You can easily passcode protect your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Passcode Lock. However, this only gives you the ability to set up a 4-digit code. If you're a security freak and want to add an extra layer of protection to your iPhone, there is a simple hack that will let you create an alphanumeric password of as many characters as you want.
Tutorials
How to enable MMS on iPhone 3G 3.0 With T-Mobile
iPhone Download Blog reader Charlie sent me this simple hack to enable free MMS on the iPhone 3G running 3.0 with T-Mobile. Note that this hack only works for T-Mobile on the iPhone 3G.
First, go to Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network.
Add the following in MMS field:
APN: wap.voicestream.com Username: leave blank Password: leave blank MMSC: 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080 MMS Max Message Size: leave blank MMS UA Prof URL: leave blankAgain, this only works if you have T-Mobile. It does not work with other carriers.
Feel free to contact me should you have iPhone tips and tricks you want to share.
Tutorial: Unlock iPhone 3GS With UltraSn0w
This short tutorial will show you how to unlock your iPhone 3GS using UltraSn0w. Unlocking your iPhone 3GS will allow you to use your iphone with any cellphone carrier in the US and in the world, assuming they use SIM cards.
Before starting, make sure this is the latest tutorial on unlocking the iPhone 3GS by visiting this page.
Unlock iPhone 3GS Guide:
First you have to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS. Read my RedSn0w tutorial on how to do that first. It should take about 10 minutes and it is a necessary step to be able to unlock your iPhone.
After jailbreaking your iPhone 3GS, follow these simple steps to install UltraSn0w:
Launch Cydia. Add the following source to Cydia repo666.ultrasn0w.com (note there is a “0″ in sn0w, not an “o”). After installing this source in Cydia, search for “UltraSn0w”. Install UltraSn0w and reboot your iPhone.That's it :)
Tutorial: Jailbreak iPhone 3GS Using RedSn0w
This guide and tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS using RedSn0w. After jailbreaking your iPhone 3GS, you will be able to unlock it using UltraSn0w should you want to.
Note that this tutorial is for the iPhone 3GS but the steps are the same for the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G. Read this for more information about the jailbreak that best fits your needs. This was done on a PC but I assume the steps are the same for Mac and Linux.
Jailbreak iPhone 3GS Guide:
1. First, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. If you have to update iTunes, make sure you restart your computer after installing the latest iTunes.
2. On your desktop, create a folder called "jailbreak iPhone 3GS" or whatever you want to call it. In this folder, download firmware 3.0 for your iPhone 3GS and RedSn0w 0.8 from here. Unzip the RedSn0w folder.
3. Launch RedSn0w and browse for the 3.0 firmware you downloaded in the previous step. RedSn0w should be processing the chosen firmware and tell you that the IPSW was "successfully identified". Click Next.
4. RedSn0w will start working for a few seconds and then will ask you what you would like to install. You can install Cydia and Icy. I highly suggest you only install Cydia. Choose Cydia and click Next.
5. We'll now have to connect the iPhone 3GS in recovery mode. To do so, unplug it from your computer, turn it off and wait a few seconds. Then hold the home button while plugin your iPhone to the USB cable. Keep holding the home button until the "Connect to iTunes" image appears.
6. Your iPhone will then go into recovery mode and that's when the magic happens... RedSn0w will install the jailbreak, which may take a few minutes.
7. Your iPhone will restart and install a bunch of stuff. . Even though RedSn0w says "Done!", wait until the very end to click "Finish".
8. After a few minutes, your iPhone will restart. Then click "Finish".
9. Go to your iPhone springboard and you should see the Cydia icon. Note that the icon may be on the second or third page on your springboard.
10. Done!
It took me about 10 minutes to jailbreak my iPhone 3GS, including time to take screenshots and write this tutorial. It was from far the quickest and most painless jailbreak.
iPhone Jailbreaking and Unlocking Guides
I just added 2 new pages to the blog's navigation bar: jailbreak and unlock. I will make sure to keep these pages up to date with the latest tutorials on how to jailbreak and/or unlock your iPhone.
If you have a look at these pages, you will see that it's pretty straightforward: look for the firmware you want to jailbreak/unlock, then choose your device (2G, 3G, or 3GS) and click on the appropriate guide.
I decided to create these 2 pages because it might be a little hard for newbies to figure out what they're supposed to do or even how to search for information on this blog. This way, I make it dead simple for everyone to find relevant and clear information on both jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone.
Note that I am starting this page with the latest 3.0 firmware. By now, most people have updated their iPhone to 3.0 and it wouldn't make much sense to list previous tutorials I wrote.
Unlock Your iPhone 3GS With PurpleRa1n And UltraSn0w
Since the release of PurpleRa1n, the first iPhone 3GS jailbreak, you are now able to unlock your iPhone 3GS.
To do so, you first have to jailbreak your iPhone with PurpleRa1n (see PurpleRa1n tutorial), and then, simply install UltraSn0w from Cydia.
It's that simple! Note that even though PurpleRa1n got an update, it's still a little buggy.
iPhone 3GS Jailbreak With PurpleRa1n
Not even a week after showing solid proofs of a successful iPhone 3GS jailbreak, GeoHot officially released PurpleRa1n, a tool to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS. The Dev Team planned to release their 3GS jailbreak after the OS 3.1 update but GeoHot just couldn't wait.
Normally I don't make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn't how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn't worth waiting because you might have the "last" hole in the iPhone. What last hole...this isn't golf. I'll find a new one next week. Also your purplera1nyday files ensure that you can always get back to a jailbroken state, so if you have it it's just a matter of tools.
Before going through a short PurpleRa1n tutorial, there are a few things you need to know:
This is a beta release with some major hiccups. It is not stable at all. PurpleRa1n only works with 32 Bit Windows XP SP2 works fine on Windows and Mac You must have the latest version of iTunes installed The jailbreak is incomplete and many apps won't work (ie WinterBoard)Jump the break to read the full tutorial.
Prepare Your iPhone 3GS For Jailbreak
The Dev Team posted a message yesterday suggesting that iPhone 3GS owners should prepare their device for jailbreak.
Remember we warned you to stay away from any updates to 3.1 if you want to be able to jailbreak or unlock your 3GS.
Well this is an additional message to all you 3GS owners that would like to jailbreak your device sometime soon, but this advice comes with a warning! A warning that if you accidentally upgrade to 3.1, you will not be able to use Ultransn0w, so please re-read and double check this warning at the bottom of this post before proceeding.
During the restore process iTunes nicely keeps these oh-so-top-secret-files in a lovely accessible place for us to copy out and backup, that place? /tmp on Mac OS X or %TEMP% on Windows. Thanks Apple — handy!
The downside to this approach is that you actually need to go through the restore process to get these signed files, which has risks if you are anywhere near 3.1 or 3.1 beta :-)
Jump the break for instructions on how to get the iBEC and iBSS of your iPhone 3GS.
How to Sync Google Calendar With iPhone Calendar
My fiance Tina is a mental therapist and she regularly has appointments with clients. She usually uses her old Samsung phone as a calendar but needless to say it is not very practical. I recently "forced" her to get an iPod Touch and one of my sales argument was that she could use it as a calendar and that she would be able to sync it with Google calendar over the air. Note that these were just arguments I pulled out of my butt so she agrees to get an iTouch (yes, the iTouch is more for me than for her)...
We finally bought a 32GB iPod Touch and I started looking into ways to sync an iPhone calendar with Google calendar. I found many options but all involved some third party apps and that's clearly not what I was looking for. I was very surprised that Apple hadn't included this feature in the iPhone/iPod Touch until I actually found an article on JAIB saying that the new OS 3.0 supports CalDAV with SSL so your are technically able to sync Google calendar with your iPhone or iPod Touch, as long as you have internet access.
Here is how to set up your iPhone or iPod Touch to sync calendars with Google over the air:
1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > Other > Add CalDAV Account
2. For the CalDAV settings, enter the following information. Note that your username should be the email address you use to access your Google calendar as well as the password.
3. Then tap "Next" and it should verify your information.
4. If you can't get your account verified, tap "Advanced settings" and make sure that "Use SSL" is On, that the port is 443, and that your Account URL includes the sign "@" in your email address.
That's it!
Now every time you add an event to your iPhone calendar, it will also show up on your Google calendar, and vice versa. You obviously need to have internet access from your iPod or iPhone for the data to sync. Note that the sync is not immediate. It sometimes takes a few seconds but besides this, it works very well.
You might also find these posts interesting:
How to set up Google Sync for iPhone How to sync shared Google calendars with your iPhone How to sync your iPhone notes with GmailHow to Enable Emoji Icons On OS 3.0
There is a simple trick to enable the emoji keyboard on your iPhone. This trick has been around for a few days but for some reason, I never wrote about it. Loyal reader David emailed me earlier today and reminded me of this.
1. Install Spell Number from the App Store (it's a free app)
2. Launch the app and type 91929394.59
3. Press the home button
4. Go to Settings > General > Keyboards, and under "Japanese" select "Emoji"
You can now use these crazy little japanese icons. Note that you can delete the app if you don't want to keep it. Your Emoji keyboard will still be activated.
How to Enable MMS on the iPhone 2G
There is a new simple hack that allows owners of a first gen iPhone to enable MMS on their iPhone 2G. Your iPhone has to be jailbroken to enable MMS. If you don't know how to jailbreak your iPhone, please read this.
Now go to Cydia and look for the application called ActivateMMS2G from the iSpazio source. Install and reboot your iPhone and bingo!
Very important: this hack only works on OS 3.0 and 3.0.1. Do not install on 2.X or 3.1. Thanks @Stilgar702 for the tip!
Hide SMS Preview in iPhone OS 3.0
Imagine you're having a wonderful dinner at a fancy restaurant with your wife or fiance. As usual, you put your iPhone on the table so the others can see what a cool kid you are. All the sudden, the following text message arrives on your iPhone. Before you have time to hit "close", your wife has already ripped your head off.
This accident likely happened hundreds if not thousands of times since the iPhone came out in 2007. Until then, there was nothing you could do. A few jailbreak applications allowed you to hide this but for some reason, Apple never felt it was a feature worth including in the iPhone OS.
Things have changed with the release of the 3.0 firmware which now allows you to hide the preview of any incoming SMS.
To activate this feature, simply go to Settings > Messages > and turn "Show Preview" off. As you can see on the image above, Apple also added a feature that will alert you two more times after receiving a SMS if you don't read it right away. This is a feature that has also been available for a long time to jailbreakers.
Hiding the preview of an SMS won't completely hide it from showing up on your springboard. You will still get a popup showing the name of the sender and "text message", with the option for you to view the SMS or just close the popup.
That was a much needed option but I think it's too bad you still see the name of the sender (or his phone number if not in your contacts). It's a matter of privacy. A name showing up on your iPhone can still lead to awkward moments...
Have you ever had an awkward because of a SMS arriving on your iPhone? If so, please share it with us in the comments.