The Voice of Reason

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It may seem hard to believe but there are still those who think jailbreaking reduces the performance of the iPhone or, even worse, is an illegal practice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jailbreaking opens up a whole new world and dramatically expands the capabilities of the iPhone. The only people that advocate against jailbreaking are the ones who haven’t tried it or the ones that just couldn’t understand how to get it to work or the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking.

But doesn’t jailbreaking void my warranty?

Yes. However, this is not really a problem as you can always restore your iPhone in iTunes, putting it back to its factory settings. This will make it impossible for Apple to see you jailbroke your iPhone, thus not voiding your warranty.

Is jailbreaking dangerous?

In the past, some jailbreak methods were not very stable and sometimes turned your iPhone into an iBrick aka an expensive paper weight. Jailbreak methods are now extremely stable. In other words, jailbreaking is safe!

Ok, I’m convinced. How do I jailbreak my iPhone?

For starters, let’s talk about how to jailbreak. With the tools available today, rarely has it even been easier. You have two options of jailbreak the iPhone on today’s iOS versions – limera1n and greenpois0n.

Both apps are capable of jailbreaking the iPhone. Limera1n, produced by George Hotz  (the hacker known best for his iPhone jailbreaking tools like purplera1n, blackra1n, blacksn0w, and perhaps more notably, for being the first to hack the Sony PS3) was the first on the scene and, now that many of the bugs have been worked out, an incredibly simple and powerful piece of software. Greenpois0n, the alternative to limera1n, is produced by Chronic Dev Team.

To jailbreak, download either software from their respective websites and follow the easy, on-screen prompts. If you’re having trouble, check out one of the following tutorials:

Limera1n tutorial
Greenpois0n tutorial

So once I jailbreak, I can use my phone on other carriers like Verizon?

No. Jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone are two different hacks which allow you to take control of your mobile device in different ways. Jailbreaking is a type of hack that lets you install unapproved third-party applications on your iPhone or iPod Touch from searchable repositories provided by apps like Cydia. Unlocking, on the other hand, is a hack that lets you use your iPhone on another cellular network. Here in the U.S., that means you can use the iPhone on T-Mobile instead of AT&T. You have to first jailbreak your phone before you can unlock it, but you don’t have to unlock a phone in order to jailbreak it.

However, even if you unlock the iPhone, you cannot use it on Verizon. Verizon uses CDMA technology whereas AT&T uses GSM. The two are not compatible and require different hardware to use.

There is a rumor that a “limesn0w” unlock from George Hotz is on its way, but that’s unconfirmed at this time. A version of another tool called “sn0wbreeze” is also underway, which will offer support for unlockers. But for right now, the Dev Team is advising those using the current unlock called “ultrasn0w” to not not use Limera1n.

Ok, I think I understand the basics. How can I make the iPhone better?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a look at some more of the great jailbreak software to make your iPhone experience even better.

Take note that some of the other great jailbreak apps have already been mentioned in a previous post on jailbreak and as such will not be discussed here. Refer to the previous post for their descriptions (Infiniboard, Infinifolders, Infinidock, Intelliscreen, SB Settings, MyWi, My3G, BiteSMS, Emulators, Winterboard, Lockdown Pro, Cylay).

1. FolderEnhancer
   • Unlike FoldersinFolders App, Folder Enhancer for iOS 4.x not only creates sub folders on iPhone and iPod Touch but also allow you to move multiple icons in single step. The app works flawlessly with Iconoclasm and supports icon pages and pages within folders and subfolders.
2. Synchronicity
   • Synchronicity is a great tweak that we’ve all been waiting for. Are you tired of syncing your iphone with itunes and not being able to use it since you have to wait for it to finish? Worry no more. Synchronicity is here and this great tweak lets you use your iphone even while syncing with itunes. No more “Oops, i forgot I’m syncing” and canceling it because you want to use your phone or answer that call. You can purchase Synchronicity from Cydia for $2.00.
   • Warning: Do not open your iPod add during sync because it may corrupt your music library and necessitate a restore.
3. Action Menu Plus Pack
   • Included in Action Menu (free):
     • Copy All sends the entire text in the current field, all the items in the selected table, or the entire text of the web view to the clipboard.
     • Dial sends the number present in the field, web view or active table cell to the Phone application.
     • Favorites presents a list of common phrases to paste into the current text field. List is customized via the Settings app.
     • Scroll provides quick scroll to top and scroll to bottom buttons to make navigating tables and web pages quicker.
   • Included in Plus Pack ($2.99 for all six):
     • History maintains a record of items that have been added to the clipboard for quick and easy pasting.
     • Lookup integrates with Google Search, Wikipedia, Dictionary and Google Translate to provide quick info on the selected text.
     • Tweet sends the selected text to your favourite Twitter client so you can get the word out.
     • Locate pastes a link to your current GPS location on Google Maps.
     • Find allows searching within a page in Safari, Twitter for iPhone and other standard web views.
     • Send to Pastie uploads the selected text to pastie.org for easy sharing.
4. Activator
   • This app allows you to assign actions to gestures, like pinching the Springboard to load Mail or pressing “Volume Up, Volume Down” to launch Safari. It’s an easy to use application that integrates into Settings and greatly expands the idea of quick launch on the iPhone.
5. Auto Silent
   • This app puts the iPhone in silent mode automatically during meeting and night. It syncs with calendar and during meeting changes settings as set by user. You can also set to auto changes settings during night time.
6. Auto3G
   • Auto3G extends your battery life by automatically turning off the 3G radio (leaving on the 2G radio) when you lock your iPhone and automatically turning on the 3G radio when you unlock your iPhone. This way you always have the speed of 3G when you need it without the battery loss. As explained by Apple, this results in up to 100% greater battery life: “7 hours of talk time on 3G, 14 hours of talk time on 2G.” (apple.com/batteries/iphone.html)
7. Elert
   • Elert is a growl like notification system for youriPhone, but this is just for email. It is really smooth and slick and you can even customize it. It will work on your lockscreen as well, and if you tap on the notification you will get a “quick view” at the email, and the options to load mail, delete the email or spam it. Now, whether you’re surfing the web, or playing a game, you can get a quick glance at any e-mail you receive. You can find Elert in Cydia via ModMyi source for $0.99 .
8. Firewall iP
   • This is the first and one of a kind project for iPhone and iPod Touch, that alerts whenever a AppStore application requires usage, hidden, so our connection or access to our data (heading, UDID etc). And today this App is available in Cydia Store as Firewall IP with a cost tag of $ 1.99. It’s easy to setup, just install and set rules for the applications you wanted. Then, whenever that particular app connects to external connections, firewall will warn you about the connection so you can allow or deny the connection.
9. iBlacklist
   • iBlacklist is the best call blocker and sms selector available for the iPhone. It ables you to select from who you want to receive calls and hide messages. It also removes the sms popup preview protecting your privacy, has parental control mode by blocking outgoing calls, can be fully scheduled and many other features.
     Try it , you’ll love it.
10. Iconoclasm
    • This app provides an easily customizable icon layout framework. Want your icons in a circle? How about a triangle? Iconoclasm has you covered.
11. iRemix
    • Want to enhance your listening experience on iPhone or iPod Touch? iRemix, a new App released in the Cydia store which enhances the built-in iPod player of your device by adding some extra features such as favorites, bookmarks, song info, fast access to search, and so on. The app integrates seamlessly with the iPod, letting you create up to 5 pages of favorites, including songs, artists, albums, and playlists. The springboard style icons give you quick and easy access to your favorite tracks, so you don’t have to scroll or search endlessly looking for one. iRemix allows you to bookmark a specific point into a song or podcast, so you don’t have to rewind or fast forward each time you want to listen to it. Other features include easy adding of ‘On-the-go’ playlists, song info including lyrics, music video, currently playing artist’s profile etc. iRemix is available in Cydia at a price of $4.99, from the ModMyi repository.
12. MultiIconMover
    • MultiIconMover is a mod that allows you to move more than one icon at a time (without using a computer). The application is pretty straight forward. Once installed, you can to go into the normal “wiggle” move mode. Once in wiggle mode, just tap on the icons you would like to move. When you tap on an icon a check mark will appear on it (you can tap the icon again to remove the check mark). You can then scroll to the page on your SpringBoard in which you would like to move the icons and tap the Home Button. This will move the selected icons to that page on your SpringBoard. Just tap the Home Button again to spot wiggle mode.

So that’s it for now. This is by no means the complete list of great jailbreak software but it does include some of the really useful applications. Thanks for reading and happy iPhone-ing!

See additional posts related to the iPhone and iPad

Filed under: Apple iOS, Reviews, Technology | Tagged: apple, computer, greenpois0n, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod, jailbreak, jailbreaking, limera1n, software, Technology |