Please fix the iPhone!

When I’m preparing articles for this site, I’m wary about the level of griping that I do – by which I mean talking about all the things that are missing from the iPhone. However you feel about the success of the device, it’s clear that there is a lot of functionality not present compared to even many low-end phones.

So there are valid concerns that users would like to be addressed. In this vein, Steve has just asked Who cares about Copy/Paste? Well it turns out that – as of the writing of this article – exactly 1389 people care about copy and paste.

That’s according to Please Fix the iPhone. It’s a website from Fullsix that:

…gives a collective voice to those that want to smash their iPhone into a wall when it is impossible to do simple and intuitive tasks that we have all been doing for years on other phones.


Their reasoning is explained further in this article. Top of the wishlist right now are:

  1. Copy and paste
  2. Email in horizontal mode
  3. Flash in Safari

Number 2 has recently been addressed by apps such as Firemail – which adds an interface to compose email in landscape mode. But as much as the developers have worked around the iPhone’s limitations, it’s still a bit of a hack and can only really be done properly by Apple. As for numbers 1 and 3, I’m sure copy and paste will come, but Flash? Who knows.

There are a lot of perfectly valid wishes on there, such as being able to read and send vCards, or having a unified email inbox. Other wishes – such as allowing themes – have long been catered for on jailbroken phones. Some may never happen.

So will it change anything? Probably not, but if want to see what the iPhone can’t currently do (or if you feel the need to vent!), then head on over.

  • chrsfrwll

    When I saw the title I assumed you were going to have a rant about some bug or other. While I agree copy/paste, amongst other things, would be nice, it is hardly indicitive of a broken iPhone. It’s been like that since day one. Frustrating yes, but not requiring a fix, but rather needing an improvement (along with editing of Office documents, which I rate as a higher requirement). However, I knew about these limitations when I got the phone, so I’m not going to harp on about their absence and how “broken” the phone is without them. It fills other requirements better than those “low-end” phones that offer copy/paste. (And as for landscape email, how many low-end phones are able to offer this that it has become such a short coming on the iPhone? I can’t think of one. What is so difficult about email in portrait?)

    Why do people gripe so much? The phone works beautifully. Yes there are times I wish I could do things I used to take for granted but there is an awful lot more I can do better than I ever could before. Isn’t that why we trade up?

  • http://www.allaboutiphone.net Matt Radford

    Thanks for your comment and on reflection, you’re right – the title is somewhat misleading. These fixes are really feature requests that don’t necessarily indicate a “broken” experience. The iPhone software is regularly subject to easy and free upgrades, and is selling well despite lacking normally standard things such as MMS.

    As I said, I don’t really want to gripe, and especially don’t want this blog to descend into “want want want”. Rather, at the back of my mind I wanted to highlight Please Fix the iPhone as a way of deflecting that sort of endless wish listing. The perceived lack of features does not detract from the general loveliness of the iPhone. I mentioned the other day that you’re never going to satisfy everyone – and that should not be the goal of gadget makers, otherwise they’ll come unstuck. Apple is devilishly good at leaving stuff out to create a better overall experience.

    Just two more things:

    (1) I can actually think of very few bugs within the latest 2.1 firmware. I’m not sure that my email is being fetched properly, and there are occasional odd half-tones when I get a text. Every now and again (once every couple of weeks) I get a freeze that requires a restart, but that’s about it. Generally, the user interface is fluid and a pleasure to use.

    (2) Give Firemail a try once or twice. Using a different app when you want to compose an email is a bit strange, and also unintuitive in terms of workflow. But that aside, I do find it easier to type in landscape mode, with far fewer mis-hit keys. It’s something that would be a nice addition.

  • http://www.allaboutiphone.net James Burland

    My biggest gripe at the moment is battery life. With the iPhone being is use almost constantly for one thing or another, I’m only managing about 8 hours. Another 50% battery life would make a massive difference.

    Obviously this is a problem that all large touch screen phones have to contend with. Perhaps a fast charge rate would be a solution. If I could charge the iPhone to 90% in only 15 minutes or so, that might also serve as a solution.

  • Dave

    re: James Burland // Oct 21, 2008 at 12:05 pm
    My biggest gripe at the moment is battery life.

    Turn off the WiFi when you’re not using it. You’ll immediately see about at 50% jump in battery life.

  • http://www.allaboutiphone.net James Burland

    @Dave: Thanks for the tip, I’d give it a go, but I have no 3G at work or home! >_<

  • http://pleasefixtheiphone.com/ olivier PEYRE

    Hi,
    We’ve juste released an update to the PleaseFixtheiPhone site, now with Search tool and Duplicate Management:
    http://pleasefixtheiphone.com

    Hugs,
    the PleaseFixtheiPhone team

  • Fgoetter129

    i have an aps i want to deleat , how ?