iPhone gets orientation lock, slide out iPod controls in latest Beta

Greg Kumparak

Greg Kumparak is the Mobile Editor at Techcrunch. Greg has been writing for the TechCrunch network since May of 2008. Greg was born just outside of San Jose, and now lives in the East Bay of California. → Learn More

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Just when we were starting to thinking that the only new feature newest iPhone OS 4 Beta had over the one before it was that it.. you know.. works*, up popped this little gem.

As with all the OS 4 Betas that came before it, double tapping the home key bring’s up Apple’s app-switching drawer, offering up a list of recently used applications. In Beta 3, however, this drawer packs a few new tricks: iPod controls, and a much-clamored-for orientation lock option. This new page is accessed by swiping the drawer to the left from the first page, similar to how users go from Page 1 of the homescreen to the Spotlight search page.

Orientation locking is a feature that many users — primarily those who read in bed — have been asking for for ages. The iPad offered it up first, with the hardware switch near the volume keys locking the orientation rather than silencing the device.

* At least, it seems to work — there’s still no word as to why Apple just pulled it down

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