If you accidentally updated your jailbroken iPhone 3GS, you cannot simply downgrade it by restoring to an older version of the firmware (even in DFU mode) because of an added layer of security by Apple.
However, if you have a previously jailbroken iPhone 3GS, there’s a possibility that Cydia saved some files called SHSHs to help you bypass this added security. Cult of Mac’s how-to guide will help you do it.
The Backgrounder app makes running multiple apps on your iPhone easier than juggling your daily schedule. Do keep in mind that running too many apps will slow down your device and suck the life out of its battery a lot quicker.
Still, Backgrounder is a great gratis app we’re glad to have handy. Here’s Cult of Mac’s guide to how it works.
Unless you jailbreak your iPhone, the file system will remain off limits as Apple intended. Even so, many people who jailbreak their phones stop with Cydia. There are, however, a few reasons you might want access to the file system on your device. SSH allows you to do just that using a Wi-Fi connection and a suitable Mac or PC client.
It can come in handy should you need to install something that’s not directly available on Cydia, think beta apps, etc.
Here’s Cult of Mac’s how-to guide to get you started.
If you’re going to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad, before you get started, we highly recommend you backup your device’s SHSH blobs.
With the release of iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch G3, Apple added an extra layer of security to prevent hacking, jailbreaking and unlocking. Apple is constantly closing the exploits used by jailbreak hackers by updating the firmware of its iPhone/iPt and iPad. If you accidentally upgrade your jailbroken device to Apple’s latest firmware, you can’t re-jailbreak it until hackers release new jailbreak software.
If you haven’t upgraded to iOS4, this app will allow you to access multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts on your iPhone, keeping your work and personal email and calendar info etc. always at hand. Here’s Cult of Mac’s how-to guide to getting started using the AddExchange application which allows you to add multiple Exchange accounts available from Cydia.
The iPhone, as Steve Jobs pointed out in his 4.0 keynote, currently has the best implementation of Copy/Paste feature of all smartphone platforms. However, it still does lack some feature like a history of the clips you’ve copied, web search for selected text, etc. If you add a Cydia app called Action Menu Plus Pack, which retails for $2.99, you can easily add those as well. Here’s Cult of Mac’s how-to guide for installing and using the app.
From the earliest iPhone and iPod Touch models, Apple opted to disable OBEX — aka Bluetooth file transfers on its devices for security reasons. Now, thanks to iBlueNova, a Cydia app well worth the $5.99 price tag, you can transfer files — music, pics, etc., — to and from your iDevices. Here’s Cult of Mac’s how-to guide to get you started.
Thanks to iOS4, Apple now offers its own solution for switching between applications. If you’re using an older operating system, try this method for getting some multi-tasking on your Apple device using the handy ‘ProSwitcher’ app, which gets the job done using minimal memory to keep your device speedy as you pause that epic game to check out the weather.
UPDATE: I was initially a little surprised by the vociferous reaction to this post about installing Installous, an unofficial App Store for pirated apps. The instructions are a quick Google search away and we’re hardly the first to publish an Installous how-to.
I guess we raised a few red flags — like putting “How To Pirate Apps” in the headline and including a half-hearted disclaimer. The intent was for it to be part of a comprehensive Jailbreaking Superguide that deals with all the things people want to do when they jailbreak their devices, including playing around with Installous.
The intent for the Superguide is to be straightforward and frank — a one-stop shop for everything people want to know about jailbreaking. We don’t condone piracy, but it’s a fact that a lot of people jailbreak their devices to experiment with things like Installous. I find it dishonest and hypocritical when publications skirt around issues like this; like publishing BitTorrent guides and pretending that no one’s going to download a pirated movie.
However, it’s obviously disingenuous to say we condemn piracy in a post that shows readers how to pirate software. Personally, I’ve always believed publishing information is one thing and acting on that information is another. I’ve always liked publications that informed me about things we’re not supposed to do. I can then make my own moral decision whether to act on that information or not.
But while pirating is something people indisputably do when jailbreaking, it was a misstep for us to actually include a comprehensive DIY. Whatever our intentions, it teeters on advocacy, and was thoughtlessly disrespectful to the many app developers out there who make their livings off of programs we admire and think people should pay for.
As our readers have pointed out in comments and on Twitter, we crossed a line here. CultofMac.com isn’t some modern-day Anarchist Cookbook. We support developers and enjoy their many wonderful creations. Saying there are ways out there to install cracked apps is one thing, showing people how to do it is another.
So my apologies to readers for misjudging this, and to developers for being insensitive and opportunistic.
Also, please don’t attack the author, Sayam. This was my idea, not his. He’s a freelance writer and I commissioned him to write it, so please don’t be mean to him.
— Leander.
PS: The BitTorrent link to “pirate” copies of my Cult of Mac book posted in the comments is actually a publisher-sanctioned seed. No Starch Press turned it into an e-book and seeded it. So please help yourself, it’s free and legal.
See TorrentFreak: Publisher Posts Mac Books on The Pirate Bay
Although the Cydia app offers an extensive soup-to-nuts package, every once in awhile you might find it useful to add a source to the ones already available. Here’s Cult of Mac’s guide on how to add a source to Cydia.
Clues to the causes of Mac startup problems can be found by analyzing when in the boot process the system fails. Problems may be related to the power supply, battery, hard drive, logic board, OS corruption or an issue with a user account. Macs are reliable machines, but like many of us they get cranky from time to time.
Isolating where the problem is occurring is key to finding the solution. Unplug any external peripherals (disk drives, printer, etc.) to help narrow down the cause.
Tired of paying for ringtones for your iPhone? In this tutorial I will walk you through on how to create a ringtone from within iTunes using any song. This tutorial works on any song you may have purchased or ripped into iTunes. Read the full tutorial after the break.
A number of Cult of Mac readers, and numerous more on Apple’s Discussion boards, have reported a bevy of problems–some large, some small–after upgrading to iOS 4 or the iPhone 4. I don’t plan on boring you with a list of what users were complaining about. Instead, I will give you four troubleshooting tips that generally fix most, but not necessarily all iPhone and iOS problems.
(Yes, this is tip #18 and it’s appearing out of order – that’s my fault, because I wrote it then forgot to post it. Apologies to all. Now without further ado…)
Spaces is Apple’s implementation of an old idea known as virtual desktops. You might have used virtual desktop software on your PC.
It’s pretty self-explanatory. With Spaces active, your computer suddenly has a bunch of virtual screens hovering in mid-air around your monitor. You can switch between them with a keyboard shortcut or a mouse command, and make it seem like you have much more screen space available than you actually do.
A clone is a bootable backup of your Mac’s hard drive that provides redundancy for both your data and the Macintosh Operating System. Cloning is easy to do and is complementary to other backup methods like Time Machine. The ability to get up and working in minutes after a crash or system update gone awry can be a very useful thing.
Clones provide a way to rollback your Mac OS X installation. You can keep your clone updated using synchronization software to perform incremental updates, and can use your clone to boot another Mac should the need arise.
If Apple were interested in marketing their computers to people who live just to print, they’d probably use a slogan like: “Macs: PDF everywhere.” Or something.
Because it’s true. The ability to turn anything that’s printable into a PDF file is built right in to the OS X operating system. And it’s easy to get to from anywhere.
The MyWi app by Intelliborn has been one of the biggest reasons to jailbreak an iOS based device. With the latest 4.0 release, creating a wireless hotspot has never been easier. For a one-time fee of $19.99 you can turn your stingy 3G iPad into a wireless hotspot capable of sharing your 3G connection with as many devices as you wish. I’ll show you how after the break.
On Windows, it’s easy to cut and paste files and folders between locations; but that’s one of the first things people notice missing from Mac OS X.
The Windows system works just like cutting and pasting text or pictures inside a document, which is why it’s so popular. People understand what’s happening when hit the “cut” command and the file disappears – they know it hasn’t been deleted, but that it’s gone to the clipboard, ready to be pasted elsewhere.
On OS X, things work differently. In short, there is no built-in way of “cutting” a file to the clipboard. But you can copy stuff.
The iPhone 3GS users who are not willing to upgrade or are waiting for Antenna issue to be fixed cannot use Apple’s latest iMovie suite on their device because of lack of backward compatibility, at least according to Apple. Some said that it was an issue with the smaller RAM on the device but that doesn’t seem to be the case as those who have already jailbroken their device will now be able to use it.
A normal folder is simple; it’s a thing you store files in. You choose which files are there, you have complete manual control over what’s inside that folder.
A smart folder is one whose contents are partly or completely determined by a set of rules that you’ve created.
To set up a Smart Folder, make sure you’re in Finder and then select File -> New Smart Folder. You’ll see a Finder window appear, but it’s slightly different to normal ones.
I was gutted to find this morning that my brand new iPhone 4 didn’t work with my beloved TomTom Car Kit — the best automotive cradle/charger for the iPhone, bar none.
The iPhone 4 fits in the cradle OK, but it doesn’t charge. Discovering this filled me with disappointment. I love the TomTom Car Kit (which costs $100 but is well worth it). It holds the iPhone just where I want it for navigation and music. It charges the iPhone, and boosts the GPS signal when using TomTom’s excellent navigation app. And it doesn’t move, even if I clumsily bash on the iPhone’s screen with my big sausage fingers.
So I’m delighted there’s a simple and inexpensive fix for the charging issue — a small strip of velcro.
As Engadget tipster Ben Peacock Martin Alaniz discovered, you cut a small strip of velcro (the soft side) and stick it to the back of the Car Kit cradle, just behind the dock connector.
There is no need to attach anything to the iPhone itself. The velcro acts as a cushion holds the moving part of the cradle flat, pushing the Car Kit’s electrical contacts against the iPhone’s. Simple and cheap.
Here’s a video showing how it works:
If you’re about to buy a new iPhone 4, you should consider selling or trading in your old one.
If you want to sell your old iPhone on eBay or Craigslist, take a look at our guide — How to Sell your iPhone Online — which tells you how to wipe the data and good strategies for getting the best price.
Selling your iPhone online will get you the best price, but will likely involve a degree of hassle, of course. Probably the easiest, hassle-free way to get rid of your iPhone is trading it in with Gazelle, an electronics recycling service.
You can even trade in your iPhone from your iPhone. Here’s how:
If you’re going to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad, the first thing you MUST do is backup your device’s SHSH blobs.
With the release of iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch G3, Apple added an extra layer of security to prevent hacking, jailbreaking and unlocking. Apple is constantly closing the exploits used by jailbreak hackers by updating the firmware of its iPhone/iPt and iPad. If you accidentally upgrade your jailbroken device to Apple’s latest firmware, you can’t re-jailbreak it until hackers release new jailbreak software.
You can, however, downgrade your device to the previous firmware version which can be jailbroken — if you have your SHSH blobs on file.
You can extract these SHSH records and save them with the help of a utility called Umbrella. Here’s how:
These records are firmware specific and each time you update, you should repeat this process to save the records for the particular firmware version.
Warning: This method no longer works. To jailbreak the latest firmware, check out greenpois0n/limera1n/Pwnage Tool
Redsn0w by DevTeam allows you to jailbreak your device, to get complete control over it (see why you should jailbreak here). Currently, redsn0w version 0.9.5b5-3 allows you to jailbreak a device that has already been upgraded to firmware 4.0, without losing the jailbreak data. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.
Please note that this tool will NOT work if you have ANY iPhone 3GS, newer iPod Touch G2 or the iPod Touch G3. (On the newer iPod Touch, serial number begins with ‘MC’.)
Warning: This method no longer works. To jailbreak the latest firmware, check out greenpois0n/limera1n/Pwnage Tool
The Pwnage Tool by the DevTeam hacker group allows you to create custom iPhone firmwares for the purpose of jailbreaking, to get full control over your device (see why you should jailbreak here).
Currently, the Pwnage Tool version 4.0 allows you to update your previously jailbroken device to firmware 4.0, without losing the jailbreak data. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.
Please note that this tool will NOT work if you have the iPhone 2G, newer iPhone 3GS, newer iPod Touch G2 or the iPod Touch G3. (On the newer 3GS, go to Settings –> General –> About, the fourth and fifth digit of the serial number should be greater than 40 and on the newer iPod Touch, serial number begins with ‘MC’.)
