iPhone 3G Trouble?

Apparently you're not alone:

Life with the iPhone 3G, one week later (Phone Arena)

 

You're welcome.

I'm kind of surprised myself at all of the problems cropping up with the phone. I have the regular iPhone, unlocked, and it works like a charm. The battery drains, but not as fast as I thought it would be. T-Mobile's marginal signal in my area is probably most responsible for the battery drain.

I really hope Apple has a fix up their sleeve, otherwise this could be a nightmare for them (and iPhone 3G customers, like yourself).

 

Apple is supposedly beta testing the 2.0.1 firmware for the iPhone 3G, hopefully it will be released in the next few weeks.

 

There is also a 2.1 being seeded that may have more significant features and changes. Primarily some changes to location based services (provides direction and speed, needed for real time routing) and some hints of copy-paste, althought I personally think its just some initial hooks in the software for a future feature.

iPhone roundup: Apple seeds 2.1 with new GPS features, possible copy/paste, also completely out of phones - Engadget Mobile

 

I have had a few apps crash on me, mostly third party stuff which has already been complained about online (beta testing was very limited and many apps have already submitted bug fixes that are not in the app store yet). I did have Contacts crash on me, and I continually have the scroll delay when I first open it. This affects original iPhones with 2.0, so it should also be fixed in software.

I have not lost the clicking noise unless I cover up the speaker with my hand.

Battery improved significantly after running it down into the red and then fully recharging it a few times. I have 3G turned off also, and I usually disable Wi-Fi when I'm out. I think the display and GPS suck the most juice. You may try lowering the brightness if it still looks OK for you.

 

I'm glad I haven't updated to 2.0 yet. I'd rather wait until the bugs are worked out. I'm quite happy with 1.1.4 as it is, so I'll wait.

 

Hi cellular_freak,

Sorry to hear that you are having some trouble. I did get the return to the Home screen once, while in safari. I also got a hard freeze once. But other than that, it has been working quite well. My daughter's iPhone has not experienced any of the above.

Never had the loss keyboard click. But last week, I turned off the keyboard sounds to quiet my spouse's complaints.

Regarding the short battery life, can you quantify that a bit by using the 'usage' setting? You can see my posts on what battery time I was getting. There are also some on line elsewhere. Text SMS uses a lot of screen power. Re calibrating the battery icon by running the iPhone down until it turns off, a few times. is very important too. The batery meter turns the phone off, not what power is in the battery.

 

Do you have it set to check email very often?

 

I did find a problem with google maps that causes the phone to go to the home screen.

If, while in 'map mode' I drop a bookmarked pin, and then try to go to 'hybrid' or even satellite mode, google maps crashes and the phone goes to 'home' screen.

If I remove the pin, then it works fine. A problem for Google to work on.

 

I have 2 iphones, 3G both, and not having those kinds of problems. Wifi should be easy to connect to. For att, I call them.

For battery life, the phone is doing something at night. If you indeed have everything turned off, including checking mail or pushing mail, it should last the night like mine. Make sure the GPS is off too. Have you completely discharged the phone, ever?? You need to do that a few times first and then about once a month, two or three. That is per apples recommendations (and dell,etc).

What are your usage stats when your phone is down half way??

 

Mine has had a few glitches as well. The one that irritates me the most is that either the keyboard will disappear and not come up while text messaging, or that it'll freeze and go super slow when typing out a message. I have to turn the phone off and on in order for it to work. The signal here is not the best, but it seems to be getting better. Other than that, the phone is pretty awesome. Has anyone else had the text messaging issues I've had?

 

I don't have the delayed keyboard problem at all. Nor the disappearing one either.
When posting to WA forums via the full browser I do get a delay but that makes sense because of the echo effect. I get that same promblem with a full PC.

Regarding the battery usage numbers you're getting, they don't seem far off from mine. If I extrapolate to a dead battery, you would be getting 2.5 days of standby time (ie time from last full recharge) and about 4 or 5 hours of usage time. You didn't say what percentage was call time. But that is what I would expect with my Nokia 6131, and I'm doing a lot more with the iPhone, plus it has a bigger display.

If you're not happy with the numbers, then the iPhone is not for you. They do seem close to Apple's spec though, if you do the tests like they do. I notice that they always have 'Ask to Join New Networks' off, something I don't do.

Here is an interesting review via Engadget:

"Apple's numbers on the iPhone 3G's battery life peg it at 10 / 5 hours talk on GSM / 3G (respectively), 5 hours 3G data, 6 hours WiFi, 24 hours music and 7 hours video. Pretty much everything we've found in our testing jibes with Apple's claims, if not exceeds them. (Our early results testing video early on skewed low because we had mistakenly left on push and fetch data, which dropped the battery life by almost 25%. After re-testing, they're back up to spec.)

All our tests were conducted with 3G on, WiFi on (not connected), Bluetooth off, no data fetching enabled (unless specified otherwise). Media tested with stock headphones, medium volume, and medium screen brightness, auto-brightness disabled.

* Music (continuous playback, large library, occasionally turning on screen): 31h 23m
* Video (continuous playback, no push/fetch data): 7h 5m
* Video (continuous playback, with push and 15 minute fetch data): 5h 24m
* Daily data use (browsing, email, and GPS / maps): ~6h 30m

Those numbers definitely are not bad, but if you're anything like us and you kill time on your phone reading feeds and checking email like a fiend, by 3 or 4pm you'll likely be wondering if you'll even make it home with any power left -- especially if you leave on the 3G data. So be warned, because the kind of prolonged usage you used to get away with on the original iPhone probably isn't possible with the iPhone 3G. For some, this may be an issue. Others may never notice".

iPhone 3G review - Engadget

Of course these tests are done individually, not together, just like apples.

Living in a fringe RF area is not helping either for battery life.
If you continue to have major glitches with the phone, I'd call Apple. You do have a 1 year warranty after all.

Good luck!

 

Yeah, that's about inline with my experience except that I don't talk very much on my phone, so I've been able to do standby for 3-4 days.

On a side note, I have a Nokia 2610 also. I have to leave my phone in the car while I'm at work, so I decided to move the SIM to the Nokia to save my iPhone from 130 degree temps. The Nokia can do standby for like 2 years, but compared to the iPhone, the audio quality is horrific. I will just have to sacrifice my iPhone to the heat. Maybe I'll go run the air conditioner at lunch...

 

So does your job not allow camera phones or something? If they have a locker somewhere I would put the iPhone there rather than leaving it in the car.

 

No cell phones period. Our "home" building across base has an area to store your cell phone, but not my building. I've found that wrapping my phone up in my gym clothes insulates it enough to stay cool until I leave.

 

remember that a car trunk is generally much cooler than the inside of the car. and in most cases is safer.

My car doesnt even have a key hole on the trunk and i have the inside pull latch key locked. without my remote key it cant even be opened

 

If you live in a place where your reception is very weak, your phone will also use more power (and hence battery) to communicate to the tower, so that could also be a factor in you short battery life. (Altho signaling doesn't use much power, so only talking or surfing would really require more power)

But also considering how many things are built into phones these days (camera, mp3 player, GPS, web browser, etc.) it all really puts a strain on battery life. I guess you just always need to keep a charger or spare battery handy.

 

poor signal on 3g

speaker phone is not loud on my phone