# iPhone 2.1 software Friday, September 12, 2008: fixes everything... ?



## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

So Steve says:

"This is a big update, it fixes lots of bugs. Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster."


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## Peaker44 (Jan 25, 2008)

Can someone explain how a firmware upgrade improves battery life? It's not a sarcastic question either. I really would like to know if anyone out there does know.


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

Peaker44 said:


> Can someone explain how a firmware upgrade improves battery life? It's not a sarcastic question either. I really would like to know if anyone out there does know.


Improved Power Management.


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## DempsyMac (May 24, 2007)

I am floored at this, I never in a million years thought that steve would say the word crash in a speech like this.


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## Peaker44 (Jan 25, 2008)

Ah, I see.......... thanks.


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## ryank (Jul 26, 2008)

Any chance this update will fix the light leak and quality of my iPhone?


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

ryank said:


> Any chance this update will fix the light leak and quality of my iPhone?


noooooooo.... but returning it and getting a replacement might? 

I'm on my 3rd now... and it's *virtually* perfect! hehe


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## ryank (Jul 26, 2008)

Good advice. I'll try again. Perhaps now there are enough refurbished... Ahem, I mean, defect-free "new" iPhones so I can get a proper replacement.


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## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

i am going to see if this fixes my GPS problems. If it doesn't, I'm going to the apple store for a replacement.


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## croatsensation (Jul 14, 2007)

Are they going to add directional gps with this or cut and paste?


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

ryank said:


> Good advice. I'll try again. Perhaps now there are enough refurbished... Ahem, I mean, defect-free "new" iPhones so I can get a proper replacement.


heh. yeah. my first replacement was so obviously a bad refurb... but this one (not sure if it's a refurb) is pretty friggin immaculate.

3rd time's a charm.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

I thought that would've been the case for me.. saw your luck, tried mine out.. no dice.

I'm waiting longer this time.


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## neesh0 (Jul 12, 2008)

I was looking forward to copy and paste, but I guess it'l have to wait till the next major update.


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## cap10subtext (Oct 13, 2005)

I am really looking forward to this update. I had my first series of dropped calls this week. That was really frustrating.


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## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

I'm still having problems with yahoo mail having to reboot every day or two otherwise it doesn't refresh my inbox. As well I had a dropped call for the first time ever yesterday. I hope the update will address both of these nuisances.


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## cap10subtext (Oct 13, 2005)

Hmmm, I watched the (YAWN) keynote but the one question that springs to mind with iPhone 2.1 is "will they include shake-to-shuffle on the iPhone (was it included in 2.1 Touch?)


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

cap10subtext said:


> Hmmm, I watched the (YAWN) keynote but the one question that springs to mind with iPhone 2.1 is "will they include shake-to-shuffle on the iPhone (was it included in 2.1 Touch?)


It would be even better if this worked for call waiting, that is, 'shake' to switch between active calls!


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

I wonder what 'significantly' improved battery life means. Are we talking 15 minutes or an hour more?


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

neesh0 said:


> I was looking forward to copy and paste, but I guess it'l have to wait till the next major update.


Yes, copy and paste be a nice feature, seems quite remedial, I wonder why it has been looked over?


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

A nice document viewer would be nice as well. I am trying to get this programme "Annotator" to work but cannot see how to.

If I can view .pdf's with the iPhone it could almost replace my computer. At least for short trips anyways.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

I hope the genius feature will be in the 2.1 update


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## go_habs (Apr 17, 2006)

Ill be surprised to see if the update is worth un jail breaking mine. Doubting it


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## Details (Mar 28, 2008)

Adrian. said:


> A nice document viewer would be nice as well. I am trying to get this programme "Annotator" to work but cannot see how to.
> 
> If I can view .pdf's with the iPhone it could almost replace my computer. At least for short trips anyways.


Try downloading the "Air Sharing" app (free right now). This app allows you to view virtually any type of document on the iPhone. It uses WiFi to transfer files from your computer, to the iPhone.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

go_habs said:


> Ill be surprised to see if the update is worth un jail breaking mine. Doubting it


Sounds like it fixed A LOT of the bugs for iPod touch owners. I'd say its worth it.


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## KMPhotos (Jun 17, 2008)

go_habs said:


> Ill be surprised to see if the update is worth un jail breaking mine. Doubting it


I'd be surprised if it didn't make it worth un-jailbreaking. There are quite a few bugs with the software right now - and we were promised a lot of them would be fixed with 2.1
That alone makes it worth it.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

I would like to have a way to connect to iDisk on MobileMe, including ability to view, create, move, delete files & folders.

And a Remote Car Starter app to warm up the car in the mornings as we get closer to the winter months


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## Visnaut (Jul 22, 2004)

zlinger said:


> And a Remote Car Starter app to warm up the car in the mornings as we get closer to the winter months


Yeah, because using the iPhone in the winter (no way to do it without gloves) is not going to be fun. Trust me.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

Visnaut said:


> Yeah, because using the iPhone in the winter (no way to do it without gloves) is not going to be fun. Trust me.


I've never been able to use ANY of my phones with gloves. You must have some REALLY thin gloves!


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## chasMac (Jul 29, 2008)

slicecom said:


> I've never been able to use ANY of my phones with gloves. You must have some REALLY thin gloves!


My BB had voice dialing (press the convenience button - easy for gloved hands). Pretty handy in winter or the car.


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## Moscool (Jun 8, 2003)

cap10subtext said:


> Hmmm, I watched the (YAWN) keynote but the one question that springs to mind with iPhone 2.1 is "will they include shake-to-shuffle on the iPhone (was it included in 2.1 Touch?)


I've been shaking my 2.1 'Touch *vigourously* but no cigar... So the answer for the iPhone is No.

On the positive side, Genius on the touch is really cool for those 30 minute train journeys.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Why can't they add voice dial to the iPhone?


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

Get ready for a major tie up on Apple's servers on Friday. There's a whole lot of people anxious for this one.


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## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

I'd like some kind of notification of emails at a glance from the lock screen, like you get for received sms messages.


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## cap10subtext (Oct 13, 2005)

Visnaut said:


> Yeah, because using the iPhone in the winter (no way to do it without gloves) is not going to be fun. Trust me.


So THAT'S why they released it in the summer. It all makes sense now.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

It is Friday now in most of the world. Where is the update? I live in the Pacific, so expect this to be available in 4 hrs 5 min.


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## MomentsofSanity (Jul 9, 2008)

zlinger said:


> It is Friday now in most of the world. Where is the update? I live in the Pacific, so expect this to be available in 4 hrs 5 min.


I wouldn't recommend staying up all night checking... although I would have to admit that I have checked once already myself just to see if it was available...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

*We'll have none of that...*

Don't do that! If you hold your breath, young man, you'll permanently turn blue! And stop stomping your feet as well...



zlinger said:


> It is Friday now in most of the world. Where is the update? I live in the Pacific, so expect this to be available in 4 hrs 5 min.


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## crawford (Oct 8, 2005)

Adrian. said:


> A nice document viewer would be nice as well. I am trying to get this programme "Annotator" to work but cannot see how to.
> 
> If I can view .pdf's with the iPhone it could almost replace my computer. At least for short trips anyways.


Really? I can view .pdf's on mine.


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

Well it is 12:05 here in Toronto and still no software update. I'm hitting the sack.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

crawford said:


> Really? I can view .pdf's on mine.


Sure, in mail.. but there isn't a file viewer app built in.


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## zc11 (Jul 21, 2008)

kloan said:


> Sure, in mail.. but there isn't a file viewer app built in.


But there is a free one -- search for "Air Sharing" or "Files". Air sharing is free for another week then will be $7. Files already costs $6 or $7 (can't remember). They are equivalent in function. I've been using files for several weeks and it's great. I've tried Air Sharing as well and find them to be equivalent for my purposes.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

Well aware.. I have both as well. 

I was just responding to crawford's post.


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## zc11 (Jul 21, 2008)

Oops. Sorry :lmao:


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## alamarco (Aug 31, 2008)

So, what time is this update happening? All I heard of is September 12th, but not a time.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

09:00 hrs. Cupertino Time


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## crawford (Oct 8, 2005)

kloan said:


> Sure, in mail.. but there isn't a file viewer app built in.


Interesting.... I guess I haven't had a need to open a pdf outside of mail.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Adrian. said:


> Well it is 12:05 here in Toronto and still no software update. I'm hitting the sack.


Really, you couldn't give it until 12:10 a.m. ... ? : )


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

I waited up all night pressing update, and now nothing?! I'M REALLY MAD AT APPLE. Now I have to go to work without any sleep.


I'm kidding of course, but I'd expect there will be at least a few of those.


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

8:15 Toronto time and no update. Good things I have nothing wrong with my phone.

Off to work now!


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## Caillou (Jun 9, 2003)

Will the 2.1 upgrade upgrade Rogers/Fido's packages too ??

(just kidding!)


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

Caillou said:


> Will the 2.1 upgrade upgrade Rogers/Fido's packages too ??
> 
> (just kidding!)


I hope so or I'm righting Lixabeth Cameltoen a nasty email and copyed it to Steve Joobs!


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## machael (Apr 27, 2008)

it's heeeeeere


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## DempsyMac (May 24, 2007)

for everyone that is looking for a way to use there iPhone in the winter there is a stylus available from the good folks at pogo stylus and Ten1. I have been testing it and it works great!


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## viffer (Aug 29, 2007)

darn! you beat me to it! downloading now.:clap:


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## smellybook (Aug 31, 2006)

*I just installed the update, how can I monitor my battery?*

The icons look different in settings.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

No Push!?!?!?!?!


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Elric said:


> No Push!?!?!?!?!


No, it was widely reported that this update is purely bug fixes, with a few additions, but nothing major like copy/paste or the new push system.

Looking forward to updating after work and seeing if it fixes the issues I've been having (even after receiving a replacement) - SMS lag, contacts lag, SMS notifications not always happening, etc. etc.


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## sdm688 (Dec 12, 2004)

*Whew, looks like things are working again*

I was really looking forward to this update as I had just done the 2.0.2 update after getting back from vacation wed. The 2.0.2 was launched just before I left but I resisted the urge to update somehow knowing it would screw up my phone. Well my prediction was correct, after getting 2.0.2 I had the dreaded no 3rd party apps working and music disappearing. So I've been clicking on the update to 2.1 this morning since 7. Just did the update, the 240 meg software took about 5 mins to download and I think the extraction install process took another 10. So far, everything is working! The install did a backup and that took about 2 mins. FYI, that was 7 gigs of stuff the system is backup. Keeping my fingers crossed that this won't crash anytime soon.


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## DempsyMac (May 24, 2007)

I figured out how they are getting way better battery power.

When my phone was done the update, my screen brightness was turned way down, hum Apple good one


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

It's available now.

iPhone 2.1 Software Update

iPhone version 2.1 contains many bug fixes and improvements, including the following:
• decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• significantly improved battery life for most users
• dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• faster installation of 3rd party applications
• fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
• improved performance in text messaging
• faster loading and searching of contacts
• improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

Way more snappy


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## KMPhotos (Jun 17, 2008)

I love how we all say everything is snappy after an update -- myself included. I hope it is still as snappy after a few days of use. I sure hope so.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

no change in my SMS, but it wrecked my backups, they are now well over 2 minutes! They used to be 45sec-1min tops.
I never had the SMS or Contact lag though.

EDIT: Now I don't have enough room for everything that was on my iPhone before the update


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## miniphone (Jul 24, 2008)

Any reason why would Apple would not release upgrade notes?


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

I do however like the "New Text Message" much better than who from AND content!


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

miniphone said:


> Any reason why would Apple would not release upgrade notes?


Apple - iPhone - Software Update


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Elric said:


> I do however like the "New Text Message" much better than who from AND content!


Yes, I do like this feature. 

At first, I thought it was cool to see who texted me and part of what it said.

That was until I got a message about skinny-dipping from a girl who is NOT my wife and my sister read it... it was a joke, but it will still be nice to not have the content displayed. Hahaha.

EDIT: I've read reports that this is not the case... if you get more than one text message, it always would read "New Text Message (2)," but some users have stated that if you receive one message it still says who it's from and part of the content.


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## Greg H (Jan 4, 2002)

Just updated my iPhone (Black 3G 16gb) software with 2.1 and I hate to say it, but appears to be a disaster. The screen is very slow to respond and programs (like the phone) either, don't load or take forever to run and respond. Is there some sort of initialization period to load resources after the update?
I mean, yikes!


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

There seems to be quite a bit of mixed response to 2.1. Should I abort?!?!?!?!!


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

I wish I didn't. The 2 minute + Backup SUCKS... I should've waiting til the new Pwnage.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

wooo, a new 3G icon.


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## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

Elric said:


> wooo, a new 3G icon.


oh yes. woo indeed. 

jesus.


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## Garry (Jan 27, 2002)

miniphone said:


> Any reason why would Apple would not release upgrade notes?


You mean beside the list that shows up before you update the software, before hitting the next button?


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## Greg H (Jan 4, 2002)

Well it looks like things are gradually returning back to normal. The upgrade appears to have to reset and load stored (or previously accessed data) from scratch. I did notice that some of my high scores and settings for some third party apps were modified. Its getting faster now. Whew!


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

My prediction:

No changes. All or most 'improvements' are a result of a fresh update or restore. I hope I'm wrong, but I've learned in the past that Apple always leaves many of the fixes in limbo.

Prove me wrong, but I'm going to ignore all feedback for a few days until the dust has settled. I'm also waiting for the next JB before I restore with 2.1.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

okcomputer said:


> Yes, I do like this feature.
> 
> At first, I thought it was cool to see who texted me and part of what it said.
> 
> ...


You could set it to display as "New Text Message", even with the old firmware.


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## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

slicecom said:


> You could set it to display as "New Text Message", even with the old firmware.


where? how?


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## Sniper4u (Jun 25, 2008)

Adrian. said:


> A nice document viewer would be nice as well. I am trying to get this programme "Annotator" to work but cannot see how to.
> 
> If I can view .pdf's with the iPhone it could almost replace my computer. At least for short trips anyways.


You can view pdfs on the 3G IPhone. You can use the Google app. To do that you need to read through " How to create a US account" thread. It's only in the US store.

I think there are a couple of other apps that do it as well.

Does anyone know of any specific features that are added with this update.


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## G-Mo (Sep 26, 2007)

Sniper4u said:


> Does anyone know of any specific features that are added with this update.


Genius is added to iPod.


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## croatsensation (Jul 14, 2007)

*way better*

wow that was a great change. Much faster and more stable my apps not crashing and my batery life much better .!!!!!


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

Sniper4u said:


> You can view pdfs on the 3G IPhone. You can use the Google app. To do that you need to read through " How to create a US account" thread. It's only in the US store.
> 
> I think there are a couple of other apps that do it as well.
> 
> Does anyone know of any specific features that are added with this update.


Well I already have a US account so that is good!

One question, does the iPhone 3G have Applecare on it and can I extend the Apple Care for the full 3 years? 

The Person at Rogers tried to suck me into a 100 dollar warranty there and said the phone has absolutely no manufacturer warranty on it. I declined.


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## IPHONE90000 (Jul 11, 2008)

If i update my phone will i have to call rogers to block all data on my phone again.(iphone no data plan)
Thanks


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## MomentsofSanity (Jul 9, 2008)

IPHONE90000 said:


> If i update my phone will i have to call rogers to block all data on my phone again.(iphone no data plan)
> Thanks


If you have it blocked at Roger's end you shouldn't have to change anything. Afterall the update didn't call them to change your plan.

Just make sure to turn everything off on the phone as well when you finish the update.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

slicecom said:


> You could set it to display as "New Text Message", even with the old firmware.


No you couldn't. It still showed who sent it. Now it's totally private, but punching in my code is lame and unnecessary...

And the new MMS app in the app store doesn't work either, you sign up, then they are supposed to send you a password to use, which fails to get to your phone. And it supposedly only lets you send anyways.


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## kb244 (Apr 23, 2002)

And to think it took a mere 2 days before they got Jailbreaking working for firmware 2.1...

*pets his jail broken iPod Touch*

Though it seems it'll be a while for the third gen iPod touches.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

kb244 said:


> And to think it took a mere 2 days before they got Jailbreaking working for firmware 2.1...
> 
> *pets his jail broken iPod Touch*
> 
> Though it seems it'll be a while for the third gen iPod touches.


It's out now. But Windows only and it looks like it doesn't actually function very well.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

I do like that my 16GB now does a backup in 2 minutes instead of many hours.


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## 20DDan (May 2, 2005)

HowEver said:


> I do like that my 16GB now does a backup in 2 minutes instead of many hours.


Nice! I should try a backup at the end of this weekend! 

Oh & everyone... I have 1175 songs (7GB +/-) on my iPod on my iPhone & it still tells me "not enough songs" or something like that when I try to use the Genius feature. On the computer it works perfectly fine... actually I LOVE IT! songs that sound similar genre/loudness/rhythm!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Do another sync, after having updated genius on your computer, and genius should work on the iPhone.





7gabriel5elpher said:


> Nice! I should try a backup at the end of this weekend!
> 
> Oh & everyone... I have 1175 songs (7GB +/-) on my iPod on my iPhone & it still tells me "not enough songs" or something like that when I try to use the Genius feature. On the computer it works perfectly fine... actually I LOVE IT! songs that sound similar genre/loudness/rhythm!


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

Anyone elses apps from the app store not working anymore? None of mine load.


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## kgeorge78 (Sep 8, 2003)

the only diff for me is the contacts work much better now. Quick!


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

JumboJones said:


> Anyone elses apps from the app store not working anymore? None of mine load.


Did you do an update or a restore from backup?


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

It updated, it says it has 2.1 now.

Guess I'm not the only one with this problem, hopefully there is a fix in this thread somewhere:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Apps don't work on my iPhone ...


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Using the detailed explanation provided by iClarified, I upgraded my 2G iPhone to 2.1 without any significant pain yesterday. I wasn't having any serious problems before so I'm only noticing that the thing operates speedier and battery life is improved. I hope for 3G owners it fixes any issues they were having.


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2008)

I still can't type worth crap on forum pages that have a lot of animated gifs of them. It's a bit better than it was before, it only takes 10 seconds for one word now as opposed to 20.

Other than this it's mostly good for me here.


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## bmovie (Jan 18, 2003)

chas_m said:


> Using the detailed explanation provided by iClarified, I upgraded my 2G iPhone to 2.1 without any significant pain yesterday. I wasn't having any serious problems before so I'm only noticing that the thing operates speedier and battery life is improved. I hope for 3G owners it fixes any issues they were having.


Did you upgrade using the pwnage way or upgrade via iTunes then used pwnage?


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## motoyen (Aug 15, 2001)

I've also upgraded my 2G iPhone to 2.1 with pwnage and itunes 8 with no problems. One thing Apple still hasn't fixed is the calendar color bug. Anyone else find that the colors they set in iCal on their Mac doesn't match up with the colors on their iPhone?


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## bmovie (Jan 18, 2003)

I took the plunge and used Pwnage to jailbreak and update to 2.1 - thankfully no issues.   

All worked fine.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Is anyone else finding that last.fm no longer works after updating to 2.1?


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

HowEver said:


> Is anyone else finding that last.fm no longer works after updating to 2.1?


yes.


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## Digital_Gary (Sep 18, 2003)

Hopefully it won't be too long.


Known Issues (updated 9/9/08) â€“ Last.fm for iPhone and iPod Touch Discussions â€“ Last.fm



> • Last.fm for iPhone and iPod Touch 1.x is not currently compatible with firmware 2.1. The upcoming release of Last.fm for iPhone and iPod Touch 2.0 is compatible with firmware 2.1 and will be available soon.


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

Scrobbler still works though, I haven't had luck with Scrobbled.


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## doubles87 (Jul 15, 2008)

JumboJones said:


> Yes, copy and paste be a nice feature, seems quite remedial, I wonder why it has been looked over?


As discussed in MacBreak Weekly (podcast) It is said that Copy and Paste as no been implmented because each and every app is seperate from each other, therefore something such as a clipboard would have to be created in order to create copy and paste between apps. That would lag down the phone (or can) and saving something in memory is something Apple did and does not want with the iPhone. Mind you i do agree it would be useful but i understand how this is difficult to implement. Aswell each and every app would also have different functions of copying and pasting.


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## kb244 (Apr 23, 2002)

doubles87 said:


> As discussed in MacBreak Weekly (podcast) It is said that Copy and Paste as no been implmented because each and every app is seperate from each other, therefore something such as a clipboard would have to be created in order to create copy and paste between apps. That would lag down the phone (or can) and saving something in memory is something Apple did and does not want with the iPhone. Mind you i do agree it would be useful but i understand how this is difficult to implement. Aswell each and every app would also have different functions of copying and pasting.



Odd how a feature as such could lag down the iPhone when we've had that capability on PalmOS and PocketPC devices for years. I still catch myself trying to highlight text and tap and hold to copy it on my iPod Touch lol.


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## scandals (Oct 9, 2007)

LOL. Could we not do this on the original Macintosh too?


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## LenP (Jul 25, 2007)

scandals said:


> LOL. Could we not do this on the original Macintosh too?


Yeah, but remember the original Mac had 128 KILOBYTES of memory. That's enough to copy a whole _page_ of text, at least!


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## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

So far so good with the update. There is still some lag at times when typing on the internet. Contacts is much quicker as others have said. Hopefully this will fix my email issues.


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