Category Archives: iPhone

iPhone

Podcast Playing at 2x Plays at 1x After Call

On my iPhone 4 (iOS 5.0 (9A334)), after interrupting a podcast I was listening to at 2x speed to take a call, the podcast speed changes to 1x when the call ends.

Try it yourself:

  1. Start a podcast at 2x speed
  2. Make a call (via Voice Control) or receive a call
  3. When the call completes the podcast starts playing again automatically at 1x

Normally, the podcast resumes at 2x speed.  As a work around, I pause the podcast with my wired handset, then press play and it resumes at 2x speed.  If you’re having the same issue, report it as a duplicate of Bug ID# 10399008.

iPhone

iOS4 Multitasking: Friend or Foe?

I was using the TomTom app on my iPhone 4 yesterday and was wondering when I was done using it, “is it still running?”  With iOS4’s new multitasking feature was the iOS4 ready TomTom app still depleting the battery by tracking GPS satellites?  Turns out the answer is yes.

Using iStat to view the running processes on my phone I saw indeed TomTom’s “US – Canada” was still running.  I was also under the mistaken impression that there could only be 4 running apps in the background.  Instead I kept launching apps and found 7 apps still running.

I’m not sure I like this behavior.  Prior to iOS4 I had a high confidence I knew what apps were running on my phone. The app I was using was consuming resources and when I pressed the home button I knew it exited (with the exception of select Apple apps).  Now, under iOS4, I see that I don’t know when an app has quit or wether it’s still running.  And more importantly, which apps are consuming battery draining resources? Apps that rely on Location Services (GPS) or music streaming are likely candidates.

I laughed at my Android friends who had to download task killers to put a stop to battery draining applications.  Please don’t tell me that day has arrived for Apple.  Also, will this introduce the notion of Quit to the iPhone lexicon?  I hope not.

iOS4 apps compiled for state saving aren’t an issue.  Their state is cached for quick re-entry and if the phone needs the resources they’ll get shutdown then.  But it would be helpful for Apple to better inform the user which apps are consuming more battery intensive resources.  In the case of Location Services an arrow icon will appear in the status bar. (Is there a similar indication for an app streaming data in the background?) But that will leaving you wondering, “which app is it?”  An app icon overlay would be helpful when you double-click the Home button and the multitasking user interface appears to better pin-point who’s currently using Location Services.

Tip: Quit an app by removing it from the multitasking user interface.  Hold your finger on the app icon until it begins to shake.  Then click the “-” in the upper left hand corner. Note, just because an app appears in the multitasking UI doesn’t mean it’s running. You will need an app like iStat to know for sure whether an app is running.

iPhone, Mac OS X

iPhone App Too Large To Update

I downloaded the updated TomTom U.S. & Canada v1.3 app from the iTunes store and expected it to be updated on my iPhone 3G v3.1.3  – just like every application before it.  But it didn’t work.  I was presented with a dialog “The application “US – Canada” was not installed on the iPhone “iPhone” because not enough free space was available.”  Huh?  It’s already on the phone. How could there not be enough space for it?  Is the new version that much bigger than the prior version?

Then I realized what iTunes 9.1 is doing.  It’s copying the new app to the iPhone; verifying the copy was successful; then deleting the old app and putting the updated app in its place.  Most apps are small so you’ve probably never noticed this before.  But because the TomTom app is so large (1.55GB) this didn’t work (although I’m not sure why, my iPhone is reporting 2.2GB free).

Clicking on the “More Information” link on the dialog takes you to an Apple web page with a laundry list of things that could be wrong.  While the most salient thing to do is under the section titled “Reinstall the application” this has you do more than you really need to.  Here are my instructions if you find yourself in this situation.

First, download the updated application into iTunes. (You’ve probably already done this. That is why you’re here, right?)

To remove the application from your iPhone:

  1. Touch and hold any application icon on the Home screen until the icons start to wiggle.
  2. Tap the “x” in the corner of the application you want to delete.
  3. Tap Delete to remove the application and all of its data from your iPhone or iPod touch. (This is what makes this process a bug. What if I didn’t want to loose my data? If you have user data associated with your app, contact the app seller to find out how to archive your data.)
  4. Press the Home button to save your arrangement.

To re-add the application to your iPhone:

  1. In iTunes, select your iPhone under devices on the left side bar
  2. Click on the Apps tab and re-select the app you want to add back in.
  3. Use the iPhone pane on the right to put the app back where the original was.
  4. Click the “Sync” button in the lower right-hand corner.

iTunes should solve this problem by alerting the user that it will need to perform a critical update and to not disconnect the phone until done (similar to the warning you get when trying to install software updates on battery power).  Otherwise, the process I’ve outlined will cause all the app’s data to be deleted.  In my case it didn’t matter.  But if it matters in your situation, you would need a way to do an in-place update when space is at a premium on your iPhone.