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PhoneIt-iPad available via Cydia now, claims it'll turn your iPad 3G into a phone (video)
They hacked Facetime onto the iPhone 3GS, and now they've done it again -- the iPhoneIslam team's bringing cellular calling and texting to your jailbroken iPad 3G. We haven't been able to test it for ourselves quite yet, but the new PhoneIt-iPad app should be available through the team's Cydia repository right now, and it'll cost $20 to bring out the full potential of your slate. And with that, it's only a matter of time before iPad sidetalking becomes a meme.
Redsn0w 0.9.8b1 released for Mac, brings tethered jailbreak to iOS 5
Your patience has paid off. The planet's first openly accessible jailbreak is now available for those who've taken the plunge with iOS 5 (beta), and if you just can't go another day without access to Cydia, well... you don't have to. Redsn0w 0.9.8b1 has been released for Mac users, but given that it's a tethered solution, you'll have to plug 'er back into your machine each time you need to reboot. We'd encourage you to wait for the inevitable untethered alternative, but those who aren't having any of that "listening to your elders" hoopla can hop on down to the source link.
iOS 5 jailbroken
See those Cydia and iSSH icons? How about the Reminders and Newstand apps, see those? What you're looking at is the harmonious coexistence of hacks and Apple's virgin iOS 5 beta release running on a 4th generation iPod touch. In other words, MuscleNerd and Co are letting us know that iOS 5 presents few surprises so far when its comes to closing the existing holes exploited by the tethered limera1n jailbreak. Update: It's worth mentioning that limera1n is a bootrom exploit that Apple can't patch on the iPod touch through firmware alone. The real test of the Dev Team's wits will be an untethered jailbreak for the iPad 2.
Biometric face recognition for jailbroken iPhones with RecognizeMe
Have you ever wished your iPhone 4 would recognize your face and let you past the lock screen? RecognizeMe, a facial recognition lock screen tweak for the jailbroken iPhone 4, does just that. Simply hit the RecognizeMe button on the lock screen and let the phone scan your face using the front facing camera. The app can be trained to recognize your ugly mug, while the threshold for a match is adjustable. If RecognizeMe confirms your identity, it'll unlock your iPhone. If a match isn't found, it'll prompt you to enter your password, so at least you can't be locked out of your phone if you haven't shaved this morning or (gasp!) this month. There are drawbacks to RecognizeMe, however. One is that it takes time to scan your face -- long enough that it would have been quicker to enter in your PIN or password manually. Secondly, it should also work off a 2D image, which means anyone with a photo of you can trick it into unlocking your iPhone. Still, it's a novelty that could be useful, and it's certainly something we'll want to see more of going forward. RecognizeMe will be available for purchase in the Cydia store soon (it wasn't available at the time of writing) for a launch price of US$6.99. Read on for a video of the app in action. [via Redmond Pie] Cheers Jeff
Cydia Search enables effortless searching of Cupertino's least-favorite app store
Wish finding an app in Cydia was as easy as locating a slot machine in a Vegas casino? Then you might want to give Planet-iPhones' new Cydia Search a whirl, which lets owners of jailbroken iOS devices peruse the renowned gray-market catalog from the comfort of their desktop browser. That means you'll be able to search by name, description, author and a handful of other relevant tags, and once you've found an interesting app, you can view its price, version, repository, and its actual location within Cydia. While the project borrows a number of features first introduced with ModMyi, users will likely find the Cydia Search interface more rewarding -- though both are excellent utilities for browsing the entire app store before rooting your handset. So whenever you get fidgety and decide to replace Apple's boot logo with one from Subaru (or whatever tickles your fancy), you'll know where the journey begins.
Cydia Search lets you search for jailbreak apps from your desktop
Searching for the perfect Jailbreak app in Cydia on the iPhone can be a frustratingly slow experience. Cydia Search from Planet-iPhones.com eases your pain by allowing you to browse through the plethora of Cydia apps by category, repository or author, all from the comfort of a desktop browser. If you know what you're looking for, you can search by name, description, author, version number or one of the many other search filters, which should make short work of finding what you're looking for. Once you've located a package you're interested in, you can check out who wrote it, the price, the current version, which repository it's stored on, as well as view the actual Cydia entry as it would appear on an iPhone. While this isn't the first implementation of a desktop Cydia interface -- ModMyi also provides a searchable front end for Cydia on the desktop -- Cydia Search provides a fast, slick experience that's well worth checking out. It's great for those people sitting on the fence as to whether or not they want to jailbreak their iDevice since it allows them to view all the programs, add-ons, tweaks and themes before they take the plunge. Likewise, if you're looking for a new app or update, Cydia Search will allow you to find what you're looking for before you head to Cydia on your device to download it.
Sn0wbreeze brings untethered jailbreak to Verizon iPhone for Windows users
Verizon iPhone owners, your untethered jailbreaking prayers have been answered. Hacker iH8Sn0w updated the Sn0wbreeze tool, adding support for Big Red handsets running iOS 4.2.7 and finally allowing those who have forsaken AT&T to bring the magic of Cydia to their phones without the cumbersome need for tethering. The usual caveats apply: you'll have to get your hands on a copy of iOS 4.2.7 (just do a little Googling) and there is always a very small chance that something could go horribly wrong and you'll wind up with a very shiny paperweight. Mac users will have to sit this one out -- Sn0wbreeze is a Windows-only affair. Hit up the source link to get your iHack on. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Verizon iPhone untethered jailbreak now available for iOS 4.2.7
While GSM-iPhone owners have had the pleasure of an untethered jailbreak for the latest iOS iteration, 4.3.2, Verizon CDMA-iPhone owners haven't been so lucky -- until now. Sn0wbreeze 2.6.1, a Windows-only utility brought to you by the folks from iH8sn0w, is now able to install an untethered jailbreak for the Verizon iPhone running iOS 4.2.7. But what about all those Mac-owning Verizon iPhone users who want in on the untethered action? No problem -- simply jailbreak with redsn0w as per normal, then head to Cydia and install the Verizon Untether for 4.2.7 from the http://cydia.pushfix.info repo. Quick, simple and now without the need to connect to your computer to reboot. [via BlogsDNA]
Cydia back up after multi-day outage
Good news for the jailbreak community as Cydia is now back up and running. Along with many other companies, the alternative app store for iOS devices has been down for several days due to Amazon's highly-publicized E2C Cloudfront server outage. During this downtime, Cydia suspended all downloads, purchases and updates. Users of the jailbreak app store were greeted with a notice that all activities were down. The app repository came back to life last night, and everything is back to business as usual. Woohoo! [Via Razorianfly]
Toyota puts up theme, ads on ModMyi jailbreak repository
This is kind of a weird story, but definitely an interesting one. Word is going around that Toyota, of all brands, might be advertising on the ModMyi repository. Supposedly there's an official Scion interface theme on sale in the jailbreak store, and there are ads for the car manufacturer running throughout. That's fascinating -- traditionally, the jailbreak scene has been extremely independent, sitting as it does in a relatively gray legal area, but Toyota is a serious client to have when it comes to advertising. In fact, it's exactly the kind of client that Apple would like for its iAd program, which has been suffering a bit lately. Of course, it's probably way cheaper to put up some ads on ModMyi and even create a free theme than it would be to buy into iAds, but that's still ad revenue on an Apple device that the company isn't getting, so we can't see why it would be happy about that one. If this is a trend that continues to grow, it could have a serious effect on jailbreak or unofficial app marketplaces. Note that the original reporting on this story said that it was the Cydia store that was getting the sponsorship, which Cydia founder Jay Freeman pointed out was incorrect.
Cydia 1.1 unleashed, performance improvements abound
Owners of jailbroken iPhones were greeted with a welcome tweet recently, as Cydia -- Steve Jobs' least favorite app store -- announced its version 1.1 debut. Despite third-party repositories getting hammered early on, and a now resolved 'hash sum mismatch' snafu, the update continues to roll, and hacked iOS devices are gobbling it up. Indie app seekers will notice a snappier interface, better search results (thanks to refined algorithms), and the ability to resume downloads. Saurik's efforts to streamline code have reduced its memory footprint as well, bringing increased stability to the marketplace that continues to rock the App Store's boat. 130,000 downloads were noted in the first three hours -- was yours among them?
TruPrint brings proper printer support to iOS if you brought the jailbreak (video)
AirPrint is great in theory, but in practice your chances of finding a supported printer in the copier room are roughly equivalent to spotting a yellow-eared parrot in the wild. TruPrint boosts those chances dramatically, adding iOS support for "most" printers that are shared on the network. Unfortunately no actual listing of supported models has been provided, but there's a three day free trial if installed over Cydia so you can try it for yourself -- yes, you'll need to jailbreak first. After that it's $9.99, which is a bit steep, but if it saves you having to wait in just one line at the airport terminal to print a boarding pass it's well, well worth it.
MobileNotifier: iPhone alerts improved (video)
If you haven't jailbroken your iPhone yet then MobileNotifier might just push you over the edge -- a place you're probably already teetering upon given Apple's pathetic push notification implementation. MobileNotifier beta v3 is a free open-source rewrite of iOS' notifications from Peter Hajas (lead developer) and Kyle Adams (UI and UX). Perhaps the biggest feature of MobileNotifier is the addition of unobtrusive alerts that appear at the top of your existing app. Unlike Apple's interfering popups, MobileNotifier alerts can be ignored, leaving them on the display without inhibiting use of the device. You can also take immediate action on alerts or tap them away for later. Pending alerts can be found in the AlertDashboard -- the previously unused area above the app switcher, accessible with a double-press of the iPhone's home button. Pending alert counts are also displayed as a line item on the Lockscreen. We've been running MobileNotifier for a few hours. While it's not perfect (opaque windows?) we have no plans to remove it either. At least not until we see what Apple has in store for iOS 5 which, with any luck, will be revealed on Wednesday for a summer launch. Another screenshot and demo video can be found after the break.
AP photographer uses MyWi to cover Bahrain protests
James Lawler Duggan, a photojournalist from Washington, D.C., used his jailbroken iPhone 3GS and MyWi 4.0 tethering software to transmit photos from Bahrain (warning: photos are graphic in nature). This week, police locked down the capital of this small Persian Gulf kingdom as demonstrators prepared to protest against the country's monarchy. After capturing several emotional photographs of the protests and violence, Duggan and his colleagues found the country's internet connectivity slowed to a halt. Duggan used his iPhone to overcome this obstacle and transmit his photos to the Associated Press wire in Cairo. "My jailbroken 3GS running MyWi 4.0 proved to be the only way for me to get the images to Cairo, and even still, the resolution had to be dropped significantly to squeeze them through the pipeline," Duggan told us via email. MyWi 4.0 from Intelliborn can transform any jailbroken iPhone or iPad into a mobile hotspot, allowing multiple laptops to connect to the internet through the device's 3G data service. It is available online for US$19.99. This week's events in Bahrain are the latest in a series of uprisings in the region. Duggan's ability to share images of the upheaval using his iPhone shows how technology has changed the way information is shared with the world.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Is Ireland's 3 carrier blocking Cydia?
Dear Aunt TUAW, It looks like 3 Ireland, the one of the Irish iPhone carriers, has blocked Cydia's servers from their network. I'm experiencing errors refreshing data from apt.saurik.com and can't get Cydia to work at all. Can you suggest a work-around for those of us on 3? Help a jailbroken Irish iPhone user out! Love, Your Irish Nephew Stevie-boy Dear Stevie-boy, Auntie is happy to report that the Irish Cydia Blackout of 2010 was, in fact, a mistake. 3 spokesperson Chris Jones told TUAW that Cydia was blocked in error. Jones stated that 3 uses third-party company Bluecoat to filter their internet connection for adult content and other objectionable material. "Cydia has been caught in this filter in error," he told TUAW, "and we are working to resolve this." The Irish Times tech team got the same explanation. Auntie doesn't have a specific time as to when 3 will resolve the issue, but is happy to report that 3 is working on the problem. Love & kissies, Auntie T.
MyWi OnDemand offers major connectivity upgrades for iPhone-as-hotspot (jailbreak)
For the last few years, MyWi has basically owned the iPhone-as-hotspot jailbreak market. With the app and a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, you could share your 3G or EDGE connection with other devices with just a few simple taps. Multiple laptops or other mobile devices could connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot at once. Now, MyWi OnDemand has been introduced by developers Intelliborn. It provides the same kind of easy-to-use connectivity, but it does so with a completely redesigned interface, providing functionality that's basically on steroids.
Put a Windows Phone 7 theme on your iPhone
Been trying to think of a way to try out a new Windows phone without crossing over to the dark side switching sides? If that's the case and you have been looking for a way to recreate the Windows Phone 7 interactive theme on your iPhone or iPod touch, Wyndwarrior's "OS7" is available in public beta for anyone with a hankering for Windows on their jailbroken iOS device. Here are the instructions from modmyi.com on how you can try it out if you are so inclined: 1. Install Backboard from Cydia. 2. Make sure you have created a "Default" backup; if not, press the add button in Backboard and give it a name. 3. Go on your device and click on this link: backboard://http://wyndrepo.googleco...es/OS7Beta.zip 4. Press "Yes" and wait for it to download. This may take a few minutes depending on your internet connection. 5. Select OS7 from Backboard. Press Install. Respring. Voting is going on right now to set the as-yet-unknown price for OS7, so if you want in on the action, you may want to get your voice heard. Click Read More to check out video of the OS7 demo. [via Engadget]
Windows Phone 7's live tiles turned into a pretty convincing iOS theme (video)
Had enough of seeing grids and folders of static (Calendar app excluded, of course) icons on your iDevice? Well, here's one option to relieving your tedium: a Windows Phone 7 theme for the iPhone and iPod touch. You'll naturally need to jailbreak your iOS handheld in order to restyle it quite so dramatically, but once you do, you'll have all your precious apps sorted in a neat alphabetical pile on one screen, with the other waiting patiently for your customizations and live tile choices. It's a good looking little mod, we have to say, and it's currently going through beta testing, so why not grab your iPhone and see if it can survive a lick of Microsoft paint without self-combusting?
New Cydia release makes re-jailbreaking easier
Saurik is releasing a major update to Cydia that includes a new Manage Account feature. Though it won't help you jailbreak your device, the new version of Cydia will make it easier when you need to re-install your favorite jailbreak applications. Similar to the Mac App Store, this Cydia account lets you keep track of purchased applications and downloads. This is a much-needed feature that iOS 4 unfortunately still lacks. The next time you jailbreak your iOS device and launch Cydia, you will be able to log into your account and easily install your tweaks and apps without having to search the Cydia repositories. The login for this feature is tied directly to your Facebook or Google account so you won't have to remember yet another password. More good news for jailbreakers as a future of version of Cydia will expand on this account feature and let you make comments, add ratings, and back up installed Cydia repositories. [Via Engadget and Redmond Pie]
Latest Cydia release lets you easily download that jailbreak again and again
There's a new iOS coming... eventually, and if you've jailbroken your device you know it's going to get locked up tight again. The latest version of Cydia won't change that, but getting back to where you left off just got a lot easier. The app has merged with Rock Your Phone and now enables you to sign in using a Google or Facebook account. It will then track your purchases and downloads so that they can be easily applied again. And again. And probably again. There's also a new rating system and lots of other goodies -- but don't take our word for it.
