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Finding iPhone OS 3.0's small changes

CNET delves into iPhone OS 3.0 to find its less-publicized changes.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
3 min read

Though everyone knows the iPhone OS 3.0 brought welcome and long-awaited changes like multimedia messaging; a landscape keyboard; and cut, copy, and paste, there are a host of other tweaks from the software update that Apple has not publicized. According to Apple, the update offers 100 additions to the iPhone, but we covered just a handful in our iPhone 3GS review.

What other features are new? Well, a week after Apple released the update to the world we have a better idea. We've done our own exploring, but last week we also asked for your help in finding the update's hidden treasures. Thankfully, you responded in force, so we're glad to offer you this list. It's still not complete, so we'll be adding more as we (and you) find them. (Note: I've only included features not listed in the review.) Also, Apple has posted a handy chart detailing which OS 3.0 features are available on the iPhone Classic and iPhone 3G.

  • See the phone number type (mobile, home, work, and so on) and length of call in the Recent Calls list
  • Create an iTunes account or switch accounts right on the iPhone
  • Attach multiple photos to an e-mail
  • Log-in to your YouTube account, see comments videos, rate videos and subscribe
  • An option to retry sending failed text messages
  • A prompt for confirming the deletion of notes and photos
  • App Store and calendar subscriptions
  • Failed app updates now are shown as a duplicate icon with a "Paused" label
  • Phone calls from numbers not in your contacts list show their city and state of origin
  • Launch apps from Spotlight
  • Swipe to delete notes in the Notes app
  • Speed control in audiobooks
  • E-mail podcasts to a contacts
  • Track scrubbing in the iPod player
  • Scroll through songs at multiple speeds
  • Additional characters in the messaging keyboard
  • If you press and hold the period key in the "To" field of an e-mail address, you can select .net, .edu, .org, or .com
  • Multiple signature options
Correction: An option for multiple signature is not a part of iPhone OS 3.0 update. We apologize for the error.
  • When listening to music while the iPhone is charging, the display shows the album artwork instead of the battery meter
  • When the iPhone is locked while listening to music, the display shows the artist and album name
  • If no Notes are saved, the Notes app displays "No Notes" instead of automatically stating a new note
  • When texting, the sending bar now appears at the top of the image rather than over it
  • Icons appear next to the carrier name when call forwarding is activated
  • The number of installed applications now appears in the Settings menu
  • The number of installed apps is limited by the available memory, rather than the total number of allowable menu pages
  • Typing "LOL" now defaults to lowercase rather than uppercase
  • In addition to the cut, copy, and paste feature, shake-to-undo also works when typing
  • When the App Store prompts you to rate apps, it defaults to no stars instead of one star
  • Antiphishing features in the Safari browser
  • New applications now appear in the first open space after the Home screen, even if space is available on the Home screen
  • When rearranging applications, you now can move an app icon from the last page to the first page without disrupting the other app icons in place
  • New playslist and podcast sorting in the iPod player
  • Magnify photos after attaching them to an e-mail
  • Audiobooks and Podcasts now have a 30-second skipback function
  • Include a portion of an e-mail in your reply by copying the desired word or phrases and dragging them to the "reply" button