Month: June 2009

How to Sync Google Calendar With iPhone Calendar

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

My fiance Tina is a mental therapist and she regularly has appointments with clients. She usually uses her old Samsung phone as a calendar but needless to say it is not very practical. I recently "forced" her to get an iPod Touch and one of my sales argument was that she could use it as a calendar and that she would be able to sync it with Google calendar over the air. Note that these were just arguments I pulled out of my butt so she agrees to get an iTouch (yes, the iTouch is more for me than for her)...

We finally bought a 32GB iPod Touch and I started looking into ways to sync an iPhone calendar with Google calendar. I found many options but all involved some third party apps and that's clearly not what I was looking for. I was very surprised that Apple hadn't included this feature in the iPhone/iPod Touch until I actually found an article on JAIB saying that the new OS 3.0 supports CalDAV with SSL so your are technically able to sync Google calendar with your iPhone or iPod Touch, as long as you have internet access.

Here is how to set up your iPhone or iPod Touch to sync calendars with Google over the air:

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > Other > Add CalDAV Account

2. For the CalDAV settings, enter the following information. Note that your username should be the email address you use to access your Google calendar as well as the password.

3. Then tap "Next" and it should verify your information.

4. If you can't get your account verified, tap "Advanced settings" and make sure that "Use SSL" is On, that the port is 443, and that your Account URL includes the sign "@" in your email address.

That's it!

Now every time you add an event to your iPhone calendar, it will also show up on your Google calendar, and vice versa. You obviously need to have internet access from your iPod or iPhone for the data to sync. Note that the sync is not immediate. It sometimes takes a few seconds but besides this, it works very well.

You might also find these posts interesting:

How to set up Google Sync for iPhone How to sync shared Google calendars with your iPhone How to sync your iPhone notes with Gmail

How to Enable Emoji Icons On OS 3.0

Sébastien Page ∙ June 29, 2009

There is a simple trick to enable the emoji keyboard on your iPhone. This trick has been around for a few days but for some reason, I never wrote about it. Loyal reader David emailed me earlier today and reminded me of this.

1. Install Spell Number from the App Store (it's a free app)

2. Launch the app and type 91929394.59

3. Press the home button

4. Go to Settings > General > Keyboards, and under "Japanese" select "Emoji"

You can now use these crazy little japanese icons. Note that you can delete the app if you don't want to keep it. Your Emoji keyboard will still be activated.

How to Enable MMS on the iPhone 2G

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 30, 2009

There is a new simple hack that allows owners of a first gen iPhone to enable MMS on their iPhone 2G. Your iPhone has to be jailbroken to enable MMS. If you don't know how to jailbreak your iPhone, please read this.

Now go to Cydia and look for the application called ActivateMMS2G from the iSpazio source. Install and reboot your iPhone and bingo!

Very important: this hack only works on OS 3.0 and 3.0.1. Do not install on 2.X or 3.1. Thanks @Stilgar702 for the tip!

Dev Team Delays the Release of the iPhone 3GS Jailbreak

Sébastien Page ∙ June 28, 2009

As I predicted in a post I wrote earlier today about the future iPhone 3GS jailbreak, the Dev Team officially announced that it will hold on on the release of the iPhone 3GS jailbreak.

The reason is simple. Apple is most likely coming up with 3.0.1 firmware very soon. Releasing the jailbreak would basically allow Apple to figure out what exploit the Dev Team used to jailbreak the 3GS and fix it.

Once the jailbreak is out, Apple will fix the iBoot-family bug we use to accomplish it. They will simply stop signing the old iBoots and only sign the fixed ones. If you bought your phone after Apple has done this, there’s nothing you can do…the jailbreak isn’t going to work for you.

It is possible that Apple will find the bug we use without our handing it to them on a silver platter (via a public jailbreak). In that case, we will have delayed our jailbreak for “nothing”. But we’d rather be safe than sorry!

Apple is surely coming out with a 3.0.1 firmware release shortly. They need to fix ultrasn0w. They need to fix some UI issues. 3.0 is buggy and 3.0.1 is coming. We’re going to wait and see what 3.0.1 brings before figuring out the release date for our version of the jailbreak.

Hopefully, Apple will release 3.0.1 soon and won't find the bug used to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS. Cross your fingers!

iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Coming Soon

Sébastien Page ∙ June 28, 2009

Less than a week after making the first steps towards an iPhone 3GS jailbreak, GeoHot posted more evidence of it. The jailbreak was made possible by using the 24Kpwn exploit the Dev Team talked about a few days ago.

The bad news is that we're gonna have to wait a bit to jailbreak our iPhone 3GS. Apple is about to release firmware 3.0.1 and it would make little sense for the Dev Team to release their jailbreak now. Instead, it is going to wait a bit and update PwnageTool and RedSn0w once 3.0.1 is out.

I don't know about you guys, but having a stock iPhone 3GS drives me nuts. I miss my jailbreak!

How to Activate Battery Percentage On iPhone 3.0

Sébastien Page ∙ June 28, 2009

One of the new features of the 3.0 firmware is numerical battery. This feature, which has been available for jailbroken iPhones for a long time, lets you see the percentage of the battery left. It's a really neat feature as I think it's more accurate that the little battery logo to figure out how much battery you have left.

It took me a while to find out how to activate the battery percentage as this feature is kinda burried in the settings.

To turn numerical battery on, simply go to Settings > General > Usage.

Feel free to contact me should you have tips & tricks about the new iPhone 3.0 firmware.

appDowner: A BitTorrent-Powered App Store Alternative For iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ June 27, 2009

If you've used Cydia, Icy, or even Appulous, the concept of an alternative to the App Store is old news to you, but soon there will be a new kid in town that will be the first App Store competitor using BitTorrent technology. This new app for jailbroken iPhones only is called appDowner.

appDowner was created by developer Alec Renolds back in 2008 with the idea to create a simple BitTorrent client for the iPhone. Unfortunately the project was put on hold for a while due to personal issues. But Renolds is now back at it and has expanded his original concept to create a complete replacement to Apple's App Store.

Unlike the App Store, there will be no app approval process and most applications submitted will be available for download within a week. appDowner can also be used as "client for non-app related downloads", which in other words means you'll be able to illegally download music directly from the app.

Something that's not really clear about appDowner is whether or not you will be able to download cracked applications for your iPhone.

We've seen our share of App Store replacements. The 2 most serious ones, Cydia Store and Rock Your Phone, haven't reached a critical audience yet. Will appDowner be able to do that?

appDowner is still being worked on and it should be available in Cydia for download soon.

The iPhone 3GS is Waterproof

Sébastien Page ∙ June 26, 2009

This is an undocumented feature of the iPhone 3GS. Apparently the new iPhone is waterproof... What?

Well, this guy was trying out video recording by the swimming pool when the iPhone accidentally slipped off his hand. The result: the first underwater video recorded with an iPhone. Check out the video below to see it for yourself.

iPhone 3GS Jailbreak & Unlock Confirmed

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 5, 2016

Less than a week after the launch of the iPhone 3GS, the Dev Team confirmed it will soon be possible to jailbreak the 24Kpwn exploit that the hybrid team used on the iPod Touch 2G. This 24Kpwn exploit applies for the bootrom of the iPhone 3GS. In other words, you will soon be able to use RedSn0w to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS.

The other news is that once jailbroken, you will be able to use the current version of UltraSn0w to unlock the iPhone 3GS.

This is great news, but how did it happen? Why didn’t Apple fix this in their normal cat&mouse fashion? Well it seems this bootrom was cut in about the August 2008 timeframe, so the unintended early reveal of 24Kpwn earlier this year didn’t affect the iPhone 3GS.

Important: Apple has not given up on the cat&mouse game, and in fact there are challenging aspects of the 3GS jailbreak that aren’t in the other devices. It’ll take some time to safely work these into our tools, but the fundamental weaknesses are there: The bootrom is exploitable via 24Kpwn, and the baseband is exploitable via ultrasn0w. (And just like with the 3G, ultrasn0w for 3GS requires that you not update your baseband when Apple comes out with new firmware.)

If you're really into iPhone hacking, the Dev Team released the technical notes about the 24Kpwn exploit in the iPhone 3GS. These notes can be found here.

There is no information so far on the expected release date of the iPhone 3GS jailbreak but I am confident the Dev Team will have it ready within the next 2 weeks. The sooner, the better. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going nuts with my unjailbroken iPhone.

Hide SMS Preview in iPhone OS 3.0

Sébastien Page ∙ June 25, 2009

Imagine you're having a wonderful dinner at a fancy restaurant with your wife or fiance. As usual, you put your iPhone on the table so the others can see what a cool kid you are. All the sudden, the following text message arrives on your iPhone. Before you have time to hit "close", your wife has already ripped your head off.

This accident likely happened hundreds if not thousands of times since the iPhone came out in 2007. Until then, there was nothing you could do. A few jailbreak applications allowed you to hide this but for some reason, Apple never felt it was a feature worth including in the iPhone OS.

Things have changed with the release of the 3.0 firmware which now allows you to hide the preview of any incoming SMS.

To activate this feature, simply go to Settings > Messages > and turn "Show Preview" off. As you can see on the image above, Apple also added a feature that will alert you two more times after receiving a SMS if you don't read it right away. This is a feature that has also been available for a long time to jailbreakers.

Hiding the preview of an SMS won't completely hide it from showing up on your springboard. You will still get a popup showing the name of the sender and "text message", with the option for you to view the SMS or just close the popup.

That was a much needed option but I think it's too bad you still see the name of the sender (or his phone number if not in your contacts). It's a matter of privacy. A name showing up on your iPhone can still lead to awkward moments...

Have you ever had an awkward because of a SMS arriving on your iPhone? If so, please share it with us in the comments.

psx4iphone PlayStation Emulator Running On iPhone 3GS

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

iPhone "jailbreak artist" ZodTTD released a video showing psx4iphone, a PlayStation emulator, running on a non-jailbroken iPhone 3GS and it looks great (see video below).

I now have psx4iphone running very speedy on the 3GS. It’s at the point where Final Fantasy 7 is fullspeed at very least without sound. The build is rough around the edges, as you can’t switch games without restarting the emulator, and only memory card saves are currently working, no save states just yet. Both these issues are being worked on.

Wanna test this on your own iPhone 3GS? Hurry up! ZodTTD is giving a chance to 40 lucky peeps. Check out his blog for more details.

iPhone 3G S Now Called iPhone 3GS. See the Difference?

Sébastien Page ∙ June 24, 2009

When the new iPhone 3GS was unveiled at the WWDC earlier this month, I wrote it "iPhone 3GS", with no space between the "G" and the "S". At the time, it seemed to make sense to me. I quickly realized that I was mispelling it, according to Apple's website, who added a space between the "G" and the "S". So I changed the way I spelled it.

Well, I guess I have to change that again and go back to no space again as Apple quietly changed back the name of the new iPhone to "iPhone 3GS" with no space. Any mention of "iPhone 3G S" on Apple's website has now been replaced by "iPhone 3GS". Why such a move? Nobody knows except probably a few people at Apple.

Meaningless change will you say. Not so meaningless for bloggers and even for iPhone 3GS consumers.

First, we bloggers are used to tag articles with specific keywords related to the article. You may see these tags at the top of the page of each article on this blog. This article for example is tagged with "Apple", and "iPhone 3GS". By doing this name change, Apple is forcing bloggers to update their tags, which just takes a few seconds, but most importantly to update articles written in the past that were linking to these tags. Not sure if I'm clear here. If not, don't worry because you don't care about that.

Where you do care though, is if you make a search on Bing.com (note I don't use Google anymore) for the term "iPhone 3GS battery information" for example. The search engine will return information about iPhone 3Gs, not iPhone 3GS. Do you see the difference? The search engine thinks you typed the plural of iPhone 3G. While that seems like a detail, it could have its importance, especially for e-commerce sites.

Anyways, now you know how to correctly spell iPhone 3GS. I'm sure it makes you day.... Not!