Sébastien Page

Sebastien is the Founder and Editor in Chief of iDB. Once a BlackBerry user, Sebastien instantly fell in love with the iPhone when it was first announced in 2007. Shortly after, he decided to start sharing his knowledge of the iPhone and its nascent ecosystem, which led to the creation of this blog. Sebastien currently owns 14 iPhones, 4 iPads, a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a MacBook Air, 2 Apple Watches, 3 Apple TVs, countless HomePods and AirTags as well as a few pairs of AirPods.

List of apps available on Cydia

Here is a list of applications that are currently available on Cydia. Please feel free to add any other app in the comments.

Administration

IOKit Tools – ioalloccount, ioclasscount, ioreg iPatcher – removes the brick mode from iPhone Kernal Extension Tools – tools that work with kernal extensions Isof – shows what files programs have open Sudo – temporarily assume root priviledges top – at-a-glance process watching tool

Archiving

cpio – predecessor to tar that is used by RPM DMG2IMG – converts compressed dmgs to HFS+ fastjar – faster native alternative to Java’s Jar libarchive – backend library for working with tar files rzip – the best compression algorithm unrar – de-compress files in rar format 7-zip (POSIX) – claims to be a good compressor

Data Storage

cvs – the original popular revision control Git – fast content-addressable filesystem Subversion – modern version control system

Development

APR – platform abstraction library from Apache APR-util – data structures and utilites for Apache APR Assuan – GnuPG’s inter-process communication Bison – GNU parser generator derived from Yacc Bootstrap Commands – Mach interface and stub generator Class Dump – reverse engineer Objective-C headers Csu – library loading and support stubs Darwin CC Tools – linker and assembler for the iPhone developer-cmds – ctags, error, hexdump, rpcgen, unifdef Flex – GNU lexer derived from Lex glib – basic object management used by Gnome GNU C Compiler – a native c compiler _on_ the phone GNU Multiple Precision – (Big) Arithmetic Library GNU Portable Threads – portable threading library used by X Google Data API’s – GData client library (Objective-C)

indent – automatically prettifies a C program iPhone 2.0 Toolchain – Full *compatibilty toolchain with one click! Use this to compile your 1.1.x apps for 2.0 with some limitations. BigBoss’ headers for 1.1.1 from working Cygwin toolchain. Also depends on all other necessary packages. Copies to /var/include and symlinks /usr/local/include to /var/include if possible. Also links gcc to arm-apple-darwin-gcc.

libffi – dynamic generation of function calls libgpod – ipod data access library libsigc++ – callback framework for C++ LibVNCServer – backend library for VNC servers Link Indenty Editor – pseudo-codesign Mach-O files Make – dependency-based build environments Patch – merge a difference onto a file XML Parser Toolkit – Stream-oriented XML parser written in C

Games

Macman – an outstanding Pacman knock-off with a nice twist!

NES – NES Emulator for iPhone quake4iphone – Includes shareware Quake files. Retail files highly recommended. Visit zodttd.com for more info.

ScummVM – is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files.

Java

Classpath – open source implementation of Jave iPhone/Jave – example applications (with source) in Java JamVM – Small, intricate, fast Java interpreter Java SQLite – JNI bindings and JDBC driver for SQLite Jikes – native faster alternative to Java’s javac JocStrap – Java/Objective-C connection library Rhino – Java implementation of Java Script UICaboodle – iPhone-specific JocStrap extensions

Localization

BrFix – Brazilian Regional Fixes RuFix – Russian Regional Fixes Slovak Language Replacement

Multimedia

FAAC – open source library for MPEG-4 AAC FAAD – open sournce library for MPEG-4 AAC Festival-Lite – embedded text-to-speech library LAME – open source (lgpl) mp3 encoder Ogg – open multimedia container format png – library for manipulating PNG files SwapTunes – Allows you to Sync with multiple iTunes libraries. TIFF – Tagged Image File Format library Vorbis – Open audio compression format x264 – open source implementation of x264

Thanks to Cliffeman for compiling this list over at Everything iCafe.

App Store is live. This is how to access it

The new iTunes 7.7 is now up and running. This new version of iTunes will work directly with the iPhone firmware 2.0 when available.

I just downloaded and installed the new version of iTunes and it took me a while to figure out how to access the App Store as it is not fully shown yet.

To access the App Store, simply search for "AOL" and it will show you 3 apps available. Click on any of them to have the full description. Now click on the "App Store" tab at the top of the page and it will take you to the App Store home page.

Why I will buy my iPhone at an ATT store

Unless you were away from this universe for a while, you probably know that the new iPhone 3G is coming out this Friday. There already are some insane fanatics camping in front of some Apple Stores a little bit everywhere (Japan, New Zeland, US, etc...).

My solution for getting an iPhone on Friday without having to wait in line for hours? Simple. I have already located a tiny AT&T store not too far from me. This store is buried somewhere in a little shopping center that no one ever goes to. There is no doubt that there won't be any line at this store.

Yes, buying your iPhone at AT&T is not as glamorous as going to a trendy Apple store. But fuck that! I don't care about having cool geeks around me. I just want the phone in as little time as possible.

If you decide to do the same, visit the AT&T store locator.

iPod.iTunes 4.0 Released

crispSofties has released iPod.iTunes 4.0, the latest version of its synchronization software for Mac OS X. iPod.iTunes synchronizes songs, videos, playlist and meta data in both directions between iPods and iTunes libraries.

The new version, a 1.6 megabyte download, adds the following features and fixes:

Full support for jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches Auto sync suppression to keep iTunes from deleting songs on the iPod that the user plans to transfer back into iTunes The ability to eject an attached iPod or iPhone from within the application

iPod.iTunes 4.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, and is priced at 24.90 Euro (about $39) for a single user license. A demo version is also available.

iPhone 2.0 Firmware to be out on June 27th

It's not official yet but the Australian site of Apple is showing a release date of the AppStore for June 27th. Steve said during its keynotes that the iPhone 2.0 software as well as the AppStore would be launched early July. Waiting for an official confirmation...

Chocolate Case for iPhone

Oh, excuse me one sec, my chocolate bar is ringing! Haha, quite funny but this iPhone case might have passed its sell-by date...

The Homade ChocoCase is a silicone cover with a screen protector. Although it's pretty funny looking and will certainly get people's attention, it makes the iPhone look even bulkier than it already is.

Besides, this case was designed for the "old" iPhone and probably won’t fit correctly on the upcoming 3G version, which is going to be more rounded and a tiny bit thinner.

It can be your for about $30 from GizFever.

iPhone SDK agreement forbids GPS?

Apparently Apple inserted a special provision in the SDK agreement prohibiting developers from creating apps "marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes." No real-time route guidance? That means no GPS...

We know TomTom said that its app is ready to go on the iPhone so maybe Apple is just trying to cover its butt. However, these terms are copied almost word-for-word from the Google Maps API terms, which means that TomTom and others are probably free to use their own maps to do real-time guidance.

AT&T to penalize iPhones not activated within 30 days

An AP report suggested today that AT$T will penalize iPhone 3G owners that do not activate their phone within 30 days.

There would be penalties for users who do not activate the iPhone in the first 30 days, AT&T said, in a move aimed at reducing the number of customers who buy an iPhone and tweak it so that they can use it on another network.

What the penalty is is a mystery so far but we're hoping to learn a little more in the close future.

iPhone 3G roundup

Now that everything cool off a little bit, let be sum up everything that happened yesterday at the WWDC 2008 regarding the iPhone.

From Apple:

pictures of the new iPhone 3G iPhone 3G pricing iPhone 3G details and specifications (also see here) new iPhone 3G ad enterprise interest in new iPhone MobileMe countries that will sell the new iPhone video of the WWDC 2008 keynotes new iPhone activation policy no dock with new iPhone iPhone 3G disappointments

From AT&T:

AT&T press release about the new iPhone free iPhone upgrade at AT&T AT&T memo to its retail stores AT&T 3G network coverage

iPhone 3G disappointments

Yeahhh, that's great, iPhone finally announced the launch of the iPhone 3G with all these great new features such as 3G, GPS, and, huh, well, that's about it!

Although I'm really stoked about this new phone (and yes, I will buy it as soon as it comes out), I am very disappointed at the lack of new features.

First, let's see what we now have:

3G capability GPS Apps that we will have to pay for MobileMe, we will have to pay for that too

It seems to me Apple didn't really address some of the most important features a phone must have:

a good camera MMS a front camera for videoconferencing a video camera copy/paste file saving capability

Two years ago, I had all these features on my BlackBerry. That was 2 years ago. And BlackBerry never claimed to create the best phone ever... but they did provide all these features.

Something else I am really disappointed about is the price. Sure it's a great price and I'm glad I won't have to spend too much for this phone but my main problem is that everyone is going to have an iPhone. At risk of being taken for a snob, I have to admit that I like the "social status" the iPhone provides me (aka. OMG you have an iPhone?!). Now this time is over.

The more I think about it, the more I look into it, the more I think I might get a gPhone when it comes out. Google Android looks so much friendlier (to everybody: user, developer, etc) than the iPhone.

Credit Photo: Gizmodo

No dock included with iPhone 3G

For $199 (or $299), you certainly can't get as much as you do for $399. That's probably what motivated Apple's decision not to include a dock with purchase of an iPhone 3G.

When looking at what's in the iPhone 3G box, you can see "Dock Connector to USB Cable". It almost sound like a dock is included... but no! What's included is the connector; this little plsatic thing that you can switch on your dock to fit whatever device you want (old iPod, new iPod, old iPhone, etc...).

I never used my dock anyways so I'm not really bummed out but I'm sure some of you will be.

AT&T 3G network coverage

Yesterday we finally learn that the new iPhone will be 3G enabled. Great news but what about AT&T's 3G coverage. Well, it appears that although 3G coverage is available in "most major metropolitan areas and is expanding rapidly", some areas are still uncovered.

AT&T doesn't offer a map to compare Edge and 3G coverage. Do they have something to hide?.

A forum post at HowardForums shows a nationwide map based on AT&T’s disparate data, and let me tell you it is not that pretty. While 3G does indeed cover most major metropolitan areas, large parts of the country are completely excluded from coverage where EDGE access is easily available.

In the image below, blue represents 3G coverage, while bright orange represents EDGE coverage, and lighter orange represents partner coverage.