February 10, 2011 - By æ

You may have seen yesterday’s GSL post listing twenty, must-have apps for new Verizon iPhone users. The list included apps that were approved by Apple and, as a result, available in the traditionally-used App Store. As most iPhone users know, there is another side to the app world. Known to the world as Cydia, it is much like an alternate dimension that contains its own treasure trove of apps that Apple would never consider approving due to the fact that they use the jailbroken infrastructure to bypass restrictions on functionality and use that Apple has deemed necessary.

We’re not discussing the how-to or ethics of jailbreaking with Greenpois0n or any other tool. We’re not debating the potential impact of invalidating your warranty with Apple. We’re also not going to discuss things like Hackulous or how to jailbreak your device. These are all things you can research on your own, in order to make the decision that best suits you. The list of apps is provided with the assumption that you’ve already jailbroken your new Verizon (or AT&T) iPhone and want to know which apps have the greatest potential to make your iPhone life better.

We’re keeping it simple by listing the app’s name and a brief description of what the authors states is its function. They may have a price associated with them. You’ll be informed if they do, prior to installing them. Additionally, please be sure to read the advisories and disclaimers at the bottom of the post before installing anything:

• MyOs – Allows enabling/disabling of features (e.g. multitasking,Unified iPod, etc.) without editing .plist files
• FastSnap – Allows the hardware volume button to be used as camera/video controls
• qTweeter - Update and read Facebook and Twitter status. Activates with a swipe of the status bar.
• Folder Enhancer – Provides more granular control over folders, the number of allowable icons, creation of subfolders, and hiding of folders.
• Grid Tab for Safari – Allows open tabs within Safari to be displayed in a grid pattern, versus requiring left/right scrolling to view them.
• AppSync for iOS 4.1/4.2 – Allows for manual installation of .ipa files. (Read: Install apps without using iTunes.)
• biteSMS – Enhanced SMS messaging app that includes privacy, emoticon, signatures, delivery reports and more.
• CyDelete - Allows for the deletion of Cydia-installed apps via the normal iPhone app hold & tap deletion method, instead of opening Cydia to delete it.
• Five Icon Dock – Let’s you place five icons in the iPhone dock, versus the default four.
• Five -Column Springboard – Arranges apps in five icons on your iPhone, versus the default four.
• Gridlock – Allows you to place your icons anywhere and in the pattern of your choice, instead of four to a row.
• Home Page in Safari – Easily reset your homepage within Safari for iPhone by tapping the “+” icon.
• iFile for iOs4 – Access, manage and edit the file system on your iPhone to control features like multitasking, wallpapers, battery percentage, etc.
• Infinifolders – Allows you to add more than the default twelve apps within a folder and navigate within folders via vertical scroll.
• Fake Operator – Adds a sub-menu within Settings, which can be accessed to change the carrier from the default to a customized one.
• MobileTerminal 426 – Terminal emulator for the iPhone providing traditional system administration functions. (Read: Experts only)
• MobileVolumeSound – Adds the traditional Mac volume sound when raising/lowering the iPhone’s volume.
• OpenSSH – Allows you to connect to your iPhone, via SSH, over WiFi, in order to transfer files to/from it.
• Remove Recents – Removes icons of apps from the Multitasking Drawer (what you seen when you double-tap Home button) if the app doesn’t support multitasking.
• SBSettings – Allows you to access common settings (e.g. Enable 3G, WiFi, etc) and functions (e.g. Take screenshot) via customized screen swipes, taps, double-taps, etc.
• Serious SBSettings HD – Optimized Retina theme for SBSettings
• UserAgent Faker - Similar to Safari Developer Tools for Mac that allow you to emulate another browser such as FireFox.
• 3G Unrestrictor – Allows you to configure traditionally WiFi-only apps like FaceTime to function on 3G. Also allows for bypassing of 10Mb size limits in App Store downloads.
• FullScreen Safari – Allows for toggling of Safari browser into full screen mode and includes support for multi-touch gestures.
• Apple.com HD SBSettings – Customized theme for SBSettings that makes it resemble the clean Apple.com website.
• Open Notifier - Adds notification icons to the iPhone’s status bar.
• Shrink – Allows you to decrease the size of your iPhone icons to achieve a cleaner and less cluttered look.
• SB 2 Cloud – Lets users configure screenshots to be uploaded in the background to Cloud app immediately upon taking them and automatically copies the shortened URL to the clipboard for easy sharing.
• Voice Activator - Enhances the iPhones voice activated command functionality by allowing the use of voice commands to open apps, navigate to websites, toggle options like WiFi, Bluetooth, and Airplane mode, reboot the device and take screenshots.
• BytaFont – Allows for the customization of display fonts on the iPhone, versus using the default, built-in font.
• TV Tube Sleep – Customizes the behavior of the iPhone when the Sleep button is pressed by displaying an animation that resembles the turning off of 20th Century, tube television sets.
• My3G – Provides the same functionality provided by 3G Unrestrictor, as described above in the list.
• MyWi 4.0 – Allows iPhone users to share their devices 3G connection via WiFi or USB/Bluetooth tethering and supports unencrypted and encrypted sharing. (Note: To be used cautiously if not on an unlimited data plan)
• AdBlocker – Blocks ads from appearing in Safari, as well as within apps that include advertisements.

In order to find some of these apps within Cydia, users may need to add some or all of the following repositories, within Cydia. The lifespan of repositories is often unpredictable, so some that may be available now may not be in the near future. Since they must be added manually and only work within Cydia, they are purposely not hyperlinked:

• http://repo.benm.at/
• http://cydia.myrepospace.com/atomicmufin
• http://cydia.bitesms.com/cydia/beta5.1
• http://cydia.hackulo.us
• http://cydia.myrepospace.com/iHaxer
• http://repo.insanelyi.com
• http://sinfuliphonerepo.com
• http://www.themeitapp.com
• http://kuaidial.googlecode.com/svn/deb

As usual, it’s “Buyer Beware” with any app installed via Cydia. By installing it, the user is assuming that the package will do what its description says and won’t create problems with their device. Unfortunately, some apps may cause conflicts and not function as expected. If a user installs one and finds this to be the case, they should remove the package by navigating to “Manage” >”Packages”>(Tap the app to be uninstalled)>”Modify”>”Remove”. The same procedure applies to an app which may cause the device to crash once activated.

Users are encouraged to research the app prior to paying for and/or installing it on their iPhone. More information can be found on each one at http://cydia.saurik.com/.


Editor’s Note: A big thanks goes out to @aelphae, @iWG83 and their collaborative-minded friends for taking the time to compile this list of the best Cydia apps. It’s people like them that make things easier for new iPhone users to get the most out of their devices.

Disclaimer: Neither Geek Shui Living nor its contributors endorse or encourage the practice of jailbreaking. As always, iPhone and iPod Touch owners are reminded that jailbreaking their devices is legal but does effectively void the manufacturer’s warranty, could render their device temporarily useless if something goes wrong and should not be attempted by anyone. Yes, that means you, too.

1. qTweeter

2. iFlash Drive
I always forgot to bring USB. So, this is very useful app for me.

3. MoneyBook

Very Simple. You can also backup / restore data. You can see your graph from your webpage, too.(https://my.moneybookapp.com/)

4. myWi (use my iphone as wifi connect point)

5. mxTube

Download popular you tube clips and watch anytime. You can also watch by using stream.

6. Anyring

You can choose your own ringtone for each user (default also).
(customized ringtone)

 

7. iProtect
Set Password on App.

8. iBlacklist (Phone # blacklist)

9. ToneFXs

10. WiFi Sync
(no line itune iphone SYNC)
^^

11.
iNag

for Nagios

12. my3G

enables to download file via 3G network (some app requires WIFI conncection)

13. fake call
14. fake sms

15. Call log deletes (recent one) one by one

16. Lock Info
Show a lot of information even if your phone is lock status.

Shark

Shark is a performance-analysis application that creates a time-based profile of your program’s execution; over a given period it traces function calls and graphs memory allocations. You can use Shark to track information for a single program or for the entire system, which on Mac OS X includes kernel components such as drivers and kernel extensions. Shark also monitors file-system calls, traces system calls and memory allocations, performs static analyses of your code, and gathers information about cache misses, page faults, and other system metrics. Shark supports the analysis of code written in C, Objective-C, C++, and other languages.

Other Performance Applications (Mac OS X)

Many applications are used in measuring and analyzing aspects of a Mac OS X program’s performance. They are located in <Xcode>/Applications/Performance Tools.

• Thread Viewer displays activity among a process’s threads. It shows time lines of activity on each thread, which is color-coded with the action. By clicking a time line, you can get a sample backtrace of activity at that point.

• BigTop graphs performance trends over time, providing a real-time display of memory usage, page faults, CPU usage, and other data.

• Spin Control automatically samples unresponsive applications. You leave Spin Control running in the background while you launch and test your applications. If applications become unresponsive to the point where the spinning cursor appears, Spin Control automatically samples your application to gather information about what your application was doing during that time.

• MallocDebug shows all currently allocated blocks of memory in your program, organized by the call stack at the time of allocation. At a glance you can see how much allocated memory your application consumes, where that memory was allocated from, and which functions allocated large amounts of memory. MallocDebug can also find allocated memory that is not referenced elsewhere in the program, thus helping you find leaks and track down exactly where the memory was allocated.

• QuartzDebug is a tool to help you debug how your application displays itself. It is especially useful for applications that do significant amounts of drawing and imaging. QuartzDebug has several debugging options, including the following:

  • Auto-flush drawing, which flushes the contents of graphics contexts after each drawing operation)

  • A mode that paints regions of the screen in yellow just before they’re updated

  • An option that takes a static snapshot of the system-wide window list, giving the owner of each window and how much memory each window consumes.

For performance analysis, you can also use command-line tools such as:

• top, which shows a periodically sampled set of statistics on currently running processes

• gprof, which produces an execution profile of a program

• fs_usage, which displays file-system access statistics

Many other command-line tools for performance analysis and other development tasks are available. Some are located in /usr/bin and /usr/sbin, and some Apple-developed command-line tools are installed in <Xcode>/Tools. For many of these tools you can consult their manual page for usage information. (To do this, either choose Help > Open man page in Xcode or type man followed by the name of the tool in a Terminal shell.)

Further Reading: For more on the performance tools and applications you can use in Cocoa application development, as well as information on concepts, techniques, guidelines, and strategy related to performance, see Performance Overview. Cocoa Performance Guidelines

Mobile app analytics start-up Flurry is building a business helping iPhone developers get "discovered" in Apple's App Store. Its tips for developers range from promoting other apps within an app to getting as many users as possible to rate and review an app. (See "Making iPhone Apps Pay.")

If those tactics don't work, there are always other tricks. One involves inserting popular keywords into the product descriptions included in every App Store listing. A developer could write that Britney Spears was an inspiration for his app, for instance, or posit that his game is "just as fun" as top-selling game "Tap Tap Revenge." Think of it as search engine optimization for the App Store.

One example: a new game called Crazy Hotdogs that asks players to grill and sell hot dogs for a crowd of exacting, impatient customers. In the game's App Store product description, publisher Com2uS posits that fans of other time management and point-and-tap games such as Bejeweled, Diner Dash, Sally's Salon and Chocolate Shop Frenzy will like Crazy Hotdogs.

The upshot? When people search for Bejeweled or Diner Dash, both of which rank in the App Store's top 100 paid games and were created by other publishers, Crazy Hotdogs may pop up, too.

Peter Farago, Flurry's vice president of marketing, says the firm hasn't measured the strategy's success, but believes it's effective since most consumers rely on the App Store's search function to find apps. Farago adds, "By smartly picking keywords, a developer can get his product discovered more easily."

Musicians 'Tap Tap' iPhone

Mary Jane Irwin, 12.04.08, 03:15 PM EST

Recording artists hope ''Tap Tap Revenge'' game app will drive album sales.

Google added voice recognition technology to the search software it distributes through Apple for its iPhone.

Gummi Hafsteinsson, Google Mobile Applications product manager, offered a demo of the application at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Hafsteinsson simply opened the Google Search application on his phone, held the phone up to his ear, and spoke.

The application combines voice-recognition technology with Google's search index and the iPhone's ability to track a user's location to offer results keyed to his or her whereabouts. "This is a completely open-ended query stream, so you can say anything," Hafsteinsson says. "Anything you might want to type into Google.com, you can say to this applciation."

The move helps plug a gaping hole in the iPhone's capabilities--voice recognition--while pitting Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) against Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), whose Tellme unit has long sought to bridge the gap between phones and the Web with voice recognition-enabled applications.

"Imitation is the best form of flattery, so welcome to the party," said Dariusz Paczuski, senior director of Tellme consumer services. Tellme's software allows those with BlackBerry's or Samsung's Instinct smart phone to search for information using the company's voice recognition technology. Microsoft acquired Tellme Networks in March 2007.

Expect more to come. Forrester principal analyst Charles Golvin has long argued that voice recognition, while largely ignored by application developers, will become a more common way to connect users with sophisticated data services going forward. "It's the interface that is, after all, the most widely used, the interface that people are most comfortable with," Golvin says. "It makes sense that this would come of age."

Tellme's Paczuski confirmed that his group is working on similar applications for the iPhone and smart phones running Microsoft's Windows Mobile software.

The update to Google's search application for the iPhone, which Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) will release through its App Store software distribution service for the smart phone, will allow users to ask a question and get an answer from the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's search engine.

The results will also be linked to a user's location. So asking for coffee or pizza will direct users to a nearby location.

The application is one of a number of voice-friendly third-party applications for the iPhone that have helped close the gap between the iPhone and mobile phones that have long given users the ability to perform basic tasks, like dialing phone numbers, with voice commands.

While Google is best known for its Web search service, it has been pushing aggressively into telephony. In October, T-Mobile began selling the G1, a handset built around Google's smart phone software. In April of 2007, Google launched GOOG-411, a service that allows users to call an 800 number to get information by phone.

On Friday, Google shares fell $2.06, or 0.66%, to $310.02. Google shares are down more than 50% year-to-date.