Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak.....

[JoeT]

That's what I was singing the other night.. And it happened.

I finally caved when I found out that I'd have to wait 4 more months for apps.. So I gave in and did it, and now have questions to which the searchable answers seem dated.


1. Installer sources - what's good/what's crap?

2. Some apps just plain old won't download. What's up with that?

3. Any must-have apps?

4. Any apps to avoid?

5. Any good sites with data on the above? Especially interested in sites that describe/review apps so I can choose 'em with better data than what's in Installer.

6. How can third-party apps be backed up in case of major crash or restore?


So far, so good in all respects.. 1.1.2 OTB/1.1.4 upgraded. Took all of 5 minutes and left me wondering why I'd never done it before.


Thanks in advance!

[Test-Pilot]

Originally Posted by JoeT

That's what I was singing the other night.. And it happened.

I finally caved when I found out that I'd have to wait 4 more months for apps.. So I gave in and did it, and now have questions to which the searchable answers seem dated.


1. Installer sources - what's good/what's crap?

2. Some apps just plain old won't download. What's up with that?

3. Any must-have apps?

4. Any apps to avoid?

5. Any good sites with data on the above? Especially interested in sites that describe/review apps so I can choose 'em with better data than what's in Installer.

6. How can third-party apps be backed up in case of major crash or restore?


So far, so good in all respects.. 1.1.2 OTB/1.1.4 upgraded. Took all of 5 minutes and left me wondering why I'd never done it before.


Thanks in advance!

Like you, I just only recently Jail-broke my phone, so I don't have many definitive answers for you. However, I think I can address # 2: I also had the problem of many applications that simply wouldn't download. When I got one downloading error, it seemed that just about all of them did that afterwards. I found that if you simply turn the phone off and back on, it alleviated the problem. Usually, the original app that caused the error would still be problematic, but once I rebooted my phone, most of all the later applications downloaded just fine. And if you get another error with another app, try rebooting again, and move on to a different app.

[IphoneTony]

thank god for sdk in June I would shoot my self if I jailbroke and had to do a reboot that much. Well congrats and goodluck

[patrickj]

Hey Joe T - glad you took the plunge - if anything, I think this helps you get your eye in, so to speak, for figuring out which sorts of apps you like, and even some individual ones which will cross over to the Apps Store.

On your questions, a few quick thoughts:

1. Most things that are really good and 'mainstream-ish' will make it into the default repositories fairly quickly. Having said that, some good ones and more specialist ones, dont. Here's a couple I think are useful:
EIC member x99x's Fight Club - has some neat fixes, good themes and wallapers, and miscellaneous. See this thread for better description and source URL.
Big Boss - great number of fixes and some superb utilities - BossTool is a must for recouping space to install apps to etc. - source URL is:
http://sleepers.net/iphonerepo
Add both his standard and 'Beta Experimental' sources
There are quite a few others that are worth looking at to - trying to keep this not too long for now.

2. What error do you get? May just be connectivty / server issues at times.

3. Very subjective this of course, but a few very cool and popular ones:
Touchpad - use the iPhone as an extended touchpad for your PC - requires the VNSea app to work
VNSea - pretty good native VNC client app
Books - ebook reader
Xlaunch - good launcher app for when the apps and webclips start piling up
weDict - dictionary and encyclopedia framework app - there are a number of good reference tomes to add to this available in Installer
Summerboard and Customize - the two you will have heard of that let you theme and personalize your phone
SyncJe - wireless Google Calendar (and others) sync
MobileFinder
Vnotes - voice recording app
Search - search contacts and calendar
Lots of good games - almost whatever sort of game you like by now - from Chess and Pool to Labyrinth and iPhysics and 3D games
ShowTime - basic video recording app
Pianist, Drummer, Pocket Guitar - for your iPhone band forming needs
And lots of others - browse the categories

4. Screenshot is one that many folks in here have had severe troubles with. Its a screen capture app of course. The only GUI-based one. I like this app and have used it through several firmwares now, but would admit it is badly behaved if left running in the background, especially during a respring, and can cause severe headaches. If you use it, shut it down immediately after use.

5. I don't usually blow my own site's trumpet a whole bunch in here, but I think we focus on and cover iPhone apps pretty well, including some decent length reviews, like this one of a Voice Dialing app for instance.

6. Like on a PC, think this may vary a bit by application, in terms of where they store data and such.

Hope that is a little help ...

[ozzystrong]

Originally Posted by JoeT

That's what I was singing the other night.. And it happened.

I finally caved when I found out that I'd have to wait 4 more months for apps.. So I gave in and did it, and now have questions to which the searchable answers seem dated.


1. Installer sources - what's good/what's crap?

2. Some apps just plain old won't download. What's up with that?

3. Any must-have apps?

4. Any apps to avoid?

5. Any good sites with data on the above? Especially interested in sites that describe/review apps so I can choose 'em with better data than what's in Installer.

6. How can third-party apps be backed up in case of major crash or restore?


So far, so good in all respects.. 1.1.2 OTB/1.1.4 upgraded. Took all of 5 minutes and left me wondering why I'd never done it before.


Thanks in advance!

Hello mate try this website type appsafari into google. It rates ALL installer apps has videos of them in action etc etc.

[Lincoln]

Originally Posted by JoeT

That's what I was singing the other night.. And it happened.

I finally caved when I found out that I'd have to wait 4 more months for apps.. So I gave in and did it, and now have questions to which the searchable answers seem dated.


1. Installer sources - what's good/what's crap?

2. Some apps just plain old won't download. What's up with that?

3. Any must-have apps?

4. Any apps to avoid?

5. Any good sites with data on the above? Especially interested in sites that describe/review apps so I can choose 'em with better data than what's in Installer.

6. How can third-party apps be backed up in case of major crash or restore?


So far, so good in all respects.. 1.1.2 OTB/1.1.4 upgraded. Took all of 5 minutes and left me wondering why I'd never done it before.


Thanks in advance!

1) I haven't found any sources that distribute anything malicious. Of course, I don't use the ones that are in different languages, but I do use the All Sources package. My 'Refreshing Sources' time is about 10 minutes.

2) Depends on your error. There's a fix for the 'Main Script Execution Failed' one, and other just require rebooting. Other times the package's source server may just be down.

3) Differs for everybody. Some of my favorites:
• ShowTime - video recording
• MxTube - YouTube video downlaoder
• Contact Flow - Cover Flow of your contacts' pictures
• Sketches - Etch-a-Sketch with many features
• Pianist - Piano
• Guitarist - Guitar
• Drummer - Drum Pad
• Touchpad - VNC access to your computer - can be used a trackpad
• Terminal - Terminal
• TimeCapsule - Backup of applications (Notes, SMS, Contacts,
Installer Sources, etc.)
• MobileFinder - iPhone FileSystem browser
• OpenSSH - Allows to to SSH into the iphone from a computer

4) Two months or so back, there was a malicious app that only displayed the word 'shoes' when opened and removed several bin files when removed, but it's gone and to my knowledge, there aren't any to worry about right now. However as mentioned above, Screenshot has caused issues, though is does intentionally do so. I suggest using Capture from the iSpazio source.

5) EIC of course, as well as TUAW (Erica mainly covers mods), Apple iPhone School (Nice coverage of apps), and of course MMi.

6) Assuming you can use SSH, you can copy any app from /Applications onto your computer and throw it back onto the phone at any time.

- John

[IphoneTony]

Downloaded showtime if I donate will I be able to record sound

[patrickj]

Originally Posted by IphoneTony

Downloaded showtime if I donate will I be able to record sound

No. Donating lets you get past the 5 second recording length limit (to unlimited) - the app does not do sound yet ...

[lman]

As far as getting a wide variety of sources to be able to choose applications from. If you add www.ride4.org/shai.xml and then go into All Packages in the Install area you can download All Sources. This will take a long time if your on edge and still 5-8 minutes if your on w-fi, but it essentially downloads a ton of sources to your phone and adds all the app's that come with them. Some of them are in different languages so i'd go through your source list and delete any ones that come up Untitled or in a different language just to play it safe, but i have never had any problem with shai's sources and i haven't deleted any of them.

I'm suggesting this because then you'll have a nice long list of available applications including in the Tweaks (1.1.4) folder in install the 1.1.4 compatibility patch which lets you install applications only for 1.1.3 through the following process. if you try downloading an application and says its only available for 1.1.3, then install this patch in the tweaks folder and then install the application again and then uninstall the patch. That is the process you should follow for any applications that are not on 1.1.4 yet. Your always uninstalling the patch before using the program.

Also keep in mind many applications work for 1.1.4 though they say they work for 1.1.3, you need to try downloading first and see if it says if you get an error saying you need 1.1.3, then use the patch.

Last thing, downloading all the sources adds a ton of applications. Installer kind of moves slow after this when deleting sources and when opening up folders in the install directory so thats why you should go to the sources section and clean out any unuseful sources.

Hope this helped.

[IphoneTony]

Originally Posted by IphoneTony

thank god for sdk in June I would shoot my self if I jailbroke and had to do a reboot that much. Well congrats and goodluck

Well it was not so bad I did not have to shoot myself..