iOS 4.1 Giveth, but mostly Taketh Away (from 3G)

By now everyone has heard that Apple has released the latest version of their iPhone operating system, the iOS 4.1. Jobs showed many exciting new features, and promised bug fixes, which he said including the poor performance issues experienced by 3G owners. Well, they certainly fixed the performance issue–but at what price?

I bought the iPhone 3G when it came out in 2008. Yes, I even waited in line for an Apple device.¹ I liked the phone, and unlike many others really felt no need to upgrade to the 3GS the next year, or even the iPhone 4.² I did jailbreak my phone, but I only did that after Apple unceremoniously removed the Google Voice application from the App Store.

I did generally update my phone whenever a new update came out, only waiting first to ensure the jailbreak was also available at the time. This was true with the 4.0 update as well. I wanted folders, and multitasking. Who wouldn’t? It’s what we have all been clamoring for since the first iPhone arrived. And, as promised iOS 4.0 (and later, 4.01) delivered. Sadly, for iPhone 3G owners that meant that we paid a great price–our phones no longer responded to our desires with swift efficiency. Instead our phones responded sluggishly, if at all. Answering phone calls became a race between the phone responding to my command to answer, and the caller’s patience on the other end. More often than not the caller, unaware of the skirmish between me and my phone, would hang up.

So I, like every other 3G owner who had upgraded to 4.0, upgraded when the 4.1 iOS rolled out. And yes, the snap, the responsiveness, is back. Mostly.

But “Surprise!” that is the only significant new feature announced in 4.1 to actually make it into the 3G version of 4.1.³ In fact, they removed multitasking!

I will say, I was never happier with my decision to switch to the Android OS and the Samsung Captivate Phone I made the switch days before the iOS 4.1 update. I thought it was a good chance to try to Android OS, and I have 30 days with AT&T to decide if I want to keep the phone. I will provide a review of the Captivate later, but after 1 week, I am definitely thinking this is a keeper.