Better iPhone settings access

iPhone Settings Menu

Since the launch of iOS 4, I’ve been nagged by the orientation lock toggle that shares screen space with the iPod controls in the multitasking menu. Why is this the one setting blessed with such prominent access? I don’t doubt many iPhone users make frequent use of this feature, but I certainly don’t.

My most frequent settings change is enabling/disabling Bluetooth to match my need for headphones. This may happen several times a day. When I travel, WiFi and Airplane mode are settings I repeatedly reach for.

Every time I toggle one of those settings, I wish to be able to access them without multiple levels deep into the settings app (WiFi and Bluetooth toggles are a level deeper than Airplane Mode). Here’s what my proposed solution to this daily problem has evolved into:

Replace the screen lock icon with an icon for frequently used settings. Tapping this settings icon slides up a menu of toggle switches to enable fast enabling/disabling without needing to leave the active application and dive through menus.

I’m hoping Apple has an even better solution on the way. I can’t imagine I’m the only one.


Discussion
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Add brightness control to that and you'd cover the 4 most changed settings on my phone.

September 15th 2010, 2:21 a.m. by Peter
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Great idea!

September 15th 2010, 9:21 a.m. by Avi Flax
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Great idea! I actually use the screen rotation lock a lot (when I'm reading in bed), but I'd be willing to make the 1+ click trade-off for the benefit of more accessible WiFi/Bluetooth controls.

Also, I love that the song playing in the screenshot is J5's "Quality Control". :)

September 15th 2010, 10:34 a.m. by Stu
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Peter - I'm sure we each have our 'pet' settings we use more than others. But I' not so sure I'd want the potential complexity of configuring this menu, at least not at first. Any sane defaults in it would be better than the current situation.

September 15th 2010, 10:34 a.m. by Ryan Berg
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Well, jailbreaking has SBSettings. http://cl.ly/2PCi

September 15th 2010, 1:46 p.m. by Josh
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Josh - I've never used a jailbroken iPhone, but that dialogue's blue/grey on/off toggles for each setting are right in line with my initial sketches for this. An elegant solution to this would be really nice to have as part of the OS.

September 15th 2010, 2:39 p.m. by Ryan Berg
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Looks like Apple's thinking about how to better access settings in this context for iPads on 4.2: http://cl.ly/2OpK (Found by @kyleve)

September 15th 2010, 3 p.m. by Ryan Berg

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