Proximity Sensor Presents Latest iPhone 4 Issue 446
tekgoblin sends news of the latest iPhone 4 glitch being reported in user forums and elsewhere: the phone's proximity sensor seems not to be detecting nearby faces, as it is designed to do, in order to deactivate the screen during a call. The result is often unintended input. "On the iPhone 3GS, the proximity sensor was located to the left of the earpiece speaker. But that space on iPhone 4 is now occupied by the front-facing camera, and the proximity sensor is above the earpiece. What's not clear is whether the iPhone 4 screen's misbehavior is due to the new location of the sensor, or it's because Apple tweaked the sensor's responses in [some] way."
I've experienced this... very annoying. (Score:5, Informative)
My bet is that this can be fixed with a simple software update, but I really don't see how Apple could possibly not have found this issue in their testing. Some reports I've seen suggest that the problem goes away if you put it in a case of some sort, so maybe Apple only tested it with those silly cases that made it look like a 3G when they sent it out in the wild for testing, and the case kept it from having the problem.
And it seems to me that they could combine the proximity sensor input with the accelerometer and gyroscope inputs. When you hold the phone within a certain range of angles AND the proximity sensor reads X, then turn off the touchscreen.
And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:4, Informative)
I now have an iPhone 4. Before that, I was a 3GS user. Before that, Palm Centro, Treo 680, and Treo 650.
All I can say is that I have absolutely no complaints. Phone gives better audio quality and apparently better signal strength than my 3GS, which also rarely dropped calls and generally had little trouble accessing the 'net even though I live in NYC and supposedly ought not to have even been able to place a call, period.
I haven't had any issues with the proximity sensor, any issues with signal loss/degredation, etc. No yellow spots, beautiful screen. The device works better than just about any other electronics device (save the 3GS) that I've bought in the last few years. It seems to me that people hold Apple to impossibly high standards compared to other electronics vendors. Few devices or even major computer items (printers, laptops, monitors) I've bought over the last few years have been defect free. Every single one of them has had issues. Many I've exchanged several times trying to get a "good one" (for example, Kensington Expert Mouse with misaligned laser so that motion isn't properly detected, or AOC LCD monitor with control panel buttons that don't register presses).
People only get into "OMIGODSCANDAL" mode when it's Apple for some reason.
I'm happy to say that the two Apple devices I've bought (iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) have satisfied me enough that I'm seriously thinking of getting an iPad (despite previously thinking I wouldn't) and making my next computer a Mac rather than a Thinkpad.
Re:Next please! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Less than 2 weeks since launch, class action?! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Next please! (Score:3, Informative)
I have tried the jailbreak route. Even enabling the features through activating Apple's own implementations (the .plist edit to enable multitasking and wallpaper) left my phone running unacceptably slow, compared to just acceptably slow with non-jailbroken iOS 4. It also killed my battery life, and the funny thing was it wasn't even the multitasking doing it. I tried just enabling the wallpaper and I had a good 30-40% reduction in battery life while using the phone. Standby time seemed to be unaffected.
Re:Next please! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Next please! (Score:2, Informative)
just reset from settings/general (Score:5, Informative)
this seems to be an issue with ios4 (happens on 3gs also) to do with importing from old phone sensor settings on restore...
after some searching found that
the fix was to go into settings/general/reset all/ then it recalibrated the sensor....
have had zero issues since
Re:Next please! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Next please! (Score:3, Informative)
Sez you.
Sony Ericson p800, p900.
"cache"? "cachet" maybe. Do you really think having a particular brand of mobile phone gives you "cachet". How sad.
You've got a buzzing ecosystem? Call rentokil.
What?
Bugger, I've been trolled.
Re:Next please! (Score:3, Informative)
iPhone 4
Nexus One
The iPhone 4 came out almost seven months after the Nexus One and is only marginally (technically) better. Either the GP is a troll or they simply have no idea what they're talking about.
All of the specs used for comparison were taking from each device's Wikipedia article.
Re:Does this have anything to do with dropped call (Score:3, Informative)
I cannot reproduce the signal-loss issue. I am plagued by the proximity sensor issue. And just an FYI- after the phone hangs up, it takes you back to your contacts; if the call is dropped, it tells you "call failed" and gives you a redial button.
I hear "It's not the sensor it's ATT, lolz!!1" all the time from people who don't use iphones but feel the need to comment on them.
So let's be clear about this: I can tell the difference between a dropped call and a call that has been ended inadvertently.
Don't take this as a personal attack, since I'm addressing all of /.
-b
Re:And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:3, Informative)
Between iPhone / Android, no I can't provide any meaningful experience as I've already stated, and I have no strong opinions either way. I can tell you from other comments on slashdot that people say that iPhone is more responsive and smoother scrolling than Android, but I can't vouch for that.
Between OSX and Windows I can definitely provide some examples.
In 6 years of using a Mac laptop I have had to download and install *one* driver (for a generic brand USB->Serial dongle). I can't say the same even for Windows7 (and certainly not Vista). Worrying about hardware and driver revisions and all is just not an issue. (see for instance the recent Nvidia driver overheating issue on PC)
Easy to install programs. You just drag them to the Application folder. No packages, no dependencies, no installers. When you want to uninstall, just delete the program from the Applications folder. Logical and easy to use.
System maintenance is just about non-existent. Windows has gotten a lot better over the years, but I still find more maintenance tasks on w7 than I've ever had to do in OSX. At my office the OSX computers are pretty much install and forget. Windows computer less so (though again, I like w7 a lot).
Time Machine -- a builtin backup program that's technically elegant and has an easy to use UI as well. Provides one level of easy backup for people who might not otherwise be backing up.
Malware/etc is still virtually non-existent for OSX and the security model follows much more closely the Unix model (generally considered a good thing).
Things like sharing files between computers just works. Have you tried to share files on a home network between two XP computers? Or between an XP computer and a Windows7 computer? It's frequently very aggravating! On Mac it's point and click, whether you have a dhcpd server or are just on a network with 169 addresses.
Zeroconf/Bonjour is built into the system for things like accessing network printers, file sharing, etc. This is a technologically that for what it does, just works. Windows7 (and probably Vista) made adding network printers a lot easier, but it's still not nearly as easy.
System Preferences are generally considered to be laid out well and for several revisions easy to search. Windows is now searchable too, but has a confusing plethora of configuration pages.
Expose (wikipedia it if you don't know what I mean) is another feature that "switchers" have cited to me as a feature of polish.
Applescript would be another example -- a totally pervasive system of scripting that's built into the entire OS and most 3rd party apps. Most OSX users probably have never heard of it, but for power users it's very powerful.
A lot of the polish does come from 3rd party apps. For whatever reason, 3rd party OSX developers do seem to stick more to the HIG (more than Apple at times!) and write quality programs.
And the one point that Apple haters frequently love to deride is the design aspect. Button spacing, HIG issues, etc. Another thing I've personally had multiple converted Apple users mention to me is how much nicer the fonts are. (personal opinion sure) Hardware design--things like the Magsafe. Read the universal laptop power brick thread and see how many people rave about their Dell powerbrick vs their Apple brick.
Command line tools are topnotch (well duh, a lot of them are bsd or gnu!). But beyond that, there are command line tools to interface with many higher level parts of the OS. I for instance just learned about the "security" command today which is a program which allows you to update / access the password Keychain for use with other command line programs (or whatever else you might need it for)
Now please note that I'm NOT saying OSX is perfect nor that I like everything about it! It definitely has issues, but you specifically asked for examples of the user experience and "polish." I'm sure you (or others) could (and probably will!) argue about many of these points, but these were just the first off the top of my head.