Top 5 Gay iPhone Apps

By Guest Author on Nov 30, 2009

This is a guest post by Tyrone Ford. If you want to guest post on this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

The Apple App Store just hit 100,000 apps which is an amazing statistic within itself. If you take a look at the App Store Metrics on 148Apps.Biz you will find that Games make up 16.9%, Entertainment makes up 13.86% and Books come in at 13.69%. These three are responsible for the top selling categories in the App Store. Buried within apps where you can accomplish nearly anything from running your own virtual Spa in Sally’s Spa or for those in the medical field there is STAT ICD-9 LITE which provides all 13,677 ICD-9-CD diagnosis codes to the user’s iPhone.

With so many different options it’s no surprise whatsoever that various Gay related apps would not only be created but thrive within the community. There are some good and some bad ones but a few stand out from the crowd so here are the top 5 Gay related iPhone apps you may want to take a look at.

Number 1: Edge Gay News Reader

I would have to say the top GLBT iPhone app would have to be The EDGE Gay News Reader (Get it here). The iPhone version of the hugely successful EDGE.com which is “largest network of local Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) news and entertainment portals in the world, serving 500,000 dedicated readers from a variety of metropolitan areas around the United States and beyond.”

Per EDGE.com and iTunes here is what comes along with this free app:

The world’s largest network of gay and lesbian news and entertainment portals is now available on your iPhone and iPod Touch!

Headlines
EDGE publishes news, entertainment, business, technology, style, health, fitness, travel and nightlife information to readers around the world. For the LGBT community, staying connected on the go has never been so easy.

Columnists
Read fabulous commentary from individuals from within and without the LGBT community about life, relationships, and the issues facing gays and lesbians the world over.

Photos
Flip through photos taken by EDGE’s team in cities around the nation. Did we catch you or your friends at a nightlife or community event? Find out – even when you’re not at your computer.

Business Directory
Find out where to eat, drink, stay and party with EDGE’s list of community-maintained, LGBT-friendly businesses in each of our target markets – including Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Providence, Orlando, Provincetown and Fire Island.

Number 2: Grindr

“Whether he’s Mr. Right or Mr. Tonight, your man is hanging out on Grindr, a killer location-based social networking tool for the iPhone or iPod Touch.” I would have to agree with the people over at Grindr’s site, this handy little app is definitely a well put together social networking tool for gay men.

Grindr, unlike many other social network sites was made for the mobile world we live in. Grindr uses your iPhone or iPod Touch’s built-in technology to map out which guys are closest to you—but how much info you share with them is entirely up to you. This will help find who’s around or if you’re traveling to maybe help find a local to show you around.

Grindr has no complicated registration process, nor do you need to enter an email address, or validate your account. Grindr is quick, convenient, and discreet. Trade your stats, show off a photo, instant message any guy you like. Share your location on a map and make plans to meet up right away. Or just browse the local scene.

Grindr is a free app (get it here) but for $2.99 you can get the paid Grindr X. The difference being, Grindr X is ad free and you can see 100 more guys (200 total) in your area. The cost of X only covers usage for 1 month after which you will be asked if you want to continue your subscription for an extra fee.

Number 3: Gay Internet Radio Live (G.I.R.L)

Playing today’s hottest dance, club and remixes 24 hours a day, GayInternetRadioLive.com is a blend of party, dance, club, and circuit sounds that will keep you dancing. Unlike terrestrial radio, you’ll hear remixes of popular mainstream hits that have been remixed by internationally known Dance Mix DJ’s and producers.

This free app is pretty straight forward with no directories to search, providing immediate access. Artist and song title information is displayed for each track. Instant feedback link to email station DJ’s, “one click” button to the request lines and two stream choices 128k and 64k. For best sound quality listen to Gay Internet Radio Live using a WiFi connection. Visit GayInternetRadioLive.com for more information or get G.I.R.L here.

Number 4: Gay Cities

Gay Cities is a free app that comes in very useful when either traveling or if you’re new to your city. Instantly access gay-friendly restaurants, gay bars, hotels and beaches over 95 cities worldwide. Gay Cities provides up-to-date info. One click for phone number, web site & directions. Instant access to reviews by like minded travelers. Quickly find nearby bars, restaurants & hotels. Search for features that suit your taste. Find the setting that’s right for you. Easily access favorites and recent searches. Get Gay Cities on your iPhone here.

Number 5: My Gay Agenda

I couldn’t help but include this functional yet very tongue-in-cheek humorous app. My Gay Agenda is tagged as a “fabulous calendar application” and that’s exactly what it is. With a few extras that will definitely make your day. The good people over at Cerebral Itch greet you by saying:

We’ve always suspected what your plans were: destroy marriage, recruit children and do lots of cardio. Well, here’s the proof: My Gay Agenda is a first-class personal calendar application and hilarious take on what the well-organized “Velvet Mafia” operative would carry.

My Gay Agenda is a powerful personal calendar app complete with ubiquitous event features for all-day events and events that span multiple days. MGA also has a stylish and robust Notes feature and “Today In Gay” – a daily historical synopsis of key “historical events”.

You also may occasionally come across handwritten notes unveiling nefarious plans to take over the world (or make it a bit more fabulous).

My Gay Agenda comes in both a free version, here, which only allows you to schedule events within the month you are in. There is also a $2.99 paid version, here, which opens up the full scheduling capabilities.

Tyrone Ford is a blogger based out of Washington D.C. who focuses on LGBT issues, pop culture, technology and social media. Find Ty’s personal blog at http://BetterCallTyrone.com/.

 

Cyber Monday iPhone Deals You Can’t Miss

By Sebastien Page on Nov 29, 2009

I rarely do self promotion on this blog but I’m going to make an exception today…

I invite you to visit our iPhone Accessories Store this Monday, November 30th to take advantage of our Cyber Monday giant sale with 10% off all accessories.

Simply enter the coupon code MONDAYPHONE at checkout, under billing info, to have the 10% discount applied to your entire cart of accessories.

This coupon is good from Monday, November 30, 2009, 12:01 am until Monday Midnight PST in our iPhone Accessories Store only.

 

What You Missed This Week: iPhone Multitasking, Voice Control, Worms, and More…

By Sebastien Page on Nov 29, 2009

This is a summary of the articles posted on the blog this past week.

iPhone multitasking made easy – MultiFl0w is a new application that brings multitasking to the iPhone.

Voice Control on the iPhone 2G and 3G – This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to enable the Voice Control feature on your iPhone 2G or iPhone 3G.

10 features the iPhone is still missing – A list of features that need to be implemented on the next iPhone.

iPhone worms and how to get rid of them – In this article, I will show you how to figure out which worm (if any) has infected your iPhone, and how to get rid of it while making sure it never comes back.

Add widgets to your iPhone – Gizmoz is a new application available in the App Store that will bring widgets to your iPhone without having to jailbreak it.

The iPhone as a travel companion – My fiancée and I are currently in Sydney, Australia, and even 10,000 miles away from home, my iPhone is still saving the day.

 

The iPhone is Your Best Travel Companion

By Sebastien Page on Nov 28, 2009

My fiancée and I are currently in Sydney, Australia, and even 10,000 miles away from home, my iPhone is still saving the day.

We’re staying in the Potts Point neighborhood and of course the first thing we wanted to do was checking out the Sydney Opera House.

The question that quickly came up was “how to get there from our hotel?”. Tina got the reaction that most people would have: she looked at a map and tried figuring out where we were and how to get to the Opera House.

While she was busy looking at our Lonely Planet guide, I grabbed my iPhone, launched the Map app, dropped a pin where the Opera House is located and asked for directions from our current location (our hotel) to there.

Tina was still busy turning the pages that I had step by step directions with a map, estimated distance and time. That my friend is why I got an iPhone.

Of course we could easily get around without an iPhone but why work hard when you can work smart?

 

iGizmoz Lets You Add Widgets to Your iPhone (No Jailbreak Necessary)

By Sebastien Page on Nov 27, 2009

iGizmoz is a new application available in the App Store that will bring widgets to your iPhone without having to jailbreak it.

There are currently a few applications such as Cydget and SmartScreen that let you set up widgets on your iPhone but the downside, if we can call this a downside, is that you have to be jailbroken.

iGizmoz is legit and 100% Apple approved. It comes with 11 customizable widgets:

  • Calendar
  • Countdown
  • Flashlight
  • Search tool
  • Slideshow
  • Speed dial
  • Sticky notes
  • Stopwatch
  • Swinging creature
  • Tic tac toe game
  • World clock

The folks over at AIS seemed to really like iGizmoz:

I had absolutely no issues customizing or using any of the widgets. The entire application is extrememly smooth and exquisitely designed. iGizmoz is most definitely worth the $0.99 price tag if not only just to experience widgets at their best!

One problem I have with iGizmoz is that you have to launch the app first before being able to access the widgets. It kinda defeats the purpose of the whole widget thing but it’s better than nothing. Purists might still prefer using jailbreak apps and access the widgets directly from the lockscreen.

You can download iGizmoz from the App Store for $0.99.

I’d be interested to see what you think about iGizmoz.

 

Warning: Your iPhone is Under Attack! Here Are Instructions on How to Get Maximum Protection

By Sebastien Page on Nov 26, 2009

Let’s be honest, the iPhone has had a pretty long run without being the target of hackers and it’s about time it gets its share of viruses and worms.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article showing you how to protect your iPhone against hackers. But what happens if you have already been infected? What are the symptoms and how to get rid of them?

In this article, I will show you how to figure out which worm (if any) has infected your iPhone, and how to get rid of it while making sure it never comes back.

This information was first compiled by Patrick Miller of PC World, and I adapted it for the purpose of this article.

Ikee

Ikee was the first virus to target the iPhone. The symptoms are pretty clear: it changes your wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley. So if you see a picture of a young man with the words “ikee is never gonna give you up”, then look no further, you have been infected by the Ikee worm.

Thankfully, getting rid of Ikee is pretty simple. First you will have to download and install MobileTerminal from Cydia and reboot your iPhone. Then launch MobileTerminal and login with your username and password under your root account. If you haven’t changed it yet (and you should), your username is “root” and your password is “alpine”.

Now follow these commands. Everything is case sensitive so be very careful.

rm /bin/poc-bbot
rm /bin/sshpass
rm /var/log/youcanbeclosertogod.jpg
rm /var/mobile/LockBackground.jpg
rm /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ikey.bbot.plist
rm /var/lock/bbot.lock

These commands sometimes don’t work. That means you are infected by an alternate version of Ikee. If that’s the case, follow these commands instead:

rm /usr/libexec/cydia/startup
rm /usr/libexec/cydia/startup.so
rm /usr/libexec/cydia/startup-helper
rm /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.saurik.Cydia.Startup.plist

Note that if you have to remove the 4 files above, you will have to reinstall Cydia.

iPhone/Privacy.A

The iPhone/Privacy.A is harder to detect because it doesn’t leave any track on your iPhone. Instead, it can be installed on any computer (even Mac OS X) and it will scan all available networks in search of a vulnerable iPhone to infect.

In order to get rid of iPhone/Privacy.A, simply update and run your antivirus. It should have no problem detecting and deleting it.

Unnamed Worm

The last worm hasn’t been named yet. You can easily figure out if you’ve been infected if your battery is running down abnormally quickly. The reason to this battery drain is that the worm is constantly running in the background in search of other iPhones to spread to over wifi. This one is pretty tricky too as it will change your default SSH password to prevent you from deleting it.

Unfortunately there is no easy fix for this unnamed worm. The only solution at the time is to restore your iPhone and set it up as a new phone (do not restore from backup).

How to Make Sure You Don’t get Infected Again

The best way to make sure you don’t get infected in the first place (or don’t get infected again) is to change your iPhone root password. You may want to refer to this tutorial on how to do this.

I hope this information will be usefel those of you who have been infected, but hopefully you won’t have to use it…

 

10 Features the iPhone is Still Missing

By Sebastien Page on Nov 25, 2009

Every consumer survey out there ranks the iPhone as the bestest phone on the market, putting the Palm Pre and Android phones to shame. True. I love my iPhone. It is from far the best device I have ever owned. However, there is still room for improvement.

I read an article on eWeek today titled “10 things we’re still missing from the iPhone”. It’s really spot on and I’d like to share with you what these missing features are, and my take on what Apple needs to implement in the next iPhone, both in terms of hardware and software.

1. Enterprise Features

The iPhone is not business friendly. When people ask me what type of phone they should get, I always tell them that if they want to use it for business then they should get a BlackBerry. If they want a cool phone to do everything but work, then get an iPhone. The iPhone doesn’t even allow you to save your attachments. How can that work for any business person out there?

2. Multitasking

It’s not that the iPhone can’t handle multitasking, it’s just that Apple doesn’t want you to have it. Why? Probably so they can include it in the next iPhone and get you to buy the newer model. Fortunately, there are some alternatives (Backgrounder + MultiFlow).

3 . Physical Keybard

A touch screen is great, but a physical keyboard is better. There is no way Apple will ever add a physical keyboard to the iPhone, but one can dream, right?

4. Open Source

Just like the physical keyboard, this will never happen. Apple became successful by and for its closed platform and this is not going to change.

5. Friendly Developer Rules

Many iPhone devs are fleeing the App Store, but even more are getting in, sometimes lured by the myth of easy and quick money. The App Store is still young and Apple still has a lot to learn. The problem is Apple is not a team player but hopefully they will figure out soon that communicating can go a long way when dealing with the developers that make your platform the success it is.

6. Interchangeable Batteries

Who hasn’t complained about the poor battery life of his/her iPhone? The iPhone has a very poor battery life and yes, a removable battery would be great. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to happen though. If like me, your iPhone battery sucks, read my 18 tips to improve your battery life.

7. VoIP over 3G

Apple (or AT&T?) doesn’t want you to use your VoIP apps such as Skype or even Google Voice (which got rejected) over 3G because it would be most likely clog the network. If your iPhone is jailbroken, you do have the option to bypass these restrictions…

8. Multiple Carriers

So far, Apple has an exclusivity with AT&T and not everyone is happy about that. In Europe, it seems that the end of iPhone exlusivity means boosted sales for Apple. We can hope to see Apple ends its exclusive agreement with AT&T and make the iPhone available on other carriers (most likely T-Mobile).

9. Removable Storage

I don’t think this is a must-have feature but it’s always a nice one to have. Instead of adding removable storage (ie SD card), I think Apple should allow you to use your iPhone as a hard drive, which it kinda does in a cumbersome way so far. An easier way is to use this hack to set up your iPhone as a USB drive.

10. Some Serious Competition

Probably the most insteresting point of all is the lack of competition to Apple’s supremacy. No real competition means that Apple can basically do whatever they want as they are in no rush to release all the features we might want. In the end, you are the big loser. A serious rival to the iPhone would most likely make Apple give us more of what we need (ie. the 9 points above).

Would you add anything to this list? What feature would you like to see implemented in the next iPhone?

 

How to Enable Voice Control on iPhone 2G and 3G

By Sebastien Page on Nov 24, 2009

This step-by-step guide and tutorial will show you how to enable the Voice Control feature on your iPhone 2G or iPhone 3G. It is pretty simple but it does require your iPhone to be jailbroken. If it’s not, simply follow one of our jailbreak tutorials.

This hack will not get the “real” Voice Control to work on your iPhone but it will install the Vocalia app, which is basically a clone of Voice Control with a few differences.

As usual when performing any type of file tweaking on your iPhone, there is no warranty that it will work for you… That was for the disclaimer part…

How to Get Voice Control on iPhone 2G/3G:
Read More

 

MultiFl0w Multitasking Application for iPhone

By Sebastien Page on Nov 23, 2009

MultiFl0w is a new application that brings multitasking to the iPhone. MultiFl0w is not really an app per say, it’s more of a mod that gives a nice UI to Backgrounder, the application that lets your run apps in the background.

I’m still in Australia with limited internet connection and I’d love to try MultiFl0w for myself but, the lack of wifi and the poor 3G signal won’t allow me to, so I am just here reading reviews of it.

My friend Patrick wrote a rave review of MultiFl0w that I suggest you to read for more info about this app. This is in short what Patrick has to say about MultiFl0w:

Multifl0w is easily the best multitasking experience I’ve seen for the iPhone.

In the meantime, here is a video demo of MultiFl0w in action.

MultiFl0w is available to jailbroken iPhones only. If you haven’t yet, that should give you yet another reason to jailbreak your iPhone. You can download MultiFlow from Cydia and Rock for $4.99 after a 10-day trial.

If unlike me you are able to download MultiFlow, please try it out and let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

 

What You Missed This Week: Pirated Apps, App Approval, iPhone Tips and More…

By Sebastien Page on Nov 22, 2009

In case you missed the festivities, here is a summary of the articles published on the blog this week.

An anti-jailbreak converts and goes to the dark side – In this post, Clay explains why he jumped the fence and decided to jailbreak his iPhone.

Is iPhone app piracy bad? – A quick look at how app piracy is not as bad as they want you to believe.

How to use your iPhone as a USB drive – A simple trick to use your iPhone as an external hard drive.

10 tips for iPhone users – Here are 10 tips every iPhone user should not, but probably don’t.

Should Apple scrap the app approval process – A reflexion on how Apple should handle app approvals.

This is me. Who are you? – The story of my life. Tell me yours.

 

This is Who I am! Who Are You?

By Sebastien Page on Nov 21, 2009

Warning: this post has nothing to do with the iPhone, but it has everything to do with ME and YOU!

My blog is over a year and half old now and it’s doing pretty well. On average, 20,000 of you come and read my rants and thoughts every days. I want to thank you all for that.

Within the past year, I have noticed a few people commenting on the blog on a regular basis. These people are what I call the “loyal readers”. They are the one emailing me to ask if I’m ok when I don’t post an article on time. They are also the one challenging my thoughts either on the blog, the forum, or on Twitter.

There are also the casual readers who come visit the blog from time to time. Chances are if you left over 10 comments on this blog, I recognize your name and I pay attention to what you say and in most cases, I leave a reply if necessary.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to personally reply to all comments (between 100 and 300 per day) but it doesn’t mean I don’t read you. I read every single comment posted on this blog. I have been slacking a bit lately though because my fiancee and I are traveling around the world and I don’t have much Internet time. Anyways.

You make the effort of coming to my blog and read what I have to say, and that’s a great thing. By now, we have developed some sort of “online friendship” but I realize that I don’t know anything about you, and you don’t know anything about me (unless you’ve been following me on my personal blog as well).

In this post, I’d like to tell you more about me, who I am, etc… It would be great if you could leave a comment and tell us a bit about you too. I understand that not everyone will bother sharing here, but I assume that loyal readers will be happy to tell us more about themselves. Read More

 

Should Apple Skip the App Approval Process?

By Sebastien Page on Nov 20, 2009

Since the birth of the App Store, there has been some very confusing app approvals. Apple approved applications that shouldn’t be approved (ie. Baby Shaker) but didn’t let other “non-threatening” apps make it through its walled garden.

This random app approval process can be very frustrating, especially for developers who might spend considerable amounts of time developing an application and risk to see it denied.

But what can a developer do against the almighty Apple dictator? Unfortunately, there is not much you can do. Apple clearly doesn’t care about independent developers who have actually made the App Store the success it is today.

The good news is that some well-known developers have started to raise their voices and say out loud what they think. That’s the case of Joe Hewitt, the lead developer of the Facebook application for iPhone. In a tweet sent out last week, Hewitt announced he quit developing for the iPhone. TechCrunch got him to tell more about his decision:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

Take that Apple! When the developer of the most popular application basically tells you how much you suck, it kinda hurts.

In an article on JAiB (which inspired this article of mine), my fellow iPhone blogger PatrickJ gives his opinion:

Apple could restrict their review process to solely looking at the “soundness of the code” [...] does the code risk crashing other apps / hanging up the OS? Does it compromise security? Not venturing into any of the grey areas beyond that.

I think Patrick is spot on. Yes Apple should check the apps and make sure they are properly working without compromising any of the iPhone features or security. Beyond that, Apple shouldn’t tell me what’s best or not for me.

Enough about what I think. What do you think? Do you think Apple should continue the same way? Should it scrap the app review process? I really look forward to read your thoughts.

 

10 Tips Every iPhone User Should Know

By Sebastien Page on Nov 19, 2009

Every once in a while I get asked about how to do something dead simple on the iPhone, such as moving icons around. To most of us, this is very basic stuff, but not everyone knows everything about the iPhone, which is why I decided to write a post with 10 tips and tricks.

Shake to Undo

When you are writing an email or a note, you can shake your iPhone to undo what you just wrote. If you just deleted some text from the note or the email, you can also shake to undo and it will bring back the text you accidentally deleted. Note that this feature works for every application that allows you to input text (ie SMS, Tweetie, etc…)

Quickly Silence or Send Incoming Call to Voicemail

If you are receiving a phone call you don’t want to answer, you can press the power button or any volume buttons once to mute the ringing. Now if you want to send the person calling you directly to voicemail, simply press the power button twice.

Zooming on Images in Safari

To quickly zoom on an image in the Safari web browser, simply double tap on the image.

Zooming on Text in Safari

Just like you can zoom on images, you can zoom on text in Safari by double tapping it. If you are on a website with multiple columns (such as the New York Times website), it will zoom in the column, making it easy for you to read what’s in it.

Save or Copy an Image

You can easily save images from virtually any application (ie Safari, Mail, Twitter app, etc…) by holding your finger on the image and selecting “Save Image” or “Copy”. If you select to save the image, it will be saved in your camera roll.

Quickly Go Back to the Top of A Page

In any application, if you are scrolling down (ie scrolling down a web page in Safari) and you quickly want to go back to the top of the page, you don’t have to scoll up. Simply tap the status bar (this is where the time is displayed) and it will take you all the way up the page.

Preview Links

When browsing a web page for example, you may see a link to another page. If you are curious to see where this links may take you without having to open it, simply put and hold your finger on it. It will show you the destination of the link, also giving you the opportunity to open it, open it in a new page or even copy the link.

Save Time Typing Domain Names

When you are in Safari and you want to go to another web page, you don’t have to type the full URL. For example, if you want to go to http://www.idownloadblog.com from Safari, just type iphonedownloadblog and the “www.” and “.com” will be added automatically.

Take a Screenshot

You can take a screenshot of any screen on your iPhone by simply holding the Power and Home button together. You will see your screen flashing and making the camera noise. The photo will be saved in your camera roll.

Add Your Favorite Websites to Your Springboard

If you have favorite sites that you visit all the time, it might be a good idea to add them to your springboard (the main screen where all the apps are). To do this, simply go to the webpage you want to add to your springboard, tap “+” at the bottom, and choose “Add to Home Screen”. This will create an icon on your home screen and you’ll be able to access this page quickly, without having to open Safari first.

Do you have more tips? Please share them in the comments.

 

How to Use Your iPhone as a USB Drive

By Sebastien Page on Nov 18, 2009

Sure there are many applications in the App Store that allow you to use your iPhone as a mass storage device, but all of them require an internet connection to allow the data transfer to happen over wifi.

To this date, there is no application approved by Apple that lets you use your iPhone as a USB flash drive, and that’s a shame because I’d like to be able to access my iPhone’s drive without having to be connected to the internet.

Developer Dmytro came up with an interesting solution to this problem by creating the USB Drive application:

USB Drive let you create one or more virtual disks for use as USB Mass Storage volume, thus you can allocate some of your iPhone space to carry desktop files with you.

How to use your iPhone as a USB stick / USB flash drive:

Step 1. Add the following repo to Cydia sources: http://apt.dmytro.me

Step 2. After installing the repo, look for the USB Drive application in Cydia and install it.

Step 3. Launch USB Drive and “Create Disk”.

Step 4. Select your USB Mode (default is suggested).

Step 5. Reboot your iPhone and plug it in you computer USB port.

Done! You should now be able to access the drive you just created.

To delete a virtual disk, simply swipe your finger from left to right, just as you would do to delete an email.

The USB Drive app is still in beta so be careful…

Let us know what you think about this app in the comments.

 

Is iPhone Apps Piracy As Bad As They Say?

By Sebastien Page on Nov 17, 2009

Lately there has been quite a bit of discussion about iPhone applications piracy. An article on MobileCrunch mentions Beejive, for which apparently 80% of downloads are illegal (aka cracked versions).

I want to share my views with you about this topic but first, I want to make things clear. I do not endorse app piracy (or any type of piracy for that matter). I believe developers deserve to get paid for their hard work. If I was a developer being ripped off, I would most likely complain too.

This being said, if you’re a loyal reader of this blog, you know by now that I don’t care about what the mainstream people do or think. I don’t have to put a face on and pretend to be someone I am not. I am straightforward and say what I think. That’s why you love me or hate me. What I’m going to say here will probably piss some developers off but I’m not here to please everyone… Read More

 

“Why I Jailbroke My iPhone” From An Anti-Jailbreaker

By Guest Author on Nov 16, 2009

I have to say I’m a very patient man.  I tend to wait for products to come on sale rather than make a rash purchase.  That’s also how I approach the iPhone.  Instead of jailbreaking my iPhone 3G or buying workaround apps for functionality that will eventually be free, I am usually good at waiting.  But, my patience with Apple reached a breaking point and I decided to jailbreak.

The changes I made to my 16 GB iPhone 3G may seem small, but I now feel like I have a brand new phone!

So, here are my reasons for jailbreaking:

Customization – I’ve been told that themes are Microsoft Windows-centric and Apple is not into themes.  Skins are not available for iTunes, unlike Winamp (remember that program?).  But, isn’t Apple supposed to be the “fun” computer company?  After 16 months of looking at the same basic home screen, I’m ready for a change.  Enter WinterBoard.  With a stock iPhone, you can only change the wallpaper on your lock screen.  With Winterboard, you can change your home screen background, add a percentage for your battery meter (for non-3GS users), as well as change the logos for your carrier, 3G and Wi-Fi icons.  The theme I chose is called Blue Thunder.  It also changed the stock icons of the apps that came with your iPhone and a number popular apps in the App Store.  I kind of understand Apple not wanting to give us the power of customization, lest our iPhones turn into obnoxious MySpace pages.  But, I’m tired of being a slave to Big Red.

Home Screen Managing – I’ve always thought folders on your iPhone home screen would be incredibly useful.  And, again, this thinking may have originated with my Windows upbringing.  But, wouldn’t you think it would advantageous to Apple to have the iPhone and iPod Touch be able to max out the number of apps possible by internal storage rather than home screen real estate?  I know you can install apps that will no longer show up on the home screen but that’s counterproductive.  With Categories, I trimmed down 10 pages of apps to 4 pages and everything is easy to get to.  Spotlight Search also works well with Categories.

Video Recording – I thought that since the iPhone 3GS gained video recording capabilities Apple would make video recording possible for the 3G.  Nope.  Instead, you have to choose between buying a new 3GS starting at $199 with a new 2-year contract or jailbreaking your iPhone.  Easy choice there.  So, I got Cycorder.  And I bet Apple was also behind the gimped version of Qik in the App Store which cannot do live streams.  Another reason to jailbreak.

I have at least another 7 months to wait for the next iPhone announcement.  I’m going to spend those months with my jailbroken iPhone 3G.  And I wouldn’t have done it if Apple was on its game.

 

What You Missed This week: UltraSn0w, Twidget, Install0us, and More…

By Sebastien Page on Nov 15, 2009

Here is a summary of this week’s articles.

My Australian experience with an iPhone – My fiancee and I are traveling through Australia and I share my experience of dealing with an Australian Telco.

UltraSn0w update – UltraSn0w has been updated to version 0.92 and fixes missing carrier logo bug.

Twitter on your lockscreen with Twidget – Twidget is a new application available on Cydia that allows you to display your Twitter stream on your lockscreen.

Install0us 2.5 – Installous got an update and was built again from scratch.

CyDialer – CyDialer is a new application that brings coverflow contacts management directly on your lockscreen.

5 hidden iPhone features – While playing around on my iPhone, I found a few features for people with vision or hearing problems that you may not have seen before.

Share your iPhone pictures in full resolution – A simple tip to show you how to share your iPhone pictures in full resolution.

Ellseedee iPhone theme – A beautiful theme for iPhone.

 

Featured iPhone Theme: Ellseedee

By Sebastien Page on Nov 14, 2009

Every once in a while I find a great theme on Cydia and I have to say that Ellseedee (as in LCD) is one of the most beautiful simple themes I have seen.

The problem with that type of theme is that if you don’t have an icon for a particular application, then your theme looks all funky. This theme for example doesn’t come with many icons and it doesn’t have an icon for Tweetie. If I was to put the Tweetie icon on the springboard, it would look out of place.

Oh well, it’s still a great theme that deserves a little attention.

Do you like it?

 

How to Share Your iPhone Pictures in Full Resolution

By Sebastien Page on Nov 13, 2009

There are 2 ways to share your iPhone pictures via email or MMS but one is better than the other because it does not compress the images and keep them in their original size and resolution.

Method 1: The first way is to simply go to the photo application and type “share”. This will ask you if you want to share via email or MMS. Whatever you decide, it will compress the picture to 800×600, reducing the quality of the image.

Method 2: The better way to do it if you want to preserve the quality of your images is to “copy” (not “share”) the image, then manually launch the mail or MMS app, and paste the image into it. This way, your images will not be automatically resized and should be 1600×1200.

By using the second method, your MMS or email will take longer to be sent out, but at least it will be a full quality image.

If you have other simple tips like this, feel free to let me know.

 

5 Hidden iPhone Features for People With Vision or Hearing Disabilities

By Sebastien Page on Nov 12, 2009

As I was playing around my iPhone settings a couple of days ago, I discovered a few options I had never seen before. I might be a little late and maybe you guys already know about that but I’d like to share these findings with you anyway.

These hidden features are in Settings > General > Accessibility. While they would appear useless to most iPhone users, they are very helpful for people with hearing or vision disabilities. I know for sure I had been in this area of the settings before but for some reason I didn’t notice them all.

Note that these features may be available for iPhone 3GS users only. Also note that when you try to grab a screenshot by of these features in action, it simply doesn’t work, which is why I took these bad pictures… Read More

 
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