KeithMcD.com

So, it’s been two weeks (ok, two and a half weeks) since I got my iPhone 3G.

So far the experience has been amazing. The device itself is extremely easy to use. Everything just makes sense on it and requires very little effort to understand what is going on. I haven’t actually purchased a single app yet from the App Store, but I’ve got a few I’m contemplating (Labyrinth – you know you are going to be mine someday!). So far I’ve been using only the free apps – of which there are many good ones (such as the great Tap Tap Revolution). However, among the free gems, are the truly stupid. I lost count how many “flashlight” apps have been created and have already cleared out many really stupid or just completely worthless apps. Next to go is Scratch.

So most of the apps are good and do add real value to the iPhone. Ok, so next would be iTunes. I have read that some people have some extremely long iTunes syncs. I can’t say that I’ve had a similar experience at all actually. Every so often when plugging into iTunes, it does backup my device, but that usually only takes a few minutes. If an application is updated wirelessly on the device itself or added wirelessly, it does pop up a message on iTunes which is annoying, but that’s really about it. If I did have one tip for people removing apps from their iPhone it’s this: remove it from both the phone and iTunes before you plug the iPhone in. For me, it just goes right back onto the device – there must not be any communication about whether it was deleted from the iPhone between the phone and iTunes.

Ok, so there’s been a pretty great overall experience. However, all is not happy happy in iPhone-land. Although not happening as often now, Safari likes to crash randomly. At one point Justin was in one game, went out and tried to get in another and the whole phone just restarted itself. Just a little while ago, I plugged in the headphones and pushed the play button. The Crystal Method’s “Name of the Game” played but when I went to go to a different track there was no audio at all. Upon trying several different songs there indeed was no sound at all even though the songs were clearly playing and the volume was up quite a bit. I then tried to go into a different app (eludes me now which one it was) and naturally, the iPhone crashed like a car falling down a cliff. Sound does work now though.

There is an application available for free from Apple, the iPhone Configuration Utility, that allows one to view much information about the device – including a pretty detailed system log. But strangely enough, it does not show enough history for the log to actually be useful in determining the cause of a crash or other anomalies.

Well, here’s hoping that the 2.1 software update comes out soon enough and fixes many of these and more issues.