Japan’s noisy iPhone

Japan’s iPhones sold here and in Korea hold the dubious honor of being customised for their markets. We’re not talking about extra mobile functions, but a limitation — a constraint even.

Since the iPhone 3GS arrived in Japan in 2008, taking a photo and even a screenshot has been accompanied by a mandatory shutter noise. Something that iPhone users elsewhere probably turn off right away. Even switching to mute mode doesn’t stop the “passht” that was added to discourage covert photography (up-skirting).

The mandatory shutter sound has been a part of Japan’s camera phones almost since the first ones went on sale back in 2000.

Japan was the first country to sell camera-equipped phones that could send photos electronically; the Kyocera’s VP-210 which had what was then a cutting-edge 0.11-megapixel sensor: the era of camera phones had begun.