Iphone

[Suited_Jock]

Good article here on reasons why to jailbreak your iphone.. I've cut and pasted the text but for the pics and links go here: http://sleepers.net/news/2008/09/06/why-jailbreak-iphone/

ntroduction:
So you have your 2.0 iPhone and you can install thousands of apps from AppStore. What’s all this commotion about jailbreaking? Why would you need to jailbreak? What does it offer? In this post, I will cite some of the most compelling reasons to jailbreak your iPhone. I will continually update this post as changes occur.

Risk Free:
Jailbreaking is not unlocking! It is risk free. Everything that works before jailbreaking continues to work after. Jailbreaking only adds features. Jailbreaking is risk free and cannot void your warranty. You can simply restore in iTunes at anytime to get back to a factory state. You are not alone, many people are doing it. Several hundred thousand people are jailbreaking! For understanding of jailbreak vs unlock read my terminology post.

How To:
If you decide after reading this that you wish to jailbreak, head on over to our guides section and find the guide or method that works best for you. I recommend one of the pwnage methods.

Reason #1: Winterboard + Customization
Winterboard allows you to do this:

Or this:

or this:

This is just the “tip of the iceberg”. There is so much more you can do. You can have web content as your background. My theme consists of 350 images that rotate every 15 seconds in a slide show. Here is a sample of some of these images:


You can even have video playing as your wallpaper.
Video Wallpaper Sample

Reason #2: Jailbreak to fix Apple’s bugs
There are bugs in iPhone OS. Jailbreakers can fix some of these. Some examples:
1) Mail app crashes after restoring backup from iTunes. Apple’s solution is to not restore your backup. That’s right. Lose all your contacts! If you jailbreak, bossprefs “fix user dir permissions” button solves this.
2) iPhone will not boot after installing too many apps and you have to restore. There is a way to fix this problem by editing some files in SSH. Soon the entire issue will be solved.
3) Camera fix as described here.
4) You are limited to 9 pages of apps. After that, your appstore installs just don’t show up and there is no way to run them. If you jailbreak, you can use QuickGold, Categories, or other launchers to launch your apps. You can even put them in folders (more on Categories below).

Reason #3: Cycorder and Snapture
Cycorder is a free full featured video recorder for iPhone. Turn your iPhone into a mini camcorder. The quality is ok at 15 fps with sound. The recordings are stored in mjpeg compression codec so they can be played back on a computer. (Not allowed in AppStore).

Snapture is a fantastic camera upgrade that allows you to take multiple pictures rapidly and in general makes your camera much easier to use. (Not allowed in AppStore).

Reason #4: Launchers

There are now some fantastic springboard add-ons for iPhone. These are OS level enhancements and are therefore, not allowed on AppStore. Those that do not have these are really missing out.

Quick Gold - This is an amazing app that is just like QuickSilver on OSX. You tap home once at springboard and type in your search and it instantly finds what you are looking for. The search is type-as-you-go and fast. In other words, if you type “B” it will bring up all the results with B. If you now press “o” it will filter to “Bo” etc. You can search apps, contacts, web clips and more.


This is a must have addition to iPhone OS.  Note that this is implemented as  a mobile substrate plugin which means it becomes part of springboard. There is no extra daemon running that drains your battery or uses your CPU. Outstanding!

Dock 3.0  - This is an app switcher that is always available.  It is hard to describe, so check out the video link for a demo. This is also a mobile substrate plugin so there is no extra daemon running on your device.

Categories - So I cant write this whole article without at least showcasing one of my own contributions. So here is Categories. This allows you to make folders on your springboard and move those pages of icons into folders. Think Games, Apps, Networking, etc. Reduce 9 pages of apps down to just 1!

Reason #5: Cydia
There are many other apps available only for jailbreakers. These are apps that Apple has either declined from Appstore for one reason (usually they break one of their ridiculous rules) or the developer doesn’t own a MAC or doesn’t feel like paying $100 to distribute their app.  For a list of what’s avaiable in Cydia, load Cydia. You can check out what is in my repository here. Many of these apps offer functionality that is just not available in Appstore. For example:

Flashlight - Better than Appstore’s many flashlights because it makes the screen brighter. What good is a dim light? Sheesh.

BossPrefs - Hide unwanted icons on your springboard. Dont use stocks or iTunes? Hide it so you do not need to see it. Access quick toggles to handy features such as bluetooth, wifi, EDGE.

Macman - A pacman like game only available on Cydia.

BiteSMS -  A cheaper alternative to SMS for many countries.

iBlacklist - Filter incoming calls and SMS!

Reason #6: Take Control of Your System
Would you want to own a PC where only Dell decided what you could do with it? Jailbreaking opens your device up to you deciding what to do with it. You can install a BSD unix subsystem and SSH. You can use a mobile terminal. It’s just like a real mini computer! I even used iPhone SSH shell and iPhone GCC to compile most the applications I released on this site!

Reason #7: Unlocking
Finally, and I almost decided to leave this out, but the only way to unlock your iPhone and put it onto another carrier is by jailbreaking it. The unlocking apps will require system level patching and activation all of which can only be done via jailbreaking. At the time of this writing, you cannot unlock an iPhone 3g. Note also that you need not unlock to jailbreak. They are two separate things.
Comments (45)  //  Add Comment

[Suited_Jock]

Noticed that cycorder added sound too !

sweet.

[TheChipPrince]

Cheers Jock for the info...

[TheChipPrince]

Can i recieve picture messages without having to look at them on the o2 website?!

[Suited_Jock]

Can i recieve picture messages without having to look at them on the o2 website?!

Not yet but they are working on an app called swirly MMS..

[TheChipPrince]

Can i recieve picture messages without having to look at them on the o2 website?!

Not yet but they are working on an app called swirly MMS..

Suited Jock is the Blonde iPhone bible!  Expect more questions! 

[Suited_Jock]

So 2.1 firmware is out - Don't update yet via itunes as it will lock up your iphone causing you to have to restore it. There is a workaround to get jailbreak + 2.1 but it's not straightforward.. I ended up having my phone unable to boot and had to reinstall factory settings wiping everything.. luckily its all synched (contacts,calendar,mail etc) but it was still a faff getting all my apps back on there.

I will post when theres a straight forward way to upgrade.

[TheChipPrince]

Will forward it on...

            Any chance please Rookie?


Also, will my will my old ericsson bluetooth work with with it anyone know?  Or only the iphone bluetooth headset?

Works with any bluetooth headset.

Struggling to get this to work.  I switch my headset on (Sony Ericsson one), then when i go to switch the bluetooth on on the iPhone it says searching, then underneath it says 'now discoverable'?  Then it just searches for ages, and doesn' change...

Any ideas?

[Colchester Kev]

toffee hammer .. 1 x hefty whack on the "5" button ... works every time.























PS. Neither myself or blonde accept any responsibility if you are dumb enough to try it

[Suited_Jock]

Will forward it on...

            Any chance please Rookie?


Also, will my will my old ericsson bluetooth work with with it anyone know?  Or only the iphone bluetooth headset?

Have you put the headset into pairing mode?

Works with any bluetooth headset.

Struggling to get this to work.  I switch my headset on (Sony Ericsson one), then when i go to switch the bluetooth on on the iPhone it says searching, then underneath it says 'now discoverable'?  Then it just searches for ages, and doesn' change...

Any ideas?

[TheChipPrince]

Have you put the headset into pairing mode?

It only has 1 button - on/off

 

[Ginger]

I had one many moons ago (a nokia iirc) same single on/off button. Mine had to be pressed for 3 seconds until a blue light started flashing, this indicated it was in pairing mode.

Worth a try to play about with it for a bit.

[TheChipPrince]

I had one many moons ago (a nokia iirc) same single on/off button. Mine had to be pressed for 3 seconds until a blue light started flashing, this indicated it was in pairing mode.

Worth a try to play about with it for a bit.

Oh yes it comes on no problem, used it for over a year with my old phone, have to hold it 5 seconds.  But cant pair it with the iPhone at all...

[Suited_Jock]

whats the model of the headset?

[TheChipPrince]

whats the model of the headset?

Sony Ericsson one, jus a cheap £10 off Play.com...