Tag: cydia

Every time a new firmware comes out, to update your iPhone you have to flash it  (Due to the lack of OTA updates), which results in all the data on the phone getting wiped. For me, the process has developed into a choreographed exercise. The first thing I do after the phone gets updated, needless to say, is Jailbreak it. After which I install the following apps from Cydia, now I do this before moving on to anything else because honestly, I have become so accustomed to them that I cant bear to use my iPhone without them. These are the best apps for a Jailbroken phone in my opinion. The full list after the break.

1. SBSettings(Free)
The very first thing that I do after jailbreaking an iPhone is install SBsettings. I simply can’t stand to use the phone without it and best of all, it’s totally free! SBsettings is basically a menu which drops down from the status bar when you swipe the bar (activating action is fully customizable). It puts all of the commonly used toggle in one place which is just a “swipe” away. You can even customize which toggles appear and can even install new toggles from Cydia (shown in the screen shot below) and there is a plethora of toggles available there. It can be accessed from anywhere on the phone and it even includes a nifty task manager. Without this app installed it just seems like a hassle to perform even the simplest of function such as turning on bluetooth. With SBsettings it’s as simple as “swipe and tap” instead of “Settings->General->Bluetooth”. Once you get used to it, you wont be able to live without it. It is certainly a Must-Have.

2. BiteSMS($8.99)

I’ve used iPhones, Blackberrys, Symbian and Android phones and almost every OS that was in the market one time or another and I assume it’s safe to say that NOTHING even comes close to the texting experience offered by BiteSMS. The only downside is that it isn’t free but i have to say that it is well worth the price. The best two features, in my opinion are the Quick Compose and Quick Reply. With Quick Compose you can basically compose a text from anywhere on the phone instead of stopping whatever you’re doing, opening the SMS.app and composing the message from there. You simply have to press the volume button, tap on the volume screen and Voilà, you get to the quick compose, froom there you can select the contact, compose the message, and send it. The prompt will then disappear and you’ll be back to whatever you were doing. You can even reply the same way; just press the reply button on an incoming text and a keyboard pops up, with which you can reply and the prompt disappears after sending the message, you can even pull on a slider on top of the prompt and it pulls up the texting history of the contact you’re chatting with(see screen shot), really nifty. Just like SBSettings, once you get used to the BiteSMS, you wont be able to live without it.

3. iFile/Myfile($4.00/Free)

The iPhone does not allow access to the root file system, that’s what jailbreaking is basically: Getting access to the root file system, but even after Jailbreaking, some sort off app needs to be installed give a GUI access to the file system. That’s where iFile(Myfile free alternative) comes in. It offers a myriad of features. You can directly view files of various types with it’s open with menu, it can unzip zipped files, files can be emailed, permissions can be changed and much more, it even offers the ability to host a web server. $4.00 is a small price to pay for an app with so many features, this one is highly recommended.

4. Caller ID/Format Fix(Free)

Although this isn’t technically an app, it is a very important package. Now, in most third world countries the iPhone still hasn’t officially launched, what this means for the iPhone users in those countries is that the contact names do not show up in the SMS app. Many people have asked me, “How do we get contact names to show up in the SMS app?” It’s really an annoyance if you have this problem. The simplest solution is to install this tweak. It goes by the name CallerID-Format fix for 3.x and although it was originally made for 3.x firmwares it works great on iOS4 too. What it does is it adds your country code e.g +92, to the iPhone’s directory. With this installed you won’t have to edit the country code into each and every contact on your iPhone and the SMS app will show all the contacts in your SMS app.

5. Celeste Bluetooth File Sharing($9.99)

Celeste is perfectly defined on their homepage. Celeste is the Bluetooth file transfer that Apple forgot. For 2.x there was iBluetooth, for 3.x there was iBlueNova and for 4.x there is Celeste and out of all these Celeste has the tightest integration with the OS and is best implemented. It requires no configuration at all and it can send and receive files to and from any PC or mobile. It is integrated directly into the OS, meaning that there is no seperate app for it, to send a file you simply have to to long press the file and an action menu appears like it would on any other phone and then just tap send and to receive a file you simply have to toggle Celeste from SBsettings . It’s as easy as that. Not quite sure if it’s worth the steep price tag though, but those who need it will still buy it despite the huge price tag, it’s a great app nonetheless.

That’s about it. For anyone new to Jailbreaking, these are the best apps IMO that are out for a Jailbroken phone, these really enchance the experience of using the phone and you should at least try them out. You wont regret it. Feel free to leave any suggestions for new apps to be added to this list in the comments below.