Top 5 reasons I hate my iPhone
Long time readers of my blog posts know how much I value and treasure my iPhone. But how many of you know what I hate about it? Shocking I know, but the iPhone does have its flaws. Which is why I present to you the top 5 reasons I hate my iPhone.
#5 Multitasking. I'm reminded how much I hate not being able to run more than one application at a time on my iPhone every time I click a link in my email. Instead of returning to my email when I am done viewing the link, I have to close the Safari browser, navigate back to my email, open the Inbox and find the email I was originally reading.
#4 No tethering. Was it just me or did AT&T promise I would be able to tether my iPhone to my laptop for on-the-go Internet access back in fall of 2009?
#3 Text messaging. While I love the conversational text messaging on my iPhone, I hate the fact that there is no counter to tell me when I have passed 160 characters on my text message, meaning my message will be split into multiple message for recipients without iPhones.
#2 Battery life. I can't make it a full work day with my iPhone without depleting the battery. Ridiculous.
#1 AT&T exclusivity. Need I say more on this? Dropped calls. Lousy coverage. If the iPhone had come out on Verizon, the iPhone market penetration would have been 10 times what it is now.
30 comments for this blog post so far...
March 17, 2010 at 10:30 am
Michael Manna
I agree with your Top 5 as well as a few more reasons. With the iPad coming soon, I may get another smartphone and transfer my apps to the iPad.
March 17, 2010 at 10:33 am
Patric Welch
@Michael - Too bad #5 multitasking won’t be any better on the iPad though. And the jury is still out on #2 battery life.
What “dislikes” on the iPhone would you add to the list?
March 17, 2010 at 11:39 am
Justin Willenburg
The fact that it is an Apple product, huge dislike. Thank God for the Android OS.
March 17, 2010 at 12:32 pm
David
Hmmm...sounds like you should just get a Palm Pre. It would solve your issues. :)
March 17, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Patric Welch
Justin, David - I’m sure if I Googled long enough I would find a top 5 reasons I hate the Android OS or Palm Pre
I love everything else about my iPhone (too much so to give it up). It’s just not perfect… yet :)
March 17, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Justin Willenburg
It will never be perfect as long as there is a phone running Linux! :D
March 17, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Patric Welch
At least it’s not Windows! lol
March 17, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Justin Willenburg
I’ll actually take Windows over Mac OSX any day. OSX is an overpriced OS that is wholly based on something free. I think I’ll pass on that.
March 17, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Patric Welch
Interesting.... wonder what Google’s Chrome OS will be based on?
March 17, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Justin Willenburg
Linux, thats already been established. However based on the fact that it is fully dependent on cloud computing, if they try and charge for it I doubt very highly that it will be a major competitor in any market.
March 17, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Dan
I know it’s already been said, and I read your reply… but it seems the Palm Pre Plus solves 4/5 of your biggest frustrations. ... Having gone from the iPhone to the Palm Pre, I can tell you it’s a sound choice. :)
But hey, maybe Apple will “invent” multitasking when they launch the 4G iPhone? ;)
March 17, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Justin Willenburg
The problem with the Pre, in my opinion, is the layout of it is far from simple. Simplicity goes to the many Android phones out there, or yes, the iPhone.
March 18, 2010 at 11:04 am
Michael
And for the price of an external battery pack (and the $10 MyWi app), you can solve all of them if you jailbreak your iPhone.
March 18, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Patric Welch
I would love to jailbreak my iPhone but try to keep things on the up and up (even though I don’t think it’s illegal).
March 23, 2010 at 6:09 am
.:robyn:.
I’d like to add to the text messaging comment. I’d like individual time stamps per text. Also, my number one hardcore iPhone wish is queueing. I’d like to reply to emails even underground on the subway (NYC) where service isn’t available and have them all sent off automatically when the service is available. It’s the only thing I prefer about the blackberry.
March 23, 2010 at 6:37 am
Michael
Robyn, that should be as easy as
Mail settings, <account>, Advanced,
Drafts Folder and choose “On my iPhone”
March 23, 2010 at 7:08 am
.:robyn:.
Awesome, where has that knowledge been for the past year of my life?
March 23, 2010 at 7:59 am
Alex Conner
All but number 2 is fully resolved on the Android platform :-). Battery life on my Cliq is not fantastic, but with tethering it usually gets a bit of a charge if I’m out for a long time, or a few minutes in the care here and there usually keep it well over 50% all day.
March 23, 2010 at 8:27 am
Pauline Jones
I got a Juice Pack for my iPhone. Doubles the battery time. It does make the phone slightly too big for some cases/covers, but its sleek and hardly noticeable otherwise. Uses a diff charger cord (which is weird), but WILL synch with iTunes when plugged into your computer.
March 23, 2010 at 9:05 am
Robby Slaughter
I like to say that having an iPhone is like owning a Lamborghini that is stuck in first gear. You look great while idling, but you know that if the transmission could get unstuck it could blow the competitors out of the water.
My big complaint about the iPhone is software, which is actually four of your five complaints. Because Apple controls the software conduit through the iTunes store, no one can make software that is truly innovative. For example, you can’t create text messaging software that tells you when you are at 160 characters, or multi-tasking software, or tethering software.
Read this (strong language warning) http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/01/29/tinkerers-sunset
March 23, 2010 at 10:29 am
thorn
I love my iPod touch and hate AT&T;and Verizon. The Pre is far from perfect—its touchscreen is flawed, its app developer community all think their apps are worth big money per copy though most suck, and ‘its’ defaults to ‘it’s’ so if you’re not paying close attention you look like one of those people who don’t know the difference. But it’s small & light with a decently laid-out keypad; and it does multitask. Keypad is entirely tiny, though. I don’t get why it’s being marketed so heavily to big huge guys. (It comes with NASCAR, etc. Pre-installed. Will have to root mine to get rid of that . So as not to accidentally incur a charge.)
March 23, 2010 at 10:31 am
Erin
Of all the phones I ever owned, I love love love my iPhone. I would be sad without it. Your top 5 is food for thought. But like you said, I am not annoyed enough to move to any other company or phone.
And really, #3 (Text Messaging) would not be an issue if everyone else got with the program and bought an iPhone. :smile:
#2 (Battery Life) can be fixed with a battery extender, like the morphie juice pack. I think it would double your phones battery life span.
#1 AT&T;exclusivity. I actually don’t get dropped calls! I have had other providers with disappointing customer service. I regret I ever left Cingular (AT&T;) and am so glad I returned.
Thanks for your list! Enjoy your iPhone!
March 23, 2010 at 10:57 am
Justin Willenburg
Erin, get with the program and buy a real phone, one based on Android.
March 23, 2010 at 11:19 am
Jim Shireman
Iam probably going against the grain here but Iam a die hard Blackberry user. Multi tasking no problem as well as many of your other top 5. I love my B-berry.
March 23, 2010 at 11:22 am
Erin
LMAO, Justin. I think not.
Problems with Android: http://gizmodo.com/5062977/t+mobile-g1-google-android-phone-review
March 23, 2010 at 11:43 am
Michael
Erin,
That’s a bit unfair, judging Android based on the G1. That’s like saying how lame the iPhone is because of the 1G iPhone (EDGE only, no copy/paste,, etc).
Having said that, Android certainly has a lot of problems, not the least of which is consistency among devices. This device is running 2.1, while that one only runs 1.5. This one has a keyboard, the other one over there doesn’t.
But Patric, I do think jailbreaking is legal and on the ‘up and up” (although Apple no doubt disagrees). I figure, you bought the phone, and you’re not trying to steal Apple trade secrets. So let’s go down the original list:
#1: AT&T;. If you jailbreak, you can unlock, and run your phone on other GSM carriers, like T-Mobile. Not convinced that’ll be an improvement, but it’s an option.
#2: Battery life. Aforementioned Mophie JuicePack (or another one I heard about after MacWorld, that includes a battery pack, IR emitter (with remote control app), and flash (the photography kind, not the Adobe kind)).
#3: SMS character count. I checked before, don’t recall details off the top of my head, but there are SMS replacements that will give you character counts, etc.
#4: Tethering. You can buy the $10 MyWi app and turn your iPhone into a MyFi, or if you don’t mind going cheap and getting your CLI on, Lifehacker has some ways to create a SOCKS proxy server on your jailbroken iPhone. There are also ways to tether without jailbreaking.
#5: Multitasking. Backgrounder. Then you can use ProSwitcher (if you like WebOS’s style of tasks), or kirikae (if you prefer a list view).
Other things you can get: quick 3 touch (swipe, tap, tap) ability to turn on/off wifi, bluetooth, etc. Ability to turn these things on/off on a schedule (turn off push notification sounds while you’re sleeping, so your alarm can still work in the morning), ability to really customize the appearance of your phone, etc.
March 23, 2010 at 11:48 am
Erin
Michael,
Honestly, I didn’t even want to compare. All I said was I have the iphone and love it. Justin lamely said to get a real phone. I googled and saw there were problems there too. I gave my opinions on some of the things Patrick said and I leave it at that now.
I had no idea I was controversial.
Happy Buzzing,
Erin
March 24, 2010 at 11:27 am
Tony
As for Cingular/AT&T;service, where I live becomes problematic. I’m out in the boonies most of the time, and I have tried Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T;. AT&T;is the ONLY one that has fairly consistent signal strength out here. Sprint sent a signal chaser vehicle out here and released me from my contract because they couldn’t find a signal anywhere near my house. The Verizon folks just sort of shrugged apologetically, and my area doesn’t appear on the TMobile map. There are a couple of dead zones, but the thing is, they are dead zones for EVERYBODY because there are no cell towers around, and the mountains hide signals.
So, AT&T;is my choice because it’s my ONLY choice that works. I have to admit, I’ve never had trouble getting a signal in another location, so I have no real reason to complain. If anything, I would gripe at Verizon or Sprint for not having the towers and coverage out here so I WOULD have another choice.
As for the iPhone itself, I like it a lot. Does it have issues? Sure. I’ve never had a phone that didn’t. I’ve owned two Palm smart phones, two Windows phones, a Blackberry and the iPhone (along with a scad of non-smart phones), and I’m happier with the IPhone than I have been with anything else. Plus, it synchs with my Macs without any extra software or hassle.
A phone is very much a personal issue and the “Get a real phone!” statement just shows how narrow-minded and ignorant some people can be. A real phone is the one that does what I want, the way I want it, and well enough that I’m satisfied. Fanboys of any persuasion are just laughable.
March 24, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Justin Willenburg
Ah guys relax, it was more a smartassed attempt at humor based on her “get with the program” comment. That was just as “fanboyish” as my comment was.
August 30, 2010 at 7:23 am
Tony
Lots of stuff has happened since my original response. For one, I was told by some neighbors that they have Verizon and their reception is great. So, I thought I’d explore that option. Frankly, lately I have had a lot of problems with dropped calls and that had not been happening before with my AT&T;.
So, I went and looked at Verizon phones. Liked the Droid X, but they weren’t available. HOWEVER, WalMart had the Droid for $49, so I went with it. Ported the numbers over, got the wife a new phone and gave away her old phone. (Bad move there!)
Well, the Droid was a pain. Hate the keyboard! Audio quality was not good. Couldn’t get my good Plantronics headset to stay synched with it for more than a couple minutes at a time. And email! It was supposed to check email once an hour, and it would go for a whole day without checking and retrieving email. Sometimes, too, when I tried to force a manual retrieval of mail, I had to shut the phone completely down and re-power it in order to make it retrieve emails.
So, I took it back, well within my 30-day window. WalMart didn’t have any more Droids, and weren’t going to get any. No Droid X. No Incredibles. Only Droid 2, and I’d have had to pay an extra $150 to get a phone I didn’t want. And WalMart has this deal: you buy it at a WalMart, you must RETURN it or EXCHANGE it at the same WalMart. I checked at two other WalMarts, but no good phones. Checked with two Verizon stores, and they had a Droid they could swap for me, but they wouldn’t because it came from a WalMart. Couldn’t touch it.
Arrrrrggggghh!
Finally, I took it back to the original WalMart (did I mention it was a 50-mile drive to this WalMart, one way, from my house? I ended up driving a total of over 350 miles to get and then return this phone!)
So, now I have my old iPhone set up again, but since wife had no phone, I had to use my upgrade that should have been for the iPhone, to get her a rinky-dink phone because she doesn’t want any bells and whistles.
I’m in the process of trying to see if I can get her phone back from the folks I gave it to (they haven’t activated it), but I don’t know it that will happen. If I can’t, I may just go in and pay full price for her phone instead of using the upgrade for it, because it would be cheaper to pay $250 for her little phone than to pay over $500 for a new phone for me.
Life is SO complex!
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