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Apple's iOS 4 arrives for newer iPhone, iPod touch models

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On June 21, 2010, 1:47 PM EST

Attention iPhone and iPod touch owners: Apple's newly minted iOS 4 is now ready to be downloaded and installed on your device. The latest release will let you use folders to organize your apps, jump into the unified email inbox, download and read ebooks, and more. Some of its features are limited to new hardware in the upcoming iPhone 4, such as FaceTime video calling, while others (like multitasking) are available on last year's iPhone 3GS and third-gen iPod touch.

The iPod 3G and second-generation iPod touch are also supported, to a lesser extent, and an iPad-compatible version will arrive this fall, but those using the original 2007 iPhone and iPod touch models are out of luck. To download iOS 4 open iTunes (version 9.2 is required), plug your iPhone or iPod touch into your computer, and click on "Check for Update." The update is free for everyone to download, including iPod touch owners, unlike previous years.


Remember to backup your data just in case something goes awry, or if you want to be extra careful, you might want to consider holding off on updating for a day or two to make sure that there aren't any major issues. Last year, some early adopters of iPhone OS 3.0 found that the update was hurting battery life, or that they couldn't reactivate their phones on AT&T's network after installing the update, leaving them restricted to emergency calls and Wi-Fi Internet access.

If and when you do take the plunge, check out Pandora's updated iPhone app, which was one of the first to hit the App Store this afternoon with the promised multitasking support, allowing you to stream music in the background for free. Will you be updating your iPhone or iPod touch today? Let us know how it goes in the comments.

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User Comments (16)

Post a comment
Reloader2
on June 21, 2010
2:02 PM

Uhh shiny

Reply

Guest
on June 21, 2010
3:17 PM

Plan on spending a few hours or 1/2 day to install the new update

Reply

Guest
on June 21, 2010
3:21 PM

love the new folders, makes the home screen nice and organized.

Reply

princeton
on June 21, 2010
4:40 PM

Multitasking? My jailbroken touch has done that for around a year now.

Reply

Guest
on June 21, 2010
5:01 PM

Nice update for Apple, but nothing really new that hasn't already been around other phones. Nice to see Apple finally catching up with everyone else. Makes using my iTouch easier and more organize. It's about time.

Reply

Guest
on June 21, 2010
5:20 PM

@Guest no. 1

It took 45 minutes to complete everything on the iPod Touch. It only takes longer if the device is has a lot of apps that need to be backup and then restored. Then it will take a few hours.

Reply

Cueto_99
on June 21, 2010
9:01 PM

Works ok, no flaws or bugs...

Reply

Burty117
on June 22, 2010
7:36 AM

The OS is great! not too much differnce but the multi-tasking works very well! plus you can now shutdown stuff! for example, you open safari or the phone book, close it then when you re-open you are just on a paused menu or in safari's case still loading, taking memory and power, but now you can hold down the app in question within the multi-tasking pane (double click centre button) and then hold down on the app you want to close and it does!

Overall I haven't seen any issue with the battery (actually i think i've saved a bit of battery!)

and it seems to be all stable, overall very impressed!

I have a 3GS and seems to work fine.

Reply

RealXboxMaster
on June 22, 2010
8:04 AM

OLD news. Palm phones already had this a little over a year.

Reply

mattfrompa
on June 22, 2010
9:03 AM

multitasking?...the thing Apple said would kill the battery now apparently won't? I don't own any current apple products, but I am always glad to see users get access to more features for free. So kudos for that.

Reply

Guest
on June 22, 2010
2:51 PM

@RealXboxMaster Wow Palm runs on IOS4 ??

Reply

tengeta
on June 22, 2010
3:40 PM

I love how Apple talks about the environment so much, and then makes sure its entire consumer base feels pressure to upgrade devices and chuck the "old" ones after every 2 years.

Reply

Guest
on June 23, 2010
12:25 AM

Bluetooth still out of sync, hoped they would fix the problem with this OS upgrade, but sadly not, maybe 5.0. Also I've been reading that iTouch 3rd gen has wireless-N but is capped at wireless-G. anyone know whether or not it now unlocked.

Reply

Burty117
on June 23, 2010
6:26 AM

tengeta said:

I love how Apple talks about the environment so much, and then makes sure its entire consumer base feels pressure to upgrade devices and chuck the "old" ones after every 2 years.

True but I also have had expensive Nokias and HTC's yet I would upgrade them after 2 years?

Although I see your Point, Nokia never preassured me into as Apple try their absolute hardest

Reply

Guest
on June 23, 2010
9:48 AM

Still proud that my 3 year old Windows Mobile phone can beat an Iphone 4. Thank you Samsung, also... thank you Adobe for announcing you will be developing flash 10.1 for windows mobile devices hehe

Reply

Guest
on June 23, 2010
10:16 AM

No wireless N on my 64 gb iPod touch 3g...dissapointed

Reply

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