My iPhone 3G suffered under the control of iOS 4, its sprightly performance choked away by unseen hands, turning what was a faithful companion into a shadow of its former self. Spotlight was turned off, apps removed and hard resets performed, but nothing woke the device from its slumber.
Any vows not to rush into upgrading the firmware again were set aside with iOS 4.1’s release though, as it promised to fix the ‘bug’ that has blighted the iPhone 3G for several months. The update went smoothly, in fact it steamed through on record time, but would it herald the return of the iPhone 3G I knew and loved?
Initially things didn’t look good, so a couple of hard resets were performed to let the phone breathe before getting started on a normal evening’s usage. Having got used to waiting for applications to open, my frustration levels had fallen, however my habits had changed too as I found myself working around the devices slowness. To see if iOS 4.1 made any difference, I went back to using my 3G as I had done pre-iOS 4.
I began by sending a few SMS, adding a calendar entry for later in the month and playing a game of Final Freeway, before checking in with GetGlue and browsing through the official Twitter app too. I kept switching between 2G and 3G, something I often have to do thanks to suspect 3G coverage, and checked some facts using the IMDB app. Finally, instead of getting out my iPad, I checked my email using the iPhone.
Before iOS 4.1, all this would have been a pain, especially swapping between 2G and 3G as it involves going several pages deep into the Settings menu, but I’m pleased to say that for the most part, the iPhone 3G is now considerably more usable than on iOS 4.0.2, and all the above tasks were executed speedily. Perhaps the Mail app is still a little slow, but I’m sure some of that is due to connection problems. Using Safari this morning shows just how much of an improvement has been made, as from waking the phone, unlocking and starting the browser took a few seconds rather than the 60+ I had previously seen.
It’s not just speed that has been improved, in fact it was the overall smoothness of the phone’s operation that was the biggest change. Transitions have lost their jerkiness, the lock screen is in sync with the sound and entering the PIN no longer sees the screen ‘catching up’ by the time I get to the last digit. iOS 4.1 has a more mature feel to it than 3.1.x, and felt at least on a par with it in performance terms.
iOS 4.1 has restored the usability of my iPhone 3G, showing it to still be a very capable smartphone, no matter what Apple want you to think. If you’re holding off updating because you’re concerned it’ll make things worse, don’t be, it’s completely the opposite.
How about other 3G owners? Have you had the same experience as me with iOS 4.1?
0 التعليقات:
Post a Comment