Though the recent iPhone 3.1 update added support for protecting against phishing sites, there were concerns that it didn’t catch any. But, as it turns out, that’s mainly because activating the feature requires a few more steps that most users didn’t know about.

The Anti-phishing database is initially downloaded only when three conditions are met:

1) Safari is idle
2) The iPhone (or iPodTouch) are charging (to ensure that the battery is not impacted)
3) The unit(s) are connected to an Wifi network (to ensure no cellular charges)

In order to take full advantage of the anti-phishing software, Apple recomends launching Safari on iPhone 3.1 on a Wi-Fi network, and then charging the phone with the screen off. The need for this extra step to download the database would probably explain why such irregular results have been seen.