Apple's iPhone: The Future is Here
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 2, 2007 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
It Crashes?
Yes the iPhone crashes, and for the comparison that I hate to make, it crashes less than my Windows Mobile 5 based Blackjack.
The iPhone has only crashed a couple of times for me, and each time it did the same thing. I'd be browsing the web and all of the sudden the application I was using would quit and take me back to the home screen as if I hit the home button. There are no errors, no ugly messages, nothing; it's literally as if you accidentally hit that home button.
The first time it happened to me I thought I actually hit the home button; later realizing that the home button would require a deliberate press with a reasonable amount of force to activate, I came to the next conclusion: yay I just crashed the iPhone.
Both times Safari crashed on me, I had just opened a popup window and I was rotating the iPhone at the same time. I did that same exact deadly combination multiple times and it only crashed twice, and only then did I know that the iPhone was truly running the same Safari that I had on my Mac. There are many times when Safari under OS X will just keep crashing for me over and over again, only to be totally fine after it gets the crashing out of its system. I will have made no hardware or software changes, Safari will just crash two or three times in a row and then be fine for the next month. I don't get it, but now I can take that behavior with me in my pocket. Apple, how did you know the key to my heart?
All kidding aside, the device is robust; it handled my small library of 1045 pictures without a problem, and Apple has already proved that it knows how to manage multiple GB of music and videos quite well. The device is stable and the only two crashes I've had in my extended usage of the the device were handled gracefully. The only indication I had that the device had crashed was a message from iTunes the next time I tried to sync, asking me if I wanted to send anonymous crash log data to Apple.
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CaptainDDL - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Could you take a picture of what the iPhone shows when you're trying to connect to a secure Wi-Fi connection? Thanks.slashbinslashbash - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Love the Group X reference.And once again Anand reminds me why I read Anandtech and don't really visit any other tech sites. He covers everything I want to know in a way that other reviewers can't.
It's strange but I guess understandable that the iPhone doesn't use AIM/iChat/etc. AT&T (and any other carrier for that matter) would rather not have the iPhone than give up the lucrative SMS plans. But I doubt it will be long before there's a web-based AJAXy AIM client that will run beautifully on the iPhone and only use the data plan, not SMSes.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
I'm glad people got the reference and didn't just think that there was something horribly wrong with me :)I don't want a web based AIM client, I want AIM support from Apple in the same fashion as SMS support on the iPhone. Dammit Steve, you know it'd be awesome.
Take care,
Anand
Zirconium - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I don't want Apple's iPhone, I just want BANG BANG BANG!!!frank5592 - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
get to top of web page by double tapping the gray top menu barVery helpful for long web pages
Great review, very impressive work and by far the best review of the iphone
BTW, typing this on iphone safari and noticing that predictive typing is some what slow and does not always show up
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thanks for the tip and the comment, I've updated the review :)Take care,
Anand
Chaotic42 - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Seriously, this was an *excellent* review. I don't even have a cell phone and I couldn't have cared less about the iPhone before I read this, but I was bored. This answered every question that I or anyone I've talked to about the phone has had, and it was a great read. It makes me want one now.*Very* well done, Anand.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thank you so much for your kind post, there's no better feeling than pouring a lot of work into an article and getting a response like that. Thanks again :)Take care,
Anand
Dennis Travis - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Agreed, your iPhone review was totally outstanding. You covered everything and then some and took the time to explain each feature in a way that anyone can understand.Another great review Anand. Told me everything I wanted to know about the iPhone.
michael2k - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
It sounds like you will want an iPhone if:1) You have $600
2) You like the iPod
3) You like Star Trek: The Next Generation
The only thing missing is voice recognition! And flexible roll up displays.