Been looking at getting one... but need to know one thing can you text using the number button format (predictive text) rather than the qwerty keys? can't stand texting on qwerty! thanks
iPhone's Querty texting is self-correcting (largely) and predictive. It will recognise and correct most typos as it goes along. It will also offer predictions of longer words which you can accept by hitting the space button twice (which also neatly lines your cursor up for the next word). It is a lot easier than T9 texting, IMHO.
ah fair enough, but does the self-correction take time to learn how the user works? or is it instantly intuitive?
even the first time you use it, the self correction is almost always correct. over time, the prediction becomes more frequent and more accurate. @DorkSterr, what do you mean by dead zone??
I'm guessing he means the terrible phone reception in the states. I however have no such issues in the UK due to the O2 network largely covering all the areas I frequent.
The auto-correct predictions are displayed as you type, and are automatically applied unless you tap the word to cancel the correction. They're generally very good, though if you accidentally miss the spacebar and hit another key, it won't fix it for you. You can see roughly what it looks like in this video.
I've found it to be very intuitive and quite fast. I've never felt like is slowed me down too much, apart from when I had cold hands (although that slows me down on phones with buttons too) It is handy having easywriter to write longer emails in landscape mode though.
Using an iPod Touch, I can totally see the appeal in the iPhone. They keyboard isn't that bad, and IMO the only major disappointment is the fact that barely any applications use landscape qwerty keyboard, so you occasionally hit the wrong button (it's quite cramped in portrait). However, if you use your phone for picture-taking (e.g., like I do with my Nokia N82) then you may want to buy a separate camera. I'd love to have an iPhone and do away with having an iPod and a phone, but the camera isn't up to my spec. Just my opinion
personally, unless a game really want me to turn it around, i prefer portrait mode (including its keyboard) for some unknown reason. it's a bit cramped, but as long as you trust your fingers and the auto-correction, you can type nearly as fast as on a keyboard. (well, or on a keyboard with two fingers only) the camera sucks. with a free app called SteadyCam, the image quality improved a little bit. but if you really want to take photos, a compact or borrow a friend's phone is always a better idea.
I can text 10x as fast as i can on a normal phone with my iphone (i can almost txt as fast as i type)
You can, actually. A few apps offer it... And what dead zones. I live in the states and have absolutely no issues getting a signal. I don't always have 3G, but I don't always need to watch a Youtube video.
surely there must be an app then for num button texting? thanks for the help guys, that is the only thing that might stop me getting an iphone! what people think of the google phone? lol
Nice software, shame about the device. It's a great sign of things to come, though. On a related iPhone-alternative note, the HTC Touch HD is pretty good too, but the screen is resistive which is rubbish. Next version of that, assuming it packs a capacitive screen which it hopefully will, should be awesome - better still if it uses Android!
