Guest Author

“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.

GriP (Growl for iPhone) Notification Extension for iPhone

Guest Author ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

This is a guest post by Antonio J. If you would like to guest post on this blog, please check out the guidelines.

I absolutely adore my iPhone. However, there are some little details that are increasingly affecting the experience because the UI starts to show its age. I could name the lack of multitasking, or the lack of active content on the lockscreen and/or springboard (no widgets). Or, my main grip, the lack of a decent notification system.

Now that push notification apps are pretty much everywhere, it becomes obvious that the iPhone OS notification system does not cut it anymore. This is something even more blatant when you compare with the elegant and non-obtrusive way WebOS and Android handle notifications.

Jailbreakers however can suffer less with this. GriP (Growl for iPhone), a Project by KennyTM, author of other well known projects like QuickScroll, presents a great alternative to the stock notification system, even on its current beta stage.

How to Jailbreak iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1

Guest Author ∙ October 5, 2009

A few days ago was the release of the iPod Touch 2G jailbreak for 3.1.1 (as well as other devices). There is a bit of confusion because the Dev Team's blog post says you must be pwned before jailbreaking. I'm sure a lot of people (like me) demonstrated the sad smiley to perfection when they read this. Luckily, there is a way to jailbreak it.

You'll need the 3.0 firmware, RedSn0w, 3.1.1 firmware, and the latest PwnageTool. All these are available from the download page.

Here is a step-by-step guide/tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPod Touch 2G 3.1.1:

AT&T Loophole + Google Voice = Free Calls On Your iPhone

Guest Author ∙ October 2, 2009

You may have heard of the new AT&T add-on called A-List that gives you unlimited calls to and from 5 numbers of your choice. Thanks to a little bit of thinking outside the box, and mostly thanks to Google Voice, you can actually get unlimited calling to any numbers in the US.

For those of you who don't know how Google Voice works, let me explain briefly. Google Voice gives you a free phone number that entitles you to free calls in the US (and very cheap calls overseas). If you try to make a call from the Google Voice app on your iPhone (or the web-based version), Google Voice will call you at your number and connect you to the number you dialed. I'm not sure if that makes sense but basically, when you use Google Voice for calls, you don't get free calls, minutes are taken off your plan, which kinda defeats the whole purpose.

Here is how the loophole works. Simply add your Google Voice number to your A-List. Now every time Google Voice calls you to connect the call with the dialed number, it will be free of charge and you'll be able to call anyone in the US for free (really free).

I'm not sure this is very clear but Google Voice users will surely understand and see the benefits of this little trick. Let's just hope AT&T doesn't figure this one out and puts an end to it.

Do you use Google Voice? If so, you should definitely look into it...

Thanks kper for sending us this tip.

FlightTrack: a $5 App Can Save You a $200 Flight

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Last weekend, my fiancé and I went to San Francisco for our friends' wedding. We had a flight out of San Diego at 9.40am, which is awfully early for me as it doesn't give me enough time to do my daily online routine. Anyways.

So we get at the airport about an hour before departure and I see a huge security line and while Tina is taking her time to look at the monitors to find out what gate we have to go to, I just take a quick glance at it and see "Gate 7". I grab Tina and tell her to hurry.

SmartScreen Will Be the Best iPhone Hack Ever

Guest Author ∙ Updated October 2, 2009

SmartScreen is a soon-to-be-released application that will add little widgets on your iPhone lock screen, letting you access information witout having to launch any application. You'll be able to rearrange these widgets in the same way you move icons around.

Looking at the video demo below, I am very eager to get my hands on SmartScreen as I think it will be one of the best iPhone hacks ever. Needless to day that SmartScreen won't be available in the App Store...

MediaPhone, the guys behind SmartScreen, will even have an SDK available:

A SmartScreen SDK will be available to everyone in November 2009 but widget developers are being selected to participate in a Beta programme, if you feel you could participate and would like to produce widgets, please email dev@media-phone.ch and we will consider you early access to the programme.

I really can't wait for this to be available. Exciting, isn't it?

First Thoughts On iPhone OS 3.0

Guest Author ∙ June 19, 2009

On June 16, 2009, I came home late and ran to my computer, eagerly, I waited for it to boot up. Then I had to wait forever for my iTunes to open. Then came the wait for midnight. All this took me back to my early memories of the pre-Xmas jitters. I actually stayed up till midnight and also kept looking for posts on twitter that would let me know that someone had actually started to download the upgrade.

I went to bed disappointed but jumped out of bed first thing in the morning, ran to the computer to see the new O.S 3.0. Again, I was heartbroken. It was almost as if Santa skipped my house on purpose!

Then came the hour of reckoning (later in the day of course) when I was to upgrade to the much anticipated 3.0!!!

Write Emails On Your iPhone More Quickly With FastMail

Guest Author ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Being that I love to email out of my iPhone more than my computer, this particular little app called FastMail really caught my attention. While using it I felt more in control of my email composition creativity. Yes you already have the iPhone application for mail that comes built in and allows you to compose as you type offering optional words above the one being typed. However there are of course certain things that the mail app can't accomplish. You might struggle with having to retype the same long words over and over or if you’re like me, you might not be in favor of typing the word almost to completion before having the word offered to you.

Fastmail works similarly as the apple mail app except that you can see an entire list of words being offered for your use to the right of your current composition. Here’s the other kicker, you can set it to appear on the left side of your screen if you're left-handed! But keep in mind this has to be done at the beginning of the setup of the app. The controls and face of this app is very well put together in that there is no extras, it is very simple and easy to roam through it.

Space Shuttle On Your iPhone

Guest Author ∙ Updated May 26, 2017

Laminar Research (developers of the popular X-Plane series for iPhone) has released another realistic iPhone app: Space Shuttle. Space Shuttle is all about... you guessed it, the space shuttle.

Speck Tough Skin Rugged Rubber Case Review

Guest Author ∙ Updated November 25, 2016

Like all iPhone owners, I want to protect my investment. But like most iPhone owners, I’m going to go thru a few cases before I land the right one. In this journey of trial and error I have purchased a few iPhone cases and returned a few as well. In doing so I have kept a few for different purposes or environments. I have one for the business casual affairs, while I have another for the in-pocket tote. But I have an outdoorsy one that I like for its extra protection (or sense of protection) that it provides while out in the rough. I go on campouts and hikes a few times a year and I love to take my iPhone with me (mainly for its GPS mapping ability).

There is no way that I’m going to trust just any case out in the woods, that is why I purchased and kept the Tough Skin Rugged Rubber Case by Speck. This bad boy not only protects your iPhone, but gives it a rugged outdoor look. I am glad that it doesn’t come in camouflage though because if it was dropped on the ground it would easily blend in, making it difficult to find through the natures grassy floor.

New iPhone Rumors – Give Me A Break

Guest Author ∙ May 20, 2009

There have been more than enough rumors about what the new iPhone will have. I say, give me a break. Although we don't have an inside source telling us, think about it. Now, see our reasoning below:

Lit Up Apple Logo On The Back

Seriously? First of all, this would look horrible. It would be bumping out, making it look bad. On top of that it would kill battery life. And think about it, a ton of users use a case for their iPhone. A lit-up Apple logo would be useless for them. Don't see my point? OK, here's a mock-up by us:

That is how odd it would look. Plus, an apple that small would not make a difference. But it would kill you battery life.

Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device

Again, I think this is very unlikely. So far, the two latest models have had this. Though I'm not saying it is completely fake, it is unlikely. Maybe Apple will bring the plastic black / white front to the edge as well.

Rubber-tread backing

Unlikely! Apple has kept on going with the metal back for the iTouches and has only changed the iPhone to plastic back. Considering most other phones are plastic, this is also unlikely. So far, the only proof is this:

It's an image MacRumors posted. I dunno... but I have seen fakes before. However, from Apple you never know.

Sleeker design

Possible...

Now a small listing of a few others. Faster speed, internet, and processor are all likely. It is needed and Apple will most likely deliver. Longer battery is also likely. FM transmitter: unlikely! Think about that. Higher resolution camera is likely. Since most smartphones also have this. Built-in compass also sounds likely.

"Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass, and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations." Doubt it!! I think people have things mixed up. I'm sure that they will let the camera take a pic and save the location and information about the compass. But I doubt the iPhone itself will inform you about the location. However, I think that with the data from the picture, when passed to the computer using Google Maps / Earth it will inform about the location.

Turn by turn directions is also likely as it is something heavily asked for. Also, a GPS company (forgot the name, think it was TomTom) posted somewhere they were looking for someone with iPhone coding experience.

This is just me reasoning here. I know some people will not agree, but that some might. But believe me, the rumors will keep on coming as WWDC gets closer. Don't believe everything you read!!

iPhone Apps For iParents On The Go

Guest Author ∙ Updated May 26, 2017

Parents on the go, that's what many of us are. Upon awaking you may spend the first few moments of the day fumbling between nuking breakfast and getting yourself ready for the workday. Somewhere in the midst of this insanity, the kids have to be ready too! Dropping them off at school and heading to work in itself is quiet the trek. This is not the old fashioned morning where sitting at the breakfast table and reading the paper comes with ease. You not only race thru the madness of the week or weekend, but often race blindly! The iPhone proudly boasts that there is an app for that and delivers as always.