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October 8, 2009 2:55 PM PDT

Apple releases iPhone OS 3.1.2

by Jim Dalrymple

Apple on Thursday released an update for the iPhone operating system, bringing the current version of the OS to 3.1.2.

According to notes accompanying the update, Apple fixed three bugs, which may not seem like a lot, but they are important. Among the changes is a fix for what Apple says is a "sporadic issue," where the iPhone would not wake up from sleep mode.

The update also resolves an issue that could interrupt the cell network until the phone is restarted. A bug that caused a crash during video streaming has been addressed in iPhone OS 3.1.2.

Apple said iPhone OS 3.1.2 is compatible with the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS. The update is available by plugging your iPhone into your computer and clicking on the update button in iTunes.

Once finished, your iPhone will restart and immediately alert you to a Carrier Settings update. This is a very small update that will be completed without needing to restart again.

Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. A guitar player for 20 years, Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to write and record songs on a Macintosh with Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Jim is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
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by mynameiscoffey October 8, 2009 3:12 PM PDT
The iPhone not waking from sleep bug happens a couple times a day for me so this is fantastic!!
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by CA1900 October 8, 2009 10:05 PM PDT
Me too. Hope this fixes it! It's been a real pain in the neck since the 3.1.1 update.
by Gold_Storm_Mac October 8, 2009 3:19 PM PDT
cnet is always behind on these apple related articles. appleinsider and macrumours had this way before.
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by txdotjim October 8, 2009 7:38 PM PDT
Cnet is timely enough since the v3.1.2 update just came out this afternoon.
by codynews October 9, 2009 6:25 AM PDT
Gold: Good for "Appleinsider" and "macrumors". Some of us (most of us?) are not hard core apple geeks and don't visit those sites. I just log onto cnet every so often to check tech news so having such a notice here, even if it's not the first, is helpful
by Lennron October 9, 2009 7:10 AM PDT
Agreed with cody. The reason we go to CNet is to get info on all things tech. Not just "mac rumors."
by basraw October 9, 2009 8:01 AM PDT
it is now happened and not a rumor
by Vegaman_Dan October 8, 2009 3:28 PM PDT
I'm always curious not what Apple has 'fixed' in each iPhone OS update, but what they have 'broken' by accident. You know... like tethering ability for example. I'm still on 3.1 and haven't found a need to get a newer version yet. I don't use my phone to tether either, but I'm leery of hearing the horror stories about bad battery life and so on with different updates. It's becoming a game of choosing which version you want to use- the one that works for this or that feature, but has this limitation or failure... or....

Yeah. Sometimes having a phone that is a computer can be more of a problem than it is worth at times.
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by SFgadgetlover October 8, 2009 4:52 PM PDT
I agree. Having a phone that is so complicated it can't reliably take or make calls is the reason I returned mine.

I really wish they made a iPhone lite that was just a phone and iPod in the size of a Nano. Something simple and easy to manage.
by tylrwnzl October 8, 2009 5:22 PM PDT
Thats why i use an ipod touch for the computer and a Razr so i'm not stuck using AT&T
by MDoddio October 9, 2009 2:00 PM PDT
Seems like Apple is "breaking" more than they "fix" everytime they try to "enhance". I'm tired of the smoke and mirrors in Apple add campaigns touting their OS's as being bug-free compared to MSFT.
I never installed a Vista update that never allowed my machine to come out of sleep mode, bump me offlne, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone despite its lack of features common to any other smartphone, but people seem to have short term memory issues when talking about the "great stability" of Apple products.
by rationalreview October 8, 2009 3:45 PM PDT
Wow, another update. I'm getting tired of updating so often. Between OSX and iPhone, something is always updating it seems. I'm not saying MS Windows is any better, they're very similar, but the update cycle is much more organized with my Windows OS.
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by Perry_Clease October 8, 2009 4:19 PM PDT
It isn't all that difficult to dock your iPhone and let the update do its thing. It doesn't happen daily or even weekly.
by bonesbautista October 8, 2009 4:58 PM PDT
I'm tired of whiners whining about simple stuff like this. Check your iPhone at the door, and get a WInMo phone - that'll fix all of your problems with mobile phones?
by Vegaman_Dan October 8, 2009 7:21 PM PDT
There are problems with going with every update relased. I have a few apps that when an OS update comes through.... DELETES ALL MY DATA for those apps. Unforutnately there's no way to export the data so I end up losing my data and have to start over for things like my database apps, checkbook, and bookmarks managers. Bleah.

Makes me hesitate on updates, asking myself if I have time to start over again or not.
by kaibelf October 9, 2009 8:34 AM PDT
Much more organized? I greatly prefer the way apple hammers out the kinks and does updates quickly, rather than letting an issue stew for months upon months until there are enough fixes to call a "service pack."

It's amazing how a typical MS update is a rollup of dozens of fixes, but you complain that apple asks you to spend 5-6 minutes clearing up bugs that are minor annoyances as you go along?
by binaryspiral75 October 9, 2009 9:12 AM PDT
No no no, you're comparing the iPhone with Windows. You should thrilled apple is patching your phone. Microsoft rarely patched windows mobile - and then you're at the mercy of the carrier to release it for your phone. It could take months to get a fix out for a problem like this.
by sevort October 11, 2009 11:54 AM PDT
by Vegaman_Dan October 8, 2009 7:21 PM PDT
"There are problems with going with every update relased. I have a few apps that when an OS update comes through.... DELETES ALL MY DATA for those apps. Unforutnately there's no way to export the data so I end up losing my data and have to start over for things like my database apps, checkbook, and bookmarks managers. Bleah."

I call BS. You don't have an iPhone, because if you would have it, you'd know that before every update Apple makes a BACKUP of the entire iPhone/iPod.
by rationalreview October 11, 2009 7:16 PM PDT
@kaibelch, Please don't show your ignorance. Any apple update with a x.x.x wherre the second or last number is increased is a service pack from Apple, we'll go as far as to say that Snow Leopard was the biggest one of all. Don't spew your opinion as fact please.

@binary, I use both Mobile OS's and I appreciate how WinMO just works, most of the time where my iPhone works most of the time, yes it has glitches like any other mobile phone and I understand that, but it's like Sony PSP or PS3 where you get a huge update like once a month. They offer very little in the way of an incremental update.
by DistortedLoop October 8, 2009 4:02 PM PDT
But will it fix the battery life. My 3G[s] on 3.1 (and maybe before) won't make it through a single day with minimal use: couple of hours of iPod use, a couple of twitter sessions (read a dozen tweets, post a few), some light email, a dozen SMS messages, snap a picture or two, and I'm dead battery...no phone calls, no Safari, no videos. Really unacceptable.
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by twitchin2021 October 8, 2009 4:08 PM PDT
That's not normal mate. Hit up a Genius Bar and get your battery tested.
by tylrwnzl October 8, 2009 5:26 PM PDT
Considering the number of updates i think that term genius is a bit of a stretch
by X-sync October 8, 2009 6:44 PM PDT
Restart the iPhone and see if that fixes the problem. It did once for me.
by Vegaman_Dan October 8, 2009 7:24 PM PDT
In the last three days I've had very poor battery life on 3.1. Today I went 9 hours and the battery hit 3%. BTW, you can't make calls at 10% or below- popup warns you there isn't enough power to run the cell phone portion. Bleah.

Oh well, the things you do for keeping up to date...
by Perry_Clease October 8, 2009 7:58 PM PDT
"Considering the number of updates i think that term genius is a bit of a stretch"

A stretch? So is that troll post.
by codynews October 9, 2009 6:27 AM PDT
I'm a heavy data user and make sure my phone is always plugged in when it can be... while driving, sitting at my desk, etc. Since I've started to make sure I have chargers everywhere, the problems went away :)
by deniceels October 11, 2009 12:23 AM PDT
@codynews: but in short-term, battery power will be full, but the battery cycle count will deplete isn't it?. It'll be better if Apple do fix the battery issue fast as I don't like seeing my count drop rapidly from these constant plugging/unplugging after it crossed the "finish line".
by nichts925 October 8, 2009 8:45 PM PDT
Smart playlists are still broke on my iPod Touch...
Reply to this comment
by MPB October 9, 2009 4:46 AM PDT
I know same here. I was really hoping that issue would be fixed.
by DarkHawke October 9, 2009 5:00 AM PDT
All I can say is: thanggod for jailbreaking! Not only did I gain a heck of a lot of flexibility with my iPhone after jailbreaking it, I didn't immediately go for the 3.1 update because there wasn't a jailbreak for it yet. Seems like I got saved from a fairly janky "update."
Reply to this comment
by inversation October 9, 2009 5:53 AM PDT
10 bucks says this breaks Palm Pre syncing xD
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by DistortedLoop October 9, 2009 6:05 AM PDT
You lose the $10. This can't possibly break Palm Pre syncing with iTunes, because this is an update to the iPhone firmware, not to iTunes. Pre phones sync with iTunes, not with iPhones.

That correction pointed out, I suppose it's possible that this update to the iPhone is preparing the iPhone for some changes in an imminent iTunes update that will indeed break the Palm's syncing ability, but even if that is true, you're technically incorrect.
by subie09lega October 9, 2009 7:23 AM PDT
Mine was working pretty well, some issues with wifi dropping even though the iPhone was right next to the router and my computers the other end of the house never faltered. This something that seems to have not been fixed. Last night I was in the same room as the router, <10 feet away. I watched the signal strength on the phone go from full strength to half to none and back up. Up and down, etc, etc.
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by kaibelf October 9, 2009 8:37 AM PDT
That sounds like a problem with your router, or with the wi-fi receiver in the phone itself. I don't think it would have anything to do with software. My wi-fi used to do that (crappy old linksys), but when I replaced it, I get full signal to my phone, even 20 feet outside of my building. Had replaced with an airport express, and it was like day and night.
by rationalreview October 11, 2009 7:19 PM PDT
Subie, I haev the same problem and it seems to be iPhone related according to my phone call to Apple. They offered no fixes but offered me a coupon for their store.
by iBuzz October 11, 2009 7:49 PM PDT
I had the same WiFI problem with two iPhones. I fixed both of them by doing restoring the firmware from within iTunes and, after the firmware install is complete, selecting "New Phone" instead of restoring the backup. If I restored the backup, the problems continued. But if I selected "New Phone", they were solved on both phones. If you can live without the backup and restore your contacts and such by other means, you might want to try it.
by jamm31 October 9, 2009 1:27 PM PDT
Is any body else having issues with the 3GS where you see full 3G signal but you cant really get on the internet, send and receive txt make or receive calls? it happens randomly
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by WelshMullet October 9, 2009 4:27 PM PDT
does this new OS also "fix" a jailbroken Iphone?
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by AppleSuxLeo October 10, 2009 10:49 PM PDT
Yawn...In bigger news , Android 1.6 is being pushed out over-the-air.
Apple still connects to a computer to sync with proprietary software...how quaint and SO 90`s !
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by Edwin-schemer October 12, 2009 3:19 PM PDT
It may be an illusion, but after the update to 3.1.2 it seems that the ability of my 3GS to pick up GPS signals (in Navigon, MotionX, Waze, and the native Google maps) has improved. Anyone else?
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