The State of iPhone Satisfaction

The agony (occasionally) and the ecstasy (frequently) of using an iPhone, as reported by 2150+ respondents to our exclusive survey.

By  |  Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 5:52 am

Fifty-four percent of respondents told us they use Apple’s MobileMe synching service, which had such a rocky start that Apple extended users’ subscriptions for two months by way of apology. MobileMe’s worst days may behind it, but respondents who are using it don’t rate it anywhere near as highly as they do the iPhone itself. Fifty-one percent say they’re totally or very satisfied; 35 percent gave it a more guarded “Somewhat satisfied.” On the other hand, only 14 percent were agitated enough to say they were not very satisfied or totally dissatisfied with MobileMe.

“MobileMe was rough at first, but has improved considerably,” said one respondent. “It is very nice to have everything synch up easily. It would be better if you could only sync selected contacts and not have to do everything in a Global Address book (Exchange).”

The recent iPhone software update 2.1 seems to have made a real difference–82 percent of respondents said it improved their experience a lot or somewhat, and only six percent said that it didn’t help at all.”Since 2.1 firmware, the 3G has been as solid as my 1st gen iPhone,” said one respondent; “I think Apple knew 2.0 would not work correctly but released anyway to meet deadlines and because no inventory of original iPhone was left. 2.1 seems to have now fixed a lot of issues,” wrote another.

A few others specifically pointed out issues that 2.1 hadn’t fixed, or which got worse for them with the update.”I’m kind of deranged by the strange quirks that appear every time you update the software; it’s a total wild-card,” wrote one. “For example, after installing 2.1, my iPhone chimes twice for every text message — once when it arrives, and then again exactly twenty minutes later. Why, exactly?”

When we asked respondents to rate the iPhone App Store on overall quality, selection, and ease of use, 81 percent thought enough of it to say it was excellent or good, and only two percent said it was poor. There were a few gripes about App Store organization: “The ratings and general organization and structure [are] terrible,” wrote one respondent.

But recent news of Apple rejecting applications from the iPhone App Store on the grounds that they’re too similar to features in Apple’s own applications prompted the most negative reaction of any question in this survey. Only a third of respondents approved or thought it was at least debatable; two-thirds are unhappy with it, and a plurality said it’s simply unacceptable. Many brought up App Store policies in commnents, such as a respondent who said that “The rejection of certain apps from the App Store is bewildering and is enough to make me consider switching to Android in about a year.”

Apple’s App Store policies weren’t completely without their defenders, though. “I find strange and suspicious the fact that the media makes such a big issue for 3-4 rejected apps from the App Store,” said one. “While in comparison there are thousands accepted and of excellent quality..” Said another, “I like that Apple has taken some compeating apps off the store. It shows that they are serious about creating a platform that will work and last. However, I think that they should have communicated it better.”

What problems have folks had with their iPhones? Freezes/crashes and slow Internet access dominate here, with more than eighty percent of respondents reporting that they’ve encountered them frequently or sometimes. Spotty coverage, poor battery life, and lackluster camera quality were also mentioned frequently as problem spots. Areas in which few people had any trouble included GPS, iTunes synching, and e-mail. And only ten percent of users said they’d ever had any issues at all with the iPhone’s audio and video features–hey, it is an iPod.

Some respondents also complained about the iPhone’s limited support for third-party add-ons. “Feature crippling–e.g. forbidding developers from accessing the dock port for accessories, not allowing Bluetooth headphones for music/video playback, etc.–doesn’t sit well,” wrote one respondent. “I understand that some of these features would significantly affect battery life: I should be able to make that call, not Apple.”

We also let respondents voice their interest (or disinterest) in a bunch of features which the iPhone currently lacks. Cut and paste, a better camera, the ability to tether the iPhone as a modem, and turn-by-turn navigation all rated highly; all of these except the camera are things which Apple or third parties should be able to deliver through software upgrades if they so choose. Meanwhile, a fairly large number of users expressed interest in the ability to buy iPhones from additional carriers and to unlock the phone. And almost nobody seems to have a problem with the phone’s lack of a tiny plastic keyboard.

Among areas we didn’t ask about specifically, Bluetooth came up often in respondents’ comments about iPhone limitations, including the lack of stereo and inability to use it for synching. And some users decried the phone’s lack of a video recording feature.

In the end, the most striking thing about our survey results is this: The respondents were quite critical of the iPhone experience on multiple specific fronts…and yet most of them are still hugely pleased with their phones. As one respondent put it, “No matter what teething problems the iPhone has had, it’s no more than what one should expect from a cutting edge product, and [the iPhone] still puts every other device to shame.” For the majority of people who took our survey, Apple’s phone is clearly far more than sum of its imperfect parts.

Many thanks to everyone who participted in this survey. It was the first consumer study we’ve conducted here at Technologizer, but you can be sure it won’t be the last–suggestions for future ones are very welcome. And if you’ve got an iPhone and didn’t get a chance to take the survey, please sound off with a comment.

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27 Comments For This Post

  1. Frank Forum Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am

    “a plurality say that such rejections are unacceptable.”

    plurality??? Are you for real? Plurality means more than one so does that mean two people complained or all of them? Thanks for telling us nothing.

  2. Harry McCracken Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:05 am

    Frank Forum: Um, your issue is with Merriam-Webster, not me. To quote from their definition of plurality:

    “c: a number of votes cast for a candidate in a contest of more than two candidates that is greater than the number cast for any other candidate but not more than half the total votes cast”

    Fewer than half of the respondents said that the App Store rejections were unacceptable, but more people chose that option than any other.

    In other words, it received a plurality.

    –Harry

  3. Dennis Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:05 am

    @Frank Forum: Plurality, in the context of most surveys or elections, means the answer (or candidate) with the greatest number of respondents (or voters), but which failed to capture an outright majority (over 50%). In other words, if you had three candidates, and candidate A got 40%, candidate B got 35%, and candidate C got 25%, none of them won a majority, but candidate A won the plurality.

  4. David McElroy Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:05 am

    Frank Forum, you’re clearly unaware of the more common usage of the word “plurality.” In the context of results from a poll or an election, it’s obvious what it means. In this context, the result receiving a plurality received the most votes of the available categories, but not enough to be a majority. For instance, if the percentage of votes was split as A=45, B=35, C=20, that would mean that A had received a plurality of the votes. Check any nearby dictionary for a definition which would probably be more clear than mine.

  5. Harry McCracken Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Thanks, Dennis and David…

  6. Daryl Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am

    While we’re on the language, is “a good value” standard English? I’d just call it “good value”, but maybe the addition of an article is usual for US English?
    Thanks for the survey info. I took part and I see I’m pretty typical in every way – down to seeing it as a result of Daring Fireball!

  7. Nate Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    Frank has been officially owned. Yet another reason to be snotty when you don’t know what you are talking about. Or even when you do, for that matter.

    Daryl: I believe in this case the addition of the indefinite article “a” is rather common, at least in the US. The phrase (to me) is somewhat synonymous with “a good buy” or “a good purchase”, therefore stating that its value is on par or better than other phones in its class.

  8. Joanna Stern Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    My apologies for changing the vocab convo. Interesting results. I am totally in agreement with the most desired feature being cut/paste. I didn’t realize how annoying it was to not have that feature until today.

    http://blog.laptopmag.com/blackberry-curve-saves-iphone-user-from-iphones-limitations

  9. Sean Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    From Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary:

    plurality
    1 a: the state of being plural b: the state of being numerous c: a large number or quantity
    2: pluralism 1 ; also : a benefice held by pluralism
    3 a: a number greater than another b: an excess of votes over those cast for an opposing candidate c: a number of votes cast for a candidate in a contest of more than two candidates that is greater than the number cast for any other candidate but not more than half the total votes cast

    So while I immediately grasped from the context that the article used plurality in the sense of definition three, sense c, perhaps we shouldn’t fault Frank for applying the first given meaning. Snot is not more palatable when returned.

    This means that while more responded that the App Store rejections were unacceptable than gave any other response, a majority gave a response other than that the App Store rejections were unacceptable. Or less tortured, only a minority felt the App Store rejections were unacceptable.

    In common usage in the U.S. ‘a’ preceding ‘good value’, in this context, indicates that ‘good value’ is a class to which the iPhone belongs. Without the ‘a’ the statement would be read as equating the iPhone with ‘good value’ (it possesses good value vs. it = Good Value™).

  10. Tom Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 8:09 pm

    Very interesting results. Thanks for doing this. Amazing how satisfied iPhone users are despite the hiccups.

  11. stats-fan Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

    The results of this survey are very suspect due to “self-selection bias.” Only people who were motivated enough to answer your survey were included in the data. The data IS NOT representative of the iphone population at large because you did not use a random sample of users.

  12. Harry McCracken Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

    Stats Fan: Absolutely true, and I cheerfully acknowledge that near the top of the story. As I said, the results reflect only the opinions of the 2150+ people who took the survey–but that’s a lot of people, and I find what they said interesting even though it would be a mistake to conclude that their feedback represents iPhone users at large.

    –Harry

  13. Intosh Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    There is not much significance attached to such survey. Do a similar survey on the Linux OS and you’ll find a similarly high satisfaction and approval from Linux users. If the respondents were unsatisfied enough, they wouldn’t keep using the product, nor would they spend their spare time answering an online survey about the product.

  14. Harry McCracken Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    I hear you, Intosh, but my experience doesn’t jibe. At PC World, we did dozens of online surveys involving tech products of all types, including some that were more complex and demanding than our iPhone survey. There was never any evidence that the results skewed towards happy, satisfied people. In fact, the opposite issue was more of a concern–dissatisfied people are often more likely to make the effort to make their opinions known, and we needed to make sure our surveys didn’t skew towards unhappy campers.

    As I’ve said, for this survey, we didn’t try to screen people to find a survey pool that looked like the iPhone customer base at large. The survey just represents the experiences and opinions of 2150 people, but I think it makes for worthwhile reading nonetheless.

  15. compulsivewriter Says:
    October 1st, 2008 at 12:54 am

    i find myself agreeing to the survey. i just bought the phone a month ago when it launched in india …

  16. Intosh Says:
    October 1st, 2008 at 11:07 am

    Harry McCracken, I understand your point regarding surveys at PC World and I’m not surprised by your observation. But what I wanted to point out was that Linux and Apple users are similar in that they are first and foremost fans of the product/company. Therefore, surveys on these products where the respondents *choose* to participate will inevitably be skewed. Because the respondents are most likely big fans of Linux or Apple.

  17. Henry Says:
    October 1st, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    Who in the world can we talk to to get some action on a browsing filter for kids a la NetNanny or SafeEyes? My teenage kids are dying to have iPod Touches but until I can secure their browsers, they’re out of luck. Was hoping the opening for developers would prompt such a product but no such luck.

    I am astonished by the number of parents who have indulged their kids with iPhones but didn’t know the browsers were wide open.

    Any ideas, folks?

  18. Chris Says:
    October 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am

    Intosh:
    While what you are saying will be somewhat true for questions like “Are you satisfied with your iPhone/Linux distro/etc.?”, but when it comes to more specific questions concerning missing features or annoying glitches, I think the results of the above survey are still very valuable. The actual iPhone will know best what they like/dislike about their device since they use it on a daily basis. I wouldn’t be that interested in hearing opinions from people who had just brief contact (or none whatsoever) with the phone.

  19. Chris Says:
    October 2nd, 2008 at 8:57 am

    Sigh… I missed a word there. Should be:
    “The actual iPhone owners will know best…”

  20. ed Says:
    October 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 am

    Dear Harry,

    I was wondering if this (great) survey is downloadable?
    Or is it possible for you to send it to me?
    If you want, I could point out my purposes.

    Please send me an e-mail.

    Regards,
    Ed

  21. Kevin Wong Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    Were any of the questions open for qualitative data gathering? It’d be interesting to not only learn about what people want, but why and when they would find it useful.

    In anycase, thought we’d share a little fun along the way with what we feel is a great solution to the cut and paste fiasco =)
    http://www.artefactgroup.com/frontier/2008/10/14/artefact-adds-copypaste-to-the-iphone/ Just wanted to share. Looking forward to future posts!

  22. Bryan Says:
    November 10th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    I like my new iPhone however; I can’t stand that every time I try to view a website (mostly WSJ.com) Safari crashes…I thought apple was better than this.

  23. Video Games Says:
    December 1st, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    The data represented is a standard generalization. The Iphone is not anything special.

  24. Gloria Says:
    December 28th, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    I am a Mac hater but I LOVE my iPhone. It is the greatest! I wanted one of the original iPhones, but forced myself to wait until the 3Gs came out. I am one of those consumers that is reluctant to jump on the bandwagon of every new device until I know enough about it to see its worth to me. I use it every day for so much more than making calls, texting, or accessing the internet. I would say my least favorite part of the iPhone is the life of the battery charge, and the fact that I can’t replace the battery when the time comes.

    Thank you for a very interesting survey. Wish I’d known about it earlier so I could have been a part of the stats.

  25. DISSAPOINTET USER Says:
    March 13th, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    KEEP IT SHORT – WORST PHONE EVER ON THE MARKET.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  26. gaz Says:
    August 9th, 2011 at 8:07 am

    just bought this one and love it

  27. Billy Glassel Says:
    September 7th, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    A person essentially lend a hand to make seriously articles I’d state. That is the first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the analysis you made to make this actual publish extraordinary. Excellent task!

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