What’s Changed: iPhone 1.0.2 versus 1.1.1 [updated]

On Thursday, September 27, 2007, Apple updated the iPhone’s software from version 1.0.2 (1C28) to 1.1.1 (3A109a). In addition to warning users of hacked iPhones that this software update would likely permanently disable their phones, Apple added a number of features and new settings to the iPhone, most of them small. Since the company does not publish comprehensive changelogs for its software updates, we’ve catalogued them below. Our comparative photos show version 1.1.1 on the left, and version 1.0.2 on the right; all other photos show only version 1.1.1.

The most obvious changes to the iPhone are support for the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, video-out to a television set or monitor, and added Home Button functionality. Tweaks to a number of settings have also been added.

Main Menu: Apple has updated the Calculator icon to the black version found on iPod touch. No change has been made to the Calculator program, however.

The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store: A new iTunes icon appears above the iPod icon on iPhone’s main menu. Just like the iPod touch version of this application, iTunes provides wireless access to a stripped-down version of the iTunes Store, enabling you to pick featured or searched-out audio tracks, preview them, and download them directly to the iPhone.

Phone: Bringing up any contact in your contacts list now lets you easily set a caller-specific ringtone without having to dive into the Edit screen.

Mail: Separately opened e-mail attachments (such as PDFs—not JPEGs) can now be viewed in landscape (wide) mode, rather than just in portrait (tall) mode. Standard e-mail messages, even if they contain JPEG images, cannot be rotated; this addition is only for Word, Acrobat, Excel and similar documents.

YouTube: The Today, This Week, and All links at the top of Most Viewed have been rearranged to that order, rather than the older All, Today, or This Week.

Stocks: You can now re-organize the list of stocks by selecting a stock under the “i” (settings) icon and dragging it up or down.

Weather: You can now re-organize the list of cities for weather forecasts by selecting a city under the “i” (settings) icon and dragging it up or down.

General Settings now has a Home Button option to let you turn toggle double-clicking on the Home Button between the iPod screen, your Phone application’s list of favorite contacts, and just returning to the Home screen. There’s also an option to let you always bring up iPod controls when you’re playing iPod music.

The Passcode Lock setting has been updated to offer fewer but wider timer options. If you lock the iPhone with a four-digit code, you can now set the iPhone to display the lock screen immediately, after 1, 5, or 15 minutes, or after 1 or 4 hours. This eliminates the prior 10 and 30 minute settings, and adds the 4 hour setting.

There is also a Keyboard option that enables the “. ” shortcut first found on iPod touch. This means that double-tapping the space bar during entry of an e-mail or text message will instead insert a period and a space, removing your need to switch to a separate keyboard screen.

Sounds now has a variety of New Text Message sound effects to choose from. Tri-tone, Chime, Glass, Horn, Bell, and Electronic sounds are offered. Ringtones remain the same as before.

Network Settings now has a Data Roaming on/off switch that, “when abroad… may avoid roaming charges when using e-mail, web browsing, and other data services.”

iPod Settings now contains Audio, Video, and TV Out headers. Video lets you start playing where you left off, or at the beginning of the video, as you prefer. You can also turn closed captioning on or off.

Semi-surprisingly brought over from the iPod touch, TV Out lets you turn on or off widescreen output from the device, and switch between NTSC and PAL TV signal types. You will need an accessory compatible with the iPhone to do TV out.

Safari now contains the Developer option first found in the iPod touch 1.1 software. Turning it on lets advanced Safari users debug their pages for smoother future iPhone use.

Apple has also made at least one accessory tweak. Previously given a large battery level indicator on iPhone’s unlock screen, the iPhone Bluetooth Headset now also has a miniature battery indicator near iPhone’s top right corner, so you can see the charge level even when the iPhone’s menus are being accessed.

Apple claims that the iPhone’s maximum speakerphone and receiver volume have been increased, however, we couldn’t detect an immediate difference in quick testing; adjustable alert volume is also listed by the company as a new feature. Bug fixes and other subtle changes are common in Apple Software Updates; Apple has posted a list of security fixes discussing some of them. We’ll add additional details as we discover them.