Sam Oliver
Direct Podcast Downloads
The screenshots, published by the German-langue blog Flo's Weblog, appear to confirm reports that the next software update for the iPhone will allow users to grab podcasts from the mobile iTunes Store over the handset's 3G connection.
A report published late last month had suggested this would be the case, but the feature was said to be non-functional at the time. The series of screenshots, republished below, reveals the interface flow for direct podcast downloads.
According to the report, Apple will initially limit direct downloads to podcasts 10MB in size or less. It's unclear, however, whether the feature will be restricted to iPhones on a 3G connection or if downloads can also be performed over an EDGE network.
App Store Categories
In addition, the same report tosses in a screen captures that reveals upcoming interface change to the App Store application that's expected to ship as part of iPhone Software 2.2.
The change, first detailed by AppleInsider back in September, is rather uneventful, consisting of a new categories home page that will feature large category icons and more generous spacing between each listing, rather than just narrow textual category representations.
Unlike builds of the software available in September, the latest betas reveal the new icons Apple may have chosen to use for its category listing (though they appear to be icons for third-party Apps at present). Previously, blank placeholders would display.
iPhone Software v2.1 (left) compared to iPhone Software v2.2 (right).
Expected iPhone 2.2 features
Readers looking to keep up on changes due as part of iPhone Software 2.2 can do so by reviewing AppleInsider's iPhone Software 2.2 topics page (RSS also available), which groups together all previous reports on the subject. A general list of feature additions are as follows:
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
72 Comments
Looking forward to Direct PodCast Download......
I only get a chance to sync my iPhone once a week or so.
Safari crashes a dozen times a day. It's very very very annoying. Come on Apple, I'm sick of the Windows experience with this: fix it.
I guess Apple doesn't give a crap about Safari crashing constantly. It's the worst app on the iPhone right now. Soon as you use the zoom feature on Safari, crash, crash, crash.
No Push either... no real useful updates like copy and past, sync Notes/ToDo....
It's a pretty useless feature if it's limited to 10MB OTA. None of the podcasts I listen to are under 30MB an episode.
I guess Apple doesn't give a crap about Safari crashing constantly. ...
Never crashes for me.
I don't like those icons for the categories though.
Why emphasise the lightweight character of some mobile games by writing "Lite" on the icon? Same goes for the "Mini" word on the music icon.
Isn't it a violation of good UI guidelines on any OS to put words on icons anyway? Even more so when the verbal description for the icon is right beside it.