Apple has finally released iOS 4 for the iPhone and iPod touch. A unified email inbox, multitasking, and folders are some of the landmark features. For those of you who, like me, have been using iOS 4 for a few weeks, there isn’t much new with the OS itself.
For us the big news is that apps are finally being updated for iOS 4, Pandora being the most likely candidate for the title of “killer app.” I’ve been using Pandora for years and have always enjoyed listening to it on my iPhone. I don’t know how many times I’ve plugged my iPhone into a pair of speakers and launched Pandora when we had some friends over. But, the problems start when we needed to look up a word for Scrabble, reply to an SMS message, or Look up some info about whatever random topic we’re discussing, all of a sudden the music stops and all of your friends start wondering why.
Pandora can now run in the background. And, it integrates beautifully into the OS as well. The button on your headphones now works as it should and the controls that pop up on the lock screen do too.
iOS 4 may make iPhone users look like they’re all jazzed about a feature that other smartphones have had for years. Well, Apple may not have been the first, but they’re the first to do it right.
