OK, so the first thing I was impressed with on the iPhone 3G is the interface for entering a new contact. The iPhone has the ability to take a screen print by pressing the Home and Sleep buttons together so I was able to take some screen shots to show the experience... so here goes…
We start with the Home screen on my 3G. Start the process of adding a new Contact by simply touching the Contact icon.
Annoyance #1: The Contacts list takes some time to come up and become usable. It can be a little annoying and hopefully will be fixed in a future update.
Simply touch the + icon in the top right of the Contacts list to start adding a new Contact.
Touch the First Last space on the screen to start adding the First Name, Last Name and Company Name to the Contact record.
Coolness Feature #1: Intuitive use of Uppercase.
When you get to the screen, the Uppercase key is automatically selected so that you start typing with an uppercase character for the First Name. On my Tilt, this usually required me to touch the Shift key in order to create an uppercase character. Start by entering the First Name.
Let's assume the contact has a middle initial or second name. Touching the Space key again automatically sets the Uppercase key to active. This is a continuation of Coolness Feature #1 which extends to each name.
Once the First Name is done, simply touch the Return icon to jump to the Last Name field. Again, the Uppercase key is set to active so you don't have to do anything to start the Last Name with an uppercase other than simply start typing.
Now you started typing the Last Name and suppose you typed the wrong key? Notice that the Uppercase key has already been turned off for the 2nd character in the name. Delete the first character by simply touching the Backspace key.
Coolness Feature #2: Intuitive use of Uppercase on Undo operations.
Backspacing the uppercase character reactivates the Uppercase key so that when you start typing again, it will be with an uppercase character. On my Tilt, I would have to manually press the Shift key again to get an uppercase character.
Simply touch the Save icon to save the Name details and return to the previous screen.
Now we need to add a Phone Number so touch the "Add new Phone" space to activate that screen.
Coolness Feature #3: Intuitive use of Keys vs. Numbers.
As you can see, the screen opens ready to enter a phone number. Simply enter the number. Another nice feature is the ability to add a Pause to the number.
Coolness Feature #4: Intuitive Phone Types.
The Phone Type defaults to Mobile. When you entered a 2nd phone number, the type defaults to Home and on the 3rd number, it will default to Office. This helps in entering data very quickly and efficiently. I would personally prefer that Office be 2nd in the list to reflect a business use rather than a personal use.
To change the phone type, simply touch the Type space to activate the selection screen.
To make your selection, simply touch the type of phone number you're entering. The screen will automatically close and return to the previous screen. Touching the Save icon will save the phone number and return you to the previous screen.
Now to add an Email Address, simply touch the "Add new Email" area on the screen.
Coolness Feature #5: Intuitive use of Special Characters.
When you get to the Email screen, you will notice a couple of things:
- The Uppercase key is NOT active so the email will be in all lowercase letters.
- There is an "@" sign key on the screen.
- There is a "." Sign key on the screen.
Since periods and @ signs are used in email addresses, it makes sense to have those on the screen so you don't have to switch to an different keyboard to complete the address. On my Tilt, I would have to switch to the numeric keyboard to get an @ sign.
Enter the email address and touch the Save key to save the address and return to the previous screen.
To add a web page to the Contact record, simply touch the "Add new URL" area on the record screen.
In a continuation of Coolness Feature #5, you will notice the following:
- The Uppercase key is NOT active.
- There is a "." key on the screen.
- There is a "/" key on the screen.
- There is a ".com" key on the screen.
Since web addresses does not contain @ signs, but do use a lot of periods (.) and forward slashes (/), these keys are on screen. The .com key makes entering .com addresses even faster.
Enter the web address and touch the Save icon to save the URL and return to the previous screen.
Now we need to add an Address to the Contact record. Simply touch the "Add new Address" area on the Contact screen to begin adding an address.
Annoyance #2: Street field should start with a Numeric keyboard rather than an Alphabetical one.
Since the majority of addresses start with a number anyway, it would make logical sense to me that this screen should start with the numeric keypad for the Street rather than the alphabetical one. Of course, my Tilt never did this either, but I'm spoiled by the well thought through interface that Apple has provided so this little oversight really stands out. Let's hope they fix that in a patch of the firmware.
In order to begin adding the Street address, you will need to switch to the numeric keyboard by touching the number icon.
Now you can enter the numbers for the Street address.
Coolness Feature #6: Intuitive switching of keyboards.
After entering the numbers, notice how the numeric keyboard is on screen. Now watch what happens when you touch the Space key.
Touching the Space key, adds the space, switches the keyboard from numeric to alphabetical AND activates the uppercase key! Very intuitive.
Enter the rest of the address and note how the uppercase key activates for new words. When done with a field, simply touch the Return key to jump to the next field.
Enter the City and touch Return.
As with all the other fields, when you first get to the State field, the uppercase key is activated. Enter the first character of the state.
Now notice how the uppercase key REMAINS active because state codes in the US are all uppercase. Actually, what is really cool is that the 3G has a custom layout for other countries as well. You can experiment with these by simply changing the country value. Enter the rest of your state code.
Touch Return to jump to the Zip field and watch what happens to the keyboard.
You guessed it! #6 again! Since zip codes in the US are all numeric, the keyboard automatically switches from alphabetical to numeric.
Enter your zip code and touch Save to save the address and return to the previous screen.
The Contact record will now look something like this.
Let's add a photo to the Contact record. At the top, simply touch the "Add Photo" space in the record to start the process.
You are presented with the choice of either selecting an existing photo from your phone's photo roll or the photo gallery or alternatively, take a new photo. Let's assume you're taking a new photo. Touch "Take Photo".
The camera is activated. Simply focus on your subject and touch the green camera button to take the picture.
Annoyance #3: There is a lag between touching the button and the photo being taken.
I experienced the same annoying thing on my Tilt so I can't really say this is a problem, but I do wish it didn't happen. I will say that the lag on the iPhone seems to be slightly less than that of the Tilt. Focus is also automatic and much faster than on the Tilt.
Once you've taken your photo, you can shift it around to center it simply by dragging it around. If you're not happy with the photo, simply touch Retake to try again. If you are happy, touch Set Photo to save the picture to the Contact record.
Now that all information is recorded, simply touch the Save icon to save the Contact record.
Annoyance #4: Replying to an incoming text message destroys the Contact record.
I happened to stumble upon this one when someone sent me a text message as I was entering information. If you have NOT saved your contact record, and a text message arrives, the phone will display the text message OVER the contact record. You can read the message, but do NOT choose to reply to it. If you do, your contact record will lose all the information you entered thus far.
I believe this is due to Apple's application model that requires apps to completely quit and doesn't allow anything to run in the background (other than certain Apple apps of course). I wouldn't have them change the model at all because it helps provide a stable platform for the phone, but it is something to be aware of when you're entering contacts.
It is easy to work around this by simply saving the record and then touching Edit again to continue entering more data. The old saying "Save early, save often" is applicable in this particular case. ;-)
Nonetheless, as long as you're aware of it, it shouldn't be a big deal. In fact, the entire process of entering Contact data is so pleasant and intuitive that the annoyances hardly detract from the experience.
So you may be wondering, how do I delete a Contact record? For that you will need to go back into Edit mode for the record. Begin by touching the Edit icon in the top right of the record.
Now scroll all the way to the bottom of the Contact record. You will notice a BIG "Delete Contact" button. Touch the button to delete the contact record.
The phone will ask you to confirm the deletion. Touch "Delete Contact" again to delete the record.
So that was my first impressions with the iPhone. I've had many more, but the experience of adding Contacts was just such a pleasant surprise that I had to blog it! The intuitive cool features I mentioned in this article shows up all over the interface and makes working with the phone a pleasure.
Later
C
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