New 4.0 firmware finally overhauls iPhone UI
Folders, global inbox and iBooks come to the iPhone
Apple has announced a new way to interact with the iPhone's user interface with the announcement of the iPhone 4 firmware.
For those worried about having too many icons on the home screen, you can now place them all together in one folder for easy storage.
This is achieved by holding your finger on top of an icon, and when it starts to 'jiggle' you can place it on top of another to automatically create a folder.
This is named based on the app categories or can be changed as you see fit. It can also be plonked on the multi-tasking dock (taking up one of those precious four spaces).
This means where you used to be able to see 180 apps, you can now see over 2,000 on the home screen - which is surely more than anyone needs.
Unified inbox
Users can now have more than one mail account in the same inbox with the new iPhone 4.0 firmware.
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The main element is being able to see all your information in one portal - with fast inbox switching should you want to drill down further into one account.
Apple will also now let you add more than one Exchange account to the unified inbox if you're one of those workaholics, and threaded messaging will allow you to keep up with any conversation you start.
iBooks comes to the iPhone
After its success on the iPad (well, in the US anyway) Apple has ported the iBooks platform to the iPhone with the new iPhone 4 OS.
The iBookstore will be available on the iPhone, with Winnie the Pooh available as a free download from the start.
Apple is also making your books available across different platforms, so if you buy something for the iPad you won't have to pay again to read it on the iPhone.
You can even sync page and bookmarks between devices, making it a good way to bust through a few novels.
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.