Left Wanting

The iPhone is a real love/hate relationship. When it works, it is the most amazing piece of technology. Everything that Apple promises. When it’s not working, I want to throw it through the wall.

The 2.1 iPhone update fixed a lot of the issues I had been experiencing. I now have full use of my phone and the performance is greatly improved.

That doesn’t mean that there still aren’t things that I want. Everyone has a list, this one is mine.

Copy and paste

This is probably the top of everyone’s list. I am a big proponent of the 1Password application. On a Mac it works great. Automatically filling in my passwords and user IDs. The iPhone version is functional, and allows me to carry my passwords with me. However trying to remember 20 character random passwords while configuring a new application is impossible.

A central keychain

Chances are I already have an ID and password for a desktop version of an application I’m installing on the phone. Why do I need to enter my credentials?The OS X keychain should sync automatically to the phone and have access to the information contained within.

Back to my Mac

I am a paying member of MobileMe. There are multiple VNC clients for the iPhone. Why hasn’t Apple made one that works with Back to My Mac and the same way that screen sharing works with OS X? Sure I can turn on VNC access but that’s a separate ID and password from what the system already has.

Mail

While paying for MobileMe is fresh in my mind, why am I limited to one signature for all my mail accounts? MobileMe knows all my mail accounts and the signatures fort each. They should also be available on my phone.

And what about mail rules in the cloud? Again MobileMe has a copy of these. My me.com address should be able to apply these even if only routing mail to the proper mailbox.

Google now supports push email to Android phones, where’s support for the iPhone?

Lastly smtp.me.com needs to allow routing of adresses other than me.com. I have multiple email addresses that I would like push enabled for, and could forward to me.com but having to select a from address when in a hurry is just a pain. At least with mail on the Mac it automatically selects the from address of the mail address the email was sent to. Of course if Gmail enables support push to the iPhone this point becomes moot.

Icon arrangement

The 2.1 firmware helped a lot with icons no longer moving when an update is done, however I still have over 100 apps and arranging them on the iPhone is a pain. What would be nice is if the application tab on iTunes had a mock iPhone display that I could drag applications around on. Installing an app would be dragging from a list of apps onto the iPhone screen.

Profiles

When I’m at home, I want Wifi enabled, 3G, Bluetooth, and vibrate off. When I leave the house, I want 3G, Bluetooth and vibrate on, with Wifi disabled. I want to quickly and easily switch profiles. Right now to do these changes takes too much time so I don’t.

ADD: One thing I forgot to mention about profiles, Push. I want it disabled when I’m at home, and enabled when I’m out. Work related emails are using up my battery while I have a mail client right in front of me.