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Follow us on Facebook"Enable 3G" toggle may make a return in iOS 5.1 (Updated)
@ 2012/01/11The ability to toggle between 3G and EDGE could be making a comeback for iPhone users in the next update to iOS 5. Apple released the third beta of iOS 5.1 to registered developers late on Monday, which hails the return of the "Enable 3G" switch within the device's network settings. Additionally, other evidence found within the beta indicates that Siri may eventually show up on the iPad and iPod touch.
Apple removed the Enable 3G toggle when it released iOS 5 to the public in October. Previous to this change, users took advantage of the switch in order to save battery life on their devices; switching 3G off would help extend the battery a bit longer in situations where 3G wasn't necessary, or the 3G network wasn't working properly. The loss of the switch irked a number of iPhone users, so its triumphant return—assuming Apple doesn't remove it before iOS 5.1's final release—will certainly be a welcome one.
That's not all that's contained within the latest beta. As noted by Cult of Mac, a reference to dictation has appeared for the iPad and iPod touch, causing some to conclude that Siri is coming to those devices soon (we are slightly skeptical on this point, but we're willing to wait and see). And, as posted by MacRumors, the iOS 5.1 beta 3 also introduces a new API to developers that will let them mark certain types of content that they don't want to be backed up, which should save on syncing time.
Update: Some iPhone users are pointing out that they already have the Enable 3G toggle in their public installs of iOS 5.0.1. This does indeed seem to be the case for those who own iPhones that are older than the 4S, but we were able to confirm with three separate iPhone 4Ss that they do not currently have this option. It's possible that Apple only disabled this option for the iPhone 4S and not older devices as part of iOS 5.
Apple removed the Enable 3G toggle when it released iOS 5 to the public in October. Previous to this change, users took advantage of the switch in order to save battery life on their devices; switching 3G off would help extend the battery a bit longer in situations where 3G wasn't necessary, or the 3G network wasn't working properly. The loss of the switch irked a number of iPhone users, so its triumphant return—assuming Apple doesn't remove it before iOS 5.1's final release—will certainly be a welcome one.
That's not all that's contained within the latest beta. As noted by Cult of Mac, a reference to dictation has appeared for the iPad and iPod touch, causing some to conclude that Siri is coming to those devices soon (we are slightly skeptical on this point, but we're willing to wait and see). And, as posted by MacRumors, the iOS 5.1 beta 3 also introduces a new API to developers that will let them mark certain types of content that they don't want to be backed up, which should save on syncing time.
Update: Some iPhone users are pointing out that they already have the Enable 3G toggle in their public installs of iOS 5.0.1. This does indeed seem to be the case for those who own iPhones that are older than the 4S, but we were able to confirm with three separate iPhone 4Ss that they do not currently have this option. It's possible that Apple only disabled this option for the iPhone 4S and not older devices as part of iOS 5.
