iPhone Atlas

A video posted recently on YouTube demonstrates, on an iPod Touch, a potential security risk for users of iPhone OS 3.0. The bug allows e-mails that have already deleted to be viewed by searching for the title of the deleted message.

The results of the search display two copies of the message. Selecting either one of these the first time will cause Mail to crash. The second time you select the messages, the iPhone may display the original message or you may get a warning that states: "Message cannot be displayed because of the way it is formatted." You should note that the message is displayed in Mail as "1 of 0" and it is "partially downloaded." The download button used to retrieve the remainder of the message doesn't work.

Fortunately, one developer said this problem appears to have been resolved in iPhone OS 3.1 beta 3, since the developer was not able to recreate the bug after upgrading.

Update 08/19/09 at 8:19 PM PDT: The iPhone OS bug described in this post does not affect IMAP e-mail accounts, but it does affect POP e-mail accounts.

The iPhone OS 3.0 Camera Roll is running out of film for some iPhone users. A handful of photographers on Apple's discussion board are reporting that pictures taken with the iPhone camera and screen captures are disappearing from the iPhone's onboard photo library.

The bug, according to these reports, occurs when the photo names generated by the iPhone reach IMG_10000.xxx or higher, where the xxx represents either a JPG for photos, PNG for screen snapshots, or MOV for videos. Once you've reached this 10,000 mark milestone in your iPhone photography career, the Mobile Photos app no longer displays additional media files. Luckily, however, the photos are still there--they simply don't display on the phone.

Some users found help using the Phoneview utility from Ecamm on their Macs--the free demo version worked long enough to uncover the missing photos. PC users may be able to find their shots via iPhone Browser.

Spotlight search: Handy addition or forgotten feature?

Spotlight search, one of the high-profile features introduced with OS 3.0 last month, lets you search contacts, appointments, music, mail, and more without first loading their respective apps.

In other words, it's a time-saver. In theory.

Confession time: I haven't touched Spotlight once since installing OS 3.0 on my 3G. On a few occasions I've flicked past my apps and landed on the search screen, invariably prompting the same reaction: "Huh. Forgot that was there."

I have used Mail's new in-box search, which frequently proves invaluable. But Spotlight strikes me as a backward approach. Maybe it's me; I'm accustomed to running apps first and looking for data second. That's how I do things on the desktop, so it feels natural to do likewise on my iPhone. Old dog, old tricks.

What about you? Do you think Spotlight is the greatest addition since copy and paste, or does it sit, forgotten and unused, to the left of your apps? Cast your vote below!

Though everyone knows the iPhone OS 3.0 brought welcome and long-awaited changes like multimedia messaging; a landscape keyboard; and cut, copy, and paste, there are a host of other tweaks from the software update that Apple has not publicized. According to Apple, the update offers 100 additions to the iPhone, but we covered just a handful in our iPhone 3GS review.

What other features are new? Well, a week after Apple released the update to the world we have a better idea. We've done our own exploring, but last week we also asked for your help in finding the update's hidden treasures. Thankfully, you responded in force, so we're glad to offer you this list. It's still not complete, so we'll be adding more as we (and you) find them. (Note: I've only included features not listed in the review.) Also, Apple has posted a handy chart detailing which OS 3.0 features are available on the iPhone Classic and iPhone 3G.

The first-generation Apple iPod Touch.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Owners of the original Apple iPod Touch are at a disadvantage when it comes to upgrading to iPhone OS 3.0. The OS upgrade comes with a $10 fee and adds improved features such as copy and paste, landscape keyboard, Spotlight searching, Shake-to-shuffle, Safari autofill, and improved Wi-Fi hot-spot log-in. Unfortunately, desirable new features such as Voice Memos and Bluetooth audio streaming won't work on the first-generation hardware.

To add insult to injury, some first-gen users (including CNET's own Antuan Goodwin) are reporting slower system performance after making the upgrade. Symptoms such as choppy gameplay, longer App launches, and sluggish menu scrolling seem to be the most apparent.

Any first-gen Touch owners out there having similar issues with OS 3.0?

As an iPod Touch owner, iPhone OS 3.0 enhancements such as MMS, and copy/paste aren't as relevant to me as the subtle improvements Apple has made to media playback and search.

New features such as music search (distinct from Spotlight), fine track scrubbing control, podcast e-mailing, and an expanded iTunes storefront, won't grab many headlines but they're certainly welcome additions to an already excellent product.

To make my point, I've put together a slideshow and video of some of the less-appreciated improvements iPhone OS 3.0 has given to media junkies like myself.

iPhone OS 3.0 iPod updates

100 new features? We're still counting.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

When Apple first announced the iPhone OS 3.0 in March, it promised that the update would bring 100 new features. We heard the same thing last week at the WWDC 2009 keynote, but Scott Forstall, Apple's head of iPhone software development, only demonstrated a handful of the most notable improvements. Sure, we know about stereo Bluetooth, the Spotlight features, and cut, copy, and paste--and we've analyzed them in our iPhone 3G S review---but we want a full list of all 100 features. Since then, we've asked for the details, but Apple has yet to cough them up.

That's why we're calling on you, dear readers, to help us out. As you cruise through iPhone OS 3.0, keep track of all the "little changes" you see, no matter how small. If it wasn't on your iPhone before, we want to hear about it. We'll do the same on our end, and we'll compile a full list for your enjoyment. Good hunting!

Apple has issued an advisory regarding security enhancements included in the iPhone OS 3.0 release Wednesday.

(Credit: Apple)

Here is a synopsis of the 46 iPhone security vulnerabilities addressed by the latest operating-system update for the iPhone and iPod Touch. As may be expected, many of these security patches focus on the Web-browsing framework WebKit.

CoreGraphics Changes to CoreGraphics prevent maliciously crafted image and PDF files from causing unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution; vulnerabilities causing the same problems in FreeType v2.3.8 were also patched.

Exchange Changes were made to prevent a user from connecting to a malicious Exchange server that could lead to the disclosure of sensitive information by adding improvements to the handling of untrusted certificate exceptions.

ImageIO Changes to ImageIO prevent the use of maliciously crafted PNG images from causing unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

International Components for Unicode Changes to Unicode prevent the use of maliciously crafted content that may bypass Web site filters and result in cross-site scripting.

IPSec Changes to IPSec patch multiple vulnerabilities in the racoon daemon that may lead to a denial-of-service attack.

Libxml Changes to XML library Libxml patch multiple vulnerabilities in Libxml2 version 2.6.16.

Mail Changes were made to the Mail app to give users control over the loading of remote images in HTML messages (see below). Additionally, the app was changed to prevent an application from causing an alert to appear that may be used to initiate a phone call without user interaction.

MPEG-4 Video Codec Changes to the MPEG-4 Video Codec will prevent the viewing of maliciously crafted MPEG-4 video files that may lead to an unexpected device reset.

Profiles Changes to Profiles will prohibit the installation of a configuration profile that may weaken the passcode policy defined by Exchange ActiveSync.

Safari Changes to Safari support the clearing of Safari's history via the Settings application, allowing prevention of disclosure of the search history to a person with physical access to the device. Now search history is actually removed. Additionally, if a user were to interact with a maliciously crafted Web site, a patch has been put in place to prevent unexpected action on another site such as "clickjacking."

Telephony Changes to Telephony address a problem in which a remote attacker may cause an unexpected device reset.

WebKit Changes to Web-browsing framework WebKit were very numerous in this release, given how popular the iPhone has become for Web use. They included many fixes to prevent arbitrary code or script execution, when visiting maliciously crafted Web sites. Some of these vulnerabilities could lead to app crashes and unexpected device resets, or the disclosure of sensitive information.

Previous coverage: Security updates in iPhone OS 2.2.

When I tried to update to the latest Shazam for iPhone after I installed iPhone OS 3.0, I saw this age warning pop-up window when the phone attempted to install the update:

Age-restriction warning on applications in iPhone OS 3.0

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

I found this curious, because:

• I had already downloaded the application; this was just an update--if I was OK with the original application, shouldn't the update be kosher as well?
• Shazam is perhaps no more "objectionable" than just turning on the radio; it's just telling you the song it thinks the source is playing.

Moral questions aside, it seems the addition of this age-restriction warning is because of the parental controls on the new iPhone OS 3.0.--as a parent, you can allow app downloads based on age (from 4+ to 17+), so we suspect you'll see a lot more age-restriction warnings added to apps in the App Store. This might be a wise move on Apple's part--Apple has already come under some criticism for rejecting seemingly legitimate apps like the one from Nine Inch Nails and the Eucalyptus e-book reader just because it provides access to the publicly available Kama Sutra. Perhaps if it removes itself as mediator and simply slaps on age-restriction warnings, Apple might save itself some bad press. We'll see if this works out as intended.