Month: September 2009

Recession Case Will Protect Your iPhone Without Breaking the Bank

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

Times are getting harder, even for iPhone owners... This case was developed to provide basic protection for your iPhone without leaving you broke. This is clearly not a great looking case but it has the merit to be very original, and that's what I like about it.

Tough times call for tough cases and that's where the recession case comes in! The recession case lets you keep cash in your pocket without sacrificing on unique design for your beloved iPhone! But just in case one isn't enough we have the BAILOUT BUNDLE - 10 cases for $7.99!

Wanna stand out from the crowd? The recession case is for you then. Don't you want one?

No, There Is No iPhone 3.1 Jailbreak Yet

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Since the delivery of the new OS 3.1, many people have been emailing me or asking me on Twitter if it is possible to jailbreak iPhone 3.1. The disappointing answer is that, no, there is no jailbreak yet for firmware 3.1 but I am confident the Dev Team is working overtime to deliver to us a jailbreak (and maybe an unlock) for 3.1.

As I mentioned earlier this week, if you are running 3.0.1 or 3.0 and that you want to keep your jailbreak and/or unlock, do not update to 3.1. It will wipe out everything and may make it impossible for you to jailbreak or unlock again in the future.

I will update the blog as soon as I have more information. For the latest news on jailbreaking and unlocking, please refer to the jailbreak page and the unlock page on the site. These pages are up to date with the latest jailbreak and unlock guides and tutorials.

For real-time info, you may want to follow me on Twitter.

Why the New iPod Touch Doesn’t Have A Camera, Or the Story of How Apple Does Business

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

Yesterday Apple unveiled a new line of iPods, including the Nano and the iPod Touch. Unlike what everybody was expecting, the iPod Touch didn't come with a camera. Steve Jobs gives an explanation to the NY Times:

“Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine,” he said. “We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.”

That's interesting how a $149 iPod Nano gets a video camera with speaker and microphone but yet, the $399 iPod Touch doesn't. Steve says they wanted to cut the price and not give more features. I say "bullshit".

What Apple wants to do is to give you one reason (the price) to buy an iPod Touch this year and another reason to buy another iPod Touch next year when it finally comes with a camera.

This is exactly what pisses me off with Apple. They give you very basic features one at a time so you always have a good reason to buy the latest product. They did exactly the same with the iPhone. Video recording and copy/paste could have been implemented since day 1 but instead, Apple decided to wait as long as they could.

This is not a proper way to do business. If anything, this is a way to take your customers for fools.

What do you think of all this?

Everything You Need to Know About iPhone OS 3.1

Sébastien Page ∙ September 9, 2009

As I predicted, Apple unveiled today iPhone OS 3.1, and you know what? There is not much to it! It seems to me all this event was actually kinda disappointing but that's what happens when you expect too much...

If you're a jailbreaker, do not update your iPhone to 3.1 as it will wipe out everything and worst of all, you may not be able to jailbreak or unlock in the future.

Apple also announced the release of iTunes 9 and it is nice to notice that it is safe to update iTunes to 9.0. It won't affect jailbreakers or unlockers in any way.

Now if you used the tethering hack to tether your iPhone for free, you may not want to update your iPhone to 3.1 as we've seen mixed results. Some people report that the tethering hack is working fine after updating to 3.1. Some other report that it breaks the hack. Let's wait and see.

Here is the list of features that come with iPhone OS 3.1:

Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos iTunes U content organization Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll Option to Save as new clip when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on Remotely lock iPhone with passcode via MobileMe Use Voice COntrol on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets Paste phone numbers into the keypad Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing) Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

As you can see, there is no word about battery improvement. I guess Apple didn't deem consider this as an issue.

All the 3.1 firmwares as well as iTunes 9 are available from our downloads page.

Needless to say that there is no jailbreak yet for iPhone 3.1. I will keep you updated and write tutorials on how to jailbreak iPhone 3.1 as it becomes available.

If you have noticed anything new in 3.1, please feel free to report it by leaving a comment below.

iPhone OS 3.1 Available Today. Jailbreakers Should Not Update

Sébastien Page ∙ September 9, 2009

Looks like I was right when I said that Apple would unveil the new 3.1 software today. It was unfair as I knew it from a pretty reliable source, if you know what I mean. So 3.1 will be available for download later today from iTunes.

As usual in such events, jailbreakers and unlockers should not update right away. Let me repeat to be clear to everyone. If your iPhone is jailbroken, you should not update to OS 3.1. Doing so will just wipe out your jailbreak and may make it impossible to jailbreak or unlock in the future.

I suggest you wait a bit. The Dev Team is going to get a hold of 3.1 and figure out if it's safe to update or not. Either way, I will let you know as soon as we know more about it.

Photo Engadget

Fixed: iPhone Stuck On Apple Logo

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 9, 2020

Sometimes when jailbreaking an iPhone or after installing a jailbreak app, your iPhone will get stuck on reboot, or will hang on the Apple logo. This problem happened to me before and it was kind of a nightmare. In order to get your iPhone back on track, you will have to put it in DFU mode (Device Firmware Update mode). This will help you restore your iPhone without loading the OS first.

mQuickDo Brings App Switching to the iPhone (+10 Promo Codes)

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

When I first heard and tried mQuickDo, I wasn't really impressed at all. First, the description didn't highlight the real benefits of this application because the developers sell it as a "virtual home and power buttons for the iPhone". What the hell does that mean? Exactly! I tried mQuickDo and was very confused about what it did and how it worked. I quickly gave up on this app without giving it much more thoughts.

Then last week I read an article by fellow iPhone blogger Patrick Jordan at JAIB. Patrick's article described mQuickDo as what it really is: an app switcher for the iPhone. This is what really made me think twice about this app, and ultimately led me to give it another shot.

Originally, mQuickDo lets you set up gestures to perform predefined actions (ie. slide left to right to close an opened application; or slide right to left to shut off the phone, etc...) but to be honest with you, I think this is kinda useless.

The real power and most exciting feature about mQuickDo is the App Switcher. As its name suggests, the app switcher allows you to quickly switch between apps. You have to tweak the settings to customize the gestures to trigger the app switching, but once you got it to work properly, this is a real time-saver.

I have to admit that it takes time to get used to some of the gestures. To make it easier, I set up mQuickDo to launch the app switcher for all the predefined gestures, which means I am not using any of the other features of mQuickDo, but as I said above, I find them useless anyways.

The app switcher feature is pretty awesome. Add Backgrounder to this and you actually get a productivity booster that will allow you to multi-task and really get the most out of your iPhone.

mQuickDo is available from Cydia and comes with a 3-day trial period. After that, it will cost you $7.99 if you want to keep it. Although a little pricey, I still think mQuickDo is a must-have application and it undoubtedly makes it in my Top 10 list of favorite applications.

The developers of mQuickDo were kind enough to provide us with 10 promo codes for our loyal blog readers.

How to Win

You have to do 2 things to win one of the 10 promo codes:

Follow me on Twitter and Retweet this post by clicking here Leave a comment at the bottom of this page with your Twitter ID Download the mQuickDo free trial from Cydia

10 winners will be randomly selected and will be notified on Twitter sometimes next week.

Good luck :)

Tweetie’s “Secure Connection Failed” Is Driving Me Nuts

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

I am a big Twitter user and I do most of my tweeting using Tweetie, which is my favorite Twitter app for iPhone. Recently I've been getting the same error more and more often and it's getting very annoying: Secure Connection Failed.

I dug a bit into the problem and found out that I am not the only one having this Secure Connection Failed issue. Tweetie's account on Twitter says that "it's a problem on Twitter's end, they're tracking it down now" and they suggest that anyone who gets this error sends their IP address to contact@atebits.com.

First, I don't believe the problem is on Twitter's end. If it was, other iPhone Twitter app would have the same issue. Second, how am I supposed to email them my IP address when the problem mostly appears over 3G, which means I have a different IP address every time I make a data connection?

This problem has been going on for the past few weeks and it seems it's getting worse. It's really disappointing that Ate Bits, the developers of Tweetie, are not taking a more proactive role in this matter. I don't expect much from a free app, but when I pay $3 for an application, I expect it to work flawlessly.

Have you guys encountered this issue as well? If you don't use Tweetie, what Twitter application do you use? Is your iPhone jailbroken?

Update: Looking a the reactions on Twitter, it is clear that this problem also appears on other Twitter apps. My apologies to Ate Bits for thinking they were not doing their best. The problems does seem to come from Twitter itself after all.

Weekly Wrapup: Apple, MMS, Cool Themes, and More…

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

If you missed any of the articles we posted this week, here is a quick wrapup for you.

Apple taking crap from everyone

It seems that I’m not the only one getting tired of Apple. I recommend you read the full article and watch the video.

New iPod coming up

Apple has finally confirmed the long-rumored event to be held on September 9, in San Francisco.

10 original and beautiful iPhone themes

Within the past few weeks, I have been selecting several beautiful and original iPhone themes that I’d like to share with you today.

How to rob and Apple Store in 31 seconds

23 MacBook Pro, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod Touch stolen in 31 seconds. You think you can do better?

It's official, MMS coming to the iPhone on September 25

According to a press release, we should get MMS on September 25.

Too much iPhone is hurting me (and others)

For the last few months, I’ve noticed a slight pain in my right hand (the hand I use to hold my iPhone).

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2009/08/31/apple-under-fire/

My iPhone is Crippling Me

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

I use my iPhone all day. From the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, I probably have my iPhone in my hand for at least 3-4 hours. That includes reading the news several times throughout the day, replying to urgent emails, Twittering, etc... I guess it's worth noting that I rarely use my iPhone as a phone. I am not much of a phone guy.

For the last few months, I've noticed a slight pain in my right hand (the hand I use to hold my iPhone). It's getting to the point where I had to buy a wrist brace, which helps a lot but doesn't solve the problem.

This will sound a little intense to the casual iPhone user but I'm sure (I hope) some of you will have the same problem. If so, what are you doing about it?

MMS Finally Coming to the iPhone On September 25

Sébastien Page ∙ September 4, 2009

Ladies and gentleman, after months of waiting and bitching, AT&T is finally bringing MMS to the iPhone masses. According to a press release, we should get MMS on September 25.

We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

Ok, so I was half right in my prediction. I said MMS would come via a firmware update around September 10. Well, close enough...

Now as you notice MMS will be only available for iPhone 3G and 3GS. If you have an iPhone 2G, then screw you! No seriously, if you have a first generation iPhone, you can still use this hack to enable MMS.

As for tethering... What tethering? AT&T didn't deem it necessary to make any announcement and I guess it still plans to make this feature available "at a later date" which may be anytime between now and the end of times...

How do you feel about that?

10 Beautiful and Original iPhone Themes

Sébastien Page ∙ September 2, 2009

One of the main reasons to jailbreak your iPhone is that it allows you to add custom themes and make it stand out from the crowd of blend and boring iPhones out there. Using WinterBoard you can customize the look of your iPhone, including icons, wallpaper, dock, etc… You can literally spend hours creating and tweaking themes to make them unique, and original.

Within the past few weeks, I have been selecting several beautiful and original iPhone themes that I'd like to share with you today. More after the break...