First Look: IPhone 3.1
Behind every great point-oh release is a point-one update just waiting for its time to shine. iPhone 2.0 was a revolution for the iPhone, adding support for third-party apps, but it was arguably unusable until iPhone 2.1 ironed out most of the wrinkles. Likewise, iPhone 3.0 added its own stock of features, but it's the newly released iPhone 3.1 that's polishing its predecessor's edges while even adding some new features of its own.
Wed, September 09, 2009
Macworld — Behind every great point-oh release is a point-one update just waiting for its time to shine. iPhone 2.0 was a revolution for the iPhone, adding support for third-party apps, but it was arguably unusable until iPhone 2.1 ironed out most of the wrinkles. Likewise, iPhone 3.0 added its own stock of features, but it's the newly released iPhone 3.1 that's polishing its predecessor's edges while even adding some new features of its own.
Apple Announces iPhone 3.1
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Keep in mind that while I specifically refer to the iPhone below, most--if not all--of the new features are equally applicable to the iPod touch. The iPhone 3.1 update is free to all iPhone owners and iPod touch users who are running 3.0. iPod touch owners running a previous version will have to fork over $5 for the update which also, of course, includes all the features of iPhone 3.0.
Name that iTunes
iPhone 3.1 arrives in tandem with iTunes 9, so it's no surprise that many of the new features are dependent on upgrading Apple's jack-of-all-trades application to its latest version.
Among the most heralded improvements brought by iTunes 9 is the ability to organize the applications on your iPhone's Home screen via iTunes. Previously, rearranging the order of your apps meant laboriously dragging applications one-by-one to the edge of the screen, then waiting for the phone to shift to the next Home screen--moving it multiple Home screens was an exercise in self-control that all too often ending in weeping. Most iPhone users probably gave up on keeping their apps organized around July 12, 2008.
The revamped Applications tab appears in iTunes when you plug your 3.1 device into your computer. iTunes will give you a list of applications on your computer and a picture of your Home screen(s). You can sort the list of apps on your computer by name, category, or date and you can search them--handy if you've got a long list. Checkboxes next to each of the apps control whether or not they should be synced to the phone.
The facsimilie of your Home screen, meanwhile, lets you drag app icons around just as you would on the phone itself. A small "x" appears when you hover over any third-party application, allowing you to remove it from the phone. You can drag an app icon to one of the thumbnails of your other Home screens or even rearrange the order of your Home screens entirely by dragging and dropping them.
