Review: iPhone 4
There have been some improvements to the messaging apps in Apple's iOS4, especially in e-mail. Still, Apple has always lagged behind the competition in messaging, and the improvements on the iPhone 4 don't bolster Apple's position.
Text messaging on the iPhone still works nicely and looks great in its conversational, threaded format. In the new iOS4, you can even search text messages just as you would search your e-mail inbox, which is a pretty cool feature. You can attach pictures to outgoing messages and they show up in line with the conversation bubbles. The iPhone also gives other apps access to the messaging features, so you can send your location from within Google Maps, or send a contact card from within the Contacts app.
Like the Microsoft Kin phones, Apple completely skips Instant Messaging on the iPhone 4. There are third party apps to download, but nothing comes preloaded.
E-mail has seen the biggest improvements among the iPhone's messaging features. The phone now offers an integrated mailbox to collect all messages across multiple accounts, or you can view individual Inboxes and folders for a specific e-mail address. The iPhone is a bit smarter about Gmail, too. Instead of deleting messages on a Gmail account, the iPhone offers to “Archive” those messages, which moves them into a separate folder. That's a much more Gmail way of doing things. The iPhone e-mail app also groups conversations together. It doesn't show you the full e-mail text like Gmail's threaded e-mail option, but it does keep the e-mail inbox well organized.
The keyboard on the iPhone remains the best software keyboard around because it's the most forgiving. It's difficult to make mistakes with the iPhone keyboard if your fingers even come close to the correct letters. It's not a robust keyboard. There are few symbols available if you don't press the symbol key, and many keys, like the “@” symbol and “.com” key are contextual, but not smart enough to know every time you're entering an e-mail or Web address. While holding down certain keys activates corresponding accents characters and alphabet alternatives, I prefer HTC's keyboard design, where holding any key activates the corresponding number or symbol.
Apple iPhone 4 (GSM)
