Why is my iPhone "not very good as a phone"????

I've seen this said on here a fair few times. I've asked why this is, but never had an answer.

Can someone please explain why my old 3G isn't meant to be much cop as a phone?

I select a number, call, wait a until I get an answer, have my conversation.

Sersiously, what's the problem… I just don't get it…. 😐

It's only said by people who don't actually own one, along with 99.99% of all anti-apple diatribe.

if you get a missed call from a unknown number (but a friend) can you add it to contacts?

if you get a text saying 'call me' can you directly call the person?

i have one and i'd say it is missing some basic phone type functions.

i use my phone for texting and calling. So from that perspective

Poor keyboard (although better than other touchscreen devices)
Poor battery life
Reception issues

all make it worse, as a phone, than the £15 nokia I've got as a spare

footflaps – Member

It's only said by people who don't actually own one

FAIL 🙂

My 3GS isn't great as a phone for the main reason that it consistently has poorer reception than other phones on the same network. It also doesn't have very good call clarity.

Oh and the ringer's not loud enough and the 'silent/vibrate' switch keeps getting moved by mistake when in my pocket. And to make it worse you can't independently change ringer volume and the main volume meaning that if I'm playing a game and don't want it loud and then put the phone down, the ringer's quiet too.

Great as a mobile computer though which is why I really have it.

No simple way to change "profile" – outdoor, meeting, etc. (I think … happy to be proved wrong!)
Predictive text in foreign languages a bit crap

if you get a missed call from a unknown number (but a friend) can you add it to contacts?
if you get a text saying 'call me' can you directly call the person?

Er. Yes and yes.

if you get a missed call from a unknown number (but a friend) can you add it to contacts?

Yes. 2 button presses. Just tried it. 🙂

if you get a text saying 'call me' can you directly call the person?

Yes. There's a 'call' button at the top of the text conversation.

i have one and i'd say it is missing some basic phone type functions

Such as? I can't see anything missing

Poor keyboard (although better than other touchscreen devices)
Poor battery life
Reception issues

When do you use the keyboard for making a phone call? You don't do you.
Battery life isn't great, but that doesn't make it a poor phone as such.
No reception issues ever.

Next………
🙂

if you get a missed call from a unknown number (but a friend) can you add it to contacts?

Yup – press the blue arrow next to the number and select "Create New Contact" or "Add to Existing Contact"

if you get a text saying 'call me' can you directly call the person?

Yup – there is a button marked "Call" at the top of the SMS conversation.

{Edit: dammit Peter types faster that I can use the iPhone keyboard}

And to make it worse you can't independently change ringer volume and the main volume meaning that if I'm playing a game and don't want it loud and then put the phone down, the ringer's quiet too.

Thats the biggest ball-ache for me too. I've missed loads of calls because I've turned the volume down to play a game and forgot to turn it back up.

Surely it can't be that hard to have an app volume and a ringer volume separately.

No simple way to change "profile" – outdoor, meeting, etc. (I think … happy to be proved wrong!)

What else do you need other than "ring", "silent" or just adjust the volume down?

Jesus.

I'm reminded of this:

How do you know if somebody has an iPhone?

They tell you.

And to make it worse you can't independently change ringer volume and the main volume meaning that if I'm playing a game and don't want it loud and then put the phone down, the ringer's quiet too.

Mine doesn't do that. Game, iPod and ringer volumes are all seperate. Changing one doesn't affect any of the others…..

Yours must be special then – it definitely does on mine…

EDIT – iPod/video volume is indeed independent. Game/app volume isn't. I use games/app most of the time and rarely the others.

What else do you need other than "ring", "silent" or just adjust the volume down?

Well, for example, when I'm at my desk I want it quiet, not silent, and when I'm in a meeting I want it to beep once when I get a call. My Nokia can do that, my iPhone can't. Not a big deal, but I prefer the cheapo Nokia in this case.

Game/app volume isn't

It is on my 3G. I just tried it. If I adjust game volume I get a speaker icon, but if I exit the game and adjust the volume, the icon says "ringer" above it. They're seperate. 🙂

Well, for example, when I'm at my desk I want it quiet, not silent, and when I'm in a meeting I want it to beep once when I get a call. My Nokia can do that, my iPhone can't. Not a big deal, but I prefer the cheapo Nokia in this case.

I see what you mean, but I nver used the profiles on my Nokias. I just had it LOUD or silent, and it's a lot easier to flick the switch on the side of a 3G than faff around looking for a profile.
6 of one and half a dozen of the other really, depending on what you need. 🙂

It's a good original question PeterPoddy – I have one and have asked the same question numerous times (once on here) and never get a sensible answer… in fact, I'm struggling to remember ever getting an answer.

visual voicemail is great, it does everything i did with my old nokias and sonys, just in a more user friendly and obvious way.

They're seperate.

No they're not – it depends on the app.

Some apps, but not many IME, let you set the volume for the app.

agree with the volume thing too – much easier to press the side button a few times to the desired level than to go into menus looking for profiles… I've never used profiles on other phones – they just seem a faff!

It's a good original question PeterPoddy – I have one and have asked the same question numerous times (once on here) and never get a sensible answer… in fact, I'm struggling to remember ever getting an answer.

Thankyou. 🙂 I thought I was going mad, it's not just me then?

So far we haven't got anything other than the odd personal niggle on this thread either…. 🙂

A few clicks of the volume button takes the same length of time as changing a profile on a nokia.

iphone is as good as any others for the phone functions. But more importantly can your nokia become a lightsaber or a machine gun????

Seperate on mine here too.

I think some folk get caught out because they turn down the volume before the app/game starts or has fully loaded, so they end up turn the ringer volume right down, they keep the button pressed and turn the game/app volume down too once it loads.

If you are changing the app volume it us just a speaker icon. The ringer volume says "ringer" above the speaker.

Try turning your ringer volume right the way up then go into your favourite game and see what the volume is doing.
It is definitely seperate.

Thankyou Graham. 🙂

(But that means I'm not special though… sniff….)

EDIT
All the 3 apps I've just tried had the same volume: Whan I changed it in one app, it changed to the same in another. But none of them affected the ringer volume.

Never had any reception problems and one of the best phones I've used better than previous my previous HTC / Nokia / Sony Ericsson phones.

The best phone feature is the excellent contacts sync with Outlook – only phone I've found that synced properly.

Not personal experience, but I've heard lots of people (including tech reporters[/url]) say that call quality is poor on the iPhone.

Although I find mobile call quality in general to be fairly poor so it'd have to be bad to stand out to me.

Right, had a play with mine too – you're right that the ringer volume is separate BUT I still regularly find that it's turned down because I turn the volume down when starting an app – admittedly user error as it turns out but quite a reasonable/easy one to make and one that keeps happening (though maybe not now…)

The points about reception and call quality still stand though.

And the ringer's still not loud enough even on full when out riding.

Battery life isn't great, but that doesn't make it a poor phone as such.

That's a big issue for me. When I most need a mobile phone I'm not sat next to a power socket

**** me the iphone threads are getting shittingly dull

Weren't they always?

indeed

Right, had a play with mine too – you're right that the ringer volume is separate BUT I still regularly find that it's turned down because I turn the volume down when starting an app – admittedly user error as it turns out but quite a reasonable/easy one to make and one that keeps happening (though maybe not now…)

IT Manager heal thy self.

I have people to do the proper technical stuff 😉

Just as well..

Since they fixed the proximity detector, which was by far the worst thing about it, my only criticism is you have to press all over the screen to use it in the phone mode, where as my old blackberry had everything i needed on or next to roller ball, it just seemed a bit more user friendly.

But as a mobile computer, it's mint and the only reason it didn't get returned to vodafone last month.

That's the rub. These things (and by this I mean 'smartphones', not just the iPhone) are designed to be pocket computers, with varying degrees of success. The people who buy them want shiny screens, more memory etc, without any concern for basic features like 'how good is it as a phone'. It's the whole cameras and megapixels debacle all over again.

I've lost count of the number of shiny gadgets I've had, only to find post-purchase that it doesn't do something fundemental very well. I've had all-singing-and-dancing phones that don't have sufficient processing power to drive the UI properly; I've had ones that will ring or vibrate, but not at the same time; I've had gadgets that are great so long as you reboot them daily, or have 20 minutes battery life unless you disable half of the features you bought it for; etc etc.

I don't doubt that the iPhone is at least a reasonable "phone," but I'll be surprised if call quality and antenna sensitivity were fairly high on the list of design priorities. The days are gone where you could have a 6310i and get a mobile signal on the surface of the moon. Never had one myself, but -that- is how you make a good phone rather than a marketing-friendly, desireable gadget.

PeterPoddy – Member

All the 3 apps I've just tried had the same volume: Whan I changed it in one app, it changed to the same in another. But none of them affected the ringer volume.

It's clearly a problem with how the app is coded. On at least one app that I use daily, changing the volume in the app reduces the ringer volume. So it's a programming error rather than a missing feature.

It's not very good as a mobile 'phone 'cos:
The battery life is toss (even with everything turned off)
It's big
It's somewhat fragile.
Signal is never that amazing.

…but it suffices.

As a mobile *communication* tool (think of everything that entails these days) however, it's amongst the best.

I love mine 🙂

It's not very good as a mobile 'phone 'cos:
The battery life is toss (even with everything turned off)
It's big
It's somewhat fragile.
Signal is never that amazing.

The battery lasts a hell of a lot longer than my old N95.
Big compared to what? Try an XDA Mini, or other XDA-type PDA.
Fragile? Ever dropped a regular phone on concrete?
Signal is fine on my 4G
Regarding call quality, both my 3G and 4G were and are perfectly fine regarding call quality, my N95 had the worse reception quality of any mobile I've ever used, in fact the phone was a total crock of sh1t, virtually unusable for pretty much all of the functions it was designed for. The 3G was a revelation, a smartphone that actually did what it was designed to do, and did it well. It became the most used electronic device I've ever owned.
Regarding call quality and dropped calls, pretty much all the complaints originate in the US, because there's only one network with the iPhone, and in cities it's horribly congested, because of all the data traffic the iPhone generates. Not so much of an issue outside the US.

Slight hijack but is the Ipod touch just an Iphone without the phone bit? I was told it was but don't really know (hence the question)