My life without a jailbroken phone. . . A return to playing by the rules.
The jailbreak for my new iPhone 4 has not yet been published. So I’ve been forced to spend the last few days living within the confines that apple deems acceptable use of my phone. It’s been harder then i thought. Even though many of my favorite jailbreak apps are still not compatible with iOS 4, there are a few things i realize i miss dearly. Some other mac geeks that disapprove of my whole jailbroken lifestyle think i’m better off. I’m here today to enumerate the most pressing reasons i prefer a jailbroken iPhone. Before i start, a disclaimer. . . it is easier for me with my many other iOS devices at the ready, so i won’t get into the many networking diagnostic tools are very useful for me with work. I will simply state the many features, apps, and interface enhancements that i have come to expect from my iPhone.
Saurik’s Cyntact: i was surprised at just how much i missed seeing my contact photos in the list. I paid $1 to the man eons ago for this little hack just to support him for all his efforts that he doesn’t charge for. Now i find myself missing it most of all.
Spektro’s Notify: i thought for sure apple was going to steal this one right up. I wish they had. Without it’s handy icons and reminder sounds, my new messages often go completely unnoticed. It lights up icons on the title bar to quickly inform you when you have new txt, email, or voicemail messages.
Big Boss’s SBSettings: Worth it for brightness alone. It’s convenient info screen and customizable toggles also allow me to quickly turn on and off resources and services for battery, privacy or other reasons. Resources like wifi or gps or even applications that need to be shut down.
ZodTTD’s Emulators: NES, SNES, and now Playstation! It’s just what i need to get my Kong on at the DMV or while baby sitting status bars.
Yiller’s Firewall IP always reveals what my apps are talking about. You’d be surprised how many apps go phoning home about you. Do you know what they are saying? Phone number, GPS info, anything can be beamed to whomever while you use your flashlight app.
Realize that this is only the tip of the glacier that is the jailbroken/homebrew community. Especially with the sales of commercial projects like MyWi which allow you to transform your iPhone into a wireless access point and inspell, spell check above and beyond what apple eventually integrated. The future for jailbreak is bright. The wait, will hopefully not be much longer. Thanks again to everybody who makes it possible. (MuscleNerd, planetbeing, saurik, and comex to name a few)