The upgrade process was pretty easy, just stick in the disc and click a couple of buttons. I did encounter a little trouble in that my MacBook ejected the disc on restart. I first thought, ‘Oh, that was quick‘ until I realised the background was the same, and it still stated the old OSX version number under the About This Mac window.

It turned out my MacBook was spitting out the disc on restart, which was stopping the rest of the install taking place. Simply holding down the ALT/Option key during restart brings up the boot options, where the CD drive can be selected. From then the install was a breeze, and I was greeted with the nice vibrant new desktop wallpaper, and the groovy intro video.

Problems/Bugs

There has been a few issues creeping up on the web, and plenty of people wanted me to let them know if I had any trouble after the upgrade when I posted out the message on Twitter. So far I’ve only faced one bug:

Ugly bold fonts in Firefox
I booted up Firefox after the upgrade and spotted ugly font rendering on the tabs. A quick Google search brought up this handy fix from Stucel. Simply head into Font Book, select Lucida Grande, Reveal in Finder and Move to Trash. OSX will automatically replace the font with a new version, which after a restart of Firefox displays perfectly.

However, if you then try emptying the trash, it warns that the file is in use. Another post from CNET gives a handy tip on how to use Terminal to force delete a file. After a couple of minutes of implementing these fixes everything is fine.

That’s about it problem wise so far. However if I run into anything else I’ll be sure to update the post.

Update: Cyberduck failed to open, however there’s a beta version that’s compatible with Snow Leopard – Easy fix

Nifty New Features

A lot of people asked if Snow Leopard was worth the upgrade. At £25 I can’t see why not! Within moments of running the new upgrade, I noticed the free HD space had increased by 15GB and the shut down speed was impressively faster. For a full list of the ‘real’ improvements simply head over to Apple’s Snow Leopard overview.

One feature I’m a little sad to see go is the naming convention for screenshots, where images are now time and date tagged. There’s stacks of posts giving praise to this new process, but being someone who uses plenty of screenshots in tutorials, I found the simple – Picture 1, Picture 2 etc filenames really handy! I’ve now got to find myself some kind of batch renaming app to shorten down the filenames into something a little more usable in my posts.

What’s your initial impression of Snow Leopard. Had any annoying bugs of your own?

No related posts.

The Experiment

I completely run the phone down flat overnight, then connected it to the wall charger this morning and proceeded to charge it to 100%.

I then configured some settings:

Wifi – Off (Sometimes turn this off if I’m out)
Location Services – Off (Usually off anyway)
3G – Off (Usually left on)

It’s also worth noting I have email fetching to Off and I didn’t receive a call or SMS during the experiment (because I have no friends… booohoo)

I clicked the top button and sent it to sleep, left it in place on the desk and went off for some lunch. An hour later (well, just over at 73mins) I returned and checked the battery level – 84%
WTF?! An hour and 15mins of being in sleep mode, with none of its features being used and it’s used 16% of the battery life.

Obviously this isn’t the most scientific experiment, and I could do with repeating it a few times to double check the facts, but it got me wondering whether this is normal for iPhone battery life? Does everyone else out there have to charge their iPhone every day? (That’s with turning it off at night)

Or, could this just be down to it being new, and it needing a few charge cycles to ‘bed in’ the battery?

Update

Maybe my iPhone read this post, but since the experiment it’s actually been acting really well battery wise. The next charge lasted much longer, sticking to 100% in the same length of time. I’ve now switched back on all the fancy features, including Location Services, which is meant to be the real power hog. Hours after a charge it’s still at 100%, and is lasting around the couple of days mark people have mentioned in the comments.

Bedding in the battery with a few charges during it’s early use might just have been what it needed?

Related posts:

1. Black or White: The iPhone Dilemma
2. My iPhone Apps Collection So Far

ConvertBot

A handy app from Tapbots that allows conversion of various units. Also has one sweet interface design!

Lightsaber

A must download app for all geeks. Turn your iPhone into a lightsaber. Enough said!

Tap Tap Revenge

A fun game from Tapulous, has a bunch of tracks available and is highly addictive.

Shazam

The popular Shazam app listens for music, then searches for the artist and song title. This has been amazingly accurate on the couple of occasions I’ve used it.

WordPress

Handy app that allows easy updating of your WordPress blog, with features allowing local drafts and the ability to insert images directly from iPhone.

iFitness

A useful app to keep track of your workouts. Has a thorough database of exercises, and allows you to track your reps and weights.

iFirstAid

You never know when this app might come in handy, definitely worth keeping stored for reference.

AroundMe

One of many local service finders, AroundMe has pretty good reviews. Yet to try it out myself.

Warpack Grunts

I’m not too much of an iPhone gamer, but when I stumbled across this Cannon Fodder style app I couldn’t resist!

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is my favourite desktop Twitter client, so it makes sense to sync my columns directly to iPhone.

AreMySitesUp

I’m keeping an eye out on my server shenanigans with the AreMySitesUp iPhone app. Complete with Push notifications.

What The Font

The super handy service from MyFonts has its own app. Great for designers out and about spying tasty new fonts.

TV Guide

Easy way to find out what’s on the box.

Last.FM

Brilliant app for listening to your Last.FM library while on the move.

Run Keeper (Lite)

A cool GPS related app that tracks your progress during a run, cycle or other form of transportation.

Skype

Keep up to date with friends with the Skype iPhone app.

What are your favourite apps?

Got a recommendation? Let me know your top five apps!

Related posts:

1. Black or White: The iPhone Dilemma

So, I’ll soon be making the exciting trip to the Apple Store to buy a sparkly iPhone 3GS, but here’s my big dilemma – Which colour do I go for?!

I’m torn between black and white, although with white being a little less common I’m leaning towards that. Earlier in the year I treated myself to a MacBook Pro and Cinema Display, so I can’t wait to complete my tech collection!

Post your opinions in the comments.

Update…

Well, I finally did it, and went ahead with… Black!

No related posts.