iPhone OS 4.0: The Media Lightbox Review

Posted 23rd June 2010 by Daniel

The eagerly awaited iPhone Operating System 4.0 arrived on the scene on Monday (21^st June) and we in the office have decided to review it and discuss whether the new features are worth going to the hassle of downloading it to begin with.

I myself own an iPhone 3G and my colleague Ben owns a 3Gs, so we can take both versions into account. Immediately, I am sceptical about my own potential experience due to the news that some of the features won’t work on the so called older models after completion of the update. Let’s take a look at some of the features that will become available to iPhone users with this latest update from Apple:

Multitasking – Apple have long been criticised for the lack of multitasking available on the iPhone. Currently the only app that allows usability with other features is the iPod feature so this should be a real boost.*
Folders – This feature allows you to group together your apps anyway you prefer. Visually it looks good but generally I don’t think it is completely necessary unless you have an unprecedented level of apps.
Mail Improvement – All accounts available in a unified inbox, message organised by threads and the ability to open attachments in third-party apps.
iBooks – The very successful Desktop app finally comes to the iPhone. I think this will prove to be very successful but its arrival is very overdue.
Create Playlists – Another long overdue update to the iPod section of the iPhone allowing you to create playlists on the phone itself.

Along with the main ones listed there are numerous others such as 5x digital zoom*, Tap to focus video*, faces and place in photos (collaborates with iPhoto), apps as gifts and Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard support.

*- Not available on 3G or older

So with in mind I began the update. Ben had updated his the previous day and had encountered problems, having to restore the phone from a backup after it crashed mid update. This particular problem occurred to me as well with the last update and lo and behold it happened again when I tried to install OS4.0. I updated my iPhone on a Windows laptop whereas Ben used a Mac Book so it seems to be a problem that affects all platforms regardless of the Desktop Operating System.

After a good hour and a half of trying everything at my disposal to get it to work I finally had a breakthrough and got the OS installed (even though I had to install the majority of my Apps again). Right away I noticed the differences visually and found them much more appealing and pleasing on the eye. The 4 main options located at the bottom of the homepage have been altered to have the patented Apple reflected on glass icon as shown below.

I was disappointed myself to discover that I wouldn’t be receiving the multi task feature as it was one I was genuinely looking forward to. Luckily Ben was at hand to test the new feature and here we have it at work with the excellent Media Lightbox App in the foreground.

The folders feature is one that I had reservations about when I first heard about it. It seems to be a pretty nice feature but I personally don’t think I’ll use it much. Ben feels differently and has set up a number of files. He has complained however about a limit of 12 apps per file which means in a lot of cases that you can’t have one Games folder, and may have to categorise them.

The mail update brings an improvement in usability. The mail for me has always been consistently strong but it’s good to see they are not resting on their laurels and are happy to update. The iBooks section is as good as expected sticking quite close to the desktop design.

All in all the update seems like a success. In truth I expected a few more features to become available but a lot of the problems Apple have been scrutinised for in the past have been dealt with. From a 3G user point of view, I was very disappointed with what seems like a push on Apple’s part to gain a few more sales of the 4G by deeming the older models almost obsolete due to the inability to fully update to the level that the 3Gs and soon to be 4G users will enjoy. Generally though, I believe that most users will be satisfied with the changes made. All we can do now is live in hope that the update process will be updated itself in the near future.

What did you think of the iPhone OS 4.0 update? Did it leave you disappointed and expecting more or were you pleasantly surprised by the new features? Leave a comment and let us know.

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