Here are three iPhone issues that I recently submitted to Apple via the iPhone feedback form.

Problem 1

Soon after I updated my iPhone to 3.1 (which was 1-2 weeks ago) and ever since, my iPhone has randomly stops working 3x or more per day.

What I mean by "stops working" is that usually I am watching a video, turn off the screen to stick it in my pocket, at which point the audio stops (which is a huge usability fail in my opinion) so I either have to click the button on my mic to start the audio again if I am using the iPhone headphones, or I have to turn the screen back on and double click the home button to see a popup which can be used to start the audio again (another major usability fail), but since the 3.1 update when I turn off the screen the iPhone often stops working. If I click the button to turn the screen on then nothing happens, if I click the button on my headphones then nothing happens, and if I click the home button then nothing happens.

The only way to get the iPhone to work again is to press and hold the home and screen button down for ~10 secs which forces a restart.

I have to do this about 3x or more per day now on average since installing the 3.1 update.

Problem 2

This has happened twice now in the last 2 days; when I unplug my headphones to use the speakers, I get no audio, and when press the audio up and down buttons, it says 'headphones' above the volume display.. so I am assuming that it does not recognize that the head phones are missing.

Once I plug the headphones back in and remove them it again it finally works.

Problem 3

I recently moved to Victoria, Canada in what appears to be a dead zone for Rogers, so I have disabled 3g (I just use wifi here anyhow), and I have disabled automatic network selection because I'm told by Rogers support that I will be charged for data roaming if I use another network (even though I have a seperate data roaming setting disabled..), and manually selected Rogers as the Network Carrier.

The problem is that I get a 'Network Lost' alert about once every 2-5 minutes, and find watching videos and using an app impossible without clicking 'dismiss' endlessly, this is a massive usability fail in my opinion. I cannot find a way to disable this in the settings and have done some hunting online for a solution, but found nothing of value. I even tried switching the network carrier selection to automatic despite looming charges just to see if it helped, but it doesn't seem to.

Update: This tip only works for video podcasts played in the "podcasts" section of the "iPod" app on the iPhone. There currently is no method to do this for videos in the "video" section of the "iPod" app.

The Problem

Have you ever tried to use your iPhone apps while listening to a video podcasts or videos on an iPhone? it turns out it's not as easy as it should be. I have an iPod Touch (first generation) which always has provided a simple solution to this task, yet a year later when I got my iPhone I found that I could not do this. The difference between the iPhone and the iPod Touch is that the iPhone has one default app called "iPod", and the iPod Touch has instead two apps: one called "Music" and the other is called "Videos".

The iPod Touch "Music" app treats all audio and video as audio, and thus you can play the audio and switch apps with ease. The iPhone "iPod" app plays/treats videos the same way that the iPod Touch "Videos" app does, which is to say that it does not allow you to play the video in the background, which would allow you to switch apps while listening to the video.

7 Step Solution/Tip/Trick/Run Around

1. Open the "iPod" app
2. Play a video podcast in the "podcasts" section of the "iPod" app.
3. Press the home button, which exits the "iPod" app, returning you to the home screen.
4. Turn off the screen.
5. Double press the home button.
6. Press play.
7. Unlock the screen.
8. Now the video's audio should be playing in the background, and you should be at the home screen where you can select an app.

The Conclusion

I consider this a usability flaw on my iPhone's current OS version (which is 2.2.1) and all versions before. While I love the iPhone, and think Apple goofed on this one (7 steps for video podcasts?!, no solution for videos??!!), and it bothers me multiple times a day, so I hope they update the functionality here...

I had a really annoying issue come up after setting up Windows XP on my MacBook with Boot Camp, and installing some essential software I could no longer right click (two finger touch), or tab to click, because the Boot Camp service was not running.

At first, I went to the Control Panel and opened Boot Camp from there, once I did this I had to enable the trackpad settings I wanted, and everything was fine, until I restarted, at which point I would have to go through the whole process again. So after a few reboots to convince myself that was a dead end, I took a look for the Boot Camp executable on my C Drive, and found it at C:\Program Files\Boot Camp\KbdMgr.exe, but when I tried to run it, I could see it running in the Task Manager, but it was not working at all.

So finally I gave up, and uninstalled Boot Camp, then reinstalled Boot Camp, and after the reinstall reboot, I got a couple errors, and my Ethernet Controller device no longer had a driver.. The good part however was that the Boot Camp service was running again, and after I enabled my trackpad settings, and rebooted, it continued to work.

To deal with the Ethernet Controller driver, I installed the D:\Boot Camp\Drivers\NVidia\NVidiaChipsetXP.exe from my MacBook Mac OS X Install DVD, and I was all done.

I finally setup Windows XP Pro on my Macbook using Boot Camp over the weekend, and I hit some gotchas, because I did not read the guide. So I thought I would make a quick summary of the process. Although, I would recommend reading the installation guide to anyone doing this for the first time.

Setting up Windows XP on a Macbook with Boot Camp:

1. Run Boot Camp Assistant.
2. Create a partition for Windows (you will need at least 6 GB, I prefer around 20 GB).
3. Insert Windows XP Installation CD when it is requested, Boot Camp will restart the system and start the Windows installation process.
4. Follow the Windows installation instructions until you are asked to selected a partition.
5. Select the C:\BOOTCAMP partition.
6. Select "Format the partition using the FAT file system (Quick)". Do not select "Leave the current file system intact".
7. Continue following the Windows installation instructions until it has completed.
8. Insert your Mac OS X Installation DVD. If the installer does not start automatically, then run the setup.exe on the disc.
9. Follow the Boot Camp + Drivers installation instructions until the setup is complete.
10. Go to Start → All Programs → Apple Software Update, and run this to install the Multi-Touch Trackpad Update for Windows XP & Vista, which is very important.
11. Update Windows and you're done.

Note: To manually select the Operating System that you want to use during startup, press and hold the "option" key after you hear the chime during the boot cycle.