One of the most ignored changes emerging after the last WWDC was a new modifications of Apple TOS. A few months ago, the infamous 3.2.2 point of the TOS stipulated:

No interpreted code may be downloaded or used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Documented APIs and built-in interpreter(s).

Now, the revised version sounds like this:

Unless otherwise approved by Apple in writing, no interpreted code may be downloaded or used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Documented APIs and built-in interpreter(s). Notwithstanding the foregoing, with Apple’s prior written consent, an Application may use embedded interpreted code in a limited way if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application.

Now this is a major shift in Apple’s approach towards third party APIs. The initial  limitation seemed to be directed towards Adobe and their new version of Flash, which would allegedly permit developers to write code for the iPhone platform bypassing Apple’s tools (Xcode and family). Apple’s controversies with Adobe are no secret lately but as we look into the new TOS, it seems that there will be some room for third party API’s, provided that Apple will previously give permission in written. That doesn’t mean Apple will allow Adobe, it means it will allow only certain APIs.

This wouldn’t make the iPhone an open platform all of a sudden, and it will still maintain Apple’s discretionary control over its own platform. Whether the recently announced FTC investigation over Apple’s practices has something to do with this new modifications of TOS, that’s something that we’re not going to find out soon.

One of the most appreciated third party APIs, both in terms of functionality and ease of use, it’s Corona. It allows you to write apps that will run out of the box (with minor modifications) on iPhone, iPad and Android. I wrote extensively about Corona in the last few months, and I also plan to write a few simple tutorials on how to use it pretty soon. If there’s someone who’d like to test a game written in Corona by yours truly, you can download iFlipEm Lite (iTunes link) for free. There’s also an Android version of iFlipEm Lite.

The other day I tried to install iOS4 on my iPhone 3G and, to my big surprise (and satisfaction), it worked. For those of you who are wondering how to do it, here are the steps I followed:

1. Download the ipsw file from Apple. You gotta have an iPhone developer account (at least until iOS4 will go public).
2. Download and install iTunes 9.2. Again, you’ll have to have an iPhone developer account in order to access it.
3. Connect your iPhone to your Mac
4. Fire up the new iTunes
5. Alt + click the Restore button, so instead of going on the cloud and search for the latest update, it will open a file picker window. Pick the ipsw file you just downloaded.

WARNING: this will actually RESTORE your iPhone, meaning you will have no apps, no photos, no music, no nothing. PLEASE have a backup of everything before upgrading and after your upgrade will finish, resync your iPhone using the last backup.

iOS4 – What I Liked

Unified inbox. It’s cute, you have everything in one place. I wonder why they didn’t do this before. I mean, really, this is just a simple interface add-on.

Folders. In order to create a folder on your iPhone running iOS4 you have to touch an app icon and wait a few seconds until the icons are starting to tremble. The drag the icon onto another app icon. Yeah, this is a little counter-intuitive at first, but then you’ll realize it’s the only option to create such a feature, without adding an extra level of complexity (buttons or other visual controls) to the interface.

One very slick feature is that if the app you’re grouping under a folder have badge numbers (like a to-do app which will display on the app badge the total of to-do’s for today, the folder will actually sum all the badges numbers.

This is that kind of functionality you won’t expect to have right out of the box. And still…

By default, a folder take the title of the app category, the main category under which the app is listed in the AppStore. But if you double tap the folder, it will open in editing mode, letting you put a new title, if you want.

iOS4 – What I Didn’t Liked

It’s slow and it freezes. Some apps, including LinkedIn app, won’t work on iOS4. That’s somehow expected, since we’re dealing with a developer version of iOS4, but it’s annoying anyway.

Also, on my iPhone 3G multitasking is not available, so not much to say about this.

There is also a new tab in iTunes, which says Books (not only audiobooks). There is a hint at an iBooks app in the AppStore, but I didn’t see the app, at least until now. May be a geolocation glitch, like me using the wrong AppStore, or maybe iBooks is not yet public for iPhone.

Oh, an I had some issues with my app signing after upgrading, meaning some of the apps I uploaded in my iPhone didn’t load under the new iOS4. Kinda weird, but reinstalling the provisioning profiles fixed it. All in all, iOS4 was a much more smoother experience than I expected.

iPhone OS 3.0 introduced a long awaited feature on the iPhonw world, namely the ability to use your device as an external modem. In the mobile phone world this is already history, but for some reason Apple delayed this feature for almost a year after the launch. I suspect this is having something to do with the US agreements with AT&T but that would be only a speculation from my part, based on a hunch and nothing more. Whatever the reasons for blocking this feature, we’re not concerned with them anymore, the iPhone OS 3.0 is here and is giving this feature.

First of all, this feature is highly dependent on your mobile network operator, because the activation is done at the SIM level. In Romania, where iPhone was brought by mobile operator Orange, I had to activate this option by calling customer service. Activating this option will add an extra 4 EUR / month to my bill, apart from what I am using by navigating. I don’t know if it’s expensive or not, but it surely is convenient.

Once the option activated, you go to your iPhone and navigate to Settings -> General -> Network where you will find a new setting entry: Internet Tethering. All you have to do is to turn it on:

If you didn’t activated the service with your mobile operator and still try to activate that option you will receive an alert telling you to contact your operator prior to activating the service in the iPhone.

Bluetooth Or USB Connection?

Once you activated your service with your mobile operator AND inside your iPhone, you will have 2 connection option: Bluetooth and USB cable. I always keep my iPhone connected to my MacBook Pro – for charging, if no for testing some new app or piece of code – so this my preferred option. I used with Bluetooth also and it works but Bluetooth tends to have this nasty behavior of draining our your battery sooner than you expect. By keeping the iPhone connected via USB you can test some app browse the Internet. From what I saw, you cannot CHARGE your iPhone while in tethering mode. Let’s hope it can be fixed by the next OS or firmware version.

Once the iPhone connected the magic happens: a new Ethernet interface is automatically added to my network profiles and I am ready to use it. If I have more than one Ethernet connection active I can stop my iPhone Ethernet connection and use what I already have. I find this extremely convenient. No more complicated modem settings, access phone numbers to remember and so on, just a simple Ethernet interface which you can activate via your Network sections in Settings on your Mac. Didn’t use this feature on Windows (in fact I didn’t use an iPhone with Windows so far), but I suspect it would be somehow similar.

iPhone Tethering Speed

Orange has 2 speed options when it comes to 3G: 3G and what they call 3G+ (I will not cover EDGE because I find it extremely slow and I use it only when I really have no 3G coverage). For 3G you get 3,6 Mbps and for 3G+ you get 7,3 Mbps. In practice you will never get that, of course, but I was able to have a comfortable Internet experience using Orange. Where I live there is no wire coverage (no ADSL, cable or optic fiber) so the only option is mobile Internet. I’ve been using Orange 3G services for almost a year now and I must confess I’m pretty satisfied: I can’t always watch YouTube, but I’m comfortable with email, browsing and other small desktop clients like TweetDeck.

On the iPhone, however, I don’t get more than 3,6 Mbps because there is no 3G+ option on the iPhone. Typically, this translates in ping responses between 90ms and 140ms which is still ok.

Here’s how the iPhone looks where it’s connected and connecting my MacBook Pro to the internet:

And here’s how it looks when I chose to do something on the iPhone, like checking email or browsing with Mobile Safari.

Note that you can still access internet while you’re tethering which I find pretty cool.

In the annual WWDC conference Apple holds each year at the beginning of spring there were some very interesting announcements.

First, the long awaited iPhone 3.0 OS will be available for download starting June 17th. I already wrote about iPhone 3.0 SDK earlier, I will just point now that this OS will bring some dramatic improvements like in app payment, in app email, peer to peer connectivity and so on.

At the same conference a new iPhone model was announced. The iPhone 3G S (apparenbtly, S is coming from “speed”) will be launched June 19th. Several key improvements:

• tethering (use the device as an external modem)
• video recording and trimming on the iPhone
• faster running apps
• wider device compatibility (turn by turn GPS by using external craddles, for instance)
• 3 MP camera with better focus

The new model will come with a 32 GB version as we already guessed in this post. The 16 GB model will cost 199 USD, while the 32 GB model will cost 299 USD. The current iPhone 3G with 8 GB will be offered at 99 USD. All prices are for contract pruchases only.

For a more detailed presentation you can go visit Apple’s guided tour.

photo credit: Apple Inc