Apple iOS 4 Review

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Apple iOS 4 Review

Prasad Naik, Jun 22, 2010 1618 hrs IST

We take an in-depth look at the latest version of iOS

Expert Review

Folders:

Another big change in iOS 4 is the inclusion of folders. The Folders feature lets you group your apps into one neat folder instead of having them spread across different home screens and then swiping through them to find your apps. You can now have a folder called 'Games' and put all you games in that so they are easier to access. All you have to do to create a folder is press and hold an icon until it wiggles and then drag it over another icon which you wish to include in your folder and a new folder with those two will automatically be created. The best part is that the folders are also automatically named based on the category on the App Store from which they come from. So if you slide a game icon on another, the folder will automatically be called 'Games'. Each folder can contain up to 12 applications. And you can create as many folders as you want. You can even have folders in your dock area.

With the inclusion of folders, the number of apps you can have has gone up dramatically. Earlier, you could have 16 apps on one screen and you had 11 screens in total, plus the four icons in the dock which gave you space for 180 apps, including the built-in ones. Now, you can have up to 2,160 apps on your iPhone at a time. It is hard to imagine anyone having those many apps at a time but in case you want to, you now have the option to do so.

There are a few things that we noted with the folders interface. First of all, the background of a folder has changed (along with the background for the multitasking tray at the bottom). It now has a cloth like texture whereas earlier, when Apple had demonstrated iOS 4 in April it had a dimpled pattern. Secondly, when you click on an app in a folder and after you close it, the folder continues to remain open and needs to be manually closed. Now some may find this useful but I did find it annoying. Also, in a folder, when you remove all the icons except for one, I would have liked for the folder to delete itself and that last icon to turn into an app icon. Instead you have to manually drag even that last icon out and only then will the folder be deleted. It feels strange as to why anyone would want to have only one icon in a folder and so, it shouldn't have been allowed. And lastly, there is no way to create a folder within a dock. You cannot drag a dock icon or an icon outside the dock over a dock icon to create a folder. You will have to create the folder outside the dock and then drag it onto the dock.

Homescreen Wallpapers:

To be honest, this is a pretty lame addition. Not that I don't like having homescreen wallpapers, it's just that I was wondering what took Apple so long to have this basic feature on board. Anyway, better late than never.

For starters, there are some pretty good new wallpapers that you will find in your images folder by default. Again, I'm wondering why Apple couldn't update the wallpapers with every new update and had to wait for four years to add new wallpapers. You get the choice to select an image for the homescreen, the lock screen or both. The wallpapers on the homescreen are not dimmed in any way and hence some wallpapers may make the screen look confusing with the app icons on top. Wallpapers don't appear on the Spotlight screen.

One of the major grouse that I have with this feature is its unavailability on older devices such as iPhone 3G or the second generation iPod touch. I can understand not having features like multitasking on them but wallpapers? Seriously, Apple? I can't have a wallpaper on my iPhone 3G because it is two years old now?

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Discussion Board

(45) Comments

Jonathan

,Marietta, on Jun 22, 2010 06:51 PM

I have the iPod touch second generation. I have noticed it is slower and the battery life has taken a nose drive. I need more time but, I may have lost a fourth on my battery life. This is not good. Thanks for the review.

Apple iOS 4 Review

We take an in-depth look at the latest version of iOS

54

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