When iPhone Applications Crash

iPhone applications crash as gracefully as one could wish. You just find yourself unexpectedly back at the start screen, with all the icons looking up at you innocently as if nothing bad just happened.

The easiest application to crash is the Maps application. While searching for directions to a regional landmark, Maps kicked us back to the start screen several times. Since our search was still in the Recents list it wasn't difficult to try, try again.

Another potential crash point is while editing a Contact, especially when you select the Take Photo option. Since the iPhone inexplicably does not add the pictures taken at this point to the Camera Roll you may simply lose it altogether, along with any changes you haven't saved yet. The crucial moment is just after hitting Set Photo. I watched in dismay as a second hourglass appeared a little below the first and then *swoosh* there I was back at the start screen. A more certain method for assigning a photo to a contact is to take the picture first and choose the Select Existing Photo option.