iPhone 3.1 Software Walkthrough
On the fence about downloading iPhone 3.1? Wondering what’s changed since iPhone 3.0? Need a handy link to send your friends who may have questions? TiPb’s got your back with our complete iPhone 3.1 Software Walkthrough.
Previously, we took you through all three beta versions, now we’ll take you through the final release.
And we’ll get started, right after the break.
What Hasn’t Changed
A lot. Too much to list neatly this time around. When you finish reading this walkthrough, go back and read our iPhone 3.0 walkthrough. It’s a giant compared to this.
Still, there are a few talking points…
iTunes 9 Features
It’s also worth noting that a couple of new features touted for iPhone 3.1, like Genius Mixes, and App Management are actually contained in the simultaneously released iTunes 9. See our iTunes 9 Software Walkthrough for more.
Bug Fixes
Big .0 releases are typically followed up swiftly with quick .1 bug fixes. While the swift part here is debatable — though on par with last year’s update — the bug fixes aren’t. Among the issues addressed:
- Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
- Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly
Note, we’d heard iPhone 3.1 would also fix the Spotlight issue that displayed deleted emails, but Apple doesn’t list it, and we’ve heard reports it isn’t yet fixed. (Though it apparently was in iPhone 3.1 Beta 3. Strange.)
Home Screen
With the iPhone 3GS and its accessibility features, you can now enable triple-clicking of the Home Button to toggle VoiceOver, Toggle White on Black, and Ask (which then will pop up a menu offering Turn VoiceOver On, Turn Zoom On, Turn White on Black On).
Voice Control
Voice Control in iPhone 3.0, after holding down the Home button for several seconds, let you speak simple commands to place calls and control music. With iPhone 3.1, it will now also work over Bluetooth.
Just hold down the Bluetooth call button as you would the Home Button, let go, and Voice Control pops up. State your command into the BT mic, and Voice Control will “speak” the confirmation (whether it gets it right or not) through the BT earpiece.
MobileMe Find My iPhone Remote Passcode Lock
Expanding on the Find My iPhone remote tracking and wiping service that came with iPhone 3.0, you can now also remotely assign a passcode lock. This is a nice half-way ground between leaving your iPhone wide open, or having to wipe it clean, if you can’t find it but aren’t sure you’ve permanently lost it.
Messages
Still no MMS for AT&T users. That’s being released on September 25 (though whether it will require an iPhone 3.1.1 update, or just a new carrier file is unknown).
For those outside the US with working MMS, you can tap the action button at bottom, left to save them to the camera roll, just like you could previously do with pictures under iPhone 3.0.
Calendar
Calendar gets a minor tweak in iPhone 3.1. Now event alerts also display the location of the event in the popup. Presumably, this is now considered important glance-able information.
Photos
Video trimming is now non-destructive. Previously, if you trimmed a video, it was automatically saved over the original, meaning you could never undo or go back to the full clip. Now, a Save As… dialog gives you the option of preserving the original and creating as many version copies as you want (an short clip to email, a longer one to share to YouTube, and the full clip to sync and bring into iMovie, for example).
Maps
We haven’t seen this show up yet ourselves, but during Steve Jobs’ iPhone 3.1 overview, the slide behind him listed Sponsored Links in Maps as a… feature. (Maybe that’s why Google CEO, Eric Schmidt was there?). Not quite sure how we feel about this in a built-in app either, as opposed to a site we choose to navigate to in Safari…
Settings
Setting usually accounts for the longest list of changes in a new iPhone firmware, but this time it’s fairly short.
Settings: General: Usage now includes a separate meter for Tethering Data. Apologies again, AT&T users, but for those outside the US — if it proves reliable! — it could help avoid nasty overage charges if you exceed your data cap.
Settings: General: Accessibility includes that aforementioned toggle for the Home Button triple-click to enable quick Accessibility switching. Options include Off, Toggle VoiceOver, Toggle White on Black, or Ask which will launch a pop-up and let you choose between the above and Turn Zoom On.
Settings: Safari now, finally, has that toggle to enable Fraud Warnings for malicious web sites (like phishing sites, malware sites, etc.).
iTunes Store
iPhone 3.1 lets you display available iTunes account credit both iTunes Store, and in the App Store, and allows you to redeem gift cards and other promotional codes.
Also, iTunes U is now “better organized”.
In addition, displacing Podcasts (which moves to the other side of the tracks beneath the More tab) is Ringtones, displayed like music, and available ready-made for $1.29.
App Store
Since the App Store is closer akin to a local WebView, it’s fairly easy for Apple to update the App Store (or iTunes Store) without updating the firmware. Case in point, the night before iPhone 3.1 went live, the App Store was updated to feature “Top Grossing” as one of the view options.
Apple has extended their Genius technology to recommend apps as well in iPhone 3.1. The Genius tab appears under Featured, taking the left-most slot. Once you log in, activate, agree to the terms of service (twice!), Genius will crowd-source other iTunes App Store users with similar tastes in an effort to suggest apps you don’t have but might enjoy. (The app on which the recommendation is based is listed on top of the suggested app — nice touch).
As mentioned above, you can now also see your current iTunes Store credits in the App Store, and you can now also redeem iTunes gift cards, promo codes, and certificates here as well. Feature. Parity.
Phone
Copy and Paste comes to the Phone Keypad. Just tap and hold and the input area will change from dark blue to light blue, and the Copy Paste menu will pop up.
The iPhone Paste feature is “smart” enough to change alphanumeric phone numbers to pure numbers (i.e. 1-800-FLOWERS to 1-800-356-9377).
Contacts also get direct copy, so you can hold your finger down on a contact field, just like a picture in Photo, to trigger the copy pop-up menu.
Conclusion
Like the recently released Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, iPhone 3.1 doesn’t provide a lot of fancy user-facing updates (we likely won’t see those until Mac OS X 10.7 and iPhone 4.0 respectively). What it does is fix things that needed fixing, and fill in missing functionality that needed filling in. And, it throws in a couple small feature enhancements, just because.
Free for both iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 users (iPod touch 2.x users will still need to cough up $9.95 to pay the subscription accounting devil’s dues), if iPhone 3.0 was a must-have for the sheer magnitude of its new functionality, 3.1 is a no-brainer update to make the must-have that much nicer-to-have as well.
[Thanks to everyone who contributed screenshots and descriptions for this walkthrough, especially Justin, Jeremy, and James. If you noticed we missed anything, drop us a note in the comments and we'll update as needed.]
September 9th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
There’s some good stuff here, just nothing for me. I might use the Bluetooth Voice Control once before I die… maybe… but nothing else.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
the price of upgrade for touch users is 4.95
September 9th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
The 3.1 update has crashed on me 3x now doing random things. Phone just stopped responding and screen was black, had to restart.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
the vibration feedback for the jigglies is non-existent on my phone. ???
September 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
My iPhone 3G is now taking forever to back up since updating to 3.1.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Same here, no vibration jigglies. That is a sad state.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I think you have a typo under the “Voice Control” section: “Voice Control in iPhone 4.0…” should probably mean 3.0, unless you guys have super-secret Apple access.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Same here, no vibrations, whats the deal??
September 9th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I rather keep GV mobile.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I’ve noticed it everywhere tonight, but what’s new in 3.1 is that you can save pics from emails to the roll now unlike before. You could already save pics from MMS before. I’ve been doing it a lot before this update. Never got a vid MMS, but I assume that would be the same? Its late for me. I’m in the UK. Thanks.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
“The jigglies — what Dieter lovingly calls the little dance icons do when you hold them down long enough to make them moveable and rearrangeable — now make the iPhone vibrate, if your ringer switch is set to silent, as an alternate indicator of the change of state. You can now also enable triple-clicking of the Home Button to toggle VoiceOver, Toggle White on Black, and Ask (which then will pop up a menu offering Turn VoiceOver On, Turn Zoom On, Turn White on Black On).”
None of this is true for me. Not that it’s a big deal, having the jigglies vibrate my phone, but still anyway and so on…..maybe these two things only apply to the 3GS? (for some strange and random reason – like the delicate sensors in the old 3G can’t handle vibrating jigglies, perhaps).
September 9th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
No Settings : General : Accessibility options either (on old 3G)
September 9th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
No vibrate with the “jiggles” and i don’t see the “White to Black” option.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
iPhone 3G by the way
September 9th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I have a 3GS and no jiggle vibration
September 9th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
No jiggle vibration for me either on a 3GS.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Jiggly vibration only works on silent. And the triple click is 3GS only.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
No vibrations when editing apps for me as well? What’s the deal?
September 9th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Can anyone verify this?
Since the 3.1 update, I no longer get the annoying message “nothing to undo” when shaking the phone at the Home screen… Is that just me?
September 9th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
i have a 3gs as well, the jiggles does not work, i tried on vibrate and sound, nothing. Can someone please explain??
September 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I have a 3GS, no vibrating jigglies in silent mode either.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Ya I’m mhaving the same is with the vibration. There are a lot of new features for this being a minor update.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
You said iPhone 4.0 a couple times, is there something I’m missing?
September 9th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I have the apple bluetooth headset. It doesn’t respond to voice control. When I hold down the on/off button as suggested, it turns off. Does this only work with certain headsets? Does it require perhaps a 2.1 spec BT headset?
September 9th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Im starting to wonder if the “jiggles” was happening in the beta version, but didnt make the cut in the final release. Any thoughts??
September 9th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Under Settings : General : Usage (on my 3GS) the display for data statistics is different. It use to just display “Statistics” which showed your ‘Sent’ and ‘Received’ data. Now there is a separate entry for ‘Tethering Data.’ Didn’t see this mentioned elsewhere.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
if i would have know my troubles, i would have ran like hell! still syncing after about two hours. But thats just a personal issue. please do not take my only joking comment seriously…
September 9th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
The accessibility features are 3GS only and same with the thing that pops up when you hit the home button 3 times.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I’ve noticed that while typing a message, wether it be email or text, the keyboard is extremely quiet, almost muffled. Anyone else experiencing this? Not a big deal, just annoying….
September 9th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Just updated to 3.1, and I’m missing my mms settings. Is that only me or is anyone else missing theirs also?
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I guess I’m in the minority but I would love to see a customizable equalizer instead of using the built in presets. There is no one preset that sounds great to me. That’s why I still use my Walkman mp3 player. Even if I use the Sony headphones the iPod on my iPhone doesn’t compare.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Hey all yeah I just notice sense the update to 3.1 under usage I see tethering date usage for those who noticed and I’m not jailbroken
September 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@ Frank… ive noticed that also!!! I was turning the sound up on my text messaging clicks and nothings working… believe it or not i miss the loud clicks lol
September 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
All I got from the update was the fraud setting and the battery % meter that’s all nothing else I’m a lil upset I mean it was a free update but still why say it’s gonna do all this new stuff then I spend the time to download it and only get to features not very happy
September 9th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Can’t wait for sept. 25 for MMS though I’ll use it but tethering would be great to have just as a feature just incase yeah my icons don’t jiggle aswell but I don’t really care to much for such a small feature
September 9th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Ability to turn on mms in message setting is missing! Does anyone care? No?
September 9th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
On 3.1 beta 3, I was not receiving new voicemail messages on my iPhone, I know that because with the official 3.1 release, I have 33 new messages going back to late July. Haha!
September 9th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
That’s a good thing lol
September 9th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
No jigglies vibrating for me either. On iPhone 3G, doesn’t work with it on silent either.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Maybe Im the only one here, but WOW. With my 1st gen oldschool phone 3.1 is FAST. Something has seemed “off” since 3.0. My phone has been crawling. Now its finally fast again.
Anyone else confirm this?
September 9th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
My main problem is after the update it seems that the volume is quieter then before. Any music,movies or iphone sounds are barely audible. Youtube videos sound just fine. I haven’t tried making any calls to test the level of audio. I am upset because its a big difference in level of sounds the iphone produced before the update. Also I have yet to hear any similar issues
September 9th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
@ clark… ive got the same problem but its only with the clicking sounds wen im typing my music and everything else is fine
September 9th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Okay, enough people aren’t getting the vibe that I’m taking it out. It was certainly in the 3.1 betas, but I just did a clean install and no vibe here either. Cut at the last minute?
September 9th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
3.1 seems to have totally bricked my phone for 10 minutes.
One minute its working, the next its totally black, and won’t come on. No buttons do anything. Even plugged it in to itunes and nothing showed up on the screen.
Plugged it into wall and it finally came up. Very weird, never saw this before. After it climbed out of what ever hole it was in, I powered down and restarted. Seems ok now.
@John: Yes, its quite a bit faster for me too. Loading web pages on wifi seems much faster, and launching Settings, is about a third faster.
(Launching settings on a 3G usually takes a “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three” count, but now its there before I get done saying “two”. Not too scientific, but works for me).
September 10th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Added “sponsored links in maps” (WTH?!) and direct contact copy (yes!)
September 10th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Is there anything in 3.1 for us iPhone 2G users?
September 10th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Jigglies was indeed taken out. Should help save some battery and plus no need for it now that most will rearrange the home screens from iTunes. Also certain features only work for the 3GS. It will take a while to back up the iPhone for the first time after the update so let it take it’s course or you may see problems such as data loss. MMS sliders may not show unless you have carrier “AT&T 5.0″ if you still have AT&T 4.0 then you may not see anything related to MMS until AT&T releases the 5.0 for you through a iTunes update on the 25th of this month (Sept). Also less sound in certain minor applications such as text messaging (SMS) may be geared toward battery improvement. Less sound at what you do a lot of daily equals more power to cram out more texts. For some of you with a 3G do not expect to get a % meter along with the battery at the top of your screen after update. Its only on the 3GS. Hope this helps a lot of people!!!!
September 10th, 2009 at 2:21 am
How do i rearrange apps on iTunes. I have the 3gs. It seems locked and won’t let me click on that portion of the screen?
September 10th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Anyone notice any difference in the maps app?
Seems like you get the blue pin point much faster and much more accurately.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Clicks do seem more muffled….I am on a 3g and 3.1 is running faster than 3.0
September 10th, 2009 at 6:30 am
@ John
September 10th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Sean the rearranging of apps will only work with iTunes 9 and 3.1 installed respectively.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:18 am
yes! 3.1 makes my Vmode Vibe Duo remote work again with my 3GS! voice control and remote functions never worked since i had it. so glad its back.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Not sure if anyone else encountered this but after downloading 3.1 I lost my ability to tether my iPhone 3GS (no, it’s not a jail-broken phone). Anyone have a remedy or work-around for this?
September 10th, 2009 at 7:32 am
@James R I have AT&T Carrier 5.0 Still no MMS stuff.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:31 am
My iphone automatically turned on fetch for my email… had to go and turn that thing off or my battery would be dead before noon…
September 10th, 2009 at 8:34 am
YEAH I HAVE AT&T CARRIER 5.0 BUT NO MMS STUFF OR SLIDER PROBABLY WILL BE FIXED ON THE SEPT. 25
September 10th, 2009 at 9:01 am
@ Icebike
After reading your comment I tried it out on mine. It was way off. almost by half a mile. ROFL
Glad its more accurate for you but not for me after I read your comment. haha
September 10th, 2009 at 9:08 am
My phone keeps shutting off after sucessful 3.1 upload. Anyone else have this problem???
September 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am
My 3.1 upgrade went extremely smoothly on my 3GS – and much faster than the 3.0.1 update.
Several notes not mentioned: - Playlist sorting now finally matches my iTunes and iPod Classic (I use “>>” to bring several playlists to the top, which now sorts properly - If you use MobileMe to remote lock, the passcode becomes your new phone unlock code replacing the old code (if you had one)
Not sure if others are noticing this, but Bluetooth voice control doesn’t seem to recognize well. I have a high-end Plantronics earpiece that is excellent on call quality.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Apparently allowing an app to automatically launch a phone call was disabled in 3.0 and rumors were that it’d be turned back on for 3.1. Anyone know if this is the case? It’s useful for the “baby monitor” apps.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Alarms can now enable/disable snooze. No playlist alarms, still.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Another new MobileMe feature in 3.1 is: subscribed calendars are now synced wirelessly via MobileMe.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:38 am
It looks like the iPod listing by Composer now respects Sort Composer settings. I may be wrong, but I could swear it didn’t use to respect these.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Has anyone had any luck being able to save videos sent to them via email or syncing videos back to iTunes?
September 10th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Where is the “Bluetooth Call Button”?????
September 10th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Quote Story:
Turns out this is far less than expected as well: http://research.zscaler.com/2009/09/watered-down-phishing-protection-in.html
Quoting:
September 10th, 2009 at 11:58 am
@LARR
This happened to me once. See #44 above.
Haven’t seen it again.
September 10th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
The update was free for me and my 1g iPod touch. Was the $4.95 price for people who hadn’t already upgraded to 3.0? It’s so patently easy to avoid the software upgrade charge regardless … I really believe Apple does this mostly for auditing purposes, can’t understand why they’d leave it so easier to circumvent.
September 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
When I have new gmail via the Mail app it will appear in the Inbox for 1 second then diappear. I have to manually fetch email again. This started after my 3.1 upgrade.
September 10th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
SO DOES ANYONE HABE THE ICON FOR MMS IN THERE TEXTING KEYBOARD AFTER UP DATE OR DO U THINK WE WILL HAVE TO DO ANOTHER CARRIER UPDATE ON SEPT. 25???
September 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
When you make this upgrade, does it clear the content from your phone? I want to upgrade but I’m currently without my machine and therefore back up and I don’t want to lose what I have until I return home… Thanks
September 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
they removed the “vibrating while moving icons” thing like 2 betas back guys, FYI.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I have the plantronics Voyager pro and Voice control on my 3.1 3GS does not recognize it. The “Call” Button is what you use to answer a phone call.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I still have jiggling icons while moving them. Interesting that its missing on some phones.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
OK found a link that suggested I turn the headset off then on and try again. Voice Control now works on my 3GS with Voyager Pro.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Same here Click sound veryyyyyy low
September 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Not sure whther this is new to 3.1 but the volume control disappears when the sound is going out via line out (as when going through the dock). The volume control did nothing in those cases so it makes sense for the control to disappear at such times.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Does this fix the camera causing the PC to blue screen problem?
September 10th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Notice the speed increase as well. Definitely was running clunkily since 3. Going from desktop sheet to sheet is actually now faster than it seems physically possible. No jiggy vibration. First backup was molasses. Prefer the muffled keyboard (now I can turn it on). iTunes 9 is best ever version. Love finally being able to rearrange apps in the desktop.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:30 am
One thing you may want to add to the list:
If you have an original iPod touch, you no longer have persistent access to the volume control. Double-clicking the home button ONLY brings up the playback/volume controls if a song from the iPod library is playing. Otherwise it takes you to the first home screen, the search screen, or the iPod app, depending on your setting.
Now I have NO VOLUME CONTROL at all when playing games or using music apps. This completely SUCKS. Whoever decided this was a good idea needs to be kicked in the nads.
I’ve already complained about it here, and I suggest all other 1st gen iPod touch owners do the same:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipodtouch.html
September 11th, 2009 at 1:46 am
I UPDATED MY IPHONE 3GS 3.1 UPDATE AND THE MMS ICON DOESN’T SHOW WHY..TWITTER ME WITH ANSWERS @yojoseph
September 11th, 2009 at 4:02 am
3.1 Kills Tethering on AT&T even if you are running 5.0 or 5.1 carrier files and you have the ability to edit APNs (via .ipcc file updates).
I just myself reverted back to the 4.0 carrier file since Tethering an MMS weren’t working (so I saw no need to have a “hacked” carrier file).
I know that some have MMS working but I couldn’t care less about MMS personally since I have full e-mail support.
September 11th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Only thing I’ve noticed is the very low ‘click’ sounds on the keyboard, whic is a bit annoying as I like a good ‘click’! Does anyone know of a fix or can this be altered??
September 11th, 2009 at 8:55 am
iPhone OS 3.1 resolves L2TP VPN issues (malformed packet errors) with Check Point firewall products running R65 with HFA 50 installed. If you still have issues, request hotfix 786 from customer support.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Is the VoiceOver in 3.1 still only for iPhone 3G(S)? Truly sucks if so. Besides the MMS, not having a voice command to dial from BT or to control the phone has been my biggest disappoint with the iPhone. Really, a $20 cell phone can do both of these basic functions, but not the iPhone?????
September 11th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I mean Voice Control
September 11th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
i’m not able 2 update os 3.1 from itunes..network error is showing..my internet speed is also 2 mbps..wht 2 do?
September 11th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I have a 3Gs and my battery life now sucks because of the new 3.1os update. Don’t they check this stuff before release. Geez. It takes long enough to get it in the first place. I thought they were testing it.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
A small point, but you make this error several times in your otherwise excellent post:
it’s = it is its = belongs to it
Just remember, if the apostrophe follows “it,” it means “it is,” not “belongs to ‘it’.”
September 12th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
to bad 3.0 broke my wifi.
September 12th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
@icebike I had the same issue. Twice!
Two days after the upgrade, my phone (3G) was non-responsive, tried plugging in to the wall and itunes, hitting buttons, no reaction, black screen and unresponsive. Even tried calling it, the phone never rang and went to voicemail. 10-15 minutes later, hit the sleep/wake button, got a bright white screen that faded into my home screen. Got the runaround with support, and was told to bring to the apple store today.
Did it again on the way to the apple store this morning, however, it was responsive again by the time I got there, and they couldn’t replicate the issue, so no replacement phone yet:-(
Never had this behavior on 3.0.1, but it now sounds like I’m not alone, so this may be a 3.1 bug?
September 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
@grammarian Please get a life.
September 12th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Rene, the vibrate when going into move apps mode was removed in 3.1 beta 3, not sure why they removed it…also not sure why the added in the first place.
September 12th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I had a sent message get caught in limbo. Kept trying to send but would not. I reset the phone but didn’t fix. I removed my other two email accounts and it sent. Also, the phone has gone dead several times. Battery was fully charged. Had to hit the top power button to turn back on. Weird!! Never had these issues on 3.0
September 13th, 2009 at 12:09 am
I still have the MMS features on mine after the update with AT&T Carrier 5, just can not send the message out. Get the red !. I still have tethering without a hickup. just curious as to why everyone elses does not work. Mine is not jailbroken either. The only thing I have done to it was change the carrier file. As a matter of fact see if you can change your setting under GENERAL>NETWORK>CELLULAR DATA. Mine is as follows:
MMS APN: wap.cingular Username: Password: MMSC: 66.209.11.32 MMS Max Message Size: MMS UA Prof URL:
might be some better settings available to get it to send but i’m still searching for them. restart your phone after the changes.
September 13th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Would be nice if the phone app new how to handle extensions, that would be the one and only thing I miss from my old bberry…
September 13th, 2009 at 12:30 am
everyone with 5.0 crrier file add the following. I got MMS to send now and recieved a small update in the text field. It now has a subject line
APN: wap.cingular Username: wap@cingulargprs.com Password: CINGULAR1 MMSC: mmsc.cingular.com MMS Proxy: 66.209.11.32:80 MMS Max Message Size: 614400 MMS UA Prof URL: [leave blank]
September 13th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Since upgrading to OS 3.1 my phone will just shut off if I’m not using it for an hour. battery is fine but i have to reboot phone, never had this issue over the last year of ownership. I’m definitely blaming this on 0S 3.1 and I’m pissed. how can i go back to OS 3.0?
September 13th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Yay 100th comment.
Safari has completely disappeared after the 3.1.1 update. My iTouch was jailbreaked before update but I dont see why that would do anything to the Safari.app. If anyone knows what to do please reply on this post.
September 13th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
How can i take it back to OS 3.0 so my iphone works again. this is frustrating, was a reliable phone for over a year and now whamO. My phone has never been jailbroke either.
September 13th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I tried to download the 3.1 upgrade Friday night and it was taking forever and got hung up mid-upload during the back-up phase. I did some online research and found that lots of people were having trouble after they upgraded — some phones became unusable. Now I’m afraid to upgrade. Does anyone here know if I should go ahead and do it or if Apple is working on the problems with a newer release to come out shortly? I have a 3GS.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Where is the on screen volume control after click HOME key or how does it work in OS 3.1? Furthermore, the list of podcasts seems to scroll much slower… Loading the list also takes ages… I too want to downgrade to OS 3.0…
September 14th, 2009 at 6:56 am
I have a few comments about iPhone 3G running v3.1, and iTunes v9…
VPN settings still won’t retain the password. There is no security argument here as it is possible to set a Passcode to secure the whole phone. When first configured (way back in v2.x) the password was retained for the first couple of usages but subsequently I have been asked to enter it every time.
Messaging and email predictive text on the iPhone is still really inadequate when compared to my Sony Ericsson P1i. The SE remembers new words I’ve used that weren’t already in its fairly comprehensive default dictionary, and offers them at the front of the selection list when next required.
Our providers in the UK/Europe already offer MMS services and therefore the “MMS Messaging on/off” switch in Settings/Messages appears to be functional on my iPhone, although I haven’t actually tried using MMS yet.
I did the iPhone v3.1 upgrade and the iTunes (PC) v9 upgrade at the same time. This caused some confusion, what with being asked to restart the PC (for iTunes) when the iPhone was still being upgraded. I got bored with the Backup (it was taking ages) so I cancelled it and then tried again. This didn’t cause any problems but I’m not sure it speeded up the process. I was surprised that the iPhone was pretty much wiped after the upgrade but a manual Sync put everything back on – a lengthy process but ultimately worthwhile.
iTunes v9 still won’t retain custom column settings in the album/atrtist/track lists when in the SHARED section. The SHARED section appears in the left-hand pane along with LIBRARY, STORE, DEVICES and PLAYLISTS, and in my case it shows my digital hi-fi component ‘Hifidelio Pro’ HDD wi-fi unit to which iTunes can connect. It’s really frustrating to have to reset the column-headings such as bit-rate and sample-rate etc every time iTunes is restarted. Custom column-headings are retained elesewhere, e.g. LIBRARY.
September 14th, 2009 at 8:33 am
@Larr @TigerBOi @James
I have a 3G and my phone has been randomly shutting off and unresponsive as well. The strange thing is, when I reboot it, the battery is completely drained, every time. I just did a restore, so hopefully that will remedy the problem. Let me know if you guys found solutions… I’m on twitter: siLLLyMander
September 14th, 2009 at 9:15 am
i’m not able 2 update os 3.1 from itunes..network error is showing..my internet speed is also 2 mbps..wht 2 do?..pls help nahh..
September 14th, 2009 at 9:19 am
i’m not able 2 update os 3.1 from itunes..network error is showing..my internet speed is also 2 mbps..wht 2 do?pls help..
September 14th, 2009 at 9:21 am
i’m not able 2 update os 3.1 from itunes..network error is showing..my internet speed is also 2 mbps..wht 2 do?
September 14th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
i lost my wifi with the prior update and expected to have it fix with this one but it still doesnt work!! And tech support has no idea how to fix it!
September 14th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
@Amanda et al.
It’s a relief to see that the issue, with shutting off, is wide-spread. That means it eliminates the optional hassle of going to the “genius bar” to get the phone looked at. At first I thought the problem was that I had it in my pocket at the time of shutdown, the first couple of times. But now, it happened twice today while it just sat on my desk. Apple and AT&T online support keeps recommending to going to an apple service center and chances are that it’s defective hardware. No problems until the 3.1 update last week. Please pass along any quick fix or possible resolutions that you may come across
September 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
just updated today to 3.1 and my phone randomly turns off and seems like I gotta push the middle button, volume up and the power button to turn it back on. I couldnt get it booted up for like 15 minutes at one point, thought it was screwedd.
September 14th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Phone turning off looks like common problem with 3.1 then… ugh, this is so annoying.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Since upgrading to 3.1 my iPhone 3G drains the battery very quickly. It’s hardly worth using the phone! What the heck is wrong with Apple these days?
September 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am
The battery life of my wife’s and my 3G phones has gone in the dumper. Before the update, I would typically get a full day before I needed to charge. Now, by 5 PM (around 8 hours of use) I need to charge. Is anyone else experiencing this?
September 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am
My phone has shut off ~2x per day since upgrading to 3.1. (To quickly fix, hold “home” button and “power off” button simultaneously for approximately 10 seconds which will restart your phone) Hopefully Apple will recognize this issue and swiftly product an update to ammend.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
@Eric seems to be the only way to get it to turn back on. This update is the *****, Apple needs to do something (which I’m sure they are)
September 15th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
3.1firmware sucks because my battery life is pretty bad right now I have the 3gs and I think the 3.0.1 it was better
September 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I updated today to 3.1 and everything was dandy until a few hours after, I went to go into my mail and turned the phone from landscape to upright and the screen went black. Not the entire screen but the area for all my accounts etc. was and using the home button made everything okay on the home screen. Selecting mail though loaded into the black screen, had to reboot the phone.
September 16th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I am also experiencing spurious shut-offs after installing 3.1. I have an iPhone 3G that did not behave in such a way before. My iPhone just goes black and I have to wrestle with it to get it to turn back on.
On the positive side — my GPS is working faster and much better!
September 16th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Updated to 3.1 last night and my iPhone has shut-down / crashed several times today while sitting at my desk. Definately seems to be after a period of inactivtiy as suggested in previous posts – complete nightmare! I’m only round the corner from the Apple Store so I’ll harass the Genius staff tonight…
September 16th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
i connected my iphone earlier and because i havnt connected it to my pc for about a month it had to do the 3.1 update….. it took ages, backing up, installing, then syncing everything took about half an hour or something. All was well untill about an hour ago when with about 90% battery it just went off… blank screen/dead.. would not turn on, tried connecting to pc but nothing!! It was like the battery was dead. I searched on my pc and it said hold menu and power buttons down together… this worked and now its fine… but why did the iphone do this, its been fine untill after this 3.1 update????
September 16th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I also have the same problems wit u guys. My iphone keep crashing/blank black screen/turn off. Have to restart by pressing sleep and home button. But it take a while to restarting not like on OS 3.0. And after i don’t use it for a while it will go blank again.
Same too with the keyboard clicking sound.
And it seems sometimes the screen does not quickly responsivily as before.
Don’t know what to do here. Should i restore to 3.0 or wait for the next os update ?
September 16th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Has anyone used this to unlock their iphone? http://iunlockanyiphone.com/
I’ve heard some good things about it, but wanted to see if anyone else has used it.
September 17th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
3.1 causes my phone to power off/lock-up. I have to do a hard reset by holding home and power button to recover. This is a WIDESPREAD issue. Does anyone at Apple use the Internet? Try to GOOGLE 3.1 iPhone issues to read about it yourself. Thanks!
September 17th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
i dont have aa camera icon on my message will that pop up when mms works or is my phone fucked
September 17th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
September 18th, 2009 at 4:15 am
I am soooo glad i am not the only one with this random shutting down issue :-/ maybe someone from Apple can at least aknowedge the problem and tell us when a fix can be expected?
September 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Ever since i did the 3.1 update i’ve experienced my iphone not wanting to turn back on right away when it shuts down. It usually takes about 2 minutes then finally turns back on. Any ideas?
September 19th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I can’t find the photo tab to sync photos after the update???
September 19th, 2009 at 11:39 am
i lost my phototab after reinstalling itunes, also cant upgrade the 3.1 software keeps saying timed out and check internet connections which are fine,have no clue what to do next
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:36 am
I have 3G and updated to 3.1, seems now my phone is lagging BIG TIME and tends to shut down apps unexpectedly and also locks me out of the phone and I have to hold down power/sleep button for several seconds to reboot and I am good for a little while of more use. Before the update phone was working great. Wish I could go back!
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 am
i am facing the same problem after updating to the new version of 3.1.My 3g has god dead two times and have to reboot after holding the power off and the home button 10-15 secs hope someone is listening and trying to find the cause of the problem a s a p
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:46 am
I had the same problem… my iPhone has shut-down / crashed several times today….
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I’m having the same issues with the phone “shutting off”. Have to hold down the power/home buttons to get it working again. It all started with the 3.1. NOT happy about this AT ALL.
Patch it!
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 am
The 3.0 iPod app displayed only the albums in the album view. The 3.1 displays the album and the different artists in that album (like the iTunes). This is annoying if there are different artists in one album. You see the same album cover several times on the album list. Is there a way to change the view?
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
I have updated the S/w to 3.1, two days after the upgrade, my phone 3G was non-responsive, tried to plugging in to the wall, hitting buttons, no reaction, black screen and unresponsive. Even tried calling it, the phone never rang and went to voice mail.
Never had this behavior before. Now the only solution i found to turn on the phone is to hold the power and home button simultaniously.
Can any one found permanent solution for the problem or how to move back to 3.0 from 3.1
thanks
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I would have ran like hell!
September 25th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Other than the low clicking sound I noticed now the whole sound of the phone has become lower the ring is low and videos play with lower volume has anyone else noticed this on 3g 3.1????
September 27th, 2009 at 3:32 am
im having clicking issues aswell
keyboard clicks sound VERY muffled… i HATE IT
September 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Have the screen turning off thing as well – didn’t know about the home + sleep button thing, but I’ve found that shaking it a few times works, almost like you were trying to shuffle songs on an iPod….
September 30th, 2009 at 4:42 am
okay will try to shake the phone next time when it hangs up and revert if it works for me
September 30th, 2009 at 6:48 am
since 3.1 my phone has totally shut down twice and will not start up even with the power button, had to do a soft reboot to get it working again. But worst of all is the low volume – since 3.1 my volume is significantly lower than it was and I can’t here many of the mp 3 files while walking around the supermarket or hear a phone call in the car (hands free of course). Apple told me to go back to factory settings but this has not resolved the issue. Anyone else had similar problems – especially with volume ??
September 30th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
so i have the original iphone, i got it when they very first came out. i upgrate to 3.1 software & it hasnt changed, i don’t have any of the features it says i should, is that because its the original one, help??
October 1st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Adding to my earlier post, One more solution is remove all the apps, i did and since then my phone is working properly, earlier it used to shutdown 3 to 4 times a day.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 am
After my previous post I called Apple a second time and was advised to restore the phone to factory settings and not to use the most recent backup but instead to restore it as a new phone, then sync with the iTunes Library. The operator seemed convinced that the problem was in the back up file and not the 3.1 OS. Well it hasn’t crashed yet and the volume levels were as before the upgrade, so far so good! Just check that all your contacts are retrievable as some of the info on your phone is not stored in iTunes Library.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I have had similar issues with my phone shutting down and not switching off when I want it to. It started about 24 hours ago and has been non stop since back and forth from the Apple Logo to main menu. I called Apple and was told they could not help me because I am now in Canada and bought the phone in Australia plus the warranty ran out 10 days ago (the phone was legally unlocked when I left Australia but they said they can’t help me). The insisted it was a Hardware Issue and ignored me when I said over and over that there are several forums full of people with the same issues. I have restored it with my back up but I am restoring it again to it’s initial set up in the hopes that mine works like GEE37’s does. I am extremely angry with the Apple help desk for refusal to help me when I have done everything buy the book!
October 5th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Since 3.1 upgrade atleast once a day can’t make or receive phone calls lasts for several hours at a time. Also texting doesn’t work. I have a good signal and 3G works fine. Just can’t use as a phone. Very frustrated!!!!!!!!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
i can’t update my iphone 3g but is that because i tried it with itunes ? because it says that there is an time out in the network or something,.,.. plzz help me.. =D Xx Jessie
October 17th, 2009 at 11:16 am
None of the 3.1.2 new features are worth the hassle of upgrading for on a perfectly working jailbroken iPhone 3.0
Blueooth voice control is the only neat new add on that I’ll miss.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:04 am
i have updated my iphone 3g to 3.1.2 firmware and i jailbroken it …but the applications that i already downloaded from apps store didnt lunch..why???somebody help me plzzzz,,,what to do/???
December 31st, 2009 at 4:47 am
VERY HELPFUL THANKS
February 5th, 2010 at 7:01 am
It seems a number of people have been complaining about problems with their iPhones. Most Apple devices in fact, as this interesting article at The Music Void shows – http://bit.ly/aML9UT