Hotspots, Safari and Settings

The third and last of the major updates in iOS 4.3 is personal hotspot, an iPhone 4-only feature that enables the device to act as a Wi-Fi router for other devices (three over Wi-Fi, and up to two more via USB and BlueTooth).

This brings iOS into line with Android's Mobile AP feature, and it appears to 'just work', but note that you need a qualifying data plan or risk being charged unexpectedly.

Best of the rest

Most of the other changes in iOS are relatively minor, but nonetheless welcome.

Safari's JavaScript performance is noticeably faster—handy for a device more reliant than other platforms on JavaScript-heavy interactive web content (as opposed to Flash).

In Settings, a rare Apple about-face enables you to define whether the side-switch on the iPad locks rotation or mutes the device (hurrah!); muting also remains available in the multitasking tray and by holding the volume-down end of the volume switch for a second.

SIDE SWITCH:The rotation lock is back! And all it took was a ton of bitchy emails to Apple!

You can now set the number of times a Messages app repeat alert sounds (once, twice, three, five or ten times), find Location Services at the top level of the Settings app, and use the new Noteworthy font in Notes (but not Chalkboard, which has been taken out back and shot).

Apple's also not entirely forgotten Ping: select it in the iPod app and you'll be asked if you want to be bugged with notifications regarding comments and follow requests.

PING: Now slightly less useless (i.e. still useless)

Apple also claims you can 'like' songs from the iPod app's Now Playing screen, but if this is the case, there must be some kind of ninja-style protection, because we couldn't find the controls on any of our iOS devices. Fundamentally, Ping still seems broadly useless.

Omissions and mothballed kit

Of course, it wouldn't be an iOS review without some gripes about what Apple didn't include.

AirPlay might have received some love, but AirPrint remains half-baked, working with only a very limited range of printers. It's a pity Apple doesn't enable you to print to shared network printers.

Also, the iOS notification system remains intrusive and generally awful, and fancy new multitouch gestures splattered all over the rumour mill during iOS 4.3's beta run remain off-limits unless you're a developer.

While some of these would have caused pain to developers, clashing with existing software controls, a fast means of app-switching would have been useful for power users.

This update also unceremoniously officially mothballs the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch.

Given how rough iOS 4 has been on these devices from the start, this comes as no surprise, but it will disappoint users to learn devices that are under three years old have hit a software brick wall.

For the rest of us, iOS 4.3 is a no-brainer upgrade. We tested the system on an iPhone 3GS, current-generation iPod touch and an iPad and it seemed both solid and stable, and it's clear that Home Sharing and AirPlay will further open up the potential for iOS to become a leading platform for media playback.