Our Favorite iPhone 3.0 Features So Far

Michael Johnston · June 20th, 2009, 08:56 PM

It's been a few days since iPhone 3.0 was released to the public and there's a lot of stuff in there! We've been playing with the software for quite some time and decided to compile a list of our favorite new features. Some of these are very high profile features, but we're hoping that we'll be able to point out a few things you haven't discovered yet. Read on for the big list!

In no particular order...

New iTunes Features - Movies, TV Shows, Audiobooks
The iPhone's iTunes app has gotten quite an update in 3.0. Now you can check out all the movies, TV shows, and audiobooks available on the iTunes Store right from your phone. TV shows, audio books, and movies can be purchased and movies can be previewed and rented. Awesome!

Call history details
Call history on the iPhone has been fairly simple in the past, but it never gave much detail on individual call entries. Now by tapping on a recent call's blue arrow you can view incoming and outgoing calls, their individual times, and even durations!

SMS editing and forwarding
In addition to MMS (on supported carriers), the Messaging app, formally called "SMS," now has the ability to delete and forward individual messages. Simply tap "Edit" in a chat to select individual messages and then have your way with them using the "Forward" or "Delete" options!

Spotlight search and in-app search
This one is huge. From within Notes, Mail, iPod, and the Phone app you can search for each app's content. If you want to search through your entire iPhone, flick to the left of the Home screen to bring up Spotlight. This'll show you apps, and content from the Phone, Mail, Notes, Calendar, and even the iPod!

Push notifications
This feature has been highly anticipated since WWDC 2008. Finally making its way into iPhone 3.0, push notifications allow closed apps to send notifications of new content, messages, or just about anything else. They look just like SMS messages and are perfect for chat and news apps!

Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone allows you to locate a lost or stolen phone using the Mobile Me website. Once activated, you can find your phone just about anywhere, a la Google Maps. If you realize it's at home, you can tell your phone to start beeping. You can even send a message to the phone, showing anybody who has it that you're looking for it.

Cut, Copy & Paste
This is a no-brainer. Cut, Copy & Paste is here, and it so rocks! Just tap and hold as you would to bring up the magnifying loop and a cut, copy, paste bubble will show up. To paste, use the same action.

The awesome part about copy & paste on the iPhone is that you can even copy formatting and images from web pages. When you paste that stuff into an email or a note, the formatting is retained. Awesome!

Select multiple photos for email, deletion, etc
Finally! You can now select multiple photos at a time, drop them into an email, and send them off. You can even copy photos and paste them to any app that supports photos. You can also use multi-select to delete multiple photos at once.

Notes sync
Once you activate this feature, every one of your iPhone's notes is synced right into Mail.app. It's a little odd if you don't regularly use Mail, but at least it works!

Voice Memos
This new app does one thing, but it does it well. Voice Memos, as you might guess, lets you record voice memos! The interface is great, and because it's an Apple application, it can record even if you're not in the app. It's perfect for recording lectures, meetings, and notes to self.

Other random features

Safari Auto-Fill - Now when you enter login info into Safari, it can save it for next time!
Shake to undo - To undo a typing mistake, shake your phone to undo and redo!
Shake To Shuffle - While in the iPod with music playing, shake your phone to shuffle the songs!
Stereo Bluetotoh - Now you can listen to music wirelessly with Bluetooth headphones.

If you have a favorite feature you'd like to share, tell everyone in the comments!

rcotton · **Faster** - June 20th, 2009, 09:32 PM #2

Is it just me, or does everything on 3.0 seem to be quicker than before on the 3g iPhone

foamysking · June 20th, 2009, 10:07 PM #3

dont forget all the podcast enhancements like 30sec skip back, adjustable scrubbing, and 2x speed

terrapin · **landscape email/keyboard** - June 20th, 2009, 10:37 PM #4

I really like the landscape view in email and the expanded keyboard.

Stephen007 · June 20th, 2009, 11:34 PM #5

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrapin

I really like the landscape view in email and the expanded keyboard.

I didn't think this would be a big deal, but wow, the landscape email is so much easier to use.

thuggedout · June 20th, 2009, 11:52 PM #6

Yeah I using the First Generation Iphone and I do notice that the it seems to be respond faster and opens applications faster. I like the search function in the ipod and copy paste. I'm very happy with the 3.0 update.

JFrappuccino · June 21st, 2009, 12:39 AM #7

The 3GS Now sports a new screen, OLED, correct?
I seem to notice the colors being much more pleasant to the eye.
As well as the processor being quicker.
Go to Settings>general>accessibility and there is an option that says white on black, toggling this feature changes all of the colors of the iPhone screen to negative, awesome some might sAy.

terrapin · June 21st, 2009, 12:55 AM #8

[quote=JFrappuccino;40487]The 3GS Now sports a new screen, OLED, correct?
I seem to notice the colors being much more pleasant to the eye.

Nope it appears to be the same as teh 3g but with a different connector,

http://digg.com/apple/New_iPhone_3GS...an_OLED_Screen

http://www.zunehd.com/2009/06/no-ole...he-iphone-3gs/

http://www.gethightech.com/Merchant2...n-as-iPhone-3G

cookieboy · **help!!** - June 21st, 2009, 01:21 AM #9

how can i activate my push notifications in beejive app??...is not working in my iphone!!...tnx.

imagine engine · June 21st, 2009, 01:55 AM #10

I noticed the SMS screenshot shows you using emoji icons. Was this with the default install of firmware 3.0 or after a jailbreak. I've been unable to find a way to enable emoji icons in the SMS app on 3.0 without installing a third party app.

Zak Reiter · June 21st, 2009, 02:25 AM #11

i think my favourite addition is how you can stop your music, lock the iPhone, and when you turn the screen back on the album cover is still there.

I really really like that. [=

kevlar · June 21st, 2009, 07:09 AM #12

My favourite new feature is the MMS, I've waited so long for that. My least favourite new ' feature ' is the extremely flakey wifi reception!

billfarmer · June 21st, 2009, 11:18 AM

Here it is, a brand new app in version 3.0 and in 3.0, we get landscape keyboard in 'almost' all Apple applications. Why not in Spotlight I wonder. You do nothing but key characters, scroll and select in this application. Why not a landscape keyboard? Any ideas?

foamysking · June 21st, 2009, 11:30 AM #14

mb because it would require rotating the whole home screen? but even if it didnt the transition to the home screen from spotlight would not feel right its just not the way apple does the os

Beast · June 21st, 2009, 11:39 AM #15

So... I'm using the 3G S: I'd completely forgotten about voice control until today. I love it!

I also noticed that "Nike+ iPod" doesn't need the receiver, only the sensor. Is this specific to the 3G S or is it a 3.0 feature? (You have to enable it in settings.) This is a very cool feature.

foamysking · June 21st, 2009, 11:43 AM #16

its only in the 3gs

keiths · **3.0 wifi** - June 22nd, 2009, 12:54 PM #17

Yeah, speaking of flaky wifi reception...anyone else notice this on any generation of iPhone handset? My new 3G S barely gets one bar from my router at home, and my old 3G that I sold to a friend is experiencing the same thing since she upgraded it to 3.0. Sounds like they lowered the wifi power to save battery life, but this ain't gonna work in my opinion.

tre flip · **vioce** - June 22nd, 2009, 01:57 PM #18

I like the voice app hepls me at work. I dont have to go in pocket evry 10 min to change a song.

kevlar · June 22nd, 2009, 02:49 PM #19

yeah, definately something wrong with wifi in 3.0, I've installed it on my old 3g, my wifes 1st gen touch and I have a 3gs and wifi is all over the place. Wifi was previously rock solid throughout my house now I can get anything from full 3 bars to nothing and thats 3 feet away from my router!

pgrosby · **New Features** - June 22nd, 2009, 02:51 PM #20

Where in the world is the "Select All" feature in the Inboxes for Mail? Why hasn't anyone at Apple realized the need for this? They have put it in the Trash, but to get the messages to the trash you have to do it one by one. Better yet, besides a "Select All" , an option to swipe across several messages at once, lets say 8 or 10, and delete them as a batch would be great. I get about 300 mails a day and I don't want to be clicking on each to delete them. I would love to switch over to an IPhone, but that one obstacle keeps me using my Treo Centro which handles e-mail like a charm. Doesn't have 3G, but the easy e-mail outweighs that. Please Apple, listen and do something about it.

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Michael Johnston This is my fricken site, durrrr Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Rockford, IL Posts: 2,694 Thanks: 11 Thanked 45 Times in 40 Posts	Our Favorite iPhone 3.0 Features So Far - June 20th, 2009, 08:56 PM #1
	<script language="JavaScript" src="http://adserver1.backbeatmedia.com/servlet/ajrotator/13894/222/viewJScript?pool=13886&type=3158&pos=20&zone=5000"></script> It's been a few days since iPhone 3.0 was released to the public and there's a lot of stuff in there! We've been playing with the software for quite some time and decided to compile a list of our favorite new features. Some of these are very high profile features, but we're hoping that we'll be able to point out a few things you haven't discovered yet. Read on for the big list! In no particular order... New iTunes Features - Movies, TV Shows, Audiobooks The iPhone's iTunes app has gotten quite an update in 3.0. Now you can check out all the movies, TV shows, and audiobooks available on the iTunes Store right from your phone. TV shows, audio books, and movies can be purchased and movies can be previewed and rented. Awesome! Call history details Call history on the iPhone has been fairly simple in the past, but it never gave much detail on individual call entries. Now by tapping on a recent call's blue arrow you can view incoming and outgoing calls, their individual times, and even durations! SMS editing and forwarding In addition to MMS (on supported carriers), the Messaging app, formally called "SMS," now has the ability to delete and forward individual messages. Simply tap "Edit" in a chat to select individual messages and then have your way with them using the "Forward" or "Delete" options! Spotlight search and in-app search This one is huge. From within Notes, Mail, iPod, and the Phone app you can search for each app's content. If you want to search through your entire iPhone, flick to the left of the Home screen to bring up Spotlight. This'll show you apps, and content from the Phone, Mail, Notes, Calendar, and even the iPod! Push notifications This feature has been highly anticipated since WWDC 2008. Finally making its way into iPhone 3.0, push notifications allow closed apps to send notifications of new content, messages, or just about anything else. They look just like SMS messages and are perfect for chat and news apps! Find My iPhone Find My iPhone allows you to locate a lost or stolen phone using the Mobile Me website. Once activated, you can find your phone just about anywhere, a la Google Maps. If you realize it's at home, you can tell your phone to start beeping. You can even send a message to the phone, showing anybody who has it that you're looking for it. Cut, Copy & Paste This is a no-brainer. Cut, Copy & Paste is here, and it so rocks! Just tap and hold as you would to bring up the magnifying loop and a cut, copy, paste bubble will show up. To paste, use the same action. The awesome part about copy & paste on the iPhone is that you can even copy formatting and images from web pages. When you paste that stuff into an email or a note, the formatting is retained. Awesome! Select multiple photos for email, deletion, etc Finally! You can now select multiple photos at a time, drop them into an email, and send them off. You can even copy photos and paste them to any app that supports photos. You can also use multi-select to delete multiple photos at once. Notes sync Once you activate this feature, every one of your iPhone's notes is synced right into Mail.app. It's a little odd if you don't regularly use Mail, but at least it works! Voice Memos This new app does one thing, but it does it well. Voice Memos, as you might guess, lets you record voice memos! The interface is great, and because it's an Apple application, it can record even if you're not in the app. It's perfect for recording lectures, meetings, and notes to self. Other random features Safari Auto-Fill - Now when you enter login info into Safari, it can save it for next time! Shake to undo - To undo a typing mistake, shake your phone to undo and redo! Shake To Shuffle - While in the iPod with music playing, shake your phone to shuffle the songs! Stereo Bluetotoh - Now you can listen to music wirelessly with Bluetooth headphones. If you have a favorite feature you'd like to share, tell everyone in the comments! __________________ About my iPhone: iPhone & Color: White 32GB iPhone 3GS iPhone Version: Whatever the latest is because I'm crazy like that. Computer & OS: 15" Unibody MacBook Pro + OS X Leopard 10.5 AIM: iPhoneAlley twitter: MichaelJohnston

rcotton Forum Lurker Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Faster - June 20th, 2009, 09:32 PM #2
	Is it just me, or does everything on 3.0 seem to be quicker than before on the 3g iPhone

foamysking Forum Ninja Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: midwest Posts: 125 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	June 20th, 2009, 10:07 PM #3
	dont forget all the podcast enhancements like 30sec skip back, adjustable scrubbing, and 2x speed __________________ About my iPhone: iPhone & Color: 8gb iphone 3g iPhone Version: 3.1 Computer & OS: lepoard, xp, vista, win 7 http://www.iphonehelper.net

terrapin Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	landscape email/keyboard - June 20th, 2009, 10:37 PM #4
	I really like the landscape view in email and the expanded keyboard.

thuggedout iPA Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 95 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	June 20th, 2009, 11:52 PM #6
	Yeah I using the First Generation Iphone and I do notice that the it seems to be respond faster and opens applications faster. I like the search function in the ipod and copy paste. I'm very happy with the 3.0 update. __________________ Free your mind and your iPhone.

JFrappuccino Ubiquitous Mod Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: California Posts: 703 Thanks: 14 Thanked 34 Times in 33 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 12:39 AM #7
	The 3GS Now sports a new screen, OLED, correct? I seem to notice the colors being much more pleasant to the eye. As well as the processor being quicker. Go to Settings>general>accessibility and there is an option that says white on black, toggling this feature changes all of the colors of the iPhone screen to negative, awesome some might sAy.

terrapin Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 12:55 AM #8
	[quote=JFrappuccino;40487]The 3GS Now sports a new screen, OLED, correct? I seem to notice the colors being much more pleasant to the eye. Nope it appears to be the same as teh 3g but with a different connector, http://digg.com/apple/New_iPhone_3GS...an_OLED_Screen http://www.zunehd.com/2009/06/no-ole...he-iphone-3gs/ http://www.gethightech.com/Merchant2...n-as-iPhone-3G

cookieboy Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	help!! - June 21st, 2009, 01:21 AM #9
	how can i activate my push notifications in beejive app??...is not working in my iphone!!...tnx.

imagine engine Rocks the Board Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 184 Thanks: 3 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 01:55 AM #10
	I noticed the SMS screenshot shows you using emoji icons. Was this with the default install of firmware 3.0 or after a jailbreak. I've been unable to find a way to enable emoji icons in the SMS app on 3.0 without installing a third party app. __________________ SOHO: Maya, Mudbox, Toxik, FCS 3, iLife 09, iWork 09, Office, TC 1TB, iPhone 3G.

Zak Reiter Forum Ninja Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Killanoise! Posts: 144 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 02:25 AM #11
	i think my favourite addition is how you can stop your music, lock the iPhone, and when you turn the screen back on the album cover is still there. I really really like that. [=

kevlar Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 07:09 AM #12
	My favourite new feature is the MMS, I've waited so long for that. My least favourite new ' feature ' is the extremely flakey wifi reception!

billfarmer Forum Lurker Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Why didn't Spotlight use landscape keyboard? - June 21st, 2009, 11:18 AM #13
	Here it is, a brand new app in version 3.0 and in 3.0, we get landscape keyboard in 'almost' all Apple applications. Why not in Spotlight I wonder. You do nothing but key characters, scroll and select in this application. Why not a landscape keyboard? Any ideas?

foamysking Forum Ninja Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: midwest Posts: 125 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 11:30 AM #14
	mb because it would require rotating the whole home screen? but even if it didnt the transition to the home screen from spotlight would not feel right its just not the way apple does the os __________________ About my iPhone: iPhone & Color: 8gb iphone 3g iPhone Version: 3.1 Computer & OS: lepoard, xp, vista, win 7 http://www.iphonehelper.net

Beast Rocks the Board Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: In my house. Posts: 159 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	June 21st, 2009, 11:39 AM #15
	So... I'm using the 3G S: I'd completely forgotten about voice control until today. I love it! I also noticed that "Nike+ iPod" doesn't need the receiver, only the sensor. Is this specific to the 3G S or is it a 3.0 feature? (You have to enable it in settings.) This is a very cool feature.

foamysking Forum Ninja Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: midwest Posts: 125 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	June 21st, 2009, 11:43 AM #16
	its only in the 3gs __________________ About my iPhone: iPhone & Color: 8gb iphone 3g iPhone Version: 3.1 Computer & OS: lepoard, xp, vista, win 7 http://www.iphonehelper.net

keiths Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Lockhart, TX Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	3.0 wifi - June 22nd, 2009, 12:54 PM #17
	Yeah, speaking of flaky wifi reception...anyone else notice this on any generation of iPhone handset? My new 3G S barely gets one bar from my router at home, and my old 3G that I sold to a friend is experiencing the same thing since she upgraded it to 3.0. Sounds like they lowered the wifi power to save battery life, but this ain't gonna work in my opinion.

tre flip iPA Regular Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44 Thanks: 2 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	vioce - June 22nd, 2009, 01:57 PM #18
	I like the voice app hepls me at work. I dont have to go in pocket evry 10 min to change a song.

kevlar Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	June 22nd, 2009, 02:49 PM #19
	yeah, definately something wrong with wifi in 3.0, I've installed it on my old 3g, my wifes 1st gen touch and I have a 3gs and wifi is all over the place. Wifi was previously rock solid throughout my house now I can get anything from full 3 bars to nothing and thats 3 feet away from my router!

pgrosby Forum Lurker Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	New Features - June 22nd, 2009, 02:51 PM #20
	Where in the world is the "Select All" feature in the Inboxes for Mail? Why hasn't anyone at Apple realized the need for this? They have put it in the Trash, but to get the messages to the trash you have to do it one by one. Better yet, besides a "Select All" , an option to swipe across several messages at once, lets say 8 or 10, and delete them as a batch would be great. I get about 300 mails a day and I don't want to be clicking on each to delete them. I would love to switch over to an IPhone, but that one obstacle keeps me using my Treo Centro which handles e-mail like a charm. Doesn't have 3G, but the easy e-mail outweighs that. Please Apple, listen and do something about it.