iWant to Pwn my Phone...

March 16, 2011 1:28 PM

I jailbroke my iPhone 4 today. What are some of the awesome things I can do with/to my iPhone now?

I installed Winterboard, but I'm having a hard time tracking down a nice-looking theme that isn't pixelated to hell, due to the retina screen.

Please let me know how I can get the most out of my jailbroken device--what apps/themes can I find on Cydia that are truly awesome?

posted by litnerd to technology (19 answers total)

Browse the various sound themes. I have Mario sounds for whenever I lock/unlock, receive mail/text, etc.
posted by xtine at 1:36 PM on March 16, 2011

5 column springboard
5 icon switcher
5 icon dock
sbsettings
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:36 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

BiteSMS.
posted by chazlarson at 1:38 PM on March 16, 2011

SBSettings, MyWi, Five Icon Dock, Lockinfo.
posted by proj at 1:40 PM on March 16, 2011

You can also get an app off Cydia called FileViewer, which allows you to view PDF and MS Office files (not to mention see the folder structure of your phone), and tweak which lets you download Mail attachments.

You can also install an SSH tunneler so you can access the phone's harddrive from your PC. I used this to replace the system sounds and SMS tones with noises from Star Trek, but you can probably do more interesting things too.
posted by Jon_Evil at 1:55 PM on March 16, 2011

Seconding MyWi — it has been a life-saver for me (and for people I have let use my access point) more than once.
posted by SNACKeR at 2:15 PM on March 16, 2011

Why hello, this is my specialty! (I work for Cydia.) Here's what I have on my iPhone right now. I wrote an earlier version of this list on this page with screenshots, but currently I'm working on vastly improving the actual in-Cydia recommendations, so I haven't been updating that page! I'm also happy to answer questions about Cydia via MeFi Mail etc.

My current favorite theme is CUPS HD (free), a colorful, happy, tasteful set of icons. I use WeatherIcon (free) and LiveClock (free) to make the app icons on my homescreen actually reflect the current weather and time, which is pretty fun.

SBSettings (free) adds quick drop-down access to changing brightness levels, airport mode, etc. — it doesn't sound very exciting at first, but I think it's one of the best packages to install. My phone would feel much more annoying without it. I use the SBSettings Serious HD theme (free) for it.

I use FakeCarrier (free) to replace my carrier name with a pretty Unicode character and iStrings ($1) to change the "slide to unlock" text with a set of Unicode arrows. I display upcoming events on my lockscreen using Lock Calendar (free).

Utilities: AdBlocker ($2) for Safari, IconRenamer (free) to fix annoying app names, MultiIconMover (free) to rearrange multiple apps at once, SnapTap ($1) so that in Camera mode I can snap photos by pressing the hardware volume buttons, Twizzler (free) to remove the trending bar from the Twitter app.

Fun: Signal ($5) maps out the local cell phone towers that your phone is using — it works better in some areas than others, but it's really cool. MxTube (free) lets me download YouTube videos to watch offline.

Silly packages just for fun and showing off: Barrel ($3) provides animated and 3D homescreen transitions, Graviboard ($3) adds a playful gravity-simulating mode to your homescreen, and TV Tube Sleep ($1) gives you a little old-school CRT-style animation when you hit the sleep button to hibernate your phone. TV Tube Sleep entertains me to no end.

And for my work I use CyDelete (free) for quick deleting of Cydia packages, Display Recorder ($5) to make screencasts, iFile (optional $4) to muck around in my local filesystem, iWhiteBoard (free) to make annotated screenshots, and MyWi ($20) for sharing internet to my laptop for working anywhere. :)
posted by dreamyshade at 2:24 PM on March 16, 2011 [32 favorites]

OpenNotifier puts mail, SMS, words with friends, facebook, etc notifications in your status bar next to the battery icon. Even on the lockscreen.

Saves me putting in my passcode the hundred times a day I check if there is new email.
posted by ish__ at 3:18 PM on March 16, 2011

More recommendations, because I can't help myself:

You should be able to find suitable themes by going to Cydia's frontpage "Themes" section and tapping "HD" — explore around the listed items; tap them to get a page with a preview of the theme in action. People really enjoy Glaskart HD (free) for example, and Gladhander ($2) has interesting icon work.

Serious text-messagers enjoy the apps BiteSMS ($9) and iRealSMS ($12), which both have free trials.

Gridlock ($1), Iconoclasm ($3), Shrink ($1.50), and FolderEnhancer ($2.50) are essential if you want to go nuts with customizing your app icon layouts.

DisplayOut ($3) mirrors your display to an external screen or monitor. Fulldrop (free) lets you upload any local file to Dropbox (the official app is limited in its filesystem access; jailbroken apps are free to do a lot more). When Celeste is released soonish, it'll provide Bluetooth syncing between your iPhone and computer.

SpringFlash (free) is another good example of a Cydia package — there are lots of LED "flashlight" apps in the App Store, but only people with jailbroken iPhones can assign the flashlight action to a hardware button. SpringFlash defaults to turning on the flashlight with a double-click on the sleep button. Activator (free) is the centralized tool for assigning and reassigning actions for hardware buttons and touch gestures. (Did I mention that Activator and many of these other packages add options to the main Settings menu? That's where you'll find a lot of customization, especially because most of these packages don't add icons to your homescreen.)

VoiceActivator ($5) lets you add your own Voice Control commands. iAnnounce (free) automatically speaks caller names in a creepy robot voice when people call you. PhotoAlbums+ ($7) lets you arrange photo albums on your phone. Tab+ (free) lets you open more than nine Safari tabs, and Pull to Refresh Safari (free) is handy.

Also many of these work on first-gen iPads. (People are currently working on supported jailbreaks for iPhone 4.3 and iPad 2, which is all really exciting.) Okay I should get back to work.
posted by dreamyshade at 3:21 PM on March 16, 2011 [5 favorites]

Lifehacker posted How to Get the Most Out of Your Jailbroken iOS Device the day before yesterday. Lots of interesting information, and not just for the phones but also the touch and pad. Make sure to click the button to show "All" of the comments to see what their readers/contributors have added also.
posted by dancestoblue at 3:26 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not even a text-messaging power user, but I would probably rather give up my iPhone altogether than uninstall BiteSMS.
posted by Zozo at 3:50 PM on March 16, 2011

i vouch for sbsettings. it is awesome. i hate going to system prefs just to adjust my backlight.

i wanted to add that if you use google voice at all,the phone and sms gv extensions integrate the services to the iphone almost as well as android. almost, but good enough.
posted by sammich at 4:58 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Without a doubt, you're going to want to install SmartScreen (via Cydia). Everything you need can be on your lockscreen (emails, weather, favorite apps, calendar items, speed dial, the list goes on)
posted by siclik at 11:20 PM on March 16, 2011

Oooh great suggestions... Some not mentioned, FullScreen for Safari: adds gestures and duh, adds full screen reading for safari. I really like LockInfo and a bunch of respective settings.

I rely on the GVsms extension, and it works flawlessly (except with OpenNotifier). Curious to see if BiteSMS is as great as people say.
posted by stratastar at 12:24 AM on March 17, 2011

MobileNotifier - makes Push notifications a pleasure to behold

FolderEnhancer - Infinite sized folders, much cleaner transition animations etc.

AdBlocker - the famous Adblock for IOS Safari

PkgBackup and AppBackup - Necessary when you 'upgrade' your Jailbreak
posted by 0bvious at 6:44 AM on March 17, 2011

p.s. I would Jailbreak if only for SB Settings, LockInfo and MobileNotifier... They make the iPhone what it should be
posted by 0bvious at 6:46 AM on March 17, 2011

p.p.s. Oh, and iRealSMS. Don't have a jailbroken phone without it
posted by 0bvious at 6:48 AM on March 17, 2011

Lockinfo.
BiteSMS
SBSettings ****** MUST HAVE
posted by damiano99 at 7:42 AM on March 17, 2011

there are some fantastic recommendations above, my two cents worth...

Firewall Ip to control incoming and outgoing connections.
Torrentula - get torrenting from your phone. (use with ifile, to move the download about)
PwnTunes - frees you from having to use itunes. Also allows you to use the phone as a drag/drop usb type storage thingy for any files.
PhotoAlbums+ - lets you create custom photo albums, and move/copy pictures between them.
(these last two are from the makers of iRealsms, and while i dont mean to shill for those guys, their stuff is very good.)
BytaFont for changing the font on your device.
Direct Closer Pro - for managing how multitasking behaves on your phone.
Ooh, forgot this one - Haptic Pro - for customised feedback for any event, keypresses, etc, I love it.
Remind Me Later - for allowing a "snooze" option to the default Calendar behaviour.
Screen Dimmer - control of how/when your screen dims or locks.
Shrink - increase or decrease the size of your icons.
posted by kev23f at 9:42 AM on March 22, 2011