Microsoft Word - iphone article

Improving the iPhone interface

Willy Yonkers

Apple has a fantastic product with their iPhone - It doesn't invent anything
new, but like the iPod before it, it solidified an existing technology into an
indispensable lifestyle product.

I am primarily a product designer, but have experience developing interfaces
for Whirlpool refrigerators and Segway scooters. This leads me to have a
completist attitude towards products: they must be finished and bug free on
launch, unlike modern interfaces, which are repeatedly updated via the web.
Only now, after nearly two years of hands on daily use and software updates
of my jailbroken, 8gb, edge iPhone on update 2.2 can I see the full scope of
how it should work. I have a good understanding of the devices intended use
and processing power. The purpose of this article is not to highlight its
greatness and grovel at the altar of Apple's design prowess, but to explore
where they might improve the interface and make it a more functional
product. Also, I am not a graphic designer - I will try to pull solutions from
Apple's existing style and structure without inventing anything totally
unknown.

I will examine user interface elements and apps individually, but the changes
I propose follow six major points:

1. Develop a landscape mode interface for all applications so that content
can be displayed on an external monitor and so that users may type on the
larger, more thumb friendly keyboard. The OS then can also be ported to
other hardware ie. netbooks and instant on systems.

2. All graphics and interactions should be more uniform and predictable
throughout all first party apps.

3. Build upon the existing intellectual property and hardware strengths:
multi-touch, coverflow, high-resolution screen, cloud computing, multi-radio
transmission, push data, bluetooth, and GPS.

4. Make the unit more powerful and attractive for corporate business
clients.

5. Avoid silly anachronistic interface toys (clock tumblers, toggle switches.)
The time for exploring touch screen interaction has passed - just make it
work intuitively.

6. Make the experience as unencumbered as possible (ad blockers) Avoid
cluttering up the display, but allow for deeper interactions for advanced users
via buried settings or multi-touch shortcuts.

01 - lock screen landscape mode

02 - lock screen landscape passcode

Unlock screen 

Like every screen within the interface, there should be a landscape mode
version as well as the existing portrait mode screen, but unlike the rest, it
should be dependent upon signals from the serial port and possibly the
accelerometer sensor so it would know when this mode is appropriate. This
would allow for horizontal docking but avoid confusion when pulling the
phone out of your pocket at an odd angle and having to search for the unlock
slider.

While this would primarily be for docking, it would also be useful if the
interface were to be ported to a permanently landscape mode display like a
laptop, or TV screen. Although, there is no need to lock the interface from
accidental button presses if it's no longer a handheld, so maybe the unlock
screen should be bypassed entirely in those cases.

03 - springboard - multi-process

04 - springboard - push preview

Springboard 

I believe that with care, programs can be written to run concurrently on the
current iPhone hardware. Users can be trusted to understand that badly
bloated third party programs will need to be run with all other processes
closed. Apple needs to make contingencies for things crashing, overloading
memory, and other real world issues instead of dictating: "only one process
at a time." Making these allowances now also future proofs the OS for when
the upgrade the processor and other hardware to the point where it becomes
more of a real computer.

Like apple grew to incorporate multiple home pages and arranging icons,
they can also unobtrusively display which apps are running. A simple glow
around icons or other lighting treatment would be adequate for displaying the
difference between running and dormant apps Applications with multiple
instances open could be portrayed by a stack of icons. The only problem with
concurrent apps is that it adds a new action to every app - QUIT. There are
many ways to handle this: a task manager list, a sub icon on the springboard
like the push notifiers, a dedicated button within each app, or a multi-touch
gesture.

One of the great things about the springboard is the red push notification
numbers, which give an overview of what lays behind each icon. It would be
very useful if you could get a little more info from them before opening an
app, like the names of senders of the first few unread emails in your inbox or
SMS text app. It could be achieved with a gesture like a quick swirl over the
icon to make the caption appear, and either a predetermined fade away time
period, "x" indicating close the caption, or a reverse swirl to hide it.

05 - springboard - coverflow & highlight

06 - springboard - coverflow preview

07 - springboard - coverflow hierarchy

Springboard cont.

In landscape mode of the springboard, we should build on Apple's coverflow
to have both an exquisite, decorative interface which flips aside with a
flourish and cards which can flip to display more specific, concrete
information. This could become cumbersome if the user were to max out the
springboard with 148 apps, but in any system outside of an alphabetized list
that is far too many. (9 pages x 16 apps/ page + 4 on the dock = 148 apps)

The only problem with the coverflow system is that it strips away an
important level of hierarchy - the dock is now gone. For a device which is
primarily a phone and music player while on the go, the dock is very
important for keeping the device true to it's primary purpose, but when
docked, or used as the OS for another device, their importance is lessened.

The lack of hierarchy can be remedied by loading those 4 apps at the top or
full left of the stack and snapping to that end when the springboard is
opened, or home is hit while in springboard. It may also be useful to highlight
them with a different floor reflectivity or background. Users may also want to
avoid this mode while using the device as a handheld. Like the landscape
unlock screen, it may be dependent on serial port data or possibly a three-
finger twist for advanced users to forcibly "crank" the display into coverflow to
show off this function.

Like with the standard springboard, users will need to arrange apps into an
easily understandable layout. I don't see why the existing, hold to loosen,
drag, and home button to freeze system would not work. The only issue here
is that jumping between landscape and portrait, the icon organization will not
translate well, so the device will need to keep track of two layouts without
resetting or loosing data on either one.

In the coverflow springboard, it would be easiest to stack the running apps up
against the dock hierarchy divider to keep them easier to find. You can also
show thumbnails of what's running and possibly one coverflow card for each
instance open - individual safari pages or notes documents for example. Now
that we have a stack of open apps and instances grouped together, we can
have easier task switching with some sort of multi-touch gesture like
command-tabbing in Leopard - perhaps two fingers held down with a third
tapping to switch.

08 - SMS text - thread overview

09 - SMS text - thread view

SMS Text 

The SMS Text app has been far behind the times since launch and it's time
to turn this app from a weakness into a strength. Single recipients and no
picture messaging gave the iPhone less functionality than even the cheapest
flip-phones available years ago - political revolutions have been organized
with information distributed via text message and corrupt police officers have
been brought to justice with cell phone video evidence, so this is an important
issue. Apple's solution for adding more than one recipient to a text message,
an update 6 months in the making, is entirely hidden - from the new message
screen you see an plus sign prompting you to add a person from your contact
list, but when that person is added, the plus disappears! To add more you
have to touch the address field and only then do you see that you can add
more. This is terrible, just don't make the plus go away and keep the name in
a blue pill shape so you know it's someone from your contacts list.

Next we need to make the iPhone send pictures. Apple boasts about its 2
mega-pixel camera and fantastic screen but the only way to get the images
off the phone is to either dock it with iPhoto or e-mail reduced resolution
photos via email. I have no idea why Apple sidestepped MMS. Maybe it was
part of their agreement with AT&T, but other AT&T phones do it, so I can only
place the blame with Apple trying to push down old technology.

The solution here is simple - create an "attach" button somewhere on the text
input keyboard and also include it in the Mail app. Users shouldn't have to
start with the media the want to send before opening the sending application
- just use the existing photo or notes interfaces for finding the media, but with
a different title bar. You'd need to also add a "send via MMS" button to each
application, but there is enough room, or you could split the button between
email and MMS.

The true strength of the iPhone is its access to multiple radio systems for
data transmission - SMS, Edge, 3G, and wi-fi in ascending order of speed.
With this variety of radios, we can reach contacts in the users phone
wherever they go. As ominous as that sounds, I believe that informal
communications should be lumped together here. Who cares if you ask
"where do you want to eat tonight?" via SMS, or instant message? iChat is
conspicuously absent on the iPhone and this is where it should be
incorporated - along side the existing SMS Text app. It's just another field to
fill out in your friend's contact info. Mobile phone number, email address,
street address, AIM, iChat, or Gchat screen name. The system will send it to
the cheapest, or fastest location that is available, so that each user will have

10 - SMS text - new message

11 - SMS text - delete thread

12 - SMS text - landscape keyboard

SMS Text cont.

a display showing their connection state and people won't have to say "quit
texting me - it costs 25 cents a message!" The Mail app handles this kind of
third party integration quite well when you set up your phone, and I think that
there aren't so many instant messaging services that this would be too much
of a problem. Even Twitter and away messages could be lumped in with a
different color coding and lower priority in the push notification system.

As with all the apps on the iPhone, I believe that for the sake of uniformity
and access to the better touch screen keyboard, all apps should have portrait
and landscape modes. In addition to simply rotating the screen, I'd like to see
a better system for switching between conversation threads in the SMS Text
app. The coverflow stack I proposed earlier comes to mind here, but it could
be as simple as the way sprinboard and the weather app handle multiple
pages - dots show available pages and a swipe changes the page. Also, now
that we are using the SMS Text app more with the iChat integration, I think it
needs to have a more powerful conversation thread naming and archiving
system. This requires new actions, but nothing overly complex or entirely
new. The Mail app and most edit buttons handle this quite well and could be
manipulated to accommodate the chat screens.

13 calendar - push ball

14 calendar - month overview

15 - calendar - filter

16 - calendar - new category

Calendar -

The calendar is usually something that gets buried in mobile phone
interfaces, but on the iPhone it's right up front and synchs well with other
calendars. The icon itself is interesting in that it is the only one which updates
itself once a day, displaying day of the month and week without any red
number ball push nonsense. This is a really great feature, but it would be
nice if there were notification from the Calendar app in the form of red push
numbers appearing on the springboard showing how many events remain in
the day.

As powerful as the calendar's synching is, it could still be better. More
integration with multiple systems instead of just work and personal color
coding could allow for users to do actual project management from the
phone. Another issue I have is that the "Add Event" screen is very cluttered
and heavy and I've often lost events because I didn't hit "done" at the end.
This is pretty frustrating for a device, which is otherwise very easy to use.
Along this train of thought, the Calendar app needs to have access to a
landscape keyboard because of all the text which can be entered.

23 - photos - albums overview

24 - photos - album detail

25 - photos - video clips menu

26 - photos - voice clips menu

Photos -

Coverflow picture browsing - how great would that be? Done.

Ok, now how about a trash can for deleted photos? Simple, just put the folder
below the Camera Roll folder and have an "empty folder" button within it.
Another simple fix is that Camera Roll photos should not load cropped. I don't
understand why the iPhone does this, but it's pretty annoying pinching all
your photos so the edge shows. This is just a weird discrepancy between the
screen and camera proportions where they need to change the default
action.

Now we can get into tougher issues, like adding functionality to the Photos
app file system. Users should be able to rename and re-file photos however
they want. In the contact sheet view of portrait mode I think touching and
holding a photo thumbnail would be enough to bring up it's details: name,
time, date, and location data, current folder, and an option to move it to a
new folder or delete it. In the coverflow mode just have the cards flip to show
the same information.

One thing that is missing from the Photos "email photo" options is the ability
to crop the images like you can when assigning them to a contact or
choosing them as a desktop photo. This would add only one step in sending
an image, but I believe that users would really appreciate this power and the
expense of having to hit one more "done" button.

33 - camera - full view

34 - camera - zoom view

35 - camera - recording video

Camera -

I have jailbroken my phone, so I have the ability to do way more with the
iPhone's hardware than Apple originally intended. The camera is one of
those components that unauthorized developers have flocked to, to improve
and modify. Looking at the site of one app, their camera can do all of the
following: self-timer, burst mode, digital zoom, B&W image color effects,
image resolution control, and several other accelerometer based functions.
Another app turns the device into a very good video camera. Needless to say
that I don't need to belabor how this app can be changed. Apple, you made
an app that is slow to open and only has one hard to use button that makes
people drop their expensive phones from overhead while trying to take bad
photos of their favorite band. Please fix this.

No seriously, if you're not going to make your own app worth a damn, please
open up the SDK to developers. My suggestions for fixing the app are
extensive: allow users to tap anywhere on the screen to take a photo, allow
some other gesture to start and stop video recording, have an audio recorder
function, and have an info screen with some options. By adding video and
audio recordings, we'll need to add 2 new folders under the Photos app,
which is no problem at all since the page is basically a big list.

36 - youtube - coverflow

YouTube -

The YouTube app is something that I would package like bloatware on new
PCs - have it pre-installed, but removable. I suppose that in the beginning,
before the SDK and iTunes video rentals and purchases, YouTube videos
were pretty attractive, but now it feels like facebook, yelp, or ebay. I hardly
ever use it, and it's not removable without using something like jailbreak's
winterboard or bossprefs, but I do concede that it is a stopgap measure for
playing embedded videos in Safari. If we must keep it for now, it needs a
landscape mode so we can use the wider keyboard and it would be nice if
there were a coverflow display of search results or bookmarked videos.

37 - stocks - detail

Stocks -

Like YouTube, I don't see why this app is essential. It's simple and easy to
use, but doesn't speak to the core purposes of the device, which are
communication and entertainment. It should be removable for the vast
majority of users who couldn't care less about stocks. Again, if Apple wants
to keep it, they should create a landscape version, this time mainly for
uniformity's sake since the only text entered is about 5 characters long. It
would also be useful if there was more information available for each stock
with an arrow like in the contact list and then make the pages changeable
with a finger swipe.

38 - maps - scale

39 - maps - multi-pin

Maps -

I'm not sure if the google maps application is developed at apple, or google,
but it's one of the iPhone's strongest features. Not many people would be
willing to carry a dedicated GPS device with them everywhere they go and
pairing this kind of location aware device with the connectivity of the internet
and mobile phone make it a truly game changing next gen product.

A simple change would be to have multiple different colored pins. You could
even have temporary captions like "car" or "yard sale - check out later." I
would just swap the long Drop pin button for a row of multi-colored pins with
a button shadow showing if they are dropped or available. In addition to more
pins, I'd really like to see a distance scale which changes according to how
far in you are zoomed. Estimating walking times and distances is something
that I'd like to be able to do better than counting streets or blocks and less
involved than getting actual walking directions. The final change besides
adding a landscape display mode would be to have more train, subway, and
bus route overlays. Zooming way down to street level to read which train
icons read "A train" is not the most effective method. This data is mostly
already available online, it just needs to be harvested and implemented.

41 - clock - world clock

42 - clock - world clock edit

43 - clock - alarm clock

44 - clock - alarm clock setting

Clock -

The iphone clock is a mishmash of corny, weird interfaces that needs some
serious improvement. Lets start by looking at the world clock. if you're going
to have a background image showing a map of the earth, why not show the
city and time zone you are viewing with the current horizon overlay? The
image is misleading because it's not really a time zone map, but just a world
map with faint vertical lines. I'm sure with some effort, Apple could have
come up with something amazing, but it feels like they just whipped this out
in an afternoon.

Now for the alarm function... this is just a disaster. Why do I need to have the
ability to save multiple alarms and why would I ever want to use tumblers to
set a clock? Do people really need this function or wouldn't it be easier to
make the alarm really easy to set, so you would never need to save them?
The tumblers are the most absurd and obtuse way of setting a clock - just
use a keypad - three quick taps instead of three precision finger swipes,
which are anachronistic and counter intuitive. Maybe allow users to add more
than one alarm, but make it secondary in the hierarchy, and also allow users
to choose the length of snooze button or what song or video will play when
the alarm goes off. Another issue I have here is the use of on/off toggle
switches - they just don't work very well. It takes more precision than a button
press to grab it and release it in the correct locations.

Another change to the alarm function I'd like to see is the inclusion of some
sort of travel alarm clock system, where the display stays on while charging
or docked, prominently showing the time with a dimmed backlight.

The stopwatch is pretty foolproof, but the timer has the same tumbler setting
issue. Along with the keypad for setting, we could use direct manipulation of
the clock's hands or the crank of a real kitchen timer. And once again, we
should see a landscape version of every app screen.

47 - notes - overview

48 - notes - submenu

49 - notes - submenu edit

Notes -

Notes is a pretty bad app. It's interface and font are corny and it's just not a
powerful program. I propose completely eliminating it and in it's place a new
app called "Documents." This would be a center for creating text files on the
go, reading and marking up ebooks and pdfs, and acting as a storage device
for other files you may want to transfer from place to place without using the
internet.

We can base the interface on the existing file structure scene in Mail and
Photos, but now with folders called: My documents, eBooks, Saved PDFs,
and Other files. Like Mail and SMS Text, we can have a new document
button and edit the file structure with the same delete and move icons. New
text files should have the ability to change font, text size, bold, italics, and
underline and other standard text editor functions. Here is where having a
larger landscape keyboard is vital for ease of inputting large amounts of text.

The folder containing unreadable files should have a special system for
displaying each file's size in relation to the available space on the device, or
file transfer space allotted by the user. The device should be able to act as a
small wireless NAS (network attached storage) controlled from this interface.

53 - settings - menu

54 - settings - tethering

Settings -

Settings is a little strange - it's not an application, but contains information
pertinent to all the other apps. It's also a catch-all for the small features that
don't deserve their own full blown app. This is why I believe wi-fi tethering,
timemachine backup, system diagnostics, and a help file containing a list of
shortcuts and multi-touch gestures should be located here. Also, I'd like to
see controls for how each app deals with location awareness on its own
instead of each time I open the Camera app for example. Another feature
that I believe advanced users would appreciate is a way of implementing
stronger transmission encryption, especially when trusting unknown wi-fi
connections while on the go.

55 - phone - connection status

56 - phone - call timers

Phone -

You'd assume that the primary function of something called an "iPhone"
would be the phone, but in this case you'd be wrong. The iPhone is not a
very good phone and as much as they proclaim that it's user interface is
universal and intuitive, just try lending it to your elderly neighbor who's trying
to navigate his phone company's computerized help system - he can't hold
the slick object very well, the keypad needs to be brought up from a menu
instead of always being there like on a traditional phone, and he needs to pull
it away from his ear to see the display. The iPhone's primary function is
mobile computing and getting the internet into the average person's pocket.
Using a phone is just a trojan horse - something electronic with a radio,
which the rest of their technology can piggyback on. If I had to rank my use
of functions on the iPhone, it would go like this: clock, internet, maps,
mail/messaging, phone, notes, games and other distractions.

One of the basic mobile phone functions which is missing is a record of the
duration of calls in your recent calls list. Each call here has an overview page
with start time, who in your contacts was called, and where the call was
connected to geographically. Another simple change would be to deliver to
the user some easily recognizable way of telling what charges they will incur
for the call they are making or receiving. I propose a simple color coding
atmospheric treatment to warn users when they are using their peak minutes,
unlimited minutes, or are roaming etc. You could even have a relative
warning state if the user is reaching some limit of their contract, like
visualization changes at fewer than 50, 25, 10, and 5% of their minutes
remaining.

Related to the issue of limited minutes in a users cell phone contract would
be the option to change radio systems when available. If users could switch
to VOIP while at hope or at the office and avoid cluttering up the cell network
with heavy voice traffic, would be a benefit to both the user and the service
provider. For now though, we all know that AT&T will not be letting go of any
loose dollars slipping out of their grip and all voice traffic from their phones
will follow a fairly traditional billing system.

As with all iPhone apps, data entry on a landscape mode keyboard and the
ability to display on an external monitor would be very useful.

57 - mail - attachment button

Mail -

Mail is probably the app which is most interesting and useful for business
users, but its power is limited when compared to existing mobile solutions
like the blackberry. First off, the blackberry has a great keyboard, and the
iPhone only has a small portrait mode touch screen, which mimics the
blackberry, but doesn't play to the iPhone's versatility. Using the keyboard in
landscape mode offers a larger, more spread out keyboard, which is easier
to hold without covering portions of the screen. It does steal some screen
real estate from the text window, but in the case of emails, users are
generally writing in the simplest, most natural voice and don't need to
remember strange text messaging shortcuts like "IDK, my BFF Jill" or review
complex, unnatural wordings as in Maps address entries like "738 Bomont
rd" which no spell checker can understand.

In addition to using the better keyboard, power users would really appreciate
a way to aggregate multiple email accounts into one inbox with color-coding
for different accounts. It could even be handled completely separately like the
Weather app's slideable cards, with one address per card.

One last thing to make the Mail app more useful would be to allow users to
write an email and then choose files to attach instead of forcing users to
choose one picture, or bookmark, or note to build an email around. This
backwards system really hinders normal communication and treats these
situations more like file transfers.

58 - safari - nav bar

59 - safari - nav bar back

60 - safari - nav bar bookmark

61 - safari - nav bar new page

Safari -

Safari is the iPhone's real power. It makes web browsing on a small device
very intuitive and really only has one limit, which I can only assume is based
on processing power - flash. Missing flash is more than an annoyance - it
hobbles a large percentage of websites to the point of being entirely
unusable. In one way it keeps Apple in charge of what games and apps can
go on the iPhone, by blocking an entire programming language, but what if I
just want to see the menu of some fancy restaurant? Lots of sites have
created mobile versions of their content just for the iPhone, but this is a little
backward - the iPhone is supposed to be the "real web" without any
restrictions, and yet it's creating it's own little niche of these mobile pages.
Come on Apple, even a limited version of Flash would be fantastic.

One good thing that does come from the mobile pages is that they avoid
heavy, ugly banner adds. Efficiency of what is sent over Edge and 3G is
important because they're not terribly fast and you end up basically paying by
the megabyte. Ad blocking, or allowing third party Safari plugins so it's not an
official iPhone function are essential to making mobile internet an enjoyable
experience.

Now for some more nit-picky UI comments. Using Edge on my phone, I
frequently want to stop loading a page before the really heavy data gets
transferred, like the thumbnail images and ads on the main page of a gadget
blog. This means that I hit the stop button all the time, but most of the time
when I hit it, it brings up the URL field. Just make the touch area for this
button bigger or separate it from the URL field. Another small annoyance is
that when using the magnifying glass to add or modify text in the URL bar or
any other text box, the way the system deals with scrolling beyond what is
displayed can be really annoying. Sometimes the cursor just won't recognize
that you want to scroll into the hidden text, and other times the cursor
vanishes. Just make this action a little more consistent, or add some more
controls to make it more usable.

Another quick fix would be to have some way of hiding the lower navigation
bar in Safari once a page has finished loading. It seems like a waste of space
to always display a bar with five buttons, two of which are frequently grayed
out. I say make the URL bar more like a traditional browser with all the
controls in one place.

The last addition would be a more powerful scrolling system. On long
webpages, users can swipe at the screen for quite some time before
reaching the end, with their only other option to tap the upper edge of the
screen to return home. I'd like to see a scrolling system similar to the

62 - safari - search

63 - safari - nav bar blocked

64 - safari - page scroll

65 - safari - link choices

Safari cont.

alphabetical system in the iPod app. Since there are not multiple entries you
could either have a hold touch near that edge of the screen pull up a grab-
able scroll bar, or break the whole long page into single screen sized sub-
pages like the print preview screen of a PDF - this way users can better
understand how to navigate large webpages.

Now for the major substantive changes to Safari. People have long
bemoaned the lack of cut and paste on the iPhone, and I believe it can be
incorporated into something that Apple has always been at odds against:
right clicking. Well not exactly right clicking, but a contextual menu when a
user clicks and holds over a word or link. The iPhone already supports this in
limited capacity when you click on a link in Safari - the address of the link
appears in a gray cartoon speech bubble. Why build the framework and only
use it for this useless display? I propose that instead of the link, we have a
multi-item menu appear with open in new window, cut/paste, google, and
other search options. Open in new window would be really useful in a system
where there seems to be no cache of recently viewed pages and traveling
back and forth requires each page to be fully sent. This contextual menu
should pop up even when non-linked text is click-held, so that users can
cut/past, or more precisely, copy. Initially, the word is highlighted, but users
should be allowed to edit what text they have selected by grabbing handles
at the beginning and end of the word so it can grab a few characters or
sentences. For pasting this text all the user would need to do is click-hold in
a text box and then a list comes up with the most recently copied text to
select from. Now users can grab info from a webpage and not have to switch
back multiple times to transfer a complex volume of data - multiple names
and addresses from non-adjacent areas on a list for example.

Now for googling a selection - instead of cutting, going to google, pasting,
and then viewing the results, it would be very useful if you could be taken
directly to those results. This is especially useful if we implement it on more
bloated search pages than google, like yelp or imdb. Now in addition to
pasting in those search fields, we can choose "add to search" - where the
text box is now bookmarked for quick searching from the cut/paste menu or
the google bar next to the URL field.

70 - iPod - play all albums

71 - iPod - search songs

iPod -

The iPod app is pretty good, but missing some features that other music
players and even previous iPod generations have. The ability to play all
songs by a single artist, in the order in which they appear on their albums
instead of all songs alphabetically would be great. The ability to change the
sound output levels is also something that is pretty basic and yet missing
from much of Apple's audio hardware - a simple equalizer screen would give
at least the appearance of more power. Lastly, with the more powerful touch
screen interface should grow to contain more of the functions available in
iTunes on a full-fledged computer. Mainly the ability to search artists or
songs in a way similar to how contacts can be searched would be very
useful.

72 - wi-fi select

Universal changes -

There are a number of changes which don't fall within any single app but still
need addressing. First is the annoying wi-fi popup. When I start up Safari I
get a flood of useless locked networks or even worse accidentally connect to
a protected but open network. I think that wi-fi connectivity should always be
one click away - by touching the connectivity icon. This way I can
unobtrusively scan available networks or kill bad connections without having
to go back out to the springboard, and then dig into settings.

Second, bluetooth needs to work. I want stereo headsets, keyboards,
gamepads, and data transfer, not just the hobbled mono phone version.
There is no reason for Apple to not make better use of this radio chip. It's
most annoying because developers have not been able to crack this bit of
hardware, so we are all stuck playing emulated games on the touch screen
with thumbs covering half of the screen.

Third, open the serial port. This means allow developers to create hardware
attachments to the iPhone beyond docks and batteries. Along with opening
the hardware, open the software. Apple likes to claim that its systems are the
easiest to develop for because they're based on Unix, but then they seal up
vast areas of their code. Developers are going to get Linux running on
everything, no matter what blocks you try and put in their way, so you might
as well treat them with less derision.

Fourth, I've harped about making all the interfaces in the device available in
the landscape aspect ratio, but one thing that would be missing when
connected to an external display would be a visual cursor, which is important
when the input device is not touching the screen and mapped as such. This
would be annoying to implement, but would add a level of future proofing if
the OS were to grow to exist on netbooks or other hardware.

Lastly, make a user guide, or instruction manual for the thing! There are a
number of features that I thought were missing until I started writing this
article dissecting and suggesting solutions for them. Sure, the videos of the
Apple guy in his black turtle neck on their website are a good introduction to
the device, but there is nothing between that level of instruction and the very
techie and incomplete Apple support forums. I shouldn't have to buy a third
party book telling me how to best use my new device.

Future hardware -

So far, all I have written about is software and user interface systems, but I
would like to end by touching on where the iPhone could go in the future. The
first hardware revision really just cleaned up a few stopgap solutions with the
Edge based, aluminum backed iPhone. The storage space and transfer
speed increased and the device got real GPS tracking. In future generations
I'd like to see the screen lengthened to an aspect ratio that is used elsewhere
in the world of displays - ideally a 16:9 display that would show widescreen
video without any cropping or black bars. Most of the application screens
would be easy to modify to accommodate this extra height. Along with a
longer screen, I'd like to see a front facing camera hidden behind the black
glass of the unit. There are already other sensors hidden behind this layer,
and a second camera would be good for self-portraits and video
conferencing. It would be entirely hidden and would not impact the look and
feel of the existing device.

On the rear of the device I'd like to see an improved camera. This may mean
better optics in the lens, a better sensor, or increasing the number of
megapixels in the sensor, but all of the above would be appreciated. The
camera is pretty bad, so it really deserves some attention in any future
revisions. It would also be useful to have a flash, or allow a flash to connect
and be controlled through the serial port. it would add another break on the
back of a very simple and clean product, but it can have another possible
function aside from just photography. Imagine if the camera sensor, in
conjunction with a low power light could turn the phone into an optical mouse
with a touch screen instead of buttons. Apple would probably have to change
the surface treatment of the back of the phone to make it more mouse like, or
maybe it could dock into a shoe that would keep it slightly above the table
surface and protect it from scratches, but combining the functionality of a
mouse into the iPhone could be an intriguing possibility for business
travelers.

Along the lines of adding the functionality of a wireless optical mouse to the
iPhone, it would also be interesting to see the accelerometer sensors
upgraded to the point where it could be used as an onscreen pointing device
during presentations or when playing games on TV. Building upon the wild
success of the Nintendo Wii, third generation iPhones with better sensing
could become a real competitor in the gaming console market.

As I wanted to remove anachronism from the interface, I feel that I'm going
against that with my next suggestion: add a compass. It's a very old
technology, but something that GPS just can't really cover adequately. When
I come out of the subway in an unfamiliar city, I'm usually totally lost until I've

Future hardware cont.

walked at least a block to get my bearings: I come aboveground at 7th and
34th and need to walk to 7th and 35th before I know which way is North. I
don't even know if chip makers even have something like this or if it's
something you can extrapolate from a high quality GPS signal, but it's the
last link in making the iPhone a perfect guide while on the go.

Along with making the device have more processing power, battery life, and
storage space, there are two final industrial design points I'd like to make.
First is that they need to focus on using materials and finishes that resist
scratching and fingerprints. That was my major gripe with the physical design
update between Edge and 3G phones - the back looks much more complete
as a single color and piece, but it's a high gloss plastic that just soaks up fine
scratches and finger oils like crazy. The other thing is that the device is a little
too symmetrical - there are tons of examples of actors on TV shows holding it
upside-down. Maybe Apple should consider changing the edge details -
making buttons and ports more or less flush with the surface to help users
orient themselves by touch.

Glossary -
Springboard - the iPhones desktop where all apps reside.
Dock - the lowest row of apps on the springboard, initially containing phone,
mail, safari, and ipod apps.
Coverflow - the album art display where the primary image is centered and
facing you, while next and previous options are angled away as if standing
on a shelf or stage.
Card user interface element where primary information is hidden with a
card flipping animation to reveal secondary info on its back.
Portrait vs landscape - portrait refers to when the display is taller than it is
wide and landscape is the opposite.
OS - short for operating system, the program which runs all other
applications on a computer.
App short for application or program.
Multi-touch - touch screen technology which enables multiple, simultaneous
button presses.
SMS - short message service for cell phone texting.
MMS - multimedia messaging service for cell phone picture messaging.
Edge - AT&Ts mobile data transfer system.
3G - AT&Ts newer, faster data transfer system. Also refers to second
generation iphones with the fully plastic back shell.
Thread - line of conversation via alternating short messages.
Push notification - system where information is periodically sent to the iphone
from central data servers.
SDK - software development kit for programmers to create new applications.
VOIP - voice over internet protocol, a system for having voice conversations
over the internet instead of through a phone network.
Flash - a web browser based programming language for making animated
web pages and games.