Apptizr.com is a new site that wants to help you find iPhone apps, and offers up app recommendations based on the information you feed it, and your reaction to what it recommends.

The site is currently in a private, Alpha stage – but we’ve got 50 invites for our readers to sign up and start trying it out now.  If you’d like to give the site a whirl, here’s what you need to do:

• Visit this link: http://apptizr.com/invite/vip
• You’ll be prompted for an invite code.  Enter this code (without the quote marks):
• ‘JustAiBlog’

That’s it.  The first 50 readers to use that code will get a chance to test out the Apptizr service.

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Read the rest of Want To Try Out a New iPhone App Recommendations Site?

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Post tags: Apptizr.com, iPhone app recommendation sites

Last month we reported about a problem that was affecting many users of Analytics App – where it was constantly showing a ‘bad username or password’ error when trying to authenticate with Google Analytics.

The issue rendered the app unusable for those of us affected by it.  I sorely missed the app – as it had become my favorite way to keep track of my site stats.

Last night the app got an update – and Yes, the login issue is fixed.  Hurrah! I feel like a sports team where the star player comes back from injury – no need for trades or new players, an old stalwart is back.  

If you run web sites and like tracking your data via Google Analytics at all, I highly recommend this app. You can read our first take on it HERE, and find it in the App Store now for $5.99.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Analytics App, Google Analytics app for iPhone, iphone apps

Today we’re continuing our new series called ‘Desert Island Apps’.  It’s based on a very long-running and brilliant BBC Radio show called “Desert Island Discs’.  The premise of Desert Island Discs is simple and wonderful – a guest is invited to choose the eight musical pieces (originally records) they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island.

In our case of course we’re not interested in our guests’ choice of music.  What we want to know is which six iPhone apps they would take with them if stranded on an island. We’re leaving the playing field pretty wide open for them – letting them assume they’ve got WiFi and full connectivity on their island.

I’m very happy to say that for today’s post we’ve got a 2-for-1 deal going.  We’ve got picks from the two charming hosts of Apps & Hats, the quirky and brilliant iPhone apps reviews site. Christine Morris and Hattie Medd do a video review show every two weeks running down some of their new favorite paid and free iPhone apps  – and today we’ve got both ‘the girls’ sharing their desert island picks.

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Read the rest of Desert Island Apps – Number 4, with Christine & Hattie

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Post tags: Apps & Hats, Christine and Hattie, Desert Island Apps Number 4

[Jailbreak required]

Tlert, like Elert, is a notification app for messages on the iPhone. With Tlert installed your text messages will no longer pop up in a big, obtrusive box, but rather as a cuddly little bubble (in the colour of your choice) on the top-left hand of the screen. As a handy dandy bonus, Tlert also lets you reply to your texts from anywhere – including the lockscreen – from a bubble on the bottom-right.
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Read the rest of Review: Tlert 1.05.1 for iPhone

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Post tags: alert, notification, quick reply, sms, Texting

Brilliant.  I grew up a Yankees fan (an hour away from the stadium) and still am one – and my new ringtone for the iPhone is the final out call for the New York Yankees World Series win two nights ago.

I haven’t changed my iPhone ringtone in quite a while, since impulse purchasing the theme from The Good The Bad & The Ugly a few weeks back – but I just had to change it tonight when I spotted the ‘Yankees Win World Series Ringtone’ in the Cydia jailbreak apps store tonight.  It’s great stuff – featuring the final out call from Yankee broadcaster John Sterling. 

Click the image above to hear the call in full.  The ringtone starts with ‘There’s the payoff’ and builds to a crescendo as Sterling dramatically intones ‘Ballgame over, World Series over, Yankees win, theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win’

Of course you could put this together for yourself, but I’m far too lazy for that.  I am loving having it installed though – not one that will stay on my iPhone for a long spell, but great for right now!

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cydia, iPhone ringtones, Yankees Win World Series ringtone

PogoPlank – the brilliant springboard replacement app which is my new BFF on the iPhone and which I like to think of as the best way to walk around with 170 iPhone apps and just one home screen – is going to be getting an update tonight.  There is some good news, bad news and ‘even better news’ about the update, which has all been shared by the PogoPlank devs via Twitter just recently.

So here is the rundown on the good, the bad and the even better:

• Good: There’s an update coming tonight and it will include app sorting.  That’s probably Number 3 on my Top 3 wish list items for the app.
• Bad: Spotlight and smoother wheel are not in this update.
• Even Better: Spotlight is in the upcoming 2.0 update – which is due to be ‘previewed’ next week.

My only remaining questions: How soon after preview stage will we see 2.0 in Cydia, and will smoother wheel make it into 2.0?  (and if the wheel improvements don’t make it into 2.0, when is 2.1 and are they in that?)

In any case, great to hear the devs are hard at work on improving this super clever concept, and looking forward to tonight’s update.

If you’d like more of an Intro to what PogoPlank is and does, see my recent posts on it HERE and HERE.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPhone springboard replacements, PogoPlank

Waveboard is a new – and possibly first – Google Wave app for the iPhone.  Here’s a portion of its App Store description:

A very simple front end for Google Wave. This client shows the standard web presence for mobile devices provided by Google Wave.  Website links will be shown in an integrated separate browser view. Pages can be handed over to Safari from within the app. Landscape view is supported.

I have to admit that although I have got Google Wave (Thanks Josh!) I haven’t used it all that much yet and have not got anywhere close to getting to grips with it.  So an iPhone app for it is not on my wish list just yet.

If it’s on yours, you can grab Waveboard in the App Store now for $0.99.

I learned of this app via a post over at Apple iPhone School.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Google Wave app for iPhone, iphone apps, Waveboard

Wouldn’t it be nice if sometime or other Apple could get to a point where it doesn’t seem like crazy App Store decisions are only ‘fixed’ when the shit hits the fan at a bunch of high profile web sites?

This week’s high profile ‘WTF are they doing’ iPhone App Store story featured an iPhone book published by Macworld.  The app is called iPhone Superguide – and it was initially rejected by one of Apple’s crack reviewers because it had the word iPhone in its title – despite the fact that the App Store already had a similar book from David Pogue of the New York Times in it, with the word iPhone in its title.

So this rejection contained one of the long-running plot staples of App Store horror stories – stupid, inconsistent decisions. In this case though – as with many other recent stupid rejections – Macworld complained about the decision (via Twitter) and their complaints were spotted and reported on by some very big sites – including Daring Fireball and Engadget.  And then, following that coverage … hey presto, the issue gets almost immediately resolved.  Apple reverses earlier decisions by their reviewers and maybe they think all is good at that point. But it’s not at all.  It’s the whole process that has huge issues – these one-off ‘interventions’ (a few of them with Phil Schiller even getting in the mix recently) wouldn’t be needed if the system wasn’t so perfectly setup for producing inconsistent and ridiculous decisions.

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Read the rest of App Store Needs to Change the ‘When the Shit Hits the Fan’ Approach to Review Process

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Post tags: iPhone Superguide, macworld, stupid App Store decisions

This is a story about a game called “Command and Conquer: Red Alert” on the iPhone. It features the same publisher, the same factions (the Soviets and the Allies), and a female voice still says “Building…” as you construct your own base. Many of the classic Red Alert elements are in place, so why doesn’t this feel like a C&C game?

I think it all comes down to priorities, and Red Alert has all the wrong ones. Instead of providing smooth, fast-paced strategy title EA has instead created a gorgeous, but irritatingly disappointing game that is C&C in name and copyright only.
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Read the rest of Review: Command & Conquer Red Alert for iPhone

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Post tags: C&C, Command & Conquer, EA, RTS, strategy game

On a day where we’re already talking about suring up our iPhone passwords, it seems fitting to also mention an impressive new security application available to jailbreak users.  Firewall IP is a relatively new app – available in the Cydia store for $1.99 – that provides just what you’d expect given its name, i.e. a firewall monitoring outbound connections on the iPhone.

I’ve been testing the app out a bit and I like it.  It does just what it says on the box, and quite effectively.  It even does its job relatively unobtrusively – or at least as much as any firewall can do in that respect.

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Read the rest of Firewall IP – A Firewall App for the iPhone

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Post tags: firewall app for iPhone, Firewall IP, iPhone firewall app

LogMeIn Ignition, the remote access app for your PC or Mac is going on sale for this weekend only. The price is being slashed across all the App Stores with the US price dropping from $29.99 to $19.99 – a 33% saving.

The app provides individuals and service providers access to remote machines straight from their iPhone or iPod Touch. Within seconds, users can connect to their home or office computer and work as if they were sitting right in front of it.

You can find Josh’s great review of the app here.

[iTunes link]

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Post tags: IPhone remote control apps, LogMeIn Ignition

Look out Rogers and Fido, Bell and Telus want them some 3G Apple pie. The prices ($199 for 16GB 3GS, etc.) and plan lengths (three years) are all the same, but there are some differences in plans. That’s fine, though, since it’s really the cost of the monthly plan that matters.

For your convenience, dear readers, I’ve assembled information on the most basic voice/data options from each of the companies after the jump. Unique or notable features of the plans are in bold, and you can always click on the name of the provider to head straight to their iPhone plans page.

Overall, I’m not really all that impressed, though I do hope that Telus and Bell’s treatment of tethering rubs off on Rogers in the new year.

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Post tags: bell, Canada, carrier, Rogers, telus, tethering

Image Source: fanpop.com

Just as a new hack, blacksn0w, promises to unlock iPhones with the latest Apple software from AT&T’s wireless network, Apple is looking for a sheriff to lock the smartphones back up again, permanently.

A job posting on Apple corporate Web site seeks a security manager for the iPhone platform to lead a team focused on secure booting and installation of the operating system, cryptographic services, partitioning and hardening its internal security domains, and risk analysis of security threats.

That’s an excerpt from a report at Network World that indicates that Apple may be looking to step up the long-running battle with iPhone jailbreakers  and unlockers.  It’s a battle that is never an easy one to ‘win’ for either side, but especially for the side playing defense in effect, which Apple is in this case.

Apart from wishing that Apple would one day just choose to turn a blind eye to jailbreak efforts (they could just advise users of the risks but not waste their time / energy / money combatting it), my one other thought is if they really want to get serious about this, why not hire the best. 

Why not hire someone who can think like a hacker, because he is one, and can help them find the cracks and holes in future iPhones before anyone else does?  Why not hire GeoHot, or one of the members of the Dev Team, or one of the many other talented and respected iPhone hackers?  Fair enough, it’s extremely unlikely that any of them would want to switch sides, but I can’t imagine there are too many individuals Apple are going to find who will do a better job than they would …

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, iPhone hackers, iPhone Jailbreak, iPhone security

[This setup requires jailbreak]

Two nights ago I decided that my method of hiding unused icons and accessing them by Spotlight was just far too clumsy. Yes, it looked clean from the outside, but uninstalling was a real pain in the apps. I’d have to load SBSettings, un-hide the icon, wait for a respring, and then delete it. Yeah, I could have used iTunes but I don’t like syncing with the Mac unless I have to.

It was actually Diego’s post that inspired me to try the pre-release of Stacks V3 to solve my organizational problems. My goal was still the same: to make the iPhone more accessible and hide a lot of the clutter that I don’t use on a daily basis. I was strongly considering purchasing Orbit, but Patrick did point out an inherent problem with the home screen setup: if you set each home screen to store a certain kind of app, having more than 16 of those apps will mess the order up and leak onto another page. I’ve actually deleted scores of apps on my iPhone just so I could limit a particular category to one home screen. However, with Stacks I may have found a near-ideal system that allows me to organize my apps as well as easily expand specific particular categories  — and all on one home screen, to boot!

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Read the rest of How does my iPhone Homescreen Stack up?

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Post tags: home screen, Jailbreak, organization, stacks, troughton-smith

This week we’ve seen stories all around the web about a Dutch hacker’s demo of how easy it is to gain access to an iPhone when it is jailbroken, running the SSH service, and has not had its default admin-level passwords changed. 

These stories were a great reminder that we should all make a habit of changing the default passwords for the iPhone’s two primary admin accounts (usernames mobile and root) – as once somebody gains root level access to an iPhone, all sorts of bad things can happen.

Read on for some easy instructions on how to change your default passwords on the iPhone …

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Read the rest of How To Change the iPhone’s Root Password

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: how to change iPhone default passwords, how to change iPhone mobile user password, how to change iPhone root password, iPhone default password, iPhone root password, iPhone ssh, ssh

In an attempt to improve on an already incredible app, the folks over at ALK Technologies released a notable update to their popular navigation software CoPilot Live. The new version was released a few days ago, and as usual the developers have listened to their customers, adding a huge new feature – access to your iPod controls from within the app.

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Read the rest of Update: CoPilot Live for the iPhone – now with iPod controls

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Post tags: CoPilot, navigation apps

If you play action games on the iPhone, then you’ve probably heard the whispers about Eliminate. It’s the first multiplayer FPS to come out on the iPhone – and it’s free to boot! The game features 4-player deathmatching with a match-making system and an RPG-ish  weapon and armour upgrade component as well. I logged about half an hour with the game and despite the fact that the in-app purchases might be a little overpriced, I think that Eliminate Pro is one of the coolest iPhone titles I’ve seen in a while.

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Read the rest of Quick Look: ngmoco’s Eliminate Pro for iPhone

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Post tags: deathmatch, DLC, first person shooter, FPS, multiplayer, ngmoco, plus+

Chances are you’ve never seen this screen on your jailbroken iPhone, but let’s do something to make sure you minimize the chances of it ever happening. TUAW and Ars Technica recently reported that a Dutch hacker was logging right into jailbroken iPhones in the Netherlands because — just like most wi-fi router owners – the users had never bothered to change the SSH password. SSH (Secure Shell) is a way to get files on and off of your iPhone, and the default username and password are “root” and “alpine”, so all the hacker had to do once he found a jailbroken iPhone was to log in, insert this lockscreen wallpaper, and execute one of those maniacal super villain laughs (in Dutch).

He eventually gave up his plans for world domination and ended publishing instructions for how to get rid of that pesky lockscreen notification, as well as how to change the SSH login password. This is just a good real-world reminder that your little Apple iPhone that changing the default password is an excellent idea. Can you guess what I did this morning in Mobile Terminal?

[pic from TUAW]

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: hacker, Jailbreak, ssh

Our friend Doug Goldring over at Just Another Mobile Monday has got a great post up on a classic game that’s come to the iPhone platform – Wolfenstein.  Doug’s post has got some great sharing about his first exposure to Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II machine way back in the day, and of course some insightful thoughts on its latest rendering on the iPhone OS.  Here’s just a little slice:

I thought the developers did a fantastic job of keeping the storyline moving through the progressively difficult levels in this game. One of the things that really impressed me was the lack of significant cut scenes.  Sure, there were a few, but some games seem to have a hard time remembering that you came to play a game, not watch a movie.  Wolfenstein RPG kept the watching to a minimum and told the story through the action in the game.

Check out Doug’s full post HERE.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: JAMM, Wolfenstein RPG

Apple® today announced that developers have created over 100,000 apps for the revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world. iPhone® and iPod touch® customers in 77 countries can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. App Store users have downloaded well over two billion apps, continuing to make it the world’s most popular applications store.

Yeah, yeah – now we’re into six figures for the number of apps available in the iPhone App Store.  These numbers are getting so big that I’m starting to feel (almost) numb to them.  One set of numbers mentioned in Apple’s press release on this milestone did catch my eye though – some monster-big numbers for how often the I Am T-Pain app is being downloaded.

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Read the rest of Over 100,000 Apps Now in the App Store, & T-Pain App is a Monster Success

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Post tags: App Store success stories, I Am T-Pain iPhone app, Smule

The blacksn0w iPhone unlocking solution from GeoHot is now available as a standalone application in the Cydia store.

So you can now run this from within blackra1n if you used that jailbreak method (also from GeoHot) or via the standalone app if you used Pwnage Tool or other jailbreak methods.

For good step-by-step guides on how to jailbreak with blackra1n and unlock with blacksn0w, see this post at iPhone Download Blog (links at the bottom for tutorials).

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blackra1n, blacksn0w, GeoHot

Today we’re continuing our new series called ‘Desert Island Apps’.  It’s based on a very long-running and brilliant BBC Radio show called “Desert Island Discs’.  The premise of Desert Island Discs is simple and wonderful – a guest is invited to choose the eight musical pieces (originally records) they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island.

In our case of course we’re not interested in our guests’ choice of music.  What we want to know is which six iPhone apps they would take with them if stranded on an island. We’re leaving the playing field pretty wide open for them – letting them assume they’ve got WiFi and full connectivity on their island.

I’m very happy to have Joshua Schnell as our guest for today’s post.  Joshua is the Founder of Macgasm.net, a website dedicated to providing tips and tricks to Mac users.  The Macgasm team tries their damnedest to stay our of the echo chamber that is Mac news.  Read on for Joshua’s picks …

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Read the rest of Desert Island Apps – Number 3, with Joshua Schnell

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Desert Island Apps picks, Joshua Schnell

I’ve wanted to like the Wordpress app for a long time, and the release of Wordpress 2 really did get my hopes up. I don’t ever intend of writing a 2000-word review on my iPhone, but I enjoy being able to quickly share info about app releases and keep track of the blog regardless of where I am. Wordpress 2 definitely hits the mark on quick, one-shot news posts and comments approval, but I’ve found it unreliable and strangely tedious for most everything else.

I’ll phrase my first problem as a question: why are pictures always added to the bottom of the post?

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Read the rest of Wordpress 2 for iPhone: loses some drafts, places pics at the bottom of posts

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging, editing, iPhone, wordpress

I’m probably not the best person to test this feature out because I barely ever participate in group chats, but seeing as Beejive is such a kickass instant messaging platform, I thought it would be worth exploring how they handled multi-user and meta chats in their latest 3.1 update. Overall, I’d say the meta-user chatting is a great addition to the app and finally makes linking a contact to a contact card, but group chats could definitely be a little more accessible.

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Read the rest of Exploring Beejive 3.1: managing meta and multi-user chats on the iPhone

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Post tags: chats, chatting, IM+, instant message

Remember the marvelous Recession Case for the iPhone from case-mate?  I posted on it a few weeks ago and called it the best cardboard iPhone case ever (and I stand by that).

The 99 cents wonder has had ‘huge success’ apparently and now the folks at case-mate are running a cool contest to celebrate that success, with a grand prize that’s anything but run of the mill.

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Read the rest of Case-mate Running a Recession Case Photo Contest

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Case-mate, Recession case for iPhone