After a long decision-making process, my wife and I have decided to adopt iPhones. We will pick them up on Saturday, and probably spend the rest of the weekend cooing over them and telling each other how great they are.
What I would like to know:
What software updates do I need, where do I get them, and how are they installed?
Is there anything I need to do to them right out of the box before using them, akin to a burn-in time on monitors?
You generally will need iTunes. It’s relatively painless - just download iTunes, run it, and plug in the iPhone, if there are any updates needed you’ll get them.
If your phones come with iOS 3.0 pre-loaded on them, it’s worth updating the software to 4.0, IMO. 4.0 lets you multi-task, i.e. minimize an app and keep it running in the background. You can also organize similar applications into folders to keep your iPhone’s home screen look more organized and not have multiple pages of apps to all scroll through. Upgrading your iPhone’s software is done through iTunes pretty easily and you won’t lose any of your music, contacts, or any other data.
Install iTunes on your PC. If you have a Mac, You get to skip this step, Hooray!
Next, plug in your phone. Itunes will sync, update, etc, and you will be good to go.
You will need to activate them with ATT and sign away your soul for 2 years, but thats S.O.P. for cell phones these days.
Pandora for music. MP3s are so 2000’s.
One of those Tweeter thingies, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Uh, I don’t know what else you want, just search the Dope for the countless iPhone app threads.
Car Navigation mount. Even if you don’t pay for one of the navigation apps, its very useful with just the google maps that comes loaded.
Yes, Don’t drop it. Its glass.
Also, you get better battery life if you leave it on the home screen when not in use. You don’t have to “quit” your apps, just hit the Home button.
Also, Don’t trust the alarm clock. Its been FUBAR twice in the last 6 months, causing global chaos and panic.
Is that the one you have to pay extra for? My friend says it doesn’t work well with his jailbroken 3GS.
Also, what do you guys think about getting the sticker thing to put over the front glass? I think it’s a necessary thing for protection purposes, but it seems to dim the screen like a privacy filter.
If you like hacking your phone to use unapproved Apps or to unlock it for use on non-ATT networks (like TMobile), staying away from iOS 4.x is probably a wise move - but you then give up the multi-tasking benefits.
The benefit of adopting a used 3GS is that you can get month-to-month service from ATT, no worries about 2 year contract lockins or early termination fees.
No extra fee - most likely if it’s not already loaded, iTunes will tell you there are updates/upgrades needed. I’ve heard some people say the OS4 doesn’t work great on their 3GS. It works fine on mine. It is a tab bit hitchy at times and may take a second to start the keyboard or something, but it’s not all the time and I think I’ve had to restart the phone maybe twice since I upgraded due to locking up. (whenever OS4 came out - last summer?)
The 3GS, unlike its predecessors, has a treatment on the glass already to resist excessive fingerprinting and scratches. It’s designed to be able to swipe it clean on your pants. I haven’t put any covering on the glass, just an otterbox case, and the phone looks just like the day it came new in the box. It still gets fingerprints, of course, but a swipe on the pants and it’s totally clean again.
You will have much fun, it’s a good first smartphone choice, IMO, and I’m not an Apple person!
I got the clip-on holster with the fitted case, and the surface film (got it before reading SDT’s post above. :()
So far it’s been pretty smooth. I got some apps…Jango is particularly interesting, and the local radio station live feeds. I had a scary crash though, and had to delete/reinstall Jango.
Wait, you have to adopt an iPhone now? I just bought mine.
If you’re in the States, you have to sign away your life with a carrier (AT&T, or also Verizon as of Feb 3rd) and you get a locked phone. Verizon and AT&T iPhones look almost identical, but are different inside. Even if they were unlocked, you couldn’t take them from one network to the other.
Outside the States, only the GSM/UMTS phone, as used on AT&T, is sold at the moment. In many countries it is sold unlocked directly from Apple, and can be used with any compatible SIM card (you need a special small SIM). This lets you put in a local SIM to make cheap calls when visiting other countries.
The Verizon iPhone is CDMA, and will presumably roam in the same way as other Verizon CDMA phones–to a smaller number of countries. Verizon and other CDMA carriers will rent you a GSM phone and SIM so you can take advantage of the greater number of GSM countries. Don’t know whether they will rent a GSM iPhone though.
If you roam, it is very important to turn off the “data roaming” setting. This will prevent you from downloading data through a foreign network at unbelievable costs (try 3c/kB, which works out to $30 for a 1-MB web page). And don’t even think about watching YouTube. There’s actually a warning right on the settings screen next to Data Roaming that boils down to, “if you turn this on, you will pay a lot of money.”
Be aware that if you are near a border, you may inadvertently roam by hitting a tower on the other side, so keep that setting turned off.
