Month: October 2009

How to Solve iFunBox, iPhoneBrowser, DiskAid, and WinterBoard Issues After Using BlackRa1n

Sébastien Page ∙ October 21, 2009

After jailbreaking using BlackRa1n, you may be facing an issue where you can't access the root folder of your iPhone using tools such as iFunBox, DiskAid, and iPhoneBrowser. Some users also report issues when using WinterBoard. I said it and I'll say it again, BlackRa1n is crappy. If you have the option, I recommend using PwnageTool instead. It is a much more reliable and stable jailbreak than BlackRa1n.

The problem comes from the fact that BlackRa1n doesn’t add the afc2 support to your iPhone that is necessary for iPhoneBrowser, iFunBox, and DiskAid to access the file system and allow the transfer of files such as Winterboard themes, NES ROMs, etc... to the iPhone. In other words, you can’t access the root partition of your drive.

To fix this annoying issue, simply install the afc2add patch from Cydia then reboot your iPhone. Done!

Have you had many issues with BlackRa1n? Let us know what you think about this jailbreak by leaving a comment below.

iPhone In-App Purchase: You Are the Big Loser

Sébastien Page ∙ October 19, 2009

Last week Apple started authorizing in-app purchase for free iPhone apps. This move was very well welcome by developers who see in this a better way to fight app piracy. I personally don't think in-app purchase will change much to app piracy, but I might be wrong.

I am sure of one thing though: you, the buyer will ultimately be the big loser in this game. Let's take the example of an iPhone game. Before in-app purchase, you would buy the game for let's say $2.99. You own the game and the 40 levels it includes. If there are new updates to the game (ie. new levels), you get them for free. It's all good.

Now with in-app purchase, most developers will give you the same game for free, except it only has 2 levels. If you want 10 more levels, it will cost you $0.99. Another 10 more levels is another $0.99. Another 10 more levels is another $0.99, etc...

So instead of paying $2.99 for the full game, you now have to pay $0.99 at a time to get the upgrades or newer levels. In the end, the full game will end up costing you more than you would have paid if you had purchased the game in one shot.

I understand not all developers will go that way but I'm pretty sure a lot of them will.

What do you think about in-app purchase? Do you think that ultimately, the buyer will benefit from this? I look forward to hearing your thoughts...

Weekly Wrapup: Jailbreak & Unlock Tutorials, and Much More…

Sébastien Page ∙ October 18, 2009

This is a recap of this week's articles...

BlackRa1n is NOT the greatest jailbreak ever - If you think BlackRa1n is the best, you probably were not around when iPhone OS 1.1.1 could be jailbroken directly from your iPhone.

PwnageTool updated for iPhone 3.1.2 - This updated version of PwnageTool now supports the iPhone and iPod Touch OS 3.1.2.

iPhone 3G and 3GS PwnageTool tutorial - This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone 3G or 3GS OS 3.1.2 using PwnageTool 3.1.4 for Mac OS X.

Jailbreak /unlock iPhone 2G PwnageTool tutorial - A a step-by-step guide and tutorial that shows you how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G 3.1.2 using PwnageTool for Mac OS X.

BlackRa1n for Mac - GeoHot announced the release of BlackRa1n for Mac.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.2 - This article is a summary of the options you have to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.2 depending on your model.

Unlock iPhone 3.1.2 - This article is a summary of the different options you have to unlock your iPhone, iPhone 3G, or iPhone 3GS running 3.1.2.

Future iPhones will be jailbreak-proof? - Apple decided to give some hard time to jailbreakers by fixing the 24Kpwn exploit on the iPhone 3GS bootrom, which is the exploit that allows you to jailbreak your iPhone.

10 iPhone apps to save the planet - A selection of green iPhone apps.

In-app purchase and piracy - To me, in-app purchase will not kill iPhone apps piracy.

Orbit for iPhone - Orbit brings you an instant way to switch between pages on your home screen.

Orbit (Previously Expose) is Now Available on Jailbroken iPhones

Sébastien Page ∙ October 17, 2009

There has been a lot of noise recently about a concept called Expose (see video below). Today, Expose is more than a concept and it has officially become an application renamed Orbit for the occasion.

Orbit brings you an instant way to switch between pages on your home screen. Based on the "iPhone Expose" concept, this modification gives you an icon that, when tapped, animates your home page into Orbit.

The app was created by Steven Troughton-Smith, the developer of Stack. If you have a Mac, you might even be familiar with the concept as Orbit is pretty much like Spaces on the Mac.

Orbit is available from Cydia for $1.99. I haven't downloaded the application has I wouldn't make any use of it (I don't have many apps installed) but I know there are a lot of people out there who were patiently waiting for the release of this app.

Will In-App Purchase Kill iPhone Apps Piracy?

Sébastien Page ∙ October 16, 2009

Yesterday the news fell that Apple was finally allowing free iPhone apps to include in-app purchases. Until then, developers who wanted to offer a free trial of their applications had to create 2 versions: a full-featured paid version, and a "lite" stripped-down version with very basic features.

The news was very well welcome, especially by developers who see in this new system a chance to reduce application piracy. Two articles got my attention yesterday as they were insinuating that in-app purchase for free apps was the end of piracy.

From MobileCrunch:

Here’s the trick: while you can crack an iPhone application and throw it up for all to download in a matter of seconds, you can’t fake an In-App purchase receipt. A pretty notable chunk of the In-App purchase process is actually handled on the developer’s server, in addition to Apple’s – so unlike the initial purchase (which devs actually get to know very, very little about), developers know pretty damn well exactly which iPhones should be running which In-App Purchase. Developers have a specific receipt for each in-app purchase, which resides on their server. Faking this would be like tricking Amazon into shipping you a TV that you didn’t pay for.

From TUAW:

"Will this help in anti-piracy measures?" Definitely. StoreKit allows developers to validate receipts, ensuring that unlock codes are only sent to paying customers. Add a hash-check algorithm for the current device and developers have better control over who gets to use their applications.

I am not much of a technical person ("StoreKit" and "hash-check algorithm" sound like Chinese to me) but I really doubt that in-app purchase is the end of piracy. If anything, it's going to start a new era of iPhone app piracy.

To crack an application, you first have to download it. So let's say I'm a cracker, I download the app, I pay for the in-app purchase that "unlocks" the full-featured app. Now that I have everything, I just need to crack the application and make it available to the general public.

Nothing changes. Maybe the way I crack the application changes. Maybe I have to bypass a few new protections like the StoreKit thing, but in the end, if I have the full application to work on, there will always be a way to trick the app into thinking it is legit.

So to me, in-app purchase will not kill iPhone apps piracy. At best, it will slow it down and instead of getting the cracked version of XYZgame in 2 hours after the release, I'll get it in 3 hours. At the end of the day, you still get your cracked app.

As I said above, I'm not technical at all and I might be missing something here. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say about it. Do you think in-app purchase will put an end to iPhone app piracy? Why? How? Leave a comment to share your views.

10 iPhone Apps to Save the Planet

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

I don't know if you guys are aware of it but today is Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. The goal is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion about important issues. This year's topic is climate change so we selected a few applications that will help you lower your environmental impact on our planet.

iLocavore

iLocavore (download for free) will be your mobile tool for finding locally grown foods and locally made products at home and on the road. Never get stuck shopping at the big box stores or the giant chain restaurants again. You will always be able to find the independent retailer, the farmers’ market, the restaurant that supports local farms. Really experience the local scene when you travel, and easily support your local economy, local farmers, artisan producers, and independent retailers while at home.

Carticipate

Save money on gas while helping the environment by carticipating with friends, family, groups, or co-workers. Coordinate driving plans, carpool, or a ride share by indicating where you are going, when, and post your ride. The app will match you to local carticipants going your way. Carticipate (download for free) is also available on Facebook, for those friends of yours unfortunate enough not to have an iPhone and want to rideshare.

iRecycle

iRecycle (download for free) makes it easy to access over 100,000 recycling and disposal locations for over 200 materials anywhere in the United States. Find places to drop-off your old cell phone, get directions and find out what else they accept. With information provided by local governments, industry insiders, organizations and everyday consumers, you can recycle hundreds of products from packing peanuts to computers.

Carbon Tracker

Carbon Tracker (download for free) enables you to manage your personal carbon footprint from commuting, vacations, or business trips. Use the iPhone GPS feature to determine the approximate distance of each leg of your trip, select the mode of transportation, and let Carbon Tracker calculate your carbon footprint. Set monthly maximum footprint goals, and play an important role in helping to reduce carbon emissions globally.

greenMeter

greenMeter (download for $5.99) is an app that computes your vehicle's power and fuel usage characteristics and evaluates your driving to increase efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and cost, and lower your environmental impact. If you're into hypermiling or eco-driving, want to make your transportation more efficient, or are simply interested in maintaining a green lifestyle, give greenMeter a try! It pays for itself within 1-2 tanks of gas.

Green Outlet

One of the easiest ways to save money is to reduce your electric use and while you save money on your bill your also helping save the environment. Green Outlet (download for $2.99) helps you identify which of your household appliances are costing you the most to run so you can make informed decisions about your electric use. By selecting the types of appliances you use in your home and entering how many hours of use per day for each green outlet will give you a detailed list of what your appliances are costing you and will show you how to save money.

GenGreenTips

Many people are dedicated to going green on Earth Day, but we believe making small changes are the way to take better care of the planet every day! GenGreenTips (download for free) will suggest a Green Tip of the Day that you can use to decrease the environmental impact of your daily routine in a small, but significant way.

AllOrganic

Want to eat healthy and naturally? Want to help reduce the negative impact that we have on the environment? Find it difficult to locate and find establishments that sell & serve organic and local foods? Then AllOrganic (download for $0.99) is for you. AllOrganic is a green resource for people who want to eat healthy, and eat organic in the city you live in, or while traveling.

Cruelty-Free

Published by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program, Cruelty-Free (download for free) is a shopping guide that lists over 200 U.S. and Canadian companies that do not test ingredients, formulations, or finished products on animals. The Leaping Bunny Program certifies that no new animal testing is used, so you can be confident about your cruelty-free choices.

GoodGuide

GoodGuide (download for free) helps you find safe, healthy, and green products while you're shopping in the store. GoodGuide strives to provide the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental and social impacts of products and companies. This app makes it fast and easy to get the information you need, to help you make better decisions on everyday purchases based on what's important to you.

Do you use green apps? Let us know in the comments...

Apple Makes Future iPhones Jailbreak-Proof

Sébastien Page ∙ October 14, 2009

In a not so surprising move, Apple decided to give some hard time to jailbreakers by fixing the 24Kpwn exploit on the iPhone 3GS bootrom, which is the exploit that allows you to jailbreak your iPhone.

If like me you're not much of a technical person, here is an explanation from MobileCrunch:

If you want the full technical rundown of the exploit, you can find it here. In its simplest form: as with all computers, the iPhone requires something called a “Bootrom” to startup. During the startup process, one stretch of code in the Bootrom fails to ensure that the content being loaded is within a certain size limit. By throwing more instructions at that chunk of code than it’s intended to handle, exploiters are able to make the iPhone do damn near whatever they want; in this case, the jailbreaking process.

The reason for patching this exploit is unknown but we suspect it is to prevent applications piracy.

What's next? Well, the Dev Team and other iPhone hackers now have some more work to add to their plate. No code is perfect and there's probably other holes to exploit. It's now just a matter of time...

This cat and mouse game between Apple and the jailbreaking community is far beyond ridiculous now and iPhone users are getting tired of it. Yes, the iPhone is without a doubt the best mobile device out there, but all these stupid restrictions from Apple are leaving us tired and frustrated.

Apple was once famous for its "1984 commercial" that wanted the Mac to symbolize the idea of empowerment, with the ad showcasing the Mac as a tool for combating conformity and asserting originality. Look at what Apple has become. A perfect case study of irony and hypocrisy in business.

What do you think?

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/10/13/apple-moves-to-block-jailbreaks-once-and-for-all/

BlackRa1n for Mac is Now Available

Sébastien Page ∙ October 13, 2009

It is a very busy jailbreak day today with the release of PwnageTool 3.1.4 by the Dev Team and now GeoHot who just announced the release of BlackRa1n for Mac.

It is important to note that jailbreaking your iPhone 3.1.2 with BlackRa1n requires you to update to 3.1.2 prior to jailbreaking the firmware. If you are looking to unlock your iPhone later on, it is not recommended using BlackRa1n as it will update your baseband.

Should you want to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.2 to unlock it later on, I suggest you use PwnageTool instead as it will not update your baseband. As a matter of fact, I recommend using PwnageTool over BlackRa1n if you can.

You can download BlackRa1n for Mac from our downloads page. For a step-by-step guide on how to use BlackRa1n, please read our BlackRa1n jailbreak tutorial.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 3, 2009

Since the release of OS 3.1.2 last week, there has been a friendly competition to release a jailbreak for the iPhone 3.1.2. GeoHot was the first to release the iPhone 3.1.2 jailbreak called BlackRa1n, followed by the Dev Team and their PwnageTool.

If I can make a suggestion, do not use BlackRa1n. It is buggy and unstable. PwnageTool is much more stable and "clean".

This article is a summary of the options you have to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.2 depending on your model.

Unlock iPhone 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 3, 2009

With every new firmware comes a new unlock. Once again, it only took the Dev Team a few days to release an update to their PwnageTool and UltraSn0w to bring a safe and reliable iPhone 3.1.2 unlock.

This article is a summary of the different options you have to unlock your iPhone, iPhone 3G, or iPhone 3GS running 3.1.2.

Jailbreak and Unlock iPhone 2G 3.1.2 Using PwnageTool

Sébastien Page ∙ October 13, 2009

A few weeks ago, I wrote a step-by-step guide and tutorial that shows you how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G 3.1 using PwnageTool for Mac OS X. I could very well rewrite this tutorial again and call it "jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G 3.1.2 with PwnageTool" but that would be a waste of time as the steps are identical.

I suggest you check out this tutorial and follow the steps over there. The only thing that will change is that instead of using the firmware 3.1, you will have to use firmware 3.1.2 (iPhone1,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw). Everything else is exactly the same.

Jailbreak iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 with PwnageTool

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone 3G or 3GS OS 3.1.2 using PwnageTool 3.1.4 for Mac OS X. PwnageTool is a Mac and Mac only tool. There is no equivalent for Windows and no one knows yet when such a tool for Windows will be released.

If you updated your iPhone via iTunes to 3.1.2 or if you bought your iPhone with 3.1.2 pre-installed, you will be able to jailbreak it, however, you will not be able to unlock it. On the other hand. if you are still on 3.0 or if you have updated to 3.1 using PwnageTool, you preserved your baseband and you will be able to unlock using UltraSn0w.

This tutorial is written for both the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The steps are identical. The only thing that changes is the file you have to download in order to create your custom IPSW.

How to jailbreak iPhone 3G/3GS 3.1.2: