New Features in iPhone Software 2.2

Written on October 27, 2008 by David Appleyard and 112 people have commented

The latest version of the iPhone Firmware — version 2.2 — has been seeded to developers. It offers a few features which users have been desperate for, along with smaller additions which could lead to interesting new applications in the future. Whether you’ve been clamoring for Street View or would one day like to see a version of GarageBand for iPhone, you may be in luck. Some of the new features are detailed below, and a large selection of screenshots have also been posted online.

Street View

iPhone Maps Street View

After the excellent implementation of Street View in Google’s Android OS (see about halfway through the video demonstration), pressure was on for Apple to create similar functionality in the iPhone. This should be the case, with full support for street view and the potential of the ‘compass’ feature, which rotates the display of street view as you rotate the iPhone.

Public Transit / Transport Support

Public Transport in iPhone Maps

The iPhone now has the ability to provide directions through public transport (bus, train & walking). This is a great feature of Google Maps which will be welcomed on a mobile device. Hopefully, public transit directions will be provided on an international basis and not just for major cities in the U.S.

Location Sharing

The iPhone will also provide the ability to share your location with others. When clicking Share Location, it drafts an email with an http link filled out which, when clicked on another iPhone, will launch Maps & go to that exact location. While this has been achieved through other applications previously, it is now built into the Google Maps application.

Support for Line-In

Another release note mentioned that the new SDK supports the manipulation of line-ln audio accessories. This will give developers the ability to utilize higher quality audio inputs and create more innovative audio applications. The ability to record a real instrument at high quality into the iPhone could give way to a new surge in GarageBand style applications.

Still Waiting For…

While this release covers a range of highly anticipated features, there are still several missing. One maps feature which seems vital is the addition of turn-by-turn GPS. Why this wasn’t included with the initial release of the GPS enabled iPhone is beyond me, and I strongly hope that Apple finds a way to include software to provide this functionality in a future release.

Are there any other software features which you’d like to see in this release? Let us know in the comments.

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#1 Darrell Etherington says:
No background application support? I’m still waiting for that to make its triumphant return.
#2 Jenny says:
Google calendar and push Gmail…come Google.
#3 Brian Hogg says:
What’s the difference between the new line-in support and the existing? I’ve seen a bunch of apps that will let you record audio, at pretty high quality; I’d be interested to see what the difference is.
#4 Brian Hogg says:
Push G-mail would be fun, absolutely. Also support for a bluetooth keyboard.
#5 Colin says:
Background application support will likely never be implemented for a variety of reason documented by Apple and others. Maybe in a few years, but not likely.
#6 jfruh says:
The transit directions are almost certainly derived from Google Transit. Complete list of participating agencies here:

http://www.google.com/transit

It’s very heavy on the US as of right now.
#7 Sam says:
@Brian Hogg: The difference is that instead of only being able to use the microphones that are built in (headphones & bottom) the SDK can access the dock connector for audio-input devices.
#8 Wasif Malik says:
What about Bluetooth access and connectivity with other devices such as keyboards,remotes,phones etc? I think it is the most unexplored area of the iPhone at the moment.
#9 Darrell Etherington says:
A2DP support as well, Wasif. And this is a big stretch, but I would love a ported version of the Dictionary widget that comes with Leopard.
#10 Zagdul says:
What about cut’n'paste - does noone exept me miss this feature?

An other one is Sending VCards via Bluetooth and / or email… An import-Funktion would be nice, too…
#11 tim says:
What about MMS? I’m sick and tired of having the best phone in the world, but I still get text messages from my friends saying “You have recieved a multimedia message. To view it, go to…”. This is something that shoulda been on firmware 1.0!
#12 Andy says:
I agree with the MMS support; Cut, PAste & Copy, but also can we get a search box for the contacts - I have over 500 and the little scroll wheel on the side just doesn’t do the job when you have that many. Right now I have to use iphone google app to find my contacts, seem like apple could add a search field for me.
#13 Lliam Green says:
I would LOVE to have Picture messaging in the new software!!!!!!!

MMS is such an idiotic thing to leave out

THANKS APPLE

lol
#14 Josh says:
Search is included. At the very top of the list. You can even access it by clicking the Magnifying glass above the letter A on the right of the screen.

More Bluetooth functionality would be great, especially a chat client using it.
#15 Bastian Gatten says:
MMS!!! Hello! Apple why won’t you enable MMS like every other phone on the market. I just don’t get it. It seams to be the most talked about missing feature. Yet we don’t have it. I honestly could care less about google maps street view. I would use MMS all the time.
#16 Carnivor says:
at #12 Andy says:
but also can we get a search box for the contacts - I have over 500 and the little scroll wheel on the side just doesn’t do the job when you have that many.

We already do have a contacts search box, scroll up in your contacts list and you can also see a magnifying glass above A in the right side scroll
#17 Dan says:
omg, who CARES about MMS? what is the obsession with wanting to send HORRIBLE quality images at an inflated price to one another? It takes about 3 seconds to upload an image and email its location to people with the various apps and what not.

MMS is a poor and useless technology, move on.

(p.s. yey for background notifications and copy n paste)
#18 ni says:
MMS and of course the possibility to sync notes!!
#19 Ken says:
Street View, nearly useless.
Public Transit / Transport Support, ok, if you don’t have a car.
Location Sharing, could be cool I guess.
Support for Line-In, again nearly useless.

What they should be working on instead of this crap, is turn-by-turn GPS, Background push for apps, more Bluetooth support (VCards, etc.), and if they get around to it cut/paste. No reason why they can’t do all of this, other than the fact they are hung-up on adding more useless things.
#20 Chuck says:
Higher resolution photos (now that we have larger capacities). Cut & paste. Notes sync. Office or iWork full capabilities with edit and save. Video. Bluetooth audio.
#21 Larry says:
How about Flash support. So many sites now utilize Flash. It would be nice to view them on the iphone.
#22 Eytan says:
@Ken - what we need is car reduction, not car proliferation. I for one am ecstatic for the transit directions. This is THE killer app for me…
#23 jeff says:
Get picture text messaging
#24 Bob Helm says:
The iPhone aGPS just doesn’t provide the accuracy at this time to provide and track routes. not sure if it is software related or aGPS technology. I would like to see them open up blue tooth to allow other devices to connect as opposed to just limiting blue tooth for head sets.
#25 aen says:
what has been said above specifically transfering pictures or even any kind of files to other mobiles/computers via bluetooth
#26 David Voros says:
I would like to see voice dialing for the iPhone.
#27 josh says:
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned which is essential for business is improved Active Sync support. Right now I only receive push email from my work’s Exchange server at the top most folder in my “Inbox” folder tree. I have lots of sub-folders for various projects and co-workers but I have to manually poll those sub-folders in order to see if there is new mail waiting for me in them.

On a related note, those of you with sub-folders on an IMAP email server have the same problem. (i.e. sub-folders don’t update automagically even with “Fetch” active.)

I can live without cut/paste if it means Apple will fix these shortcomings in the email app.

Oh - one more thing: how about downloading the entire message from a POP account instead of just the header so I can read the whole message when I get on the subway in the morning (where I don’t have connectivity). (Unless there’s already a way to do this. Is there? Anyone?)
#28 Krl says:
1) Fix the 2.0-introduced bug where I can’t listen to voicemail on a bluetooth headset.

2) Give me a search field in the calendar app.

3) Thread view in the mail app.
#29 Chuck says:
Incorporate To Dos from iCalendar into iPhone. Why is this such a huge issue?
#30 Roshan says:
We need copy and paste as well as text forwarding.
#31 Kaleb says:
give me a thing where I can have folders and put certain apps in their like called stacks or something like in Mac OS X Leopard!!!!!
#32 Jhonny says:
Let´s see..

iChat, Videorecording, Photoediting, Unlocked Bluetooth!!!
#33 alex Bickel says:
would love to have the ability to use the iPhones keyboard to input into the search field for the youtube function of an TV through the remote application.
#34 Jay says:
1. Push notification service for IM apps, etc. (was supposed to be here in September)
2. ToDo list sync in iCal
3. iDisk app to view files on my iDisk
4. Turn-by-turn voice GPS
5. iChat app
6. Video recording app
7. Compass in maps so the map turns as I turn
(probably impossible, but I can dream)

No need for MMS - just use email.
No need for A2DP - the audio quality just isn’t good enough yet unfortunately.
I would welcome copy/paste, but I don’t really have a need for it.
#35 Brandon says:
Background support would be simply fantastic.

MMS is something so basic that even if you don’t care about it, the iphone should have.

Enhanced GPS would be nice.

Landscape mode for email and text, it works great in safari, so why not give me the option for everything else? And for those who say it takes up to much of the screen, if you don’t like something, then don’t do it.
#36 Andrew says:
There’s definitely a demand for MMS on the iPhone - sites like iphonemms.net which provide this in the UK prove that… but still, email is superior in many ways and this seems to be Apple’s view - much as they were first to drop the old floppy drive technology, they see MMS as “old hat” and pointless in a world with email-capable phones… I must admit I agree.
#37 Dave says:
The ability to access the Music Library from the SDK would be great!
#38 Steve says:
MMS! I hate writing down the username an password when someone sends me an MMS.

At the very least Apple should use single sign-on when clicking the link to view the message. Pass the username and password via a secure method.
#39 Rob says:
- Landscape sms and email
- The ability to remove 1 sms message instead of an entire conversation (just like apps)
- The ability to rearange an entire springboard screen, not just app by app.
- copy/cut and paste!!
- Flash
- The ability to remove all emails at once (like in the trashbin)
- Maybe MMS, I don’t use it but it would be fun to be able to at least recieve mms.
- A T9 sms keypad (like the phone) for easier one-handed texting
- A settings screen to disable ALL internet functions in one screen.
- Video record function
- customizable lock screen (like intelliscreen)
- A live updated weather icon (but that might be difficult and battery unfriendly)
#40 Justin says:
Hi guys,

Did you forget the bluetooth? It is useless if you can use it for headset only.. I hope Apple will make bluetooth open to receive files ..

Have a nice day .. Enjoy
#41 darek says:
Only few changes?
What about bugfixes?
#42 Greg Wyatt says:
SEARCH!!! How about a spotlight search capability for any info on the phone (calendar, contacts emails, documents, sms messages, etc…)
#43 TBRU25 says:
definately landscape texting, but i would love if there was an app called “extras” which would be a storing place for games, entertainment apps, ect. so that those apps dont take up room and cause you to have to make multiple homescreens… it is annoying to have to scroll through a couple homescreens until i get to the main one, so why not add an “extras” app and be able to put all the nonsense apps in that folder
#44 Mike says:
Give me:

Video and MMS.

Both should be a small software update… hell the camera has Video already (view finder), just let us save it somewhere.
#45 Andreas says:
I agree with most of the wished above, but just wanted to say something about MMS.

If MMS is so useless and old, why don’t we just kill off SMS as well then. It is much older.

We can just use email for everything, right?

Wrong!

MMS is really useful for holiday quick snaps that you want to send to your senior parents who has ordinary phones with MMS capability, but no email.

In addition you don’t have to worry about connecting to the Internet, and if you travel a bit you know that is not always easy or cheap in other countries.

Just my 2 cents.
#46 Chuck says:
Global Spotlight — Especially in Mail
#47 GameKiwi says:
MMS
Ability to email or txt contact details to other contacts
bluetooth to other bluetooth devices
Copy and Paste

All these things have been mentioned heaps before, and I still can’t figure out why Apple haven’t added them. But for me they are things I need to be able to use on a frequent basis!!!!!
#48 James says:
When the heck will we get BT profiles for keyboards?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

The iphone might actually be useful if only I could pair it with a standard iGo BY keyboard. This is just negligence on Apple’s part, and I believe they’d sell less iphones if this missing feature was more publicized.
#49 James says:
MMS, Text Forwarding, Copy and Paste, Bluetooth music thru headset(you can do the ring tones why not this), Can I please beam something to a friend? Hello Apple are you listening!!!!! And this suppose to be the best invention phone wise ever? Come on the best has eveything, more, and then some to knock all contenders out of the box hands down! You would think they would want this phone to make a stament like the ipod did. No other MP3 player compared!
#50 DunnP says:
Here’s a few wishes - that should have been in from the start (in no particular order)!

1) Bluetooth file copy, profiles for different devices, etc
2) Copy & Paste (Please!!!!)
3) Java & Flash support in Safari
4) Java support overall - would expand the number of apps exponentially!
5) Software Video recorder with sound - gawd, I really miss that…
6) MMS & ‘proper’ SMS handling - ie, reply & include, forward, edit, & send part, etc.
7) Landscape editing of e-mail & texts
Modem (3G & Edge) capability (laptop Internet via i-Phone, anyone?!)

From a non-US perspective (I’m from the UK), the SMS/MMS foibles are unforgivable - there are millions of phones & users that don’t have e-mail, & rely on SMS. In this respect, the iPhone is miles behind Nokia & Sony-Ericsson, but for ease of use & web/e-mail, I do love it.
#51 Ron says:
A2DP, global search, copy&paste, Gmail sync
#52 Iphoneguy says:
Landscape keyboard!!
#53 Jason says:
bluetooth streaming (for my head unit in my car), MMS, the ability to at least RECEIVE bluetooth messages (pics, music, video, contacts) and maybe (just maybe) the ability to plug in to my ipod compatible KDBT-22 head unit from JVC
#54 bella says:
Messaging forwarding. Why this was overlooked I will never know.
#55 josh says:
Bella, you can indeed forward messages. Here’s how:
1. Open the message you wish to forward
2. At the bottom of the screen select the left-facing arrow (second icon from the right)
3. Select “Forward” from the available choices.
#56 Whiskey Karma says:
OK yes some sort of background app support would make ALOT of sense and can Apple do it if they wanted YES. All the excuses released by Apple and others are just that excuses not reasons why it isnt there. It is possible and sad that its not there yet. Also lets start bitching even more for Standard Cell Phone Features that the iPhone has lacked. MMS where is MMS. The iPhone is compatible and the only reason it doesnt work is its part of the contract with AT&T and other carriers to NOT ALLOW MMS for iPhones. Apple is great but honestly they need to step it up and stop being such assholes. These features as well as other such as Turn by Turn should have been in the iPhone from DAY 1. These are features I can get on a free clamshell from any and all carriers so why wouldnt it be on my expensive supposed top of the line iPhone. LETS GO APPLE
#57 please please apple says:
I know it isn’t necessary but I would like to have videotones
Just for somthing else to customize and also customized ringtones
Not sure if that can be done already.
#58 Jarrod says:
-The Weather app icon could actually change to show the current temperature, rather than “Sunny and 23 degrees
- Background app support
- Cut/Copy & Paste
- Flash and Java support
- Video recording
- Notes sync with Mail and iCal
- Bluetooth File Exchange (But I suppose Apple probably won’t do that because Apple doesn’t want people to be exchanging music because they want to make money from the Wi-Fi iTunes Store
- iChat (with Windows Live support)
- Front Row support for the Remote app
#59 Wayne says:
It would be nice to be able to search within emails and the callender
#60 Tony says:
Only waiting for one thing… Notifications, it will allow developers to do so much more than what is currently possible.
#61 Nicholas says:
Aside from pretty much everything that has been suggested i’d love to have the ability to email more than one photo at a time, or is this already possible.
#62 sheepdip1 says:
Just basic SMS support. I’ve been Nokia for years and just got the iPhone. I can’t believe that it doesn’t:
(a) allow SMS forwarding
(b) support sending/receiving business cards (VCARDS) by SMS/Bluetooth

This is 1990’s functionality.

Furthermore there should be times and dates on each SMS in the SMS history and on phonecalls in the Recents.

If Apple isn’t going to implement these simple features (that are taken for granted on every other phone on the market), the least they could do is permit developers to build them on. I’m probably going to have to invalidate my warranty and jailbreak the phone to make SMS usable on the iPhone.
#63 James says:
SMS FORWARDING!!!!! MMS? Bluetooth to other phones? Everyone doesn’t have e-mail access at the drop of a dime like my parents; so sending a quick photo of my son at his soccer game instantly is the reason for MMS. And all of you, who say MMS is garbage, think about the millions in the situation above. When in the $&%( will we get MS Office fully editable? We business people would love that especially the ones that cant be glued to a desk all day. Also copy n paste is important! especially if APPLE wants this tom be a successful corporate phone! APPLE you better get on the ball with the software side of the house because the T-Mobile G1 is serious and when the “Blackberry Storm” rains down the game will be turned up to another level and you can believe that. BOTTOM LINE: OPEN THE FLOOD GATES before the above phones stick it to you and take customers which may shock your stocks!
#64 James says:
APPLE UMMM LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE THAT FEED YOU FAMLIES!
1.SMS FORWARDING!!!!! (reply & include, forward, edit, & send part, etc.)What Gives……
2.Landscape keyboard!! With all the hype about twisting and turning the phone this surely should have been a standard feature, at least you would think.
3.It is annoying to have to scroll through a couple home screens until i get to the main one. Frankly you should have left this with the iPod!
Support sending/receiving business cards (VCARDS) by SMS/Bluetooth.
4.Bluetooth to other phones?
5.A2DP support?
6.MMS? Everyone doesn’t have e-mail access at the drop of a dime like my parents; so sending a quick photo of my son at his soccer game instantly is the reason for MMS. And all of you, who say MMS is garbage, think about the millions in the situation above.
7.Can I please remove or move all emails at once?
8.Can I remove 1 sms message instead of the entire conversation?
9.Video recording?
10.Flash and Java support?
11.Background app support?
12.Global Spotlight?
13.To Do list sync in iCal?
14.Voice dialing (NEWSFLASH SAFETY LAWSUIT may be around the corner the way people look to sue for any and everything these days)
15.We have all this space but can’t get Higher resolution photos!
16.When in the $&%( will we get MS Office fully editable? We business people would love that especially the ones that can’t be glued to a desk all day.
17.Also copy n paste is important! Especially if APPLE wants this to be a successful corporate phone!
18.Laptop Internet via i-Phone? I mean I can view full pages on the phone with the same amount of data as on the laptop so what’s the difference or excuse besides you and AT&T trying to come up with an excuse to charge us more?
In conclusion, APPLE you better get on the ball with the software side of the house just in case you haven’t seen the T-Mobile G1 which is serious and when the “Blackberry Storm” rains down, the game will be turned up to whole different level and you can count on that. BOTTOM LINE: OPEN THE FLOOD GATES before the above phones stick it to you and take customers which may shock your stocks! LETS GO APPLE!
#65 Nick says:
What apple needs to do is make a landscape mode for text messaging, pretty much an asy one to do. mass delete for mail, video recording( dont really care), ability to remove 1 sms message instead of an entire conversation. you can do it apple.
#66 Ally says:
Please add SMS “forward” function and also MMS, it is a basic function!
#67 Marc Chow says:
My wish is that they start enabling the bluetooth device to pair with the wireless headsets out there in the market. Of course i know they do have it already….but I want MUSIC on my wireless device!!! Sort of disappointed with the iPhone 3G because of that.

**though its also a headache not being able to use many old acc. I had for iPods as well
#68 william says:
SMS/MMS forwarding
send and receive Vcards via MMS/bluetooth
copy-and-paste
copy-and-paste and
copy-and-paste
#69 Toni Sfirtsis says:
How about inviting attendees. One of the most heard comments from business people (also the reason for not buying an iphone) is the fact that you can’t invite attendees from your iphone,

thanx
#70 Tami says:
MMS - When you go to the website, it doesn’t work half the time so you never see your pics. Basic function
text message forwarding, another basic operations.

The Iphone has so much to offer EXCEPT the basic funtions we are all so used to on other models.
#71 Eric says:
the only features i really want and/or need are

1. adobe flash player so we can see certain websites and videos

2. copy and paste, pretty obvious i know but i really is nice on windows

3. themes and background-PLEASE i would really like there to be themes and backgrounds(by the way, why isn’t there?)

4. and this ones kind of optional in comparison, less crashing in safari because it’s really annoying when it crashes
#72 Jeff says:
Copy and paste, push Gmail support, multiple delete for email, and a landscape keyboard for email. I’m an active community volunteer, and still carrying around my work blackberry on weekends and evenings to deal with the high volume of my volunteer-related mail. I love my iPhone! But, still need a Blackberry to deal with email - it wasn’t supposed to be like this!?

They’ll never support iPhone at work, so during the week I’ll still be carrying two devices around, but with just one account to deal with after hours and on weekends, it’d be nice to have to carry just the one smartphone…
#73 Corey says:
I would like to be able to share pictures other than email. also be able to share more than one picture at a time, via phone to phone and not necessarily with just iphone customers. sharing via sms
#74 amitch says:
Definitely iChat with a VideoChatting option. That would be AMAZING.
#75 Minas says:
I as well as many would like to have the MMS and forwarding messages.
#76 Jessica says:
1. MMS, if you have someone with a at&t phone, there is a way to send pics from your iphone to their cell phone, we finally figured out how to do that. Havent figured out how to do it to other carriers though

2. Landscape keyboard, if you can do it in Safari, why cant you do it in text and email?

3. Better quality camera, if anything moves in the picture or the camera moves even a little, blurry pics.

4. If there was any way to make the volume button on the side be able to be tied into the camera to take pictures that would be amazing, its akward to hold the camera with one hand and still be able to take a good pic.

5. Video with sound!!!
#77 Jesse says:
1. Bluetooth functionality (share contact info & pictures, keyboard for Office Apps)
2. Tethering (laptop connection - was available as NetShare but removed from the App Store)
3. More SMS functionality (MMS, forward, delete individual messages, etc.)
4. Horizontal Keyboard in more Apps (SMS, Email, etc.)
#78 chad says:
Landscape texting, why has apple not updated this, it makes no sense
#79 jenny says:
priority should be to fix gaps between available
Mobiles and iPhone eg. Vcard, video, mms
And bluetooth. All these toys are great but
Apple always tries to do things differently than
Also do things smarter! I know you motto is
“think differently”, should be “think smart” .
#80 Octavio says:
Did everyone forget about landscape texting? The iphone texting would be much easier with this
#81 christian says:
No MMS? Maybe AT&T doesn’t want it. It would clog up their messaging service.

No Copy and paste? Maybe AT&T doesn’t want it. It would cause more users to visit links from text messages etc to more pages further clogging up 3G.

Better camera? Maybe AT&T doesn’t want it. They probablly don’t want you sending 5 megapixel pictures over their 3G network when you have an unlimited data plan.

Sounds to me like apple would do something like this… They did make the 3g incompatible with the 2’s docking station to force you to buy a new one.

Apple makes some killer software and cool gadgets, but they just seem more 1984 telescreen and borgish than Microsoft to me do they not?

proprietary proprietary proprietary proprietary proprietary proprietary

no user replaceable battery…
No micro SD slot…

What would be really funny is if half of these features suddenly are available AFTER their AT&T exclusive contract ends.

Whatever the case, it seems they will hold out as long as possible to maximize profits. Certain things will only change when they lose enough marketshare that their profits start to lose ground…

But don’t worry, Apple will come out with some new gadget that is so cool, that you’ll be lured in and skrood anyways.

After all this, I’m still buying the phone tomorrow. ha ha ha.
#82 christian says:
oh yeah… 8gb iphone 199….. 16gb, 299….

8gb micro SD $20-35

LAME

they gotcha cornered.
#83 jana says:
MMS
MMS
MMS
MMS
MMS!
PLEASE
#84 Tom says:
MMS when are you guys going to get a clue that this is an important feature for most of us!!!!! I don’t care that you can email photos, I want to be able to RECIEVE MMS pics from my friends that don’t have or didn’t sign up for email on thier phone. EGAD why is this taking so long???? Stop with all your new and fancy apps until you give us MMS!!!!!!
#85 ayesha says:
bluetooth?!..
also..landscape keyboard…
video with sound..
better camera..
feature of deleting text messages one at a time..not the whole conversation..in the sms..not in another app
feature of deleting one call at a time from the call list(not app)
#86 ayesha says:
also themes and backgrounds..
copy and paste..message forwarding..
seriously..these are the basic features all phones should have and yet a phone like the iphone doesnt?!?!?
the iphone software 2.3 should really have all these..!!
#87 ayesha says:
also flash would really help!..
#88 Rob T says:
Well i dont use the iphone to its full use but been in the army when im away i like to send pic msg to family and recive them which i would do over email but the coverage in a field is not that good and if my family dont have internet it is a no go. i am thinking of changing back to my old brick of a phone instead of my lovly shine iphone just for MMS it is stupid, i would also like to beable to foward txt msg to ppl it just looks like you have to be a boring office worker with no friends to think this phone is good, i cant even use hotmail in the email app “crap” 98% of the british army uses hotmail and i need to change if i want to use the iphone app’s !!!!