The iPhone OS4 on my 3Gs

The OS4 refers to NOT the new iPhone, but the new software that is running on my existing iPhone 3GS. Two nights back (Dubai time) Apple launched their new Operating System that is a part of the new iPhone 4, but is also available for download for existing 3G and 3Gs users. I was excited to finally have multi-tasking and a host of new features on my device, and immediately downloaded it onto my computer. However, I struggled with my phone all day yesterday as Google Sync (that I use to sync all my contacts to and from my iPhone) was acting up, and I was flying blind without having any contacts saved on my device. Thank God for my second phone! Finally last night Google and Apple played nice and I was back to having my phone function as normal.

Now that I'm finally content on that side of things, I can look through the OS more calmly, and am really excited with what I see. OS4 has some really cool new features!
- Now you can FINALLY multi-task on your iPhone. What does this really mean? You know how sometimes you are in the midst of sending a text, but forgot something that was in your notes application, or wanted to use the calculator? And when you do, your long text is GONE? NO MORE!! Now you can switch from one application to another without "closing" it. All you have to do is open an application- lets take Safari for instance, and double-tap the home button, and swipe the menu at the bottom to click on any other app you want to open, et voila! You're there. And if you want to go back, you follow the same method, and it takes you back to your webpage, or half written SMS or wherever it is you want to go. All the apps have to update their software to allow for multi-tasking, which is why you might see some, but might not see others.
- Another cool feature that OS4 has is "Folders".. the same way you can put your documents in folders on the computer, the iPhone now lets you put your apps in an "App folder." You can drag an app now, on top of another app, and it'll automatically create a folder for them. If you want to put all your photography apps in one place, it actually recognizes it and names the folder "Photography"!  You can, however, change that and name it to whatever you want too, or drag that and put it in the dock, if you want to have easy access to it.
- Mail on the iPhone- For iPhone users who use their device to get email, the OS4 is apparently God sent. Apart from being able to have multiple Exchange accounts on their phone, they now also have other features like a unified inbox which shows them all their messages at once.

And of course, you can now have a background picture saved on your home screen FINALLY! You can even have a different one from the one on your "lock screen" in case it is too distracting. 

To get a detailed look of all the new features, read this very interesting blog post on Gizmodo.

iPhone users, go ahead and download the new OS4! All you need to do is have your iTunes up to date, and then connect your phone to your computer. On your iTunes it should give you an option to download the latest software on to the phone. You just click it, and it does everything else for you. If you have any questions, just leave them in comments and I'll help walk you through it.