Could Apple remove the silent switch in the iPhone 5?

 

Chances are, if you’re reading this post-like me; you’re excited about the upcoming release of iOS 6, which is due sometime in fall.

At Apple’s WWDC 2012, we saw an extensive list of amazing-looking additions and features to iOS 6. The most notable of which are additions such as: Full Facebook integration, Offline Reading List, Cellular FaceTime, and Do Not Disturb.

This post is concentrating on the “Do Not Disturb” (DND) function. DND is just the silent switch with more functionality; allowing you to set specific times for when it can and can’t silence alerts and notifications, for times like during work or when you’re sleeping. You can even set it to only silence certain calls and alerts.

It’s no secret that Apple aren’t a fan of physical buttons and switches, there are only four sets on the phone and these are only there as it would be unpractical to trade them for touch buttons.

There are a gut-full of rumours floating around the net based on the upcoming iPhone 5, and I’m about to add to the list. This is all based on speculation with no physical evidence pointing towards the possibility.

Could it be that Apple is planning on removing the silent switch on the side of the iPhone? From a software point of view, there’s no longer a need for this switch, it’s built straight into the OS and does more than the old and out-dated switch can do. This switch is just taking up room that they could use for much more useful features. Bigger screen, improved antenna? I for one want to keep the silent switch, it’s simple and makes it easier to simply flick your iPhone to silent in your pocket instead of going through the unlocking the phone, opening the settings app, and then turning it to silent. Or could it simply be that Apple just wants to add to the silent functionality by giving us more power over what exactly you can do.

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments. I’d really like to hear your views on this.

Free Spotify Premium on your iDevice… Kind of.

It’s not a secret that Spotify has suddenly begun dominating the music-streaming world. But at around £100 per year; it certainly isn’t the cheapest solution out there. However, there is a little bug in the iPhone Spotify app that allows you to keep using it’s offline music even after your Premium subscription service has expired. Here’s how you do it:

1. Create a new Spotify account and activate your free 30-day Premium trial.

2. Use this 30 days to build up your music database and download them all for “Offline use”

3. When your 30-day trial is coming to an end, flick your Spotify app to “Offline mode” and don’t turn it back on. Thus killing the connection to the service.

I’ve been using this for the past three weeks and haven’t encountered any problems, only downside is once this is in action, you can’t sync new music so your stuck with the same songs, and I expect it will return to normal if you have to restore your iDevice.
If you want unrestricted Spotify Premium for free, you can always click here and get yourself some referalls.