Month: November 2009

Is iPhone Apps Piracy As Bad As They Say?

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

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

Guest Author ∙ Updated February 5, 2016

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.

Read More

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

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

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.

Read More

Featured iPhone Theme: Ellseedee

Sébastien Page ∙ November 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?

Read More

How to Share Your iPhone Pictures in Full Resolution

Sébastien Page ∙ November 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 800x600, 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 1600x1200.

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.

Read More

5 Hidden iPhone Features for People With Vision or Hearing Disabilities

Sébastien Page ∙ November 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

CyDialer Brings Contacts Coverflow to Your iPhone Lockscreen

Sébastien Page ∙ November 11, 2009

CyDialer is a new application by Saurik, the developer of Cydia, that aims to bring coverflow-like contact management to your iPhone lockscreen. Instead of launching your phone.app and going to the contacts, you can directly flick through your contacts on your lockscreen.

FSM gives a pretty good description of how CyDialer works:

Installing from Cydia, the preferences are accessed from the settings app and you select from them just like Winterboard (another Saurik creation). When exiting, it resprings and you are presented with your favorites (from the phone app) on the lockscreen. You can choose to have your wallpaper showing and a click of the home button, the favorite are there, scrollable just like cover flow from iTunes. Or you can choose to have the contacts show and dismiss with a tap of the home button. Chances of pocket dialing have been minimized by having a 2 step process to actually make the call. Tap the favorite, then slide to dial. Nice and easy.

According to Saurik, what sets CyDialer aside from other similar extensions is the attention to detail and quality of the app. The interface is designed to blend and integrate smoothly  into the lockscreen, and to be easily maintained as Apple releases firmware updates.

I haven't tested CyDialer myself, but it sure looks like a great app (and a good compliment to Cyntact. CyDialer is available from Cydia for $1.74.

What do you think of this app? Have you tried it yet?

Image: iHackinT0sh

Read More

Twidget: Get Twitter on Your iPhone LockScreen

Sébastien Page ∙ November 10, 2009

Twidget is a new application available in Cydia that will display your Twitter stream on your iPhone lockscreen.

To install Twidget, simply go to Cydia and search for "Twidget". There are several versions available. I installed the simple version hosted on iSpazio.

After installing Twidget, launch the app and enter your Twitter credentials then go to WinterBoard to activate the widget.

WinterBoard will automatically respring your springboard and you should now see you Twitter stream.

From the lockscreen, you'll be able to see your friends' tweets, your own, your @replies and your favorites.

I installed this app just to test it and I uninstalled it right away because I suspect it to be a battery killer. I might be wrong though, so feel free to correct me if that's the case.

Still, I think it's a great application for all Twitter addicts out there.

What do you think of this widget?

Read More

UltraSn0w iPhone Unlock Updated to Fix Missing Carrier Logo

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 16, 2017

The Dev Team updated UltraSn0w from 0.91 to 0.92 to fix the missing carrier logo. Those of you who unlocked using PwnageTool + UltraSn0w noticed the disappearance of the carrier logo. While this was just an "aesthetic bug", the core functionality of UltraSn0w (the unlock) was not altered in any way.

A short update was given on the Dev Team blog earlier today:

Today we released an ultrasn0w update that fixes an issue for those running firmware 3.1.2 with the 04.26 baseband.  That specific combination resulted in a missing carrier name in the upper left-hand corner of your home screen.  Today’s ultrasn0w update from 0.91 to 0.92 fixes that problem (which was an important issue for roaming). You should see the update available if you have http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com as a Cydia source.  Enjoy!

According to AIS, the carrier logo has been fixed for the following countries: USA, Thailand, Austria, Trinidad, Germany, China, Kuwait, Serbia, Poland, France, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Ireland, UK, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland, Malaysia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Bahamas, Jamaica, India, Israel, Belgium, Canada, Portugal, Denmark, Costa Rica, Italy, Chile and Argentina.

Read More

How to Fix Wifi Connection Issues After Unlocking Your iPhone With BlackSn0w

Sébastien Page ∙ November 6, 2009

Many people are experiencing various issues after unlocking their iPhone with BlackRa1n and BlackSn0w.

Here are some of the problems you may have encountered:

No 3G or Edge Can't connect to wifi Problems with YouTube No push notifications

There are 2 possible solutions for this.

The first fix is to reset your network settings. On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. After resetting your settings, make sure to reboot your iPhone. It is very important to reboot or else, the changes won't take effect.

A few people told me on Twitter that this didn't work but resetting ALL the settings then rebooting did work. So try this if the first fix didn't work.

The second fix is pretty simple too but it does require you to have an Internet connection. From your iPhone, go to Cydia and add this new source http://cydia.iphoneil.net.

After adding this source, search for an app called Push Fix and install it. Reboot your iPhone and you should be good to go.

If the problems persist, I suggest taking more drastic measures by restoring your iPhone. I know, I know, restoring is not fun but it's always a good thing to do when nothing else works.

If you choose to restore your iPhone, make sure you set it up as a new phone. Do not "restore from backup" as this would bring back some of the bad settings that caused your issues in the first place.

If you tried all of these fixes and you're still experiencing issues, then I'm not sure what else to tell you.

If you found another fix, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Read More

How to Tether Your iPhone 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

With the release of BlackSn0w, it is now possible to tether your iPhone running OS 3.1.2.

For those of you who don't know what tethering is, it basically allows you to use your iPhone as a modem in order to share the internet connection with a computer. For example, this post was written on my laptop while tethering my iPhone in Los Angeles airport.

UPDATE: This post is outdated. For the latest information about tethering your iPhone, please visit this page.

Step 1: Unlock your iPhone using BlackSn0w. See my BlackSn0w tutorial.

Step 2: From your iPhone, navigate to help.benm.at, hit  tethering, choose your country and carrier, hit download, then hit Install.

Step 3: Reboot your iPhone.

Step 4: Go to Settings > General > Network > Internet Tethering and turn it on.

You're done!

You should now be able to tether your iPhone, either via bluetooth or USB.

Pretty simple, isn't it?

Read More