Perhaps the most widely reported problem after disappearing applications is one in which WiFi connectivity fails after the iPhone OS 2.2 update. Users continue to report these problems with frequency. A sampling of reports from iPhone Atlas readers:

• “Ever since this last update for the iPhone 3G, I’ve had a problem connecting to ALL WIFI hotspots, including my own secure router at home (linksys router). HELP!! My version is 2.2 (5G77) and modem firmware is 02.28.00 if this helps.”
• “I have an iPhone 3g (unjailed) and after the release of firmware 2.2, my iPhone froze and after hard reboot, I just was unable to connect to wifi, whatever the wifi is: protected, open. I tried hard reboot, reinstall, “forget my settings” or what so ever, nothing worked.”
• “My iPhone 3G will pickup the right IP address of my router, but I cannot connect to the internet.”
• “My iPhone had no issues with finding WiFi networks until I upgraded to 2.2. Now I cannot find any WiFi networks.”

In some cases, “forgetting” the currently configured network and then reconfiguring it can resolve the issue. Other potential fixes include:

• Navigate to Settings > Reset and choose “Reset Network Settings”
• Switch the router to WPA2-Personal/AES security settings
• Remove all spaces from the WPA pass phrase
• Remove all security from the router until a stable connection is attained then reconfigure the security

Some users have resorted to a downgrade to iPhone OS 2.1. Apple Discussions poster James DeRosa writes:

“And just another confirmation… I just downgraded to 2.1 on the same phone, same router, same everything.. WiFi is snappy again. Girlfriend’s is still 2.2 and WiFi stutters and takes forever. EDGE is actually quicker. Not a bandwidth type of faster, but quicker and more reliable response time.”

For downgrade instructions, see our previous coverage.

Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com.

We continue to note minor, unodcumented enhancements in iPhone OS 2.2:

Better shift-key behavior iPhone OS 2.2 exhibits better behavior than its predecessors with regard to typing over capitalized letters. As described by one iPhone Atlas reader:

“I don’t know if this was in 2.1 or not, but suppose you are typing and put a capitalized word in the sentence: example “I wanted to call Stuhlman” but you type the capitalized word incorrectly. If you delete the letters, when you delete the capitalized letter, the shift key on the keyboard engages, as the iPhone OS is assuming you meant to capitalize the first letter. I know this may not sound clear, but try it.”

Automatic WebClip icon change One iPhone Atlas reader disvoered that launching a website by clicking on a WebClip icon is enough to get the icon to change (if it’s been changed obviously). Previously, if a website changed their WebClip Icon, the only way of getting it was to delete the WebClip from your homescreen, visit the site and then ‘add to homescreen’ again.

Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.

Stanza (iTunes Link) from Lexcycle is one of the most downloaded iPhone apps, but it previously could not handle any content that was purchased from the eReader store. In order for you to view these formats you had to use eReader for the iPhone (iTunes Link), but that is not true any more.

Lexcycle has signed a license agreement with Fictionwise, the company behind the eReader format, to bring that eReader-compatible books to Stanza. Lexcycle will be launching a Stanza eReader store, giving Stanza users total access to 40,000 or more eReader titles. Stanza was recently updated in the iTunes App Store with the enhanced eReader capability.

According to the press release:

“In an agreement between the two companies, Lexcycle has licensed Fictionwise’s eReader eBook reading format for integration with the Stanza iPhone application. In addition, Fictionwise will operate the “Stanza by Fictionwise” eBook store, which is accessible directly through the Stanza app, and gives Stanza users access to over 40,000 titles from all major trade publishers.

“We are very excited that our large and growing catalog of electronic books is now available to Stanza users,” said Steve Pendergrast, co-founder of Fictionwise, Inc. “eReader continues to be the only eBook distribution format on the iPhone and iPod touch that is widely accepted by virtually all major publishers. Our goal is to make the eReader format available everywhere.”

The integration of the “Stanza by Fictionwise” eBook store with the Stanza app enables customers to browse and search for eBooks based on title, author, genre, or popularity. Customers can then purchase and wirelessly download eBooks right on their iPhone or iPod touch for immediate reading.”"

Devicescape is offering Easy Wi-Fi for AT&T (iTunes Link) at no cost through the App store until Friday, December 5, 2008 afterwards it will cost $1.99.

The App is a connection tool used in conjunction with AT&T’s free Wi-Fi services that is available for iPhone subscribers in the US. The tool eliminates the tedious SMS-based method of connecting. Once you have entered your phone number, you simply press the large login button and you are connected.

Easy Wi-Fi comes in two editions. The free edition is for connecting to AT&T wireless access points only. The paid version (iTunes Link) expands the app’s usefulness by giving you access to logins for numerous Wi-Fi hotspot provider networks Globally. Both versions of the app give you access to register a free account on Devicescape’s servers.

Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.

A list of top iPhone apps for 2008 has been published by Apple for apps downloaded and purchased from the iTunes App Store this year.

Applications are sorted into categories: Top Overall, Top Games, Top Entertainment, Top Utilities, Top Music and Top Social Networking. The categories are listed for both paid and free applications.

As pointed out by our colleague Tom Krazit at News.com, six of the top 10 paid apps were games, including Apple’s Texas Hold-Em and the heavily promoted Super Monkey Ball from Sega, but Koi Pond’s “mesmerizing virtual aquarium” led the way as the top-selling paid application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch

You can access the list via this iTunes link

While the issue is not universal, some users are reporting a problem in which the iPhone OS 2.2 update locks legally unlocked iPhones (sold in Hong Kong, certain countries in Europe and elsewhere). The issue may occur if a legally unlocked phone is bought in one country then updated to OS 2.2 in another country. Among the user reports from this Apple Discussions thread:

• “Bought legally unlocked iPhone in Hong Kong. Updated to 2.2 in Germany. No my iPhone seems to be locked.”
• “I bought my iPhone 3G legally unlocked from HK, and I just upgraded to iPhone 2.2, but it seems my phone is locked now. On the phone it says emergency calls only and iTunes is saying not supported SIM.”

Many other users are having no problems with legally unlocked phones after the update.

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Several users have reported diminished battery life under iPhone OS 2.2. A pair of Apple Discussion threads–one with 59 replies (“iPhone Update 2.2 Drastically Reduces Battery Life”), the other with 78 (“Battery drain since upgrading to 2.2″)–chronicle the issue. Sample reports include:

• “Yesterday, I went all day (12 hours that is) without recharging. Last night I upgraded to 2.2. Today, after being off the charger for 4 hours, it is down to 20%.”
• “[...] happens with both iPhones we have after 2.2 upgrade. When we went to bed, iPhones were fully charged, and in the morning, 10% of the battery was left.”
• “Same problems here. I have one me.com account and one exchange account - both set to push. Power drain after about 6 hours. This is not good for a mobile device. Blackberry went days without recharge.”
• “I updated yesterday night to 2.2 and left the iphone charge over night. I took the phone this morning and went to work. I did not use it until mid day when I went for lunch. I wanted to check my emails and saw the battery was fully empty. I could not use it anymore.”

One fix that has proven successful for some users experiencing this problem: delete then re-establish any push-capable accounts (Exchange, MobileMe). Failing that, delete and re-establish all email accounts.

We’ve published a number of potential battery-life boosters, including:

Drain the battery completely Use your iPhone until the battery dies completely (indicated by a battery icon appearing on the screen when the sleep/wake button is pressed), then fully recharge the device. It appears that the full discharge may reset circuitry that prevents a full charge from occurring, despite iconic indication of a full charge.

Turn off location services It appears that the Maps application and some third-party applications that use GPS functionality fail to power down the necessary hardware components when they are no longer in use. Navigate to Settings > General > Location Services and turn these services off when you are not using Maps or another location-enabled app.

Turn off Push then restart The iPhone 3G’s Push functionality for Exchange and MobileMe accounts can destroy battery life. Turn this option off in “Settings” then restart your iPhone by powering it off then on.

Restore the iPhone with original settings Launch iTunes and select the second option in the “Version” section on the Summary page for your iPhone. This restore process will erase your iPhone software and data, including all settings, which can be restored later via iTunes.

You might also want to check out special report on increasing battery life.

We continue to note minor new, undocumented features extant in iPhone OS 2.2.

“Update All” back The ability to update all applications with the press of one button–a feature that was disable in iPhone OS 2.1–is back in iPhone OS 2.2.

Locked screen screenshots iPhone OS 2.2 now offers the ability to snap images of the locked screen. To take a screenshot: while holding the home button, press and release the sleep/wake button. A screen flash indicates that that the image was captured.

Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.

A group of developers, led by someone using the handle “planetbeing,” have produced a method to load Linux 2.6’s kernel to the iPhone. The hack is supported on all generations of the Apple iPhone and the first generation of the iPod Touch. According to the announcement, however “many drivers are still missing, but it’s enough that a real alternative operating system is running on the iPhone.”

According to the post the following are completed: Framebuffer driver, Serial driver, Serial over USB driver, Interrupts, MMU, and Clock, etc. Items still in progress include: Read/Write NAND support, wireless LAN, touchscreen, sound, accelerometer, baseband support.

A video demonstration has been posted.

There are some instructions and a download, but they are not for the inexperienced.

It’s clear that this port of Linux is in its infancy and not of much use to most iPhone users. Above all there is no phone support in this port so you’ll end up with an iPhone that won’t make calls, etc.

Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.

The number of undocumented new features in iPhone OS 2.2 is small relative to some other releases, which were accompanied by skimpy release notes. Among the few niceties discovered so far:

Mail rendering improvements Several users have reported enhanced readability of HTML messages in Mail.app under the new release. One iPhone Atlas reader writes:

“In the past, many html-formatted messages would have the unpleasant tendency to appear in my iPhone with fonts much too small to be viewable on the iPhone’s screen, requiring irritating horizontal swipes. Since the 2.2 upgrade, however, I’ve noticed that Mail - after briefly showing the original message for a fraction of a second - automatically changes the font size and formatting of those messages, and makes them completely readable. I noticed this in the daily Tech Bulletins I get from IHT.com, for example, among other sites. A very welcome improvement indeed. Kudos, Apple!”

Emebdded YouTube Playability indicator The ability to see graphic indicators of embedded YouTube content in Safari on the iPhone has existed for several OS iterations. These graphics can be clicked, launching the YouTube application. which may or may not playback the video, dependent on whether or not the video has been encoded for the iPhone.

Under OS 2.2, however, the graphic indicates whether or not the YouTube video is playable.

One iPhone Atlas reader writes:

“On web pages that have embedded YouTube videos, the frame now tells you in advance whether the movie is playable on the iPhone’s YouTube app. If it isn’t playable, you’ll see only a gray frame with a play button and a slash through it. If it is, you see the movie and a play button, as normal.

“Unfortunately, the same can’t be said when trying to stream video podcasts. When you try this with an incompatible podcast (like ABC’s Barack Obama videos), you have to connect and start downloading before a message comes up and tells you you can’t play it.”

Slide-deletion for podcasts In addition to podcasts now being available for download in the iTunes application (over Wi-Fi and cellular networks), iPhone OS 2.2 adds the ability to swipe-delete podcasts.

One iPhone Atlas reader writes:

“After updating to FW 2.2 I can now delete audio podcasts by sliding your finger across it and press delete. I believe this was restricted to video podcasts before 2.2, but not 100% sure.”

If you’ve discovered any other undocumented iPhone OS 2.2 features, please let us know.