As with any computing system when it gets a major overhaul in its operating system (OS), the iPhone 3.0 has some remarkable features but there are some little things that need adjusting, even moreso if one has upgraded to the iPhone 3GS.
So here are some troubleshooting tips with some common problems people have reported and some ways to fix said issues. Also, my thanks to a certain person who lent me their 3GS for some testing/screenshots.
Battery % (iPhone 3GS only)
If you have an older iPhone or iPod Touch, you’re out of luck on this feature but 3GS owners have an option to display a percentage icon next to the battery. To enable this, go to Setting > General > Usage and you can toggle this feature on and off.
Kindle for iPhone
Apple has required all apps to be 3.0 compliant for some time now but that doesn’t mean every app is without issues. Some, such as AP Mobile required an update to take advantage of the Push notification feature (which I wrote about here). Others need some tweaking, especially if an Internet connection is required.
Amazon’s Kindle reader is one such app. When you first open titp, you’ll get a prompt saying items could not be opened. The easy solution is delete the from the Home page then go to Archives and double tap on each one and it will re-download it (for free). Then you can re-archive any previously done. Note that if you have any free sample books, those will be lost and you’ll need to re-send them to your iPhone from the Amazon Web site.
ESPN ScoreCenter
Push is also supposed to be coming to this app but it’s not been released yet. This app has the problem that many others have and will require you to reconfigure it if you have done any customizing.
Battle.net Mobile Authenticator
For you World of Warcraft players who use the mobile authenticator (reviewed here), you need to do some extra things to potentially save you from being locked out of your Blizzard account. Reportedly, if you upgrade to the 3GS, when you reload application a new version of the apps are installed. For most apps, this is not a problem as your data will be backed up and safe. But in this case, the app is tied in with a serial number. If you try to log in with a number generated by a different serial number, you won’t be able to and the previous serial number will be overwritten.
One solution is to write down the serial number of the app BEFORE you update. This way, if it does lock you out, you can contact Blizzard’s account services department and have them manually detach the authenticator from your account. Alternatively, you can go to the battle.net home page and unlink the account yourself then re-link it with the new updated app’s serial number.
Failing to do so will lock you from your World of Warcraft account until you have jumped through a ton of verification steps and scanning and printing forms, taking pictures of IDs and mailing/faxing/email them to delink your account so you can relink to the new one.
Of any problems with apps, this is the biggest one I’ve heard about.
Notes
Notes are finally synced to your desktop but through iTunes. The default settings have changed some so you need to configure it when the iPhone is plugged into iTunes. Go to your Info screen and scroll down to Notes.
Also, at the very bottom are some extra features for replacing data on one side or another if they are not synced.
And finally, you can sync bookmarks and calendar items via iTunes but if you have MobileMe and sync that way, you may want to turn them off in iTunes or your synced items will be duplicated on your iPhone.
If this has happened, go to your iPhone > Settings > Mail, Contact, Calendar and click on the account. If you turn off all the duplicated items, then disable them from iTunes then re-enable them on the iPhone, then it’ll sync back just the one time. And trust me, it’s easier then it sounds.
We’ll have more on MobileMe and its features in Monday’s column.
Another workable method for this is…
Turn off “Contacts” on your iPhone, then select Delete. Turn Contacts back on then select Merge. Rinse and repeat for all the categories.
Orientation
If the iPhone sticks switching from landscape to portrait, or vice versa, a light tap on the screen will reorient it properly.
Visual Voicemail
Many people have reported that when they go to Voicemail, the iPhone calls the Voicemail number rather than going to the VVM window.
To fix this, go to the AT&T Web site and log in.
Select your phone/device and on the right column, you’ll see a tab for “Reset Voicemail Password”. Click this and enter a password and hit Submit.
You’ll get a text message from AT&T saying the password has been changed to your telephone number.
Now you can go back into the Visual Voicemail screen and select your Greeting and you’re done.
Applications
Apple has made a big change (and for the better) when it comes to managing your apps. When you add a new application, it no longer goes straight to the home screen then mixes others up as you drag it to the desired screen and space. Now when you add an app, drag it to the left or right corner of a page and hold it there for a extra second or two. The pages will not start to flip. When you get to the desired page, lift your finger off the app or move it away from the corner. All other apps remain in place and no extra space are created either. Now you can drag the app to the desired place.
Force quitting
The steps needed to force quit an application that have locked up has also changed. Now you should hold down the Power and Home buttons until the red “Slide to Turn Off” tab appears on screen. Let go of both buttons then hold down the Home Button for a few seconds (5 should do it).
Compass/Maps (3GS only)
The 3GS has a Magnetometer, which is why the new iPhone will soon be getting turn-by-turn directions in several GPS apps (TomTom and Navigon are the major names right now). If you go to the Compass app, you get which direction you’re facing. Or your iPhone is facing at least. If you click on the bottom left globe, it takes you to Google Maps. By default, Google Maps and GPS is as it has always been. But a new feature for the new iPhones will make Google Maps rotate (in landscape or Portrait) so the direction you’re heading is always facing straight on.
To enable this, click on the globe icon in Maps or Compass once to fix your GPS position. Click a second time and you’ll see your blue dot with a light cone attached. Now as you move around, the Map will orient with you. A third click of the globe icon turns this function back off.
Overall, the OS itself is robust and pretty dang clean. As with anything technical, change comes with a few extra headaches but nothing that can’t be easily fixed.