Holiday Sampler: 20 free holiday tracks from #iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/itunes-holiday-sampler/id344104720
What if you had a nickle for every time you heard: "I have the perfect idea for a great application!"? It’s the buzz on the street. The iPhone has created unprecedented excitement and innovation from people both inside and outside the software development community. Still for those outside the development world, the process is a bit of a mystery.
This how-to guide is supposed to walk you through the steps to make your idea for an iPhone app a reality. This post presents various ideas, techniques, tips, and resources that may come in handy if you are planning on creating your first iPhone application.
How do you know if your idea is a good one? The first step is to even care if your idea is solid; and the second step is to answer the question does it have at least one of the indicators of success?
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Does your app solve a unique problem? Before the light bulb was invented, somebody had to shout out “Man, reading by candlelight sucks!” Figure out what sucks, and how your app can make the life of its user more comfortable. |
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Does the app serve a specific niche? Though there aren’t any stats on the App Store search, the usage of applications is certainly growing with the explosion of App Store inventory. Find a niche with ardent fans (pet lovers, for example) and create an app that caters to a specific audience. |
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Does it make people laugh? This is a no-brainer. If you can come up with something funny, you are definitely on the right track and your idea may be the golden one. Heck, I hit a red “do not press” button for 5 minutes yesterday. |
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Are you building a better wheel? Are there existing successful apps that lack significant feature enhancements? Don’t be satisfied with just a wine list, give sommeliers a way to talk to their fans! |
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Will the app be highly interactive? Let’s face it, most of us have the attention span of a flea. Successful games and utilities engage the user by requiring action! |
Action: Does your app fall in to one of these categories? If yes, it’s just about time to prepare the necessary tools.
Below is a list of items you’ll need (*starred items are required, the rest are nice-to-have’s):
Action: Load up on your required supplies.
What skills do you bring to the table? Are you a designer whose brain objects to Objective C? A developer who can’t design their way out of a paper sack? Or maybe you are neither, but an individual with an idea you’d like to take to the market? Designing a successful iPhone application is a lot like starting a small business. You play the role of Researcher, Project Manager, Accountant, Information Architect, Designer, Developer, Marketer and Advertiser – all rolled into one.
Remember what all good entrepreneurs know – it takes a team to make a product successful. Don’t get me wrong, you certainly can do it all. But you can also waste a lot of time, energy and sanity in the process. Don’t go crazy, reference the checklist below and ask yourself: What roles are the best fit for you to lead? Then find other talented people to fill in the gaps. The infusion of additional ideas can only enrich the product!
Remember to have contractors sign your non-disclosure agreement. Having a contract in place tells your contractor "I’m a professional that takes my business and this project seriously. Now don’t go runnin’ off with this idea."
Action: Select skills that are a good fit for you to lead. For those roles where you cannot lead, hire professionals.
Market research is a fancy way of saying "Look at what other people are doing and don’t make the same mistakes." Learn from the good, bad and ugly in the App Store. Coming up with creative solutions in the app concept development and design starts with analyzing other (maybe similar) applications. Even if you encounter a lot of poorly designed apps, your mind will reference these examples of what not to do.
Action: Answer these questions:
If you want to create an iPhone app, you need to understand the capabilities of the iPhone and its interface. Can you shoot a .45 caliber bullet out of your iPhone? No. Can you shoot videos? Yes!
The good news is that you don’t have to memorize the encyclopedic Apple User Interface Guidelines to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t in iPhone Apps. Download and play with as many apps as you can, and think about what functionality you want to include in your product.
Take note of:
Action: Download the Top 10 apps in every category and play with all of them. Review the Apple Guidelines for UI design and list at least 5 features you’d like to incorporate into your app.
We assume here that you’ve already determined that your app will bring value and that you will have a raging audience for your app. Well, fine, they are raging fans, but who are they really? What actions will they take to achieve their goals within the app?
If it’s a game, maybe they want to beat their high score. Or perhaps they are a first time player – how will their experience differ from someone who is getting a nice case of brain-rot playing your game all day?
If it’s a utility app, and your audience wants to find a coffee shop quickly, what actions will they take within the app to find that coffee shop? Where are they when they’re looking for coffee? Usually in the car! Do present an interface that requires multiple taps, reading and referencing a lot? Probably not! This is how thinking about how real-life intersects design.
Action: Line item out the different types of people who will use your app. You can even name them if you want to make the scenarios you draw out as real as possible.
And by "sketch" I mean literally sketch. Line out a 9-rectangle grid on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and get to sketching!
Ask yourself:
Thumbnailing your ideas on paper can push your creativity far beyond where your imagination might stagnate working in an sketching application! You can also buy the iPhone Stencil Kit to quickly sketch out iPhone UI prototypes on paper.
Action: Create at least one thumbnail page of your application per screen. Experiment with various navigational schemes, the text you put on buttons, and how screens connect. If you want to transfer your sketches into digital format, iPlotz is a good tool to check out.
If you are a designer, download the iPhone GUI Photoshop template or iPhone PSD Vector Kit. Both are collections of iPhone GUI elements that will save you a lot of time in getting started. If you’ve solidified your layout during sketching, drawing up the screens will be less of a layout exercise and more about the actual design of the app.
If you are not a designer, hire one! It’s like hiring an electrician to do electrical work. You can go to Home Depot and buy tools to try it yourself, but who wants to risk getting zapped? If you’ve followed steps 1–3, you’ll have everything you need for a designer to get started.
When looking for a designer, try to find someone who has experience designing for mobile devices. They may have some good feedback and suggested improvements for your sketches. A few places to look for designers: Coroflot, Crowdspring, eLance. When posting your job offer, be very specific about your requirements, and also be ready to review a lot of portfolios.
Action: If you are a designer, get started in Photoshop. If you are not a designer, start interviewing designers for your job.
Even though this how-to is sequential, it’s a good idea to get a developer on board at the same time when you line up design resources. Talking with a developer sooner than later will help you scope out a project that is technically feasible and within your budget.
If you are a Objective C/Cocoa developer crack, open Xcode and get started! A few forums to join if you haven’t already:
If you are not a developer, you know what to do – find one! Specify the type of app you want to produce – whether it is a game, utility or anything else. Each type usually requires a different coding skill set. A few places to look for developers: Odesk, iPhoneFreelancer, eLance and any of the forums listed above.
OK, so how do you submit your application to Apple Store now? The process of compiling your application and publishing the binary for iTunes Connect can be difficult for anyone unfamiliar with XCode. If you are working with a developer, ask them to help you:
Action: If you are a developer, map out a development timeline and get started. If you are not a developer, start interviewing devs for your job.
If a tree falls in the middle of the woods and nobody was around to hear it does it make a sound? Apps can sit in the store unnoticed very easily. Don’t let this happen to you. Be ready with a plan to market your app. In fact, be ready with many plans to market your app. Be ready to experiment, some ideas will work, others won’t.
Action: Make a list of 20 promotional strategies that target the audience for your app. Take action on them yourself or hire someone who can!
It’s easy when you are working on your first app to get all AppHappy, dreaming up a zillion new app-ideas. Dream, but don’t get sidetracked by new ideas. Your first app needs to make a big splash and getting involved in too many projects at once can dilute your passion for making your first application a success.
Action: Get out there and go kick some app!
Earlier this year, Apple submitted a spec to the IETF for live streaming multimedia content over HTTP, leading some to suspect that a live video protocol would soon be making its way to iPhone and iPod devices. With the new 3.0 version of the iPhone OS, that HTTP live streaming protocol became a reality, and while there were already a handful of live video apps on the iPhone, they’re presumably now a lot better.
This list is a round up of some of the live TV options available on the iPhone. Most of these apps work best over wifi (and a few won’t work at all over 3G), and generally live streaming is a big drain on battery life. Still, being able to catch up with live television or out-of-market broadcasts when you’re not near your TV is a great option for iPhone owners to have.
netTV (Free/$2.99)
Available in both free and paid options, netTV offers live streaming access to over 200 channels from around the world, including a larger-than-usual number of channels from the US. The quality is generally pretty good, though I did experience some issues when first connecting to a channel, and of course it varies from channel to channel (depending on the source of the video stream).
TVUPlayer (Free/$4.99)
TVUPlayer plays live TV for over 300 channels, though only a handful of channels broadcast at the right bandwidth to play well. Some of the video feeds come in choppy or with audio syncing issues (I actually couldn’t get audio to work at all), a result of the iPhone’s hardware limitations according to the developers. Still, the app offers an impressive line up of live international television channels, even if many of them are strange.
WorldView Live ($2.99)
WorldView Live isn’t exactly TV, but it is live streaming video. The app provides access to thousands of live web cams from around the world. Only a handful (about 60, according to the developer) are actually live video, but the app does offer an interesting, if voyeuristic, view of the world for armchair travelers.
BONUS: Television ($2.99)
The $2.99 Television application isn’t live TV, but it offers access to an impressive line up of television video catch-up services. The app, which only works over wifi, lets users watch on-demand video from HBO, ESPN, NBC, FOX, CBS, Comedy Central, CNN, Sky and more.
FRANCE 24 LIVE (Free)
The live application from France’s channel 24 news offers live, video-on-demand streaming from the network in French, English, and Arabic over wifi, 3G, and even Edge! Of course, the video will be pretty choppy and low quality over Edge, but it’s unique among live video applications for even offering that option at all.
Al Jazeera English Live ($2.99)
Al Jazeera’s iPhone app, from Livestation (
), has 24/7 live streaming of its English-language news channel over wifi and 3G. The quality is very impressive and the app is under active development — so bugs don’t stay unsquashed for very long. If you are streaming over 3G, though, be aware that every 10 minutes you watch takes about 7.2mb of bandwidth, which is important to know if you’re not on an unlimited data plan.
BBC World News Live (€3.99)
Livestation offers a live streaming video app for BBC World News, as well, but the €3.99 application is only available in the UK (so I wasn’t able to try it out).
MLB.com At Bat 2009 ($9.99)
Major League Baseball’s MLB.com At Bat 2009 application may be pricey at $9.99, but it’s well worth it for die-hard fans that want to keep up with their team or out-of-market teams on the road. The app offers live audio broadcasts of every game to all owners of the app, and two games are offered over live video each night. For MLB.tv subscribers, however, every game can be watched live via the iPhone app (excepting those blacked out due to local market restrictions). The quality of the video streamed by the app is very impressive, especially over wifi.
PGA Championship ($1.99)
The last of the pro golf tour’s yearly majors, the PGA Championship, is next week at Hazeltine National Golf Club and the Professional Golf Association is making sure everyone can watch the tournament no matter where they are. The app gives users access to live video streams of four marquee groups (think big name players like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Padraig Harrington) on Thursday and Friday, and two more groups on the weekend. You can also watch the entire field play through the course’s par 3 holes during the whole tournament.
This is actually the third live video app the PGA has put out this year. They also had iPhone apps for tracking the Masters tournament and the US Open, and in March, CBS put out a March Madness application with live video of the year-end NCAA college basketball tournament. We’d expect both organizations to do the same in 2010.
TV 2 Sporten (Free)
If you like Norwegian football, then the free TV 2 Sporten app is for you. Jam-packed with live news and score updates, the app also has a live video section with goals and other game highlights. Of course, it will all make a lot more sense if you speak Norwegian.
Well, I’m sure you’ve all heard of all the iPhone by now, undoubtedly one of the most hyped tech products of the last year. Never have we seen so many applications, resources, hacks, and so much news coverage for one little device. This list is a valiant attempt at bringing together the best of the “iPhone web.”
Apple hasn’t yet released an iPhone SDK (software development kit) to developers, instead, they’ve opted to promote the use of the device’s full-featured Safari browser, and have encouraged web developers to develop web apps specifically for the iPhone.
iPhoneChat- iChat-like AIM chat application.
OneTrip- Simple shopping-list application.
FlickIM- Multi-featured AIM chat application.
Digg (iPhone edition)-Digg.com formatted for the iPhone.
Gcalc- Calculates the cost of tech according to power consumption.
Hahlo - iPhone-styled interface for Twitter.
iPhlickr- iPhone-styled Flickr interface.
iDelicious- Styled interface for del.icio.us.
iPicli- A nicely designed gallery of creative content, managed by users.
PocketTweets- Another twitter app, with a minimal interface.
eBuddy- Feature-packed iPhone chat client with support for AIM, Yahoo!, and MSN (Site works only if visited on your iPhone).
Cool Gorilla Talking Phrasebook- Foreign language phrase-book with audio.
Texterity- Innovative way to view magazines (specifically formatted for the iPhone).
Bejeweled- Version of the popular mobile-phone game, “Bejeweled” optimized for the iPhone.
Newsgator Mobile for iPhone- Full-featured, mobile version of Newsgator’s online offering. Great for users of the MacRSS client, NetNewsWire, which automatically syncs to the service.
Twitter for iPhone Yet another twitter app.
Dailymotion for iPhone- Youtube’s already built-in, what about the other video-sites? Another video-sharing site, Dailymotion, is offering an iPhone formatted version of their site.
iRovr- A social-network exclusive to the iPhone.
iPhoneiGTD- App for access of projects being tracked via the Mac client iGTD. The only catch is that your iGTD data needs to be synced with .Mac in the first place.
TeleMoose- A front-end for Amazon.com optimized for the iPhone.
Google Reader - An interface for popular web-based RSS reader, Google Reader, nicely optimized for the iPhone.
iZoho- An iPhone front-end for the web-based office suite Zoho. The iPhone version lets you do everything you might do on your computer, including viewing and editing docs, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Gas.app- Enter your zip code and this app will find you the cheapest gas in town (USA only).
MyMetar- A “weather bookmarking service” which allows you to bookmark your local METARs, TAFs, and radar images.
iPhoneTravel- Searches directory travel.ian.com just in case you need to book flights, hotels, and cruises from your iPhone.
iBookmark- Lets you manage and sync del.ico.us bookmarks with your iPhone.
Youtube - An iPhone-optimized Youtube browser, just in case the “desktop” version isn’t working for you.
GoMovies- An easy and quick way to search for movie showtimes and other movie-related info right from your iPhone.
iChess- Bored? Cure your chess craving with iChess, a simple, chess app for your iPhone.
Leaflets- A suite of iPhone apps: Search, Feeds, Newsvine, App-List, Upcoming, Flickr, del.icio.us, and Le Tour de France, organized in a desktop-like fashion.
Listingly- A list making application with a great UI. Integrated word recognition and the ability to print lists make this an indispensable resource, especially for making shopping lists on the go.
iPling- A “social expansion engine” allows you to findothers with similar interests. The app even provides a way for users to meet up in real-life after the anonymous exchange of text-messages.
NYTimes River- Cuts out the clutter on the NYTimes website, just delivering the news in an easily readable format.
CheapMF- Out shopping? Not sure about prices? CheapMF can help. It’s a utility that searches Amazon.com for prices on specified products in order to help you make educated shopping decisions.
iTouch- A simple, addictive game which tests your reflexes, just touch some dots on the screen.
Avalanche- An addictive puzzle game in which the goal is to clear the screen of blocks by picking three or more inter-connected blocks of the same color.
Expense View- Allows you to import your spending data into your iPhone on-the-go.You can then access your data at home and see exactly how you’ve been spending your money. It’s even equipped with graphs and categories for the organized spender.
iPhone recipes- Cooking resource 101 Cookbooks has assembled an iPhone interface for searching through recipes.
iActu- Newsstand like interface for reading news headlines from various Newspapers.
iTweet- The third twitter app on this list, with an intuitive, streamlined interface.
Ta-da List 37signals, simple, intuitive to-do list app.
Movies Another app for looking up movie showtimes and other related info on your iPhone.
iTipr- Excellent application for calculating appropriate tip amounts.
Seeqpod- Search for playable music on the internet and then play it back on your iPhone.
Beejive- Another chat application, Beejive, is a solid contender in the iPhone chat app market. The app supports several chat protocols including, AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Gtalk, ICQ, and Jabber. While everything seems to be in working order for me, please note the app’s still in it’s early alpha development stage.
TestiPhone- Web-based simulator for quickly testing your iPhone applications.
JiWire- A utility to find free Wi-Fi hotspots by location, worldwide.
FastApp- An iPhone “dashboard” that displays the latest additions to iPhoneApplicationList.com
WordBreaker- A word-game in which you you attempt to guess your computer’s secret word before it guesses yours, in a hangman-like logic format.
Airport Delay Tracker- Track live air traffic information.
iBloglines- Another iPhone-optimized RSS reader, this one, with the Bloglines service.
Belfry SciCalc- A nicely implemented scientific calculator for the iPhone.
Your Vids- Another iPhone optimized video service with several features.
TV Forecast- A personalized TV-guide optimized for the iPhone.
iPhone Application List- An ever-updating list of iPhone apps.
iPhone Widget List- Like iPhone Application List, but with even more apps.
sciphone.net- A constantly updated collection of the best iPhone wallpapers, including weekly themepack releases.
ThemeMyPhone- A community-centric resource for iPhone wallpapers.
ModMyiPhone.com- iPhone forum and community.
iPhone Application Gallery ~ AppSafari ~- An iPhone application gallery with ratings, reviews, and comments.
iPhone Central- The guys from Macworld have put together a blog solely dedicated to the iPhone, with all the authority that goes with the Macworld name. They even have an iPhone version.
The iPhone Blog- A nicely put together iPhone blog.
ZDNet- iPhone- ZDNet’s iPhone coverage.
The Cult of Mac- The Cult of Mac blog covers the iPhone plenty.
CNet- iPhone- CNet’s coverage of the iPhone.
iPhone- Gizmodo Gizmodo’s iPhone coverage.
TUAW- iPhone TUAW’s iPhone coverage.
Ars Technica- Apple Ars Technica’s Apple coverage, plenty of iPhone coverage to be found.
iCali- Cali Lewis’ (from GeekBrief.tv) in her iPhone-centric podcast.
ApplePhone Show- A weekly audio podcast covering the iPhone, hosted by industry leaders Scott Bourne, Chris Breen and Andy Ihnatko.
MacBreak Weekly- The popular weekly Mac podcast with hosts Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann, Scott Bourne and Alex Lindsay is bound to cover the iPhone more than enough.
TWiT Another one of Leo Laporte’s successful tech podcasts, again, bound to even further inform you of the latest iPhone developments.
Hack the iPhone- A comprehensive site containing all the info you need to hack your iPhone.
iPhone Hacks- An assembly of the latest iPhone hacks in blog form.
Applehound- Consistently updated listing of iPhone bugs, ready for hacking.
The security vulnerability that threatened iPhone users via corrupt SMS messages will apparently be addressed by Saturday. An O2 (who carries the iPhone in the UK) spokesperson tells the BBC that Apple is set to release a patch, available in iTunes, that removes the danger.
As reported yesterday, two researchers presented a way in which iPhones could be remotely controlled – including accessing a phone’s address book and camera – after being corrupted by an SMS message containing a single square character.
Although no threat was imminent, the researchers estimated that it would take hackers only a couple weeks to exploit the vulnerability once their findings were made public.
All along, the researchers said the goal of releasing this information was to get an unresponsive Apple to fix the security vulnerability. And for now, it looks like mission accomplished.
As we reported earlier today, security experts Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner have exposed an iPhone virus that could allow criminals to control your phone just by sending a single text message (SMS). Their presentation, at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, is making a lot of waves, but the details are scattered or overly technical for most iPhone owners.
That’s why we’ve done some research on the information that has come out on this security vulnerability. The technical detail involved in the hack can be overwhelming, so we’re synthesizing it down to the key points – as well what you can expect. Don’t be alarmed, but be vigilant. Here’s the security breakdown:
1. The major issue is a security flaw involving SMS. Specifically, the hack can control an iPhone remotely, including your iPhone’s camera, Safari and more. It can even send messages to friends in your address book, which is where this hack becomes scariest.
2. The hack works by sending you code in an SMS message (or a series of messages) that crashes your iPhone. After that, your iPhone is theirs to use.
3. The offending text would come in the form of a single square character. If you get the square character, turn off your phone IMMEDIATELY.
4. You only have to receive the message to get hacked; you don’t even have to do anything with the text message.
5. The flaw was discovered by noted security expert Charlie Miller, who has hacked everything from MacBook Airs to Second Life, and partner Collin Mullinger.
6. The attack was presented publicly at the Black Hat conference. The duo decided to do this after Apple gave them no response back in July, when they provided Apple with information on the security flaw. The goal is to bring attention to the flaw (which they are clearly getting).
7. According to Reuters, now that the vulnerability is exposed, hackers could build software that mounts this SMS attack within the next two weeks.
8. Apparently Google Android, Windows Mobile phones, and Palm Pres are vulnerable to similar hacks. The team demonstrated the attack on an Android phone and a Windows Mobile phone.
While we’re still sifting through very technical information on this attack, it’s a clear reminder that no software, no computer, and no phone is safe from thieves, hackers, and harm. We’ll provide additional updates as they come from either Black Hat or Apple.
Now that iPhone's new OS 3.0 is available with all its nifty features like spotlight search, copy and paste, push notifications and maybe one day MMS and tethering, many users have happily upgraded their devices. For most people, upgrading to the new OS is as technical as they want to get. For others, however, a true upgrade isn't complete until the jailbreak is done.
After waiting for a few days, the fabulous iPhone dev team at last provided us with a new set of jailbreaking tools. If you're ready to dive in, you can use this guide to get going. And unlike some of the other guides on the net, we'll share our personal experience and tips so you know just what you're getting into...and what to avoid.
If you're new to jailbreaking, you might be confused by the names being tossed around out there: PwnageTool? Redsn0w? ultrasn0w? What are these people talking about?! Simply put, they're all tools that either jailbreak (allow you to install 3rd-party applications) or unlock (make the phone work on other GSM-based cellular networks) your device.
For expert hackers wanting to create their own custom firmware, the Mac OS X-only PwnageTool is the right one for the job. But if all you care about is jailbreaking, then you'll probably want the new tool called "redsn0w." Although you can certainly jailbreak using the PwnageTool (LifeHacker shows you how), Windows users have no choice but to use redsn0w - it's the only option.
Also of note, redsn0w is the replacement for the jailbreaking tool "QuickPwn," which in the past delivered similar functionality. Although the Dev Team didn't specifically come out and say so (besides this tweet), it looks like QuickPwn is no more.
Finally, Ultrasn0w is the tool that unlocks the iPhone to allow it to work on other cellular networks. (In the U.S., that means T-Mobile.) Before you can unlock the phone, though, you have to jailbreak it. Then you can follow the simple instructions here to complete the unlock process.
METHOD 1: FOR NEW JAILBREAKERS
Backup
Now you're ready to jailbreak your phone. Before doing this, you should make sure you have a recent iPhone backup just in case something goes horribly wrong (not likely, but better safe than sorry). Your iPhone is automatically backed up when you sync with iTunes - unless you're the impatient type who always cancels that step of the syncing process. In any case, do one more sync before starting your jailbreak.
Get Redsn0w
The next step is to obtain the software known as redsn0w. If you're familiar with using bittorrent software, the fastest way to get the download is through the torrent file. The Mac torrent is here and the Windows torrent is here. If you're not comfortable torrenting files, then you can head over to one of the mirror sites hosting the zip file. The Dev Team blog lists them all here at the bottom of the post. Make sure you get the correct one for your PC - either the one for Mac or the one for Windows.
After downloading the file, unzip its contents to a folder.
Jailbreak!
1) With your iPhone connected to your computer, you can now launch the redsn0w.exe application.
For Windows 7 users, take note: for best results you'll want to run the app in "compatibility mode." Right-click on the file, go to Properties, then click the "Compatibility" tab. Check the "run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox and choose Windows XP (Service Pack 2) from the list provided. Click "OK" to close the window. You may also want to run redsn0w as an Administrator (right-click, then choose "run as Administrator"). I didn't do this, but some users have reported this as necessary to keep the app from crashing.
2) On the first screen of the redsn0w application, you're prompted to browse for your IPSW (iPhone firmware) file. A lot of online tutorials first provide you with this file and make you place it in some sort of easy-to-find folder. That seems like a lot of extra steps considering that the IPSW is already on your computer. Why not just browse to it?
For Windows users, the file will be located in:
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
Note: replace <user name> with your username on the computer.
For Mac users, the file will be here: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates/
If multiple IPSW files are listed, make sure you grab the one with the most recent timestamp.
3) On the following screen, you're prompted to select your options. "Install Cydia" is already checked for you (Cydia is an app you use to download jailbroken apps). The other box, "Icy" (another app like Cydia) is not.
Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way that it's best to NOT install Icy at this point. For me, doing so led to a lot of issues including problems installing jailbroken apps, tons of error messages, and even crazy flashing screens. I had to start my jailbreak all over again because of checking Icy, so don't risk it! You can always install Icy later (see bottom of post).
4) For the next step, you're told to power off your device. Hold down the button on the top of the phone until "Slide to Power off" appears. Once the device is completely off, click "Next."
5) OK, now for the fun part. The steps on this screen appear quickly, so you'll need to be prepared to follow the instructions.
The first step is to hold down the power button (the one at the top of the device) for the time specified. (The software will display a countdown next to each step.)
Next, while still holding the power button down, you'll press the "Home" button (the round button at the bottom) for the time specified.
While still holding the Home button down, release the power button for the time specified.
This will force your iPhone into a special mode which allows it to be jailbroken. Don't worry if you see the screen flash, it's all part of the process.
6) Assuming you did everything right, redsn0w will start the jailbreaking process. You'll see the status bar on the app moving and soon you'll be taken to a screen where you can finally click "Finish." However, your jailbreak isn't over yet.
Even though clicking "Finish" closes redsn0w, your jailbreak is likely still running at this point. You'll notice that on your iPhone's screen it says it's "downloading jailbreak data." You need to leave it alone until the phone reboots and returns you to the lock screen. Don't worry if this seems to be taking a while - it could take several minutes to finish - but it's not frozen, so let it do its thing.
FINISH!
After the phone reboots, you can use it as usual, except now you'll have a new app on your springboard for "Cydia" where you can find a treasure trove of jailbroken applications to install.
That's it! Congratulations, you're a jailbreaker!
For extra points, you'll want to now install the other app called "Icy," which, like Cydia, helps you locate apps for jailbroken phones. To do so, you'll first have to launch Cydia and update it. After telling Cydia what kind of user you are (I'm just a plain ol' end user - you probably are too), you'll be prompted to update the app. Choose "Upgrade Essential" and let Cydia download its updates.
When it's finished, return to the app and select "Manage" from the set of buttons at the bottom of the screen. Tap "Sources," "Edit," then "Add." Type in http://apt.ripdev.com and hit "Add Source" when done. Tap the "done" button and exit out of the "Manage" section.
Now, using the Search button, search for "Icy." A lot of results come up, but the one you want is simply called "Icy," nothing else. Install this application and you'll now have a second app on your screen for finding jailbroken programs. (Note: Icy replaces "Installer," the prior Cydia alternative).
METHOD 2: FOR KEEPING YOUR OLD JAILBREAK
Unfortunately, I didn't discover these steps until after I jailbroke my phone, so I was left re-installing all my apps. I can't verify these steps work, but if you've previously jailbroken your phone and want to keep it that way, it's certainly worth trying.
Basically, instead of "downloading and installing" the 3.0 firmware from iTunes, you just download it to your computer. Then you choose "Restore" in iTunes to set your device back to factory settings. (Remember to have a recent backup first!)
Next, close iTunes and run redsn0w as described above. Once the jailbreak is complete, re-open iTunes and choose "Restore from Backup." In theory, this should keep your jailbreak.
If those steps are accurate (or need tweaking), let me know and I'll update the post.
Either way you jailbreak, the end result is an iPhone that can do all sorts of new tricks like record video and upload it to YouTube, let you install custom themes, icon sets, and even different battery indicators, and, of course, tweak away at system preferences like nobody's business. Some people don't see the point of jailbreaking, but it's hard for true jailbreakers to imagine their phones without it. Maybe now, you'll feel that way too!
Since the release of the original iPhone in 2007, Apple’s smartphone has been on a steady climb upwards, taking huge chunks of the U.S. mobile phone market and giving even the BlackBerry a run for its money. The arrival of the iPhone 3G S and the $99 iPhone only bring Apple one step closer to market domination.
Abroad though, the story has been more difficult to decipher. In an April piece, Wired’s Brian Chen stated that the Japanese hated the iPhone, which sparked a big debate over the iPhone’s appeal (and the piece’s accuracy). Now though, a new survey paints a drastically different story: the iPhone is now the #1 and #2 best selling smartphone in Japan.
According to CNN Money and TG Daily, a recent survey of 2,300 Japanese retailers by BCN reveals that while phone sales have plummeted due to the recession, the top selling phone in the Japanese market is none other than the 8GB iPhone 3G, followed by the 16 GB model. Other phones on the top 10 list include the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A (#3) and the BlackBerry Bold (#6).
While one survey isn’t a definitive answer to whether or not the iPhone has international appeal, the eye-popping sales of iPhones internationally is not something that can be ignored. Oh, and since this survey was conducted before the iPhone 3G S’s release, it means the iPhone is likely doing even better than these numbers as of today.
One thing is for certain: the iPhone’s growth isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Which nation will Apple’s mobile phone take over next?
Here’s how to do it.
1. Find a Windows PC.
2. Install iTunes.
3. Download purplera1n.
4. Run purplera1n.
5. Wait.
6. Run Freeze.
7. Reboot.
Now you’re jailbroken. To run OpenSSH simply install the OpenSSH package in Cydia and ssh to your iPhone with root/alpine login/pass combination.
Just as America gears up to celebrate Independence Day comes news that iPhone 3GS owners are getting some freedom of their own.
purplera1n enables the installation of third-party software not approved for Apple's App Store.
George Hotz, who you may recall as the teenage hacker who originally unlocked the iPhone, has let loose a jailbreaking app for the iPhone 3GS code named purplera1n. It enables the installation of third-party software not approved for Apple's App Store.
For now, purplera1n is Windows-only (but not Windows 7) and requires the latest iTunes installed, and an iPhone 3GS with the 3.0 firmware. In a Friday blog post titled "I make it ra1n," Holtz says a Mac version is "coming shortly."
Holtz notes that he normally doesn't make tools for the general public and would rather wait for the iPhone dev team to do that.
"But guys, what's up with waiting until 3.1? That isn't how the game is played," he chides on his blog. "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.
John Biggs over at CrunchGear is among those who have already given already given purplera1n a go and declares the jailbreaking process "amazingly simple."
Why do we get the sense jailbreaking is going to be part of a whole lot of Fourth of July agendas? But take note: Hotz does caution that purplera1n is in beta and suggests backing up your data before running the app
