[periwinklemoon]

This is such a very basic question and I can't find an answer yet.

The native clock icon displays 10:15. Although the correct time in the banner at the top of the screen, why not on the clock icon as well?

Same for weather, it always shows 73 and sunny. Easy enough to click the icon and get weather, but I'm wondering why the icon itself doesn't reflect anything 'real'?

I guess I don't get why these are essentially 'dummy' icons.

[sj-performance]

When u jailbreak u can make these icons go live

[Bazza1]

....but not dummy questions.

After this many versions of the OS, I am not sure why Apple still doesn't have these things 'Live' - especially as other OSs seem perfectly capable of doing it. Laziness or just another legacy of Jobs' quirkiness?

Then again, Apple still seems to see the Touch, iPhone and iPad as nothing more than over-sexed iPods - primarily content delivery devices to the iTunes Store - so such information is incidental, at best.

[avt123]

Meh, no need now when you can just pull down the menu and have live weather right there as a widget. My weather and clock icons are hidden in folders.

Does microsoft have patents on live updates on icons (that's how their tiles work)? If so I can see this also being a reason why.

[periwinklemoon]

Feel so silly, just looked at my Bold, the clock icon is the exact same way. I never noticed that!

I wonder why that is, either Apple or RIM. Found this blog about a weather app that will dynamically update content without actually having to open an app. It was written last spring, and it's not so much the app but some of the comments that caught my attention. Whatever the reasoning, it seems like Apple feels strongly about it.

One thing I miss about the home screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab I briefly owned (there isn�t much) are the widgets that provide information without actually requiring a user to fully open an application. Apple only allows icons to be displayed on the home screen, and the only dynamic one of those is its own Calendar app. Third-party developers can�t use dynamic icons, and Apple doesn�t seem eager to give any other of its own first-party icons a dynamic makeover. Even its own Weather app always shows it as sunny, clear and 73 degrees, which can be annoying when it�s grey and hovering around zero with sleet falling everywhere. The only way to change an icon on the home screen is with a numbered badge, and that�s just how Fahrenheit and Celsius [apps] work.

Quote from here: New Apps Bring Live Weather to Your iPhone Homescreen — Apple News, Tips and Reviews

[dalton4L]

All app icons are static. The only things remotely live on iPhone are the weather and stock widgets in iOS 5 notification center.

EDIT: There really is no benefit to having a live icon, it would just waste battery.

[garrett]

There is one live icon on iOS and its the calendar icon as it always shows the day of the week and the numeric day of the month.

so the ability is already there so expanding on this shouldn't be an issue.

[Rockdog97]

When u jailbreak u can make these icons go live

No jailbreak for the 4S...yet...