RyanPetrich
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Belfry brings Stocks and Weather, other native iPhone apps to jailbroken iPads
Rounding out the honeymoon period with that freshly jailbroken iPad 2? Well now we have some new apps for you to play with, and you may already be acquainted. iOS hacker Ryan Petrich's most recent project, dubbed Belfry, lets you install stock iPhone apps that are otherwise absent from both versions of Apple's tablet including Clock, Voice Memos, Stocks, Calculator, Compass and Weather. As to why these aren't included already is beyond our knowledge, but at least there's an alternative. Users can install Belfry directly within Cydia for free from the BigBoss repository. If you're looking for proof to seal the deal, you can catch the bashful Belfry and his silent film antics after the break.
What iOS 5 owes to jailbreak developers
There are a lot of apps that will be replaced -- or at least have some very heavy competition -- from the new features in iOS 5. It's easy to look around the App Store and see developers that have been 'Sherlocked' by Apple's inclusion of their functionality in the core OS; Twitter clients in particular are going to have a hard road ahead, and no-frills reminder apps are pretty much done for. That's not the same thing as the wholesale borrowing that Apple has done from the jailbreak community with this new version of the OS, especially in the new notifications tools. Obviously, since JB devs tend to focus on new interaction methods and other system-level tweaks that would be off-limits to App Store products, there are more and different ideas about how the iPhone and iPad should work being tried and implemented there. That makes it fertile ground for Apple to see what does and doesn't work, and cherrypick the best ideas for internal use. That may not be cool, but it's certainly in character for Apple to leverage third-party innovation in OS development, both on the Mac and on iOS. Here are a few examples of some noteworthy 'flattery' from Apple's iOS team to the jailbreak developers who broke trail. One of the main reasons people jailbreak is to get better notifications and a useful lock screen; both issues Apple has finally addressed in a very big way in iOS 5. A few of the popular lock screen apps are David Ashman's LockInfo and Intelliborn's IntelliScreen, and both resemble (if they didn't inspire) iOS 5's new lock screen. In terms of notifications, Apple's taken aim at a couple of favorite JB apps: Notified and the recent MobileNotifier. iCloud syncing looks like a fantastic backup system, so much so that EvilPenguin already feels that its backup tool iBye is no longer necessary. In fact, James Emrich, the developer behind EvilPenguin told TUAW: "iBye was a backup/restore manager for content. Basically what iCloud does without auto backups."
Untrackerd wipes stored location data on your jailbroken iPhone
The iPhone and iPad seem to be storing location data about your travels using cell tower information. Whether you believe that Apple is secretly spying on you or just storing the locations of cell towers for some purpose, such as speedier connections to said towers, if you don't like it, you now have an option. Ryan Petrich, a renowned jailbreak app developer, has released a free little utility called "untrackerd" that runs in the background and continuously cleans stored location history data. You will, of course, have to have a jailbroken iPhone or iPad to install the app from Cydia, but if you're not happy about the possibility of your iPhone or iPad's location history being accessible, then head to Cydia now and install the 37 KB app from the BigBoss repository for peace of mind. [via 9to5Mac]
Dear Aunt TUAW: dock my iPhone to my iPad
Dear Aunt TUAW, I wish I could dock my iPhone right into the side or back of a large iPad screen. And then have the iPad run off my phone. That way I could have a large screen when I need it. But when I leave the house for a walk, I could take the smaller device (the iPhone) out and carry it in my pocket. Love and snuggles, Your nephew Gary
hacksugar: Mirror your jailbroken iPad display with DisplayOut
Ryan Petrich's latest utility for jailbroken iPads just hit the Cydia store. DisplayOut for iPad sells for US$1.99. It allows you to mirror the iPad's screen out to an external display via an attached VGA or component/composite cable. Similar to earlier iPhone solutions like TV Out and ScreenSplitr, DisplayOut extends video out to the larger iPad screen. DisplayOut provides a great way to create application videos. It supports both in-app and Springboard video, so you can record complete sequences including application launch and run time. If there is any negative to the application, it is that the video doesn't quite fill the screen, and I couldn't find a way to increase the screen size; that's why the video on the Magic Window review appears on the small side. Positives include the excellent Settings integration. You can easily enable and disable video mirroring with a simple switch change. An adjustable refresh rate lets you increase video quality, albeit at the cost of more system resources. I found that some applications slowed down exponentially as the refresh rate grew. All in all, DisplayOut is a great little utility for anyone who has a jailbroken iPad, a video cable, and a desire to display or record iPad action. Note that you will need a recording device on the other end of the cable (VCR, DVD-R, or a video in device for your computer) to capture videos.
