Deep integration of iPhone applications
I love my iPhone. It goes everywhere I go because it allows me to bring everything I do on the road. Almost everything; my life and work are increasingly mobile.
At the core of my iPhone infatuation is the ability to access and maintain my contacts, email and calendar in real time. Personally, I use Google services for all of these things – Gmail and Google Calendar, to be precise. There are thousands of iPhone applications, many of which may be great, but I rarely use more than a handful.
These applications are not deeply integrated with my phone.
An illustrative example: Skype
The Skype iPhone application is nifty. I can chat with my Skype contacts and, if I’m using wi-fi, make phone calls as well. Unfortunately, I have to have the Skype application open in order to use it. This is a pain.
Skype instant messages are, in effect, SMS/MMS. It would be nice if, instead of having to log into the Skype application, any IMs I get sent via Skype would push through the native iPhone Messages application. The same would be nice for phone calls. Let my Skype contacts see that I am mobile, but logged in, and let them call me even if my Skype application isn’t open on my iPhone. When I get a call, have my phone ring like a normal phone call.
Deep integration of iPhone applications would make my life easier – and make those services more useful to me, as a mobile user.
