Apple iPhone 3G S trouble roundup
To that end, here's what we're tracking on the 3G S from the first three full days of sales:
- Apple is awarding $30 iTunes store credits to individuals affected by lengthy activation times on their new phones. Regular activations shouldn't take more than an hour or two (ours were basically instantaneous) and ports from other carriers should take a maximum of 48 hours, but some unlucky individuals are still waiting to come online. We probably would've destroyed the phone with a hammer or a direct impact with a wall by now, so our respect goes out to those of you who are still waiting and haven't destroyed anything of value.
- It seems that some users are getting the error message pictured above when attempting to hack tethering support onto their AT&T iPhones using mobile config files available online, though repeatedly deleting and re-adding the configuration seems to help in some cases. Of course, AT&T isn't supporting tethering on the phone at this point anyway, so we wouldn't expect a shoulder to cry on if you call in to customer service with this one.
- Boy Genius Report is reporting that sounds played by the phone are immediately followed by some sort of extremely high-frequency tone -- the kind little kids and the next door neighbor's dogs hear, but you may not.
[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CK1 @ Jun 22nd 2009 5:46AM
I'm having issues with the iPod video function. The movies I've converted for the iPhone are pixellated, blocky at the top and bottom and performing poorly in general. The same movie files on my 3g work perfectly. So far, the phone seems to be working well otherwise.
It seems like a codec issue, but I haven't heard anyone else complaining of this? They are mp4 formatted files. Anybody else experiencing this?
Byron Cooper @ Jun 22nd 2009 8:38PM
No Mp4 videos will play on my Iphone 3GS. They worked on the Iphone 3G and continue to work on the Ipod Touch even with the 3.0 update. Apple had no answer. Also all address book contacts are duplicated even though they appear correctly on my computer. The only videos that work are purchased from Apple Itunes.
CK1 @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:44PM
I figured out my problem. The videos were ripped using the Xvid encoder. No problem for the 3G, big problem apparently for the 3GS. I ripped a DVD using the H264 encoder and the file plays perfectly.
rusty @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:16AM
I've had zero issues. My activation took under three minutes and I dont here the high pitched noise reported by BGR.
Not be nitpicky, but how can Engadget classify getting an error message when "hacking" the phone as trouble? Do you really think Apple should have made sure that if you hack thier phone you dont get an error message?
The Lamb @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:53AM
Wow. The iPhone is really restricted ins't it? Why cant we teather the device on ANY network?
I can't beleive I'm considering getting a Windows Phone again.......
XxEmoLoverxX @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:03AM
you really are stupid, huh?
the iPhone is not restricted because of Apple.
blame AT&T because they haven't allowed tethering yet.
otherwise, tethering is possible
theburn160 @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:56AM
Why not blame apple for waiting 2 years to add the feature in the first place? I mean att has supported tethering with every other smartphone on its network for years...
XxEmoLoverxX @ Jun 22nd 2009 12:39PM
well, notice how everyone hate apple for not making the "superphone" everyone wants
actually look at what IS there, and that's a lot
also, this is why they don't put the #1 of everything on the first iPhone
1. it would cost outrageously high
2. no one would be compelled to buy a 2nd gen iPhone since the first has everything
over time, new things will be added,
and maybe by 2012, you'll have everything you want / need
Rich @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:08AM
My activation took over 14 hours.
Also, backup and restore from old iPhone to new did not bring over my apps nor music. A second try brought apps, but only after a strange re-install process that lost all of my app data, such as usernames, passwords, songs tagged in Shazam, etc. That's all gone, and my music is still gone.
MRCUR @ Jun 22nd 2009 11:28AM
That's normal... The music can't be backed up nor can Apps. There's nothing wrong with what happened on your restore. The Apps were reinstalled from the computer, which means there is no data to go along with them since they're fresh installs.
biskyt @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:55AM
One BIG problem for many corporate users is that client certificates have been broken by OS 3.0 (so on both the 3G S and 3G). This means that they can not connect to their secured corporate sites, and in many cases cannot receive Exchange email!! You really think that might have been tested before release! Basically, when you install a pfx/p12 certificate on the phone it just shows up as a blank place holder.
More info here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2045511
I really hope this one gets sorted soon, as I need the phone to connect to a site at work that is secured by client certificates.
T
jdavis @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:22PM
New problem here:
After installing Evernote, my new GS crashed and then rebooted. Now quite a few icons are switched, others are blank. So far I've tried rebooting, and resynching. This evening I'll attempt to restore and see if that fixes the problem. Haven't experienced this before, possibly a 3.0 bug.
mobidutch @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:12PM
I'm finding that WiFi reception is not as good as it is on my 3G. On the 3G I have full signal throughout my home, on the 3GS it hovers between 1 and 2 'waves' in the far corner of my home, and sometimes drops alltogether.
TxKevo @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:42PM
I found out first hand and confirmed here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2038542&start=0&tstart=0 that the Audio/Video Remote Control Profile that allows Bluetooth headphones to control music playback is not functioning correctly. While volume adjustment buttons typically work on the headphone devices, track forward and reverse controls do not. I use the Moto Roker S9's, but it seems all of the products using Bluetooth AVRCP are experiencing this behavior.
If anyone was thinking of getting some of the headphones anytime soon, they may want to wait.
Al @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:54PM
To the people who blame Apple for slowly adding features over time...
Apple has a roadmap for what features they want to roll out over time. They have to do this because compared to Windows, Palm and others, they are extremely new to the mobile space. Obviously their original intent was to make mobile data usage easy and useful enough for the masses. That's why they first focused on making the BEST mobile browser and a great email client. That was clearly the original focus of the phone. With the iPhone 3G, they opened things up to devs and created the app store. Again, not something that was new to smartphones as a whole but in the sense that both the average and the experienced/heavy users were getting great functionality out of third-party apps, this was a new phenomenon in the mobile space. With this, the third iteration of the iPhone, Apple has bumped the specs to allow more complex computing and has now gone back and filled in some of the features that other phones have but weren't the initial focus of their gameplan. I feel like the iPhone is extremely complete now with OS 3.0, it took some time and it was frustrating at times but it was worth it because Apple didn't rush things out the door and stretch their own internal developers too thin by trying to do too much with the initial release. In the end, us end-users wind up with a polished product as a result of patience and the fostering of a young, but clearly the best, mobile platform.
Al @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:59PM
Also speaking of these bugs people have been experiencing...
I have noticed that high pitched sound, especially when wearing headphones, I'm glad to know it wasn't just the pair of headphones that I had (I was thinking of returning them). One other bug that I haven't heard anyone mention is occasionally when I'm listing through stereo bluetooth, when I turn the screen off the audio becomes extremely choppy. When I turn the screen back on the audio comes back and if I turn it off again it's choppy and on and on. A reboot takes care of this bug but it can be frustrating, thankfully its only happened twice, but then again the OS has only been out for 5 days.
Mark @ Jun 23rd 2009 3:33AM
Is anyone else noticing how awefuly slow iPhone os3 is??? I'm on a stadard iPhone 3g and it's just not usable any longer
biskyt @ Jun 23rd 2009 6:17AM
Has anybody else noticed that their email seems to be ignoring the fetch times and just fetching every couple of minutes? I have my 3G S fetch time set to 30 minutes, but if I send an email to either of the 2 IMAP accounts on there it usually pops up in around 1 minute!
If it's constantly fetching, then it'll be chewing through battery power at an even faster rate!
T
Steve Miller @ Jul 3rd 2009 11:40AM
All of a sudden I am unable to receive emails on my Iphone3GS. Have checked all settings, verified account is working, can send emails although it is a little slow. Any help