Today is the official release of the new iPhone OS 3.0 update. We’ve not got our hands on the new OS yet (the release seems to be based on US times) but have been keeping on top of all the news about the new features available and would like to give a run through some of the most useful.
- SMS Forwarding – A common complaint with the previous iPhone OS versions was the inability to forward text messages. This is a feature nearly all mobile phones have had for quite a while already so well done to Apple for finally including this feature! Another improvement to the Chat-esque SMS app is the ability to delete individual messages (previously only whole conversations could be deleted, essentially meaning deleting a message to or from someone would delete all messages to or from that person).
- Copy/Cut/Paste – Another highly requested feature and one that has many, many uses! Allowing you to select, copy and paste text to and from anywhere on the iPhone, this could easily be the most useful new feature included in the updated OS.
- Spotlight Search – Spotlight is a new search engine app included in the new OS. Spotlight allows you to search your entire iPhone, inc.contacts, emails, calendars, notes, apps and more. The Spotlight app is reachable a few different ways, the quickest appears to be scrolling left from the Home page, making it quick and easy to search your entire phone.
- MMS Messaging – Multi Media Messaging is now available on the iPhone for the first time. MMS messages can contain pictures, videos, audio, contacts and locations (obviously the receiving phone has to be able to receive and open the type of file sent). Once again MMS messaging has been widely available on other phones for quite a while so it’s good to see Apple has included this useful feature.
- Voice Memos – The new Voice Memos app allows you to record and save audio clips on your iPhone. These can then be shared via email or MMS (potentialy a new form of voicemail?) .
- Landscape Keyboard – The previous iPhone OS only allowed users to use the on-screen keyboard in landscape mode in the Safari app, now this feature will be available on most (if not all) apps that require user text input. This should save time when typing on the iPhone as the larger size of the keyboard will cut the amount of typos.
Of course several other improvements have been made, in fact the only app that appears to have had no updates is Weather! We at Glo are excited about the continued improvement of what is already a great product and once we’ve got the update downloaded we’ll be sure to post about any new features/apps which we find that are interesting or may be useful.
