iPhone 2.1 update: the aftermath
by Chris Ziegler 
posted Sep 14th 2008 at 5:20AM
- Excluding those of you who don't know where you are, our poll on claimed reception improvements in 2.1 suggests that the majority of iPhone 3G owners (by a slim margin) are seeing no improvement or -- gasp! -- a degradation in signal strength since 2.0.2.
- Given that 2.1 patches up some bugs with third-party apps, it comes as no surprise that a few of 'em are apparently breaking with the new firmware (a disappointment, yes, but not a surprise). It sucks that Apple whacked the ball into developers' courts on this one, and we're hoping for the sake of users and devs alike that it's not going to take many sleepless nights of re-coding and debugging to get the affected apps back on the straight and narrow.
- We're now hearing some reports of email buffoonery ranging from an inability to add new accounts to 2.1-equipped phones, to failures of existing accounts that had previously worked, to total Exchange breakage. Are you folks seeing anything there? Any corporate types freaking out that they've lost access to their beloved ActiveSync setups?
[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gwydion @ Sep 14th 2008 5:59AM
Where's push for third party apps?
Paul @ Sep 14th 2008 6:07AM
Why so much hate? 2.1 feels like a huge improvement. Spore stopped crashing for me, my 350+ contacts load in a couple seconds, and I'm getting more bars in my apartment. This is the apple we expected for 2.0
John @ Sep 14th 2008 8:06AM
2.1 is awesome for me. Signal strength has improved significantly, contacts respond without delay, texting works great, apps install fast and crash rarely, and backups happen in the blink of an eye. I love it.
Alex @ Sep 14th 2008 8:47AM
Yep 2.1 seems to work great for me too. GPS still sux tho :(
Robert S. @ Sep 14th 2008 10:19AM
The contacts open a little faster now and they don't stick as much, but the camera still takes a painfully long time to open, 5 full seconds! Text messaging is a little better, still not as good as when it was new. This is an original 4 gb 1st gen. Everything worked better before 2.0 came along, unfortunately.
luca @ Sep 14th 2008 9:42AM
I've been using 2.0.2 just for a few days, so I am not able to make a deep comparison between the two versions, but I know for sure that safari crashes quite often on 2.1 (always with the same sites...) and often my iPhone hangs with a black screen waiting for something... I wander what...
As per signal, no improvements here.
and anyone knows why iPhone doesn't ask for pin when you turn it on and asks for it after a while?!?
Bryan @ Sep 14th 2008 9:49AM
Battery life is greatly improved but I have issues with Safari crashing on sites that are overly complex with Javascript or input boxes. I didn't really notice any performance increases, the settings screen still takes too long to load (shouldn't it be instantanious?)
I've always had full signal at my house so I don't really know about signal strength but I haven't had any dropped calls in the few that I've made since the update. I had several frustrating ones just walking around Baltimore's Inner Harbor with full signal and after about 8 mins of talk the call just dropped.
leslieb @ Sep 14th 2008 10:04AM
v2.1 works neither better nor worse than 2.0.2 for me.
A few of the changes I've noticed:
- the "3G" symbol next to the carrier name is now blue text, not back-highlighted negative colour text.
- the Calendar app still does not allow you to change "calendar" categories when editing existing entries
- searching large Contacts databases seems marginally faster on startup of Contacts.
- the date/time setting seems to default to auto-detection (?based on carrier settings) rather than manual
- some Apps have changed behaviour when starting in text entry mode (?3rd party App problem)
Other than this, seems to work the same as 2.0.2.
(I would have hoped for more updates given its a full x.1 upgrade rather than a minor x.0.1 upgrade, but I'm not complaining)
PeterF @ Sep 14th 2008 10:16AM
Wow, my Windows Mobile phone "Just Works"!
backbeat @ Sep 14th 2008 11:18AM
^ ... Until it just doesn't.
Mark @ Sep 14th 2008 10:24AM
I live in Florida and after I updated the firmware (which took friggin forever) It works great! I have not problems at all. It is fantastic. I have great reception, fast response when downloading apps directly to my phone and updated are completed in a flash. All in all I am very happy with the outcome.
Torakaru @ Sep 14th 2008 11:42AM
This upgrade seems much better but I am very angry because since I bought my iPhone 3G I have been billed double or triple by my SMS's, and this is not normal. I already complained against the FW 2.0.1 and 2.0.2, but Apple continues without solving the BIG problem with the FW 2.1.
Each time that I send a SMS of less than 160 characters, for instance in european languages like French, Portuguese, or another that needs Unicode characters, I am billed by 2 or 3 SMS, and this is a BIG BUG from their FW. I never saw this problem with my previous mobile Phones like: Motorola, SonyEriccson, Nokia, Samsung or even a Palm Treo.
I can understand that Apple is new in the mobile phone Market, but this issue should be solved as soon as possible because it is an issue in their mobile phone that affects directly to all our monthly Bill.
Finally, WHEN THEY WILL IMPLEMENT A DOWN COUNTER OF THE 160 CHARACTERS OF EACH SMS? It so EASY!
Scott E. @ Sep 14th 2008 11:55AM
Yeah, 2.1 has greatly improved my 3G reception - I have 5 bars now most of the time! No dropped calls, much faster sync time, smoother, faster applications, no lag when opening contacts - all in all, very impressed. Clearly, there are a lot of opinions on this device - its funny how most of the comments I have read on this site have been positive towards this update, yet some of the articles just try to emphasize anything negative (God forbid Apple puts out a decent product)! Otherwise, the negative comments are usually from those who don't even own the device, but want to whine anyway...
Tim @ Sep 14th 2008 12:33PM
I had the problems with Exchange initially...it wouldn't sync with new contacts or calendar events created on my desktop (Outlook 2003), but would sync with the server for items created on my phone. I had to delete & then re-create my enterprise account...but then sync took about 15min or so. HUGE lag on importing my contacts (although to be fair I have upwards of 1,700) and calendar.
Other than that, it seems that the search time for contacts has decreased dramatically (like 1 second vs. 20-30 on 2.0.2) and Safari seems a bit less crash-prone...
David @ Sep 14th 2008 12:47PM
I've noticed that the iPod app is sometimes getting stuck in Coverflow mode after unlocking, a tad annoying. I love the Genius Playlist function, though. I'm excited to see if 2.1.1 will offer the polish and extra stability that is needed (and copy/paste, mms, and push notification service).
Brian @ Sep 14th 2008 2:39PM
I've been a little uneasy about my iphone since i got it 2 months ago. I've had nothing but problems with reception, crashing, and battery life. It got so bad i was considering going back to my blackberry and leaving this as a 300 dollar ipod/lessoned learned.
however 2.1 has changed my mind. i have gone from ZERO 3g bars to an almost full signal. Safari is faster, SMS is faster, and i haven't seen a crash since friday when i updated. Also, i charged my phone friday night and with normal usage i didnt have to plug it in until this morning. so battery life (3g) is now acceptable!
I am really suprised! i didnt think apple could pull all that off with a software update, but i think i am actually starting to like my phone!
now we just need copy and paste and i will stop complaining...
mediabrain @ Sep 20th 2008 3:03AM
well i dont see major change in the 3g signal, 8 drop calls, data is fine ... Still problem with apps .. Crashes
Thank u apple very bad update
Chris B. @ Sep 14th 2008 8:13PM
After dozens of dropped calls and call failures, I restored my iPhone as a new device w/ 2.1, rebooted, and reset all connections.
No more problems. No shit call quality, no dropped calls, no call failures. Only two days have gone by, though, so the jury's still out...
seppo @ Sep 14th 2008 9:20PM
I would't place a lot of trust in displayed signal bars - mostly shenanigans. The question is: do you actually get voice/data through where you didn't before the version update?
I'm having more crashes than before - seem to be caused by a couple of complex web sites...
patersonward @ Sep 14th 2008 9:46PM
2.1 is working great here in Brisbane, Australia. I work at Caltex Refinery, and was getting either 1 bar or no bars in my office there. Now I'm getting 3-4 bars and thats just excellent.
Not sure on battery life yet. Seems to be gobbling more (maybe due to the increased reception). The whole interface seems to be lag free (much like 1.1.4 used to be) which is just sweet (no lag in SMS texting either - YAY!)
I give this 2 thumbs up.. Thankyou Apple!
Crunch @ Sep 15th 2008 7:40AM
2.1 does seem to have better battery life. WiFi also seems to hold the signal better now, although these are premature observations.
As someone else stated, Windows Mobile just plain works. So does my Blackberry. And I am a "heavy user".
I think I'll "downgrade" to the iPod Touch which has an even better screen at 480x800. It does everything the iPhone does, except make calls, which is something it can't reliably do anyway. Problem solved. The current bid is at 703 EUR, but I live in the States, so I'll get me at least $1,100 for this junk, and then get my 32GB iPod for $225 (love my buddy's 25% Apple discount :D), and Treo Pro, and still have money to play with left over.
I LOVE the iPhone 3G. For a money-making device. I'd recommend it to anyone. :D
My 2.1 cents
glynor @ Sep 15th 2008 3:49PM
Yeah, I don't get the negativity either. 2.1 has been fantastic for me. Crashes are gone. Keyboard lag is gone. Contacts works properly again. Battery life is better. Reception is dramatically better.
I've also noticed that the cell reception signal meter doesn't seem to lie as much as it used to when you are on Edge. Before, it'd often show 1 bar in a couple of places I go regularly, but not actually work for anything. Now those places actually show "No Service" (so it really is more accurate for me).
This is what the 3G should have been from day 1.
Cheesey iPhone User @ Sep 16th 2008 10:46AM
AT&T (Apple?) did it again. They sent out a mass txt message alerting users to the new firmware.
Lucky for us geeks, Engadget alerted us even before the damn thing was out.
Personally, if I didn't have an unlimited txt msging plan, I would be PISSED
animedbz16 @ Sep 16th 2008 1:21PM
The text message is free
animedbz16 @ Sep 16th 2008 1:46PM
Figured I would post my comments about the 2.1 update, that I have noticed... but most has already been said.
The battery does seem to last a bit longer, there is significantly less time to d/l and install apps (3G and Wifi), less buggy with crashes and does not require restarting every two days due to locking up.
The fixed the security loop hole with by-passing your passcode through emergency call and pressing twice to get to your favorites to view contacts/SMS messages.
What should have been included, copy/paste, MMS, recording video... my god how hard would it be to code this in and save everyone headaches... Turn-by-turn GPS might actually be useful with the increased battery-life on 3G now. Being able to run applications in background would be nice, so AIM or gTalk doesn't disconnect every time i go to the home screen. I remember talk about push email coming for gmail.
What is the status on this stuff anything planned here for the next few updates, or will be just be listening and hoping and waiting for the cool features... just like everyone does with a PS3, so glad I didn't buy that.
jl @ Sep 16th 2008 11:33PM
Any help would be appreciated!
Original iphone, just updated to 2.1 and now all of my apps crash immediately. I've restarted, reset, and tried downloading a free app from the app store like one person suggested, but that crashes too.
Crap. It worked just fine before. I don't want to have to go to the apple store tomorrow.
KP @ Sep 17th 2008 10:53AM
iPhone 3G in Denver...2.1 update seems like a very minor update. Still experiencing more than an acceptable level of dropped calls, (but less than before). Signal strength seems marginally better, though the phone still has difficulty switching between 3G and Edge. Have seen an increase in Safari crashes and still experiencing weird behavior with 3rd party apps in iTunes. Right now I show 4 updates available on my computer, but i get an error everytime I try to access them. On the App Store from the phone, I show now updates available. I did however see improvement whereby the upgraded apps replace themselves in the correct position on the iphone page. Overall, the iPhone still needs work and so does AT&T's Network, at least here in Denver.
jayci @ Sep 19th 2008 12:21PM
iPhone can't sync mail leading it to hang on the sync and drain the battery, 3rd party apps crash if they even open at all, the Apple apps take forever to open then operates s...l....o......w.......l.........y before crashing, Safari still crashes like always (if it even opens), I can't get reception in my house or anywhere because my battery is dead, then I plug it into the wall where I burn my ear from the heat while using it and iPhone drops my mom's call as she's telling me she's alive from Hurricane Ike.
2.1 Update = Big fat miserable FAIL in Houston, TX.
Kasam @ Sep 22nd 2008 5:19AM
OMG is it just me or is the "backup" phase for the upgrade taking HOURS!!! This is my second attempt at the backup, and it's been running for at least 10 hours! Still about 30% to go. iphone+itunes 8.0 on Vista - upgrading from 2.0 to current latest firmware(2.1).
Rusty @ Sep 23rd 2008 2:38PM
I would really like 2.1, except that now fetch and push email seems to be completely broken for many, many people. Check out the apple forum about it here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1708956
Thor @ Sep 28th 2008 10:27AM
Iphone 2.1 is junk, crashes all the time, can’t syncronice with itunes now, can’t watch photos, can’t surf and so on… 2.0 was more stable then this, I’m starting to wonder if Microsoft has aquired Apple, it sure seems like it….
zero @ Nov 5th 2008 10:51AM
need your help ppl.. i was updating my unlocked iphone from 2.0.2 to 2.1 but it gave me error message that it cant update it and now i have Steve Jobs picture on my screen and when i try to restart it it doesnt do anything. how can i fix this problem??
thanks