Apple IOS 4: Is The Pain Worth The Gain?

Some excited Apple iPhone users looking to upgrade their smartphones to IOS 4 (iPhone Operating System 4), which was officially released yesterday, ended up less than enthused when their software upgrade stalled, hiccupped or rendered parts of their iPhone and some of its functions downright useless for several hours.

IOS 4, the recent software update for the iPhone, will come built into the Apple iPhone 4 when it hits stores later this week, but iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G users looking to upgrade to IOS 4 yesterday hit several roadblocks.

The Apple iPhone discussion forums are chock of frustrated and flustered iPhone users telling tales of woe about IOS 4 making photos disappear, rending the iPod non-functional, contacts vanishing and infinite reboots. The issues are prompting some users to wonder if the headaches of IOS 4 outweigh the benefits.

One Apple 3G users wrote: "I went to update to IOS 4 this morning 06:30 am UK time, as I was asked if I wanted to when I connected to iTunes. As of 10:55 am UK time the phone is still stuck on the same screen. In iTunes it says restoring iPhone software with the progress bar about 97 percent done from eye balling it. The iPhone has a silver Apple logo with a progress bar under it which is probably about 2/3 full. It was on that from 06:30 till 10:55."

Other users claimed their iPod on the iPhone 3G S would crash just after the IOS 4 install.

"Upgrade went smoothly," one user wrote. "But I cannot use the iPod on my iPhone. It loads and then quits after a second or two. I've shut down and restarted my phone. I've even done a hard reset by holding down the power and home button for 10 [seconds]. Still no joy."

And still some users are worried what the IOS 4 update caused the popular "find my iPhone" feature to no longer work.

"Until yesterday, with [IOS] 3.1.3, find my iPhone worked," one user wrote. "I update to IOS 4 my iPhone 3G S and find my iPhone doesn't work anymore. I tried to activate/deactivate several times, I also reboot but nothing."

The horror stories shared on the forums have some iPhone users opting out of downloading IOS 4 until the kinks are ironed out, adding that it makes jailbreaking the iPhone sound that much more appealing.

"From what I've read so far on these forums, I don't think I'll be 'upgrading' to IOS 4 anytime soon!" one annoyed iPhone user noted. "In fact, it's making me look more seriously at the prospect of 'JBing' my phone."

And while dozens, even hundreds of iPhone users have posted on forums noting no problems at all when upgrading their iPhone operating system to IOS 4, the issues are leaving some to wonder if it's worth the pain at all.

"After everything I read here, I am wondering whether I really should follow the path to IOS 4," one user wrote. "I mean - how does the iPhone 3G feel after that? I read stories about having approx 3G less space than before and about the phone feeling slow and sluggish?"

Apple released IOS 4 to the masses yesterday. Apple had been hinting at the massive software update since April. The software update adds a host of new features including multitasking, home screen folders, spell check, unified email, Bluetooth keyboard support, iBooks support and more than 100 new features and functions.