App Developers Start Petition for Custom SMS Alerts on Apple iPhone

Brisbane, Australia, October 28, 2010 --(PR.com)-- iPhone users now have the opportunity to voice their opinion in a new online petition to Apple requesting custom SMS alert sounds. The petition was launched online on 25th October 2010.

Currently Apple restricts the ability of users to add their own audio files (custom sounds) as SMS alerts to the iPhone. This is in stark contrast to other mobile phone manufacturers. Brands such as Nokia, Blackberry, HTC and Sony Ericsson offer their users the ability to choose and add their own audio files as SMS sounds. However, this feature has been missing from every version of iPhone’s software since its release in 2007.

In mid 2010 Apple released iOS4, its latest mobile operating system offering multitasking and a host of other improvements. The software update coincided with the release of the iPhone 4, which boasts groundbreaking features such as the Retina Display and FaceTime. Despite these updates, the restriction on custom SMS alerts was maintained.

CellBubble Pty Ltd, a newcomer to Apple’s burgeoning iPhone developer community, is the petition organiser and has set a target of 100,000 signatures. Director Steve Richard-Preston stated, “As App developers and iPhone users, we cannot understand why Apple maintains such tight restrictions on using custom SMS sounds. It took Apple 9 months after the release of the first iPhone to allow custom ringtones and once again Apple seems to be inexplicably dragging its feet on the issue of user customisation. We feel strongly about this basic feature omission and as such are asking the iPhone community to unite and send a clear, consolidated message to Apple.”

The petition is hosted on Care2 Petionsite and can be viewed and signed at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/custom-sms-alert-sounds-for-iphone/

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