPS was definitely a feature I wanted too, and I fully believe they will bring a great navigation app to the iPhone. I just hope they do it soon!
To answer your question I just tested my Google Maps on Wifi with GPS then I turned on Airplane mode to make sure I had no connections whatsoever. The maps had some sort of Cache but it only went in one direction and not for very long at all. If I went south there was nothing, but north there were spots of the map that showed up. It also seemed like GPS still worked, but I wasn’t moving so I can’t be sure. This might be a great idea for another article though, so hope that helped you out. Thanks!