Today, Apple announced iPhone OS 4. This OS covers the iPhone versions 1 (Edge), 3G, and 3GS, iPod Touch, and iPad. They’ve made some changes which are long overdue and look like they’ll be a hit with current users. Not all features will be available on all devices.
Soon after Apple releases its new iPad, they announce a sneak preview of iPhone OS 4.0. There’s no hint about what we expect to see in this OS upgrade, but I’m hoping that Apple can provide a solution for multitasking. Their biggest concern is battery life, so perhaps they’ll only allow certain types of computational threads or connectivity to run in the background with certain permissions. I’d also like to see a Documents space like we have for photos and music.
One shift I had to make when moving to an iPhone was the lack of a real file system. Other phones I used like the Nokia N95 or the Sony Ericsson had a tangible file system that you could navigate through, and apps could access directly. The iPhone doesn’t have such a thing. Either apps keep files in their own walled garden, or they have the ability to access music and photos through the shared spaces that Apple allows. With the iPad, there’s no Documents space, and using documents on the iPad is becoming a real hassle.
